MUSIC INDUSTRY BLOG

Of the 13m songs available for sale on the internet last year, more than 10m failed to find a single buyer and only 173,000 of the 1.23m available albums were ever purchased – leaving 85% without a single copy sold [source].  Established artists are touring constantly to compensate for their recorded music sales deficit and emerging artists can’t seem to get enough attention to justify a gig, let alone a tour.

With that said, some artists think beyond the realm of music sales and live shows to get ahead of the curve.  Sometimes, with limited resources and public awareness, artists conceive of multi-media experiences that capture the hearts and minds of even the most fickle music fans, providing an unobtrusive yet enticing gateway to their music.  The Polyphonic Spree got my undivided attention for at least 10 minutes this way.

In an effort to promote and celebrate the release of their new album, “Together We’re Heavy”, The Polyphonic Spree created a three-level internet adventure game to the soundtrack of their music called The Quest For The Rest.  The journey, albeit tediously long with me at the helm, was as wondrous and enjoyable as their blend of a 10 person choir, horn and string section, and various cross-genre instrumentation.

It began this way:

Welcome to the new interactive adventure from The Polyphonic Spree featuring brand new music from their forthcoming album, “Together We’re Heavy”, coming July 13th.  Help the three lost members reunite with the rest of their group by guiding them through three different environments and you will be rewarded.

Unfortunately, when I completed all three levels and “reunited with my group”, the reward (two live track downloads, a video, plus lyrics) produced a “Page Load Error”.  Otherwise, really good fun!  Try it…

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