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onion Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: July 2005 Posted: Aug. 07 2007, 16:11 The media - the British media - seems to me, more interested now in MO that I can remember before in a long long time. I think MO himself contacted the media to promote his autobiography....not to make money, but to inform and tell about his troublesome life. But it seems to me the relentless British media has renewed its old interest in MO and are talking positive about him and the upcoming release and even that its 3 months away, the hype is getting bigger   Have I misunderstood something or do anybody else see it that way? regards Mike -------------- Are soft boiled eggs supposed to make a crunchy noise when you eat them? Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 14:42 Do you honestly think so? I thought Changeling was shockingly ignored by the UK music media. Did anybody see a review in Q, Mojo, Word, Classic Rock or even Record Collector? Maybe they passed me by but i didn't see a review in one of those publications and I get Q, Mojo and Word every month.   When you say the British media are taking an interest in him, what media? Again I didn't see and haven't heard about a single review or feature in any of the UK broadsheet newspapers.  It was only the news papers that I and most people with half a brain consider arse wiping material that showed any interest in Changeling which is sad to say the least. And as for radio, again what big radio shows featured him? Not many. He did a morning TV show which is good but how about appearing on something which is viewed by more than bored housewives? As far as Music of the Spheres is concerned I do agree that its good there seems to be a small buzz developing about the album this early. I guess thats because Universal consider it a big deal that its got all these other famous musicians involved in it (it must be costing a bomb to produce and I'm guessing Universal are paying the bill) and its Mike's first classical album. On top of that its in a genre where there's probably more room for Mike, the mainstream music world having sadly utterly squeezed him out. I do hope the album is a success for him and that he can find new energy, inspiration and enthusiasm (the latter he sometimes talks as if he lost long ago) for making GOOD music. If the album is good perhaps the British media will genuinely start to take an interest in him again. Back to top

Alan D Group: Members Posts: 3670 Joined: Aug. 2004 Posted: Aug. 12 2007, 15:49 The other day, I went down a deserted side alley and found a sadly neglected record shop I hadn't known about. In the yard behind the shop was an old shed, and in the shed, underneath a heap of old newspapers, was a locked iron box. It took some getting into, but eventually I managed it, and guess what? Inside it were three advertising leaflets for Light and Shade. I was amazed. I thought they'd only made one! So yes, I think things are looking up. [*Warning: parts of this narrative are fictional. Which parts, you want to know? Well ... OK, OK. Actually there were only two leaflets.] Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Aug. 21 2007, 13:51 Having heard practically nothing concerning MO for most of his career, it's really through sites like this that I'm now able to find information. When one speaks of 'The Media', I assume it's in reference to traditional TV, newspapers, radio, etc. But can or should internet sources be considered as a media outlet? I don't mean just online versions of BBC and Rolling Stone magazine, but also fan sites, blogs, and communities. Admittedly, the free exchange of information is sometimes questionable in veracity, but I think it serves the purpose of maintaining and feeding interest in an artist, even when there is no media-worthy activity to report. After all, outside of cyberspace, many individuals with an obscure interest are isolated from the greater fan community. Even now, I think the net still has a strong underground element to it, as it's only here that one can keep track of artists not in the media-limelight. -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

Jesse Group: Members Posts: 394 Joined: Aug. 2007 Posted: Aug. 21 2007, 14:11 look even The Prodigy...a band with recent no 1 albums in 2004 and 2005 in uk, is even underwhelmingly overlooked..not because they aren't succesfull..but because they are the kind of artist that is releasing material dramatically less succesfull commercial and critical than their previous work. so in that way, even succesfull and famous artists can have the problem of being on the downside part of the 'hype' - factor. rising stars attract attention...but artist that tend to release lesser works over the years are generally ignored..it's just not 'in' to give a MO album a positive review. it takes quite a bit of energy for an artist to reverse the media's and public's mind. they need to come up with at least a tune/album that is as good as their previous works...and it helps if a new audience gets into it...the media will follow Back to top

Tati The Sentinel Group: Members Posts: 3360 Joined: Feb. 2002 Posted: Aug. 21 2007, 14:52 Hype about MO? I don't think so.I personally think that he deserves a better promotion plan to help on his personal marketing. -------------- "But it's always the outsider, the black sheep, that becomes the blockbuster." - Mike Oldfield, 2014 "I remember feeling that I'd been judged unfairly and that I was going to prove them wrong." - Peter Davison, 2011 Back to top

