Columbia Records Music Moving Forward Makailynn Clark Writing For Public Relations JOUR 230 Columbia Records Planning Sheet Public Relations Situation: Promotional campaign for the highly anticipated new album ‘Rock or Bust’ by beloved rock band AC/DC. Analysis of Key Publics: 1. AC/DC fans - Old fans of AC/DC ready for new songs - Dedicated fans willing to buy the album 2. Fans of rock music - People who are unaware of AC/DC’s music but enjoy similar style of music News Pitch: AC/DC is back in black, for the release of ‘Rock or Bust’, their first studio album in six years. Benefit Statement: Rest assured music enthusiasts, this is not a collection of their re- mastered classics. AC/DC is providing their fans with 11 new rock worthy tracks. Tone of Message: The album campaign should have an exciting tone. AC/DC’s band members helped form the basics of rock-n-roll music. Therefore, information about the new album should have an exhilarating and exciting tone. In addition, we want old AC/DC fans to feel a sense of anticipation for the album release. Intended Outcomes: - Increase AC/DC record sales - To create fan anticipation for AC/DC’s latest album - Generate hype on the world tour that will feature ‘Rock or Bust’ Action Statement: Welcoming old AC/DC fans and other rock music fans to purchase and listen to AC/DC’s newest album, ‘Rock or Bust’. Listeners will be able to pre-order and hear small clips of the new tracks through ITunes prior to the album’s release. Readability Range: Writing at a grade level of 9-10 would make this information accessible and easy for music fans to understand. Columbia Records Press Release AC/DC Anticipated Album ‘Rock or Bust’ To Be Released December 2 New York, New York (October 6, 2014) –The world’s favorite and oldest performing rock band, AC/DC is “back in black” to release their first album in six years. Unlike recent rock veterans, AC/DC is not re-mastering and re-issuing old tunes. The band is back to create an album full of eleven new noteworthy tracks. The anticipated studio album, ‘Rock or Bust’ will be released on December 2, 2014. Old and new rock-n-roll fans will find themselves shocked at the creative guitar riffs and unique rock vocals. AC/DC has been proving themselves worthy since their first album release in 1975. The band has sold nearly 200 million albums worldwide within the span of their career. ‘Rock or Bust’ will follow the record-breaking sales of their last album ‘Black Ice’ released in 2008. ‘Black Ice’ stayed #1 on rock charts in 31 countries and has sold an average of 8 million copies worldwide. Unlike past albums, ‘Rock or Bust’ will be the first album in the band’s 41-year history without rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist, Malcolm Young. Despite Young’s personal health problems, AC/DC replaced him on the record with Angus and Malcolm Young’s nephew, Stevie Young. Stevie Young will also embark as lead rhythm guitarist on AC/DC’s 40 show tour supporting ‘Rock or Bust’ in 2015. Lead vocalist Brian Johnson shared, “It’s been 40 years of the band’s existence, so I think we’re gonna try to do 40 gigs, 40 shows, to thank the fans for their undying loyalty”. Fans can currently preorder ‘Rock or Bust’ on iTunes and purchase performance tickets through Ticketmaster. ### Columbia Records is dedicated to moving music forward and providing music lovers with innovative tracks. Columbia Records began producing music in 1888 and is now home to 90 unique artists. Makailynn Clark Public Relations Specialist Columbia Records Organizational Feature A Century of Music Music has been touching listener’s hearts and providing them with an emotional experience since the beginning of time. Music is the universal language that allows every nation to moved by a melody and a beat. While music has been performed live for centuries, it wasn’t until 1887 when Thomas Alva Edison attempted to transcribe sounds on a cylinder wrapped in tinfoil. Edison created the first recorded music and his patent for the phonograph was created in 1878. Edward Denison decided to use Edison’s technology and create the Columbia Phonograph Company. A company that would pave modern music for the next century. The founders of Columbia Records wasted no time in recording music once the company was established. By 1891 Columbia already had an impressive 10-page catalogue of records to purchase. The catalogue was comprised of famous opera stars and American ballads largely due to the fact the recording technology could only handle small groups. However in 1920 Columbia released a new electrical recording system that consisted of microphones that could handle an entire symphony orchestra. With Columbia’s new recording technology, renowned artist such as Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong were able to change the pace of recorded music with their