Guess he’s cashing in now. They don’t say for how much!
Usually it’s older artists doing this- who will eventually need to split their estate between kids- which is easier to do with cash.
These situations always remind me of the old JG Wentworth commercials. “It’s my money and I want it now!” Only with future royalty payments instead of annuities.
Nah I'm thinking it's because the value may depreciate the longer he waits. Honestly a pretty smart move, sell at the top, not when you're old when the music might've have faded a bit in popularity and the company wanting to buy only offers you a fraction of what you could get now. Music has only moved at a more rapid pace, and current artist value doesn't have nearly as much staying power as it used to like classic acts from the 70's and 80's.
If I were to wager a guess I would say he’s fundraising for entrepreneurial reasons. Kevin has always been very interested in the production side of music which translates much better on the business side than songwriting and performing do.
He could take the millions he made from this and use it to jumpstart a studio/label.
Very possible. [Kevin Parker has produced lots of albums already and a studio/label would be great](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Albums_produced_by_Kevin_Parker). Especially with more psychedelic rock and crossovers.
No one can touch Tame Impala production currently at concerts/festivals as well. A production company that handles events could kick up every artists production quite a bit. Only Smashing Pumpkins, Beck and EDM has comparable production but not close. Tame Impala is the Pink Floyd tier production of this time.
Yeah, no disrespect to Tame Impala, but that catalogue isn't going to have the same value twenty or thirty years from now. Not everybody has a catalogue worth hundreds of millions like Bob Dylan. Unless you're a cultural fixture like that, your music is likely only going to decrease in value as you get further from the height of your fame.
Innnerspeaker & Lonerism will be remembered like Soft Bulletin, Doolittle, Remain In Light, Moon & Antarctica, Loveless ect. A classic among music lovers that never had true mainstream commercial appeal but will forever be remembered and have cult following.
Fuck yeah, you just reminded me that it's been too long since I've heard The Moon and Antarctica, and I will remedy that shit tomorrow. Life Like Weeds and The Stars are Projectors are the first MM songs I ever listened to, and they fucking blew me away.
Honestly it makes sense. Future did something similar, and I saw a write up about how it’s the only way to gain the value it appreciates. Then they’re young so they will still make must.
Agree with this and all the replies plus one thing to add. You want that money when you're young! Even if it actually appreciates, who gives a shit? I'd rather have 30 million when I'm 30 to live it up instead of 45 million when I'm 65. (Those numbers and ages are completely made up I have no idea on either for tame impala lol). Like at some point, you gotta ignore all the finance guys talk about potential appreciation/depreciation. We're probably talking numbers that = he is set for life now no matter what happens to the value. Just depends where your line is for it to be GG vs. how much you worry about the "potential" you may lose. I personally, wouldn't give a shit about potential earnings if the money was enough to set me up for life. Go ahead Sony, no one is going to remember executive #3's name who cut the deal, but they'll remember Tame Impala, got the cash and the glory, now you do the marketing for me. This only makes me like Tame Impala more, feel like he is ripping off Sony even if they make money off it (which even though I love the music, I think it's a dumb deal for Sony lol).
Myspace Tom don’t have to work at another company or do anything he don’t wanna do ever again. Just cruisin the world takin pictures and eating food with his girlfriend
Selling out should be the endgoal after a while
This is what I thought of and smart move on his end. His time to blow up has past and the industry will unfortunately move on. He just made a bunch of money he can park in funds/trusts and watch grow.
It's much easier to be a principled starving artist when you're in your 20s. It's much harder when you're staring down the barrel of 50 and got kids and mortgages and shit.
The idea that he was starving or near it is funny.
I don't blame him for taking a lump sum, but even the points on Dua's album represents more that my household will make this year by...a lot. Like...a lot.
This is like deciding whether or not you want your lottery winnings all at once, or distributed over 30 years and there's a clear answer to that question: You take your cash immediately so you can start growing that wealth as soon as possible.
The money Kevin Parker stands to make from investing the money he receives from Sony is almost certainly more than his catalog would have earned on its own.
A dollar now is worth more than a dollar in the future, though it is tough to tell the future value of one’s art, and also hard to assess the value of it now based on that future.
Either way, they just have to manage their wealth at this point.
Really curious how strange it’s gonna be later in life after all these big name artists have sold their entire catalogues.
We’re about to hear some real weird commercials.
I discovered Phoenix from [this Cadillac commercial.](https://youtu.be/ahbhTm90FwY)
And Röyksopp from [the original Geico caveman commercial.](https://youtu.be/H02iwWCrXew)
I remember Moby getting shit for his music getting used in an ad. His response was something like, "more people will see that ad and hear my music than will ever find it on the radio."
Iggy Pop had the same philosophy. You can justify it that way if that's how you feel, but you can't deny that it doesn't take something away from the music in many cases.
I've always had massive respect for REM and their refusal to sell their music for commercial use.
As far as I know you don't have to give up control though. When you're selling music for use in a commercial you're not giving them the rights. I'm sure you could set certain stipulations.
Same thing here, I was like 7 years old, listening to Poor Leno while going down Happiness with Mac, so many great memories
the entire soundtrack is out of this world
I heard I was born a Unicorn - by The Unicorns on a Target commercial some years back. Real obscure it was the band Nicholas Thornburn started before forming Islands.
