Progressive metal band Dream Theater suffered a pretty powerful blow when its drummer Mike Portnoy left the band. In response, the band started holding auditions in New York City, testing out seven potential drummers to fill Portnoy's stool.
One April 21, Dream Theater took to its Facebook Page to let fans know what was going on with the selection process.
The band launched a video Page powered by FanBridge (an artist management tool that recently acquired Damntheradio), that prompts fans to "Like" the Page to unlock content, which is a brief documentary explaining the selection process.
Fans are also asked to submit their emails via Facebook permission, so that they can receive future updates about who the new drummer will be.
We emailed a rep to find about more info about how the campaign will function, and received this response: "The video was made by Roadrunner Records [the band's label] and they’re keeping mum about when the new drummer will be unveiled. The tour dates for July are still on, so they’ll have to announce before then."
All around, it seems like the band has taken a negative situation and leveraged it to generate buzz for its upcoming 2011 world tour. Not only did the band members (and their label) create content that fans want to see, they positioned it so that fans would have to Fan them on Facebook, and submit their email addresses (email addresses are like band PR gold).