T-Mobile commercial featuring Eric Clapton..... (Page 1 of 2)

personally not a fan of artists advertising.

Well, the cool thing about doing commercials like this, is if you look at those comments on the youtube video, look at how many people are asking what song that is, because they want to get it. That is awesome, in my humble opinion.

Exactly. People don't understand that this is THE thing in his life, more important than music, and right up there with his family.

That would be nice to ged a Joe-promoted Gibson iPhone app, or maybe John Henry or Black Rock artwork in the next iPod ad

U2 endorsed BlackBerry products recently, and they did the same with the iPod some time ago, there was a special edition black and red signed iPod with a rebate for "The Complete U2" on the iTunes Store.

Brack,

As shocking as this seems, based on what I've read, Clapton has been quoted stating he needs to keep working, especially if he wants to keep his family in their current lifestyle. Keep in mind, he has a very young family, even though Clapton is in his 60's, I think he keeps working so his family will be able to live very comfortably, more so than just his retirement plan.  I know he bought a yacht not too many years back, the loan on it is very costly & I think the plan was to charter it out, but the cash flow from that really soured with the economy. 

I was just thinking of this musician income as they age scenario, different than Clapton.  I am on a mailing list for Carly Simon and I was asked to be on her street team to help sell her latest album. I was surprised that she needed a street team, but after I read up on her current situation and started thinking about folks that don't tour, don't have big selling new CD's and basically, they drain their savings...we know how fast that goes down.  Carly lost a lot of $$$$ in the stock market, (probably was living on some of the interest $$) and she's having some financial issues currently & has had to make some tough decisions about selling some of her real estate etc. I doubt its been settled yet, but Carly hired a big gun lawyer to sue Starbucks, since she switched her record label there for her CD (before this one) and after she signed Starbucks didn't hold up to what they promised, at all etc.  One reason she signed on was because Paul McCartney had success selling his CD in Starbucks and what they promised in an advance etc.  Every once in a while you hear a story about a movie star (like Nicholas Cage) or a musician that's broke, its always hard to imagine....

I bought the CD involved in the lawsuit through Carly's store, she signed a little note on the cover to me, before I joined her street team.   Her most recent release was promoted through a company in NY, J&R something or other...good karma to Carly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/arts/ … simon.html

Angela your comment about Carly Simon brought a couple of thoughts to mind. One, when Eddie Money bought his first home back in '77 through a realtor friend of mine all the lenders were concerned about was how high his music was charting at the time. Once the hits fade so does your credit credibilty. Two, my friend Stef Burns who plays with Huey Lewis and Vasco Rossi(Italian pop Star), and previously with Alice Cooper and Y&T bought the only laundromat here in Benicia as an investment and refers to it as his Rock'n'Roll 401K. The money goes as fast as it comes in the music biz and not all the artists are as savvy at investing as they should be.

                                                                                      Think Green,

                                                                                      J Dawg

The post about Carly Simon losing money in the stock market reminded me of someone else.  When I went to see Leonard Cohen last year, I overheard some people commenting that they were surprised he'd be doing such an extensive tour at his age, especially after 15 years of not touring.  One of them said it was because he'd lost all his money in the stock market, and alluded to some sort of scam or wrongdoing.  I never bothered to check into it, but I thought I should look it up before posting rumors... here's what I just found on Cohen's wiki page:

Lawsuits
On October 8, 2005, Cohen alleged that his longtime former manager, Kelley Lynch, misappropriated over US $5 million from Cohen's retirement fund leaving only $150,000.[41] Cohen was sued in turn by other former business associates.[41] These events placed him in the public spotlight, including a cover feature on him with the headline "Devastated!" in Canada's Maclean's magazine. In March 2006, Cohen won the civil suit and was awarded US $9 million by a Los Angeles County superior court. Lynch, however, ignored the suit and did not respond to a subpoena issued for her financial records.[42] As a result it has been widely reported that Cohen may never be able to collect the cash.[43] In 2007, U.S. District Judge Lewis T. Babcock dismissed a claim by Cohen for more than US $4.5 million against Colorado investment firm Agile Group, and in 2008 he dismissed a defamation suit that Agile Group had filed against Cohen.[44] Cohen has been under new management since April 2005.

Between his manager ripping him off and whatever happened at the investment firm, he's in pretty sad shape financially, for a man with a lifetime of accomplishments and success... what a shame.   I hope he made some decent money on that tour... he and his incredible band put on a hell of a show!

--Vik

Amen jim. It don't change the fact that he can play that guitar!