Has any young artist done a better job at creating buzz for his debut album than Justin Bieber? The Canadian kid whose entire career was kickstarted after he posted footage of himself singing on YouTube has gone completely grassroots, building up his Twitter followers, making Facebook friends, dropping strategic singles and delivering on key performances on shows like "Today" and "Ellen." The build has all been leading up to the release of his album My World on November 17, which features the already-ubiquitous singles "One Time," "One Less Lonely Girl" and "Love Me."
Now comes the next chapter in Bieber's media blitz — one that he is borrowing from Willy Wonka. Bieber announced via his Twitter that select copies of his album will come bundled with golden tickets. The recipients of said tickets will be entitled to a fan-friendly prize that is typically Bieber: They will receive a private concert from the singer himself. We expect his legions of rabid fans to pick up copies of My World by the truckload for the opportunity for a personal show from Bieber.
Bieber isn't the first person to steal the concept from Roald Dahl. A handful of rock bands have tried to boost album sales with the promise of prizes inside. Lamb of God included lottery tickets in their 2009 album Wrath that were redeemable for trips to see the band and signed memorabilia. 30 Seconds to Mars included a dozen golden tickets scattered around copies of A Beautiful Lie that gave the winner free backstage access to any of the band's concerts. Though nothing beats the recent promotion from noise-mongers HEALTH, who circulated 66 golden tickets in their recent album Get Color that were redeemable for all sorts of prizes, including a trip to Los Angeles to hang out with the band, posters autographed in their blood and all manner of personalized content. (Our favorite: "A recording of a short story read by a band member.")
