Marié Digby: talent or gimmick?
May 15th, 2008 by Wade Tatangelo in News
UPDATED 5/18: Digby is not the DIY phenom she’s portrayed as in the press release posted below, according to the Wall Street Journal. The venerable daily newspaper revealed in a story published in September (yeah, I slept on this one, thanks for the link, Mr. Benidt), that Digby’s not been honest with her multitudes of online fans. Digby inked a deal with Walt Disney Co.’s Hollywood Records before the YouTube clips were posted, WSJ reported, but never disclosed the info on her MySpace site. So, basically, Digby’s a prefab pop star just like Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. I consider Aguilera a major talent. Spears? A hack. I’ll have to hear Digby’s first album before I decide into what category she falls.
I’d never heard of Marie Digby until this morning, when a press release about her June 9 appearance at Orpheum in Ybor City, popped up my inbox. Anyone out there familiar with her? Apparently, I’m not spending enough time perusing YouTube for budding stars. Here’s the publicity info on this “YouTube-created creature” (a term used by my chief editor David Warner, which I plan to pass off as my own in the future):
Digby broke onto the national stage in 2007 using YouTube, where she posted homemade videos of herself covering major pop hits including Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” To date, she has become the 7th most subscribed artist on YouTube with more than 26 million views. Marié’s debut album “Unfold” came out last month and debuted at #29 on The Billboard Top 200 and has already sold nearly 30,000 copies in three weeks. Her first single off the album, “Say It Again” is in heavy rotation throughout the country on Hot AC radio. Her music has been featured on MTV’s “The Hills,” and the CW’s “One Tree Hill” and “Smallville”. She was also featured in GAP’s spring ad campaign “The Sound of Color.”
I can’t decide if Digby’s stripped-down versions of heavily-produced pop hits ranks as genius or the most gimmicky move since Limp Bizkit nu metal-ed George Michael’s “Faith” back in 1997. Here’s Digby, looking quite adorable, performing “Umbrella” solo while accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, in what appears to be her living room. Whatcha think?
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May 15th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Marie is the real deal. She just used YouTube to gain momentum so her label would pay attention. Fans responded because her voice is so beautiful and you really hear the poignancy of the lyrics.
Catch her live.. cuz talent this rare can’t be missed.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Seems like masturbation material for pedophiles to me…
And did she use You Tube, or other people’s songs to gain attention?
Not the real deal!
GONG
May 16th, 2008 at 10:15 am
With new artists using new mediums such as youtube and myspace to gain exposure, you get the hacks as well as brilliant undiscovered talent. Without even watching, I’ll put marie in the hack column. To use cover songs to gain notoriety is hack to me. Whatever, she’ll be just a flash in the pan. But who knows, maybe in 5 years, she’ll come back a little older and wiser with some very profound material. Probably not. Good for her though, she’s having her 15 minutes and making some money while the rest of us toil here at the loaf, blogging about how she’s a hack…
May 16th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Leilani: Wikipedia says Digby is 25 years old.
Gabe: Bob Dylan’s debut album only included one true original, the rest were covers.
Just saying.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Really Wade?
This is the shit that you are putting in the same breath as Bob Dylan? You can throw facts around to make a case for anything, just look at this years political races.
And her age makes no difference to the pedophiles. It’s the marketing of a 25 year old woman as a innocent 16 year old girl that makes me scratch my head.
Now, falling prey to the marketing machine of 16 year olds, that’s a little lame.
“There has been controversy over Digby’s YouTube popularity. As of May 2008, her homemade music videos have been viewed over 6.6 million times on the video sharing website.[4] It has been suggested by The Wall Street Journal that she feigned a grassroots effort and amateur status in order to generate buzz as part of an online marketing campaign created by Hollywood Records,[4] a strategy sometimes labeled “astroturfing”. She has responded, writing on her blog that she never lied about being signed to Hollywood Records and has stated that her videos were her own “desperate” response to a lack of promotion.”
May 16th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Mr. Palmer:
The quote you posted with your comment is illuminating. Where’s it from? Do you have the link? I’d like to read the entire article.
Secondly, I’m a huge Dylan fan but his first album was pretty lame, with him mimicking Guthrie’s phrasing and trying to sound like a man three times his age. More to the point, you can’t dismiss an artist solely on the basis that she doesn’t pen her own material. Elvis never did.