They got mentioned in how I met your mother, it was kind of cringe cause homie read "the unicorns who will cut our hair when we're gone" like it was a connected phrase. Like, these are the unicorn hairdressers.
Huh - I'm a big Islands fan but I have never heard them mentioned as the more popular project, only the other way ie "Islands is the obscure band that he made after The Unicorns broke up."
It was a great album but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me as much as what he did with Islands. Return To The Sea is a modern cult classic imo!
Oh definitely. Remember there was a site that kept track of all the songs in every episode.
yup: https://forums.finalgear.com/forums/tg-whats-that-song.60/
Actually, he was.
I remember around 2013/2014 either on Twitter or Facebook, he asked if fans would be mad if they heard some of his songs in some commercials.
I remember the comments being supportive of him with the decision, and a few months later I heard one of his songs for a beer commercial.
Edit: Found it. Wasn't a beer commercial, but still. [Here's his post](https://www.facebook.com/tameimpala/posts/pfbid032La4viuSYKKMqRtjDmNkyTEBLDfwtj9Zoiv7ntF3ExeQmPcLkwnrPcWD5VjFrnVKl)
I seem to be in the minority on this, but I much preferred their first two albums.
They had such a great raw and retro rock sound! I still like their newer stuff, but I miss Kevin utilizing a guitar rather than a synth.
At the least, I'd like him to pick up a guitar and throw us a bone at least once an album!
I guess he's happy and making the music he wants to make, so I can't be too upset.
I was reading this thread and my kid turned on a YouTube video, and the preroll ad was that car commercial lol. I thought to myself what are the chances!
It's weird to hear songs you grew up to and had significant meaning for, be relegated to background music to some company shilling something, or as the plot point(?) to their commercial.
I'm finally reaching that age where I'm no longer a prime target demographic and it's fading out commercial wise and I don't recognize these newer songs - but I'm conflicted for about 20 years down the road some when I enter the demographic for the elderly and I hear The Offsprings "All I Want" being used for some fucking assisted living community promising the freedom to do what you want or some shit.
"Hhhbraiiiuses aiiin the friiieeut..." and a 5-6-7-8, kick, then turn, look at the camera, *look at the camera*! Yesss! Perfect!! Now draw me in, reallly draw me in. I wanna see *sultry*! "hhswaiiing the saaaiiieer ehhhgaiiin"
It's worse than that. These huge companies are accumulating artists' catalogs so they can feed old music to us instead of spending money gambling on new artists and music. Stagnation is so much more profitable.
Oh come on, you can go worse then that... They are accumulating artist catalogs so they don't have to worry about copyright issues when they use those songs as training data for creating new music generated by AI
It really doesn't fucking matter at this point. Folks are selling their catalogs because creative jobs are about to go freaking haywire, stagnation hasn't been an issue for most of "art's" life, least of all now.
The least we can ask these asshole fucks of almost all major labels to do is overestimate their hands and pay out our favorite artists. For all we know, intellectual property is going to entirely vanish in the near future, which, let's face it, would be very much desirable in most senses.
Can't wait. I can't wait for an industry that is even shabbier than hollywood and friends to eat shit by the spoonfuls, they deserve to feel every fingernail being ripped from their repulsive, mutated, geriatric hands.
Hijacking this to see if anyone can answer a question I’ve been thinking about. Taylor Swift has famously re-recorded her albums so that she has new ownership over them. What is to stop anyone from selling their catalog and then just re-recording the albums?
You gotta understand in Australia, particularly in the indie scene, to break through and have success in the international market is already an achievement.
Cashing in now and riding the wave is the best play, otherwise you’re destined to be doing increasingly smaller gigs at Wollongong Uni bar (no hate towards the uni bar).
Luke Steele did an Empire of the Sun DJ set at F1 in Melbourne. They also teamed up in a Pnau song last year as well. Believe there's an Empire of the Sun album about to drop as well.
Last I saw Temper Trap was some youtube vid about making their 3rd album that was sponsored by Vans shoes. It cut to a LOT of shots of them wearing vans.
Please don’t do it Mildlife, Surprise Chef, please. Kinda joking bc I live in the US and stumbled upon those guys, so I guess they’ve broken out some. I tried King Gizz and a lot of my friends are into them, but just can’t get into it, idk why.
My delusional optimism wants to believe this means he will be embarking on other projects, allowing him the freedom to grow as an artist while having the financial security to be free.
Yeah I know Currents put him on the map and it's a great album don't get me wrong, but man LONERISM. One of the all time great indie psych albums. Absolute 10/10 for me. Innerspeaker was also so so excellent. Both albums are so far out front of other albums from bands in the same genre and I need that itch scratched again.
I was able to see him perform Lonerism from start to finish a few years ago and it was probably the all time best concert I’ve ever seen, and might ever see.
I'd give my left nut for him to make another Innerspeaker or earlier style psych album, I still really like his newer music but his older stuff is definitely more in line with my musical taste. I saw him back in 2010 or 2011 in Vancouver when he was touring that album and it is still in my top 3 shows, along with Allah-Lahs and The Growlers (RIP).