bee Group: Members Posts: 1227 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: Aug. 21 2007, 16:57 Quote (Tati The Sentinel @ Aug. 21 2007, 14:52) I personally think that he deserves a better promotion plan to help on his personal marketing. I totally agree with you here Tati, but maybe it is his choice not to be so 'available' to all & sundry in the press. We talk amongst ourselves, we want to know things & on this board we are loyal and enjoy the seemingly endless topics of discussion that come from the work of just one man. That  in itself is remarkable, it's all started from his inspiration, his ideas and still he surprises us, makes us think again, and again. Music of the hemi-spheres? But the press thing, I feel there has been a gradual increase, can't say hype (that to me suggests blanket media coverage Hello & OK magazine involved too), but I feel it's maybe coming a bit more from Mike himself, his willingness to discuss his work . He does seem more at ease in interviews doesn't he, and anything he says is being heard in places where he'll be appreciated ( Classic FM for example ). And Changeling, I should think that had to be his decision to go ahead. I wonder if sometimes he is too complex an artist for your 'ordinary' journalist to write about ( not wishing to be rude to journalists ). He cannot be categorised as we have said many times before. And where do you put someone who appeals to people from all walks of life, all ages, across the world. Sweat pea is right, I think, about the net enabling fans and prospective fans to remain in contact with the band/musician of their choice if they have quite a low profile. It is good for that because the boudaries appear so blurred. This board here shows that quite clearly, how many of us just stumbled on the site without any prior knowledge that it was here? -------------- ....second to the right and straight on till morning.... You heard me before Yet you hear me again Then I die Till I call me again Back to top

TOBY Group: Members Posts: 1562 Joined: May 2002 Posted: Aug. 22 2007, 04:00 Quote (bee @ Aug. 21 2007, 16:57) I totally agree with you here Tati, but maybe it is his choice not to be so 'available' to all & sundry in the press. If thats true then he's spectacularly bad a picking which newspapers to make himself available to. Why only appear in  the gutter press like the  Mail or the Mirror? Why not appear in the broadsheets or the music press read by people who might actually be interested in buying his music?   To be fair pretty much all of Mike's contemporaries aren't exactly in the music press every month, even people like Peter Gabriel get much less attention than they used to but when they do have an album release they will at at least get good coverage. So why doesn't Mike? I don't think its anything to do with him being to 'complex' an artist for journalists to write about. I wouldn't say he's any more or less complex than his contemporaries who do get articles written about them. I think most of the problem stems from the fact that Mike is just off the musical radar and has been for a good few years. He rarely plays live which, as most music promoters will tell you, is probably the most important thing a musician can do to get or stay in the publics attention.  You can't just sit walled up in your studio, release an album, do 2 or 3 interviews and then hope the public will stay focused on you enough to sell more than a handful of records. Its a shame Mike isn't out there taking advantage of the UK and world appetite for live concerts at the moment. Concert tickets are selling faster than albums these days and Mike would do well to be part of it but that doesn't seem to be part of his career plan at the this point in life which is fair enough I suppose, its his career. Back to top

bee Group: Members Posts: 1227 Joined: Jan. 2004 Posted: Aug. 22 2007, 10:51 I just don't think it's the way he likes to do things. To be everywhere in the press would go right against his whole style. He's an ordinary ( but very talented ) person like the rest of us who values his privacy. In maturity he is a little happier to talk. And quite honestly why should he do anything other than that with which he is comfortable? It's his life. Even if he were to be exalted in every possible way, radio,tv,magazines etc, I don't think it would necessarily grab an entire new audience because his music requires more listening than the average concentration span of people generally today. Sad but true. If you are sensitive enough you discover it anyway, without having to read about it first. The music finds you. And with the concerts, we do not know yet what is being planned for the future. There haven't been that many concerts in the past, that's true. We would have liked more maybe, but doesn't that make them that bit more special. In years to come if you can say you were lucky enough to go to see Mike in 79 or the Millenium then that will be quite something. I expect I've contradicted myself totally somewhere, but I feel it's good to see or hear from Mike whenever he feels it right and at whatever intensity. -------------- ....second to the right and straight on till morning.... You heard me before Yet you hear me again Then I die Till I call me again Back to top

Ratty Group: Members Posts: 386 Joined: Jan. 2005 Posted: Oct. 16 2007, 12:56 Personally i dont think there has been an increase in media hype for Mike. If, for example you key in Mike Oldfield on Google News everyday as i usually do, it could be weeks / months before anything new is posted about Mike, and then it is usually a survey on "whats on a surgeons play list?" or the Virgin story!! I dont think Mike really could give two hoots as to wether he is promoted or not in the media, i would suggest he produces music for the love of it now and not for adulation or financial gain. I also feel that the lack of media interest in Mike does stem somewhat from his reluctance to give interviews in his early career. -------------- Far away across the field The tolling of the iron bell Calls the faithful to their knees To hear the softly spoken magic spells Back to top

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