Despite the fact that this year has actually been a strong year for rock CD releases (Slash, Judas Priest, Black Label Society, Tesla, Ace Frehley...just to name a few), are we nearing the end of the rock CD? I'm not talking about pop CD's like Taylor Swift's 1989 that was the first CD to go platinum this year, although even that may be the last platinum CD if you believe this article by Forbes.com. I'm talking about pure rock artists. The sad truth is that the CD's just don't sell enough to make money for most bands.
It's not just newer bands that have a hard time selling
CD's, it's established artists like Aerosmith and Sammy Hagar who have
dedicated fan bases. Joe Perry told Rolling Stone (read it here) back in May that he doesn't know if it
makes sense to record a new album.
Joey Kramer also said as much on Eddie Trunk's podcast. It costs a lot to make
a record and it's hard to make that money back in sales. Additionally, when it
comes to their concerts, most fans don't want to hear any new songs anyway.
Perry backed off a bit in a recent article and said that he expects Aerosmith to head back
into the studio at some point.
Sammy Hagar, who actually has put out two solo CD's in the
last two years, has similar concerns when it comes to recording a new CD with
his band, Chickenfoot. (read the article here).
He says as much as he would love to record more music with the band, it's a lot
of work and money to put out a record at that level only to be disappointed by
the lack of sales.
On top of touring to promote a CD, bands need to look for better ways to market themselves. With social media, they have direct access to their fans. Give them interesting things to watch or listen to. Tease bits and pieces of upcoming CD's. Bring fans backstage and behind the scenes. Don't just do it randomly though. Come up with a strategy and follow a marketing plan. See what's working for artists like Taylor Swift. They may get more attention and budget from their record company, but there are definitely takeaways that rock bands can learn from and implement. There's great new music out there. Rock bands need to do a better job of letting fans know it's there and letting them get a taste of it so they know it's good.
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