umm I have an idea to promote battle...

[work]

Well I have been thinking about this for some time, and I'm pretty sure its never been done before, and I'm almost certain it would be AWESOME if we/patrick/whoever could pull it off.
And here it is:
Why not do new music releases like films? I mean preview the album on a really tasty speaker system (like the kind you get in cinemas, see?), and get people in to listen and go 'whoah that was totally f'in' amazing, now im definitely going to buy the album'.
It would bring a new audience to the cinemas, and it would bring a new audience to Mr Wolf. A winner all round.
All you would need to do is sign a little contract with Odeon...

Thoughts? Improvements? xx

P.S Patent Pending

[carrotsticks]

that sounds amaaaazing

[work]

Thankyou
It just needs something to make it go from an idea on a forum to real life. x

[jay]

i don't know.... it seems too 'corporate' to me for a man who has just severed a deal with a major record label subsidary so that he can do things his own way and play by his own rules..

[newslang]

My friends and I used to make fun of the artists that are advertised before movies. Sometimes we still do. They always end up looking silly in them.

And I'll have to play devil's advocate as well... in general MASS ADVERTISING like that is very expensive. Which is why the artists you do see in them are on major labels that can afford it, which is what Patrick has just gone away from.

EDIT: Don't Jay and I sound like a ray of sunshine? It's a good idea, but maybe out of the realm of what's plausible. There are definitely ideas that can stream from yours, like maybe sticking a Battle ad on top of [insert current movie actor's name here]'s face outside a theatre! Although that is vandalism and clearly very wrong

[work]

I appreciate your thoughts.
But I was thinking not of just advertising before a film, but playing the whole album and charging for the seats. That way the cinema would be happier to put it on (because they're getting a large cut). Maybe the Odeon is over reaching slightly but I recon striking deals with non-chain cinemas across the country would definitely create a substantial buzz.
x

[jay]

but again, what would pay for this?

[work]

I thought the stocks were paying for the advertisements.
"your investment will not only go towards production of the record, and making this the best Patrick Wolf record to date, but also fund the making of videos, remixes, recording of b-sides, touring, fabulous artwork, a wondrous wardrobe, both CDs and 12" vinyl (yes vinyl!), marketing and promotion." If I knew how to put things in bold I would choose "marketing and promotion."
And anyway the point is it would make money, not use money. x

[jay]

you need a fair bit of money to advertise, and patrick needs to pay for the album first, pay off all the people that did him favours by performing on the record and so on, and then he has to pay for music videos, directors, pay for things to get the first single out, artwork, etc etc... all i'm saying is the money is not infinite. his management and press people probably have to work out a tight budget with the money that's available from bandstocks, which in reality, is not all that much. it might seem like a lot to us but it soon disappears.

[work]

I realize that it takes a lot to produce an album, but, again, this is not just an advertisement: a film is not an advertisement for a DVD. This is what I am trying to say. It is a way of exposing the music to people, and getting some of the money back. In effect he is getting paid twice: once for the cinema seats and another time for the album when it goes on general release. x

[jay]

do you really think that's what'll happen if this actually went ahead?

look at it this way: patrick has around 3000 hardcore fans (i'm talking about the ones that visit this board, have him added to myspace, and are on the mailing lists). of those 3000, only some of us have invested in bandstocks. for whatever reason, the other fans have not invested. what makes you think that they will pay to go to sit in a cinema and listen to patrick's album? the majority of patrick's fans are under 20 years old - i'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's just not really a viable market when you would like to make money. (edit: for bandstocks and future albums, i mean. patrick has stated vehemently that this is not about making a profit for him, it's about being able to create music for the rest of his life.)

this is all assuming such an event were even possible. i'm sure that patrick would end up paying out more than he would receive from a thing like this. you have to pay to rent/hire the venue, probably, and also he might have to pay the actual cinema company for even holding such an evening, and he may end up having no rights to the evening whatsoever. if it was odeon, he'd have to sign contracts, and to have their name associated with him would take mounds of paperwork. think about it; patrick has just left a record company in favour of becoming more independent, getting back to his roots and doing his own thing. i feel that he would not be too hot on the idea of immediately selling back to another major company that wants to make money from him, with no interest in his album or music or career.

i don't mean to piss on your parade. i think it's great that you're thinking pro-actively about how to promote patrick's album... i just don't think this is really a feasible option.

eta: also, there would have to be something playing on the screens, otherwise a lot of people wouldn't see the point in going. and who's going to create and direct whatever goes up on the screen? what's going to pay for that as well?

pink floyd did something like this with 'the wall'. and i'm certain i don't even have to state this but patrick wolf ain't pink floyd....

there are also general cinema-related statistics to think about. cinema audiences have been in decline for years.

[zosia]

Yeah, I think it's a good idea but I just don't think people would go to see it.

[jadeface]

I think it's a bit tricky, too. As much as I'd like to say it's do-able. I think the whole 'advertising' stuff via the bandstocks means he would need the full amount FIRST before forking out on advertising, as he'd obviously need to set a budget for each area. I really want people to invest more, though.
I'm still trying to think of something. I think flyers or posters might help? (unless this has already been done? I've not seen anything) Stuck around everywhere - maybe independent instores would allow you to stick some things up? Cheaper to print too. We don't have any independent stores here though, only hmv's and zavvi's.

All I can think of is Patrick maybe doing a show somewhere - outdoors, somewhere free/really cheap? But then somehow getting people to pay £10-13 to see the show - But this is also to pay for a bandstock? However they wouldn't have set up an account on the website - unless someone would then type it all in manually and send them a password to their account. That's a ridiculously complicated idea, I know. I just mean that maybe putting on a low budget show where people sign up to bandstocks and get to see some of the music as an incentive? Does this make any sense to anyone?! Oh dear haha!

[jay]

that's kind of like him playing a live show where street teamers go around and try to get people to sign up to the mailing list. so that one could actually work.

it might even come into play when he does that short tour stint in march.

[jadeface]

Yeah possibly, I'm sure there's loads of people that'd be up for helping out too. And I think that would help people understanding the idea and because they get to see some music that'd help them invest.

When does the bandstocks investment end? Can it be extended? Or does the money HAVE to be raised by then?

[jay]

i think that it can (and probably will) be extended, but it would be nice if we met the target within the allotted time. it would then enable the wheels to start turning on getting this album out sooner. ;D on his profile it says that the investment ends in 1 month and 4 days.

[jadeface]

Yeah that would make me happy if they all get bought really quick. Something needs to be done definitely.

[admin]

Marketing genius, up in here: we should have a Bachelor party. Or, possibly, a Battle.

Cheerio, Michael. xxx