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Last night in Atlanta there were two big shows going down that drew large turnouts in terms of the number of people & the demographics of those attending. Samsung & AT&T sponsored Nelly's performance at the Tabernacle Tuesday night & it was packed as hell. People were elbow to elbow like sardines to see Nelly perform from his catalog of hit records. He was also assisted with surprise performances from perceived friends in the music business such as Jermaine Dupri & ATL's own Goodie M.O.B. who reunited on the stage for the first time in years. One thing that was clearly evident is that you could see Nelly's demographic range was rather wide in terms of his fanbase. There were women there in there 20s, 30s, & even 40s attending the show. Some of these women were single & some came with dates with us assuming they could have been married or in a relationship. There were surprisingly a lot of guys there that appeared to be big fans of Nelly as well. Not sure if they fit the gay or bi-sexual demographic but many of them were snapping pictures of Nelly as if it was Sanaa Lathan naked on the stage. To a corporate sponsor or advertiser that's a plus because the gay community tends to have more disposable income & spending power. (Pausing to search "Nelly" in Dictionary)



Several blocks north of the Tabernacle there was also a free show sponsored by Scion, the car company who's parent company is Toyota. They've been running a number of Scion sponsored free performances in Atlanta for a few years now bringing in artists like Slick Rick, Wu-Tang, Brand Nubian, Nice & Smooth & many other hip hop artists both old & new. Last night's show featured southern lyricist Bun B as the headliner which brought a number of fans in a particular demographic that would lean more southern in terms of regional tastes but range in age anywhere from 21-40 & mostly male. It's new territory for the sponsors in some respects, but even more so from the fans who will come to expect every show to be free & more of the same. Sort of like a Pandora's box worth of free music & concerts that someone has to pay for. These corporate sponsored events could also prove to be very tricky for the artists in a number of ways because the artist's actions could ruffle the feathers of the corporate big wigs who write the checks.

Before his scheduled performance at the Loft, Bun B was spotted arriving at the Samsung show to the delight of true fans who recognized him there, but it may not fly over well with Scion once word gets out about it. This is the internet age with camera phones & text messages so once people saw "Bun B" at the Samsung show a lot of people who got word that Bun B was at the Tabernacle went & abandoned their trek to The Loft & headed to the Tabernacle thinking he was going to perform there instead. I received several messages about it as well from a few people who didn't quite make up their mind as to which event to attend. To the average fan they may be thinking ".....why should I go see Bun B when I can go see Nelly, Goodie MOB, Bun B & everyone else at the Tabernacle?" Despite the potential for disaster in that respect, the Bun B show at the Loft managed to turn out a decent crowd. If the corporate sponsor was a large radio entity like Radio One & the artist showed up at another rival station's event on the same day around the same time it could have been rather costly for the artist politically in terms of future radio airplay & exposure through interviews.



Another local example of corporations buying into a built in audience for more lifestyle marketing success involves the popular "Art, Beats, & Lyrics" event that started in Atlanta a few years ago. The event now has expanded to many other cities throughout the U.S. & the admission is free, while Jack Daniels also plugs their product throughout the event.
www.jackdaniels.com/abl

Shifting from alcohol to caffeine, Starbucks even gives away free music in their stores every Tuesday in their featured artist of the week program. I've walked in to find cards at the register offering a free download of various artists such as new soul artist "Ledisi" among others. As our country drifts more into a recession many people simply do not have the additional cash to spend for concerts & even music.

The point is that I've noticed that many people, at least here in Atlanta, have become so accustomed to getting into the concerts free that I've heard people scoff at paying to see an artist for anything more than $20. Most brothaz & sistahs would rather spend that $20 on some drinks at the bar or for gas on the way home. It's rather ironic because we've witnessed people pay $100 to get into a club with the wrong dress code, but refuse to pay more than $20 to see a good concert. Maybe impressing some females by paying to skip the line is more important to that person's ego. (Shrugs shoulders). We wouldn't be surprised to see in 5 years that more than 80% of all of the big concerts that come to town are sponsored by larger corporations depending on the particular demographics they are trying to reach to sell their products.

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