Buzz Vids to promote your CD – Eminem Case Study

Making a CD is but a drop in the ocean should you want to earn your living thanks to your music. The figures are less dramatic than we may have thought but still, the CD itself has become less popular over the last years, substituted by the download on Itunes (or other platforms) and free streaming on music web services such as Spotify, Deezer to name but a few.

Eminem (Feat Rihanna) – Love the Way You Lie

Using buzz videos to restore the CD image while increasing public awareness could be the solution to this issue. At least this is what some artists go to bat for. // The Eminem case Study

For his latest album : Recovery, Eminem and his team put everything into it to promote the release of the album, creating brilliant buzz videos. Here is one of them I found on Youtube.

Buzz video, as a marketing tool
No need to mention how powerful the video can be when it comes to advertizing the launch of a new album. Using Social Media such as Youtube for instance can turn out to be very efficient to reach people largely. Indeed in this video, Vince is actually showing the different way you can use the last Eminem’s album, and how it will affect your life, in a positive way. Broadcasting the video on Youtube, the idea is to increase the buzz on the digital part of the communication. And it works well I guess for the video has been watched about 160 000 times in only 10 days. To assess the sales efficiency of the buzz video, it could be great to calculate the ratio views/sales. Looking at the iTunes Top Charts, we can notice that Eminem’s last album Recovery has hit the first place (see the Top 100). May Eminem’s buzz videos account for this huge success ? Partly I guess!

The “Be Everywhere Strategy”
If Buzz video’s sales efficiency could be requestionned, to say that it contributes to enlarge your visibility everywhere makes sense. More than creating a real impact on the audience, which will automatically backfire on the sales, the videos are contributing to promote the new album. This way it impacts people’s mind. Eminem’s new album is also Eminem’s come back after his last album. Thinking it big, the US Hip Hop Superstar wants his return to be enormous. Thus digitally, he totally adapted his website design to his new album’s design, created these viral videos and communicate about it efficiently on his Facebook and Twitter.

Buzz it digitally as you buzz it live
What’s the point of doing buzz videos if your album won’t reach the top of the charts ? Eminem’s new album is full of brilliant featuring giving to the album a special taste. Eminem’s digital presence is strongly linked to his presence live, echoing the “Be Everywhere Strategy”. Here is a video of his first single “Not Afraid” he performed on the David Letterman Show on the top of a roof in New York. Jay-Z was also invited, to publicly announce their september tour.

A week before, Eminem was performing “Love the Way You Lie” live with Rihanna for the first time at the Staples Center in Los Angeles at the Activision E3 2010 preview event on June 14th.

To say that buzz videos will efficiently increase your CD sales would be partly wrong. As we can see through Eminem’s new album release strategy, it is only a way to increase people awareness. This way it surely contributes to promote your CD. But let’s face it, Eminem is already in every people’s mind. Thus the videos are not really contributing to increase his fame.
Does it work the same way if you’re not already famous ?