Market segmentation has to take place to determine their potential audience.
Before an album is made they have to know who they are targeting or the album might not sell that well. So an pop artist wouldnt target people who listen to country music.
Promotion is an important factor, people need to be aware of the singer and their new album. The album can be promoted by having posters, TV adverts, radio adverts, taking part of a TV show and attending TV interviews, sponsorship, product placement, testimonials, sales promotion, merchandising, direct mail, personal selling, public relations and trade shows.
The album can be quite expansive if the artist is well established, but if the artist is new then the album should have a low yet a reasonable price. The Price also depends on the artists competitors. For example Lady Gaga competes with Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, the prices of all their albums are probably the same as they want to be cheaper than the other, this could attract more people to by the song. If the song is too expensive then no one will buy the song or album as it is over priced.
The album/song has to be good, if the song reached the top ten, then more people buy it. Also if the album is of good quality then more people will be aware of it.
Jay-Z
The album "The Blueprint 3" was found being leaked on the internet before it official release, yet 476000 copies were sold in the first week of sales. 301000 copies were sold in the second week of sales, and a month and a half later 1.3 million million copies were sold. So we can see that the album being leaked made a small impact on the sales, this is because of the marketing campaign and Jay-Z loyal fan base.
To promote the new album Jay-Z teamed up with Rhapsody and MTV, and the partnership involves that people can listen to the whole album for free two weeks before the official release on "Rhapsody.com" and "MTV". Jay-Z's "Answer the call" concert took place in Madison Square Garden in New York and FuseTV televised it. Absolute Vodka, Roc Nation, Live Nation and Citi sponsored the event. When people watch the concert on TV they could be motivated to go to the next concert. Jay-Z performed at a secret show at the Gramercy Theater with aid from DJ Hero and My Space Music, 250 lucky fans were given free tickets and the show was only announced 24 hours before the show. If those who received the free tickets enjoyed the experience, they will others and they will tell others and on and on, and this will raise awareness. Yet the primary reason was to promote a new game which features songs from Eminem and Jay-Z.
