Author: JD

LOOKS LIKE PRINCE NEW PLAN WORKED The free covermount Prince CD on July 10 lifted sales of the Daily Mirror by 334,000 compared to the previous Saturday, according to the publisher of the U.K. tabloid. The Daily Record, the sister paper in Scotland, boosted its sales by 45,000 on the day it included the new Prince album “20Ten” with the paper. Trinity Mirror declined to reveal the July 3 sales of the papers. But the most recent figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) showed an average sale for the Daily Mirror of 1,238,000 in May. On that basis, the Prince CD boosted sales of the Daily Mirror by 27% to 1,572,000. The Daily Record’s average sale in May was 329,000. So on those figures the increase in Scotland was 14% – suggesting that Prince is less popular north of the border. This deal was not a first, though. The Mail on Sunday did a similar giveaway for Prince’s “Planet Earth” album in July 2007 during his residency at London’s O2 Arena. That resulted in a sales boost similar to the Daily Mirror’s. The July 15, 2007 edition of the Mail on Sunday increased sales by 525,000 – 23% – to 2,801,000 compared to its average sale in June 2007. The licensing deal for the album cost around £250,000 ($378,000) and there was also a considerable promotional budget around the giveaway. Prince’s exclusive interview with the Mirror has become one of the most read articles of the year on the websitemirror.co.uk, according to publisher Trinity Mirror. In the interview, he declared that the Internet was over and that he did not wish to release new music via digital services such as iTunes. “We are delighted with the huge response to the Prince promotion which has proved to be a successful sampling opportunity for both titles,” said Mark Hollinshead, managing director of Trinity Mirror Nationals, in a statement. “This was also a great example of our editorial and commercial teams working closely together which resulted in the most effective way for Prince to reach his legion of U.K. fans.”