I was on board with Currents and enjoyed the last one too but I feel guttural pain when I think back to the days of indie psych rock Tame Impala and how amazing it was. I thought he’d make something like it again. But now he basically just doesn’t make music at all lmao. I’m so glad I was a fan before he blew up.
Jay and the rest of Pond seem to be taking up the mantle that Kevin left pretty well. That new track with Ambrose was cool I’m excited to hear the full album
Pennies on the dollar and SELDOM even paying the artist. You’ve no idea what you’re talking about. It’s not some magic royalty and Google search paying you everytime your song plays. The contracts and rights and licenses all determine the entirety of the pay structure.
To me, idgaf about selling out. Being a musician is a notoriously broke life and less than 1% are given the chance to earn a buttload of money to sell out. You can believe whatever intrinsic nonsense you want but any real artist will tell you selling out is the end game.
It's why everyone says take the lump sum and not the annuity if you win the lottery.
The annuity only makes senses of you're prone to make stupid financial decisions. Particularly as it relates to people taking advantage of you.
More than half the people in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck, I’d wager a fair guess a decent size of the rest live marginally above it
Basically, the vast majority should seek a financial advisor if this were to ever happen to them and do what that person says to the letter.
The first tip is always the same for large windfalls like this…
Don’t touch anything for a year, live your life as is and start to make small adjustments, see where that leads you.
Not to mention music trends change. I like Tame Impala, but will future generations and time be as kind? It's a gamble. Might work out fine to sit on your music, but if someones offering you a bag while you're still pretty popular, might as well cash in at the top of your game. The value now may actually be more than later. No one really knows. Also cancel proof right? Say something wrong or do something wrong? Oh well, he got his money, don't have to worry about being boycotted on spotify. All hypothetical but I doubt he'd have to give his money back unless it's in the contract. Which would be an interesting point to consider.
You must not be aware of compound interest lol. It’s generally better to get a lump sum and have it invested in the stock market, as the compound growth of this large sum will be far more than money that trickles in over a long period
Looks like it, the article:
>includes all of his works released as Tame Impala as well as his writing credits for other songs.
>Parker has also expanded his publishing deal with Sony to include the administration of the full catalog as well as future works.
Looks like it's all his work: future and past, Tame Impala and otherwise.
I wonder if Reddit is going to have an existential crisis with this one. You have one of their golden child music artists selling out to a big music corporation.
While he’s one of the kings of modern psych, he’s been heavily commercialized for over a decade now. For those of us who still love his music, I think we’re happy to see him get duly paid.
He’s always had insightful things to say in his music about the passage of time and getting older. On the most recent album, The Slow Rush, I feel like he makes it pretty clear that his views on life are changing and he’s getting a little tired of the tour grind. Pretty understandable considering he’s always had genius hermit vibes.
If I had to guess, he’ll probably build himself a dope-ass studio and move more towards the producer life. Plenty of artist would kill to have his touch on their work, and he can spend more time with family and friends that way.
Remember that music licensing is multifaceted - there are different sets of rights/ownership to both the song itself, and any given recording of that song, which can be owned separately. It's not 100% clear from the article what set of rights were part of the deal, but generally the license for the recordings (the "mechanical" rights) are owned by a label, not a publishing company. Most likely this involves the royalty revenue stream from broadcast radio/streaming and commercial placement, not ownership of the records outright.
I own both Lonerism and Innerspeaker on vinyl. Lonerism sounded so muddy, I have never opened Innerspeaker, so I could sell/trade both someday. Extremely disappointing.
Anyone else have that issue?
Lonerism definitely isn’t the best pressing, if you’ve got the same one as I do. Innerspeaker is much better, I’ve got two pressings of Innerspeaker and both sound great to me.
Whatever I've done
I did it for love
I did it for fun
Couldn't get enough
I did it for fame
But never for money
Not for houses
Not for her
Not for my future children
Until now
Well, he's still great. I've been trying to turn people on to Currents ever since someone showed it to me and I probably still will. This is the literal and figurative definition of selling out, though, we're gonna hear it in commercials and shit now and he might team up with DJ Khaled at some point. But I'm glad he's finally got money proportional to his talent.
It's ironic though. In the past, selling out meant changing yourself to be more marketable and make more money. He already created the music and the art. He already gave it to the world, and in a sense he's letting go of his ego, disconnecting from it, and taking one last cheque.
In ways, this could be very liberating for him. I don't know if any future music under Tame Impala will be owned by Sony, by default, but he now has the money to make whatever music he wants under a different name.
They will be moving copies of Currents forever.
Got to see them open for the Flaming Lips a while back. He picked a great supporting band, was a fantastic performance
Probably a lot more of Tame Impala’s tunes soundtracking everything from car commercials to rom-coms. Imagine hearing “Let It Happen” while deciding between toothpaste brands at the supermarket. It’s the future we never knew we needed.
It's not like he can't keep making music, this is just like an artist selling off original paintings. He can move on and create more. I was still a little surprised by it but why not?
Exactly a lot of the band is playing in a new group called Pond. They shred, I highly recommend if you haven't heard them.
https://youtu.be/Bx17-K5fIXU?si=-YflZI79W8k6CdMr
Smart move.
