The Change Mariner

Fighting Song Piracy the Willie Wonka Way

New York Times:

Some musicians try to halt online piracy by turning to lawyers. Others have turned to hackers. The rapper Obie Trice, a protégé of Eminem's, is turning to Willie Wonka.

To entice fans to buy his new album "Cheers,'' scheduled for release Sept. 23, Mr. Trice and his label, Shady Records, are hiding "golden tickets'' inside 3 of the first 500,000 copies released.

The listeners who happen upon the tickets will each win an expense-paid trip to Detroit to watch Eminem record his new album.

In the 1971 film "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory'' (and its inspiration, the 1964 Roald Dahl book, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''), Wonka hides golden tickets in chocolate bars. The lucky winners receive a tour of his candy factory.