The Black Keys is a Perfect Choice for the University Village Microsoft Store Grand Opening
As posted earlier, The Black Keys will be playing at the official grand opening of the University Village Microsoft Store. The talented duo will perform on October 21st, time not yet officially announced. But, some fans are shocked. Are the Black Keys “selling out” by performing at the Microsoft Store grand opening? My opinion is not at all.
First, why did Microsoft choose The Black Keys for the University Village grand opening? It’s simple – location, location, location. When Microsoft opened its Microsoft store in Bellevue Square, Miley Cyrus performed, a perfect choice considering Bellevue’s upper middle class suburban demographic. Looking at University Village, who lives in the University District and Laurelhurst neighborhoods? University of Washington students. College students like The Black Keys, so it’s a perfect choice. Nice job, Microsoft.
Nice job to The Black Keys too. Playing at the University Village Microsoft Store grand opening allows the duo to play for their fans in a fun, different location. Additionally, to some hipsters, playing arenas defines a band as selling out. The Black Keys are certainly doing that during their Europe tour. A band’s goal is to reach out to its fans and playing at University Village gives The Black Keys great exposure to its core demographic. It’d be a different story if The Black Keys were performing in Bellevue.
Over the next two to three years, Microsoft will be opening up 75 retail stores globally. It is slowly but surely catching up to Apple’s 300 retail stores. As it opens up more retails stores, it’ll be interesting to see which performers Microsoft chooses for its retail store grand openings.
Artists can sell out in two ways. The first is with any sort of financial success whatsoever. The Black Keys achieve this with their arena shows, album profits, and the Microsoft Store opening in question.
The second, less common, but more accurate description is allowing that success to take over the art. The Black Keys show no signs of that in my book, certainly not with a single show half a mile from a major university.
Joe
Thanks for the input, Joe. I didn’t know there were actually two definitions of “selling out.” I agree more with the second one and definitely agree that they haven’t sold out. I only wish I could’ve made it to the concert before the tickets “sold out.”
Now, the big question is: Did the Microsoft Store sell products by inviting The Black Keys to the opening? I watched a couple videos and it sounded like everyone who came to the opening at the Microsoft Store only came to hear The Black Keys and had no intention of purchasing something from Microsoft.