Reviews
Several Species of Strange Promotional Items Gathered Together on eBay and Grooving With a Price Tag
Too Much Information?
A Look at the "Official" Websites
A musician's official website can tell you a lot about that artist. Or it can tell you nothing at all. The Who's Pete Townshend, for example, uses the web to post candid, detailed diary-style musings. Other bands and artists use their websites for pure commerce, selling albums, posters, t-shirts, bumper stickers, navel rings, lawn furniture, etc.--all bearing a band logo.
Many of these sites are funded by the artists (or their record labels), but are ultimately designed and administered by hired guns. In some cases, it is highly likely that the musician in question has virtually no creative input. Thus the official website becomes yet another corporate--another creaking cog in the music industry machine.
The net is a dynamic medium, constantly in flux. Websites are subject to change. All reviews are of the content as of mid-May 2002. Each site receives separate ratings for content and design/presentation. Happy Surfing!
Rating scale:
3 stars - Outstanding
2 stars - Good
1 stars - Average
0 stars - Disappointing
When in doubt, type ".com" after anything, and see where it takes you. In this case, there's nothing here but a placeholder page that ultimately points you to the www.pinkfloyd.co.uk webpage. The placeholders themselves, however, are pretty interesting--they are details of various pieces of album art (27 in all) with the words "Pink Floyd" superimposed upon them. And there are several of them, so each time you visit you get a different one. Simple, familiar, but somehow fresh. Nothing groundbreaking, but it could have been worse.
content: 0 stars
design: 1 star
Now we're talking. Okay, all they are promoting is the Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd compilation, but at least they spent some money, hired a serious web design firm called Bluish, and did something interesting with it. Not only are their interactive animations slick, but they cater to different connection speeds and have some actual content.
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After an introductory screen (with the pings from, you guessed it, "Echoes"), you go a screen with an array of constantly-changing tiles that fade in and out. Some tiles bear well-known Floydian images such as a silhouette of Waters beating a gong, the floating man from PULSE, and the DSOTM electrocardiogram tracing. Other tiles are unfamiliar--a lone brick, a pair of odd cartoon cocoons, a bicycle bell, and so on. Run your mouse pointer over any tile and a legend appears bearing the name of a song and the album it came from. There is a unique tile for each song on the Echoes disc, and clicking on any one of them takes you (via a slickly animated transition) to a square bordered by each of the 24 tiles. Inside the square is the album cover for that particular track, and superimposed upon that is an enlarged image of that track's unique tile design.
Clicking on different regions of that enlarged tile allows you to view images related to the song, statistics about the song and the album, lengthy audio samples, lyrics, and comments from band members about some of the tracks.
The attention to detail is marvelous--at the top of the page is the now familiar logo of tetragons arranged to echo the offset windows of the Echoes cover art, but rather than a static image, these figures dance and move. The arrangement of tiles is never completely static; at least one tile is always fading out to be replaced by another.
What this amounts to is a rather clever interactive discography that encourages visitors to explore and play with it in order to discover what it has to offer, with new content (such as the band's commentary, rare photos, and conceptual sketches) as a bonus. Other exclusive content includes tales by Storm Thorgerson, James Guthrie, and others about the creation of the actual Echoes CD package, as well as sketches of discarded cover designs, behind-the-scenes snapshots from the cover photo shoot, and a list of some 20 tracks that were considered for inclusion but were ultimately cut.
content: 3 stars
design: 3 stars
Hollywood and Vine - Pink Floyd
This US-based Capitol Records site is largely promoting Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd as well. At the time of that album's release last fall, this site had some interesting promotions going. There was a web-based scavenger hunt challenging fans to find digital collectors' cards on various websites with the promise of winning on of 500 sets of actual printed cards (many fans found these before the clues were posted, and I'm sure the prize cards are now for sale on eBay ). There was a game in which you guessed how many pieces of bacon could be made from a pig the size of the inflatable pig that was suspended from the top of the Capitol Records building in LA. There were detailed copies of the Echoes cover art and track lists and so on. There was a nifty screensaver, complete with Animal-esque sound effects, of a pig floating over a scrolling landscape (the program was keyed to your computer's clock, so that the sun rose and set on the screensaver more or less in conjunction with the actual time of the day).
Now, with the Echoes promotion largely a thing of the past, the games are gone and the prizes are long since claimed. There is still a good deal of content available, and that screen saver is still available, as are a discography, a message board, and so on. It feels a bit like browsing around the mostly empty shelves at a department store on December 27th, though--strangely commercial, yet not really relevant. I suspect that the site will be dismantled before too much longer.
content: 3 stars
design: 2 stars
This is an official Pink Floyd promotional site in German, which looks fairly slick. Too bad I don't read German.
