AC/DC's Reason To Buy: Get A Box Set Inside A Functioning Guitar Amp

from the now-that's-cool dept

We're always interested in cool "reasons to buy" that different content creators are coming up with, so thanks to TW for alerting us to AC/DC's latest effort, involving a special box set that is packaged inside a working guitar amp. The box set is $200, but beyond just the music (rarities, memorabilia, etc.) the casing itself is a 1-watt guitar amp, one foot wide by one foot high and four inches deep:
One of the fun things we've noticed in talking to various content creators about ways to better structure their own tiered "reasons to buy" is that it really helps to come up with some ideas that fit the content creator directly, and how they currently interact with fans. That is, you can't just copy what everyone else has done, but need to find that special unique thing that matches the content creator. This seems like a perfect example.
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Filed Under: ac/dc, guitar amp, reason to buy, rtb


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  1. icon
    seamonkey420 (profile), 28 Oct 2009 @ 4:18pm

    nice!

    now that is a great idea! good to see some innovation in marketing from the artists.

    thats the one thing that kills me w/all of this RIAA litigation is that NO ONE EVER HEARS FROM SAID ARTISTS whose music is the source of litigation.

    i wish the current day 'top' artists would perhaps stand up a bit more for their fans/listeners. i know i don't blog for a company that goes against everything i do. wait.. i remember the 80s term for it.

    sellout

    just my .02

    again, great job AC/DC on using a little creativity!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Brooks (profile), 28 Oct 2009 @ 4:23pm

    And then there's Rammstein....

    ...who have a similar approach, but with a somewhat more provocative box set.

    Probably NSFW, unless you work in the porn industry:
    http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/rammstein-to-release-dildo-box/

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Nigel Tufnel, 28 Oct 2009 @ 4:34pm

    What would be awesome

    That would be awesome if the amp went to eleven. Oh wait, wrong band.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    Sallo (profile), 28 Oct 2009 @ 5:05pm

    great idea

    I think it is a good approach.

    I say the amp's will end up on a shelf collecting dust or they will be handed over to the kids to destroy...err, I mean learn how to play guitar!

    either way...good idea!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Thomas (profile), 28 Oct 2009 @ 6:21pm

    Cool! Just in time for payday!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2009 @ 6:54pm

    "reason to buy" = good old fashioned marketing.

    Nothing new under the sun here.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    PhilD, 28 Oct 2009 @ 7:01pm

    I'm getting one as a Christmas present!

    Showed it to the wife and that was her first response.

    I pretty much have all of their US released stuff already, this will be a great addition to my collection.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2009 @ 8:16pm

    Re:

    And your point is? Oh...right...you don't have one.

    RtB is not some magic new invention that suddenly makes money fly out of nowhere. It's old, basic marketing strategy - the kind of stuff that the Entertainment industry has completely forgotten.

    That's the basic that Mike has being saying all along. Stop suing people and start hiring marketers that know how to add 2 + 2 together. If it's nothing new under the sun, then why the hell are all the industries hellbent on selling plastic disks that no one wants?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2009 @ 8:18pm

    Massive fail

    At first you imagine $100 for the AC/DC content, $100 for the amp it comes in, which is AC/DC branded so that would be neat even if it were a shitty 25 watt debranded Fender amp.

    Then you see it's a 1 watt amp...

    This is $200 for random crap and some music, this does not fly at all. I haven't even heard of a 1 watt guitar amp before, it's virtually worthless, and calling it a "Functioning Guitar Amp" is a serious overstatement.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2009 @ 8:21pm

    I agree with this comment

    From the original Wired article. This is a great idea.

    "Posted by: FireyFate | 10/22/09 | 6:02 pm

    I’d rather keep my current MP3s and buy a decent practice amp on ebay for 200 bucks. I might even have money left over to put an AC/DC sticker on the amp."

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 28 Oct 2009 @ 8:34pm

    Re: Massive fail


    This is $200 for random crap and some music, this does not fly at all. I haven't even heard of a 1 watt guitar amp before, it's virtually worthless, and calling it a "Functioning Guitar Amp" is a serious overstatement.


    Heh. Who cares? People are buying it because it's *cool* and they like it, not because they're going to go on tour with the amp.

