Spooky Speaks: Halloween Music Campaigns And What You Can Learn From Them
The scariest time of the year is here again! Numerous companies take advantage of the season to promote their products. As the leading music marketing agency, MusicPromoToday looks at some music marketing campaigns that have been super successful and stood the test of time.
“Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell
Back in 1984 Rockwell came out with an album that included “Somebody’s Watching Me”, a typical 80’s song with the characteristic musical score and beats. The genius of it was the Halloween spice he added. The famous one-liner everyone remembers from this song goes like “When I’m in the shower/I’m afraid to wash my hair/Cause I might open my eyes and find someone standing there!” The music video adds the perfect amount of “creepy” to the overall song with some ghostly vocals in the background. The screen often shifts off kilter which in cinematic terms makes the viewer feel like something is not right. The song blew up with hundreds of millions of views and is still remembered as the number one Halloween classic.
“Thriller” by Michael Jackson
Released October 30, 1982, “Thriller” became the anthem of Halloween and one of the most cherished spooky songs. The music video was directed by John Landis and went on to be the only clip to be included in Library of Congress’ prestigious National Film Registry. Starting out with a scene of a young couple, where Michael Jackson and his lady love are having a sweet, innocent conversation, the video then shows the legendary artist turn into a monster and hunts the lady down – a full transformation with the best of 80’s animation. But of course, that was just a hook to keep the audience intrigued until Michael Jackson can do his thing – sing and dance the way only he can.
“Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC
What a song! Brian Johnson did an amazing job singing “Hell’s Bells”, taking some incredibly high notes. Released right on Halloween day in 1980, this song has been immensely popular with not only rock fans but people on all extremes of the genre spectrum. The band used an actual 2000 pound cast bronze bell made by John Taylor Bellfounders in Loughborough to pitch to the note ‘A’ in the beginning of the song. The bell went on a tour around Britain with the band in 1980 and is now hanging in St Paul’s Cathedral.
As a singer, songwriter or recording artist, you can get inspired from those campaigns and we hope their successes motivate and push you to think creatively with your next music release. They say the new is the well-forgotten old. Of course, you don’t need to cast your own bell or go to any extreme.
Just get the creative juices flowing by browsing through a bunch of legendary classics and we’re sure you’ll come up with something great. Happy Haunting… we witch you a Happy Halloween!
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