Linkin Park puts premium on marketing itself

The Chicago Sun Times published this very interesting article about Linkin Park’s marketing strategies:

Linkin Park wasn’t supposed to still be around. Appearing on the scene in 2000, the band barely distinguished itself from its contemporaries in rap-rock, the harsh hybrid of rage and rhyme that ruled the airwaves at the turn the century with chart-topping and aptly named bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit.

But Linkin Park possesses commercial instincts the others didn’t. From the 2000 debut of “Hybrid Theory,” a multiplatinum cash cow whose liner notes started a band tradition of providing lengthy product endorsements, through a new album, the kinder and gentler “A Thousand Suns,” Linkin Park has sought to express its angst, sure, but always just within the confines of what sells.

“We’re not trying to make a song that, well, that’s what other people are going to listen to — that’s going to be a hit,” LP’s MC Mike Shinoda insisted in a recent teleconference with journalists about the band’s North American tour, which began last week. It was a conversation that included as in-depth a discussion of marketing experiments as creative decisions.

In fact, if you want to get a glimpse at the different sales strategies being auditioned by the unsettled music business these days, look no further than this band’s tour. For good or ill, Linkin Park is on the cutting edge of plugging its music into new business models. Here are just a few of the ways the band is seeking to separate you from your money:

1. Concert downloads

Included in the price of your concert ticket is the cost of a digital recording of the concert. Linkin Park has teamed again with Base Camp Productions (the techies who pioneered “official bootlegs” from Pearl Jam, followed by Tori Amos, Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth and others) to provide ticketholders a mix of the show they just saw, ready for download within a few days.

At the show, fans will see a text message code displayed. Send the text, and Base Camp (basecampproductions.com) responds with information on where to go for the download. Shinoda said other shows on the tour will be available for download for an extra cost.

“I wish I could have had the opportunity to take home a souvenir recording of the time I saw Alice in Chains at the Palace back in the ’90s. I saw Anthrax and Public Enemy play together. That was one of the first concerts I ever saw, which was the Killer B’s tour. I remember seeing Pearl Jam playing,” Shinoda said. “For young people, I know they don’t necessarily remember a time when this didn’t exist, but for those of us who have that kind of perspective, it’s something that’s exciting and I feel like we take advantage of it.”

2. Charity donations

Also included in the price of your ticket — whether you wish to contribute or not — is one dollar earmarked for the Music for Relief project (musicforrelief.org), a coalition of musicians raising awareness for the continuing struggle of post-earthquake Haitians. (This includes the Download to Donate effort, downloadtodonate.org, which offers free music by Linkin Park and others in exchange for a $10 donation to Haiti relief efforts.)

Shinoda said the band chose this particular charity because it seemed responsible, first asking, “What areas can be focused on that are going to make the biggest impact for that amount of money being raised? Because we don’t raise huge amounts of money. We donate $1 from each ticket. … We want to be responsible for the money that we raise and making sure that it’s going to things that are actually going to be helping people.”

3. Fan club convention

In Chicago this week, members of the Linkin Park Underground, the band’s fan club, are converging for the two-day International LPU Summit. One of these events occurred recently in London, featuring fans hanging with band members and even jamming onstage with LP’s instruments.

Chicago’s event starts today, with fans competing in a basketball tournament at the Irving Park YMCA. Later, there’s an ice skating outing at Millennium Park. On Wednesday, the day of the concert, activities include designing T-shirts to send to Haitian earthquake victims, backstage tours, a Q&A with the band, viewing of the sound check, plus both a raffle and an auction. (The event site has a helpful list of “what to bring,” which includes “cash” twice.)

“We’ve done two [summits] so far, and we’re doing a third one now,” Shinoda said. “The one in London we saw people from as far away as South Africa, Asia, all over Europe flying out just to come and be a part of the event. Everybody meets the band, everybody talks to the band. You all get autographs, photos. You have opportunities to get up onstage, to play our instruments. A bunch of the fans got up onstage and jammed the song ‘Saint’ on our instruments. By the way, the drummer and the guitar players were incredible. They were so, so amazing.”

Membership in the LPU costs $10 per month or $60 per year. Annual members can register for a free pass to the summit; monthly members can buy a summit pass for $75. More information is at lpu.linkinpark.com/summit-chicago.

Read the rest HERE!