Record as a gift or free music for cola lovers and breakfast cereals
Recently, we talked about the music that came with Windows , as well as collections and albums that were distributed to journalists along with the first iPod . Today we will talk about the music that came with the products of other brands popular in popular culture.
Photo by William White Unspalsh
Music as a gift is not a new phenomenon, or even digital. Experiments in this direction began much earlier than it seems at first glance, even before the middle of the 20th century. However, due to the fact that most of the free music fell into the basket shortly after purchase, the amount of information about these promotions is minimal. But here are examples that we managed to find:
')
In the 1930s, Triotron, a European manufacturer of vacuum tubes for turntables and radios, released a whole series of free shellac records .
About them, little is known, but, most likely, they were distributed as an advertisement and so that users could test their equipment. Among these records is Johan Strauss’s Blue Danube and the short audio book, The Secrets of Beauty and Healthy Sleep.
For that time, the move was quite radical due to its comparative novelty and high cost of producing plates.
From the recollections of eyewitnesses, it is known that in the second half of the century, sellers of audio equipment together with equipment often gave away free records. Subsequently, this principle was used by the producers of audio cassettes - this is evidenced by Maxell vintage advertising (p. 17 of Billboard magazine in October 1979), aimed at distributors.
With each three empty cassettes, one of the three branded compilations was given as a gift - “rock”, “jazz”, or “classic”. They were advertised as “limited edition stereo recordings,” but their contents were quite mundane. The rock record had the songs Hall & Oats and The Alan Parsons Project, the jazz playlist was led by Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson, the classical record was decorated with songs performed by British guitarist Julian Brim and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.
Such a move - to distribute ready-made records when buying empty cassettes - may seem counter-intuitive, but it is not. At that time, there was high competition among cassette manufacturers. This format was intended, first of all, to copy music from other sources. Therefore, plates with "test music" helped the buyer to compare impartially the characteristics of different cassettes.
The music was even attached to Kellogg's breakfast boxes. They were cassettes with hit collections, CD samplers of performers from Motown label, and even a disc issued under the brand of the American Heart Association, calling for a healthy lifestyle.
Another producer of breakfast cereals - Post Cereals - used a similar advertising move, but with a radically different performance. In the advertisement, they promised that a record with the hit of the band The Monkees was attached to each box of their product. But instead of distributing full-fledged records, the manufacturer simply put sound tracks on the cardboard. The buyer needed to cut the song, and the result often left much to be desired. You can look at the record and listen to how it sounded in this video:
Great Shakes produced a special dry mix that turned an ordinary glass of milk into a drink resembling a real milkshake. The main target audience of their products were young people. Therefore, the company hired popular rock bands to record promotional jingles , including The Who and the Yardbirds, which are still loved by many to this day.
As a share, the company even handed out plates with songs of the aforementioned performers called “Great Shakes Shake-Out” to customers. On them you could hear artists like Arita Franklin and Simon & Garfunkel .
Carbonated drinks also often resorted to this marketing technique. In 1988, 7Up, in collaboration with MTV, conducted a promotional campaign, during which a branded cassette was attached to two-liter bottles of drink. The content of the compilation, called “MTV Hot Hits From Cherry 7Up”, corresponded to its title - there were songs by popular bands like Bon Jovi and The Breakfast Club.
Three years later, Coca-Cola did the same. In the boxes with 12 cans of drink you could find a three-inch disk from the Coca Cola Pop Music series. A total of four such discs came out, but in their content they lost to competitors - the only widely known performer whose rights to the songs the company received was Celine Dion .
Probably, the promo move was nevertheless considered successful, since in 1992 the company released another three-disc compilation - and on these records one could find “The Best” by Tina Turner, “Barcelona” by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe, compositions by Eric Clapton and Elton John. And on “Coca-Cola Is The Music” in 1993, the performers became “heavier” in the face of Meat Loaf and Alice In Chains.
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo Unspalsh
The free distribution of music has been criticized all the time that it existed. Many believe that it harms the performers and devalues ​​their work. Therefore, most popular musicians were wary of such advertising, despite the commercial success of such moves. And, in general, they were right - in this situation, the risk of being imposed on the public is too great. In the end, the largest such action - the U2 album distribution - turned millions of people against the group.
Over time, such marketing moves have become more rare. Of course, even now it can be said that the low cost of a subscription to streaming services makes all of their contents a “shareware” application to a smartphone. However, streaming users do not have the feeling that the music was “imposed on them with the phone,” - unlike the buyers of flakes and soda, they can create their own playlist.
