B4. Explore the marketing strategies used by your selected industry? - Nirvana

The music industry had relied on certain market strategies to promote and gratify it's audiences. For example Nirvana an alternative grudge three piece band from Seattle. For Nirvana's promotion and releasing it was left down to self promotion and the record label as digital technologies (on demand) wasn't available at the time in the 1990's when 'Never mind' Nirvana's second album which was signed to DGC's records. Due to digital technologies not being available at the time Nirvana's promotion was typically due to the relevance on mainstream T.V to which the band would pull PR stunts in order to put the water cooler theory into place to establish word of mouth via its audiences gratifications. For example when the three piece band went on top of the pops to promote the band they were told to lip sync to the music. The band took this to their advantage's to promote the subculture and ideologies of 'Nirvana' being an anti-mainstream band that are rebelling against mainstreamers consumption habits.

In the 90's the band switched record companies from Sub Pop and underground indie label who took first steps to popularise 'grunge' music however the record company was too underground to gain the band any promotion this was shown in the release of Bleach (1989) as it failed to chart which is why the band signed to Geffen records to re-release the album and managed to hit number 33 in the charts . Geffen is an mainstream american label that artists such as Elton John , Kylie Minogue and Cher were all signed to. This allowed Nirvana to gain slots within TV shows such as Top Of The Pops and Jonathan Ross's show to allow promotion. Although the band was unable to release their music digitally at the time of the album to major companies such as iTunes , Spotify and Youtube at the time it didn't stop them releasing it later as digital copies making the music more accessible to their audiences creating a longevity for the bands income. Digital technologies have allowed an audiences consumption habits to change , audiences can now access the music within an impulse purchase allowing the new generating to access the older music. Digital technologies allowed nostalgia marketing to take place through fan sites such as youtube, twitter and Facebook to which the 20th Anniversary release took to a mass audience.