This week the Soundtrack to Juno bounded to number one on the charts. A measly 65k units is all it took. Not great for a #1, but these days, its a great total for any theatrical soundtrack. Which raises a question. If a best selling soundtrack sells about 100k units, and 99pct of the rest sell under 10k units, is selling a soundtrack the best use of the music ?
I think not. Whether sold digitally or by CD, the reality of today's music and theatrical release market is such that music from movies would generate more total dollars for everyone if it were given away with the purchase of a movie ticket.
To release a major motion picture theatrically these days costs a lot of money. Not only does it cost a lot of marketing dollars to release a movie, not a single movie company in this country has any idea which money that it spends really drives people to theaters. Thats a problem. So where does music fit in ?
One way to entice people to get off the couch and attend more movies is to increase the value to customers. The most cost effective opportunity to increase value is to give away items to theater goers that have a very high perceived value, but a very lost cost of distribution.
Enter music.
How many people are going to rush out and buy the Soundtrack to the new Rambo movie ? But riddle me this. How many more people would go to the movie if they knew that their movie ticket stub had a code to unlock a free download of the movie's soundtrack ? Or if they bought a ticket online in advance of the release, they could download the soundtrack right from the online ticket site ?
Talk about a possible win win. Music publishers would make far more money getting paid a lump sump or for every song downloaded by ticket buyers than they would from sales of the soundtrack. The total cost per song to the studios would be a fraction of their marketing budgets and probably only in the thousands of dollars. The incentive to consumers to buy movie tickets, lets just say it would certainly be more than without the music.
And there is no reason to stop there. Why not offer downloads of the script to people who have already seen the movie (meaning the download of the script would start a couple months after the movie was released). It could be for free with a ticket stub code, or could be sold for a couple bucks per download without. Again, its just more value to the consumer, without much cost to the studio.
Bottomline, is that anything that can be delivered digitally as a download could be bundled into the value of a movie ticket and delivered from the ticketing site, the studio or from the theater's website. The cost to deliver a song, script or even video (like what you might find as extras on a dvd) digitally is nominal relative to the marketing investment required to get people to the theater.
Why not ?
Music and Movies - Give Away the Soundtrack
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Reader Comments
(Page 2)22. The soundtrack for Joe Swanberg's LOL is available for download (free) from the Benten Films web site.
http://www.bentenfilms.com/
Posted at 8:42PM on Feb 1st 2008 by Scott Johnson
23. Now this is why I subscribe to your blog. Fresh, creative and innovative ideas. Good onya Mark! This would world great.
Posted at 10:33PM on Feb 1st 2008 by Monte Huebsch
24. This is an intriguing idea and could be huge for the artists involved..in this day and age, it's all about exposure and I for one, would forgo immediate remuneration for the opportunity to get "the word" out.
..btw Mark, I wouldn't be averse to offering one of my catchy, beatlesesque tracks for an upcoming Magnolia film..I mean, you have the means to make this great concept fly..can you imagine the press afterwards?..
Interviewer: So, let me get this straight..You mentioned your music in response to one of Mark Cuban's posts on his blog..he gave a listen and found a place for one of your tracks..a track which is now lodged in what seems like the collective conscious.
Me: uh huh..
Priceless.......
25. Being that soundtracks aren't selling well, I see the point that it is a way to leverage a fairly worthless product to get a few more people into theaters. However I don't believe it would have a noticeable affect
Posted at 10:06AM on Feb 2nd 2008 by Ses Kayıt
26. The way I see it is that the mp3 version will be given away, in the near future, under limited license. This gets the music out there, and frees the information. The CD will be released subsequent to this, and that will STILL make money, maybe even more money, because there are STILL people who appreciate the sound quality of CD. Just my view... Mark
Posted at 11:55AM on Feb 2nd 2008 by Mark Sandcones
27. It would take a lot more than a free soundtrack to make me see Rambo.
Posted at 1:46PM on Feb 2nd 2008 by Joe
28. Mark, The concept is sound. It is very attainable and may give a shot in the arm to an ailing industry. I don't currently go to the movies, I have an atmosphere at home that is perfect to watch movies. I would not be the target market, but the target market is out there. Kids still flock together and go to the movies. A family night out might include a trip to the movies.
Before Christmas Starbucks was giving away music, one code is one song on iTunes. It was simple, free and no one (to my limited knowledge) posted a crack code on the Net (Internet). The concept of adding value to a movie ticket is brilliant, but sometimes they just want to remember the event (of going to the movies with...). How about including the movie poster (sized to regular paper) to print from a code on the back of the ticket. Some old movie posters are worth money now. Paired with the hit song of the movie would not only add value but make the movie experience live on.
