I wrote a blog post about how bands need to find new creative ways to market their CD’s. As the CD industry declines, few artists have found effective ways to connect with their fans to sell more CD’s. Because of that, Foo Fighters are pulling out all the stops to creatively market their CD, Sonic Highways.
Foo Fighters were going to have a hard time topping their last album, Wasting Light. That album took them to new heights. So what did Dave Grohl come up with? A concept to record eight songs in eight cities: Chicago, Washington DC, Nashville, Austin, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York. If that wasn’t enough, he created an HBO documentary series highlighting the musical history of each city. Still not enough? (Yeah, we’re a tough crowd…) Grohl used quotes from the interviews from the artists to craft the lyrics for each song.
The band spent a week in each city. They recorded the music during the day and, at night, Grohl interviewed artists for the documentary. Then, at the end of the week, the interviews became lyrics for the song they were recording. On the last day, he’d record the lyrics and they’d record the video for the song that ran at the end of each show. Grohl admitted in an interview with Rolling Stone (read it here) that it was a lot more work than he anticipated.
The series is well done and captivating. Grohl’s conversational interview style put the artists at ease as they talked about their experiences. You learn about the bands that put these cities on the map, including how they influenced Grohl and the Foo Fighters. To top it off, they also had a guest artist for each song. This is a great way to open them up to fans of the guest artists (such as Gary Clark, Jr., Zac Brown, Rick Nielsen and Joe Walsh). Getting them to listen to one song might get them to listen to another…and then, liking it enough to buy the CD.
To promote the CD and documentary series, they were guests on the David Letterman Show for a full week. David Letterman, through Worldwide Pants, was one of the producers of the HBO series. They spent the week playing cover songs with some guest musicians (most of whom appear on the Sonic Highways CD). This led up to their performance of the first single, “Something From Nothing”, on the Friday show. Each performance was also promoted on social media the following day.
The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard Music chart with 190,000 sales. I like the CD, but it doesn’t match the energy of Wasting Light. It sounds more like Dave Grohl’s Sound City soundtrack…the documentary he made about the Sound City studio.
That said, the Sonic Highways series helped me have a stronger appreciation for the songs. By seeing the recording, songwriting, and collaboration with the guest artists, I heard little nuances I wouldn’t have noticed without watching.
Grohl said that this experience has opened up a world of opportunities for the band. In the same Rolling Stone interview, and in true Dave Grohl fashion, he also said, “I’m always learning. You know I have no idea what I’m doing, right?” Due to that self-awareness and willingness to try things, Grohl a breath of fresh air. His curiosity shines through his projects and endears him to us.
What do you think of the CD and/or HBO series and their marketing? Thanks for reading and please share it with your friends.