CDs: A Few Cents Makes Sense
The day after my 21st birthday, I went to see New Rules. I thought I was arriving ridiculously early, but as I walked up the street, I saw the line had already formed. About 15-20 people stood ahead of me. The Mercury Lounge is rather small and usually people don’t show up that early for shows. But there we stood several hours before door time, a ragtag group of people from NY, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, and other places.
We did the usual chit chatting in line and the word going around was the band had yet to arrive for soundcheck. Our source was one girl who had been there since 10 am. Impressive, considering the venue only opens at 11. We waited with bated breath, entertaining ourselves by counting how many times people asked what we were in line for.
Our hopes were answered. A car pulled up and out came the band, toting their guitars. We got to meet them and take pictures. The lovely thing about chatting with people in line is you automatically pair up to be each other’s photographers.
Here’s the best part (besides hearing the band). We lucky few got to hear their new mixtape before it dropped. All of us got signed CDs of their mixtape and CD players were passed around and that helped kill the remaining few hours. You’re thinking "who even uses CDs anymore? "
Aside from your hipsters or super old people, it’s true. Us Gen Zers grew up with iPods, not CDs. So the question is why not get a free download of the song?
While a download is nice, it doesn’t really feel special. It becomes just another song and you don’t even relate it back to the concert experience. Besides, most people now subscribe to streaming services over actually owning music.
What’s important about CDs is they're tangible. I don’t own a CD player, nor do I plan on purchasing one, but it doesn’t really matter whether the CD gets played or not. It being a physical object counts for more than the content it contains.
Here’s a group of people that already like the band enough to see them live. It takes a few cents to create a CD that turns fans into marketers. People won’t post pictures of their digital downloads, but they will post pictures of signed CDs. By posting on social media and sending pictures to their friends, fans are extending the band’s reach as well as getting more personal. Chances are, if you fit into a certain demographic, your friends and followers will fit into the same or similar one. If you like this band, they might as well. For just a few cents, marketers are getting people to run mini ad campaigns.
Having something you can touch matters. CDs help retain fans and transform them into superfans. If this were a random CD given to me by someone who wanted me to check out their mixtape, it would likely end up living under my bed and forgotten about it. Here, context is important. The people you've given the CD to are fans. Even if they're small fans, they've paid to see a concert. This CD becomes a memento for them and for marketers, a constant ad.
Fans want to show off their merch. My CD sits on a shelf alongside a bunch of other concert paraphernalia I’ve collected. I see this CD multiple times every day. That’s major exposure. When you display merch, you're hanging up a billboard in the form of a poster, vinyl, CD, or other item. These items usually contain the person's name (aka brand) or album/tour information (aka product). Your bedroom has become an advertising channel.
Giving away free merch and having fans display it as a constant reminder, you’re turning regular fans into superfans. These are the fans that are the ones who go to shows, buy merch, and talk about the band on social media. Superfans are your moneymakers.
Technology always moves forward and takes industries along with it. There's a reason we left CDs behind. Digital downloads and later streaming are more convenient. Now the music industry is moving forward into NFTs, Web3, and virtual realms. However, CDs are not useless fossils to be shoved in the back of a closet and forgotten about. They can be a powerful marketing tool that not only retains fans, but turns them into superfans that will market for you.
The concert was super fun and was a nice little birthday treat for myself. Making friends with people means they’ll split things with you so in addition to memories and a free CD, I also took home a piece of a set list. thoughts about marketing. You have to spend money to make money and in the case of CDs, it’s well worth it.
You can see some photos from the show both on my Instagram and portfolio.