David Gray "Draw The Line"

I knew that we had entered a weird phase of marketing, when albums started to get their own trailers.

I mean, we're used to movies having trailers. It makes sense. You cut together little bits and pieces of an existing movie, to make an exciting 90-second preview.

But albums started to get the trailer treatment as a way to let fans know the record is coming. That seemed a little strange, but I guess it makes sense.

So I wasn't surprised to see a trailer for David Gray's summer tour. I guess it's a reasonable way to spread the word the Gray is coming to your town in support of his new live album.

What IS a little surprising and weird is the other marketing campaign Gray (or his label) is engaged in.

Groupon?

I guess I don't have anything against saving money. But something about crazy discounts to sell CDs feels really desperate. Like it's meat that is about to go bad so we'd better mark it down.

Creativity seems to be getting devalued at every turn. Rock bottom prices only make the product seem more disposable. That can't be a good thing for the artist, right?

On the other hand, might this motivate a casual David Gray fan, to go buy the record?

I'm on the fence on this one. What do you think?


See the video on Youtube.


See the video on Youtube.