- 99 Recordings Now Available; Catalog Spans Nine Complete Albums, Including New Diamond Award Winner GREATEST HITS, And More
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Fans of artist-approved
digital downloads are about to claim a new hero -- Tom Petty. Even as Rock
and Roll Hall of Famers Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers continue to sell major
numbers of albums the old-fashioned way -- 1993's TOM PETTY AND THE
HEARTBREAKERS: GREATEST HITS was recently honored as one of the best-selling
albums in history when it received the Diamond Award by the RIAA for sales of
10,000,000 units -- they are now earning new and younger fans by making much
of their catalog available for digital downloads.
The Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) Petty catalog is now available for
digital downloading in the most significant and comprehensive artist-specific
campaign of its kind for UMe. The catalog encompasses 99 different recordings
spanning his career from 1976 to 1993 and heard on nine complete albums,
including GREATEST HITS, plus other tracks. The first day the catalog was
available cyber-wide, January 27, GREATEST HITS debuted as the #4 Most
Downloaded Album on iTunes.
On March 2nd, Universal Music and Video Distribution will partner with
Petty's current record label, Warner Bros., in a unique cross-promotion to
increase consumer awareness of the catalog's digital availability. On that
date, Warner Bros. will debut two previously unreleased live tracks by the
band on Apple's iTunes site, helping to drive fans to the site's Petty
catalog.
Said Bruce Resnikoff, President, UMe: "Having an artist of the stature of
Tom Petty committing their catalog to this digital distribution business that
is just getting off the ground says a great deal about his foresight. Along
with UMe, he is embracing a new digital generation and taking a leading role
in putting the music fan first."
The digital partners with UMe are Apple iTunes, BuyMusic.com, FullAudio,
Liquid Audio (via music retail sites WalMart.com, Tower.com, FYE.com, etc.),
Musicmatch, Rhapsody, and Napster (which launched the effort with a two-week
exclusive in late January). The tracks are available for download
individually, in bundles or by complete album. Petty has 11 albums in his UMe
catalog; the only album not available intact 2000 two-CD ANTHOLOGY: THROUGH
THE YEARS and the 1995 box set Playback is not available for purchase online.
Along with GREATEST HITS, the available complete albums are the double
platinum DAMN THE TORPEDOES (1979), platinum HARD PROMISES (1981), gold LONG
AFTER DARK (1982), platinum SOUTHERN ACCENTS (1985), live PACK UP THE
PLANTATION (1986), gold LET ME UP (I've Had Enough) (1987), five times
platinum FULL MOON FEVER (1989) and double platinum INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN
(1991). Just a few of the major hits on those albums are "Breakdown,"
"American Girl," "Don't Do Me Like That," "Refugee," "The Waiting," "Don't
Come Around Here No More," "I Won't Back Down," "Runnin' Down A Dream," "Free
Fallin'" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance." Also included are six ANTHOLOGY tracks
not available on any of the complete albums offered.
The scope of the campaign is unprecedented for UMe. The consumer
awareness tools on the digital sites include Petty radio stations, feature
pages (with exclusives, live video footage and more), listening parties,
playlists, contests and e-mail blasts. Online grassroots marketing involves
tompetty.com, an e-card, chat rooms and messaging, and viral marketing
(including a MediaPlayer distributed to fan sites).
Offline marketing entails print (consumer magazines, circulars, box
stuffers), radio, in-store (posters, bin cards, window signage) and street
marketing, particularly on college campuses and at concerts and lifestyle
accounts.
Tom's Warner Brothers catalogue has been available online since last year.
The catalogue includes the Gone Gator release Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
(1976) and Your Gonna Get It (1978). Also available are Wildflowers (1994),
She's The One (1996), Echo (1999) and The Last DJ (2002). Individual songs
from these albums include "American Girl", "Breakdown", "I Need To Know",
"Listen to Her Heart", "You Don't Know How It Feels", "You Wreck Me", "Walls",
"Free Girl Now" and "The Last DJ."
Nothing Petty
Tom Petty News - February 2004
