Recording room with a view

Is the bubble about to burst on reality TV?

What?: Dr Pepper Band In A Bubble – a partnership involving MTV, Dr Pepper and Epic Records – will chart the creation of an album (by US band Cartel) from within a see-through bubble containing a 2,000-square-foot recording studio. The band will be locked up for a total of 20 days with their every creative move broadcast on-demand at MTV.com. The footage will also will be available on MTV as four 30-minute music special episodes. The event is billed as a “fascinating and intimate forum for our viewers to witness the process of creating music first-hand.” The band’s bubble will ‘burst’ on 21st June, with the album release date set for 24th July.

So What?: As with David Blaine’s UK stunt involving his incarceration in a plastic box, initial public interest can quickly rise into ridicule and often resentment. Whether Cartel have the fanbase to sustain continued interest for 3 weeks within their bubble remains to be seen. Sampling the nature of a truly live recording session should hold some value, but the saturation of reality TV styled programmes may mean that they get lost amongst the MTV schedule. The drop off in users using the on-demand service after launch will be interesting as will the final album sales. The band however have left themselves a month between exiting the bubble and a release date, leaving them plenty of time to do the ‘real’ recording process.

www.drpepperbuble.com