Coachella Meme Farmers Work Overtime
It's a bumper crop of commentary — snide, sincere and sassy.
Almost since its beginning, Coachella has been a source of energy for tangental players whose impact has grown as the festival’s sphere of influence expanded. From brand activations and fashion trends to social media and the price of real estate across the Coachella Valley, virtually anything that’s basked in the Coachella’s glow has received some solar power.
The meme industrial complex has also had a long symbiotic relationship with its Coachella host. Parody posters have been trolling the news feed since 2006, at least. The same year, Daft Punk’s legendary pyramid performance became one of the first major musical moments to go viral on YouTube. #Couchella made its Twitter premier when the festival began live streaming on YouTube in 2010, but hit its cultural peak in 2019 when performances that included Beyoncé, BLACKPINK and The 1975 drew a global audience of 82.9M viewers the first weekend alone.
Of course, dancing with the dark art of memes will have its downside. “Clusterfuckchella” was added to Urban Dictionary in 2010 following hours-long waits to enter the venue. Most of the young folks who missed acts like DJ Lance Rock, Matt & Kim and Miike Snow because they were stuck in line in 2010 have aged out of concerts entirely. But that doesn’t stop them from commenting about the unfamiliar names on the modern lineups.
Another semi-snide meme that’s come to the fore in recent years is the position of artists on the Coachella lineup relevant to the booking agency that represents them. This year’s version, “Who Booked Coachella,” was brought to you by ROSTR, a “music industry directory” recently rolled in the Utopia Music fold. The report also breaks down the gender distribution (always a relevant topic) and the indie-to-major distribution found on the 2023 poster.
How you read these facts probably says more about your level of cynicism towards Coachella in particular and the concert biz in general than anything about Coachella itself (or the fine folks behind it). But as a piece of timely content marketing, we gotta also give props to whoever is working at ROSTR/Utopia for delivering the meme of the moment.
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. A Scientist Has Filed Suit Against the U.S. Copyright Office, Arguing His A.I.-Generated Art Should Be Granted Protections
The work has been rejected because it lacks “traditional human authorship.” If the plaintiff wins, the 2012 piece created by DABUS will become the first work by AI to be protected.
Takeaway: …the U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled that “technological changes must be considered when interpreting the Copyright Act.” Extending protections to works generated by A.I. would be in line with such a mandate…
2. Lucian Grainge Calls For ‘Updated Model’ For Music Industry
The UMG head called out “bad actors” for mucking up the streaming ecosystem, but didn’t give any indicator of what an updated model might look like for the world’s largest music company.
Takeaway: “[W]e need an updated model,” Grainge wrote. “Not one that pits artists of one genre against artists of another or major label artists against indie or DIY artists. We need a model that supports all artists — DIY, indie and major. An innovative, ‘artist-centric’ model that values all subscribers and rewards the music they love. A model that will be a win for artists, fans, and labels alike, and, at the same time, also enhances the value proposition of the platforms themselves, accelerating subscriber growth, and better monetizing fandom.”
3. Live Nation Must Face Lawsuit Over Drakeo The Ruler’s Murder, Judge Rules
The ruling reasons that because Live Nation provided some security, the company could be liable for not providing enough security. 🤷
Takeaway: Wednesday’s ruling is not a decision on the merits of the allegations; it merely allows the case to move forward into discovery, where Drakeo’s family will be able to gather evidence. They will then need to show factual proof that their allegations are true.