    Honestly, I'm rather disgusted at how one of our commenters (and yes, it's just one guy) keeps trashing rather creative marketing ideas, at the same time as he insists that there are no business models that work. In your zest to prove that no business models work, why be such a jerk towards creativity? How insulting.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2009 @ 9:15pm

    i cant wait to get this and go on tour with it!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Jake, 28 Oct 2009 @ 9:34pm

    Mixed feelings on this one. The principle's sound, and much kudos to AC/DC for trying to encourage other wannabe musicians, but I don't think this particular gimmick is going to see much uptake outside the 'more money than sense' demographic. If it was me, I would have gone with a promo code for $100 off an amp bought direct from whoever supplies their gear for touring.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2009 @ 9:41pm

    Re: Re: Massive fail

    All I'm saying is the music and the additional random items included are worth more than the amp which is really just a box that shouldn't be advertised as an amp, but rather a model of an amp. I think it's just in poor taste to go so far as to make the box an actual amp and then make it as cheap as possible when the box set is already $200.

    What I mean is what's included in the set itself should be worth quite a bit to AC/DC fans, as much as $100 alone, so why was the amp idea so skimpy? A normal $50 (retail) amp would do more than enough justice as a practice amp or for any garage rocker. It would have been a much cooler idea if it was at least 15 watts with more adjustments than volume and gain. Cost of production for an amp like this seriously would not have brought the price of this box set up anymore, so it would have been a descent profit margin although maybe a tad less.

    And I hope you're not saying that I'm that guy. I could understand your frustration in someone behaving like that, but this is actually one of about 6 or 7 times I've posted here over the course of a few years. I only posted to share my frustration with AC/DC's buy-line, or maybe the title here are your own words, which got me hyped up and then let down. I'm just expressing my flash in the pan frustration with that, so I hope that was your choice of words and not something from the marketers because that might dissuade customers, it would feel a little disrespectful if that came from the mouth of the horse and I knew it was a 1 watt amp.

    I'm not trying to disprove any business models, in fact I think any collectible is valuable to the right audience. I think just selling plain old music is an effective business model, as long as you're willing to accept not everyone remotely interested in your music will purchase it. This is where loyal fans and social people (concert goers) come in. So going a step further like with this box set is a commendable idea, but I just think if the Amp/Box thing isn't actually a good small one for the bedroom then maybe $200 is a little steep until this collectible set actually goes out of production and becomes a true collector's item in a few decades.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. icon
    Brooks (profile), 28 Oct 2009 @ 10:32pm

    Re: I agree with this comment

    Um, yeah. You seem to have hit on the idea that not every musician, and not every AC/DC fan, will buy this. It is, in fact, not going to be a great amp for either practicing or playing gigs. In fact, it's going to be toy quality.

    Think about target markets for a second, and how many of these they need to sell. They're aiming at collectors, and people who have the disposable income to say "hey, that's cool, I want it."

    The idea isn't to sell guitar amps. The idea is to use a relevant and fun gimmick to sell boxed sets and to make some money. If you're looking for the best price/performance combination of guitar amp + AC/DC music, you'd be crazy to even consider this. That's not what this is for.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Oct 2009 @ 11:13pm

    now that is a great idea! good to see some innovation in marketing from the artists.

    I would rather creators concentrate on being artistically innovative rather than having to constantly think up new marketing gimmicks.

    Art shouldn't have to be fluff sold like a McDonald's happy meal. You shouldn't need some cheap, Chinese-made trinket to make a great album worth buying. It's completley backwards.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 3:55am

    Re: Re:

    Mike would try to make you think it makes money fly out of nowhere,

    Stop suing people and start hiring marketers that know how to add 2 + 2 together.

    No, he said "stop suing people, let them take all your content for free, and hope like hell you can trick them into paying $200 for a $10 chinese made amplifier".

    Her just used fancy university boy words to do it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 5:22am

    Re: Re: Massive fail

    Oh Mike... it isn't "being a jerk" toward creativity, rather having a very good laugh at what you consider creative marketing.

    For me, it is sad to think that music that is (or will be) widely available for free is suddenly worth $200 because someone stuck the CDs in a box with a $10 retail novelty guitar amp. Does that guitar amp suddenly add $190 worth of market price to the music?

    For the real fans the value is elsewhere in the package:

    The working amplifier comes packed with three CDs, two DVDs, one LP, a 164-page hardcover book and “memorabilia from the band’s earliest days of touring,” including a button, sticker, tour flier, track sheet, temporary tattoo, guitar pick, three lithographs, a poster and a replica of one of the fake $100 bills used to shower audiences during the ‘91 Moneytalks tour.

    The Amp is just the box is all comes in, the cheap little bonus on the side. But the real value for fans is in the content. No gimmicks required.

    For me, this is a Techdirt classic case. (a) it supports a Wired story (Yeah Chris!), (b) is focuses on a very narrow part of the project, and tries to make it look like the main part of the deal, and (c) fails completely to give any value to the actual products that fans would value.

