{"id":36381,"date":"2024-02-05T01:54:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T01:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=36381"},"modified":"2024-02-07T19:46:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T19:46:30","slug":"from-rebel-to-retail-%e2%88%92-inside-bob-marleys-posthumous-musical-and-merchandising-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/from-rebel-to-retail-%e2%88%92-inside-bob-marleys-posthumous-musical-and-merchandising-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"From rebel to retail \u2212 inside Bob Marley\u2019s posthumous musical and merchandising empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mike Alleyne<\/a>, Middle Tennessee State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The long-awaited Bob Marley biopic \u201cOne Love\u201d<\/a> will highlight important moments in the musician\u2019s life \u2013 his adolescence in Trench Town, his spiritual growth, the attempt on his life<\/a>. But as a music industry scholar<\/a>, I wonder if the film is yet another extension of the Marley marketing machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marley died in 1981<\/a> at the age of 36. He\u2019d achieved a level of mainstream success unrivaled by other reggae acts, and he did so while challenging global capitalism and speaking to the oppressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This image, however, is fundamentally at odds with what has happened to Marley\u2019s name and likeness since his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you can buy Bob Marley backpacks<\/a>, Bob Marley jigsaw puzzles<\/a> \u2013 even Bob Marley flip-flops<\/a>. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ajw425Kuvtw?wmode=transparent&start=0 The trailer for \u2018One Love.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accusation of \u201cselling out<\/a>\u201d could once seriously threaten an artist\u2019s credibility; the insult wields far less power<\/a> in an era when an artist\u2019s survival often depends on sponsorship and licensing deals<\/a>. Meanwhile, a deceased artist\u2019s ongoing earnings are left in the hands of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless, when a musician as revered as Marley \u2013 and whose songs were suffused with messages of liberation, anti-imperalism and anti-capitalism \u2013 becomes so commercialized, it\u2019s worth wondering how this happened and whether it threatens his artistic legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On and off the record<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In its 2023 list of highest-paid dead celebrities, Forbes placed Marley in the ninth slot<\/a>, right behind former Beatles front man John Lennon. According to the publication, Marley earned US$16 million \u2013 or rather, his estate did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marley\u2019s business affairs are now controlled by family members<\/a> \u2013 the estate \u2013 who have made deals with various merchandising and marketing partners, with all parties sharing in the profits. The commercial power of Bob Marley\u2019s name generates the royalties earned by the estate, though precise percentages are not publicly available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One posthumous musical release, in particular, has been a gold mine: Marley\u2019s \u201cLegend<\/a>\u201d compilation album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released in 1984 and featuring mainstays like \u201cCould You Be Loved<\/a>\u201d and \u201cThree Little Birds<\/a>,\u201d it\u2019s the most successful reggae album of all time. It has sold over 15 million copies in the U.S and has spent more than 800 nonconsecutive weeks on the Billboard 200<\/a>. Collectively, its tracks have accounted for well over 4 billion Spotify streams<\/a>, and its phenomenal success is a key reason that the private music publishing company Primary Wave, which is backed by investors such as BlackRock, spent over $50 million<\/a> to buy a share of Marley\u2019s publishing catalog in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A series of other albums have been released after Marley\u2019s death. These include \u201cNatural Mystic\u201d (1995); the pop and hip-hop crossover \u201cChant Down Babylon\u201d (1999); \u201cAfrica Unite\u201d (2005); \u201cUprising Live!\u201d (2014), which features his final concert appearance; the polarizing electronic mashup \u201cLegend Remixed\u201d (2013); \u201cEasy Skanking in Boston \u201978\u201d (2015); and the curious \u201cBob Marley & the Chineke! Orchestra\u201d (2022).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cLegend\u201d album has earned more than these later releases combined. But the material absent from that record speaks volumes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his 2022 autobiography<\/a>, Chris Blackwell, the former head of Island Records, the label that brought Marley\u2019s music to mainstream listeners, revealed that \u201cLegend\u201d had been carefully tailored for white mainstream audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
\u2018Legend\u2019 is the most successful reggae album of all time. Bob Berg\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It achieved this by prioritizing songs centered on themes of love and peace, rather than those about Marley\u2019s revolutionary Afrocentric politics and Rastafarian worldview, which appear on records such as 1979\u2019s \u201cSurvival<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that album\u2019s second track, \u201cZimbabwe<\/a>,\u201d Marley commends the country\u2019s freedom fighters in their battle against the oppressive Rhodesian regime, declaring, \u201cEvery man got a right to decide his own destiny\u201d; he rails against the forces of exploitation and division in \u201cTop Rankin\u2019<\/a>\u201d and \u201cBabylon System<\/a>\u201d; in \u201cSurvival<\/a>,\u201d he hails the African world\u2019s \u201chopes and dreams\u201d and \u201cways and means\u201d; and \u201cWake Up and Live<\/a>\u201d is a clarion call to spiritual and political awakening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These tracks don\u2019t appear on \u201cLegend.