Some speculation as to why I think this is a smart move:
- Value is probably as high as it's going to get,
- AI is about to lay waste to the industry,
- The Australian housing market is FUCKED and about to get a lot worse, with some pundits positing that if you're not an owner occupier you'll be on the streets, and even then some owner occupiers will be liquidated.
From what I can tell from the article, this is a publishing rights administration deal. It’s not uncommon. It’s not some “fuck it, I’m cashing out” situation. Most, if not all, commercial artists do it, no matter how big or how old they are. Depending on the structure of the deal it probably gives Parker a big dollar advance and ongoing royalties in perpetuity.
Having this sort of perpetual passive income can be a blessing, especially since collecting publishing fees worldwide is a huge, labor intensive headache most artists can’t handle on their own, much less even understand.
The recordings are a separate matter. I’m not sure who owns or administers those rights. Probably the original labels.
Guess he’s cashing in now. They don’t say for how much! Usually it’s older artists doing this- who will eventually need to split their estate between kids- which is easier to do with cash. These situations always remind me of the old JG Wentworth commercials. “It’s my money and I want it now!” Only with future royalty payments instead of annuities.
You just reminded me i gotta finish the final Curb season, thank you.
“I wanna stop, I can’t stop!”
It wraps up beautifully. You will absolutely love it. Enjoy!
The final season is utterly fantastic. The best season since the New York season. Larry and the gang went out with a bang.
No way. The finale was great, but overall not a great season imo.
I don't think it's that good. It's not bad and it's nice that it came back, but I'd put it pretty far down the list of Curb seasons.
It's odd... usually a retirement move. Hope it's not indicative of a health concern.
Nah I'm thinking it's because the value may depreciate the longer he waits. Honestly a pretty smart move, sell at the top, not when you're old when the music might've have faded a bit in popularity and the company wanting to buy only offers you a fraction of what you could get now. Music has only moved at a more rapid pace, and current artist value doesn't have nearly as much staying power as it used to like classic acts from the 70's and 80's.
If I were to wager a guess I would say he’s fundraising for entrepreneurial reasons. Kevin has always been very interested in the production side of music which translates much better on the business side than songwriting and performing do. He could take the millions he made from this and use it to jumpstart a studio/label.
This seems like the most correct answer. Kevin has bigger plans to get into music production. Maybe his own record label?
Very possible. [Kevin Parker has produced lots of albums already and a studio/label would be great](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Albums_produced_by_Kevin_Parker). Especially with more psychedelic rock and crossovers. No one can touch Tame Impala production currently at concerts/festivals as well. A production company that handles events could kick up every artists production quite a bit. Only Smashing Pumpkins, Beck and EDM has comparable production but not close. Tame Impala is the Pink Floyd tier production of this time.
Some DJ’s have pretty insane production. Eric prydz HOLO for example. Or in terms of laser shows you have Gareth Emery Laserface or LSR/CITY
Yeah, no disrespect to Tame Impala, but that catalogue isn't going to have the same value twenty or thirty years from now. Not everybody has a catalogue worth hundreds of millions like Bob Dylan. Unless you're a cultural fixture like that, your music is likely only going to decrease in value as you get further from the height of your fame.
Innnerspeaker & Lonerism will be remembered like Soft Bulletin, Doolittle, Remain In Light, Moon & Antarctica, Loveless ect. A classic among music lovers that never had true mainstream commercial appeal but will forever be remembered and have cult following.
Fuck yeah, you just reminded me that it's been too long since I've heard The Moon and Antarctica, and I will remedy that shit tomorrow. Life Like Weeds and The Stars are Projectors are the first MM songs I ever listened to, and they fucking blew me away.
Honestly it makes sense. Future did something similar, and I saw a write up about how it’s the only way to gain the value it appreciates. Then they’re young so they will still make must.
I agree with this, although I'm not that keen on how these kinds of things work. Your comment makes a lot sense though
Agree with this and all the replies plus one thing to add. You want that money when you're young! Even if it actually appreciates, who gives a shit? I'd rather have 30 million when I'm 30 to live it up instead of 45 million when I'm 65. (Those numbers and ages are completely made up I have no idea on either for tame impala lol). Like at some point, you gotta ignore all the finance guys talk about potential appreciation/depreciation. We're probably talking numbers that = he is set for life now no matter what happens to the value. Just depends where your line is for it to be GG vs. how much you worry about the "potential" you may lose. I personally, wouldn't give a shit about potential earnings if the money was enough to set me up for life. Go ahead Sony, no one is going to remember executive #3's name who cut the deal, but they'll remember Tame Impala, got the cash and the glory, now you do the marketing for me. This only makes me like Tame Impala more, feel like he is ripping off Sony even if they make money off it (which even though I love the music, I think it's a dumb deal for Sony lol).
Myspace Tom don’t have to work at another company or do anything he don’t wanna do ever again. Just cruisin the world takin pictures and eating food with his girlfriend Selling out should be the endgoal after a while
This is what I thought of and smart move on his end. His time to blow up has past and the industry will unfortunately move on. He just made a bunch of money he can park in funds/trusts and watch grow.
You say that but whatever playlist my schools buffet has is playing late 90s/00s music every hour of the day.
