Sebber wrote:
I'm not complaining about the general channel content, MTV or whatever, it's the music that DSTV use for their own ads that are making me chew my own head off with aggro... there's one where the song starts "Pretty girls with flowers in their hair" which DSTV seems to think should be shown every 20 mins or so (particularly on the news channels), then there was one that I heard for the first time yesterday, which prompted the rant, that was some sort of "hooray for Spring" ad: in that one they used Auto-Tune like some sort of hideous vocal flange effect, like some demonically possessed set of bag pipes suddenly learned the ability to enunciate words... the horror... the horror...
Well that effect has been fashionable since Cher's hit single that made deliberately obvious overuse of autotune. I hear it used quite often as an obvious effect, not just as compensation for slightly out of tune singing. Since Cher had a big hit with a song that used autotune in this way, DSTV or, really, the production house that produced the advert in question can say "it's a popular sound".
You might as well complain about too much flange on the guitar. Or that there are guitars. I know folks who can't stand the sound of an overdriven guitar. I myself find that ad that uses the AC/DC tune to be pretty tedious.
You're farting against thunder. Advertisers and broadcasters aim at specific demographic groups. They understand that not everybody will like the ads or the programming, but they're not aiming to please everybody, they're aiming to get as much as they can out of what they perceive to be their target market. I get up and let the dogs out or pour a beer or something when that bothersome ad built around "Thunderstruck" comes on. Who cares? Not the advertisers. That ad is clearly not pitched at me.
A few years ago a friend of mine ended up at the same corporate function as Jeremy Mansfield. They struck up conversation.
JM: So you listen to my show? Thanks. Glad you like it.
Friend: Well I do, but I wish you'd change the music it a bit. The music that you play could be better.
JM: Excuse me for asking, but how old are you?
Friend: (reveals the awful truth)
JM: To be blunt, you don't count. We're aiming for a younger demographic. I appreciate that you listen to the show and I thank you for your support, but our advertising, our music, in fact the whole package is not really aimed at you. We play the music that research shows our target audience enjoys. I bet you find that none of our ads are selling anything you want to buy. Why? Because everything is pitched at a specific demographic group, one that you fall outside of. Sorry, and thanks for your support, but that's the truth of the matter.
Or words to that effect. I am not quoting either party entirely verbatim, and said friend said that Mansfield was very polite, but this is the gist of what took place.
