Vasco Rossi
Basta Poco

Vasco is undoubtedly a clever one. He is an incredible manager of himself, by now.
He surprised everyone with the unexpected release of a little song (truth be told, modest), exclusively downloadable from the internet, and officially not announcing any album or other projects. The surprise little song (truth be told, modest) was accompanied by statements that claimed to be lofty, very honest, and above all, austere and, in a word, serious.

Let's see: Vasco says, more or less verbatim, that for him the era of albums is over, that he wants to write single songs and sell them this way. “I write, record on the fly and put it online,” he seems to say, with the tone of someone who acts independently and returns to real things (not those of the past because there weren't any back then…but you get the idea…with that spirit). Then he adds that the little song (truth be told, modest) would like to be a small tribute to Jannacci, thus trying to wink at that audience of songwriting purists (like the writer) who have been following him for years either with suspicion or at most as a pleasant soundtrack for a vacation with family and friends. Up to this point, he seems believable, even, playing on the fact that everyone, but especially young people, no longer has a shred of critical sense and consume everything the market and its standard-bearers offer them.

Instead, here we think, or at least we try.
And we try to toss out two bits of data quickly. In the biennium 2005-2006 SIAE, a first-republican elephant that would deserve a good tirade to be made at another time for sure, had incredible revenues mainly (from equally incredible percentages) thanks to songs downloaded on mobile phones and those legally downloaded from the Internet. The first name that made SIAE's fortune (and his own)? Naturally Vasco. Recording a song, after writing it or having it written, costs very little. And it takes half a day (to record just the vocal track, if desired, even much less…). Recording an entire album, instead, involves many obligations, direct and indirect: a background project (do you remember the “concepts”…? …so lovely… Testa did it recently too, but only three of us appreciated it), a set of comparable but not identical arrangements to harmonize the overall project. Studio, musicians, and technicians booked for who knows how long… in short, costs, costs, and costs. And years of work.

We all very well know, and we all know it, that lately singles are what work (the trivialized and trivializing return of the fabulous '60s, I call it…) and not albums. What are sold to mobile phone advertisements are single songs, not albums. And, if in the '70s - '80s those who gave their music to advertising were considered fools, today it's those who don't who are considered fools… Vasco sells us all this, and he sells us his new little song (truth be told, modest) with the moralizing little finger of the artist. But he is only doing what a good manager should always try to do: minimize costs and maximize profits. It's just marketing, baby. And we'll see how much it really is marketing.