Is there any reason to believe that this promotion wasn't a partnership between Amazon and the record company? I'd expect Amazon to bare the majority of the discount, but would be surprised if they hadn't got some of the discount knocked off from the other end, as it was a great promotion for them as well.
Why would Lady Gaga of all people need to stoop to the level of a $0.99 promotion?
She's already a household name, I just don't see the incentive for her, or her record label, to want to participate in a steep-discount form of promotion. That's a lot of money on the table.
Obviously on their own that would be too high a discount for too little gain. However, if Amazon say "we want to do a huge promotion and sell this for $.99, can you give us a $1.50 discount on all sales we make at this price), Amazon is still paying for the majority of the discount, and the increase in sales might well make up for the smaller amount that the record company lost (replace $1.50 with whatever was negotiated).
In marketing like this it's incredibly common for both companies to fund the promotion - I have no experience working with the music industry, but it wouldn't surprise me if Amazon negotiated this with them the same way they would with other companies they sell products for.
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Is there any reason to believe that this promotion wasn't a partnership between Amazon and the record company? I'd expect Amazon to bare the majority of the discount, but would be surprised if they hadn't got some of the discount knocked off from the other end, as it was a great promotion for them as well.
Why would Lady Gaga of all people need to stoop to the level of a $0.99 promotion?
She's already a household name, I just don't see the incentive for her, or her record label, to want to participate in a steep-discount form of promotion. That's a lot of money on the table.
Obviously on their own that would be too high a discount for too little gain. However, if Amazon say "we want to do a huge promotion and sell this for $.99, can you give us a $1.50 discount on all sales we make at this price), Amazon is still paying for the majority of the discount, and the increase in sales might well make up for the smaller amount that the record company lost (replace $1.50 with whatever was negotiated).
In marketing like this it's incredibly common for both companies to fund the promotion - I have no experience working with the music industry, but it wouldn't surprise me if Amazon negotiated this with them the same way they would with other companies they sell products for.