NIN does it again.
Trent Reznor has a great project called NIN|JA 2009 , giving away a 6 track EP from three different bands (Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper) to help promote their extensive summer ’09 tour.
Any readers of my blogs know that I’m not just a Nine Inch Nails fan, but a huge supporter of Reznor’s music strategies. Giving your music away in order to raise awareness and generate future revenue, in this case, ticket sales. The idea worked very well for the Ghosts I-IV album last year, where releasing the first volume for free download not only resulted in $1.6m in first week sales (of physical CDs, deluxe boxsets and digital downloads), but also helped contribute to a hugely popular 2008 tour of both South and North America.
Obviously NIN are a globally famous band, but that’s not to say that lesser-known artists can’t use the same idea to help raise awareness. Imagine how impressed any venue booker would be if you could help sell out a show. Not to mention that while you have a captive audience, a well placed and stocked merchandise table will help recoup any ‘losses’ of giving away a free download or two.
Making money because of your music instead of directly from it is a lesson that many artists can learn from.
Lee Jarvis.
Cross-posted at US Music Jobs - The premier online community for US music industry professionals
1 comment:
Definitely a lot to learn from Trent. Did you see the promotion that Live Nation is doing themselves for the tour? http://promo.livenation.com/sweepstakes/
This copy is so poorly written it is incredible:
"Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, and Street Sweeper are on tour this summer. To mark the occasion, the bands are giving you a chance to win a flyaway to their show in Los Angeles, tickets to the tour, an autographed box set, and rare memorabilia, just by sharing this widget. All you have to do is register for this NIN & Jane’s Addiction widget, install it on your social networking profiles (MySpace, Facebook, etc) and start sharing it with your friends."
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