Tesla In Two Parts

Tesla isn’t pretending it came up with an original idea or an innovative way to get people to its shows, but the band might have done it just the same.

With the influence of the recording industry dwindling, acts are finding creative ways to get music to the fans. In the case of Tesla, the band is including a free CD with each ticket purchase. Prince did this, as have others. But Tesla, which has its own record company, took the concept in a different direction.

When the band wrapped up recording for Real to Reel, they were left with 25 worthy tracks.

"We didn’t want to go to retail and put out two records á la Use Your Illusion," the band’s Brian Wheat told Pollstar. "It’s just a mess and Tesla isn’t as big as Guns N’ Roses when they did it.

"So I came up with the idea to put out one disc at retail. The people who are going to buy that second disc are hardcore fans, so I said, ‘Let’s put it into the ticket price and have the second disc be part of the concert experience.’"

The first disc of Real to Reel is packaged with a 16-page book and a foldout, plus a place to put the second disc. When the band launched its tour in early June, fans received CDs at the door at Tesla-headlined shows.

Maybe it’s not the most earth-shattering concept out there, but it’s definitely one other artists should pay attention to. Wheat thought it would help get butts in seats, but there’s always been a core group of diehard Tesla fans the band can count on to buy the group’s albums and come to shows.

The question is, would Tesla’s original major-label record company have agreed to do this?

"Hell no. The reason we have our own label is because we’re sick and tired of the old, monolithic record companies," Wheat said. "Quite frankly, all they did was fuck it up."