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Def Leppard to try new promotion concept

by on14 April 2008

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Song will also be a download for GHIII

Hard rocking British outfit, Def Leppard, will try a new way of reaching fans to make them aware of their soon-to-be-released album called “Songs from the Sparkle Lounge.” 

The new concept involves working with Activision to release a downloadable track pack that will include several of their monster hits, as well as the new single from the new album. The track pack, including the new single, “Nine Lives” from the upcoming album, should be available for download on Xbox Live starting April 24th with it also to be available to Guitar Hero PlayStation 3 owners for download on May 8th.

While Def Leppard will be the first band to try this concept for the promotion of a new album, it might not be the last, as sources indicate that Metallica is also in discussions with Harmonix and MTV Games to do something similar for the single from their upcoming album, as well.

Traditional avenues of music promotion have not been as successful as they have in the past at attracting the attention of music buyers. Many bands have started to embrace technology solutions in a variety of ways in order to call attention to their upcoming album releases. In North America the move toward digital music, as well as satellite radio, have made traditional terrestrial radio less effective than ever at getting fans into the stores to buy the latest albums.

One trend that continues to be apparent is that new music from new albums from once-established bands does not seem to get the promotion or air play that they once did. Trends seem to indicate in North America that many older listeners continue to be attracted to older music from their era and have little interest in newly released content, even if it is from a band that they have listened to in the past.

Exposure seems to be the primary reason that buyers are not flocking as they once were to picking up new albums. In the past, terrestrial radio was famous for playing the new songs off recently released albums over and over again, and potential buyers were exposed to the music, but with many consumers playing program director themselves with MP3 players, they are restricted to what they have on their device or what songs they know; thus, the window for exposure to new music is greatly reduced.

While the music companies continue to complain that piracy is the major cause of the problems in their industry, we view part of the problem as a lack of creative promotion to get the music to the people as more of an issue. The idea of using Guitar Hero as a vehicle to get people listening to new music is a good idea.

The real question is whether the players of Guitar Hero will be excited enough about the new single that it will make them want to go out and buy the album, no matter if it is on CD or as an electronic download. In the meantime, record companies had better figure out a way to get the word out about new music to the people so they hear it, or it could put them in an even worse situation than they are already in.

Last modified on 14 April 2008
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