(English) content: 0 stars
design: 2 stars
For whatever reason, this website is still around. It was originally put up by Columbia Records to promote the release of the DVD release of Pink Floyd - The Wall a few years ago. It is essentially an advertisement, with some minimal information on the special features exclusive to the DVD release. There is a page that lists the updates to the site, where you can find a press release. It also says an exclusive interview with James Guthrie is "coming soon", but as this is dated December 1999, I'm not holding my breath.
content: 0 stars
design: 0 star
This site, promoting Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live was once an exciting, interactive site filled with Flash animations and all the bells and whistles you can imagine, designed by Bluish, the same group that did PinkFloyd.co.uk. Now, there is little left: a little press information and a couple of wide-angle photos of the Wall concert stage. It only makes sense that the record company that sponsors such sites will eventually pull the plug and dedicate their resources to promoting newer projects. The lesson? Visit the sites when they are new and explore them fully while you have the chance, because soon those sites will be gone forever.
content: 0 stars
design: 0 stars
This site is splattered with Sony/Columbia Records stuff--this is clearly a website created by the record company. Sure, Waters is a musician and not a computer geek, and he may have no interest in having an official web presence. But like it or not, his name is on this thing, and it's the closest thing to an official website there is. Still, I can't help but wonder if Waters has ever actually seen it.
If I recall correctly, this was the site that initially said nothing but "Roger Waters to tour in 1999?" and thus kicked off months of excited speculation and skepticism amongst fans. Heck, if they wanted to get fans buzzing, they sure managed to do it with minimum effort.
These days, the opening page is little more than an advertisement for Flickering Flame, accompanied by text which reads like the press release that it is. Nothing here for the fans, really; just something for the Floyd-ignorant music columnist assigned to write up something about this release or the tour. There are even links to printable versions of the band bios and tour credits, clear indications that the website is a marketing tool.
But follow the link to the "main" page and we'll get some real content, right? Well, not really. The "main page" borrows its look from the design of the In the Flesh package, and features promotional materials related to the CD and DVD, including audio clips and links to online merchants selling the discs. The text is purportedly an announcement of the 2002 World Tour, but in fact a lot of this text is identical to that on the front page.
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An "Each Small Candle" page has info about how the song came to be, complete lyrics (including some handwritten ones in what may actually be Waters' own handwriting), and a place for visitors to post their 'thoughts' about the song. (No telling where these thoughts go, however; when you send them, you are taken to a screen that simply says 'thank you'. In the best of worlds, Waters would read each of these in search of some useful comment or insight. In reality, the messages are probably read, if at all, by some lowly Columbia intern, or just trashed once they've added your e-mail address to their database.
There are links to an 'exclusive' interview, articles on Billboard.com and Musician.com, and a reprint of a published 'conversation' between Waters and Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor (an interesting read in itself, in which Waters and Reznor discuss the perils of popstardom and the evils of the Music Industry).
content: 1 star
design: 1 star
Hollywood and Vine - Syd Barrett
Also brought to us by Capitol Records is the closest thing to an official Syd Barrett website there is. This was originally a site promoting the Wouldn't You Miss Me compilation album, and there really isn't much here: a standard biography which mythicizes Syd's mental collapse, a discography (with links to online retailers ready and eager to part you from your money), and a (mercifully) dying bulletin board. The look of the site is appealing, though not flashy.
content: 1 star
design: 2 stars
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David Gilmour's company Intrepid Aviation has a website, though there isn't any Floyd content to speak of. Still, Gilmour has no official website of his own, so this may be as good as it gets. I don't know much about this company, but it looks to be a corporate front for Gilmour's aviation interests. Intrepid Aviation "owns" a collection of classic planes, though I imagine Gilmour buys them and lists Intrepid as the owner for tax purposes. The company also does aviation filming, promotes airshows, and some aviation-related graphic design. Unfortunately, most of the links for these services are broken, so I doubt they do much web-related business.
content: 1 stars
design: 2 star
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Ten Tenths, similarly, is a company owned by Nick Mason to help manage his race car hobby. Mason's cars are hired out to various production companies, and the company keeps a listing of cars that other collectors own. Mason's racecar book Into the Red is also promoted on the site, and there is a listing of cars Mason has put up for sale.
content: 1 star
design: 1 star
In a way, it's hard to believe that Rick Wright has an official website, but he does. It's quite obvious, though, that it hasn't been updated in quite a while. The main index page actually refers to an "upcoming" interview to be published in September 1996, in promotion of the then-yet-to-be-released Broken China album. Still, there are some interviews, lyrics to Broken China, a biography, and a reasonable slick design (using 1996 coding, no doubt).
