This Luke Bryan Releasing a Video Exclusively Through “Tinder” Business
If there’s any comfort to be gained from the startling amount of country legends who have so unfortunately left the mortal coil this year, it’s that they passed on without knowing a time in country music when the biggest star of the genre was marketing his music through a sex app.
Tinder has taken the art of romance and turned it into an algorithmic formality, and Luke Bryan has replaced artistic expression with formulaic artifice. So it’s only fitting Luke would conjoin forces with Tinder to release an “exclusive” lyric video through the dating app ahead of the official release of his new album on August 7th.
Look, I don’t even really know if I have a serious problem with this. This could veer into “kids get off my lawn” territory pretty quickly. I have just as much of a problem with these stupid “exclusive” content releases as I do Luke hooking up with America’s foremost hookup app. But this video release to Tinder has less to do with Luke Bryan’s music, and more to do with luring people to take the time to download the Tinder app. And if I did have a problem with the Tinder / Bryan video tryst, it would be who it invariably is tantalizing to sign up for the service. Take a survey of the first 10 rows of any Luke Bryan concert, and guess who the overwhelming demographic is going to be? You guessed it: 13 to 15-year-old girls. And apparently this younger demographic is the one Tinder is trying to recruit.
Though a lot of people think Tinder is an adult-only app, adolescents as young as 13-years-old can sign up, though users under 18 can only look at profiles of other users under 18. And Tinder is trying to do their level best to trend the age of the users of the app younger. Concerned with the app being perceived as something only for older users, the company implemented a geezer tax in March on users over 30-years-old. Tinder is actively trying to recruit younger users, hence the Luke Bryan video release.
Also interesting about Tinder’s demographic breakdown is that 1/3rd of the users are married. Luke Bryan said in a press release about the exclusive video that he was happily married and he didn’t have a Tinder account, but apparently being married would make him fit right in. That’s the deal with apps like Tinder and Ashley Madison: there’s a scuzziness there that makes you hope their use never goes mainstream. That’s why they’re using mainstream faces like Luke Bryan to help broaden their appeal.
It’s only fair to mention that officially, Tinder is not meant to be exclusively about setting up sex rendezvous. It’s just a dating app. But I’ll tell you this: If I was looking to blow off a little steam and hook up for the night, or was feeling a little lonely and wanted to go looking for love, the last thing I would want to see is the country music Gomer Pyle on there shilling his stupid video. I mean shit, you can’t get away from this guy.
If you’re a Tinder user like apparently 50 million people are and it gets the job done, then hey, good for you. And even if you’re a Luke Bryan fan and that’s what gets you off, hey, more power to you. But the fact that a country music artist is the one to take Tinder into the music realm is quite telling. All you have to do is see Luke Bryan’s live show to know that Luke is not selling music, he’s selling sex. And his Tinder hookup just illustrates this yet again.
August 3, 2015 @ 8:29 am
Well, Gaww-lee. . . for shame, for shame, for shame.
August 3, 2015 @ 8:36 am
Can you say sleazeball? I think it blows my mind even more that children as young as 13 can use this app. What a crazy world.
August 3, 2015 @ 12:40 pm
I’ve mercifully avoided using the application in question. Learning that 13-year-olds are using it is honestly a bit nauseating; we all know what it’s used for.
August 4, 2015 @ 7:41 am
And anyone can lie about their age and someone may land in hot water. Just read an article where an 18 year old used some hot or not app and had sex with a 14 year old girl who claimed she was 17. Now he is listed on the sexual predator list for 25 years. The girl who lied about her age along with her mother asked the judge to not put him on the list because she misled him. But the judge still did anyway.
There are plenty of predators out there and technology just makes it easier for them to prey on younger children and adults for that matter. Allowing such young children access to sites and apps like this is just asking for it. That 18 year old wasn’t thinking about the what if’s when he used that app and now he is kicking himself in the ass.
