More Bands Look To Give Reasons To Buy

from the fun-to-see dept

I have to admit, it's been really fun to watch various bands experiment with neat new ways to give people real reasons to buy -- each one different than the last, but each one equally as creative. What's really cool, too, is how many different musicians (both well-known and not so well-known) have been reaching out to us lately, to share their own experiences, and to talk about how this site and the various talks I've given have inspired them to experiment further. It's really humbling to see so much creativity in action. Here are two more examples.

The first is that the band the Flaming Lips are offering both free studio downloads with any concert tickets, but also a promise that they'll send you a link after the show you attend to download that recording as well. The band is clearly recognizing that it's the concert ticket that matters, and the actual music just makes that ticket more valuable (infinite goods increasing the value of scarce goods... where have we heard that before...).

Then there's the band Health, who has a new album coming out, and in order to convince people that it's worth buying the actual album, they've put special prize tickets in 66 of the albums. The tickets grants the buyers certain unique prizes, including the grand prize of a weekend in LA to hang out with the band (including round-trip flight, and hanging out with the band at an amusement park and the zoo). Other prizes will get you (among other things):

personal gifts, t-shirts, locks of a band member's hair, fur from a band member's cat, and posters or records signed by the band in their own blood.

After that, there are a bunch of other oddities:

• We will get steadily inebriated with you over i-chat while working on a project together
• A historical themed phone call from the band
• A recording of BJ (band member) covering a 90's song of your choice
• A recording of a short story read by a band member
• We'll personalize your voicemail greeting
• A bouquet of flowers from the band
• An astrological consultation with Jupiter's mother
• A copy of John Famiglietti's student film
• An uplifting phone call from Health's manager
• A personality test hand completed by a band member
• A bag of Jupiter's cat hair, plus a photo of her
• BJ's old little league jacket
• A childhood toy
• Knitted scarf made by Jake's Mother
• Band member fingerprints
• Mixed tape/cd hand decorated by the band
• Health's high school band's cd mixtape
• A painting by John's mother
• Learn a magic trick from our manager via video chat
• We conference crank call a prominent indie musician together

In many ways, this is like Josh Freese's unique offering, but rather than getting people to buy the big prizes, you just buy the album with a chance to win those packages. Yet again, another band having fun, connecting with fans and giving them a reason to buy. Hmm... I wonder if these ideas can inspire more options for our own little CwF + RtB experiment.

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Online Gamers More Physically Fit Than Average?

from the wonders-never-cease dept

It's been a good week for video gamers and a bad week for stereotypes of video gamers, apparently. Earlier we wrote about a study talking about how video gamers were actually quite social, and now a new study suggests that online gamers are more physically fit than your average American (perhaps not saying much). No one seems to think that there's a causal relationship here, as it may just be that video gamers tend to be wealthier and more educated -- who also tend to be in better shape. There's also the issue that this appears to be based on self-reported stats, which may not be that accurate. Still, it appears that studies are starting to chip away at the stereotype of the overweight, social loner video gamer.

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ER Doctors Warn About Walking While Texting; When Will We Start Seeing Laws?

from the they're-coming dept

Anyone want to take a guess on when we'll see the first laws proposed to ban the practice of walking-while-texting? We've already seen a few proposals that would ban walking and talking in a crosswalk. And, to add some fuel to the fire, some ER doctors are warning people who walk and text at the same time that it's risky behavior. The doctors say they're seeing a rise in reports of people walking and texting at the same time, leading to some sort of injury, including two people who were hit by a car after paying more attention to their phone than oncoming traffic. Since technopanics always seem to start with a news article, just wait for someone to propose a law against this -- rather than insisting that perhaps it's time to institute a little common sense. Update: Apparently, I'm too late. At least one state has already proposed just such a law.

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