Guest Post by Bobby Borg author of Music Marketing For The DIY Musician
1. Kid Rock Rocks: When concerts are costing anywhere from $75 to $125, and as much as $300 to $1,250 on the secondary market, Kid Rock charged a low $20 for his "$20 Best Night Ever" tour. By taking the exact opposite approach of what other artists were doing, Rock created quite a buzz among fans and the media. In fact, the strategy apparently worked so well, rock repeated this idea on his U.S city tour to support his album "First Kiss.”2. Wu-Tang Clan Got A Plan: Upon release of their new double album Once Upon A Time in Shaolin, Wu-Tang Clan announced that they’d release only one album (i.e., 1 unit) that fans can pay to hear in art galleries, museums, and festivals. Since people, in general, love exclusivity and the idea of having something no one else has, the group received bids for the album for as high as 5 million dollars. The concept was that music should be treated as a valuable and respected piece of art, and not something people download from the Internet at no cost. Clever!3. Nipsey Hustle Does an Impressive Hustle: Unsigned rapper Nipsey Hustle pressed 1,000 units of his album Crenshaw and sold them at a price of $100 each. Under a campaign he entitled Proud2Pay, customers were also rewarded with concerts, priority access to new material, and one-of-a-kind gifts, such as an old rap notebook or signed photo. Nipsey’s intention was not necessarily to sell out the units to his target audience, but to attract the attention of a few big wigs in the music business. And it worked! Jay-Z swooped up 100 copies of the rappers music.
