Rocking the Charts: Creating a New Business Model Through Social Media

A Norwegian rock band uses social to change its business and what lessons marketers can learn from them.

Boosting brand engagement, generating buzz, creating brand advocates, servicing customers, and driving sales are different ways brands are making social media work. Some however are going even further and using social to change the way they do business. One exciting example – a big winner at various global marketing awards this year – comes all the way from Norway, and not from a traditional brand, but a rock group!

Kaizers Orchestra – one of Norway’s top bands – was about to release a new single to promote their upcoming album Violeta Violeta. But they knew album sales worldwide were down, as fans have got used to downloading music on the Internet without paying.  In fact, the more popular the music, the more it gets downloaded illegally, leaving the creators with very little revenue. And putting restrictions on downloads upsets fans and effectively kills the album.

So Kaizers was facing a challenge that bedevils the music industry today. How to make their upcoming album popular and earn revenue from their music in the wake of widespread piracy, without alienating fans. They came up with a revolutionary solution that radically altered how bands get their music across to fans, in effect creating a whole new business model for the music industry.

They did not release the single on CD or mp3 but on paper. Instead of recording the song, they released it as sheet music! There was nothing for anyone to steal, as there was no song, just a sheet of paper.

The sheet music was handed out around the city, and faxed to colleges to be copied and distributed among students. Fans were challenged to come up with their own ‘cover’ versions based on the sheet. The challenge was broadcast through the No.one national radio broadcaster nrK and Kaizers’ Facebook page and fans were encouraged to upload their versions to the popular youth website P3.

As fans started uploading their versions, the news spread and became the hottest topic on blogs, Facebook, and even on national TV. Kaizers’ Facebook fan base increased 100 percent, becoming the biggest social media fan base among all bands in Norway.

Finally, Kaizers released their own version of the song, and this original version and the three best cover versions got heavy placement on radio. The single reached No. two on the charts within 48 hours of launch – the fastest selling single in history. The album went to No. one on the charts in the first week of release. The concert for the album release sold out with no advertising. The ‘create your own cover’ challenge generated 500,000 actions – blog write-ups, uploads, shares, media mentions. And all this with a total media budget of 800 Euros.

This may be a case from the Nordic music industry, but there are lessons here for marketers everywhere: how to give up creative control and gain fan base, how to crowdsource and create engagement worthy of rock stars, and how to develop content that fans and media are excited to share. But above all, this is a lesson in looking at existing business models in your own industry and figuring out how to disrupt them in a way that’s never been done before.

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