FREE explores some of the most important ideas for anyone working to market music, even if the book isn’t only exploring music. Chris Anderson dives into the idea of using ‘free’ stuff as a way to attract customers to generate revenue and profit. The book explores examples dating back to the turn of the 20th century when Gillette would give out free razor handles so they could sell razor-blades. He explores experimental shopping concepts where all items in the store are free and the customer pays a membership fee to get access instead of buying specific products.
Why does this matter to music?
Music is one of the only products in the world where we use the product to market itself. Nearly all of our marketing is ‘free stuff’ - videos, content, live streams, pop-up shops and events, concert tickets, and even the radio is a free entertainment platform that promotes music. All music marketing is using free content and experiences to generate awareness, hopefully to collect some data, and then using that data to drive an engagement or transaction. This book is full of examples you can use to drive your creativity.