August 3, 2015 @ 8:46 am
“All you have to do is see Luke Bryan”™s live show to know that Luke is not selling music, he”™s selling sex. And his Tinder hookup just illustrates this yet ”
Can you spell S_H_A_N_I_A ? This is the biggest- selling female country artist in history and it wasn’t about her ( ahem ) “songs” . Ok …so one of her songs DID mention ‘boots’ but hey …construction workers , firefighters , miners and policemen all wear boots . Not just cowboys .
LB’s lyrics are not and never were ‘country ‘ lyrics and his fan base isn’t and never were country fans .
An interesting article never-the-less Trigger . My favourite revelation was the ” geezer tax ” . Too funny . But I’d guess Luke could probably handle that fee….I mean …being a successful ” geezer ” and all . I am unfamiliar with TINDER outside of the name but if Skywalker-man can advertise , isn’t it like putting an ad on the side of a bus ? Is it only a matter of time before KFC or GM posts an ad there ? Sorry if I sound a bit prehistoric about this stuff . But after all , I AM a geezer .
May the force be with you Luke .
August 3, 2015 @ 8:48 am
I would love to wake up one day, and not hate the entire world, but I guess that’s a pipe dream.
August 3, 2015 @ 11:41 am
Clint,
I used to feel that way, but then I realized that its a lot of fun to mock the lemmings as they throw themselves off the cliff.
August 3, 2015 @ 11:45 am
But, as they’re jumping off the cliff, they’ve got chains locked around our ankles.
August 3, 2015 @ 1:23 pm
You seem to have a lot of hate in you my friend, I can’t take anything you say seriously because of your avatar. Seriously man why all the hate?
August 3, 2015 @ 3:43 pm
So…am I supposed to answer your question, or not?
August 3, 2015 @ 6:38 pm
You can’t take him seriously because of his avatar… but I guarantee you take Bruce Jenner seriously though. You do right? You perceive sarcasm as hate ??? Sarcasm vs mental illness and you come.down on the side of mental illness as being utterly normal and sarcasm as problematic. That says all one needs to know. We really may be doomed.
August 3, 2015 @ 6:47 pm
Folks, I’m getting pretty sick and tired of comments constantly descending into political and cultural back and forths. Nobody comes here to read this.
Clint, though you have every right to make your avatar whatever you wish and I’m not in a position to either tell you what to make it, or control what you make it, clearly it has become a distraction where almost any comment you leave, your avatar is what the topic becomes about instead of what you said.
August 3, 2015 @ 3:47 pm
RD,
Do you have a plan in place, for when they come to haul you off to the re-education camp?
August 3, 2015 @ 5:40 pm
I don’t think they’re interested in re-educating old bigots like me. I avoided government schools, so I never ingested the lies, and I never will. I think they’re content to eliminate my people by convincing them to birth control, abort, and LGBT themselves out of existence. The few that remain will be swallowed up by the primitive hordes washing over the Western world. Its the Gramscian long road as opposed to the Soviet model…
August 3, 2015 @ 8:54 am
Now that I know real music actually exists outside what the radio thinks we want to hear, all of the Luke Bryan shenanigans don’t really make me mad anymore. I’m sure he’ll have 1 or 2 tolerable songs on the new album if we’re lucky and that’s all to hope for any more. And my guess is, if he’s debuting a song on Tinder, that is not one of the 1 or 2.
August 3, 2015 @ 9:23 am
SMH! When I read about this last week,I wondered if Anyone would feel the
SLEEZE factor with all this? Luke Bryan is a 39 yr old Married man with 2 sons.
His is now advertising and selling his “music” on TINDER which is an Adult Dating site. His fan base are 12yrs-16yr old girls. Point is Now these Very Young girls can go on TINDER which has majority of Adults and like so many other sites become more Creepy for young girls! Seriously, Who ever is advising Luke Bryan needs a reality check….Fast. on another note, Everyone knows Luke Bryan is married. Why does one have to repeat how Happily married he is ? I mean Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert told everyone they were “happily married”,didn’t they? Just sayin’. TINDER Is Not a good move for promoting new music with a fan base so young.IMO.
