Let’s Sell More Beer To Blacks by antiGUY

This month I’m going to do something a little different for our “What the Hell” column. Instead of slagging an obvious and ridicule deserving recording artist (I use the word artist with tongue firmly planted in cheek.) I wanted to turn the column over to a real pioneer in the music business, a man named Marty Thau, who back in 1977 started a small indie record label called “Red Star Records”. We’ll let Marty tell you about the label and some of the artists that have appeared on their releases through the years but let it be known that Marty and Red Star Records have earned themselves a distinguished place in music history and have been at the forefront of the American punk movement from the very beginning. The crux of the story Marty is about to tell you directly is he now faces two large corporations in a battle over the brand name he has established that now faces a dubious future by being diluted as a mere vehicle to sell beer but it gets more sinister than that...

Many may say what’s the big deal, so what? Well, think of it this way, say a boyband similar to N Sync came out and decided to call themselves oh let’s say “The Beatles” or “Black Sabbath”, wouldn’t that tarnish the original band’s name? Even if people know better it still goes against what people associate with those names, and let’s be honest, reputation is important. But this goes even deeper than that, as you will soon discover.

Normally, we take a story like this and run a news article on it but as you will read the response Marty tells us he received puts this into “What the Hell" territory.  Stay tuned at the end, for me to expand on this thought a bit, but for now let’s hear the story directly from Marty. 

Here’s a little story about how hypocritical a major corporation can be. In 1977 I founded Red Star Records, an indie label designed to present new rock ‘n’ roll music, and released my first two records—Suicide’s classic debut and Boston’s Real Kids LP. Both were well received and set the stage for further releases by groups like the Fleshtones, the New York Dolls, Martin Rev, Richard Hell & The Voidoids plus a number of compilations that included performances by the Ramones, Blondie and Brian Setzer. Over the years I reissued these same LPs internationally many times and still do to this day because they’re always in demand. 

In other words, my name “Red Star Records” has been in continuous use since 1977.

This past October (2001) the Heineken USA Company struck up a deal with Epic Records to release a record on their own Red Star Records label called “Red Star Sounds: Soul Searchin’  Volume 1.” It’s a very good record indeed—neo-soul by artists like Eryka Badu, Jill Scott, Macy Gray, Nellie Furtado, India.Arie and Glenn Lewis among others. 

However Heineken were using my company name as their own without consideration or compensation. 

I contacted my lawyer and sent Epic and Heineken a cease and desist notice claiming they were violating my rights. Heineken’s highly paid Washington Trademark attorney informed us they had conducted a search of the trademark files to see if the name Red Star Records was available and did not maliciously intend to wrongfully violate my rights but since I hadn’t trademarked Red Star Records back in ‘77 they assumed it was free and clear. 

OK, so here’s where it gets down and dirty. Months pass. Silence. When I continued to object to their usage of my name they informed me that their intention in releasing records was to benefit urban musicians and therefore I should respect their noble gesture and go along with the program.  (Translation: let’s sell more beer to blacks). 

I have what is called Common Law Rights and knew I could (and will) overturn their Trademark Application and be a total nuisance but instead wanted to settle this issue amicably, so I proposed they use the name Heineken’s Red Sounds instead, and only release one or two urban CDs per year with the proper acknowledgement on all CD packages that their Heineken Red Star entity was a non- profit organization. 

This did not suit them because their music marketing plans include a 60-city tour of alternative rock artists this coming summer under the Red Star name that has nothing to do with benefiting “urban” musicians and everything to do with selling beer. Clever marketers trying to look righteous. 

Bottom line, in the end they basically told me what to do with myself—of course, in much more polite terms—as they accused me of being impolite and presumptuous for pursuing my rights. 

I guess I’m just a small little guy and don’t deserve any consideration, and since they’re a major corporation they can step all over me and rewrite history at the same time. 

All to sell more beer. 

