Legendary rapper Dr. Dre has announced this week that he will begin promoting his upcoming album via “Mafia Wars,” the extremely popular Facebook game.
‘Detox,’ Dre’s first album since 1999, is set for release early next year, after years of delays.
The partnership with game developer Zynga will begin with the company streaming the music video for “Kush,” the first single off the album.
Zynga is the market leader in the growing “social gaming” market, thanks to their hits FarmVille, FrontierVille, Mafia Wars and others.
The promotion is dubbed “Hustlin’ Wit Dre,” and Mafia Wars gamers can purchase and collect Dr. Dre virtual goods, like Beats headphones, weapons and a car or purchase (in real-life) ‘Kush.’
There is a chance to win a signed Detox album, as well as signed Beats headphones, via the promotion.
Result for: new album
If you’re a well known artist today it’s almost a certainty that any new album you record will be available on the internet before it goes on sale. Rather than complaining about the ineveitable, alternative members of Wilco have decided to stream their upcoming album themselves.
The obvious benefit from letting visitors stream Wilco (the album) from their website is a chance to sell them pre-orders for the album. Pre-orders will begin shipping on June 25.
They are also providing some incentive for fans to buy it instead of downloading from P2P. People who order from their website get the option to buy an exclusive t-shirt which won’t be available after June 29.
There is also a tote bag offered and every pre-order includes a download of the new song ‘You Never Know’ and entry into a series of drawings to take place between now and June 29.
Prizes will include 4 tickets to any (non-festival) 2009 wilco show and an iPod nano with the new album already loaded.
Result for: new album
DJ Danger Mouse, famous for being one half of Gnarls Barkley, and for his 2004 mashup CD They Grey Album (mixing the Beatles ‘White Album’ with Jay-Z’s ‘the Black Album’) is releasing a new album this week, however there is one catch; there wont actually be any music on it.
In the case of the ‘Grey Album,’ record label EMI sent out cease-and-desist letters to all fans who posted the album anywhere online and even threatened those who protested the label’s actions. The label and the DJ are still in an ongoing dispute and therefore Danger Mouse is not allowed to release any music under his own name.
The new album, Dark Night Of The Soul, as a way to get around EMI, will simply be cover art and a blank recordable CD-R. Burn the tracks (however you find them) to the CD-R and enjoy the music, says the DJ.
His official statement reads:
Danger Mouse’s new project Dark Night Of The Soul consists of an album length piece of music by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and a host of guest vocalists, along with a collection of original David Lynch photography inspired by and based on the music.
The photographs, which provide a visual narrative for the music, are compiled in a limited edition, hand numbered 100+ page book which will now come with a blank, recordable CD-R. All copies will be clearly labeled: ‘For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will.’
Due to an ongoing dispute with EMI, Danger Mouse is unable to release the recorded music for Dark Night Of The Soul without fear of being sued by EMI.
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