Experimental indie music darlings Portugal. The Man recently announced the imminent release of their sixth studio album American Ghetto , and also announced a shocking and possibly risky decision to leave it's promotion solely in the hands of the fans. Lead singer John Gourley blogs on the band's website, "we will not be soliciting reviews, airplay, or any support from the industry...it is up to you to tweet about #americanghetto or to share or to send friends to buy."
This move is reflective of the radically changing music industry, in particular the choice of some more popular bands and artists like Radiohead, who initially released their last album as a digital download where listeners could set their own price. With the advent of digital music and popular programs like iTunes, artists are having the get creative in order to maintain interest in their albums, and make any type of profit off of their music, often relying on loyal fans.
I don't think this will hurt P.TM just because they have a loyal fanbase, and frankly never had much of a chance to be on the cover of Rolling Stone to begin with. Sometimes I think more popular artists overlook the power of their fanbase and word of mouth marketing. Recently the fact that music is sold more in a single format rather than as a whole album makes their product less substantial for their audience and less lucrative for the artist. Hopefully musicians and labels will take a step in getting more creative with using modern technologies like twitter and facebook to reach their audience, and will become more resourceful with their marketing strategies.
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facebook and myspace are good ways for artists to reach their fans. And i shouldn't forget twitter either. all of these websites are designed to get the fans closer to the artists. They can do this by talking to the artists with facebook and myspace or see what they are doing and what they are up to with twitter. What will they think of next?
ReplyDeleteThe record industry is probably suffering more than anyone can imagine. It's sad to think that people don't have enough money to support music. If we keep stealing it, who's going to be able to record more if they are all broke?
ReplyDeleteEveryone downloads there music illegally anyways. I think that P.TM should still market their music more than just word of mouth because once people hear it from their friends, they will just download it off of limewire. At least they would make a bit more profit by mainstreaming their music.
ReplyDeleteI think they should still market there music, maybe just not as much
ReplyDeleteTwitter, facebook, and myspace are very good tools to reach mass media. If I had the time I would post some of my own musical work to facebook just to see the reaction or outcome.
ReplyDeleteI know grandmothers who are using all of the modern technology available, and I just can't get the hang of it.
Pick up the phone and just call because texting and tweeting are so impersonal.
Call me; I want to hear your voice.
this is a cool idea. this post makes me want to listen and possibly share this album with my friends. great marketing idea
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