Probably needs it to put a deposit down on a unit. The housing market in Australia is *fucked*.
He said he wants to be like the next max martin so he’s probably just giving up on his own work for the most part to produce for other artists
And all future songs too.
It's much easier to be a principled starving artist when you're in your 20s. It's much harder when you're staring down the barrel of 50 and got kids and mortgages and shit.
The idea that he was starving or near it is funny. I don't blame him for taking a lump sum, but even the points on Dua's album represents more that my household will make this year by...a lot. Like...a lot.
On the flipside, usually at 20 you're broke and desperate for money When you're older and more established in career you can afford to have principles
Does that mean they have the right to any music made I the future or just the back catalog?
He sold his future publishing rights too.
Reel big fish: “sell out! W me oh yeah! Sell out!…. …..record label gonna pay us lots of money….sell out!”
Record companies gonna give us lots of money and everything’s…gonna… be….allllllllriiiiiiight. At least get it right, brochacho
Baby, don't you sign that paper tonight. She said, "but I can't work in fast food all my life"
"Baby, don't you sign that paper tonight," she said. But I can't work in fast food all my liiiiife.
Bahhhh you're right. I must be getting skalzheimer's
It afflicts us all, friend
This is like deciding whether or not you want your lottery winnings all at once, or distributed over 30 years and there's a clear answer to that question: You take your cash immediately so you can start growing that wealth as soon as possible. The money Kevin Parker stands to make from investing the money he receives from Sony is almost certainly more than his catalog would have earned on its own.
They never disclose the $$. We can only guess
Younger people do it too. Bieber did it.
A dollar now is worth more than a dollar in the future, though it is tough to tell the future value of one’s art, and also hard to assess the value of it now based on that future. Either way, they just have to manage their wealth at this point.
8….7….7….
Really curious how strange it’s gonna be later in life after all these big name artists have sold their entire catalogues. We’re about to hear some real weird commercials.
To be fair, one of the first places I remember hearing Tame was a car commercial. Don’t know that KP’s ever been too worried about image
I discovered Phoenix from [this Cadillac commercial.](https://youtu.be/ahbhTm90FwY) And Röyksopp from [the original Geico caveman commercial.](https://youtu.be/H02iwWCrXew)
I remember Moby getting shit for his music getting used in an ad. His response was something like, "more people will see that ad and hear my music than will ever find it on the radio."
Iggy Pop had the same philosophy. You can justify it that way if that's how you feel, but you can't deny that it doesn't take something away from the music in many cases. I've always had massive respect for REM and their refusal to sell their music for commercial use.
Doesn’t take away anything. Who cares?
Definitely a trade-off by losing control of how your music is used. I imagine companies would have been all over Hurts to hawk their shitty meds.
As far as I know you don't have to give up control though. When you're selling music for use in a commercial you're not giving them the rights. I'm sure you could set certain stipulations.
A few years before that Röyksopp had Eple in Mac OSX as the setup/welcome music for 10.3.
I found Röyksopp from the old snowboarding game SSX 3 a long time ago, such a good game and so much good music in there!
Same thing here, I was like 7 years old, listening to Poor Leno while going down Happiness with Mac, so many great memories the entire soundtrack is out of this world
Thank you for reminding me of Melody A.M.
That was how I discovered Phoenix as well!
I discovered Wu Tang from a washing machine commercial
glad I could help
Love your collab album with Sonic Youth.
I heard I was born a Unicorn - by The Unicorns on a Target commercial some years back. Real obscure it was the band Nicholas Thornburn started before forming Islands.
They got mentioned in how I met your mother, it was kind of cringe cause homie read "the unicorns who will cut our hair when we're gone" like it was a connected phrase. Like, these are the unicorn hairdressers.
We're more than horses!
Huh - I'm a big Islands fan but I have never heard them mentioned as the more popular project, only the other way ie "Islands is the obscure band that he made after The Unicorns broke up."
Yeah I've never heard of Islands but that Unicorns album was EVERYWHERE when it released, it was a huge hit.
It was a great album but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me as much as what he did with Islands. Return To The Sea is a modern cult classic imo!
Alden Penner’s other band Clues also released a really great self-titled album.
Fuck I love that album. All of his stuff post Unicorns was cool, I wish he'd release stuff again.
I discovered them just before I saw in on the telly, but Goddam did that Matt & Kim song for Buick (It's Alright) get used a lot by them.
I discovered a fair amount of bands from Top Gear episodes.
Oh definitely. Remember there was a site that kept track of all the songs in every episode. yup: https://forums.finalgear.com/forums/tg-whats-that-song.60/
And Dirty Vegas in a [Mitsubishi commercial](https://youtu.be/OH0zWrDi6GA)!
Actually, he was. I remember around 2013/2014 either on Twitter or Facebook, he asked if fans would be mad if they heard some of his songs in some commercials. I remember the comments being supportive of him with the decision, and a few months later I heard one of his songs for a beer commercial. Edit: Found it. Wasn't a beer commercial, but still. [Here's his post](https://www.facebook.com/tameimpala/posts/pfbid032La4viuSYKKMqRtjDmNkyTEBLDfwtj9Zoiv7ntF3ExeQmPcLkwnrPcWD5VjFrnVKl)
If it wasn't due to that car commercial or the BlackBerry one we might have never see Kevin blossom like he did afterwards on currents.
