Groupon/LN/Etc.
I get this weekly e-mail from Scott Perry, entitled "New Music Tipsheet", he’s got a running commentary and this week he mentioned that "The Gap booked $11 million in revenue in a SINGLE DAY via a national Groupon takeover."
That’s positively staggering.
You can read the article Scott’s linking to here:
Although boring, I mention it primarily because he brings up Earlybird, which I hadn’t even heard of until today.
Yes, it seems that Live Nation’s got one up on me…
You see today there’s a Live Nation offer of two tickets for $20. I found out about it via my Twitter feed, where followers were alerting ME to the story.
@mdudas was first, at 8:09, he said:
@earlybird 92 brutal shows, wish @livenation threw you a few goodies considering hardly anything is selling out this summer cc: @lefsetz
At 8:50, @willhutson said:
Interesting use of @earlybird by @livenation this AM – 2 tix for $20. Can’t wait to hear @lefsetz weigh in. Right venue, wrong message?
Of course it’s ridiculous that Live Nation overbought and overpaid and is blowing these tickets out, reducing incentive to pay full price in the future, but when did the live behemoth become hipper than anybody else in the music business, when did they start using social media platforms I never even heard of?
And isn’t it funny, the Gap gives a discount via Groupon and it only burnishes the company’s image, it’s not seen as a desperation move. This is big business – flash sales and other Internet marketing sales tools that incentivize buyers to click immediately to buy at a discount.
And while we’re on the subject of Live Nation, be sure to read their blog posting today here:
Stunningly, in this post, Live Nation tells the truth of ticket surcharges/fees. Why it’s not on the homepage instead of being on a blog that I didn’t even know existed until today, I’ve got no idea.
But isn’t it funny, once again, that the behemoth is taking the initiative, shining light on the inside workings of our business, when all its independent competitors are not?