Just a thought.
Posted at 2:26PM on Feb 2nd 2008 by Chuck Breece
29. I like the idea.
I think it'd work best as a limited offer. Some soundtracks aren't at all interesting and will have little interest beyond afficiandos. Others are probably mega-sellers in their own right and can stand or fall on Amazon and in music stores. But in the middle ground there are a lot that could benefit.
In the UK, a newspaper gave away the most recent Prince album free with the paper last summer. Prince was playing a series of concerts, and the newspaper paid him far more money for that one-off right to give away the album than he'd have earnt from a normal release. Loads more people heard his music, and of course, he had a very successful series of concerts in London.
Fast food chains, and others use limited time offers, and that's the way I'd do it - as a marketing method.
It's interesting that scripts get a mention. I notice that this awards season, all the For Your Consideration sites have PDF downloads of all the big film scripts available to all!
I've linked to a few from them from here: http://www.adambowie.com/weblog/archive/002307.html
Worth it for the Juno script alone!
Posted at 4:02PM on Feb 2nd 2008 by Adam Bowie
30. Another way to devalue music in the eye of the consumer...great.
Posted at 5:40PM on Feb 2nd 2008 by d
31. Why not take things a step further and pre-sell DVD copies (or even better downloaded copies) of the movie with a theatre ticket.
I would even be happy if they packed the soundtrack (download code preferred) with a DVD purchase.
Posted at 6:20PM on Feb 2nd 2008 by HockeyNutz
32. Here in Austin we have Entertainment Weekly's #1 movie theater in America called Alamo Drafthouse. I think the experience of the movie theater isn't what it once was. As people have stated, there are more advanced home theaters than ever before. The Alamo Drafthouse is an experience...it's a Drive-In without the crackling window mounted speaker. It's a restaurant with an excellent menu, great drinks on tap and great movies to choose from.
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My point isn't to gush over The Drafthouse. My point is that this is a movie experience you can't get at home. It is something that is more than just watching a movie...we actually get excited to get out of the house and have dinner & a movie (at the same time). The extra content seems like a great idea but at the same time it seems a bit gimmicky.
Unless the soundtrack has original content (Bodyguard, Lion King, Titanic, Men In Black, etc) then it is essentially just a compilation or greatest hits album. I could spend a few minutes compiling them myself through itunes if I wanted. The Juno soundtrack, for example, seems to want to promote some new or underground artists. For an indie band wanting to launch its career from a soundtrack, the downloadable content makes a little more sense. The other hope from the movie company is that you go and see a movie (or rent one for that matter) they have your money, and then afterwards you might be willing to shell out some additional cash for a CD with some tunes you heard in the movie. How many people went out and bought the Top Gun Soundtrack after hearing "Take My Breath Away" in the movie
33. Wish you and Magnolia would've tried this with The Great World of Sound -- that movie was waaaay to fantastic to get the kind of gross that it did....or didn't.
Posted at 9:06PM on Feb 2nd 2008 by Todd
34. Plus this would drive traffic to the ticket website where you could sell advertising
Posted at 4:23PM on Feb 3rd 2008 by John Rich
35. An Open Letter to the Movie Moguls
It is too bad you movie moguls lose money every time someone illegally downloads a movie. Wow. I realize that it costs you a freakin' fortune, especially considering that millions and millions and MILLIONS of movies are illegaly downloaded every year, and that you are NEVER PAID for these losses. It is also a shame that Tom Cruise will make only $362 million this year instead of $425 million, all because of illegal downloading. (Who will cry for the Scientologists?) Once in awhile when I see one of your commercials, I actually feel bad about it.
Then I think about that incompetent design engineer you hired to design the cases for your DVD movies. This guy wasn't smart enough to devise a way for consumers to slide their fingers under the DVD and pluck it easily from the case (although my seven year old grandaughter could have designed it).
No, we must first get the wrapping off (30 minutes with a sharp instrument). Then we must remove the sealing tape from around three edges of the DVD case. Not one, not two, count 'em --THREE edges! What's the matter, afraid someone's going to steal the Goddamned thing?
Finally, we have to try to pry the disk out of the ridiculous case, bending the entire assembly into shapes for which it was never designed. ("Designed?" Sorry, poor choice of word.) Still, it is almost impossible to get our fingers under the disk to remove it. Great work, lads. (That was sarcasm. You've probably run across it in some old movies.)
