A unique interview with Linkin Park
You know those press conferences that the big-name artists hold when they announce an event, like an upcoming tour? The ones that MuchMusic shows snippets of during their news broadcasts? Well, it turns out they hold them over the phone too, and after e-mailing nearly everyone I could think of, including the media relations department of the John Labatt Centre, I was allowed to partake in one with Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park fame.
Let me describe how the situation was laid out. First of all, to be a part of the call, I was given a US phone number which led me to a line especially designed for such conferences. Although I called right at the designated time for the meeting, some technical difficulties meant that I'd be forced to listen to some ‘awesome' soft-rock music for about 15 or 20-minutes. It reminded me of my years working at A&P.
Eventually things got underway, and a moderator explained the rules to us, which, summarized, meant that to ask a question you had to press *1. The moderator would then un-mute your phone, so that you could talk directly to Mike and Chester. Everyone else would have to listen. All of a sudden, I felt a little like an actual journalist. Me, a student writing for The Interrobang, was now on par with reporters for The El Paso Times, The Orange City Register and ABC News Radio. And to think, just a few days before this was all set up, I had no clue that these phone conferences even existed.
Mike and Chester talked a lot about what one might expect of them: their latest album, Minutes to Midnight, and the tour they have organized to promote it, which lead Linkin Park to the John Labatt Centre on February 23.
Not much has to be said about the album - it has already spoken for itself with four million copies sold worldwide, bringing their total catalogue to an astonishing record of 45 million altogether. What intrigued me, though, were some of the new and innovative marketing strategies Linkin Park will be toying with on this tour.
Of particular interest is the “digital souvenir package,” which allows attendees of each concert to purchase professionally mixed live bootlegs, emailed to the buyer at a relatively low cost the day after the show.
“The best part about it,” Bennington beamed, “is that our live mixer, our official mixer who mixes our show every night at the front of the house position, he finishes his night with us, then goes back to his hotel or bus or backstage and mixes the show... That's what's so important about this idea is that it's not a straight board mix or a cell phone or video camera, which is what you usually get on YouTube.”
This will also mean that, with the band's set-list changing from night to night, fans are not only allowed, but encouraged to share or trade mp3s of the different live versions. It is without a doubt, quite an admirable way to capitalize on an industry going digital.
Still, some wonder if this new strategy will feasibly generate any substantial revenue for Linkin Park; Shinoda doesn't seem worried, though. In fact, he has been quite vocal about embracing innovation within the industry.
“We're kind of in this new frontier where it's kind of like throwing ideas at the dartboard and seeing which ones stick, Shinoda explained. “That's a really exciting place to be because the people who figure out the model that works the best, whether it's a band or whether it's a management group or whether it's a record company, is really going to forge the future of how this business is run... I think people really are used to just focusing on the kind of negative aspects of what's going on and not really looking at how amazing the potential is for the future of this business.”
And with several multi-platinum albums, a fan-base whose numbers reach the millions, and a tour taking them to some of the biggest arenas in North America (including Madison Square Garden in New York City), it seems as though Linkin Park are adjusting just fine to the changes in the industry.
The conference went on for a total of half-an-hour or so, at which point the moderator notified all reporters that it would be ending shortly.
Ultimately, perhaps nothing groundbreaking about Mr. Shinoda or Bennington emerged, but to me, I was provided with an opportunity unlike anything I have ever experienced while writing for The Interrobang. So to Linkin Park and the JLC staff who made it possible, I give my thanks.
Let me describe how the situation was laid out. First of all, to be a part of the call, I was given a US phone number which led me to a line especially designed for such conferences. Although I called right at the designated time for the meeting, some technical difficulties meant that I'd be forced to listen to some ‘awesome' soft-rock music for about 15 or 20-minutes. It reminded me of my years working at A&P.
Eventually things got underway, and a moderator explained the rules to us, which, summarized, meant that to ask a question you had to press *1. The moderator would then un-mute your phone, so that you could talk directly to Mike and Chester. Everyone else would have to listen. All of a sudden, I felt a little like an actual journalist. Me, a student writing for The Interrobang, was now on par with reporters for The El Paso Times, The Orange City Register and ABC News Radio. And to think, just a few days before this was all set up, I had no clue that these phone conferences even existed.
Mike and Chester talked a lot about what one might expect of them: their latest album, Minutes to Midnight, and the tour they have organized to promote it, which lead Linkin Park to the John Labatt Centre on February 23.
Not much has to be said about the album - it has already spoken for itself with four million copies sold worldwide, bringing their total catalogue to an astonishing record of 45 million altogether. What intrigued me, though, were some of the new and innovative marketing strategies Linkin Park will be toying with on this tour.
Of particular interest is the “digital souvenir package,” which allows attendees of each concert to purchase professionally mixed live bootlegs, emailed to the buyer at a relatively low cost the day after the show.
“The best part about it,” Bennington beamed, “is that our live mixer, our official mixer who mixes our show every night at the front of the house position, he finishes his night with us, then goes back to his hotel or bus or backstage and mixes the show... That's what's so important about this idea is that it's not a straight board mix or a cell phone or video camera, which is what you usually get on YouTube.”
This will also mean that, with the band's set-list changing from night to night, fans are not only allowed, but encouraged to share or trade mp3s of the different live versions. It is without a doubt, quite an admirable way to capitalize on an industry going digital.
Still, some wonder if this new strategy will feasibly generate any substantial revenue for Linkin Park; Shinoda doesn't seem worried, though. In fact, he has been quite vocal about embracing innovation within the industry.
“We're kind of in this new frontier where it's kind of like throwing ideas at the dartboard and seeing which ones stick, Shinoda explained. “That's a really exciting place to be because the people who figure out the model that works the best, whether it's a band or whether it's a management group or whether it's a record company, is really going to forge the future of how this business is run... I think people really are used to just focusing on the kind of negative aspects of what's going on and not really looking at how amazing the potential is for the future of this business.”
And with several multi-platinum albums, a fan-base whose numbers reach the millions, and a tour taking them to some of the biggest arenas in North America (including Madison Square Garden in New York City), it seems as though Linkin Park are adjusting just fine to the changes in the industry.
The conference went on for a total of half-an-hour or so, at which point the moderator notified all reporters that it would be ending shortly.
Ultimately, perhaps nothing groundbreaking about Mr. Shinoda or Bennington emerged, but to me, I was provided with an opportunity unlike anything I have ever experienced while writing for The Interrobang. So to Linkin Park and the JLC staff who made it possible, I give my thanks.
