"Free" cd with concert ticket purchase

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by wdiv, Mar 15, 2017.

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  1. wdiv

    wdiv Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Maryland
    So I bought my tickets for the upcoming Metallica tour, and a week later got an email with link to redeem my "free" cd or digital album download. I know RHCP had the same scheme on their current tour, and I suspect that other major arena acts are doing the same thing.

    I am certain that a large percentage of people who are willing to invest in these concert tickets already own the album, so what's the motivation for this gimmick? Increase album sale metrics? Squeeze some more money out of the fans? I wonder how much the ticket price has been increased to cover the "free" cd and free shipping & handling? I don't recall seeing this advertised when I bought the tickets, so it certainly wasn't used as an incentive to sell show tickets. I sure didn't see an option to opt out and reduce my cost when I bought the tickets.

    It seems to be a bit counterproductive for sales as well, since eBay gets flooded with these cds at cut-rate prices. The Metallica and RHCP albums now go for <$4 on eBay, and $3 of that goes into S&H.

    (I'm sure this is a duplicate thread that I'll get scolded for... oh well :angel: )
     
  2. Maurice

    Maurice Senior Member

    Location:
    North Yarmouth, ME
    Prince did it on his 2004 tour with his Musicology album as a tricky way of getting a hit charting album. I thought they'd closed the loophole a while ago, though. I already had a copy so I still have the sealed version of the CD that they handed out as we walked into the Boston Garden somewhere.
     
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  3. Larry Mc

    Larry Mc Forum Dude

    They are doing it backwards, it should have free concert tickets in a certain amount of cds.
     
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  4. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    Got this Aqualung cd at a Jethro Tull concert 10 or 15 years ago.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Billboard didn't honor musicology sales on their charts. He could still brag that he "sold" x million copies of it.
     
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  6. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    A few years ago, Coldplay gave away a free live CD at the turnstiles as we left...with a butterfly image on the artwork.

    Was it for the Viva La Vida tour?
    I recall it was 2/3 of a complete show...?

    Can't complain about a nice promo like that.
    Thinking about it, I guess they could have sold it for $10 at their booths.
    (But their label would have been upset...)
     
  7. maui jim

    maui jim Forum Resident

    Location:
    West of LA

    Me too. Last summer got free CDs after buying tickets for Dylan and Paul Simon. Then received a free download for Mudcrutch. How are these free giveaways counted as sales for the artists?
    And do they get money for these sales or are they credited as promotion?
    Not that these 3 artists really need the $$
     
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  8. Frozensoda

    Frozensoda Forum Resident

    Gilmour did it, and I didn't mind it one bit!
    And no, I didn't sell it on eBay...
     
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  9. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    Did Gilmour give away a previously unreleased show...?
     
  10. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    What CDs did they give away ?
     
  11. wdiv

    wdiv Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Maryland
    It would be cool if they were giving away some special, unreleased album, but these bands are just basically forcing the fans to buy another copy of the studio album that they probably already own.
     
  12. maui jim

    maui jim Forum Resident

    Location:
    West of LA
    Their newest from 16, Fallen Angels for Bob and Stranger to stranger for Paul
    Mudcrutch 2
     
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  13. Frozensoda

    Frozensoda Forum Resident

    It was a copy of Rattle that Lock.
     
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  14. s m @

    s m @ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto
    Don't be so certain. People on this forum might not fully realize the extent to which the general populace has stopped buying music. And since it's generally arena-sized shows by legacy acts, we're largely talking about people who are going to the show because they like the artists' older material. And are probably not consuming a lot of new music at all.

    So I've always thought that the new album CD giveaway thing is a mainly way for legacy artists to get their newer material heard by their more casual fans. If music sales weren't so depressed, I doubt they'd be doing it. But since they certainly are I think they probably feel they're not really giving much up. Most people weren't going to buy it anyway, and the ones that were might have already, or will want the vinyl or something.

    The only time I've experienced this was for a Neil Young and Crazy Horse show a few years ago. They gave away 'Americana'. Which they didn't even play anything from when the show came around, if I recall.
     
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  15. micksmuse

    micksmuse Forum Resident

    Location:
    san diego
    a good idea i think. had a friend that got multiple tickets to gilmour so he nicely gave it to me and i listened and liked it so much i forked over bigger bucks for the deluxe set with the surround mix. so it served it's purpose well i would say. then i passed the stereo one onto another friend and who knows how many more got turned on to it.
     
  16. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident

    That sounds much more unpleasant than I'm sure it was.
     
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  17. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    It's just a way to inflate how well an album sold. If they actually wanted fans excited they'd put some alternate tracks on it.
     
  18. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    Yeah, me too, that;s the only free CD at a show I was at that I can remember. It was a great bonus I thought!
     
    EddieMann likes this.
  19. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Actually, it did, thanks to a now-closed loophole in the chart methodology of the time.
     
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  20. BlueGangsta

    BlueGangsta Forum Resident

    Location:
    Australia
    Prince also gave away HitNRun Phase II on the Piano & Mic Tour. But that wasn't anything to do with sales, he just wanted people to listen to it.

    And rightfully so.
     
  21. Journey gave away copies of their "Generations" CD during the 2005 tour, which I thought was pretty cool!
     
  22. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    Bon Jovi and Pink are giving away copies of their most recent CDs on their current tours.
     
  23. JAuz

    JAuz Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    Janelle Monae is doing this too. You can choose from the clean or explicit versions of Dirty Computer.
     
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  24. Steve Martin

    Steve Martin Wild & Crazy Guy

    Location:
    Plano, TX
    David Byrne is doing it on his current tour also. Bought 2 tickets, got 2 CDs.
     
  25. Mook

    Mook Forum Resident

    If I went to a Metallica gig & got Free CD I would find it a bit odd.

    Hopefully it would be Fire & Water though because someone stole my copy of that years back.
     
    maui jim and BluesOvertookMe like this.
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