Why don't they play The Hardest Part?

[d.B.g]

Am I the only person who doesn't understand this?

 

I mean I know a lot of people will say stuff like "because the song sucks .." etc... but realistically its a single, and typically they've always played their singles, especially during the tour of the album from which the single is released. I find it wierd that they have stayed away from playing it this whole tour (aside from the occasional encore set) and that they haven't promoted it like they did for their other 3. When Speed of Sound, Fix You and Talk came out, we constantly saw them playing the songs on TV and at award shows etc...

Their two most recent award shows have had them play Square One and Talk.

 

Do you think its because maybe the band isn't happy with the song, and didn't want it as a single, but it was more a record label decision?

 

I remember reading at the time of the release of X&Y that they didn't feel too too strongly about THP, and that to them it was just a happy go lucky tune that was one of their last picks for the album.

[leeds113]

i dont think the piano is the problem!

[victaniac]

No.. it's not the piano. They're always able to take it anywhere and song choices are never based upon equiment issues for established bands like Coldplay. It's a piano ya know, not an orchestra.. (and even then they took an orchestra to the 2003 Grammy's! :lol:)

 

I've been wondering this for ages too. They barely play it at concerts as well. It makes no type of sense.. though people have been saying that it's Coldplay's way of sticking it to their label. Pick the worse song on the album, make it a radio single only (no profit from THP, in other words) and don't even play it live. It makes sense, but I don't see why they would want to intentionally hurt EMI like that.

[frostbitepanda]

It makes sense' date=' but I don't see why they would want to intentionally hurt EMI like that.[/quote']

 

Because, although they've never said it flat-out, EMI has been putting enormous pressure on them and using the band as their own personal cash cow, and they're just sick of it. So they release a song that no one ever even CONSIDERED to be a possible single and that will earn the band and the label pretty much nothing, make a video that's so left-field that people will probably hate it (That does seem to be working) and basically never play it live and do zero promotion for it.

 

If you think about it, every Coldplay single released has been a great song, and the strongest songs on the album. All of them have had some amount of sucess and have had some sort of release with B-sides and a disc. With the tremendous sucess of X&Y and Coldplay's past track-record of releasing great, chart-topping singles, EMI was probably expecting nothing less than another great song to milk (Like White Shadows). Coldplay were sinply sick of being treated like a money maker. They could've had a top 40 hit with White Shadows, I gaurantee you. And I do beleive the boys are smart enough to know that. Why else would they choose "The Hardest Part", the weakest song on the album (Even if you like it, compared to songs like Low, Square One and White Shadows it pales in comparison), with no promotion, an off-the-wall video and no official release? Just for kicks?

 

And I say more power to them. :)

[victaniac]

It's just.. Coldplay has so much status now and a lot of freedom in EMI. How are EMI pressuring them? I know they did at beginning (to put out X&Y by a certain date) but they still did what they wanted and didn't meet the deadline. Coldplay always does what they want in the end. I find it unnecessary that they would deliberately try to hurt the label without any actual good reasons.

 

Coldplay sadly is EMI's cashcow, but it's been that way for a while and almost every label has theirs. Them releasing THP isn't going to all of a sudden change that.. EMI lost stocks when Coldplay didn't meet the X&Y deadline. Gained it all back (and more) when the album was released. Lost stocks again with the recent break-up rumors, got back to normal when it was obvious it wasn't true. It's always going to be this way because they are so popular, and I find it stupid that Coldplay would want to risk hurting themselves because of supposed label issues. Label issues that I have yet to see.. but maybe there's something I've missed?

 

I just really hope that's not the reason, but I know that it's the only one that makes some sort of sense. :sad:

[frostbitepanda]

Aw, Vic. I'm sorry if I came off a bit harsh. *Hugs*

 

But they aren't really hurting themselves. They're so big that it doesn't really hurt them, but they're excercising their power as a band to relase whatever they please. There's nothing that says that a band can't release a bad song as a single, so it does nothing when it comes to the EMI/Coldplay relationship. It's simply the fact that EMI will get pennies for this single, when they were probably expecting more waves of money from a single like White Shadows. It's just a subtle way of telling EMI to back off. Did you notice how much promotion that the guys were doing for Talk after Fix You flopped (Well, not REALLY, but it didn't do as well as the lable had hoped)? They don't book those talk shows, EMI does and that probably peeved them off a bit. Remember that they did that back in Parachutes days with Yellow. They pushed them so much in America the band was ready to throw in the towel with all the pressure.

 

That's how the business works I understand, but I think Coldplay did a good thing. Maybe EMI will back off a bit.