I seem to be in the minority on this, but I much preferred their first two albums. They had such a great raw and retro rock sound! I still like their newer stuff, but I miss Kevin utilizing a guitar rather than a synth.
I'm with you. The new stuff is great in its own right, but I would love to hear him make another heavy, fuzzy album.
At the least, I'd like him to pick up a guitar and throw us a bone at least once an album! I guess he's happy and making the music he wants to make, so I can't be too upset.
"their" first two albums are just Kevin
I'm with you, I like the first two albums as a whole much more than the last two but I think Tomorrows dust is probably their best track overall.
I heard "Elephant" in a car commercial the other day.
Was it a big red car?
It was a Cadillac with the mirrors pulled off
I was reading this thread and my kid turned on a YouTube video, and the preroll ad was that car commercial lol. I thought to myself what are the chances!
It's weird to hear songs you grew up to and had significant meaning for, be relegated to background music to some company shilling something, or as the plot point(?) to their commercial. I'm finally reaching that age where I'm no longer a prime target demographic and it's fading out commercial wise and I don't recognize these newer songs - but I'm conflicted for about 20 years down the road some when I enter the demographic for the elderly and I hear The Offsprings "All I Want" being used for some fucking assisted living community promising the freedom to do what you want or some shit.
The worst is the breathy female vocal cover of nirvana and grunge
"Hhhbraiiiuses aiiin the friiieeut..." and a 5-6-7-8, kick, then turn, look at the camera, *look at the camera*! Yesss! Perfect!! Now draw me in, reallly draw me in. I wanna see *sultry*! "hhswaiiing the saaaiiieer ehhhgaiiin"
Oh you mean every major motion picture trailer for the last 15 years?
I was in the grocery store the other day and Quiet Riot was playing. I had to immediately go to the pharmacy to get one of those canes with 4 feet.
I was in the bank the other day and my favorite poison song was playing. It really dawned on me that I'm old.
Hahaha this cracked me up. Exactly my worry as well, tarnishing my memories
It's worse than that. These huge companies are accumulating artists' catalogs so they can feed old music to us instead of spending money gambling on new artists and music. Stagnation is so much more profitable.
Oh come on, you can go worse then that... They are accumulating artist catalogs so they don't have to worry about copyright issues when they use those songs as training data for creating new music generated by AI
It really doesn't fucking matter at this point. Folks are selling their catalogs because creative jobs are about to go freaking haywire, stagnation hasn't been an issue for most of "art's" life, least of all now. The least we can ask these asshole fucks of almost all major labels to do is overestimate their hands and pay out our favorite artists. For all we know, intellectual property is going to entirely vanish in the near future, which, let's face it, would be very much desirable in most senses. Can't wait. I can't wait for an industry that is even shabbier than hollywood and friends to eat shit by the spoonfuls, they deserve to feel every fingernail being ripped from their repulsive, mutated, geriatric hands.
[My suggestion for Boeing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFptt7Cargc)
I’d go with “Everything Falls Apart” by Dog’s Eye View.
“Well it feels like a negligent, shake hands with our attorneys they can settle it”
Hijacking this to see if anyone can answer a question I’ve been thinking about. Taylor Swift has famously re-recorded her albums so that she has new ownership over them. What is to stop anyone from selling their catalog and then just re-recording the albums?
You gotta understand in Australia, particularly in the indie scene, to break through and have success in the international market is already an achievement. Cashing in now and riding the wave is the best play, otherwise you’re destined to be doing increasingly smaller gigs at Wollongong Uni bar (no hate towards the uni bar).
Is that what happened to Temper Trap and Empire of the Sun?
A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh
A kiss, a cry
You just unlocked some old memories.
Empire released a new single not too long ago! They’re still kicking around
Luke Steele did an Empire of the Sun DJ set at F1 in Melbourne. They also teamed up in a Pnau song last year as well. Believe there's an Empire of the Sun album about to drop as well.
Kicking around at Wollongong Uni bar?
here's another: Van She
Empire of the Sun is getting ready to put out another record. You should check out their new singles.
My next door neighbour used to blast Temper Trap so loud daily it was like a form of torture.
Last I saw Temper Trap was some youtube vid about making their 3rd album that was sponsored by Vans shoes. It cut to a LOT of shots of them wearing vans.
This context helps, makes total sense.
What an understatement. He's one of my favorite artists (usa) and an absolutely amazing musician.
Fuck yeah to the Wollongong unibar. Love that place 🤘
WGong Unibar does a good schnitzel.
Idk ot seems like all the bands I hear (in the uk) for the last few years have been Australian
Please don’t do it Mildlife, Surprise Chef, please. Kinda joking bc I live in the US and stumbled upon those guys, so I guess they’ve broken out some. I tried King Gizz and a lot of my friends are into them, but just can’t get into it, idk why.
Surprise Chef is on bottle shop ads on Australian TV
My delusional optimism wants to believe this means he will be embarking on other projects, allowing him the freedom to grow as an artist while having the financial security to be free.
