It's no secret that the music business is willing to try anything (except actually trying to please the consumer somehow) these days, so maybe the idea of a Tupperware-style party in which CDs play the part of food-storage containers shouldn't surprise me. Any business model that ever worked is worth a shot, right?
It seems like part of the appeal of in-home retail parties is the allure of purchasing products that are normally unavailable in stores, or somehow scandalous; when the same items are available at the local megastore, the shine of being forced to eat bad canapes while having a catalog thrust in your face kind of wears off.
That line of thinking didn't occur to the House Party folks, however. The draw of clearing out some Harry Connick Jr. catalog was too strong!
Through Tara Leigh, former EMI marketing executive Josh Zieman organized 2,500 listening parties at homes throughout the United States. The gatherings attracted a total of 42,000 people, 88 percent of them female.
Tara Leigh grew out of Zieman's experience at EMI. He was vice president of marketing at the Manhattan label group before heading up business development operations at a Toronto-based digital media company in 2007.
"We were trying to reach adults and market music to them," he recalled. "We looked at the direct-sales market, which is a multibillion-dollar business, and wondered if you could sell music in that model."
House Party provides one such way to reach women in their living rooms. To launch Tara Leigh, Zieman printed 35,000 catalogs featuring 100 titles from 15 record labels, including albums by such names as Harry Connick Jr., Faith Hill, Enya and Tina Turner. He also compiled a 15-track sampler CD for party attendees and created a taraleighmusicparty.com Web site.
According to the official site for Tara Leigh, hosting a party is simple! If you have friends to invite, that is.
* Open Your Home To Music by inviting family and friends to a Tara Leigh Music Party.
* Tell your friends that at your party they will discover some of the best new music being released now. They will also be able to purchase the product from the comforts of a living room while having a good time at a party!
* You and your guests will have access to the exclusive Tara Leigh Music Party catalog with great selections for the holidays and all-year long. We will also provide fun, customized games such as "Complete the Lyrics" and "Bingo" to help your guests learn more about the music in our catalogue.
* At the end of your party, collect orders from your guests and submit them either through the web site or by calling the toll-free number on the catalogue. Based on the number of orders placed at your party, you will also receive FREE CDs!
That's right! Fun party games and the opportunity to purchase albums like Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus for the low Tara Leigh price of $14.00. Of course, that same album is available for $9.99 at Target, but the party atmosphere (read: spiking the punch) should quell any reservations your guests might have.
Clearly, the sales potential of this idea is unlimited. So after the first 2,500 listening parties, how did things go?
While 13,000-plus attendees asked for more information, Ziemen conceded that the first round of parties produced "minimal sales."
So, would the "minimal sales" discourage further experimenting with the concept? No way! Instead, modify the incentive a bit, throw in a few buzzwords, and roll on.
Still, given the strong turnout and the interest of participating record labels, Zieman said he plans to organize another series of house parties in the spring for Mother's Day and Father's Day. "I will try to recruit women who are enthusiastic about turning their friends and family on to new music and becoming a compass for music options," he said. "I'll start there and try to find other people virally, who want to become reps — they will get discounts on music, concert tickets and other entertainment-related items. The sales force is out there, and we're going to keep building it."
Oh, they said something was going to happen "virally". I take all my criticism back. In fact, I'm going to start my own home-based music sales business. Does anyone want to come over next week and listen to some select tracks from albums rated 8.0 or higher by influential music publication Pitchfork? There will be cheap beer and a veggie tray and only a little bit of coercive sales pressure!
Tara Leigh Music Party [Official site]
Music marketers target female shoppers at home [Washington Post]
Our look at the closing lines of reviews of the week's biggest new music continues with a look at reactions to the self-titled album by Glasvegas, which arrives in stores today:
