Get People To Buy Your Music 101: Album Packaging
Posted by WEKetchum | Filed under uncategorized
Many up-and-coming artists these days have trouble finding ways to make people buy their product. Listeners nowadays can find your music for free if they search hard enough, so artists figure they should just give away their product and appreciate any audience they get. And to a certain extent, it’s true. But artists, I have good news: people may actually buy your music if you bring something extra! But you have to be creative. Having quality lyrics and an ear for melody isn’t enough anymore.
As an example, check the video above to see the packaging of Freeway and Jake One’s upcoming album, The Stimulus Package. The folks at Rhymesayers Entertainment commissioned Brent Rollins - the creative mind between the Boyz In The Hood logo, the cover for Ego Trip’s Book of Racism, and more - and he didn’t disappoint. The CD casing simulates a wallet, “bills” with the artists’ likenesses instead of dead presidents’, and even a “credit card” with a code to download the album’s instrumentals online.
Once this video leaked, fans on various web sites and message boards clamored about its release and pre-ordered their own copies. The album wasn’t only a piece of music anymore: it’s a piece of art, and it’s an event.
Some readers may say, “I don’t have the budget for extensive packaging like that.” But remember, the issue is creativity. Above, you’ll see pictures of Detroit rapper Dante LaSalle’s “Preview” for his album Fixtape III: Back In Blue. The project hasn’t hit stores yet, but he had a release party some time back as a teaser. For $10, listeners purchase the above: 100 numbered download flyer/art hybrids with a hand painted cross on the front, and a cloth sewn to cardboard that had his logo hand-stenciled. Under the cloth is the download code & URL. The piece is genius, for multiple reasons.
- Its cross logo was incorporated in previous work from Dante, so it had his branding for listeners who were already supportive or aware of him in the past. It helps create an image that listeners are going to see over and over again, the way that artists such as 50 Cent use their logos on various projects of theirs.
- It was done in a limited run, with each piece numbered to show it’s rarity. This helps buyers feel they were part of something, and they have a piece that only 99 other people have - whereas the number of listeners who download music illegally is untrackable.
- Pointing out that it’s hand-painted shows that there was personal effort put into the project. Listeners who see hard work as tangible are more likely to support. And saying “I worked long and hard on this album” doesn’t cut it.
- Lastly, it’s just looks cool, which is sure to convince impulse buyers.
I know many people who have supported Dante by purchasing his music, attending his shows, or spreading the word about his projects solely based on his hustle and his creativity. If you pay attention and assert the same thoughtfulness to your material, the same may be able to happen to you.
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