How Iron Maiden found its worst music pirates -- then went and played for them | CITEworld
Geege Schuman stashed this in Consumer Trends
Stashed in: Teh Internets, Stories, Music, Pirates!, Rock!, FALSE., Big Data, Style-Image-Brand, You Had ONE Job, Pirates, See?, What If? Why Not? Who Says?, Supply vs Demand
For more than a decade, musicians have battled rampant music piracy that has put labels and record stores out of business at a rapid pace. Unlike the shift to Amazon that did in the book store chains, record stores are suffering from outright theft, and the migration to iTunes or Spotify streaming isn't making up the difference.
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In the case of Iron Maiden, still a top-drawing band in the U.S. and Europe after thirty years, it noted a surge in traffic in South America. Also, it saw that Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile were among the top 10 countries with the most Iron Maiden Twitter followers. There was also a huge amount of BitTorrent traffic in South America, particularly in Brazil.
Rather than send in the lawyers, Maiden sent itself in. The band has focused extensively on South American tours in recent years, one of which was filmed for the documentary "Flight 666." After all, fans can't download a concert or t-shirts. The result was massive sellouts. The São Paolo show alone grossed £1.58 million (US$2.58 million) alone.
And in a positive cycle, Maiden's online fanbase grew. According to Musicmetric, in the 12 months ending May 31, 2012, the band attracted more than 3.1 million social media fans. After its Maiden England world tour, which ran from June 2012 to October 2013, Maiden's fan base grew by five million online fans, with a significant increase in popularity in South America.
It feels like Iron Maiden is a fine example of a future where the music is available as free advertising, and the group makes its money off concerts, merchandising, licensing, YouTube video watches, etc.
Am I wrong?
We've been duped!
The Iron Maiden story is FALSE:
Dammit Internet, YOU HAD ONE JOB!
We wanted it to be so!
"I suppose it’s possible that Iron Maiden has, in fact, used Bittorrent data to plan their South American tour. I reached out but haven’t heard immediately back. But, I wouldn’t bet any Bitcoin that they do."
So this guy Gregory Ferenstein has at least verified the value of Bitcoin!
7:16 AM Dec 26 2013