If you were GNR's manager?

[HoldenCaulfield]

Your plan is very good, here's what I'd do:

Take the month of August off - In September, do a few very small shows to build up to Inland Invasion - small, intimate shows in NYC, Vegas, Nashville, Chicago, and Miami. Play a show at a club on the night before the Invasion, on the Strip. Play a great show at the Invasion, announcing the release date for the album as November 7th. Announce the first single and play it, then after the show is over, KROQ will debut the album version.

Do a HUGE feature in the next week's 'Rolling Stone', cover, 15 page article, interview with Axl, preview of each track on the album, etc.

Launch a new web-site in the first weekend of October. Offer a download of the first single, but you have to become a member of the site (free, though). Put up 30 second clips of each song off the album, exclusive interviews with various members, a forum, blogs, etc.

Premiere the video for the first single simultaneously on on MTV, MTV2, Vh1, and Vh1 Classic in the second week of Oct. Push the video like crazy. Have them play it on the hour every hour for the first 24-48 hours (they did this with U2's 'Original of the Species'). That next week, have a 2 hour special with Kurt Loder, like, "MTV News: Guns N' Roses - A Revolution in the Making" or something. Have 45 min-an hour be an Axl/Kurt one on one interview, no holds barred, then let Kurt sit and talk with the band, then they can close the show with a live performance of the new single.

For the next 2-3 weeks, just do some various radio shows, interviews, nothing huge, but enough to keep the train rolling. The night before the album release, show up in some small place in NYC and play nothing but new material. The day of the album launch, do a signing at Tower Records, then play the single and about 2 more songs in Time Square.

Start the tour on around the 27th of November (to get Thanksgiving out of the way), open the tour in LA. The schedule would look like this:

LA
San Diego
Sacramento
Phoenix
Seattle
Salt Lake City
Portland
Toronto
Vancouver
Boise
Chicago

Take a few days off for Christmas, then play New Years Eve in Vegas.

Cleveland
Louisville
Minneapolis
Detroit
Columbus
Dallas
Austin
Biloxi
Nashville
Washington DC
Boston
Albany
Hartford
NYC
Philly (2 shows, first one $20, free if you have ticket to the '02 show)
Greenville
Atlanta
West Palm Beach
Tampa
Miami (last show of this leg)

Then about the start of Feb., head to Asia, for about 5-6 shows, then about 4-5 shows in Australia, a club gig in London, head to South America for about 10 shows (2 in Rio, 2 in Buenos Aires, etc.), a show in Mexico, then head back to the US for a tour in the Summer with a GREAT rock show (Buckcherry, Audioslave, GNR i.e.), then go back to Europe.

[andy1981]

the plan is good, but your marketing it too much. Do the Led Zep thing and let the hype carry things along.

no interviews
no live streams
nothing

just relaese the god damm CD

[Minneapolisnewsman]

Your plan is very good, here's what I'd do:

Take the month of August off - In September, do a few very small shows to build up to Inland Invasion - small, intimate shows in NYC, Vegas, Nashville, Chicago, and Miami. Play a show at a club on the night before the Invasion, on the Strip. Play a great show at the Invasion, announcing the release date for the album as November 7th. Announce the first single and play it, then after the show is over, KROQ will debut the album version.

Do a HUGE feature in the next week's 'Rolling Stone', cover, 15 page article, interview with Axl, preview of each track on the album, etc.

Launch a new web-site in the first weekend of October. Offer a download of the first single, but you have to become a member of the site (free, though). Put up 30 second clips of each song off the album, exclusive interviews with various members, a forum, blogs, etc.

Premiere the video for the first single simultaneously on on MTV, MTV2, Vh1, and Vh1 Classic in the second week of Oct. Push the video like crazy. Have them play it on the hour every hour for the first 24-48 hours (they did this with U2's 'Original of the Species'). That next week, have a 2 hour special with Kurt Loder, like, "MTV News: Guns N' Roses - A Revolution in the Making" or something. Have 45 min-an hour be an Axl/Kurt one on one interview, no holds barred, then let Kurt sit and talk with the band, then they can close the show with a live performance of the new single.

For the next 2-3 weeks, just do some various radio shows, interviews, nothing huge, but enough to keep the train rolling. The night before the album release, show up in some small place in NYC and play nothing but new material. The day of the album launch, do a signing at Tower Records, then play the single and about 2 more songs in Time Square.

Start the tour on around the 27th of November (to get Thanksgiving out of the way), open the tour in LA. The schedule would look like this:

LA
San Diego
Sacramento
Phoenix
Seattle
Salt Lake City
Portland
Toronto
Vancouver
Boise
Chicago

Take a few days off for Christmas, then play New Years Eve in Vegas.

