You don't need a class in social media or internet marketing to see the interactive possibilities presented by the Spinning Songbook being employed on Elvis Costello's latest tour. With a giant wheel of fortune populated with his songs instead of prizes, on stage, Elvis and his assistants create an entertaining and unpredictable show as audience members' spins create the night's set list.
This process creates a lot of excitement for the longtime fans of Elvis Costello, many of whom consider him their favorite artist, and who have also seen him perform possibly dozens of times over the years. Spinning Songbook ensures they will hear familiar songs, but also that an artist who usually challenges his fans with new music in person will be somewhat reined in.
As an attendee of last night's show, I was impressed by the amount of cell-phone documentation and communication that was taking place among the 50-ish audience members. Unfortunately, however, there is no provision for the Singing Songbook to be influenced or include the participation of online and social media communities. This is a tremendous missed opportunity for Universal Music, who controls Elvis Costello's catalog, to activate their releases through this attention and discussion.
A contest or a live YouTube broadcast including fans' choices from the net and Elvis' own participation in the online marketing could have exposed this event to many more people than saw it at the 20 or so shows he has just completed. While I appreciate that the paying customers shouldn't have their shows spoiled, it wouldn't have made a difference to the online community to wait until the last shows of the tour.
Greatest hits tours are a fact of life for classic rock artists, and Elvis Costello has a fresh approach (even though he first did this type of show in the mid-80s, it hasn't been adopted by anyone memorable since). His fans are smart and would have been apt to share and discuss, based on their actions at the show last night especially.
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