The long-awaited movie biographical of Bob Marley, One Lovewill highlight important moments in the musician’s life, such as his adolescence in Trench Town, his spiritual growth and the attempt on his life. But as a student of music industry, I wonder if the movie It’s yet another extension of the marketing machine. musician.
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marley He died in 1981 at the age of 36, when he had achieved a level of success unmatched by other acts. reggaeand he did so while challenging global capitalism and speaking to the oppressed.
That image, however, is fundamentally at odds with what has happened to the name and image of marley since his death.
Now we can buy backpacks, suitcases, puzzles, mugs and even flip flops from Bob Marleand, among many other products.
The accusation of “selling out” could ever seriously threaten the credibility of a artist; The insult has much less power in an era in which the survival of a artist often depends on sponsorship and licensing agreements. Meanwhile, a deceased artist’s current income is left in the hands of others.
However, when a musician as revered as marley – and whose songs were riddled with messages of liberation, anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism – is so commercialized, it is worth asking how this happened and whether this threatens his artistic legacy.
Inside and outside the register
On his 2023 list of highest-paid dead celebrities, Forbes placed marley in ninth place, just behind the former leader of the Beatles, John Lennon. According to the publication, Marley won 16 million dollarsor rather, his assets.
The commercial affairs of marley They are now controlled by family members (the estate) who have made agreements with various marketing partners and marketing, and all parties share the profits. The commercial power of Bob Marley’s name generates the royalties earned by the estate, although the precise percentages are not publicly available.
One posthumous musical release, in particular, has been a gold mine: the compilation album Legendby Marley.
Released in 1984 and with songs like “Could You Be Loved” and “Three Little Birds”, it is the album most successful reggae song of all time. It has sold more than 15 million copies in the United States and has spent more than 800 non-consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200. Collectively, its songs have accounted for more than 4 billion streams on Spotifyand its phenomenal success is a key reason why private music publishing company The Company Primary Wavewhich is backed by investors like BlackRock, spent more than 50 million dollars to purchase a portion of Marley’s editorial catalog in 2018.
After the Marley’s death other albums were released, including Natural mystic (nineteen ninety five); the crossover of pop and hip-hop Chant Down Babylon (1999); united africa (2005); Live uprising! (2014), which presents his last concert; the polarizing electronic mashup Legend Remixed (2013); Easy Skanking in Boston ’78 (2015); and the curious Bob Marley & the Chineke! Orchestra (2022).
Marketing a mystic
Thanks to what two writers called “the Disneyfication of all things Marley,” you can now buy Marley-themed coffee, ice cream, and body wash. Bob Marley. There are brand audio equipment Bob Marley sustainably sourced, as well as a line of Bob Marley skateboards.
The cannabis brand Marley Natural shows how the name Marley It has become commercially intertwined with American companies.
It is financed by the American private equity company Privateer Holdings, to which marley family had approached him to evaluate his interest in collaborating for the launch of the product. The creators of the logo starbucks were hired to design the logo for Natural Marley, further underlining the company’s commercial links.
Apart from the obvious fact that these associations do not pay attention to the anti-capitalist messages of Bob Marley, I find it bitterly ironic that the private equity firm calls itself “Privateer.” Privateers were ships in charge of looting and murder throughout the Caribbean. They are among the “old pirates” he sang about marley in his sad “Redemption Song.”
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The movie “One Love”backed by Paramount Pictures – with four Marleys listed as producers – will certainly expand on the mythologies and harsh realities of the all-too-brief life of Bob Marley, which was cut short by melanoma. But it is also a huge vehicle of marketing international for the sale of even more official branded products.
His music It means much more. And their anti-imperialist messages, now that warmongers threaten basic human rights around the world, are perhaps more necessary than ever.
*Professor Emeritus of Recording Industry (Popular Music Studies and Music Business), Middle Tennessee State University.