How Georgia Wonder Turned Lack Of Cash To Record Into An Opportunity

from the marketing-smart dept

Earlier this year, we wrote about the UK music act Georgia Wonder, who was thrilled to be listed as one of the "most pirated" musical acts out there -- recognizing the power of good promotion. Since then, we've watched with interest how the group has continued to really interact with fans and use new tools and new marketing ideas to get heard and build a following. Rose M. Welch alerts us to the band's latest smart move. As they wanted to record a new album, they realized (as plenty of others have) that it's expensive to record an album -- buying studio time, equipment and instruments. So they did something different. They teamed up with a local music equipment shop, called Nevada Music and worked out a deal:

Both during store hours and after the store closes each night, they'll be recording their next album dubbed "Made In Nevada" using all the gear the store has on sale.

This benefits everyone. The band gets access to all the equipment and instruments they need, plus they get added attention for doing something cool and new. The store also gets a nice benefit in additional attention and marketing for itself and its products. What's cool about this is that it's yet another different way of going about things. One of the most frustrating responses we hear whenever we show examples of cool things that musicians are doing -- is people saying "but everyone can't do this." But that's the whole point. Musicians can keep coming up with cool different things to do. Frankly, the idea that they can't come up with cool ideas is insulting. These are some of the most creative people around, and given the ability to express that creativity, it's amazing what they come up with.

Filed Under: business models, creativity, georgia wonder
Companies: nevada music

Unsigned Band Thrilled It's One Of The 'Most Pirated'

from the adapting-to-the-market dept

We've seen a bunch of examples recently of indie bands embracing changes in the market and technology to create success stories, but this is a first: an indie band sent us a press release (and, yes, we normally ignore press releases, but this one is interesting...) hyping up the fact that it's one of the most downloaded bands on The Pirate Bay. Specifically, the band, Georgia Wonder seems positively thrilled that its EP -- which was purposely put on file sharing sites -- quickly jumped into the top twenty "most shared" songs on The Pirate Bay. And, of course, the press release includes a link to their songs at The Pirate Bay.

Obviously, the band is hardly the first to actively put its music on file sharing sites, or be happy to see it on The Pirate Bay, but it is worth pointing out that this is an unsigned band, and was able to make its way up the most shared list quite quickly (within days), and is so thrilled with the promotional value of it, that it's promoting it even further. And yet, politicians and entertainment companies still insist sites like The Pirate Bay need to be shut down. At some point, maybe the politicians will realize it's not because The Pirate Bay represents "theft," but because it represents competition as a distribution mechanism.

Filed Under: free, georgia wonder, music, unsigned
Companies: the pirate bay