Demo releases, UYI tour, lessons learned & marketing

[Alan Niveen]

The mere announcement of a release date for Chinese Democracy would create more buzz around the band than all the leaks put together.

Plus if an average listener doesn't like the demos (which is likely), he won't care about the final versions.

Unless they've been living in a cave for the last 20 years, people know the GN'R style, they know WTTJ, KOHD, SCOM, etc. Most of these average listeners will be rather disappointed by these demos.

If the leaks are intended by the record company or the management, it only shows how incompetent they are. But I can't see people being in charge of the marketing leaking a 9 second clip...

(I might be wrong)

Edited February 26, 2006 by Alan Niveen

[Tamatt27]

I agree that there is a risk that the unfinished demos could turn some music fans off of the music -- those who aren't familiar with GNR and think these tracks are the final product. But I think this risk is small - compared with the potential windfall the band could enjoy from the leaks.

I actually think the risks here are a lot higher than you're giving them credit for. Demos really don't sound good to your average music listener - people have trouble envisioning what the final product may sound like.

You have to look at who the label wants to target for marketing. Do they want to target a new audience that's never listened to GN'R before, are they after the old fans from the 80's and 90's who bought AFD and UYI... or are they after both?

This is the way way I see it -- supposing this was an actual marketing strategy, it only caters to one potential audience -- those who have been previous fans of Guns N' Roses. They're the only people that are going to be interested in listening to these demos, and then there's always the chance that they'll be put off by "half baked" songs. We've already seen a ton of people on this forum that rejected the tracks and couldn't really understand that they were unfinished demos. They've pretty much been turned off the album by them.

You've got to think too -- chances are that anyone who'd even care about the demos are existing fans that would have already been interested in what Axl had to offer with the new album. What if listening to this stuff just convinces them that people were right when they said "Guns N' Roses are dead"?

Also, let's face it - dodgy quality demo tracks are hardly going to win Axl a new, younger audience - I've played them to a few younger friends and most of them hated the songs. However, I believe that this was only because they were unfinished demos. Thing is that if they go to listen to the album now, they'll have a preconcieved opinion about it and will probably end up hating that too.

Management needs to target people that have never been into Guns N' Roses before - they're the people that should be making up a large number of sales here if they want to make this album a real hit. This sort of "marketing strategy" certainly won't win the band any new fans.

I respectfully disagree.

I've visited a few other band sites - where the tracks had shown up in their "other music" sections. And I've found a surprisingly large number of rock fans - who didn't like GNR before - liked these tracks. I've read a lot of positive comments.

Nobody can underestimate the power of the internet. If you want to create a buzz around a band or an album - the Net is the way to go. And a demo leak - though risky - can also be very smart. If these demos were crap, then I would agree with you. But they're not.

I've got a couple of thoughts on this topic. Yes, leaking demos (if this actually was a planned event) is risky for the reasons HV cited. But I think madison is right. Make the demos very good quality and that risk is largely mitigated. I haven't yet listened to anything other than IRS, but from that and what people are saying about the demos...the quality is very good. I think that was no accident. Whether people like the actual songs or not is another matter entirely. And we need to keep in mind that a lot of people will rag on Axl no matter what. I can't take those people seriously.

But I agree with HV in that these leaks (whether planned or not) were largely intended for the hardcore fans. Mainstream music fans will not hear these tracks unless they put in the effort to find them online, or if they are in one of the select markets where a radio station plays the song and they actually are lucky enough to catch it. What percentage of the potential market for this album has heard a song so far and actually knew what it was they had just heard? I bet it's a miniscule amount. My theory is that the leaks were intended to prepare the hardcore GN'R fans and the media for an impending release, and to create the foundation for the marketing push that we will see in the coming months. To that end it has succeeded immensely. You can't cater to the casual fan before you have the hardcore fan and the media already in your back pocket.

I agree completely!

[A_Sense_Of_Rage]

What can be gained from leaking a subpar version of your product into the market? Well, you get to create a negative impression of the product in the minds of potential customers, who will already have decided that your new product isn't interesting to them before it even goes on sale.

I would respectfully ask: is it really negative? The interest generated has drawn attention to it, whether you like it or not it has created an awareness. I feel that many people who criticize Axl and Guns N Roses are still fans of the music and still buy the records, otherwise they wouldn't take the time to notice or care.

There are people who believe that everything that happens in releation to Axl Rose is part of some grand plan and that Axl is the master of how to manipulate the media. If this was true then he would have a much better public profile. At the moment, he's portrayed as a hermit and a weirdo and the demos have been getting slammed on radio stations for days. Hardly a good start to promoting the new album.

His public profile is the way it is because he doesn't play ball with the media. As far as manipulation, he has managed, actively or otherwise, to maintain a large community of fans despite not releasing hardly any new material and making few public appearances or statements in over a decade. Perhaps that mitigates to some degree a need to maintain himself in the public eye to promote his work.

The idea that Axl wants to leak demos so that we'll know the songs when we see the band live is bizarre. If CD is released the day a world tour starts, then for most fans they will be listening to the album for weeks or months before GN'R does a gig anywhere near them. So really what you're saying is that he leaked the songs for the fans in the cities on the first couple of dates on the tour. Still think it's a realistic prospect?

Yet CD may not be released the day a world tour starts, so its as realistic as that. The attention this album and its songs have received so far without any "official" publicity doesn't need to be validated by Merck or anyone else to make it real. We'll see just how well received the album is when it comes out, and along with a tour, if one is planned. Yet I would be willing to guess that this is not the last time we will see such a strategy as this if indeed things were planned out this way from the beginning of the leaks. People may not want to lend credibility to Axl or Chinese Democracy before they have it in their hands and see it validated on MTV and elsewhere. People may not want to believe things will work out this way without jumping on the media bandwagon like everyone else so its a predictable course of events leading up to release and tour, etc. None of that will matter, however, if we go out and buy the album and see him on tour. That will be the yardstick from which to judge, not the methods.

[Madman2267]

I recieved the UYI cd 2 week's prior to the tour....guess I was a lucky person.They hadn't even shipped any out and I was listening to all the track,feeling really honored to be one of the first.Doubtful I'll get CD .

[EverythingWasRoses]

I recieved the UYI cd 2 week's prior to the tour....guess I was a lucky person.They hadn't even shipped any out and I was listening to all the track,feeling really honored to be one of the first.Doubtful I'll get CD .

nice, how'd you do that?

[EverythingWasRoses]

I recieved the UYI cd 2 week's prior to the tour....guess I was a lucky person.They hadn't even shipped any out and I was listening to all the track,feeling really honored to be one of the first.Doubtful I'll get CD .

nice, how'd you do that?

[aussie_axl]

i've played them for alot of people, no bullshit ....most people have like them alot, most weren't guns fans!, man better is a winner i can feel it, the new parts of better are gold!, the first time i've heard hard rock from axl in 13 years! tho short lived, we need more axl more!, and the end of better is magic! pure class in my books.

about this love that can't keep up with your aberration.

i thought axl was behind them at first, i've changed my mind.

Edited February 26, 2006 by aussie_axl