What else can you read on our topic:
50 selected materials about the earnings of musicians and unusual instruments
What was on the first iPod: twenty albums that Steve Jobs chose in 2001
Innovation SSI-2001: the story of one of the rarest sound cards for the IBM PC (and its replicas)
Enthusiast recreated the sound card Sound Blaster 1.0 - talk about the project
Photo by William White Unspalsh
Music as a gift is not a new phenomenon, or even digital. Experiments in this direction began much earlier than it seems at first glance, even before the middle of the 20th century. However, due to the fact that most of the free music fell into the basket shortly after purchase, the amount of information about these promotions is minimal. But here are examples that we managed to find:
')
Vacuum lamps and shellac
In the 1930s, Triotron, a European manufacturer of vacuum tubes for turntables and radios, released a whole series of free shellac records .
About them, little is known, but, most likely, they were distributed as an advertisement and so that users could test their equipment. Among these records is Johan Strauss’s Blue Danube and the short audio book, The Secrets of Beauty and Healthy Sleep.
For that time, the move was quite radical due to its comparative novelty and high cost of producing plates.
Home Hi-Fi and Cassettes
From the recollections of eyewitnesses, it is known that in the second half of the century, sellers of audio equipment together with equipment often gave away free records. Subsequently, this principle was used by the producers of audio cassettes - this is evidenced by Maxell vintage advertising (p. 17 of Billboard magazine in October 1979), aimed at distributors.
With each three empty cassettes, one of the three branded compilations was given as a gift - “rock”, “jazz”, or “classic”. They were advertised as “limited edition stereo recordings,” but their contents were quite mundane. The rock record had the songs Hall & Oats and The Alan Parsons Project, the jazz playlist was led by Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson, the classical record was decorated with songs performed by British guitarist Julian Brim and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.
Such a move - to distribute ready-made records when buying empty cassettes - may seem counter-intuitive, but it is not. At that time, there was high competition among cassette manufacturers. This format was intended, first of all, to copy music from other sources. Therefore, plates with "test music" helped the buyer to compare impartially the characteristics of different cassettes.
Food
The music was even attached to Kellogg's breakfast boxes. They were cassettes with hit collections, CD samplers of performers from Motown label, and even a disc issued under the brand of the American Heart Association, calling for a healthy lifestyle.
Another producer of breakfast cereals - Post Cereals - used a similar advertising move, but with a radically different performance. In the advertisement, they promised that a record with the hit of the band The Monkees was attached to each box of their product. But instead of distributing full-fledged records, the manufacturer simply put sound tracks on the cardboard. The buyer needed to cut the song, and the result often left much to be desired. You can look at the record and listen to how it sounded in this video:
Great Shakes produced a special dry mix that turned an ordinary glass of milk into a drink resembling a real milkshake. The main target audience of their products were young people. Therefore, the company hired popular rock bands to record promotional jingles , including The Who and the Yardbirds, which are still loved by many to this day.
As a share, the company even handed out plates with songs of the aforementioned performers called “Great Shakes Shake-Out” to customers. On them you could hear artists like Arita Franklin and Simon & Garfunkel .
Carbonated drinks also often resorted to this marketing technique. In 1988, 7Up, in collaboration with MTV, conducted a promotional campaign, during which a branded cassette was attached to two-liter bottles of drink. The content of the compilation, called “MTV Hot Hits From Cherry 7Up”, corresponded to its title - there were songs by popular bands like Bon Jovi and The Breakfast Club.
Three years later, Coca-Cola did the same. In the boxes with 12 cans of drink you could find a three-inch disk from the Coca Cola Pop Music series. A total of four such discs came out, but in their content they lost to competitors - the only widely known performer whose rights to the songs the company received was Celine Dion .
Probably, the promo move was nevertheless considered successful, since in 1992 the company released another three-disc compilation - and on these records one could find “The Best” by Tina Turner, “Barcelona” by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe, compositions by Eric Clapton and Elton John. And on “Coca-Cola Is The Music” in 1993, the performers became “heavier” in the face of Meat Loaf and Alice In Chains.
Photo by Clem Onojeghuo Unspalsh
The free distribution of music has been criticized all the time that it existed. Many believe that it harms the performers and devalues ​​their work. Therefore, most popular musicians were wary of such advertising, despite the commercial success of such moves. And, in general, they were right - in this situation, the risk of being imposed on the public is too great. In the end, the largest such action - the U2 album distribution - turned millions of people against the group.Over time, such marketing moves have become more rare. Of course, even now it can be said that the low cost of a subscription to streaming services makes all of their contents a “shareware” application to a smartphone. However, streaming users do not have the feeling that the music was “imposed on them with the phone,” - unlike the buyers of flakes and soda, they can create their own playlist.
What else can you read on our topic:
50 selected materials about the earnings of musicians and unusual instruments What was on the first iPod: twenty albums that Steve Jobs chose in 2001 Innovation SSI-2001: the story of one of the rarest sound cards for the IBM PC (and its replicas) Enthusiast recreated the sound card Sound Blaster 1.0 - talk about the projectSource: https://habr.com/ru/post/459102/
All Articles