Barenaked Exploitation by Robert Wurth


So, what do you do when you’re an internationally recognized, successful band with millions of dollars in CD and concert ticket sales? If you’re the Barenaked Ladies, you slap an industry in the face by running an unethical, exploitive contest, that’s what.

Over at the web site Deviant Art, a recent contest was posted for the development of a t-shirt design to promote a new Barenaked Ladies tour.

The details of this contest are glaring examples of the problems this trend creates within the design community. The fact that it comes from a representative of the music industry, an industry very vocal in the protection of artist’s rights, makes it all the more disturbing.

Thanks Robert!


One response to “Barenaked Exploitation by Robert Wurth”

  1. You guys are wacky. The whole point of the Barenaked Ladies contest as I understand it is to encourage interaction with the fans. I kinda think it’s not intended to be something that serious designers are going to be interested in. I think it’s mainly an act of reaching out to the fans, to allow them a sense of ownership.

    I also doubt that the members of the Barenaked Ladies always know everything about what their PR people are doing. Then again, maybe all the members of the band, right down to the drummer, know every stipulation of every contract that the band has anything to do with. It mainly sounds like some underling is working overtime to avoid lawsuits later.

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