And other lies: How exactly will Axl's decision/letter hurt ticket sales?

[Ali]

Not showing up to the HOF induction did not have long term effects for Roger Waters or the Van Halen brothers and DLR. I think since it was just last night, there is a skewed perspective on the ceremony's impact.

Frankly, anyone that holds a grudge and allows that to dictate their ticket buying decision is missing out, and not exactly showing themselves to be much better than Axl.

Ali

[ironmt]

Axl's good to go anywhere but the US. Dude's gonna have to win back some americans. But the US isn't that big of a concern touring-wise anyways...

GnR has BRANDING (marketing) problem with the USA market.

GnR became uncool in late 1992, especially in the USA because pop culture dramatically changed that year. The '80s officially died that year.

The GnR today still has difficulties with the USA market because people still associate them with the pre-1993 GnR. Even with a younger lead singer in Scott Weiland, VelvetRevolver couldn't make a a dent in the USA market.

Since Slash *was* a huge part of GnR's image in the past, it also hasn't helped that Slash is basically the "Carlos Santana" of rock music too.

The type of people that would be into the current GnR and "Chinese Democracy" are the type that are also not into musicians like Slash.

So when people see Slash being like "Carlos Santana", making songs with MJ, Shakara, and Fergie, or jamming with Bill Gates, that hurts GnR's image. It makes GnR seem like a Nickel Back type rock-band.

If the record company would support the GnR of today, by pushing the band like they do with newer and younger acts, the USA market would be able to see how awesome their music, image, style, and concerts are.

They would then also see that Slash is no longer in the band, and hence will stop associating Slash's stuff with GnR. Slash's image is hurting GnR's integrity and image with the general public.

But record companies don't like investing money in promoting older acts.

So the difficulties GnR today has with the USA market has nothing to do with Axl's personality or any thing Axl has done. It has absolutely nothing to do with people wrongfully perceiving that he broke up the pre-1993 GnR.

Outside the hardcore GnR fan base, nobody cares about all that stuff. Outside the GnR fan base, all people see and hear about GnR comes from the TV or radio, and at the moment what they see and hear is still the same pre-1993 stuff and the stuff Slash or VR does ... which is UNCOOL.

All people care about is cool music and cool people that represents who they are and what their current situation in life is at in the current moment. It's 2012 and not 1991.

So if the record company would actually invest in promoting the current GnR band with promotions, music videos, getting radio and tv stations to update their GnR playlist rotation to include the newer music, the current GnR will be able to overcome this BRANDING problem with the band where people perceive them as being the UNCOOL pre-1993 version.

That is why Axl said, once they figured out what their deal is with the record company, GnR can move forward with their next plans.

It has alot to do with Axls personality and bad habits(like starting his concerts between 11:00-12:00 and ending between 2:00 and 3:00). The record company doesn't mind at all promoting older acts as long as they feel they will see a profit(Ac/Dc Is a prime example). They were even willing to dump money on Axls project(roughly 14 million dollars) and we all seen how that went. I don't think the record company will ever play that game again. Anyway, why Is It that bands that came out around the time Guns did and even bands that Guns N Roses looked up to that came out before them, are still able to draw bigger crowds and sell out night after night? There has to be a reason for It?

[bran]

I don't see how it would change the USA market is cold, everywhere else is great. It has been this way long before the HOF. HOF changes nothing IMO for ticket sales

yeah the us is pretty shitty for 90% of rockbands out their

[ITW 2012]

Axl's letter was a verification/reminder for a lot of old GNR fans that it was indeed Axl who ruined the old band that they loved. I'm not saying that it is necessarily true, but that it is the general perception from most old fans who don't follow the band online.

[Apollo]

living in the u.s., i am jelous of the crowds for guns in south america and europe. they know how to really get into it. the last 5 years or so all i get is a bunch of fucking pussies with cameras getting pissed if you rock too hard. fuck the u.s. audience as they dont even deserve the shows as they dont show the respect. would KILL to go to a south american show! u.s. "fans" for the most part can go fuck themselves...its a TMZ/E! society in the u.s. and talent means nothing to the audience or record companies. its just what can make quick dollars...

Sounds like you should worry more about the band you are watching instead of concentrating on if the crowd is rocking enough for your liking.

And why do u care so much about what music people like. Or why they like it?

There has been bubblegum pop music for much longer than TMZ has been around. Do some music history research.

Your post is one of the most ignorant posts I've ever seen on this forum.

[The Archer]

Axl's good to go anywhere but the US. Dude's gonna have to win back some americans. But the US isn't that big of a concern touring-wise anyways...

GnR has BRANDING (marketing) problem with the USA market.

GnR became uncool in late 1992, especially in the USA because pop culture dramatically changed that year. The '80s officially died that year.

The GnR today still has difficulties with the USA market because people still associate them with the pre-1993 GnR. Even with a younger lead singer in Scott Weiland, VelvetRevolver couldn't make a a dent in the USA market.

Since Slash *was* a huge part of GnR's image in the past, it also hasn't helped that Slash is basically the "Carlos Santana" of rock music too.

The type of people that would be into the current GnR and "Chinese Democracy" are the type that are also not into musicians like Slash.

So when people see Slash being like "Carlos Santana", making songs with MJ, Shakara, and Fergie, or jamming with Bill Gates, that hurts GnR's image. It makes GnR seem like a Nickel Back type rock-band.

If the record company would support the GnR of today, by pushing the band like they do with newer and younger acts, the USA market would be able to see how awesome their music, image, style, and concerts are.

They would then also see that Slash is no longer in the band, and hence will stop associating Slash's stuff with GnR. Slash's image is hurting GnR's integrity and image with the general public.

But record companies don't like investing money in promoting older acts.

So the difficulties GnR today has with the USA market has nothing to do with Axl's personality or any thing Axl has done. It has absolutely nothing to do with people wrongfully perceiving that he broke up the pre-1993 GnR.

Outside the hardcore GnR fan base, nobody cares about all that stuff. Outside the GnR fan base, all people see and hear about GnR comes from the TV or radio, and at the moment what they see and hear is still the same pre-1993 stuff and the stuff Slash or VR does ... which is UNCOOL.

All people care about is cool music and cool people that represents who they are and what their current situation in life is at in the current moment. It's 2012 and not 1991.

So if the record company would actually invest in promoting the current GnR band with promotions, music videos, getting radio and tv stations to update their GnR playlist rotation to include the newer music, the current GnR will be able to overcome this BRANDING problem with the band where people perceive them as being the UNCOOL pre-1993 version.

That is why Axl said, once they figured out what their deal is with the record company, GnR can move forward with their next plans.

Thanks. This is just a great post. This is the kind of discussion fans of this band need on here. Instead of, bashing each other up and praying for pigs to fly.