August 4, 2015 @ 12:16 pm
He’s also a 39 year old who sings songs about spring break that he released when he was in his mid-30’s. He probably wore his high school letter jacket after graduation.
This shouldn’t surprised anyone.
August 3, 2015 @ 9:35 am
“But I”™ll tell you this: If I was looking to blow off a little steam and hook up for the night, or was feeling a little lonely and wanted to go looking for love, the last thing I would want to see is the country music Gomer Pyle on there shilling his stupid video. I mean shit, you can”™t get away from this guy.”
lol!
August 3, 2015 @ 9:59 am
Only thing I’d add is that Hilary Duff recently did something similar through Tinder. Except instead of just buying ad space she made a profile, went on a couple of dates, and then made a music video out of it. It was a big PR buzz because everyone was like “what, celebrity using tinder???” and then it was revealed it was part of her marketing plan. She’s also single (divorced, has a kid) so do with that what you will? But it didn’t read as particularly sleazy. The app itself is rather cheap though ”“Â you swipe basically based on photos (i.e. very little personality involved at first glance) and to continue swiping it’s called ‘playing’ i.e. it’s more of a game than a serious matchmaking effort per se. Personally I just think Luke’s involvement with it is smart but further reduces him to a dude who shakes his ass in tight jeans and sings about flip cup. Would’ve felt better for his protege Cole or someone like Michael Ray, but again, it’s not like Luke is going for anything mature (or even the least bit indicative that he might be a father… sigh).
August 3, 2015 @ 10:15 am
I am looking forward to eventually reading a book about the history of country music that reflects on the 2000s-2010s. Blake Shelton on The Voice, Bobby Bones on iHeartRadio, Luke Bryan on Tinder… It’s a lot to sort through, and we’ve come a long way from Roy Acuff and Porter Wagoner.
August 3, 2015 @ 11:39 am
People will look back at this era the way they look back at ’80s fashion. It’s so bad it will induce laughter.
August 3, 2015 @ 10:57 am
After you find someone on Tinder, you can now impress them with an exclusive Luke Bryan candle.
Along with Tinder, it appears that Luke is also after the candle-buying market. He recently announced a “limited edition” candle available from Yankee Candle.
I thought it was a joke at first…maybe a meme you would expect to find on Farce the Music or something…but it’s real. Here’s the link: http://radio.com/2015/08/03/luke-bryan-candle/
August 3, 2015 @ 11:20 am
Hopefully the candle smells like shit
August 3, 2015 @ 7:07 pm
Or burnt rubbers….
August 4, 2015 @ 3:17 pm
Too funny!
“How’s the smut business, Jackie?”
August 3, 2015 @ 3:28 pm
“Luke Bryan has just been transformed into a candle””you can smell him any time you please.”
Who wrote this article and thought that line was a good idea?
Heck, who made this product and thought it was a good idea?
August 5, 2015 @ 4:12 am
I wonder if the candle falls over when it gets “lit up”?
August 3, 2015 @ 12:41 pm
yaller just jellus of luke. hes a clasic all timer an on the cuttin edge. if that ole justin isbell did this it wood be all rite but cauz luke did it yall say its bad. lukes a clasic.
August 3, 2015 @ 1:08 pm
Pretty much sums my thoughts exactly.
This is lameness epitomized, but ultimately nothing worth devoting a lot of energy to when Luke Bryan and Tinder are actually most compatible in their commercial aims.
“Strip It Down” exemplifies this further. The funny thing about that song is that it fails miserably in owning up to any of the entendres that are 1) being a sexy bedroom jam, 2) the metaphor of carpentry as a means of assessing a damaged relationship and aspiring to make it good as new, and 3) stripping down your music so it has a bare-boned intimacy and delivery.
But make no mistake: at the end of the day, the song is titled “Strip It Down”, first and foremost, for marketing purposes. To commandeer the attention of the listener by means of selling sex even when the song sounds more like a dirge than a romp.
August 3, 2015 @ 1:18 pm
All I see is tight jeans, t-shirt and neon white teeth. Gag me, Mr. Greedy…..it’s all about the money and nothing to do with the music.