Cleveland
Louisville
Minneapolis
Detroit
Columbus
Dallas
Austin
Biloxi
Nashville
Washington DC
Boston
Albany
Hartford
NYC
Philly (2 shows, first one $20, free if you have ticket to the '02 show)
Greenville
Atlanta
West Palm Beach
Tampa
Miami (last show of this leg)

Then about the start of Feb., head to Asia, for about 5-6 shows, then about 4-5 shows in Australia, a club gig in London, head to South America for about 10 shows (2 in Rio, 2 in Buenos Aires, etc.), a show in Mexico, then head back to the US for a tour in the Summer with a GREAT rock show (Buckcherry, Audioslave, GNR i.e.), then go back to Europe.

I do agree with some of your ideas, but I think MTV (and the whole slew of Viacom spin-offs) is not near the medium with sway that it once was.  I think using the internet as a method to distribute interviews and what not is far more powerful, reaches a far wider audience, and is virtually free.  I think, one of the reasons GNR has stayed such a relevant force during the past ten years, is that they have used and titilated their fan base well via the internet.  I like the idea of a live show debuting the new songs, but I would do that in a setting like The Beatles "All You Need is Love" tv special, where they control what is seen (if they have a bad night, they film again) and distribute it via the internet.

[Niko]

i think if chinese democracy is a great album they should do the biggest campaign ever
if not
well a common realese cd plan will be ok

[Mattattack]

If I was GnR's management I would have gone nuts and puched out Axl by now. You have to have a phenomenal amount of patience to deal with Axl. I suppose if I didn't give a shit about the music my client was making I wouldn't care about his procrastination.

[estrangedpaul]

Alright, we all know that very difficult decisions and ambiguous times lay ahead for GNR, and especially their manager, when the European tour ends.? They have to determine, and execute, their final marketing strategy--- and, most importantly the roll out of Chinese Democracy.? They have to decide how, and where to promote it.? They have to determine what type of venues, what kind of exposure, and how much, to avoid overexposure (maintain street cred).? Etc, etc.

What would you do, if you were GNR's manager/management team this fall?? I'll start.


6.? On Halloween, I would launch GNR's new website, with a live show (like the Beatles "All You Need is Love" or Rolling Stones Rock n' Roll Circus, or the Rosario Downs birthday type setting) as the backdrop.? Maybe the Plum again?? One would have to register for the website to see the show.? At that time, I would send everyone who registered an e-mail reminder of the CD release date, and one "free" download coupon for an online purchase of one song off Chinese Democracy, and announce the North American concert dates (coupon for them too).? I would start the tour in Toronto (huge metro, GNR crazy city), and then play a smaller venue show in Montreal!? Next stop, Philadelphia:? the 1st show being a theatre show at $50.00 to $75.00, and then two arena shows, where tickets would be only $20.00 plus fee's.? For all shows, you would get $10.00 off of ticket if you produced proof of purchase for the 2002 shows.? Moreover, Axl should do, a few day's before the first Philly show, a one hour interview with the afternoon guy on WMMR (only if Cord on air with afternoon DJ at the same time, and Stinson is with Axl).? Axl should apologize on air to Philly, and say that he might not be able to explain fully the incident, but that he feels that the band, and himself let the Philly fans down.? Send this presser around the fuckin world!?

This is a bit I have a problem with. All that stuff about registering for the website and getting coupons and stuff. What the fuck? This isn't Britney Spears we're talking about. Most people who are registering for a GnR website would be buying the album when its released. No need for a release date reminder or a free track of Chinese Democracy. Just have the release date plastered across the website homepage. Sending the release date out to everyone's emails seems desperate, like "please buy? our record." Besides, GNR haven't even had a website up until now, you really think there is a possibility of any of that happening. And a concert to coincide with its opening! Not a hope! As for the Philadelphia thing, that won't happen in that way. He hasn't apologised for anything before and certainly doing it on radio wouldn't be his way. If he does apologise or give an explanation, it will be at the Philadelphia concert itself. I would love to see cheaper tickets for the Philadelphia crowd, but I doubt it unfortunately. Maybe they'll get exclusive copies of Chinese Democracy.?

Everything was going ok up until then, I particularly liked the HBO thing (although Izzy should only be in one song) and the Rhiad bsides stuff. But in paragraph six you got carried away. No need for any of that stuff (apart from the Philadelphia thing) and fortunately I don't think that will happen. Like someone said, too much Marketing will kill GnR! And people will critisize GnR for cheapening the name and it will give a false impression of the new band for those who aren't already familiar with it. We don't want casual GnR fans to see this new band as a way for Axl to make money. Axl has always been careful about that and no doubt will continue to be.

