Product Endorsements: Are They Relevant To You?
June 19, 2007 by Jo Minor
In this era of online trading and limitless transactions, musical instruments and gadgetry has been the greatest source of income, via endorsements and sponsorships, for countless of musicians who have made a name for themselves - and the products they endorse - in the music industry. The market for musical instruments is worth in the millions annually, and has seen a boom thanks to the trendy promotions and endorsements of musicians who call MTV home.
But, to the budding musicians like us who don’t have deep pockets, we should be wary when it comes to getting gear just by endorsements alone.
Over the years of gawking at shiny silver hardware, precious wooden finishes and electronics with names no human being can pronounce I have learnt that some - if not most - of musicians who endorse instruments do it for the money alone.
Trust me - they are in no way trying to develop an instrument or gadget that would revolutionize the future of music for you or anyone else.
More often than not I have seen products that bear the names of musicians who don’t even use those products in the first place. Some of these products would be the MXR Dime Distortion (Dimebag never used these - it was a clever trick by Dunlop, who owns MXR and the rights to use Dime’s names for certain products) and the Slash signature model Gibson Les Paul (even the great Slash was content with Les Paul knockoff and Les Paul Standards later on in his career). Mick Thomson of Slipknot used his signature model B.C. Rich Warlock for no more than a few years before jumping ship to Ibanez, who was probably offering him a lot more money.
We don’t need to endure months and months of surviving on instant noodles to get our hands on an instrument that bears the name of people who are obviously making thousands of dollars every time their name appears on a guitar or an amp head.
Having said that, I wouldn’t mind forking out some money for Joe Perry’s Boneyard Brew Hot Sauce!
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