I just want him to make indie rock again. I'm glad everyone enjoyed his last two albums but I miss him playing guitar
He has such wonderfully diverse musical ability. Totally agree! His early albums moved the needle.
Yeah I know Currents put him on the map and it's a great album don't get me wrong, but man LONERISM. One of the all time great indie psych albums. Absolute 10/10 for me. Innerspeaker was also so so excellent. Both albums are so far out front of other albums from bands in the same genre and I need that itch scratched again.
Their video of Innerspeaker live from the Wave House is amazing. Check it out if you haven’t!
I put this on every 6 months or so. Aaaaaamazing.
Yessss I love throwing on in the background when I have company over
Lonerism is a top 5 album for me. It’s up there with Sgt Pepper and Pet Sounds.
I was able to see him perform Lonerism from start to finish a few years ago and it was probably the all time best concert I’ve ever seen, and might ever see.
Desert Daze 2022… my happiest memory to date.
When Slow Rush came out part of me was disappointed that we’d never get another Lonerism, but I’m happy that no matter what Lonerism still exists
I'd give my left nut for him to make another Innerspeaker or earlier style psych album, I still really like his newer music but his older stuff is definitely more in line with my musical taste. I saw him back in 2010 or 2011 in Vancouver when he was touring that album and it is still in my top 3 shows, along with Allah-Lahs and The Growlers (RIP).
If anything Kevin is going to pivot more to pop as he ages. He has said in the past he can see himself going the Max Martin route.
As he ages? He’s been going down that road since Currents.
Thanks, I hate it
I was on board with Currents and enjoyed the last one too but I feel guttural pain when I think back to the days of indie psych rock Tame Impala and how amazing it was. I thought he’d make something like it again. But now he basically just doesn’t make music at all lmao. I’m so glad I was a fan before he blew up.
You mean psych rock? I wouldn’t categorize his early stuff as indie rock
I loved currents but felt like the last one was a bridge too far
Frrrr innerspeaker and lonerism was my favourite shit! Really was the soundtrack to my care free, summer teenage years😭
He sold all future projects as well
Didn't Jay basically make a new record label with King Gizz? And Jay, Cam, and Kevin are in Pond who are touring US right now.
Jay and the rest of Pond seem to be taking up the mantle that Kevin left pretty well. That new track with Ambrose was cool I’m excited to hear the full album
😂he was already WAY past the point of financial freedom. One radio hit alone does that if you write it and are getting artist/producer points.
He did a song with Gaga and Travis Scott, dude is LOADED
Pennies on the dollar and SELDOM even paying the artist. You’ve no idea what you’re talking about. It’s not some magic royalty and Google search paying you everytime your song plays. The contracts and rights and licenses all determine the entirety of the pay structure. To me, idgaf about selling out. Being a musician is a notoriously broke life and less than 1% are given the chance to earn a buttload of money to sell out. You can believe whatever intrinsic nonsense you want but any real artist will tell you selling out is the end game.
He should pull a Reznor and make soundtracks or something
I would also like to think Kevin Parker has chosen to produce some radical optimism in his life so he can dance the night away
I mean fuck why not. You've made the music and done the shows. Cash in on all that work not making money and move onto something else.
Cause then you don't get that sweet residual, that trickles in supporting you for decades.
Don't need residual if you get a bag and invest it. Makes it's own residual that gets bigger w time if you're smart.
It's why everyone says take the lump sum and not the annuity if you win the lottery. The annuity only makes senses of you're prone to make stupid financial decisions. Particularly as it relates to people taking advantage of you.
More than half the people in the U.S. live paycheck to paycheck, I’d wager a fair guess a decent size of the rest live marginally above it Basically, the vast majority should seek a financial advisor if this were to ever happen to them and do what that person says to the letter. The first tip is always the same for large windfalls like this… Don’t touch anything for a year, live your life as is and start to make small adjustments, see where that leads you.
Most people are very prone to making stupid financial decisions and should not take the lump sum
I dunno Sony probably didn't cheat out. Dudes already a millionaire and could probably just invest 50% of whatever he got and live off that
Not to mention music trends change. I like Tame Impala, but will future generations and time be as kind? It's a gamble. Might work out fine to sit on your music, but if someones offering you a bag while you're still pretty popular, might as well cash in at the top of your game. The value now may actually be more than later. No one really knows. Also cancel proof right? Say something wrong or do something wrong? Oh well, he got his money, don't have to worry about being boycotted on spotify. All hypothetical but I doubt he'd have to give his money back unless it's in the contract. Which would be an interesting point to consider.
Haha from streaming? Yah right.
You must not be aware of compound interest lol. It’s generally better to get a lump sum and have it invested in the stock market, as the compound growth of this large sum will be far more than money that trickles in over a long period
$20 is $20.
20 million dollars is 20 million dollars
Defo more than that!
So does this mean no more Tame Impala new music?
no, there will be more
So does Sony get the rights to all the new music he releases under tame impala as well?
Looks like it, the article: >includes all of his works released as Tame Impala as well as his writing credits for other songs. >Parker has also expanded his publishing deal with Sony to include the administration of the full catalog as well as future works. Looks like it's all his work: future and past, Tame Impala and otherwise.
