DFA board

[james]

more thoughts to follow
(or: how i got over the early leak and learned to love the bomb)

any ideas? i mean, if HALF of the people who wound up buying the first record over time, went out and bought the new record the week it came out, it would be a "top 40 record" (even if it's only for, say, 2 minutes), which would be totally hilarious to me.

i mean this whole game works on this crap, like whether radio plays things or not... people are paid lots of money to PREDICT this crap. if i could pull that off, i'd sell pretty much the exact same amount of records, but something that was, like, number 785 on the charts would suddenly be number 39.

this entire industry has been reduced to this type of stuff, which is a bummer. it's why you see some stupid singer coming out at basketball games saying "yo my album hits wednesday" and all that crap, as a way to get people to zombie into record stores and create some sense of "momentum". it's a self fulfilling prophecy of bad music begetting more bad music. but what if we were 100% honest about it? rather than try to take pictures of a band looking moody and put up a bunch of posters, etc., why not just say "we would like a hit please. vote for us"? so i propose a project, or a challenge, or whatever, if you will.

i don't want to "get" people to buy the record (it always bugs me when i feel like a salseman) but if we could figure out a way to have the people who'd buy it anyway because they want it to do it ALL AT ONCE, then i could go to radio stations and say "can you please play north american scum, because it's on a top 40 record" and see what they say. i mean, no "modern rock" station in the US is going to play a song like that, but at least i want them to say to my face "no--because it's retarded" rather than what i usually hear, which is "duuuuude! i LOOOOOOVE your band, man! daft punk is losing it's edge is my FAVORITE SONG!! but i just can't, because my hands are tied here to only play hinder and evanescence" etc. etc.

anyway, maybe i should try to set-up a discount and a bonus of some sort for the week the record comes out, and a really easy voting-style pre-order site (which would automatically register that "sale" for the first week) and try to make it happen. i mean, it would give me something to get obsessive about.

anyway--ideas, please....
discuss...
you people probably know more about this stuff than me--you usually do.

oh, and for the record, if i actually try this, it's MY idea, and not some fucking "viral marketing" campaign thought up by someone at any label--so later on if it works and somebody tries to take credit for it, tell them to fuck off.

ahh, andy kaufman.

[bollo x]

thats a fantastic plan!!!

the speical offer for the first week is one of the best ways
or if you do fancy album artwork ala radiohead
these make people buy them.
i know cause i do.
i have 3 copies of kid a, 2 cd the other vinyl.

fantastico
BX

[crank]

i don't know. I just don't know. Working in a record store for 5 years in the mid-90's in Athens GA- we were stuck with tons of "SPECIAL REM" box set versions of whatever album it was in the wooden box. It didn't sell at all.

I'm not trying to be a wet noodle, but I'm just giving my experience in the whole matter.

*I* would buy it.

My friends who I shared (before unsharing it) SOS to would def. buy it.

Hm.
Let me think about this...

PS I'm ready to buy now. honestly. set up a paypal and my 15.99 is yours.

[TreeZy]

Ok. This is how a tree would do it (if its possible)

Delete this, write the NME a 3 page article about North American Scum saying how totally taken you are with the record you never want to release it as it has deeper meanings than and some total tripe about you using a lyric published by seomone else that is hindering copyrights for the release anyway, and now the leak has come, your un-easy about EVER releasing it as you were thinking of saving it for LIVE shows only and a track NOT on the released album was to replace it, makin those who think they have the entire album, doubt whether its the real thing now, and not some early mock up.

THEN (in secret)

get some top producers to do 3 mixes///

2 StomPiNg EroL/SouLwax Stlye

amd oNe Mock + Toof/Juan/rong style with the funkiest dirty bass ever,

post it to NME, or let them get their paws on it so they think they are AWESOME, and use their advertising power over the kids, don't release shit knowingly, just let it hit the shops!!!

Then, i think, uk u will have a top 40, if no top 10 record. Even no.1///

that would help the album sales AND take the piss out of NME for helping someone other than themselves as i *hope* LCD nva play an NME tour.

Er. What sort of thinking were you, er, thinking.

Make some detailed info notes and maybe a booklet with some DFA art to accompany the vinly and maybe release the album on I-Tunes and DVD!!! with pics/vids throughout and a bonus 45.33???

I dunno. just tryin to help man, remove any particulars and try and see the ideas, u know tree.

AlWayS wiLlinG to share my brain cell.

An early I-Tunes release is RINGING to me man???

Can that be done???

Rob x

[HeBitesOnTheNeon]

I got a copy of the album and I knew it was early and was rabid to hear it. It seemed for me that the leak had come out of left field since there hasn't been much press on it. I began to seek out whatever news I could find regarding it. Soon I arrived here and found the regrettable news that this thing had been dropped without ANY consent.

Now that I see your thoughts unfolding James, it's amazing to me to be able to watch this happen and have first hand news from the creator. Thanks, for this slice of the modern music world.

