This week I aspired to find fresh news stories about recording artists who are trying to capture the public’s attention, not through the dramatic happenings in their personal lives (i.e. the Rihanna/Chris Brown frenzy), but through pure ingenuity. It seems Veteran R&B singer Macy Gray and superstar Prince have both decided to make distinct career moves this spring in an effort to invigorate their fans as well as attract a few more. Ms. Gray will be heading to the University of California in Los Angeles to gain marketing perspective from students for her upcoming album, which she financed herself. Also, Prince has made the decision to release a three-disc CD set (two new albums plus a third by his protégé, Bria Valente) exclusively through mega-retailer Target for just $11.98. These stories are intriguing wherein both recording artists are trying to revitalize their careers by directly approaching their demographic base. Macy Gray’s choice seems expertly executed, given that she is seeking advice in an environment which celebrates thought and innovation. She used her own money to create this album, why not ask young people, who are hungry for fresh material, for direction and ideas? In a similar effort to show some humility to his base, Prince has created a collection which would easily sell for $25 to $30, if not more on Apple’s ever-popular iTunes store. Instead, he signed an exclusive deal with discount-giant Target to sell the entire set for $12. His audience tends to attract an older crowd in relation to Ms. Gray's which can play in his favor in this instance because the retailer has a solid 30 and up customer following, while consistently keeping the younger generation's attention. In “Prince goes to Target: You don't have to be rich to rule his world,” Margeaux Watson exemplifies the type of “iTunes/digital customer only” reaction I was looking for after I first read of Prince’s deal with Target. She ultimately asks her readers if this deal is a good idea and elicits quite the response. The Los Angeles Times’ Pop & Hiss blog entry "Macy Gray heads back to school: Singer slated to guest at UCLA Extension course" aptly shines a light on the college course at UCLA which gives students the opportunity to craft a marketing plan for Ms. Gray as part of their final. I found this article by veteran blogger Todd Martens to be particularly informative, offering insight on how artists and executives are looking toward the future and eliciting feedback from the public. Below, you will find my comments to these blog entries.
“Prince goes to Target: You don't have to be rich to rule his world”
Comment
Margeaux, you ask your readers: “Do you think this is a good idea?” Releasing an album exclusively with a retailer such as Target is a genius move on Prince’s part and a true steal in this economy – a total of 3 discs (essentially 3 albums) for the mere price of $12? Although I respectfully disagree with the majority of your post on this topic, I must admit I have never been a die-hard fan myself. From a marketing perspective however, I must argue – selling an album solely through a popular retailer such as Target is an excellent business decision on a number of fronts. Target has a large consumer base and Prince has a strong foundation in the music industry – in an economic climate such as this, converging a big-name retailer with a superstar artist seems completely appropriate, if not natural. This contract with Target reveals his appreciation, in my opinion, of his fans and allows his audience to expand. How many successful recording artists have the opportunity to truly save their fans a buck and still pour out respectable music?
“Prince goes to Target: You don't have to be rich to rule his world”
Comment
Margeaux, you ask your readers: “Do you think this is a good idea?” Releasing an album exclusively with a retailer such as Target is a genius move on Prince’s part and a true steal in this economy – a total of 3 discs (essentially 3 albums) for the mere price of $12? Although I respectfully disagree with the majority of your post on this topic, I must admit I have never been a die-hard fan myself. From a marketing perspective however, I must argue – selling an album solely through a popular retailer such as Target is an excellent business decision on a number of fronts. Target has a large consumer base and Prince has a strong foundation in the music industry – in an economic climate such as this, converging a big-name retailer with a superstar artist seems completely appropriate, if not natural. This contract with Target reveals his appreciation, in my opinion, of his fans and allows his audience to expand. How many successful recording artists have the opportunity to truly save their fans a buck and still pour out respectable music?
It is also important to discuss the closures of most mega music stores such as Tower and most recently, the Virgin chain. Now Target, Bestbuy, and Wal-Mart have taken the place of the music-only stores that many of us grew up with. Moreover, these 3 retailers have all signed 
similar deals (the Christina Aguilera and Target deal to name one) with other musicians over the past few years and despite iTunes’ popularity, people are still leaving the house to buy cds. The convenience factor of which you reference when you say “I'm so addicted to iTunes that I can't even remember the last time I purchased an actual physical CD, though I'm pretty certain I didn't get it at Target” is understandable, but not completely relatable. Many music lovers buy both digital copies of music and physical cds, especially when special editions or collections are released. Also, fans do not usually take burned cds of their digital tunes to concerts or releases to be signed – it’s an American pastime of which many fans have held onto for some time now to have official cds signed. As I am not a big fan of Prince, as stated above, it is hard to disregard this superb move he made with Target. Music aside, with a price tag of $11.98, it is hard for anyone to argue that he is not reaching out to his demographic and giving the cash-conscious consumer a bargain.