Lastly, I wasn’t aware Digby was being marketed as a 16-year-old. In the official press release I was sent, nowhere does it suggest she’s a teenager.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
my dearest wade,
i said “To use cover songs to gain notoriety is hack to me”. i love plenty of artist who haveI said “To use cover songs to gain notoriety is hack to me”. I love plenty of artist who have a huge collection of covers that they play on a regular basis, and some even do full albums of them. These are established artists who are paying tribute to and interpreting the songs that have influenced and moved them. Hell, I think my band knows more covers than we have original songs, but we’ll play at most two per show.
This girl marie is marketed to pander to the LCD crowd, just like the hack at a frat bar that plays the white-boy acoustic cover of Outcast’s “hey-ya”. If my band blows into a Dicks or Dead Moon cover, or Dylan does a Muddy Waters tune, there is no pandering, just a tip-o-the hat to where we’re coming from. marie seems to manufactured fluff that will soon be replaced by the next LCD jukebox full of more crap to ram down someone’s throat. And for the record, I think elvis was 75% hack…
May 16th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
wow, something got all effed in my last comment, WTF happened to the first line? oh well, i’m y’all can figure it out…
May 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Wade, Bob Dylan’s debut had two originals: “Song to Woody” and “Talkin’ New York.”
Just saying.
May 16th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Rabi: Good call.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Jen - Do you work for the record company?
May 17th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Ethan Smith and Peter Lattman exposed Marie’s ruse of her YouTube video hogwash in this 2007 Wall Street Journal article -
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118903788315518780.html
May 18th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Here’s my thing, and I’m not blaming you Wade, but… you were just had by the marketing firm that represents that little bitch. I know it feels dirty, but you are not alone. And then the little kids, who know nothing better, are suckered into it. Not only do they see it on television, but look, the so called “critics” give them the seal of approval. And, in case your not sure, the seal of approval, is just giving them any press at all.
I can’t blame the kids, because there kids, and they need to look elsewhere to try to understand the artistic landscape. Then they find your page, or they don’t…it makes no difference. Point is, you received a press release, and someone, maybe not you, but someone, bought into the bullshit propaganda that the artists publicist put out, and then, suddenly there are another 5, 10, 15, 50 more views on the myspace page, 50 more views, to an artist not deserving ten views. And once the snowball starts, it’s almost impossible to stop! I’m sure any minute now Mark Mcgrath will be interviewing this little gem, and talking about how this song is going to change not only the world, but a few dimensions we are not even aware of yet.
It’s ridiculous. There’s plenty of wonderful music we could be talking about. My morning Jacket and Modest Mouse just announced Florida dates, Orlando based “The Burnin Smyrnans” recently put on their festival, with national acts, that got no regional attention. I don’t expect you to hit on every local thing that happens, but I do expect you to at least double check the shit that crosses your desk. I know that there are some things that you have no choice but to cover, but please, for the sake of the non socially retarded adult who reads these pages, please, please, please, try to stick to music that at least might cross our radar if we were unaffected by the spin machine…
I think you guys are trying hard, you just keep missing the target by a few hairs…
Remember, in the 1600’s, there were no 1/8 notes…people thought they were the noises of the devil…
Who knows what the future holds,
Thanks for your creative output.
-Tom Dowd the 2nd
May 18th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Tom Dowd the 2nd: I appreciate you continuing the Digby dialog. But I wouldn’t call comparing her music to Limp Bizkit’s a ringing endorsement. Digby’s playing Orpheum, a popular local venue mostly known for bringing underground rock bands to town, so it warrants discussion. Lastly, we typically only cover bands that are playing Tampa Bay.
May 18th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
You shouldn’t believe everything you read even if it is printed in the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, the authors distorted the truth so they would have a more interesting story to tell. I became a fan of Marie Digby after finding her on YouTube last year, and I can tell you from personal experience that I knew she was signed with Hollywood Records before the article ever came out. How? I found out on the internet (ie. Google). She also did a radio interview with STAR 98.7 in Los Angeles (which she told her MySpace fans ahead of time) in which she said she was signed to Hollywood Records. She also did shows in Los Angeles where she gave away free sampler CDs, which have Hollywood Records written on them.