Thanks for consent to keep what we have! The first album brings me greater joy each time I listen (It makes me shake my ass whether sitting or standing ...). I can't wait to grow into Sounds of Silver.

I'll be more than happy to aid you in any way I can. Namely shopping your presale at this point.

I can't wait to see how this goes. I'd love to see the band up the charts.

[nick]

Do what Prince did - advance sales on tickets for shows from your website (through Ticketmaster or whatever crap) and, with each ticket sold, the fan can buy the album for, like, an additional 2 cents.

I have no idea about the logistics, but somehow Prince figured out a way to get these "sales" counted towards soundscan and his last album went top 10 (maybe #1?) in the first week because he sold, like, a gazillion tickets/albums for his tour. And, as a result, you have Prince screaming about breaking out in a cold sweat on MTV like it's 1984 or 1999 or whatever.

Now obviously you are not going to be selling out the Garden seven days in a row like The Purple One, but it could help.

[ilikevacuouspop]

shit, i'll buy every copy on the shelf at etherea.


EDIT:
actually, don't hold me to that, but i will buy at least 2, maybe 3.

[TreeZy]

[james]

OK!
for everyone talking about special packaging etc., i hear your point--but that's exactly what i DON'T want to do. that's what i get in meetings all the time "oh you need to put an extra song on it" or something, but that just feels like i'm tricking people. i'd rather just bluntly ask people who will already buy it TO BUY IT AT A CERTAIN TIME.

i mean, if you're the type that downloads stuff, likes it, and then doesn't buy it, then don't buy it (though that kind of sucks). but i'm more interested in the social experiment of making us a "top 40" act, which would be very funny to claim. i mean, fuck, when we got the grammy nominations, my wife and i thought it was fucking hilarious and she made me a button that said "grammy nominee" on it. to be able to make a button that says "top 40 artist" would be even better.

but i don't want to trick anyone--for me the entire POINT would be to see if an act of will like this, totally organically, could work. sort of like i'm running for elected office. i'm running for "top 40 band". just to see if it could be done almost entirely because the idea came to me, and i asked the literally 25 people on this forum to help me.

again: no "multiple copies", no "try to make it cool", just straight "if you ARE going to buy it, please buy it the week it comes out".

i'm just curious to see if i can make a difference myself in a relatively low-tech way while people who work in the industry think that it can't happen thru much more complicated and expensive ways.

imagine!

sorry. i think i've been so bi-polar-down about the leak that i'm ratcheting the other way about this idea...

[The Inventor]

Is it wrong that I know what the backlash would be like if/when LCD does go Top 40 and that it amuses the shit out of me?

I think an idea like that could work. Nothing flashy, nothing fancy and no bullshit - that's what most people like. A lot of ads that promote the artists and their music is very boring and almost predictable. The way I see it, you want us to go about this plan as if we were playing Telephone, right? If it works correctly, people, besides us folks on the forum, will buy it and rocket you guys to the Top 40. In order to get into that range, you have to sell about 85,000 records. If your estimated number of 25 people are already buying it when it comes out and let's say all 5,000 of those downloaders bought it, hopefully it could get the ball rolling into putting LCD into the Top 40 for all of us to be amused by (and it would give me a reason to make a "Top 40 Artist" shirt - not that I need a reason to in the first place. ) An all-out assault, Inventor style.

Anyways, I'm buying a copy when it comes out and I'm making sure that my brother buys one and so will my friend (who had the sad misfortune of not finding a ride to last year's show in Anaheim.)
_________________

[nick]

dude,
i was being totally serious about my suggestion - i mean, maybe not literally that but it just seems like in a time when few (even your fans) is willing to pay for your album (which is REALLY lame) people need to start thinking of ways of tapping into those things which fans ARE willing to pay for. For you, tickets would be such a thing.

Imagine if everyone who went to your shows bought an album? It's funny that that's such a pipe dream these days but, you know...

I dont think something like this would be a "trick" at all nor do I think it would be "hilarious" if you had a top 40 record by some creative means. It would be awesome and much deserved.

kisses

[ilikevacuouspop]

to be honest, anytime i buy new music these days, my boss has me buy her a copy, too. ever since i got her husband to stop listening to kid rock and rammstein. honest. SO. i'll be buying a couple CDs, regardless.

i'm all about the all-out assault. i'm sure i can get at least 1/2 of the men's & women's design teams here to buy a copy...they're not the downloading types.

[crank]

I'm assuming you don't mind if I start to cross post on other boards I read? I think we could get the virus going if we start cross posting...

yah gotta start somewhere eh?
PS I SO love being SICK! it's my FAV.

[Davey Roberts]

why don't you just treat it like an election then?

call it what it is - vote lcd soundsystem for top 40.

throw it all over the internet. maybe even make a crappy election commercial for the web. that might be funny.

this could be fun.

[downtown'81]