 

Plus, there is the combined idea that they just didn't want anymore exposure. That much is evident in Chris' Brit Awards speech.

 

But who knows... I don't work with the band so no one can ever get the right answer (And I don't think they'll ever actually come out and say it) so it's all theorizing.

 

But it's not a bad thing vic. At least that way they aren't getting caught up in the industry and becoming greedy. :)

[Marky]

They're only gonna play it when the old lady and the guy from the video become available to tour with them :p

[Guest LiquidSky]

They're only gonna play it when the old lady and the guy from the video become available to tour with them :p

 

Oh no! :laugh4:

[clockpolitiks]

It just doesnt make sense though because on the setlists, it reads, Swallowed/Hardest. Why would they even have The hardest part on there if they thought of it as a joke single? I do agree with a lot of what you guys said though.

[frostbitepanda]

But the point is, is that they still haven't played it since the single's been released. They may play it a few more times before the tour ends, but certainly not enough for what is a single.

[clockpolitiks]

Yea exactly. I dont know, coldplay is just not a normal band i guess,lol. They do what they wanna do.

[victaniac]

Yeah.. I do love that they're obviously not about money. I mean THP.. Radio single only. Crazy ass video that probably no one will play. How do they gain from this?

 

Maybe they're just trying to confuse us.. :laugh4:

[frostbitepanda]

They're probably laughing at us right now. "Haha... that FrostbitePanda... quite the philosphoic one. LMAO." "Hey Chris, look at Victaniac's signature!"

 

Very funny guys. :rolleyes:

[victaniac]

I wouldn't put it past them frosty! :laugh4: :laugh4:

[d.B.g]

Wow this generated quite a bit of discussion.

 

Well I have a few thoughts about what I've read.

 

First of all, its usually a record label decision about what formats a single will be released on. EMI decided to make THP radio only, and this actually benefits them if you think about it. Producing vinals and CDs of a single is costly, and the distribution and carrying costs of vendors is also high, therefore, making it radio only allows for the song to get exposure while foregoing those costs.

 

Today, singles aren't released with the intention of selling massive numbers and making money. Singles are used to promote the album. Therefore, Talk, Fix You and THP are all leading to higher sales of X&Y. X&Y's highest sales were in its first month, and the next peak was after the release of Fix You, followed by a smaller peak after Talk, and now, what will soon be an even smaller peak, with THP.

 

Singles alone are not meant to generate profits. They are merely collectors items now, and the number of copies sold, along with the increase in sales of the actual record (X&Y in this case) allows the company to break even/make a buck.

 

Furthermore, the band decides whether they want b-sides on a single or not, and if so, what b-sides there will be. These are meant to be a treat for fans. In this case, EMI probably realized that it wasn't financially sound to produce multi-format copies of THP single, but they probably felt there is still potential to juice X&Y a bit more.

 

They probably pitched the idea to the band, and the band seems to want to keep most of their unreleased material from x&Y sessions secret until their next album, so it worked for them too.

 

this is how i see the whole thing at least.

[frostbitepanda]

You present some valid points. But The thing is that that Coldplay being as big as they are still sell a very good amount of singles that can generate quite a bit of profit. The band still has say in what formats the singles are released, as you indicated in your post. :)

 

But if that was purely the reason for the radio-only release, you'd think they'd atleast make a cool little performance video or something instead of... what they did release. :lol: Another thing to consider is that they probably could've given X&Y much more a boost with a song like White Shadows, so you can't help but think that maybe the band didn't want X&Y to get anymore exposed than it already is and maybe give a bit of a warning to the label. :)

 

So, we can determine that the band came to this descision about the song, the format and the video through about 381,209 different reasons.

 

Yay discussion! :D

[AmandaCA85]

ive always wondered this too it bothers me as well... i like thp and i saw it live when i was in san jose but i think that mightve only been the one time that they played it... hehe

[apsharke]

they played it in NJ Tweeter Center this summer

[Crystaline]

I was curious about that too. I really thought they would've played The Hardest Part seeing as it's the latest single.

[Squeal]

I think another thing to bear in mind about the single release is that The Hardest Part is not a typical coldplay song - it sounds a lot like REM to me, truthfully. I think they may have been trying to appeal to people who may not have given the typical coldplay sound a listen, but might still like the band if they hear something different. As for the reason it's not released on CD, Vinyl, Digital, etc., there really isn't much profit in singles, to be honest. It doesn't matter how many they sell in the end, they're sold at such a low price that the profit made is negligible - I mean, for the average person it could be quite a bit of money, but to the label it's probably not worth the effort of coordinating a release at this point, especially since Coldplay is winding down for a while.