[Megaguns]

id just quit,

[Minneapolisnewsman]

Alright, we all know that very difficult decisions and ambiguous times lay ahead for GNR, and especially their manager, when the European tour ends.? They have to determine, and execute, their final marketing strategy--- and, most importantly the roll out of Chinese Democracy.? They have to decide how, and where to promote it.? They have to determine what type of venues, what kind of exposure, and how much, to avoid overexposure (maintain street cred).? Etc, etc.

What would you do, if you were GNR's manager/management team this fall?? I'll start.


6.? On Halloween, I would launch GNR's new website, with a live show (like the Beatles "All You Need is Love" or Rolling Stones Rock n' Roll Circus, or the Rosario Downs birthday type setting) as the backdrop.? Maybe the Plum again?? One would have to register for the website to see the show.? At that time, I would send everyone who registered an e-mail reminder of the CD release date, and one "free" download coupon for an online purchase of one song off Chinese Democracy, and announce the North American concert dates (coupon for them too).? I would start the tour in Toronto (huge metro, GNR crazy city), and then play a smaller venue show in Montreal!? Next stop, Philadelphia:? the 1st show being a theatre show at $50.00 to $75.00, and then two arena shows, where tickets would be only $20.00 plus fee's.? For all shows, you would get $10.00 off of ticket if you produced proof of purchase for the 2002 shows.? Moreover, Axl should do, a few day's before the first Philly show, a one hour interview with the afternoon guy on WMMR (only if Cord on air with afternoon DJ at the same time, and Stinson is with Axl).? Axl should apologize on air to Philly, and say that he might not be able to explain fully the incident, but that he feels that the band, and himself let the Philly fans down.? Send this presser around the fuckin world!?

This is a bit I have a problem with. All that stuff about registering for the website and getting coupons and stuff. What the fuck? This isn't Britney Spears we're talking about. Most people who are registering for a GnR website would be buying the album when its released. No need for a release date reminder or a free track of Chinese Democracy. Just have the release date plastered across the website homepage. Sending the release date out to everyone's emails seems desperate, like "please buy? our record." Besides, GNR haven't even had a website up until now, you really think there is a possibility of any of that happening. And a concert to coincide with its opening! Not a hope! As for the Philadelphia thing, that won't happen in that way. He hasn't apologised for anything before and certainly doing it on radio wouldn't be his way. If he does apologise or give an explanation, it will be at the Philadelphia concert itself. I would love to see cheaper tickets for the Philadelphia crowd, but I doubt it unfortunately. Maybe they'll get exclusive copies of Chinese Democracy.?

Everything was going ok up until then, I particularly liked the HBO thing (although Izzy should only be in one song) and the Rhiad bsides stuff. But in paragraph six you got carried away. No need for any of that stuff (apart from the Philadelphia thing) and fortunately I don't think that will happen. Like someone said, too much Marketing will kill GnR! And people will critisize GnR for cheapening the name and it will give a false impression of the new band for those who aren't already familiar with it. We don't want casual GnR fans to see this new band as a way for Axl to make money. Axl has always been careful about that and no doubt will continue to be.

I think, if you look at the details as the "leg" of this plan, it is quite clear that this would be fairly limited marketing, online for the most part, and directed at the fan base.? It would have an "exclusive" feel, that would most likely translate into more street credibility.? Especially, if the material is very strong!

BTW, if I was a casual fan, and registered for GNR's website to watch an online show, I think it would make it more likely for me to purchase their music and go to a show if they sent me a "thank you" for registering e-mail with a discount of some sort for the album,? a live dvd, a product from their online store, or a concert ticket.

I really think an HBO performance could do wonders introducing N. America to the new band, ie the 2006 version/attitude, and would translate into better ticket sales for the tour.

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

I like the HBO idea, because if you have it on one of the big networks, or even a cable channel, it cheapens GN'R.  Unlike HBO, a premium cable channel.  It gives GN'R an exclusive feel.  Like only the best listen to GN'R.



Maybe there was more to Axl going to The Soprano's premiere than meets the eye.

[-Jack-]

"If you were GN'R's manager...."

I'd probably be laughing at this thread.. 

Seriously people how much time do you have on your hands?

    -jack

EDIT: I'd probably also be doing Garry's mom.. but thats not because I would be GN'R's manager.. just because she does everyone...  Love ya Garry

[dizzy68]

 CD first. Tour later. That is all.

[Dr_Sweden]

I would do like this....
When they back from E.U, they finische up the record ... release a single in november .. release the album 22 december ..... then go on a us tour ... then next summer t...they go back to europe and play more shows with the new record ....but who knows? .. i dont ....

[LaTeRaLuS]

i dont really think axl listens to his managers, they listen to him