Of course writing that she lied and deceived her fans makes much more interesting reading, but it isn’t the truth.
The truth is she turned to YouTube to promote herself, because she wasn’t getting much promotion from her label. She had no idea when or if they would release her album. And she had no idea how much longer she would even still have a record deal. I’m sure you know that the record labels sign thousands of artists every year, but only a few will ever get to release an album. Most are quietly dropped later and are never heard from again. Can you blame her for turning to YouTube?
And do you think Hollywood Records would resort to YouTube in some astroturfing scheme when they have the Disney Channel as a launch pad? Are you saying that Hollywood Records knew she would become a sensation if she just posted a few songs on YouTube? Does that even sound logical? There are countless videos on YouTube, and she’s not the only singer posting covers! The more likely result would be that her videos would get completely lost in the noise. The fact that her videos were able to stand out and get millions of views, shows that she has something to offer.
The WSJ article came out last September. It’s May now. Even if we were to believe the WSJ, no one who discovered her from September to now can claim to have been deceived. And I’m pretty sure she’s more than doubled or tripled the number of subscribers and views since last September.
And isn’t the whole debate about her being signed really besides the point? Isn’t it really about the MUSIC? Isn’t THAT the most important thing? If you like her music, go see her show. Buy her album. If you don’t know anything about her… well, you can always check her out on YouTube and make up your own mind.
And no, I don’t work for the record company. I’m a fan.
May 18th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Ed: Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you that the main point is whether or not you like her music.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Wade: “Her” music? I haven’t seen her perform any of “her” music yet, only other people’s music. Let’s talk once she gets famous for a single that she’s written.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:18 am
or at least a single that someone else hasn’t already performed.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Ed - This discussion is happening because the press release sent out from the record company decided the main selling point here was the “you tube” angle. Lying vs. distorting the truth, not much of a difference to me.
This is a product Ed, not a person, or a girl. It’s a product.
And you think that Disney is satisfied with farming the souls and wallets of preteens simply through their radio venture? Come on Ed…wake up! The radio venture was started to capture those slimy souls that escaped the disney channel on TV, and the channel was created to grab the souls that escaped the movies…and, well, You Tube is just another in a long line of manipulated media.
Lastly…how old are you?
If your not a Hollywood records intern, I put money on you being her father.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
wow, this little thread is really heating up… her label’s (mis)use of youtube just goes to show you what dire straights the corporate record industry is in. they (the industry) have always resorted to shit like payola to push new “artists”, this is just an evolution of that, but the industry is much more desperate. i’m not sure what exactly will happen, but i’m guessing that within five years, the record industry as we have known it will cease to exist. my money is on self-releases and solid distro companies (it’s already happening; see: clap yours hands say yeah). the people are starting to take their music back and hacks like marie will be relegated back to some snooty coffee house open-mic night…
May 19th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
In this weeks Billboard she is #21 on the Adult Top 40 chart for her original song and current single “Say It Again.”
Just saying…
May 19th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Brooke - I don’t think that there is any argument about the Media’s ability to coerce the public through repetition and ruse into getting what the conglomerates want.
The payola is rampant and effective.
Here is a short snippet from that WSJ article that keeps getting mentioned.
“When Los Angeles adult-contemporary station KYSR-FM, which calls itself “Star 98.7,” interviewed Ms. Digby in July, she and the disc jockey discussed her surprising success. “We kind of found her on YouTube,” the DJ, known as Valentine, said. Playing the lucky nobody, Ms. Digby said: “I’m usually the listener calling in, you know, just hoping that I’m going to be the one to get that last ticket to the Star Lounge with [pop star] John Mayer!” The station’s programming executives now acknowledge they had booked Ms. Digby’s appearance through Hollywood Records, and were soon collaborating with the label to sell “Umbrella” as a single on iTunes.”
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Tom, since you asked, I’m in my 30s, which makes me a little too young to be her father and too old to be an intern at Hollywood Records. How old are you?
Leilani, she is a singer-songwriter. She has original songs. If you checked out her YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/mariedigby), you could have seen videos of her perform a number of her original songs. She labels them “Original Song” in the title. In her album, which was released about a month ago, she only has one cover (Umbrella).
