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THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS – ALL IN CAPS EVEN

Look out!!! Matt from Kurb is becoming a POWER BLOGGGER!!! RAHH!

more bits’n things coming soon.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS
By Matt Turner @ Kurb Promotions, www.kurb.co.nz. Don’t steal without asking.

In the music business, Pride is the deadliest sin.

This should be a great little blog, because the most important thing in the music business – if you want to make it and stuff – isn’t something I know anything special about, it’s not exactly to do with the internet, or online promotion . . .

Just . . . Be safe, be scene . . .

Okay cute headline. Sure, but what do I mean, I said this was the most important thing in getting ahead in music. I mean don’t piss people off!

It means not acting like a prick. It means going to local shows and meeting people even though you might think they’re pricks.

It means if you are serious about your music, and I’m dead serious, your best position is if you’ve got nothing good to say about whats going on in your local scene, then keep it zipped. Or you’re going to sound like a prick. And pricks don’t get gigs.

It’s who you know – of course you know that – but if you know people and they don’t like you then you may as well forget it. So for starters – be nice, but you should of heard that by now. Rock’n Roll attitude is all very well for music videos and magazine covers but it won’t get you anywhere in your professional dealings.

Often not that many people come to the gig. Sometimes you don’t get paid, sometimes theres some hidden cost that no ones prepared to front up for. Sometimes there’s little shits online making fun of you. Sometimes you give someone your demo and they don’t get back to you. Acting unprofessionally in any of these circumstances is basically your ticket out of establishing any respect as an artist.

Stuff posted on forums, snarky backchat on myspace and the like – you are not to react to this stuff! Are you cut out for being a professional entertainer or a re you just another dickhead? People will make their minds up pretty soon.

New Zealand is a TINY country, the next most important thing after being nice and keeping it scene is probably moving to Australia but that’s another blog. Every place in New Zealand is ridiculously underpopulated so unless you live in Auckland which is still borderline . . . if you act like an asshole, you can just forget it.

Sure you can tell little fankids to piss off if theyre hassling you but NEVER diss another local band in open company. What have you honestly got to gain by going on about how much Elemeno P suck? You just end up looking bitter. Which isn’t really that rock’n roll.

Y’know. When a political incident takes place, when all is said and done it seems done, but when the months roll by and you’re getting less gigs . . . it’s a silent killer. You never really know the damage you’ve done to your professional reputation, and what opportunities you’ve missed because someone’s mentioned said incident to interested parties, and they’ve formed their own opinions.

Now when I’m talking about keeping it scene I’m not insisting you turn into some poser hanging on. You may not want to hear this but realistically, if you want a gig, you have to go to the gigs. Y’know hang out, meet people, get involved with whats going on. Even if you don’t like them. I mean you like the same music, don’t you? You don’t really matter sitting in your bedroom if you’re not really connecting with people one way or another.

And sure, the guys from the band that everyone loves right now might make you sick, but that’s the way it is. You only have to be polite. It’s good practice for when you’re starting to get traction.

Trust me, I hate this stuff, but it is so important. Am I telling you to be a fake? No! Be a professional musician, you want to get somewhere, be realistic! Don’t tell the promoter how wicked your band is and your recording soon. Tell them your committed to seeing the scene grow and you want to help build the gigs.

Promoters need all the help they can get – they get enough birds pecking at the pie once it’s baked.

I guess the main reason for writing this blog is because – not only has it been a big mistake I made in publicly comparing a popular television personality and local DJ to spongebob squarepants – But I just still see this going on all the time – especially on myspace – right across all kinds of genres, strife caused by personality clashes and what I’m saying is shit like that becomes a serious obstacle, you need a clear path on your way up.

Guys are working hard on their music, promotion, organising gigs, recording, putting their heart and soul into it . . . and letting it all slide because an unprofessional attitude that in a lot of ways just comes down to a maturity thing, dealing with frustration and being patient, and accepting that though I’m sure you’ve got a whole tonne of potential . . .

Wait your turn.

It’s called paying your dues.

Oh did you think paying your dues meant playing shitty gigs for only a year or two . . . ? Better revise on that. Cos it might just mean being nice to the girlfriends of the guys in the band and a whole lotta other stuff you may not have counted on. But not too nice! Haha.

Cheers for the connection with Kurb.


For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo


November 22, 2007 Posted by Matt Turner | Uncategorized | | 1 Comment

New models, Puff Daddy, 360 deals, ancillary earnings . . .

online promotion STARTING @ $US200 p/month or $US500 for a 3 month cutting edge online campaign and digital coaching package.

