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Topic History of: Alex Day No1 on Amazon chart Max. showing the last 5 posts - (Last post first)
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DJKZ
Well JK thanks for the reply and I have to say I really miss the fun the industry had in the 80s and 90s, KLF anyone?
Have you got Alex doing a schools tour? I think if you can get him into schools you will build a massive fanbase of eager buyers.
Unless kids have become too preoccupied with guns and tings lol. We did one in the 90s and that was the best marketing tool bearing in mind
we couldn't get radio. But you're doing the right things to be honest.
Releasing singles tied into a memorable Day.
Making a campaign about it.
Most important of all going for a clean good all American oops British gentleman you'd get the grannies and kids loving him and everyone in between.
Doing it yourself.
Pete Waterman (i went from hating everything he touched to loving the whole PWL story) made a career out of sticking it up to the majors. But
there was Pinnacle in those days so they could stay indie and were arguably the most successful indie label from the UK.
Incidently I spoke to an old bloke down here who sells DVDs of teaching dance and he is inundated with orders he can't cope with so I suggested he automated
it all using the internet and he gets orders from all over the world.
You got the song right to be honest but the video hmm needs work. But hey I like Alex and I am expecting another chart entry this April but I think if you choose May/June
you will get a number one for sure.
Good luck!
JK2006
Ah KZ - first point - online converts to offline; that's something I learned in the early You Tube days with gatherings.
So fans of You Tube videos etc start doing things offline which in turn becomes different sales (cds; posters; Sopio cards etc).
Secondly - older people; yes, one of the reasons Alex did Lady Godiva is because I think it's a crossover hit easily playable on radio and TV with appeal to all generations.
Thirdly - whilst HMV are a part of the physical campaign, Amazon are far more (online physical sales - I bet that's how you pre-ordered your copy down under). And Alex's tour next week covers many small retail outlets in towns across the UK (including, of course, and at my insistence - Coventry).
Fourth - my "secret ingredients" - they keep changing but for about 15 years haven't worked (and that's nothing to do with the minor diversion in my career ten years ago - it was happening before that.)
I couldn't break Chumbawamba without getting EMI and Universal on board.
I couldn't break Dogs until I convinced Steve Greenberg to throw his small indie set up behind it (admittedly to my blueprint involving sports stadiums which I'd also used for Tubthumping).
I couldn't break The Cuban Boys outside the UK with their dancing hamster.
I couldn't break Susan Black at all (to my deep regret).
Ever since Eurovision (1997) I've been failing to find a "new model".
But I think I may be getting there with Alex. Watch out on Easter Day (surprisingly also his birthday) to see if we can replicate our Christmas Day result.
And last - winding up the majors. Yes, April Fools is just a catchy giggle. But there's a serious point to all this. The energy and imagination I have always had and helped spread in the music industry has been sadly missing. If Alex gets another Top Ten smash around the world - it might spark off a revival of enthusiasm.
DJKZ
Good post JK BUT you are missing something. Alex Day's marketing is basically online so no one offline even know or care about him.
You are also missing the fact the older people are more active online than younger people so they are quite savvy. Physical products is great
especially a signed one but you're targetting kids at HMV and bsically alienating the older folk. But good luck with it and I am getting my copy.
As regards making April Fools of the Major corporations, didn't you deny Alex was sticking two fingers up at them lol.
I am interested to know how you deployed your 'secret ingredient' over the years and please don't give the usual "have a hit and it's all easy" standard
answer because we know about that. How do you go about telling people via word of mouth operationally?
JK2006
Not many - a couple of thousand at most; but the crunch comes this Sunday, when it goes onto iTunes, and all next week when it's both downloads (99.5%, as Dixie says) and physical CDs through HMV and the last remaining retailers.
Alex is doing signings at loads of shops all over the UK, from Edinburgh to Billericay.
Can we help stores revive slightly? Can Alex prove that fans like to get signed hard copies of singles? And most of all, can he shift even more copies in some countries around the world - where downloads are less dominant? Although he sold 125,000 globally on Forever Yours, we had hundreds of complaints from places still cherishing CDs.
The new model doesn't just rely on new technology. Sometimes older people and those millions who never go online want crossover hits too. We're trying to cater to more than just restricted, specialist taste minorities. The most recent hits I've been involved in - I Get Knocked Down, Dogs, Orson - have more appeal than narrow taste fans.
Can we illustrate that our limited promotion - 500,000 You Tube views - combined with word of mouth (my secret ingredient for 45 years) and fans wanting souvenirs that last - pictures, signatures, remixes (see if you like my Struwelpeter mix on the physical copies)... can achieve another Top 5 hit?
Make no mistake; this is THE NEW MODEL.
Adapting promotion, distribution, demand, exposure, appeal to each individual project. That's the trick. Not a formula for everything but a totally different concept for each individual talent.
One man against the world. Not easy, flying in the face of great, wealthy, cunning, corporate powers like Universal, the BPI, Sony, the BBC, ITV, Warners... all doing it "the old way", all trying to retain the status quo...
Are you one of the millions clinging to the old way? Or do you want to help us prove we can do it the new way? If you do, please download Lady Godiva by Alex Day from iTunes on Sunday April 1st. Get your friends, relations, children, family to do it too. Buy several remixes. And make April Fools of the major corporations.
Just to remind you...
Mike Read's Hairdresser
Well done to everyone whose efforts went into achieving this. So, how many units does that equate to?
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