content: 1 star
design: 2 stars
Okay, this is a bit of a stretch, as far as "pure" Floyd sites go. But this official site for graphic designer Storm Thorgerson was also created by Bluish, so you know right off it is going to be good. The user interface is slick and inviting, and there is tons of content to explore, including a wide assortment of album covers (Floyd and non-Floyd alike), books, posters, commercials, films, logos, and so on. A treat to explore.
content: 3 stars
design: 3 stars
Several Species of Strange Promotional Items Gathered Together on eBay and Grooving With a Price Tag
Every mall in America seems to have one now--those stores that sell 'collector's items' and recreated memorabilia from 50s and 60s pop stars, TV series, and films. The Elvis clocks. The Three Stooges refrigerator magnets. The "I Love Lucy" neckties. The Fab Four napkin dispensers. Increasingly, these stores feature plenty of stuff from the 70s, 80s, and even the 90s. Some of it is tacky. Some of it is clever. Most of it is overpriced, campy, kitschy garbage.
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eBay is, in a way, not much different. I am consistently amazed at the pure junk and forgotten treasures that are on the auction block every day via the Internet. On eBay you can find, at the click of a mousebutton, the something you've heard of or read about but never seen for sale, the something you've never heard of but that you have to have the moment you lay eyes on it, and, quite often, the something that you can hardly believe was ever manufactured.
Pink Floyd items are abundantly available on eBay. On any given day a search for 'Pink Floyd' will turn up several hundred items, from widely-available CDs to rare vinyl, videos, bootlegs, tour programs, promotional items, and various other legitimate and illegitimate items bearing the band's name or familiar Floydian images.
 Occasionally, eBay will turn up items of real value to the serious collector, such as this original 1967 single of "See Emily Play". |
 This is some kind of special audiophile cassette release of Wish You Were Here from Japan. |
 If you have a taste for good, old-fashioned vinyl bootlegs, just like mom used to bake, you can sometimes find them on eBay (often masquerading as legitimate releases) in excellent condition... for a price. |
 Pink Floyd is a common topic for feature articles and cover stories in major music magazines, and old issues can often be found for sale. |
 This sew-on patch, clearly not an officially licensed item, is reminscent of the DSOTM cover without being an outright infringement of copyright. |
 Carry 'all that you eat' in this licensed PF lunch box, and 'everyone you meet' is sure to stop you and ask where you got it. Quite the snazzy conversation piece. |
 This Wall lunchbox features the classic rectangular design, and a matching Thermos. |
 With its multitude of striking visual elements, items featuring graphics from The Wall, such as this lightswitch cover, are overwhelmingly common. |
 If you've got nicotine stains on your fingers, why not light up in style? (I suppose that as long as The Wall remains standard listening for teenage metalheads, somebody somewhere will be licensing Wall merchandise to sell to them.) |
 Dude! Your jean jacket with the giant embroidered prism on the back isn't complete until it is adorned with an assortment of Wall pins! Collect them all! |
 A genuinely rare find, this full page ad ran in the LA Times in 1980, promoting the Wall tour. |
As Pink Floyd's original baby boomer fan base finds itself with more and more expendable income, the record companies' marketing gurus find more and more ways to entice them to spend it. Thus, classic albums such as Dark Side and The Wall are flogged to death in various guises, and new albums are packaged in novel ways as deluxe collectors' items.
 This limited edition promotional CD package of Atom Heart Mother was produced in the last 80s. Similar packages were manufactured for Animals and Delicate Sound of Thunder. |
 Here is one such deluxe package for The Division Bell, including a CD, a t-shirt, and a blue glass bell on a display pedestal. What anyone would actually do with such a package remains to be seen. |
 It isn't entirely clear from this picture, but this is a metal cast of the TDB steel heads. Again, what you might use it for is anyone's guess. Giant butter molds? |
 This necktie features the steel head sculptures from The Division Bell. |
 Another strange, useless commemorative item, this one marking the 30th anniversary of the band's existence. Yippee. Also doubles as a weapon in case of Ninja attack. |
 In the mid-90s, a handful of rock stars authorized the sale of 'stock' against their future recorded output, and apparently Pink Floyd took part in this money-making practice. These stock certificates bear some interesting variations of Floyd album art, perhaps just to give the certificates some value on collectors' aftermarket. |
 This piece of the Berlin wall, sold as a collector's item, features commemorative packaging promoting Roger Waters' 1990 performance there. |
 This handsome set of Floydian guitar picks may or may not be officially licensed. The bizarre inclusion of Gary Wallis (bottom row, second from the right) makes you wonder if the people who designed this set had any idea who Pink Floyd are. |
 Created by some enterprising music fan, this lightswitch cover features a likeness of the latter day Roger Waters. "Each small lightswitch lights the corner of the dark"? |
 Borrowing familiar icons from the Floyd's past, these stress toys were distributed to promote the Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd album. |