Indie mainstays Arcade Fire have announced special listening parties for their new album, Everything Now, via a cryptic tweet. The tweet announces they will be partnering with Sonos, and their satirical marketing company, Everything Now Corp to put on four listening parties. They will be held in London, New York, Los Angeles, and Berlin. To win attendance to this show’s, fans must enter their information at the Everything Now Corp website. “Participants will not be paid, but they will be among the first to hear Arcade Fire’s Everything Now in its entirety, which you will agree is priceless. Submit your details below to enter. Participants will be selected at random.”

In NYC, LA, London, Paris or Berlin? Be the first to hear the whole album courtesy of @EverythingNowCo and @Sonos. https://t.co/e2R4Me7bj1 pic.twitter.com/hmBMaxgvwJ

— Arcade Fire (@arcadefire) July 19, 2017

This is not the first strange marketing tactic by Arcade Fire for their new album. Everything Now Corp is the satirical finance firm the band has created to market their new music, they have good reviews on their Facebook page, at least. The page has pictures of a variety of branded products, from condoms to cigarettes, one of the teasers posted even advertised a 100% marshmallow breakfast cereal that “contains methylphenidate” (the active ingredient in Ritalin). This posts details the alleged unhealthy relationship between Arcade Fire and the predatory marketing group (alongside a music video release!)

What’s interesting is that Arcade Fire seems to be engaging in some shameless, genuine large-scale marketing here. Through the guise of being anti-establishment, they are doing pretty establishment things like partnering with Sonos, retweeting like mad, making Spotify playlists, and running big contests. There is nothing wrong with marketing your music, but it raises the question of when satirizing something becomes actually just doing it. It’s no wonder Everything Now Corp got so large, they’re clearly experts.

Everything Now is Arcade Fire’s 5th studio album, and is scheduled for release July 28th. The release will be followed by an extensive “Infinite Content” tour across Europe and North and South America.

Photo credit: Sharon Alagna