In an announcement that surprised nobody, Capitol/EMI and OK Go revealed their separation yesterday and today, OK Go unveiled their own label, named Paracadute. Last month, Damian Kulash, the band’s frontman, wrote a spirited editorial in the New York Times bemoaning EMI’s policy of not allowing certain music videos to be embedded by third party hosts. Kulash is a smart guy and was able to connect his band’s influence in the popularity of YouTube four years ago and the subsequent institutionalizing of the medium by corporate labels. While it would have been interesting if perhaps beneficial to see Kulash and his band fight the machine from within, it was probably (understandably) intolerable. By taking the walk offer from EMI, OK Go is now able to promote their new album (Capitol has seemed somewhat uninterested in this – the band had outside promotion in place already) and their elaborate video for “This Too Shall Pass.”
OK Go’s new label no doubt suits them and their ambitions to make more albums, tour, and put out quirky, highly-choreographed visual accompaniment to their songs. But for other bands, the future isn’t so rosey. Artists who wish to remain in the comfort/confines of a major label will continue to have limited abilities to promote their work as they choose. As the web has essentially become the only forum to see a video these days, it would behoove labels and artists to make them accessible in ways that are both pleasing to fans and the artists. OK Go is proving the label can easily be cut out of the equation.
OK Go tours this spring with dates at Bonnaroo and Sasquatch
Date City Venue
4/13 Salt Lake City, UT The State Room
4/14 Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre
4/16 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
4/17 Chicago, IL Metro
4/18 St. Louis, MO The Old Rock House
4/20 Columbia, MO The Blue Note
4/21 Indianapolis, IN Earth House
4/22 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
4/23 Toronto, ON Mod Club
4/27 Northampton, MA Pearl Street
4/28 New Haven, CT Toad’s Place
4/29 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
4/30 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg – SOLD OUT
5/2 East Rutherford, NJ Meadowlands (Bamboozle)
5/3 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
5/5 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
5/7 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
5/9 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
5/11 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
5/12 Charlotte, NC Visulite Theatre
5/13 Atlanta, GA The Loft
5/14 Tampa, FL Crowbar
5/15 Orlando, FL Firestone Live
5/16 Gulf Shores, AL Hangout Music Fest
5/18 Dallas, TX Granada Theatre
5/19 Austin, TX The Parish
5/21 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theatre
5/22 San Diego, CA House of Blues
5/26 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
5/28 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
5/29 George, WA Sasquatch Festival
6/11 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo
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