Josh Freese, the drummer from Nine Inch Nails, posted a bunch of ways his music could be purchased: lunch with him, he'd write a song with your name in it, hanging out with Mark Mothersbaugh, etc. He wrote to Bob Lefsetz with an update on how his promotional campaign is going. The beauty of the campaign is that he did something with humor and integrity. How could you not be taken in by it? He seems to be enjoying it as much as his fans. It sounds like it is a winner. Here's the posting.
From: Josh Freese
Subject: Checking in with an update.
,
Hi there Bob. How are ya?
So, I wanted to check in and give you an update on what's been going on just after the first week or so of my records release. My label, "Outerscope Records" (that's me, my girlfriend and our nanny when the kids are asleep) is proud to report that I've sold about 150 of the $50 of the packages and all 25 of the $250 packages (those went in the first 24 hours.) In less than a week I have sold 4 of the $500, 2 of the $2,500, 2 of the $5,000, and the big old $20,000 package! No one has bought the $75,000 package yet but I've had someone fairly serious inquiries about it (still only "talk" at this point though.)
Any-hoo, I just started my "lunches" with people and I've been on the phone nonstop for the past few weeks with people who have bought the record (and a phone call option). It's actually been completely hectic and I've just finally got my head above water for a minute. My friends were joking the other day that I may be the only person in the music business that considers himself to be selling TOO MANY RECORDS right now! These phone calls and lunches are a lot to keep up with and I've hardly just begun. I still stay "BRING IT!" though. I made my bed and now I gotta' sleep in it.
I'm still waiting for some numbers regarding how many downloads or just regular CD's I've sold but my expectations aren't very high. But if it all stopped right now I can walk away feeling successful about the whole thing and I am pleasantly surprised at how many of the "packages" have sold. I truly did not expect them to sell so well. And sure it's been great to make some money doing it, but the most rewarding part has been getting feedback from people about how much they liked what I'd come up with. Or how much they laughed while reading the stuff at their desk or in the studio with their friends huddled around the computer. Getting the nod from smart, creative people always feels good. I've received emails and phone calls ranging from guys in Pearl Jam, to Tony Hawk to Trent Reznor to Billy Gibbons to Devo to top producers and label people all loving it and giving me big props on the whole thing. I had the head of marketing at a very prestigious and famous company (who shall remain nameless) tell me that she "hung her head in shame for a week after seeing my marketing plan." It was like, here she was doing this for a living and some dumb-ass rock drummer came along and smoked her at her own game... or something along those lines (sorry, I think I just pulled a muscle from patting myself on the back.) We had a laugh about it and I thanked her for the compliment. Point being, it's been nice receiving so many accolades from people I admire and from professionals who deal in this world every day. I also love the fact that this has nothing to do with drumming and writing music but EVERYTHING to do with being creative and unique.
I've got 6 of my 25 lunches under my belt now and it feels pretty good (and weird.) I've got one tomorrow and I'm doing 2 back to back on Saturday. I schedule all lunches from 11 AM to Noon so I can continue on with my "normal life" of showing up and doing sessions. So far people seem surprised and appreciative when I call them at home in Texas or Iowa or Greece or Australia (called all those places and another 100 cities so far.) The guy from Florida that bought the $20,000 package and I have been joined at the hip since Sunday and I won't even go into all the stuff that we've done in the past 4 days but I've already gone above and beyond for him and we're continuing to have a blast. I'll start posting stuff soon on my website and on youtube but just to give you a quick idea...mini-golf with Maynard James Keenan, pizza at Mark Mothersbaugh's house, sensory deprivation tank sessions, a signed snare drum I used on a Nine Inch Nails tour, slumber party at the Queen Mary, going to gigs of mine with me, pulling items out of my closet, etc, etc......He's a great kid and a friend for life. We're having him check out of his hotel and stay at our house tomorrow night. It's a LONG, LONG story that I'll write about later. You can laugh when I say this but it's true when I tell you that he came into my life for a reason other than just the $$. I actually feel bad about taking the $$ because at this point I'm not hanging out with him or pretending to be his friend for the cash. He got all of his stuff (and a bunch more that wasn't on the original menu) a while ago. He's a sweet 19 year old kid who's had a really rough last couple years (like REALLY fucking rough.) Like....this money he spent to come out here is part of a inheritance he received (you can fill in the blanks there.) I feel like his big brother and I'm trying to make this one of the best weeks of his life. OK, we're getting a little too heavy here SO...for now here's a shot of me and my first lunch date last week at the ol' Cheesecake Factory. His name's Andrew, he's a photographer for the OC Weekly and a super guy! Bob....if you want I'l throw ya a free $500 package and we can go floating in Venice and then whip over to Sizzler sometime. I'm telling ya man....you'd dig it! Trust me...I'm a drummer.
Josh F
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