Shakira - Leveraging Digital Sales to Promote CD Sales

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/business/media/12shakira.html?' target='_blank'>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/business/media/12shakira.html?</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Many music singles are released for sale ahead of their albums to generate early sales and create interest in the full collection. But the opposite was true for the Shakira single "Hips Don't Lie," which broke a digital sales record last week thanks to a cross-media marketing strategy. "Hips Don't Lie," which features the hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean, set a record for selling the most copies of a digital song in one week after it was released May 27. The song was downloaded about 266,500 times in its first week on sale, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That broke the previous record of 175,000 copies of D4L's "Laffy Taffy." The single was part of an effort to breathe new life into Shakira's current album, "Oral Fixation Vol. 2," (Epic Records) which was initially released in November without "Hips Don't Lie" on it. When the album appeared to be flagging on the charts, Epic planned to re-release the CD with the new single added to it. But before the re-release, the new single and related tie-ins were promoted on Yahoo Music and were released exclusively to Verizon Wireless customers."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/B000EQH2QK.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V52647618_.jpg" /><br /><br />Just goes to show that with the right marketing, you can even use digital music sales to support the sales of CD's. Although, I'd be kind of peeved if I had bought the first version of the CD only to have them redo it because they realized that it was not good enough the first time. They should allow those that already bought the first version to get a free download of the additional song.

[Felix Torres]

1- Early buyers of the CD get a free d/l of the added track. You just go to the Sharira.com web site with the original-release CD in your PC drive and the web-site authenticates the dick and gives you a DRM'ed d/l. You also get assorted other goodies that way.

2- The reason they "re-did" the CD was that it was banned in the middle east and parts of Europe because the first track was controversial. All Shakira CDs have always had at least one social-commentary song on them (Poem to a Horse on Laundry Service, for example). This time she took on both the UN (Timor) and religious-based warfare (How do you do) wondering out-loud whether an unnamed somebody was shamed or proud to see all the killing in his name. Coming from a certified Vatican favorite (after her "Se quiere...se mata", questioning abortion, in her breakthrough album back in '96) certain folks took the song, which basically promotes harmony, as an attack on their specific faith, all-the-while ignoring that the lady is actually of part-Lebanese descent. Apparently they felt that it was okay for her to exercise her abs was okay but exercising her brain wasn't.

Anyway, CD sales were lowered by the boycott and a re-release was required and the add-on selected is, on the surface, a brainless dance tune. But if you actually pay attention to the lyrics you'll find she still slipped in an anti-war message or three in there. ;-)

3- What I find interesting in the NYT piece is that Epic records actually proved that tiered pricing (the bugaboo the studios were fighting Apple over) works; they initially only released the digital single to the more expensive medium (phones, for sale as high as $3), then they released it for CD buyers (on the new CD or for free to existing customers) and only afterwards did they feed the buck-a-pop crowd. This is not unlike the windowed release strategy the movie studios use (theaters, pay-per-view, dvd, pay-cable, broadcast...) So it sounds like the studios may have found a way to subvert the Apple fixed-price pricing model simply by not releasing the tracks to Apple until they're ready to sell them for a buck...

And that is very interesting, no?

[Chris Gohlke]

Felix,

Thanks for the extra context that was not in the original article!

[Neil Enns]

I can't believe the first track was considered controversial. It's actually one of the better songs on the second CD! As a whole, though, Fijaction Oral, Vol 1 was the stronger of the two discs.

Neil

[Felix Torres]

I can't believe the first track was considered controversial. It's actually one of the better songs on the second CD! As a whole, though, Fijaction Oral, Vol 1 was the stronger of the two discs.

Neil

So the critics say and, while I loved Fijacion, it was her first album without one of her trademark zingers. I, for one, sorely missed the expected social-commentary song, so when on first play Oral Fixation hit me with How Do You Do, I was delighted.

Besides, by now I love how she opens each CD with what a call a double-take moment; a song that takes you completely by surprise. Like the first time I put in Donde estan los Ladrones? and got hit with a Mariachi opening... I practically popped the CD out of the player thinking I'd gotten a dud or something. ;-)

Ditto with Oral Fixation; opening the CD with the Lord's Prayer in latin?
I love that song. Animal City is also pretty good. Never get any top-40 airplay but is still a fun, biting piece. More so than How do you do.

But of course, in these times anybody promoting religious harmony and coexistence is going to be controversial...