Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. The band tours here next month and if you buy a ticket you will receive a free cd.
Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. The band tours here next month and if you buy a ticket you will receive a free cd.
KEY POINTS:
Buy one, get one free. It's the oldest trick in the salesman's book - more bang for your buck.
And it seems not even the mighty music industry is free from the hackneyed gimmick anymore.
Ice Cube heads to Auckland next Wednesday, playing Manukau's TesltraClear Events Centre. Ticketsare selling for $85, plus a free copy his album Laugh Now, Cry Later.
Next month, Irish rockers Snow Patrol hit New Zealand shores, playing Auckland's Vector Arena and Christchurch's Westpac Centre.
Fans who buy tickets to either show receive a copy of the band's third album Final Straw.
They are not the only ones to offer these hawker-style deals.
Internationally, Bon Jovi recently offered fans a free download of his album Lost Highway when they purchased tickets to his Newark show in New Jersey.
Meanwhile, Prince hit headlines this year when he gave away free copies of his album Planet Earth to anyone who bought the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
Ice Cube promoter Andrew McManus Presents was open about the freebie deal, saying it was intended to add value and create a more attractive deal.
A spokesperson for the company said it was difficult to charge high ticket prices for hip hop concerts so they were trying to add more value in the form of a free CD and two support acts.
Snow Patrol, however, appear to have different motives.
Through the band's website, frontman Gary Lightbody says they want every concert-goer to sing along to their songs.
Earlier in the year, Snow Patrol played a sold-out show at Auckland's Trust Stadium, but many fans seemed lost when the band played their older, unfamiliar material.
Whether they admit it or not, there is no denying that artists are more reliant on concert tours than ever.
Once the foundation of an artist's income, record sales have become secondary to concert tours, merchandise and endorsements.
A recent study by London trade group, Music Managers Forum, found that seven years ago musicians derived two-thirds of their income from recorded music, with the other third from concerts
Today those figures have been inversed, forcing more artists to head out and about, hawk their wares and, it would seem, resort to gimmicks.