DISCLAIMER: So as to avoid prosecution under the USA Patriot Act, I hereby advise all interested parties that my announced intention to be a nuisance to Heineken USA should be interpreted as verbal criticism only, and not as a threat of physical violence against any of its employees—although I can think of a few lawyers who deserve, and would probably love, to be spanked.

Did you ever try Samuel Adams beer? It’s a very tasty drink.

Marty Thau

antiGUY follow up: Now this looks like your typical business squabble over the use of a name and Marty has a good case since he claims he has been using the Red Star name for a quarter of a century. True, with Heineken’s logo, which includes a Red Star, the name makes perfect sense. But as Marty points out, "A perfect red star is the logo of Macy's department stores and hundred of other companies, too. Heineken does not have exclusive usage of the red star logo design." If they did, they would have had to sue the former Soviet government for violating their trademark as well!

The bigger problem here was their response to Marty and playing the race card, if what he said is true. Let’s be honest here, why would they use such a slimly tactic? Everyone knows the race issue is a sticky and contentious Pandora’s box that shouldn’t be used. Their reported plea to Marty on the basis that they were using the name to aid urban artist was a little below the belt and an insult to blacks. Especially when it appears so disingenuous. Marty was on to something when he suggested that they set up a non-profit organization if their real goal was to help promote urban artists. He was actually willing to accommodate them if that was indeed their real goal, Marty tells us, "I was willing to allow them to use Red Star if it was called Heineken's Red Star Sounds, a non-profit program to benefit urban musicians and only release 2 urban CDs per year, they refused my solution". So if we read between the lines, we know that benefiting urban musicians wasn’t their real intention and Marty seems to have hit the nail right on the head when he said it appears their real goal is “sell more beer to blacks”. 

Just a few weeks ago a local Los Angeles network affiliate ran a news story ridiculing beer companies for targeting Latinos in their advertising and the uproar over brewers marketing directly to minorities has a long history.

We normally stay well clear of such issues here; we have enough controversial things in the music industry to cover without having to step into the contentious arena of race issues. But it is really appalling that these corporations would try to use race in this way. And let’s be honest, according to the RIAA Urban music is more popular than Country Music and brings in sales of over a billion dollars a year. Epic Records can and does promote their roster of Urban artist like any other major record company, by releasing albums, singles, videos, compilations and putting some marketing behind them. Why do they need a Beer company to help promote Urban artists? It’s an insult, plain and simple and an obvious cop-out. Whether a company wants to market to a certain demographic, be it an age group, an ethnic group etc, is another issue entirely, the problem here is their attempt in trying to cloak their marketing efforts by claiming it is a goodhearted attempt to help a minority group of recording artists, which is appalling. That and the main fact that remains here, Marty Thau established Red Star Records in 1977 and since then the label has a reputation as representing a certain genre of music, now we have a major record company diluting his brand name and reputation and then trying to excuse it by claiming to help minority-recording artists? It doesn’t add up.  I hope Marty wins his battle with Epic and Heineken, and the people responsible for the ludicrous statements reportedly made to Marty about using the Red Star name to promote Urban artists are ashamed of themselves. Come on people, these people want to make money and sell beer; it has nothing to do with helping anyone but themselves! They are in business to make money, there is nothing wrong with that, so why try and lie about  their intentions?

With that claim in mind, I will leave you with a statement RIAA President and Chief Executive Officer Hilary Rosen made in March of 2001, “It comes as no surprise to see the gain rap and hip-hop has made when you consider that all of our major record labels produced many successful multi-platinum albums of the genre throughout the year". 

P.S. Let's not forget the ultimate platform at the label's disposal to promote urban artists, MTV! They don't seem to have any difficulty getting coverage there and a few well placed Heineken commercials on the network would surely be a way to expose urban artists but it would also be an excellent vehicle to sell beer to a predominantly under legal drinking age audience. Humm, interesting thought there.

P.S.S. I personally prefer MGD myself.