This morning I was alerted to a blog post on The Guardian about bands releasing their own brews (you can read it here).
Band beers are an interesting phenomenon and one that has been steadily growing over the past few years. Given the recent surge in popularity of craft beer, this trend makes sense. Bands would be fools not to try and make money off the back of that and, of course, beer (or alcohol) has always had an important part to play in music. Festivals and music venues have traditionally been sponsored by alcoholic brands: The Jagermeister Tour, Carling Academies (now O2), Tennents in the Park and Tuborg Music Hunters are just a few examples of the two combining.
You can understand why this collaboration might occur as it’s the sort of product consumers can really get involved with while at the event. I don’t know about you, but when I think of a music festival I think, ‘music! beer!’ The events that alcohol brands choose to sponsor influence our perceptions of those brands (see: WKD sponsoring the World Darts Championship- why?!) .
This influence can also apply to band beers. Indeed I am in constant turmoil when I think about Frank Turner’s beer. On one hand, I really don’t like Frank Turner. But on the other hand, beer. Who will win? (I think we both know the answer to this question). Likewise I desperately want to find the Status Quo bitter bland and uninspiring otherwise it will do nothing for my street cred. I am gagging to try Mastodon’s Black IPA, but I can’t help but feel that swigging from a bottle of that is making a bigger statement about me than I care to admit. When Iron Maiden first released their ale I sped down to Morrisons to buy a crate for my boyfriend. Why? Because he loves Iron Maiden. But what does it taste like? Who cares.
This is where my problem lies. I feel as though musicians should take more responsibility than your average brand over the taste and quality of the product. We’re buying this because we love your music, we’re buying it because we trust you. So make sure it tastes good.
Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to drink some Mastodon IPA and dye my hair black.
Band beers are an interesting phenomenon and one that has been steadily growing over the past few years. Given the recent surge in popularity of craft beer, this trend makes sense. Bands would be fools not to try and make money off the back of that and, of course, beer (or alcohol) has always had an important part to play in music. Festivals and music venues have traditionally been sponsored by alcoholic brands: The Jagermeister Tour, Carling Academies (now O2), Tennents in the Park and Tuborg Music Hunters are just a few examples of the two combining.
You can understand why this collaboration might occur as it’s the sort of product consumers can really get involved with while at the event. I don’t know about you, but when I think of a music festival I think, ‘music! beer!’ The events that alcohol brands choose to sponsor influence our perceptions of those brands (see: WKD sponsoring the World Darts Championship- why?!) .
This influence can also apply to band beers. Indeed I am in constant turmoil when I think about Frank Turner’s beer. On one hand, I really don’t like Frank Turner. But on the other hand, beer. Who will win? (I think we both know the answer to this question). Likewise I desperately want to find the Status Quo bitter bland and uninspiring otherwise it will do nothing for my street cred. I am gagging to try Mastodon’s Black IPA, but I can’t help but feel that swigging from a bottle of that is making a bigger statement about me than I care to admit. When Iron Maiden first released their ale I sped down to Morrisons to buy a crate for my boyfriend. Why? Because he loves Iron Maiden. But what does it taste like? Who cares.
This is where my problem lies. I feel as though musicians should take more responsibility than your average brand over the taste and quality of the product. We’re buying this because we love your music, we’re buying it because we trust you. So make sure it tastes good.
Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m going to drink some Mastodon IPA and dye my hair black.
Image courtesy of CNN
The Crafty Beeress 