August 3, 2015 @ 1:55 pm
Yeah, I bet we’re thinking a lot harder about the cultural ramifications of this kind of deal than Luke Bryan did. He’s just capitalizing on fame and exposure while they’re working in his favor.
August 3, 2015 @ 2:07 pm
I wonder what the percentage of males that go to his concerts. Anyone know?
August 3, 2015 @ 3:23 pm
I’m guesstimating no more than 30% of the audience is comprised of males.
I think, more often than not, the (decidedly young men) that attend his concerts are in the company of their girlfriends and do so more out of making them happy out of obligation than actually enjoying the music.
It’s notably different than Jason Aldean’s concert demographic: which is evenly mixed overall even among age demographic. After all, he won over many disenchanted Active Rock listeners who were dismayed by the lack of a torchbearer for meat-and-potatoes rawk following the beginning of Nickelback’s commercial decline during the “Dark Horse” era: which are largely males 18-35. So with Aldean’s crowds, it’s understandable why you get a balance of males and females, and even plenty of middle-aged attendees.
Luke Bryan’s crowds, demographically, are comparatively lopsided and speak to a narrower target demographic. And that is why I think, while Bryan is unmistakably more popular than Aldean and Church in the meantime among A-listers, his decline is going to be steeper than Aldean and Church’s in these coming years.
August 3, 2015 @ 3:18 pm
Lyric videos are the new concert video. It’s like the Bro-Country handlers decided, “Okay, guys, concert videos are just not lazy and cheap enough. How can we make something even lazier and cheaper?”
“Uhhh, my son just graduated from Belmont and knows how to use ProPresenter… can we get him a job?”
“Bob, you’re a genius! Thanks, Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business!”
August 16, 2015 @ 8:52 am
Every time I see a lyric video come on I have to fight the urge to throw a brick through the screen!!!
August 3, 2015 @ 3:35 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0H65wUXt98
This could put country music out of business. If other genres pick up where ’80s rock left off, country will loose a good share of it’s audience. No pop-country singer is gonna do rock ‘n roll better than a rock band. If this band blows up, country will sink.
August 3, 2015 @ 3:52 pm
LB comes off as the most Naive, clueless pinhead going…..has zero common sense in him.
August 3, 2015 @ 3:58 pm
Alright SCM am I Clint or Trigger today? as soon as I know who I am we can return to my regularly scheduled commenting!!
In all seriousness this is not the stupidest thing I saw today. Some guy came into the store where I work the customer service counter, and then he took his cart out of our lot and tried to take it through the drive-thru at Wendy’s.
August 5, 2015 @ 4:31 am
Uhhhh, how is that stupider than Luke Bryon on Tinder? That took only one guy to do something stupid. This took LB, and god knows how many of his managers, marketing people and other handlers and hanger-on-ers to make this guy an extra million this week to the continued detriment of him having any hope of long term commercial viability or credibility. One has to wonder if they even told ol’ Luke what they were doing? …and if they did, I can just imagine the blank look on his face when he said, “uh, yeah, good idear!”
August 3, 2015 @ 4:14 pm
Oh Boy! What is country music coming down to? Act your age Luke this is not country music. Hank, Roy, and Waylon and other late country legends are rolling in their graves. Even living country legends are frowning right now.
August 3, 2015 @ 4:21 pm
I’m not sure why anyone is surprised. This guy sold out to the highest bidder years ago. If tinder offered this guy a nickel more than the other guys I’m sure he jumped. The good news is he is almost at the end of his run. Can’t see him dancing like a teenager at 40, but who the hell knows.
August 4, 2015 @ 5:10 am
Mick Jagger dances like a teenager at age 70-something during his Rolling Stones shows. So, I doubt Luke Bryan is about to stop.
August 4, 2015 @ 7:44 am
But Mick Jagger can always fall back on being responsible for one of the most important and influential legacies in popular music ever. Without “The Move,” Luke Bryan may not be able to book county fairs.