"Macy Gray heads back to school: Singer slated to guest at UCLA Extension course"
Comment
I appreciate the thorough and revealing journalism you offer here on UCLA’s Extension course, where Macy Gray will be a guest lecturer this spring. An educational institution where students can interact with a recording artist and be heard as well as respected is an intriguing concept. On some levels, I would imagine the experience to be a bit surreal to take such an active role in an artist’s album release. This platform seems as though it may serve both student and artist equally. The extensive list of industry insiders who will take part in this course reads like a who’s who of the music industry. My impression is that industry executives are very open and receptive to change, if not fresh ideas at the very least. I think it is an admirable decision for Ms. Gray and other artists to step down and have a face-to-face conversation with the public about their music and its direction.
The presence of such an elite executive body poses a question: If these executives are taking part in a course that has college and non-college students, are they using this outlet to gain perspective on where the public wants to go with music? It would seem as though this is the case after reading some of Professor Jeffrey Jampol’s responses to your questions. More often than not, media outlets put their focus on the superficialities that surround major recording artists. This brief report shows a side of the music industry the public has not seen in the past – executives and artists sitting down to have a candid discussion about the direction of music with the ultimate goal that everyone at the table can walk away with something at the end of the day.
similar deals (the Christina Aguilera and Target deal to name one) with other musicians over the past few years and despite iTunes’ popularity, people are still leaving the house to buy cds. The convenience factor of which you reference when you say “I'm so addicted to iTunes that I can't even remember the last time I purchased an actual physical CD, though I'm pretty certain I didn't get it at Target” is understandable, but not completely relatable. Many music lovers buy both digital copies of music and physical cds, especially when special editions or collections are released. Also, fans do not usually take burned cds of their digital tunes to concerts or releases to be signed – it’s an American pastime of which many fans have held onto for some time now to have official cds signed. As I am not a big fan of Prince, as stated above, it is hard to disregard this superb move he made with Target. Music aside, with a price tag of $11.98, it is hard for anyone to argue that he is not reaching out to his demographic and giving the cash-conscious consumer a bargain."Macy Gray heads back to school: Singer slated to guest at UCLA Extension course"
Comment
I appreciate the thorough and revealing journalism you offer here on UCLA’s Extension course, where Macy Gray will be a guest lecturer this spring. An educational institution where students can interact with a recording artist and be heard as well as respected is an intriguing concept. On some levels, I would imagine the experience to be a bit surreal to take such an active role in an artist’s album release. This platform seems as though it may serve both student and artist equally. The extensive list of industry insiders who will take part in this course reads like a who’s who of the music industry. My impression is that industry executives are very open and receptive to change, if not fresh ideas at the very least. I think it is an admirable decision for Ms. Gray and other artists to step down and have a face-to-face conversation with the public about their music and its direction.
The presence of such an elite executive body poses a question: If these executives are taking part in a course that has college and non-college students, are they using this outlet to gain perspective on where the public wants to go with music? It would seem as though this is the case after reading some of Professor Jeffrey Jampol’s responses to your questions. More often than not, media outlets put their focus on the superficialities that surround major recording artists. This brief report shows a side of the music industry the public has not seen in the past – executives and artists sitting down to have a candid discussion about the direction of music with the ultimate goal that everyone at the table can walk away with something at the end of the day.
I thought this was a very interesting post. I was surprised to hear that Prince had signed an exclusive deal with Target. It seems to me that he signed this deal as more of a way to promote his music, rather than sell actual physical copies, because even with the price tag, surely having his cd available at one location makes it harder for the general public to buy his music. In the past, I remember Prince giving away his music with a newspaper in England to promote his concerts and I feel that this might be the same sort of promotion plan wouldn't you agree? I liked your example of other artists who had made similar deals, namely Christina Aguilera, but I thought it might be interesting if you included how well her cd sold after being available through one retailer and whether those numbers dropped or rose significantly compared with previous albums when accounting for the general overall trend of cd sales. Off the top of my head, the only band I can think of that sold a surprising amount of cds as part of an exclusivity deal was the Eagles and their deal with Walmart. However, the Eagles have a massive older following so I wonder if this type of deal is going to be workable in the future, as more and more young people stop buying physical cds. As you said, major music retailers like Tower Records have been affected by this very trend, so I wonder how long companies like Target will continue to find these ventures profitable.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I did not realize that UCLA was allowing artists to interact with students and I think this is a great idea that more artists and record companies should take part in. Obviously there are plenty of cliches about how record labels are out of contact with their customers so it is good to see some effort being made to bridge that gap and pump some fresh blood into a floundering market. That being said, how much of an impact do you think these college students will really have on what Macy Gray does to promote and market her music. Even if some students do have really great ideas, I do not get the feeling that major record labels are as open to change as you seem to think they are. I think it would be a lot more interesting to see a major independent artist, Radiohead for example, attempt this same sort of thing because they no longer have a filter on their actions and can more easily adopt bright ideas.