    You would have had a much better story here pointing out how they are marketing by selling "rarities", except that it appears that many of those rarities may be only reproductions.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    catullusrl, 29 Oct 2009 @ 5:38am

    I find it funny that Masnick would quote AC/DC as an example of his freetard theories. They don't even sell their music via Itunes because they believe album unbundling will depress their sales.And they're right. Their last album sold 5 million copies and was the third biggest seller in 2008.Perhaps not distributing via Itunes is their RtB !

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Mechwarrior, 29 Oct 2009 @ 5:52am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Please, Mr Entertainment Shill, we can smell a troll from a mile away.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 7:09am

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I always laugh when someone pulls out the shill card. That's just funny stuff. You are so stuck on one model (the one Mike spoon feed you) that you can't accept what is right in front of your eyes.

    Accord to Mike, music is free. Yet, tack a $10 cheaping piece of electronics with it, and suddenly it's worth $200. Something doesn't add up, does it? $10 + $0 doesn't total up to $200. So either the consumers paying for this are being suckered, or the proof is that the music itself is worth a whole lot more than nothing.

    You can't have it both ways. Open your mind and think past the gob of techdirt pap in your mouth, and you might see it!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 7:40am

    Re: Re:

    Just a moment...I still want the plastic disks, tyvm.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 7:41am

    Re: Re:

    Ummm...there are still hundreds of millions of plastic disks sold every year. That "no one wants" one seems a bit of an exaggeration.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. icon
    Suzanne Lainson (profile), 29 Oct 2009 @ 8:12am

    Re: Marketing the fluff

    "Art shouldn't have to be fluff sold like a McDonald's happy meal."

    That's what I write about a lot.

    For a lot of musicians, they don't want to get into the "stuff" selling business. And I can understand why. That's not why they took up music.

    But in today's market, when it is harder to sell recorded music and with competition for gigs going up, these are the options:

    1. Learn how to sell stuff, or to sell relationships (like Amanda Palmer does).
    2. Get so good at selling stuff that it becomes a separate business for you (I'm trying to cover that quite a bit. For example, if you are going to go into the t-shirt business, learn the nuances of selling t-shirts).
    3. Accept that music doesn't pay well and don't depend on it for money.

    The arts aren't lucrative for most people. So you either get into a related business that makes you money, or you have a non-related business that makes you money.

    All the selling "stuff" like AC/DC is doing ISN'T the music business. It's the selling stuff business. But sometimes you can make it work for you.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 10:06am

    Re: Re: Marketing the fluff

    Except that:

    1) I don't want salesmen playing music, no more than I want good musicians to waste their times selling stuff. opportunity costs, you know. (and facepalm palmer sold out to live nations, it seems)

    2) I would rather that musicians got good at music, at writing, recording, and performing. I don't expect my doctor to also be able to dance the Nutcracker, why should I expect musicians to do anything other than create and perform great music.

    3) Nobody should have to accept that music doesn't pay well, especially when the main reason it isn't paying well is virtual shoplifting.

    The arts aren't lucrative for most people, and they do it for love. They don't love to sell t-shirts or run online auctions or whore themselves out for a pittance.

    All the selling "stuff" like AC/DC is doing ISN'T the music business. It's the selling stuff business. But sometimes you can make it work for you.

    The real point is that AC/DC themselves probably didn't have much to do with this set, except maybe to look a the overall content. I am sure none of them spent time wandering the factories of China looking for someone to make them a little amplifier. In simple terms, they have "people" for that. Those "people" probably aren't musicians, and that is probably a good thing.

    DIY is fine, until you wake up and realize that you should have just paid a pro and been done with it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 10:18am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    Or maybe you just don't get the point.

    What something is "worth" has no bearing whatsoever. CwF+RtB is all about what PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO PAY.

    If people want music for free, but are willing to pay $200 for some cheap gimmick packaging, then any half-assed marketer can tell you where the money is.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. icon
    Suzanne Lainson (profile), 29 Oct 2009 @ 10:19am

    Re: Re: Re: Marketing the fluff

    "The arts aren't lucrative for most people, and they do it for love. They don't love to sell t-shirts or run online auctions or whore themselves out for a pittance."

    Yes, that's pretty much what I tell people. And if you aren't trying to make money from your art, you have a lot more freedom to do what you want, which makes it more satisfying.

    All the pep talks about how this is a great time to be a DIY artist usually don't emphasize the work and sacrifices that are involved. The two groups who seem to be happiest now are those who used to be signed, but now aren't and get to keep a greater percentage of their sales, and those who are relatively new at this and are seeing their income go from nothing to something.

    But if you have been a DIY artist for about ten years and you used to sell a lot of CDs at your shows, it's harder now to replace that money with some other source of income.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 10:20am

    Re: Re: Re:

    Yes, it was hyperbole.

