Three-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan is pulling out all the stops to engage his fans and share the release of his new album KILL THE LIGHTS. The multi-platinum selling artist is breaking new ground as he partners with numerous digital platforms for first-ever promotions that launched earlier this week leading into and after his television performances scheduled in New York City.
Luke began his New York City appearances with a Thursday night exclusive iHeartRadio album release party live from the iHeartRadio Theater with host Bobby Bones. It was broadcast on-air to iHeartMedia country radio stations and streamed online across station websites and iHeartRadio.com.
On Friday morning, Luke performed on Good Morning America’s “2015 Summer Concert Series” live from Rumsey Playfield in Central Park in front of a maxed out crowd. During the appearance, Luke played his No. 1 song “Kick The Dust Up” and debuted his new single “Strip It Down.” He wrapped up the day with a sold-out concert for Citi cardmembers and fans at New York’s Irving Plaza. The show was streamed live on the Live Nation Channel on Yahoo and was viewed from anywhere through the Yahoo Screen app on mobile devices (iOS & Android) and connected devices (Apple TV, Roku and Xbox).
Luke became the first country artist to partner with Smule, a company that specializes in social networking through its music-making applications. On August 7, “Kick the Dust Up” debuted within the Sing! app on Smule, where users were invited to perform a duet with Luke. Luke on video, exclaiming, “C’mon … it’s your chance,” gave eager fans a unique and intimate way to engage with him on music from his new album. “Play It Again” will be added to Sing! on August 11, and additional songs will be released throughout the end of the year for Smule’s network of over 25 million users. View a duet with Luke and one of his fans here: http://www.smule.com/recording/luke-bryan-kick-the-dust-up/410647000_153796538.
Spotify helped to launch KILL THE LIGHTS with a first of its kind multi-day-part programming takeover complete with custom Luke Bryan playlist cover art and introductory audio liners for some of Spotify’s largest global playlists including Today’s Top Hits, Hot Country, Wild Country and Daily Lift. In addition to the playlist programming there was a massive social media blitz across all of Spotify’s channels that included a full takeover of Spotify’s Snapchat that featured an autographed set list scavenger hunt across New York City culminating at Luke’s show on Friday night at Irving Plaza.
During the ramp up days leading to the KILL THE LIGHTS release, Luke became the first country artist to partner with Tinder and world premiered his album’s title track, along with a special video message from Luke. Tinder is the world’s most popular social app for meeting new people. Tinder users also had the opportunity to pre-order the album.
On Wednesday, August 5, Luke helped to launch the new Live for Facebook Mentions, as a way to connect with his fans by sharing live video. He used the opportunity to perform a new song from KILL THE LIGHTS, “To The Moon and Back.” The livestream was viewed 2 million times with a 5 million reach.
On Thursday, August 6, Luke partnered with Target on the #LukeBox project. Fans, and a few celebrities (Lionel Richie, Little Big Town, Willie Robertson and more), submitted over 40,000 song requests on Twitter using the hashtag #LukeBox. In turn, Luke and fellow songwriters Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Jody Stevens, wrote 25 original songs on the spot. For his grand finale, Luke performed an acoustic version of “Way Way Back” from KILL THE LIGHTS. Watch it here: https://twitter.com/search?q=%23lukebox&src=typd. Fans who purchase the album at Target stores and at Target.com will receive an exclusive deluxe edition with three bonus tracks (all co-penned by Luke). The album is available now at http://umgn.us/ktltarget.
Today, Luke is participating in another groundbreaking initiative with Facebook. Luke’s team and Facebook created a digital signing app that will live on Luke’s website for 24 hours. Luke began signing digital copies of his KILL THE LIGHTS album at 1p.m. ET and it will conclude at 1p.m. tomorrow. From a post on Luke’s Facebook page, fans will be able to purchase his new album by clicking the link to lukebryansigning.com, leave a comment on his post and receive a response from Luke himself with their digital album cover! Fans will also have the ability to share this historic experience with friends and connect with Luke like never before.
Tomorrow, Luke’s KILL THE LIGHTS album cover will appear on the hood of Brad Keselowski’s Miller Lite #2 car at the Watkins Glen race.
And coming up on Monday, August 10 Luke will stop by for a chat and perform “Strip It Down” on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
KILL THE LIGHTS was produced by Jeff Stevens and Jody Stevens and contains 13 songs, six of which were co-written by Luke including the title track. The album’s first single “Kick The Dust Up” was written by Dallas Davidson, Chris Destefano and Ashley Gorley and is also the name of Luke’s 2015 tour.
KILL THE LIGHTS
1. Kick The Dust Up (Dallas Davidson, Chris Destefano and Ashley Gorley)
2. Kill The Lights (Luke Bryan, Jody Stevens and Jeff Stevens)
3. Strip It Down (Luke Bryan, Jon Nite and Ross Copperman)
4. Home Alone Tonight (Featuring Karen Fairchild) (Jody Stevens, Cole Taylor, Jaida Dreyer and Tommy Cecil)
5. Razor Blade (Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell and Rodney Clawson)
6. Fast (Luke Bryan, Rodney Clawson and Luke Laird)
7. Move (Luke Bryan, Michael Carter and Jay Clementi)
8. Just Over (Chase McGill, Brad Tursi and Jessie Jo Dillon)
9. Love It Gone (Jody Stevens and Jay Clementi)
10. Way Way Back (Luke Bryan, Ashley Gorley and Rodney Clawson)
11. To The Moon And Back (Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Tony Lane)
12. Huntin,’ Fishin’ And Lovin’ Every Day (Luke Bryan, Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip)
13. Scarecrows (Ashley Gorley, Trevor Rosen and Shane McAnally)
Target Exclusive
14. Corner Booth (Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell and Jimmy Robbins)
15. Little Boys Grow Up And Dogs Get Old (Luke Bryan and Tony Lane)
16. Buddies (Luke Bryan and Dallas Davidson)
KILL THE LIGHTS is available for now: http://umgn.us/lbktl
Visit www.LukeBryan.com or follow Luke on Twitter @LukeBryanOnline, Instagram and Facebook.