SQUEEZE PLAY
(Jordan’s Monster Deal: Rebate or Lottery?, December)
The story about Jordan’s Furniture offering rebates to certain customers if the Red Sox win the World Series sounds like a lottery to me!
A gift enterprise, which is a scheme under which goods are sold for their market value but by way of inducement where each purchaser is given a chance to win a present or prize, is a lottery where the essential elements of a lottery are present. The essential elements are consideration (buying furniture), chance (Red Sox win) and prize (rebates).
I find it highly disturbing that this story (which first appeared in Promo Xtra, Oct. 26) was originally reported without any discussion of the promotion’s legality.
Since the prize is a rebate, how would an entry “No purchase necessary” be able to win anything?
Kathy Gilroy
Sales Representative
Villa Park, IL
DON’T BLAME THE LABELS
(Blowin’ in the Wind, November)
Wow. I just read your opinion piece, and I couldn’t disagree with your thoughts more.
First off, no one, NO ONE, other than The Eagles-who just happen to be one of the best-selling groups of all time and released their first album in close to 30 years through the largest retailer in the country-is moving the sales needle to any large degree right now.
There are plenty of ideas permeating the industry. Some show potential; some are just plain crackpot.
What pervades throughout the industry more than anything else is fear. Fear of more layoffs. Fear these major labels won’t even be releasing new albums in the very near future. Fear that back catalogs won’t be able to be relied upon for revenue creation-either for the labels or for the artists who truly need that revenue stream. Fear the audience won’t miss music when it’s gone from mass merchandiser accounts like Wal-Mart (despite the Eagles’ and previous Garth Brooks successes) and Target.
Shelf space for CDs is decreasing at an exponential rate at these accounts, and the number of titles consumers are able to find is decreasing in turn.
The control you claim artists are regaining from their major label patrons does not exist. The majors’ strategy is predicated on focusing on “360 deals,” which seek to garner a share of revenue streams that labels for the most part have been shut out of for decades, namely merchandising and touring revenue. Most artists can’t even recoup royalties on their recording contracts. If the artists were seeing steady, solid revenue from their label contracts, then maybe they could look at 360 deals without a skeptical eye, but that is not the scenario now, nor has it been the scenario for years.
You mention Radiohead. Reportedly, well over 60% of the consumers who received “In Rainbows” paid nary a cent for the release. (Editor’s note: The band still is not divulging the results.) That’s progress? For whom?
The Mudvayne example you mention seems like a no-brainer. It’s a release that will appeal to the core fan first and foremost. Why not engage them creatively? Kudos to both the band, its management and Epic for developing a solid plan to allow the fans to have a meaningful voice in the band’s business in an honest way.
Re: Columbia Records. The best and most authentic word-of-mouth campaigns are spread by passionate people who believe in products and services, not by shills for the label.
Where’s the revenue-producing element to the Bob Dylan user-generated viral campaign?
I am a BIG fan of how music can be used to help bring immediate, emotional resonance to a corporate brand or TV show or film. And those avenues are much less ancillary for an artist or label than at any time in the history of recorded music. Acts, their management and their labels all need to pursue smart partnerships that allow the musical content to shine in the right contexts. But the examples you cite say very little about how these particular artist and label efforts will counter the pervasive, deep-seeded issues the record industry is grappling with.
Peter L. Kohan
Kohan Music Group LLC
Network