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
ED-
I’m also in my 30’s, which while not precluding me from being her father, does preclude me from buying into media glitz, hype, and guerrilla marketing techniques.
I’m curious as to your affiliation with Marie. You may not be her father, but are you simply a casual fan? Are you a family member? Are you an employee/associate of hollywood records? You seem verbose and intelligent, so I’m guessing your not from the record company, but I’m still not buying that you’re just a fan…
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:19 am
The Truth:
Your snippet about Marie being booked on STAR 98.7 through Hollywood Records proves nothing. It’s just an example of how the WSJ article twisted the truth by inferring something that did not happen. STAR 98.7 found her on YouTube, and they started playing her cover of Umbrella. Naturally, they wanted to interview her, and one way to get in contact with her is through her label. Duh. I don’t see what is the big deal.
By the way, I actually heard that interview. And do you want to know something interesting? When STAR 98.7 first started to play her cover, she was in Japan visiting relatives and was difficult to get ahold of. If this was all a record company conspiracy, don’t you think they would have made sure she was in the U.S. so STAR 98.7 could easily interview her? In the end, she wound up doing a phone interview from Japan. Bet you didn’t read that in the article!
The phrase “Playing the lucky nobody” is another example of the article’s distortion. She didn’t have to play a nobody. She was a nobody. Yes, she had a record deal, but no one knew who she was. Hardly anyone would come to her shows.
And about that STAR 98.7 Umbrella single on iTunes… I actually got that single. What the article failed to mention was that the profits went to charity. It was the Save the Music Foundation if I recall correctly. She, the label, and the radio station didn’t make any money off of it. As far as I could tell, there was no payola, kickbacks, or whatever.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Ed-
So you’re her manager, or one of those pedophiles they were talking about.
Stalk much?
May 25th, 2008 at 5:46 am
Tom:
I find it distressing that rather than solely address my arguments, you would attack me personally. In my experience, I find that this usually happens when someone is losing an argument and has nothing to say. I don’t mind if you attack my arguments, but I don’t understand the personal attacks? What have I ever done to you? Do you want to have a mature discussion or engage in name calling?
To answer your earlier question, I do not work for Hollywood Records. I have never worked for Hollywood Records. None of my family members work for Hollywood Records. None of my friends work for Hollywood Records. None of my acquaintances work for Hollywood Records. Nor do I know any member of Marie’s family, management, etc. I did go to one of Marie Digby’s shows at a club in Hollywood last year (which she sold out by the way), and that’s the only time I have ever seen her in person.
I do not understand why you don’t think I’m a fan because I’m defending her. Isn’t that something a fan would do? She has over 35000 friends on MySpace and over 70000 subscribers on YouTube. Do a search on YouTube for “Marie Digby.” You’ll see fans posting videos of her live performances, and you’ll see people covering HER songs. I think you’re seriously mistaken if you think she has no fans.
To answer your second question, I’m not her manager. I’m not a pedophile. I don’t understand where this whole pedophile angle came from. As others have pointed out, Marie Digby is 25. She was never marketed as a 16 year old. I don’t know how some people got that idea. As far as stalking is concerned, I’m no more a stalker than any music fan who follows his or her favorite artists. And I have no restraining orders against me that I know of. :-)
I don’t have a problem with people saying that Marie Digby is a hack if they’ve watched all her videos on YouTube. I can respect that. Not everyone likes the same music. However, I DO have a problem with people saying she is a hack if they’ve based their opinion on an extremely distorted and flawed article in the WSJ. I DO have a problem with people saying she’s a hack, when they obviously haven’t bothered to watch her videos on YouTube or listen to her music. Some people above dissing Marie didn’t even realize she has original songs when all they had to do was to visit her YouTube channel to find out. (It’s http://www.youtube.com/mariedigby if you don’t know.) And they obviously didn’t know that Marie’s album consists almost entirely of original songs that she wrote herself (with Umbrella being the only cover).
May 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
ED –
I don’t have time to discuss your favorite singer at too much more length, for obvious reasons. Since I did call you a possible pedophile, I will give you one more batch of answers to your questions/comments.
