Goo Goo Dolls, Seal Coming To California Lotto Tickets

In an unlikely move, Warner Music has teamed up with the California State Lottery to produce a line of artist-branded scratch lottery tickets. Warner is home to Metallica, Tom Petty, Linkin Park and many other marquee names, but for now Michelle Branch, Seal, Taking Back Sunday and the Goo Goo Dolls will be featured on the tix, because, frankly, all four either have new albums out or on the horizon. The WB scratchers went on sale at 21,000 California lotto venders yesterday, September 1st.

A winning Taking Back Sunday ticket will net you $10,000, but there is some incentive for all the losers as well: Each ticket will be eligible for one of 2,400 "second-chance" prizes like 100 free downloads from the Warner catalog and concert tickets. The grand prize second-chance winner will get an all-expense-paid trip to a 2010 music festival.

"We are excited to partner with Warner Bros. Records to bring a one-of-a-kind game to our players by combining the fun of winning with the excitement of music," California Lottery Director Joan Borucki said in a press release. "Our players have expressed great interest in music-themed prizes, and this game, coupled with our interactive Web site, will bring a new level of playing to our customers." Which begs the question of whether Michelle Branch fans are even old enough to legally purchase scratch tickets.

Warner Music artists aren't the first to license their trademarks to the state lotto: As Rock Daily previously reported, Aerosmith launched a series of "Dream On" scratch tickets in May 2009. The only question left is, how has Kiss not thought of doing this yet?

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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