\u201d In fact, none of the tracks from \u201cSurvival\u201d do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so four decades after his death, Bob Marley remains the world\u2019s top reggae artist. But it\u2019s his lighter, less controversial fare that\u2019s established him as a global superstar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merchandising a mystic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In an era of minuscule music royalties<\/a>, a large portion of that $16 million in earnings also comes from merchandising, which has further watered down Marley\u2019s revolutionary politics and spiritualism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to what two writers called \u201cthe Disneyfication of all matters Marley<\/a>,\u201d you can now buy Bob Marley-themed coffee<\/a>, ice cream<\/a> and body wash<\/a>. There\u2019s sustainably sourced, Bob Marley-branded audio equipment<\/a>, in addition to a line of Bob Marley skateboard decks<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Colorful
Marley-branded nicotine vape cartridges are displayed next to Snoop Dogg vape cartridges at the 2022 Vaper Expo in Birmingham, England. John Keeble\/Getty Images<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The cannabis brand Marley Natural<\/a> shows how the Marley name has become commercially intertwined with corporate America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s funded by the American private equity company Privateer Holdings<\/a>, which the Marley family had approached to gauge their interest in collaboration for the product\u2019s release. The creators of the Starbucks logo were hired to design the logo<\/a> for Marley Natural, further underlining the venture\u2019s commercial ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the obvious fact that these associations pay no heed to Bob Marley\u2019s anti-capitalist messages, I find it bitterly ironic that the private equity firm calls itself \u201cPrivateer.\u201d Privateers<\/a> were commissioned ships involved in plundering and murder across the Caribbean. They are among the \u201cold pirates\u201d Marley sang about in his mournful \u201cRedemption Song<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Marley family claims that Bob would have approved<\/a> of the cannabis enterprise, critics see indiscriminate mass-marketing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist\u2019s popular songs and lyrics have also been adopted as marketing tools to sell products that bear little relation to Marley\u2019s music and message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2001, his daughter Cedella, who runs parts of the estate, released a fashion line called Catch a Fire. The name comes from the Wailers\u2019 first international album, which the group released in 1973. On it, tracks like \u201cSlave Driver,\u201d \u201cConcrete Jungle\u201d and \u201c400 Years\u201d connect the poverty of the present to the injustices of the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can T-shirts and other apparel help spread these messages? Perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s hard to argue that Marley-themed hot sauce<\/a> does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reel situation of \u2018One Love\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Critiquing any aspect of Bob Marley\u2019s legacy can elicit defensive responses. The estate has long portrayed<\/a> the rampant commercialization of the Marley name and image as an important way to sustain and spread the artist\u2019s ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I think it\u2019s important to ensure that the artistic and cultural values embedded in his music do not become clouded in a haze of rampant commercialization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many of the commercial enterprises tied to his name reportedly raise money for Jamaican youth<\/a>, I\u2019d hesitate to say that this serves as a complete counterbalance to the erosion of Marley\u2019s messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cOne Love\u201d movie backed by Paramount Pictures \u2013 with four Marleys listed as producers<\/a> \u2013 will certainly extend the mythologies and harsh realities of Bob Marley\u2019s all-too-brief life, which was cut short by melanoma<\/a>. But it\u2019s also a massive international marketing vehicle for the sale of even more officially branded merchandise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, the fact that people so eagerly buy products plastered with Marley\u2019s face and words reflects the profound connection he continues to have with his listeners. But on the other hand, it\u2019s difficult squaring Marley \u2013 a symbol of post-colonialism and anti-capitalism \u2013 with branding collaborations and private equity firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His music means so much more. And his anti-imperialist messages, as warmongers threaten basic human rights around the world, are perhaps needed now more than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Alleyne<\/a>, Professor Emeritus of Popular Music Studies & Music Business, Middle Tennessee State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mike Alleyne, Middle Tennessee State University The long-awaited Bob Marley biopic \u201cOne Love\u201d will highlight important moments in the musician\u2019s life \u2013 his adolescence in Trench Town, his spiritual growth, the attempt on his life. But as a music industry scholar, I wonder if the film is yet another extension of the Marley marketing machine. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":36382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[293,8025],"tags":[15148,15147,335,4712,15150,15149,184,2225,591,15146,15151],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36381"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36381"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36395,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36381\/revisions\/36395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}