I Want to Test You Like an Animal....

By Jason Carmel | 0 Comments | Posted in in Optimization | Permalink

Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor should be applauded for experimenting with his own work to revamp what appears increasingly to be a broken business model for musics sales. Following other artists (most notably, Radiohead), Reznor is offering his new 36-track album Ghosts I-IV in five formats at five different price points, from free (first nine tracks downloadable) to a $300 signed, limited-edition package that includes multiple CDs and vinyl (if you're into that).

This decision must have been very difficult for Mr. Reznor. How did he know which five offerings would resonate most with his listeners? How did he know he got the most value out of each sale? Absent any data going into this, it must have felt like a leap of faith.

There are some decisions that legitimately require a leap of faith. For example, when you go to a hair salon, my assumption is that you pretty much have to sit in the chair and pray that when you said "something fun with reddish highlights," to your hairdresser, he or she hasn't recently eaten at McDonald's.

Fortunately, most business decisions don't require that much of a leap if you're smart about it. You have gobs of modeling and competitive research at your disposal, plus focus groups and beta testing if you really know what you're doing. Even the aforementioned Micky D's would occasionally test market some of their more creative culinary offerings, just to see what the reaction would be before fully committing worldwide to something like the McHaggis.

I assume Mr. Reznor is a smart cat, so I wonder what sort of testing he did prior to packaging up his new tunes. Did he send an email to his fan base with different offerings and price points to gauge optimal response of pre-orders? If not, is he looking at the results as they come in (he's running Google Analytics, BTW)? And if he doesn't like what he sees, will he test different options on his site, or just dismiss the idea as one that never had any legs to begin with? As both an optimization practitioner and a music fan, I hope it's the former.

Mr. Reznor, if you're reading this, shoot me an email and I'd be happy to walk you through a few ideas I have in exchange for some tickets the next time you swing through Seattle. Your music is well represented on the shared iTunes at ZAAZ.

Speaking of road shows, ZAAZ will be on tour for the rest of the week at the 2008 Omniture Summit in scenic Utah. Stop by the booth if you're there. I'll be presenting with rock-star Jason Burby on Thursday, so check us out.