Rapper 50 Cent's 'bling' CD prize

50 Cent is one of rap music's hottest talents

The album release of rapper 50 Cent's group G-Unit will give fans the chance to win a $12,500 (£7,386) diamond medallion, reports the LA Times.

In a marketing move reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, four "golden tickets" will be placed in the sleeve of the first 500,000 US copies.

The album, Beg for Mercy, released on 18 November, is expected to be one of the biggest hits of the year.

The marketing ploy is seen as a way to discourage illegal online downloads.

The diamond medallion is adorned with the G-Unit logo, and represents the "bling-bling" lifestyle of G-Unit, with 50 Cent performs, and the rap world.

Choices

"With the amount of different choices that a kid has in his life everyday to be entertained now, we have to add this kind of level of excitement to help make the music stand out," Steve Berman, Interscope's head of sales and marketing, told the Los Angeles Times.

"Can we create a new level of excitement to drive people in to buy the music?"

As record companies fear the effects music piracy will have on record sales and profits, they are looking at more ingenious marketing drives to lure consumers.

The popularity of rap and R'n'B music in the US makes it a good genre to test out marketing drives.

Time Warner is releasing rapper Fabolous' album with computer software that allows users to create custom mixes of the CDs songs.

50 Cent, a protégé of rapper Eminem, is currently one of the industry's hottest talents.