Marketing Strategies

One marketing strategy I have come across, used by the Arctic Monkeys, is a rather common one. This involves releasing 3 singles in the months building up to the release of a new album (Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, 2006). The singles are usually available after around a month of airtime on radio and television, and usually can be purchased as a hard copy or on iTunes a bit later. The single would usually cost between 59p-99p alone, but sometimes they come with a bonus track or instrumental and are sold for around £2, something which the Arctic Monkeys did for their debut single 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'. The Arctic Monkeys raised awareness of their work originally in 2003 by handing out CDs at a gig they performed in Sheffield. Their later work under their label was publicised on a Myspace page (www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys) which was actually created and run by a fan.

Another strategy I have come across is a sort of reverse of the aforementioned strategy. This was used by Snoop Dogg when he released his latest 2011 album, 'The Doggumentary'. This strategy involves releasing an album, before selecting the more popular songs from the album and releasing them as singles. This strategy often helps to revive album sales after they begin to drop, as people who didn't purchase the album hear the content in the form of a single, and want to hear more from the artist. Snoop Dogg promoted his lates album through all social networking sites. His Myspace page (www.mypsace.com/snoopdogg) has a very professional and advanced layout, his Facebook page (www.facebook.com/snoopdogg) has over 10 million 'likes', and he has over 3 million followers on Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/SnoopDogg). He gained more 'likes' on Facebook by offering to lower the price of a cologne he sponsored, the more people joined the page. This incentive was introduced around May 2011 and would help him to gather more fans to be subjected to his promotion by following his page.

Another strategy I have come across which seems consistent in the UK urban scene, is a mix of the above strategies. This strategy is used by artists such as JME, Skepta and Wiley. They release around 2-3 singles in around a 12 month period prior to when their album is scheduled for release, and after they drop their album they select another 1 or 2 singles to release based on which singles were popular. JME released 'Over Me' in August 2009, 'Sidetracked' in October 2009, and 'CD Is Dead' in May 2010, before releasing his album 'Blam!' in October 2010, which included all 3 singles. Following the release of the album, he dropped another single from the album individually; 'Jme' in February 2011, and is due to release one more single in the coming months, before moving onto his next project. This strategy is very flexible and is possible because he is on his own independent label and has 100% control. Skepta is in a better position as he is also on this label and has complete control of his releases, but his distributer is 'All Around The World' records, and he can reach a wider audience than the 'Boy Better Know' label. JME promotes his music, offering music on his Myspace account (http://www.myspace.com/jmeserious), and promoting his work on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/jmeserious) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/JmeBBK). His Facebook page has over 100,000 'likes' and he occasionally talks to fans, as you can see him replying to me on one of his statuses from 21st June which reads "WHAT'S YOUR TWITTER NAME FAM?". However JME is most famous for his Twitter account. He has almost 100,000 followers and is one of the most popular users in London. He is a very regular user and replies to fans everyday and has inside jokes with them. This makes him more popular, and earns him more fans, which consequently improves his album sales.