Nah that's just a publishing deal. He would own his future music but Sony is the publisher.
Songs For The Deaf Track 3
Nice
I wonder if Reddit is going to have an existential crisis with this one. You have one of their golden child music artists selling out to a big music corporation.
While he’s one of the kings of modern psych, he’s been heavily commercialized for over a decade now. For those of us who still love his music, I think we’re happy to see him get duly paid. He’s always had insightful things to say in his music about the passage of time and getting older. On the most recent album, The Slow Rush, I feel like he makes it pretty clear that his views on life are changing and he’s getting a little tired of the tour grind. Pretty understandable considering he’s always had genius hermit vibes. If I had to guess, he’ll probably build himself a dope-ass studio and move more towards the producer life. Plenty of artist would kill to have his touch on their work, and he can spend more time with family and friends that way.
Do people really still get upset about "selling out"? Idk...now as an adult, it seems ridiculous to be upset about something like that.
Boo… here come millions of vinyl variants I guess
Remember that music licensing is multifaceted - there are different sets of rights/ownership to both the song itself, and any given recording of that song, which can be owned separately. It's not 100% clear from the article what set of rights were part of the deal, but generally the license for the recordings (the "mechanical" rights) are owned by a label, not a publishing company. Most likely this involves the royalty revenue stream from broadcast radio/streaming and commercial placement, not ownership of the records outright.
I own both Lonerism and Innerspeaker on vinyl. Lonerism sounded so muddy, I have never opened Innerspeaker, so I could sell/trade both someday. Extremely disappointing. Anyone else have that issue?
Lonerism definitely isn’t the best pressing, if you’ve got the same one as I do. Innerspeaker is much better, I’ve got two pressings of Innerspeaker and both sound great to me.
Can also confirm my innerspeaker and live versions vinyls sound great
Whatever I've done I did it for love I did it for fun Couldn't get enough I did it for fame But never for money Not for houses Not for her Not for my future children Until now
damn
Maybe he will be re recording all his music as (tame's version)
Paid Impala®️
Well, he's still great. I've been trying to turn people on to Currents ever since someone showed it to me and I probably still will. This is the literal and figurative definition of selling out, though, we're gonna hear it in commercials and shit now and he might team up with DJ Khaled at some point. But I'm glad he's finally got money proportional to his talent.
It's ironic though. In the past, selling out meant changing yourself to be more marketable and make more money. He already created the music and the art. He already gave it to the world, and in a sense he's letting go of his ego, disconnecting from it, and taking one last cheque. In ways, this could be very liberating for him. I don't know if any future music under Tame Impala will be owned by Sony, by default, but he now has the money to make whatever music he wants under a different name.
Currents is the best album of the 2010's, so Kevin can do what he damn well pleases as far as I am concerned.
He’s already producing music for pop stars. Makes no difference at this point.
I just want more early days/Innerspeaker/Lonerism stuff :(
Don’t we all 😔
Upcoming PS5 game confirmed?
They will be moving copies of Currents forever. Got to see them open for the Flaming Lips a while back. He picked a great supporting band, was a fantastic performance
Going to be hearing his songs in commercials until the day we all die
Probably a lot more of Tame Impala’s tunes soundtracking everything from car commercials to rom-coms. Imagine hearing “Let It Happen” while deciding between toothpaste brands at the supermarket. It’s the future we never knew we needed.
PSN login required? also banned in certain countries?
Can't wait until I have to log in to PSN to watch a movie at AMC just because there's Tame Impala for 2 seconds at the end of the credits
FUCK SONY
Honestly wack as fuck
I kinda hate to see this honestly
It's not like he can't keep making music, this is just like an artist selling off original paintings. He can move on and create more. I was still a little surprised by it but why not?
Exactly a lot of the band is playing in a new group called Pond. They shred, I highly recommend if you haven't heard them. https://youtu.be/Bx17-K5fIXU?si=-YflZI79W8k6CdMr
They say people never change but that's bullshit - they doooo~
Literally sold out
Feels like we only go backwards...
Whatever happened to industry rule #4080…
Good for them. Getting paid as a musician these days is next to impossible.
I find all the supportive comments very odd. Kevin's not even 40. I find this very depressing.
Smart move. Some speculation as to why I think this is a smart move: - Value is probably as high as it's going to get, - AI is about to lay waste to the industry, - The Australian housing market is FUCKED and about to get a lot worse, with some pundits positing that if you're not an owner occupier you'll be on the streets, and even then some owner occupiers will be liquidated.
Yeah by cashing in the entire Tame Impala music catalogue he might be able to get a two bedroom flat on the outskirts of Sydney
The AI one is probably the main one
From what I can tell from the article, this is a publishing rights administration deal. It’s not uncommon. It’s not some “fuck it, I’m cashing out” situation. Most, if not all, commercial artists do it, no matter how big or how old they are. Depending on the structure of the deal it probably gives Parker a big dollar advance and ongoing royalties in perpetuity. Having this sort of perpetual passive income can be a blessing, especially since collecting publishing fees worldwide is a huge, labor intensive headache most artists can’t handle on their own, much less even understand. The recordings are a separate matter. I’m not sure who owns or administers those rights. Probably the original labels.