base talk Are creative alternative covers smart to boost sales?

[Freakshowvato]

99,000 pure sales for "Portals" by Melanie Martiniez, and I think some of that is attributed to all of this stunning cover art alternatives that CD collectors and her fans feel the need to purchase.

 

She had 4 covers that together completed a mystical creature's face. She also had 4 alternative covers that are gorgeous artwork. This is for CD's, not considering any vinyl variations.

 

Her second highest album was K-12, which did 30K pure copies, which is approximately 3x less than what Portals did in pure copies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Demi also did creative albums with 3 alternative covers / a Target edition / a UK exclusive edition, and sold nearly 40K pure copies with DWTDAOSO (and 20K in UK), compared to 20K pure copies (and 6K in UK) with HOLYFVCK which did not have any real alternative covers/editions or even any Target bonus tracks (there was like 1 posted on Demi's website but most Demi fans did not buy it bc it was very ugly and uninspired, did not fit the original album's theme at all and was basically Demi's spotify picture as the album cover lmao). That is a difference of nearly 2x more pure copy sales with exclusive alternative editions

 

Edited April 29, 2023 by Freakshowvato

[Freakshowvato]

I think if the cover art is stunning and artistic, this is a genius way to boost sales. It is creative, the fans love it, and the artist benefits a lot commercially.

 

However, I think if the alternative covers are mundane and do not serve a purpose at all and are just uninspired alternative editions, this method fails and only chart-obsessed fans will help out and purchase more copies.

 

If done right, everyone benefits. In the case of Portals and DWTDTAOSO both have an other worldly psychedelic feel that allows the introduction of stunning alternative covers

[littlebodybigheart]

it doesn’t work for everybody. a lot of people have done this and haven’t sold much

 

however, it is smart and can boost sales if they serve a purpose and if the concept is done correctly.

[Dula Peep]

I don’t mind it I guess.. but I would never buy all of them for any artist 

[SlowGinFizzzz]

Personally I would never buy them all, but a lot of people certainly do, so I guess it's not a bad strategy. As a fan, it's definitely nice to have options. That way, for example, I can pretend that the standard covers for COCC and Blue Banisters don't exist and that the Neil Krug ones are the real ones. 

[Holiest Dreams]

Yes, but only if you can sell them. And most cannot.

[thetea]

sometimes it's done creatively, but most of the time it's just a gimmick to boost sales. 

[Freakshowvato]

I mean if it can double or triple an artist's pure copies sales that's pretty good.

 

It needs to be creative though and worth purchasing.