Marketing Stategies

Fact file on the Album Releases

The beauty of the album is for the artist to create a collection of music tracks which is then distributed to the public. The question is what marketing strategies are used to help the albums become recognisable to its potential audience.

Through deep research, I have found that there are two main ways of which the albums are distribute; commercial and direct distribution.

 The typical route for promoting a new album is to record an album and then tour to support the album as well as doing radio promotions to promote the album. However, this routine is too traditional nowadays as the music industry is continuously transforming and becoming very competitive. Furthermore, artists would have to create their unique marketing strategies in order to stand out in the industry.

In 2007 the band Radiohead promoted their album “In Rainbows” using a pay what you want pricing strategy where their album was launched onto their website and their audience could download the album for however much they believed was suitable from nothing to $99.99. This method was successful with other artists such as Girl Talk. The artists found that the fans paid more when they were given the freedom to choose the price.  This method is becoming very popular many artists believe that this is the future of music distribution.

However, some bands did not pay at all for their music; Nine Inch Nails was one of the first high profiled bands to do so. After releasing the digital album for free, they followed it up with a limited edition CD version; this was sold to fans directly. This method is good as it can increase the revenue as fans can lead to new fans.

Another method of promotion is Fan Pre-Funding where the artists reach out to their fans to fund their new projects. Most bands do this by setting up websites which fans can make financial donations so that the artists can record an album, shoot a video or map a tour.  If the fans give donations, in return gifts such as signed CDs and private concert tickets are given to them. This route has been taken by Public Enemy.

Majority of artists nowadays acknowledge the importance of having their music featuring in a television programme, advert or film soundtrack, artists believe that this is a very powerful marketing tool rather than having music heard on dozens of radio stations. The industry believes that this benefits the independent artists as shows and films are more open to independent music as it is cheaper and the artists are recognised for their featuring in the films or programmes.

Video games are a great source income for artists as the most popular video games out there are music related such as Guitar Hero. If an artist can get their music featured in an average video game, they can make a profit of several thousand dollars in advances.  Also the artist is given exposure.

The artist, Lady Gaga released her new album “Born this Way” using a new marketing strategy, she has collaborated with major co-operations such as Starbucks and the company which made the famous game Farmville which was a huge hit on facebook. Farmville players can now play a special game known as Gagaville which plays her songs as well as her upcoming tracks. Starbucks sold copies of her album in their coffee shops as well as launching a special contest for her fans. Furthermore, Lady Gaga appeared on the covers of major magazines such as Rolling Stone and Vogue. She made appearances on talk shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Saturday Night Live and Good Morning America in order to promote her album.