Musicmaker.com, which labels itself the Web's custom CD site, will leverage its position as sole distributor of new CDs for The Who and the Black Crowes with Jimmy Page as part of a promotion touting the site's relaunch.
The new site, which will include a new ordering system, shopping cart and an extended repertoire of music, is slated to launch July 24. To draw users, it is offering its “Who Wants to See The Who?” contest in conjunction with radio stations in towns where The Who and Jimmy Page/Black Crowes will appear for the second leg of their tour.
Radio stations in the tour markets are distributing tickets to the shows and giving fans an opportunity to be on stage with The Who. Disc jockeys are referring listeners to their stations’ Web sites, which contain links to Musicmaker.com. Listeners can register at the Musicmaker site to win tickets.
To enter for the chance to be onstage during the concert, fans must answer correctly six out of 10 questions on a trivia test.
“Money can't buy these prizes,” said Larry Lieberman, president of global marketing at Musicmaker, New York. “Four seats on stage is the coolest prize ever given away.”
The radio stations' sites also offer an opportunity for consumers to make customized Who or Page/Crowes discs and to download their music.
This effort is part of a $1.5 million integrated marketing campaign targeting mature music fans. Offline, the site is advertising in the August issues of more than 60 magazines, including the Jazz Times, Gourmet and the Economist.
Online, the site will do several banner buys. However, it recently canceled a large banner and button program it had with America Online involving as many as 14 million impressions a month across the AOL network.
“It just wasn't paying out for us,” Lieberman said. “It's not tonnage that works for us. It's the real targeted ones, sites that attract music fans [who] love the repertoire we have. When I find those people, the results are extremely effective.”
The site also plans to begin an outbound e-mail campaign later in the year using its house lists.
Musicmaker made news earlier this year when it became the vendor for Pepsi’s Choose Your Music campaign. Consumers can collect points on Pepsi products and redeem them for free discs at the site.
Additionally, The Who drew a large buzz for the site when it held a live Webcast in April. At that time, the band announced its relationship with Musicmaker as well as the summer tour.