large swing orchestras. But recording swing music didn’t last long because Columbia Records pursues evolving music. Within the next decade the swing tracks were soon replaced by new jazz melodies. Artists like Billy Holiday and Frank Sinatra became solo artists signed by Columbia and took the music industry by storm. Sinatra gained a notable fan following that brought vast revenue. In 1948 Columbia Records decided to test new technology and Sinatra’s incredible sales with the release of the first LP. Although Columbia was pushing solo artists at the time, they did not fail to recognize Broadway’s golden era. To satisfy the needs of Broadway fans across the country unable to attend New York shows, Columbia started to record Original Cast Recordings of the musicals. By 1950 Columbia had an impressive collection of swing, jazz, and musical recordings. Yet such a collection was not enough for the company. Columbia yearned to continually invest in the future of music. In order to do this Columbia had to sign new emerging rock and folk artist such as Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin, and Bob Dylan. By 1970 the sexual revolution hit Columbia Records and they were determined to evolve with music. The company noticed the impact sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll was having on the country. Therefore they began to sign artist that catered to teenager’s rebellious attitudes. Young unruly teenagers desired chaotic rock music and Columbia Records brought forth artist such as Santana, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, and The Clash. However, Columbia could see that the hippy rock revolution was about to die out and vibrant pop music was about to be birthed. Artists such as Wham, Celion Dion, and LL Cool J were the new artists of the vivacious decade that continued to live up to Columbia’s mission of pushing music boundaries. During the 1980s every competing music corporation could see Columbia Records was never going to fail due to their continuously emerging music. One competitor Sony Music Entertainment noticed Columbia Records’ strengths and decided to make an offer in 1987 to merge companies. Fast forward over 25 years and Columbia Records remains a subsidiary label of Sony Music Entertainment and currently has 90 artist signed to their label. Unlike past decades in which Columbia Records focused on one popular genre at a time, Columbia Records is now home to 90 diverse artists, all who are still being told to push music boundaries. It is very easy to recreate the music of the past and construct tracks that similar artists in a genre are producing. However as seen through history, Columbia Records has been evolving their music and touching listener’s hearts for 125 years. While there are many music competitors, Columbia Records remains unique with music that is always moving forward. Columbia Records Social Media Release 1) News Section: Columbia Records is constantly releasing new music. Three noteworthy news releases this week are the announcements of the album release day for Calvin Harris, the physical release for TI’s latest album, and Depeche Mode’s live concert DVD release. 2) Fact sheet section: 1.) Calvin Harris Album Release - Calvin Harris’s newest album release Motion to be released Nov. 4. - Will include tracks with featured artist such as Gwen Stafani, HAIM, and Ellie Golding. - Listeners can stream the album for free via ITunes radio. 2.) TI’s Album Release - TI’s newest album Paperwork will include many featured artist including successful pop artist Iggy Azalea. - Released on Oct. 20 and available on iTunes and Spotify. - VEVO uploaded a 20-minute interview with TI, discussing the release of the album. 3.) Depeche Mode Live Concert DVD - Filmed in Berlin during the successful Delta Machine Tour. - Concert will include live footage from songs off their newest album Delta Machine as well as older hits. - The DVD will also include a copy of their CD Delta Machine. 3) Imbed 3 internal links related to your client (list them and give a sentence description): - http://www.columbiarecords.com/newsletter/ This link will allow viewers to sign up for the Columbia Records Newsletter and receive updates via email. - http://www.columbiarecords.com/timeline/ This link will allow viewers to see a timeline of Columbia Records and see all the album releases on a timeline from 1889 to 2014. - http://www.columbiarecords.com/artists/ This link will allow viewers to see the entire list of current artist signed with Columbia Records. 4) Describe supporting graphics: The first thing I want viewers to see is the Columbia Record’s graphic logo in order to ingrain the logo in viewer’s minds. Secondly, I want the color scheme for the social media release to be black and white with hints of red fonts in order to create a formal and organized appearance.