Here's a suggestion:
Shouldn't you hide something with razor sharp edges under the DVD to slice up our fingertips as we try to remove the desk from the case? That would be consistent with your design theories, plus it would further punish the people who buy your movies, since you cannot punish the people who steal them.
Once we finally have the thing out of the package and in our players, we are forced to watch many, many minutes of your whining about people taking food off your tables (and Bentleys out of your garages) by illegally downloading movies.
You know, I think about you movie moguls a lot. I think about how many people are ripping you off. Wow. Night and day. Day and night. All day long. Every day of the year. Those losses must REALLY ADD UP!
It's like a horrible vision of some huge money pump relentlessly flushing YOUR dollars (millions and millions of them!) right into the sewer. Like a nightmare, really. So MUCH money! Awww, man!
During these times, I also think about your DVD packaging, and you know what? Fuck off.
T.
---------------------------------
Ted A. Thompson
http://phfft.blogspot.com
Posted at 6:38PM on Feb 3rd 2008 by tedthompson
36. Hey Marc, i am dying to hear your thoughts on the msft/yhoo deal.
Posted at 6:51PM on Feb 3rd 2008 by mexicanfromthepast
37. I even stopped renting movies , because now in the internet there are many places where you can legally buy a movie for a price that will be even cheaper than a rental price. like at http://www.freshmovies.org A movie may cost up to just 5$ for a DVD quality. Then u may just burn and store. So why even rent? The industry defenately needs a kick in the balls just as one of the previous comments said.
Posted at 10:36PM on Feb 3rd 2008 by Voitenko
38. Start "Cuban Records" and work it.
Posted at 2:20PM on Feb 4th 2008 by Steve
39. Honestly, I don't see a real problem with attendance at movie theaters. Most of the time when a good quality movie or an "event" movie comes out, then people will go and see it.
Perception is movie theaters are not filling up. Reality is theaters have increased in size and have multiple screens showing the same feature. Years ago you had more sold out shows because seats and showtimes were limited. That created its own buzz, and you had more blockbusters because of it.
Now studios use a blitzkrieg strategy where they load their flick on 4000 screens and significantly decrease each week. There is no such thing a slow building hit anymore.
And the theater owners either try to accommodate these requests by going larger and larger, or by creating a niche market - Imax, dinner theaters, etc. All the customer really wants is to escape reality for a couple of hours in an enjoyable environment.
Re: music
Offering downloads on soundtracks will not increase business, because no one really wants it. How many soundtracks have been massive hits? Two - The Bodyguard and Saturday Night Fever.
Offering a soundtrack for free is something you throw in with a DVD. An extra disc that someone might listen to once, and if it sucks then its used as a coaster.
T-shirts, posters, hats are more useful and are better marketing tools imho.
I just think people are agreeing with you in hopes of you looking at their brilliant idea and offering them their dream job.
d
Posted at 10:26AM on Feb 5th 2008 by dan
40. What those whom are stating that...
"I don't go to the movies anyway so this isn't an incentive for me (at all)"
Are forgetting is that...
YOU are not the ones who I would care about anyway.
Know this...
Those who still purchase music are still going to purchase it.
Those who download it without paying for it are going to do so.
So...
Those who still go to the movies (I am one of them)... are STILL going to go to the movies - whether a free soundtrack is offered or not.
THOSE are the people you would care about...
Not those of you whom watch movies on your HD-DVD player and plasma screens.
As someone whom works in the music industry... this is a great idea.
If I could obtain a free soundtrack with my ticket purchase, well hey, I am going to see anything free as a good thing.
To you Netflix only touting responders...
This is not for you.
But "Alvin and the Chipmunks" is at over 200 million this week.
The free soundtrack would be for them. If they want it... cool.
If not... cool.
It is not an incentive for those of you who do not go to the movies...
It is an incentive for those (of us) whom still do.
And THAT... is what those of you whom do not (go to the movies any longer)... are failing to realize.
Posted at 5:53PM on Feb 5th 2008 by Anonymous
21. In a country of 300 million, the average soundtrack sells less than 10k copies. You can interpret this as soundtracks are overpriced (pick any measure, cash/time whatever). But I don't think it's just price. It's not clear the general public values soundtracks (to Rambo or otherwise) as having value at even at zero dollars.
I suppose it comes down to, for how many jane consumers does the value from a free motion picture soundtrack even exceed the cost in time to listen to it?
Good times.
Posted at 8:22PM on Feb 1st 2008 by Al chang