THE COMPANY DIME
photo credit: Sonic Highlark
What happened from 1995-2005 in Punk Rock with the sub-genre Emo was fantastical, magical, and groundbreaking. Fans of hardcore/post-hardcore who were also influenced by early 90's alternative rock were starting to make pop songs with more of an edge.
Let's not argue about this list but some bands to note, Elliott, Texas Is The Reason, Mineral, Get Up Kids, The Jazz June, Kite Flying Society, Hot Water Music, The Appleseed Cast, Chamberlin, Boys Life, Saves The Day, Mock Orange, Juliana Theory, Joan of Arc, American Football, Cap N Jazz, Owen, Cursive, Bright Eye's, etc this list could go on...
From that a bunch of bands got signed to major labels like Saves The Day, Midtown, New Found Glory, Brand New, Thrice, Recover, Thursday, Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line, Plain White T's, Dashboard Confessional, Recover, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, and many more.
The formula to how a lot these bands got upped from indie to major is pretty simple.
Most of the bands got in the van and toured hard, especially from 1999-2004 bands would probably make it to your town at least twice a year. Secondary and third market touring schedules were created to reach more audiences aka the suburbs.
Through word of mouth/flyers and the early days of the internet, the bands built dedicated followings and the fans felt they were part of something special. It was the heyday of Nu Metal/Hard Rock on mainstream radio/MTV, so the need to connect with bands on a more personal level was completely accessible within the punk scene.
So when A&R guys started flocking to random venues in Long Island, skateparks in Florida, and basements in New Jersey to see kids singing their hearts out for a band like Saves The Day or Brand New, it felt like the cliche of signing to a major was the way to go.
Going to Warped Tour in 2004 and seeing Taking Back Sunday perform to thousands of screaming teenagers/young adults looked like a promising acquisition for any major.
But the complexity of trying to promote of an emo/pop-punk on a major level would slowly unfold.
TWO KEY MOMENTS TO NOTE:
The California Punk Explosion: It was the early 90s and the SoCal/NorCal sound was all the rage. Green Day, Weezer, and The Offspring set the tone, while Bad Religion, Rancid, Social Distortion, No Doubt, Sublime, AFI, NOFX, Guttermouth, Unwritten Law, The Vandals, No Use For A Name, Pennywise, Descendants, etc all took advantage of the moment.
The key thing here is, THEY HAD MASSSSSSSSSSSSSS APPEAL. Youngs and olds alike enjoyed Green Day and The Offspring. Which was crucial to their long term success.
Major labels were able to work with this.
Late 90's Second Wave Punk + Ska: The main act to lead this was of course Blink-182, followed by MxPx, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Dropkick Murphy's, Less Than Jake, Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, Face To Face, Fenix TX and more. Legendary acts like Pennywise, Bad Religion, Rancid would also hop on this wave.
To their credit the Ska-punk acts had mass appeal because it remind them a lot of people of 80s new wave with bands like Madness, The English Beat, and The Selecter.
But once again MASS APPEAL and majors could work with this.
As I mentioned in the past, Blink-182 was my part of my youth, however I quickly realized that their fan base was predominately the youth. They were successful because of a growing young demographic which paved the way for all the emo/pop-punks bands who would just a few years later become widely popular. Yet, to a general fan base they didn't have that much reach.
Say what you want, but the late 90s started the decline of mainstream rock music and the ability for newer bands to get broader audiences. This is also when alternative rock stations starting closing up and the CD sales began to decline. The temporary solution for this of course was Nu Metal which was at times successful and ground breaking, but too often seemed like a gimmick. The same could also be said to the toilet bowl humor of Mark and Tom of Blink-182.
So it's now the early 2000s and all these emo/post-hardcore/ pop-punk bands are getting label deals with the million dollar challenge, HOW DO YOU MARKET THESE ACTS ON A MAJOR LEVEL?
Do you go to MTV? MTV2? MTVU? Modern Rock radio? College radio? Street marketing? This is before heavy social media.
Think about Rancid, a bunch of street punks from the East Bay who have MASS APPEAL. They got asked to play with The Misfits and The Damned in NYC in 2019. "Ruby Soho" and "Time Bomb" are now legendary hits in the Punk Rock songbook. Why? Because behind their aesthetic is a great rock band with a sound that appeals to a larger audience.
Green Day's "Good Riddance" became one of their biggest hits, was played in the final episode of Seinfeld and made it's way to Broadway. Plain White T's wrote "Hey There Delliah" about ten years later and I'm my opinion put out a similar track. The song was very successful but not in the same way as "Good Riddance."
Long Island's Brand New is a perfect example of an emo/pop-punk act who eventually pivoted to having a modern alternative rock sound. I still get excited every time they release new material, but similar to an act like Saves The Day they are fueled by dedicated "cult like" fans and not the help of a marketing department at a major label. Furthermore, what help get a lot of these bands popular were their indie labels and their music touring agents.
Just think about it, at one point for example Vagrant Records had Saves The Day, The Get Up Kids, and Dashboard Confessional on their roster. Drive-Thru had New Found Glory, The Starting Line, Senses Fail, and Something Corporate. Saddle Creek had Cursive, Bright Eyes, and The Faint. These and many other labels became communities for art/ideas and you were excited each time a new release came out. That's what fueled the momentum and created the buzz, no crazy marketing plan.
Eventually, almost all those bands left their major labels to go back to an indie or just self-releasing.
Even some conflicting major label situations with bands like Midtown and Hawthorne Heights with Victory just made things complicated for the band's success.
However, the music still lives on and the nostalgia for it is bigger then ever. Bars have "Emo" themed music nights and reunion shows happen all the time. Looking back I just think many question if it was smart for these bands to sign with majors to begin with.
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