    The market for plastic disks is on the decline, the music industry is whining how piracy is killing plastic disk sales...etc, etc.

    So yes, plastic disks still make money, but the market shift is clearly showing that they are losing favour. Meanwhile, digitial sales (AKA, plastic disks sans the plastic disks) are rising rapidly.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Oct 2009 @ 10:56am

    I know what I am going to do..

    I'm going to buy the set and then play the CD through the amp and call it a public performance and then have to pay again for that right!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. identicon
    Steve, 29 Oct 2009 @ 12:32pm

    Christ, for just over $200 I can get a Zack Wylde Marshall mini stack with a head and 2 cabs. 20watts, 3 feet high. Way cooler.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. icon
    Suzanne Lainson (profile), 29 Oct 2009 @ 2:20pm

    Lesson learned

    One takeaway from this discussion is that if you are going to use a box to put music in and you are going to use that as an added value, don't use something that has comparable item on the open market. By comparing prices of amps, people can say this is a junkie or toy amp.

    It probably would have been better to create something with truly unique.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 30 Oct 2009 @ 1:52am

    Re: Lesson learned

    One takeaway from this discussion is that if you are going to use a box to put music in and you are going to use that as an added value, don't use something that has comparable item on the open market. By comparing prices of amps, people can say this is a junkie or toy amp.

    You are assuming -- entirely incorrectly -- that people are looking to buy this as an actual amp that they would use in a performance. It's not. It's something *cool* and different. The response we heard from this was almost universally positive (other than our usual troll above). Look on Twitter, almost everyone was talking about how brilliant this was and how they were buying it.

    It probably would have been better to create something with truly unique.

    How is this not unique? Who else is selling a box set that comes inside a customized amp?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  33. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2009 @ 5:15am

    Re: Re: Lesson learned

    Hey Mike, there are plenty of negative comments just in this thread alone. I would say there is no trolling involved, just a common thread of people who see this as a cheap gimmick, nothing more.

    Further, you still haven't explained why putting their CDs in a $10 amplifier suddenly makes them have $200 of value. If anything, you should be all over this as the music industry ripping the fans off with overpriced music.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  34. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 30 Oct 2009 @ 8:36am

    Re: Re: Re: Lesson learned

    Hey Mike, there are plenty of negative comments just in this thread alone. I would say there is no trolling involved, just a common thread of people who see this as a cheap gimmick, nothing more.

    There is one anonymous coward (you) making negative comments. The vast majority of comments were quite positive. Nice try.

    Further, you still haven't explained why putting their CDs in a $10 amplifier suddenly makes them have $200 of value.

    Ask all the people who said they were going to buy it.

    Clearly, they see the value.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  35. icon
    Suzanne Lainson (profile), 30 Oct 2009 @ 9:03am

    Re: Re: Lesson learned

    While some folks here do think the idea is cool, I saw enough negative comments that I can see the downside of putting music into a "toy." While I personally have no strong feelings about it one way or the other, those comments brought up an aspect of the promotion I hadn't considered before and now I will when thinking about music and packaging.

    The amplifier gives people a point of comparison to other products on the market, while an "art box" with no similar products wouldn't offer the same opportunity. You could run into a similar argument if music was put into a stripped down computer that was priced nearly as much as something on the market but didn't do as much.

    Your blog can be viewed as something of a focus group, so why not take their viewpoints into consideration?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  36. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Oct 2009 @ 10:04am

    There is one anonymous coward (you) making negative comments.

    That is incorrect.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  37. icon
    Mike Masnick (profile), 30 Oct 2009 @ 4:37pm

    Re: Re: Re: Lesson learned

    Your blog can be viewed as something of a focus group, so why not take their viewpoints into consideration?

    I do. But since it's mostly one guy who posts blatantly false info on this site on a regular basis -- AND he's someone who contacts in the recording industry have passed over some evidence that he is paid by industry interests to purposely trash this blog... I don't take his comments very seriously.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  38. identicon
    Goober, 4 Nov 2009 @ 1:53pm

    Awesome!

    Best Idea Ever!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  39. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 Jun 2010 @ 5:24pm

    1watt booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  40. identicon
    jesse, 11 Jun 2010 @ 5:29pm

    AC/DC

    ac/dc rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  41. identicon
    Bad Credit Mortgage, 17 Jun 2010 @ 6:47am

    This helps me to learn something new. Thanks to you!

    Scholarship

    link to this | view in thread ]

  42. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 May 2011 @ 9:56pm

    Re: nice!

    dam straight i bought it its rocks best box set ever

    link to this | view in thread ]


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