August 4, 2015 @ 8:54 am
Thank you Trigger. Who’s going to remember any of this so called
“Music” from Luke Bryan in 10 yrs?
There is ABSOLUTELY no comparison in A Rock And Roll Legend (Mick Jagger) and mediocre pop-county’s latest fade Luke Bryan. No matter what kind of moves are done on stage. No Comparison.
August 4, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
Sure he does, but did you notice all the dust that flies off of him once he starts?
August 3, 2015 @ 5:54 pm
Woof. Talk about low-rent.
And as much as it comes off as such all by its lonesome, I can assure you it’s that much more so with real music playing in the background…
August 3, 2015 @ 5:59 pm
Tinder like many other apps and social media sites allow for a lot lying about age. And that to me is what is creepy. If tinder only let’s kids under 18 users see users under 18 then WHY are they allowed to see Luke Bryan at all in any fashion since he is not under 18 by a mile. Kinda goes against policy if you ask me and is CREEPY as HELL. I am still waiting for the report when they find pictures on Luke’s computer.
Meanwhile at this very moment there is an ad for me on your sidebar trigger that says Russian Senior dating for men featuring some very blonde twenty somethings. I swear ads that target me are so far off all the time I don’t what o know what I’m doing wrong.
August 3, 2015 @ 8:22 pm
I’ve heard the song and lets just say that Luke got the memo on the new trend lol. His team has made sure all his bases are covered for whatever type of song is called for on this album.
August 3, 2015 @ 8:38 pm
This isn’t a new thing. Zedd and Jason Derulo also previewed songs/videos through Tinder. I’m sure others have as well.
And, no, the fact that they’re pop and he’s “country” means nothing. There’s no genre slant here. Tinder has plenty of pop fans, and plenty of country fans.
August 3, 2015 @ 9:07 pm
I was referring to the Funk being infused into Country which pretty much started with Make Me Wanna and now everybody is hopping on the bandwagon.
August 3, 2015 @ 10:39 pm
I wasn’t replying to you – I was replying to the article itself, which seems to treat the “promote your music on Tinder” idea as some sleazy Luke Bryan innovation.
August 16, 2015 @ 8:54 am
Seriously? Zedd??? A singer named himself after a Power Rangers character? Well that does it. I am off to commit Japanese ritual suicide now!!!
August 4, 2015 @ 8:57 am
And there is this. I had no idea bad music had a signature scent as well. Oh Yankee candle…. LOL
http://countryoutfitter.life/yankee-candle-introduces-new-luke-bryan-scented-candle/
August 4, 2015 @ 9:54 am
As if most of us weren’t aware of this already , ” dumbing -down ” is now statistically evident. This Luke Bryan article seemed like a good place to put the link.. for anyone interested
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Bacon+Google+reality+shows+Seven+everyday+ways+ruining+your/11262735/story.html
August 4, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
Luke Bryan keeps sinking to new lows. This shit REEKS of desperation. I expect FGL and Aldean to follow in his footsteps.
August 7, 2015 @ 5:36 am
This is another classic case of making mountains out of mole hills, like all seems to be done now a days.
He released his video through a dating app and your panties are in a bunch. You’ve now pegged the man as a disgusting pig luring 13 year old to have sex? That’s unfair and a stretch. That is everyone kicking luke when he’s down from the whole outlaw situation. This man could cure cancer and you’d still hate his guts.
How old are all of you? I’m very curious to know. I’ve entered the dating world with these apps and they are quite commical among my demographic age. It’s nothing that serious. Lighten up.
I had no idea 13 year olds could sign up- and maybe LB doesn’t either. Stop labeling a man as a pig simply because you hate his music.
August 7, 2015 @ 11:26 am
“You”™ve now pegged the man as a disgusting pig luring 13 year old to have sex?”
Never did such a thing. As you said, you had no idea 13-year-old could sign up, and neither did I. I just stated the facts.
August 10, 2015 @ 1:24 pm
I listen to his new album on Apple Music and boy does it suck so bad. I can’t believe his management let him release that album.