Rolling Stone promotion ...

[SoCalDude]

Two days ago I found a copy of "Rolling Stone" in my mailbox. I thought it was mis-delivered, but it had my name in the address box and everything. I have never subscribed to this magazine and hardly ever read it.
Puzzling.
Today, I got an email "Order confirmation" in my inbox:

As a special bonus, your Live Nation ticket purchase included a one year subscription to Rolling Stone. We hope you are enjoying it and want to make sure you keep Rolling Stone coming. Click here to lock in huge Live Nation customer-only savings and add another year for $9.99. That's 50% off the regular subscription price!

Essentially, I get a year of "Rolling Stone" for free because I bought a couple of tickets for a concert.
Is this news to anybody?

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Two days ago I found a copy of "Rolling Stone" in my mailbox. I thought it was mis-delivered, but it had my name in the address box and everything. I have never subscribed to this magazine and hardly ever read it.
Puzzling.
Today, I got an email "Order confirmation" in my inbox:

As a special bonus, your Live Nation ticket purchase included a one year subscription to Rolling Stone. We hope you are enjoying it and want to make sure you keep Rolling Stone coming. Click here to lock in huge Live Nation customer-only savings and add another year for $9.99. That's 50% off the regular subscription price!

Essentially, I get a year of "Rolling Stone" for free because I bought a couple of tickets for a concert.
Is this news to anybody?

They're being VERY aggressive w/sub solicitation. That's all I know.

 

[DanOregon]

I always wondered about stuff like that - magazines can offer free trials and subscriptions, but newspapers can't.

 

[sgreenwell]

I got subscribed to Maxim a couple years ago because I bought something from Electronics Boutique. They've never charged my card, so I honestly don't know when the subscription runs out.

 

[playthrough]

I still get National Dragster from the NHRA folks, for free, even though I haven't covered a race in a couple years. They even found my new address in another state, though I didn't tell them I moved.

 

[accguy]

I once did some freelance work for Baseball America -- wrote org reports for the team I was the backup on -- This was 15 years ago or so.

I still get Baseball America in the mail every other week. I've moved a bunch of times during that stretch and have never forwarded my address. But the thing keeps showing up. It's like the Hotel California.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

Subject line had me hoping they brought back the free roach clip with a subscription.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Golf Digest and Golfworld had free year subscription cards in the latest Tiger Woods video game (The Masters).

Not quite the same as sending a sub unsolicited since you had to send in the card and had to choose just one. But it was still a free sub.

 

[JR119]

I can confirm since same thing happened to me last summer.

I started receiving Rolling Stone w/out ordering it. I later learned it was because I bought tix through Live Nation. 1-year free subscription. Not bad.

 

[dieditor]

I bought an iTunes card a few years back that had a Rolling Stone free 1-year subscription code. I got the magazine religiously for three years, with each issue for the last two years tagged "THIS IS YOUR LAST ISSUE!"

 

[rmanfredi]

I got subscribed to Maxim a couple years ago because I bought something from Electronics Boutique. They've never charged my card, so I honestly don't know when the subscription runs out.

I had pretty much the exact same thing happen to me with Maxim several years ago, much to the suspicion of my wife.