Marketing - Music

Nirvana were a grunge rock band which hailed from Aberdeen, Seattle in the late 80's early 90's. In September 1991, their release of second studio album 'Nevermind' catapulted them to stardom, and the marketing of the album, released on DGC records was vital to their success. Nirvana's distribution of Nevermind was not huge, they released 45,00 physical copies, with 35,000 of those being shipped to the UK. However, their marketing which allowed them to grow in stature and sell more records was very effective. In an internet-less age, Nirvana had to make the most of TV appearances such as their performances on The Jonathan Ross show in December 1991 and Top of the Pops that same month. On Jonathan Ross, they played Territorial Pissings in a stereotypical anarchist way to subvert from the instructions they had to play lithium, and this caused a furore of 'word of mouth' a large tool which was vital in their marketing and promotion. A further way in which both Geffen and DGC realized was that Nirvana spoke to the youth, who had no voice in modern chart music, and their video for 'Smells like Teen Spirit' is full of various iconography connoting rebellion, such as the popular 'Converse All Star' shoes and the mise-en-scene of a janitor and cheerleaders. Nirvana became highly marketable to the young generation. Today however Nirvana are marketed differently, with iTunes and Spotify being influential in the sales of their music and promotion. Nirvana rights holders have since released the 20th anniversary album, and a greatest hits album, all of which are vital to their continues success, which has thus far led them to selling 30 million plus copies of Nevermind both physically and digitally. Their recent induction into the Rock Hall of fame has proved their long lived success.

Lady Gaga however relies heavily on digital marketing to promote her music. 'Born This Way', released may 2011 on Interscope Records, was heavily distributed, and spawned her hit single of the same title, which remains the highest selling single ever released on iTunes. Lady Gaga has cultivated an audience to allow for greater marketing, through a para-social relationship she has developed via Social Media. Gaga lies highly popular on Social media, with 66 million facebook likes, 42 million followers on twitter, and 5 million YouTube subscribers, and she manages to generate a loyal fan base known as 'Little Monsters'. She regularly retweets tributes they send into her, and in turn creates a bond of loyalty which in theory means that the fans will stay loyal and purchase her music. Similarly to Nirvana, TV appearances are also of vital importance to Lady Gaga's marketing, performances such as Radio 1's Big Weekend in which she emerged from a giant coffin, create a media frenzy and can be said to market her as Nirvana once did, replying on heavy word of mouth promotion. However, she remains a highly marketable figure due to her all-accepting nature and her artistic styles, and in 2013 she featured on the iTunes home page with release of latest album 'Artpop', just as she did with 'Born this Way' in 2011. Lady Gaga is evidence of the huge digital impact that technology can have upon promotion and marketing.

However, rather differently to the above are Oxford experimental/rock band 'Radiohead', who in February 2011 self released their follow up the 2007's 'pay what you want' social experiment 'In Rainbows', 'The King of Limbs'. Radiohead promotion could not have been more different to that of Lady Gaga, as 'The King of Limbs' was self recorded and released, Radiohead were not externally promoted by their label. 'The King of Limbs' was initially released digitally on their website two days before they officially announced the release. Their marketing was very low scale, and on release not physical copies were printed, so the success relied heavily upon their loyal fanbase. However, Radiohead has previously proved that media marketing was not necessary in creating huge sales figures, as whilst 'In Rainbows' sold the least of all their albums, they made the most money due the fact they held 100% of profits. With the only marketing coming from newspapers documenting the social experiment, Radiohead gained free promotion. The release of 'Live from the Basement' which aired live on Sky Arts One in 2011, was temporarily uploaded to their you tube, with  the option of buying it available on iTunes later on. Also their distribution of physical copies month after the initial release, and the chance for hardcore fans to purchase the 'newspaper' edition for $53 meant that Radiohead has successfully self marketed themselves to their fans, and proved that such could be done without dependence on a record label.
Overall it is clear to see that all 3 texts marketed  themselves differently, with Nirvana relying on 'word of mouth' in the early days, it is evident that digital marketing has now boosted their sales along with current artists such as Lady Gaga and the band Radiohead. Whilst it is clear that different ,marketing styles have been successful, it is evident that Radiohead's more reclusive marketing strategy has worked well, in comparison to Lady Gaga's digital presence and Nirvana's modern day presence in the online music services.,