Rock Band In Search of Ad Agency

Rock band Guns N’ Roses is seeking an advertising agency to promote their long-awaited next album in a major break from music industry tradition.

Sources suggest that Universal Music has already contacted several London advertising hotshops to launch a marketing communications programme ahead of the global release of Chinese Democracy on November 25.

The move is the latest in a string of new initiatives by the music industry to encourage people to continue buying music, particularly albums, rather than illegally downloading or just buying singles for 79p.

Last summer, Prince gave away free copies of his new album with The Mail on Sunday; and Radiohead launched its own pay-what-you-like download experiment for their latest album.

Declining sales of music have prompted many bands, including Coldplay, to give away their tracks free. Last month Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher said he would “embrace” the growing free music culture by allowing fans to listen to the band’s new album on MySpace, ahead of its official release. The album was posted on the social networking site so that fans could listen free.

It will be the first Guns N’ Roses album since The Spaghetti Incident in 1993 and was initially scheduled for release in March last year.

The delay prompted Dr. Pepper in the US to announce that it will give a free can of its soft drink to “everyone in America” if the album is released anytime during 2008.

Marketing Week