First off, it took you until this final (we can hope) response to address the question of whether or not you worked for Marie. Now, this may seem crazy to you, but to those of us who follow music regularly (and I mean off of the Disney channel), we don’t often find grown adults who make the choice to entertain this crap. And you see, this Marie story was posted to a music blog, not to Tiger Beat magazine. This is why I was thrown off at the eloquence of your misinformed drivel.
Now, I understand that YOU (and a bunch of 16 year olds) think that Marie is soooooo great. She’s the greatest even! Sad truth is, there are a thousand Maries. Disney is behind the prettiest package they could find. Marie is that package. No matter how amazing she may be, no matter how talented she really is, she is the equivalent of “The Cheetah Girls”. I assume you are familiar with the Cheetah girls, they probably opened for Marie when you saw her. What makes this even more distressing, is that there are REAL artists out there, struggling and fighting to make names for themselves with quality music. That’s right, musicians without the bullshit public appearance package, and Disney brainwashing machine behind them. Musicians who care about, get this, the music.
No one cares if Marie has fans. Just because people like or support you, does not make what you do quality (look at Bush). whether or not she had fans was not the question here. The question was, is she a hack? The answer is yes. She is a hack not only at music, but also at life. A “hack” is “a quick job that produces what is needed, but not well.”. I think we found our definition of Marie. What could be easier than relying on a media machine and your young pretty looks to sell second rate music to little kids and you, huh Ed?
One final question that you can muse over in your head. Is it really a distorted WSJ article? Or is it a distorted Marie Digby publicity machine fighting back?
It’s like Marie so eloquently says,
In fact, it’s like she’s talking directly to you!
”I never saw it coming the way your voice can make me feel
and I fear that I am falling
I should be old enough to know
not to fall in love with the voice on the radio”
May 27th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Word.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Just for the sake of clarification:
If you want to fuck Marie Digby, you are not a pedophile.
If you want to fuck Marie Digby because you think she’s 16 years old, you’re probably a pedophile.
Where do you fall, Tom & Ed?
May 27th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Hey Tom,
You sound like one of those Bruce Springsteen-loving douchebags from Jersey I’ve heard all about. Let’s cuddle!
June 5th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Tom:
I don’t watch the Disney Channel, and I’ve never seen the Cheetah Girls. I think it would be a mistake to lump them with Marie like you did, even if they are both with Hollywood Records. Marie’s music is not aimed at such a young audience. And Hollywood Record doesn’t just have Disney Channel acts. Queen is on that label too, and I don’t think anyone would lump them together with the Cheetah Girls.
I saw Marie perform at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood (www.hotelcafe.com). It’s a 21+ only music club, and if you check their calendar for their acts, it’s decidely un-Disneyesque. And needless to say, I didn’t see any 16 year olds in the crowd the night I was there. The audience was mostly young adults, and I think that’s who her music is mostly aimed at. If you think her fans are just a bunch of 16 year olds, you’re wrong.
I think you misunderstood my point about fans. You seemed unable to believe she had any fans. You couldn’t believe I was a fan, and you asked whether I worked for Hollywood Records or was her father. I just wanted to show that she did have fans by pointing out that she has thousands of subscribers on YouTube and thousands of friends on MySpace. However, I do agree with you that having fans doesn’t necessarily mean that you produce quality. But I do think it’s a sign that maybe you deserve a closer look.
And what media machine are you talking about? YouTube? Well, no one is forcing anyone to watch. And YouTube is available to anyone. Until recently, she got very little promotion from her label.
I do think Marie is a real artist, and you think she is a hack. That’s okay. Not everyone agrees on everything. But a lot of untrue things were written about her here and in the WSJ article, and as a fan I wanted to set the record straight. If you are going to decide she’s a hack, at least do it for the right reasons!
To answer you’re final question, yes that WSJ article is distorted. See my first post above. And the only person fighting back here is me, and I am not part of any publicity machine. Like I wrote before, I’m a fan. I have no connection to her label, management, family, etc.
To anyone who has been patient enough to read everything here, don’t take my word or Tom’s word about Marie. Check out her videos on YouTube (www.youtube.com/mariedigby) and decide for yourself.
By the way Tom, I’m glad you liked some of the lyrics to “Voice on the Radio.” Maybe Marie isn’t such a total hack after all?