Our favourite bands are always looking for ways to renew their image to stay fresh and reach new audiences. This is something that can be achieved in various ways, so what are a few of the best examples?

Moving into Games

Hooking up with a software development company to lend their name to a game is a move that lets a band get heard by millions of people who might not have paid attention to them before. One of the best examples comes from Blur, whose Song 2 has been on games as diverse as FIFA: Road to World Cup 98, Madden NFL Football and Guitar Hero 5. This exposure helped to make it possibly the group’s best-known track.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood was perhaps the first rock group to get a video game based on them, with the 1985 title from Ocean Software released on several of the popular home computers of the time. Since then, The Beatles, Kiss and ABBA have all had games named after them. What’s more, Green Day: Rock Band lets you pretend you’re part of the eponymous trio.

Given the popularity of online casino games, it’s no surprise to find some leading bands lend their name to slots. A look at www.genesiscasino.com/en-gb reveals titles like Kiss Reels of Rock, ZZ Top Roadside Riches and Guns N Roses. These games offer features such as wild symbols and free spins, while featuring video or audio clips of the band in action. Although some of these bands have stopped releasing new music, they maintain their position in popular culture through online gaming.

Taking Up Las Vegas Residencies

The recent controversy over Adele’s cancelled Vegas residency – as explained here by www.bbc.com/news – shows us that taking on a run of high-profile shows in this city can go wrong. However, plenty of bands have enhanced their careers by playing residencies over the years. Elvis Presley probably had the most famous and successful spell, but Celine Dion grossed the most, taking in $385 million.

Liberace was the artist who created the idea of a hotel residency back in the 1940s. In recent years, the likes of Def Leppard and Aerosmith have played to audiences here during lucrative residencies that have given them some of the advantages of touring without having to travel.

Silk Sonic and Scorpions are among the big names with Vegas residencies in 2022, according to www.billboard.com/music. Any band offered a series of shows here is likely to already be a huge name in the music business. Yet, taking on Vegas shows can still move them to a new level financially, as well as in terms of their reputation.

Source: Pixabay

Appearing in Movies

This final tactic is something we haven’t seen too much of in the last few years. Before, The Beatles and The Clash had their own films while other groups made appearances in other people’s movies. Blink-182 appeared in American Pie and The Ramones popped up in Rock ‘N’ Roll High School.

One of the strangest examples comes from 1988’s surreal It Couldn’t Happen Here by the Pet Shop Boys. The lack of any sort of understandable plot led to poor reviews, but this failure didn’t stop the band from going from strength to strength. It Couldn’t Happen Here was finally released on DVD in 2020, while a compilation of scenes from it was used in the Always on My Mind video.

Popular bands will always look for new ways of expanding their image and reaching out to new fans. This means that the ideas we’ve looked at will continue to be utilised, while new methods of boosting their brand are likely to be introduced too.