And the best value fast turnover physical media services in New Zealand including DVD printing and duplication and poster services.

If you’re smart you’re probably thininking . . . but but but puff daddy – I mean uhhh just “Diddy” – is a commercial sell out rapper and I’m a serious songwriter with integrity who’s authentic!!! Or something. Well good. on. you.

So then you understand the crisis of credibility that the advertising industry is facing right now and their desperate need to connect their message in the most subtle and nuanced of ways with . . . you guessed it. Something authentic.

No, you don’t have to endorse “dolphin killers detergent” so I don’t want to hear anybody bleating about “selling out”. if you’re “doing it for the love” then go do it and quit whining about only playing to 12 people and how christmas will be hard this year. sheesh.

I’ve never been a huge fan of his material or anything but the guy knows how to get paid – something of a current preoccupation for musicians currently working part time jobs or looking after their kids.

Also big bad bob is right to chastise Gene Simmons for saying he can’t be bothered making an album if he can’t get paid. Prince, Radiohead, The Eagles . . . have certainly landed on their feet.

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2007/11/19/more-eagles/

Bob’s also had another go at Jay Z for his prehistoric decision to not allow his album to be broken up for sale as singles online. The argument maybe that Jay Z’s had 10 no. 1 albums and he can do what he likes, but if you’re not Jay Z . . . don’t try this foolishness at home. It’s about access people. Make it accessible. Become a star. Then we’ll worry about the cash later.

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2007/11/20/jermaine-dupri-on-the-huffington-post/

Over to the piece on the diddymeister . . .

While the music business continues its downward spiral, the latest talk among label executives is revolving around so-called 360 deals: ventures designed to give them a piece of all the revenues that come an artist’s way.

Executives say monetizing and sharing in every aspect of a performer’s career–from recording and publishing to movies, merchandising and endorsement deals–could make up for losses in record sales. But critics argue that the strategy is just another way for the majors to take money out of an artist’s pocket.

When this reporter sat down for a recent interview with Sean “Diddy” Combs, one of music’s biggest voices and a leading architect of the concept of artist as brand, he expressed a few reservations about the record industry’s latest magic bullet.

“Right now, everyone just says this brand-building concept out of their mouths so easily, claiming it’s revolutionizing the industry,” he says. “But it takes a certain type of superstar who understands at all times what it takes to be in the middle of a 360 situation. This is not going to solve the labels’ problem.”

Brand bonanza

The hip-hop mogul knows whereof he speaks. He has been so successful at building brands outside of music that fashion, fragrances, restaurants, television and film production, and now vodka collectively make up the lion’s share of Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group’s approximately $500 million in annual sales. Music accounts for just $100 million, according to industry estimates.

Mr. Combs’ focus on building an urban lifestyle empire began more than a decade ago, even before he became a huge name on the music scene.

“He created a movement, and he’s carried that over into everything he’s done in the branding space,” says Rob Stone, a former colleague of Mr. Combs’ at Arista Records. He now heads Cornerstone Promotion, which specializes in leveraging music to market consumer products.

“Early on, I made a 360 deal with myself,” Mr. Combs says. “What separates me is that I always had a blueprint to be a lifestyle brand. The things people are talking about doing now I already did. I always wanted to diversify.”

Building his brands didn’t come easily. Artists interested in exploring branding and endorsement opportunities need to do their homework, be selective and have a passion for the products they are touting, says Mr. Combs.

Becoming a business

“You have to become and understand the business you take on,” he says. A towering poster in Times Square of Mr. Combs, decked out in clothing from his eponymous Sean John line, says it all.

Mr. Combs demonstrates his commitment to the products under his umbrella with the latest addition to his roster of luxury products: Ciroc, a premium vodka that he’s marketing in partnership with distributor Diageo. He plans to be hands-on in developing the liquor’s marketing campaign.

“This is not about me just throwing a couple of parties and sticking Ciroc in a music video,” he says.

Of course, music still matters to Mr. Combs.

“Music is that thing that makes [my products] sexy and edgy and gives me that direct connection to the consumer,” says Mr. Combs. “It’s an endorsement of how cool my brand is.”

See what Puffy’s saying? He’s only making %20 of his earn of the music he sells. He’s leveraging his rock star status to sell 400 mill worth of other stuff that people who won’t pay for music WILL pay for.


Kurb offers online marketing services specializing in digital music marketing

All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo

Verizon Ringtones

November 21, 2007 Posted by Matt Turner | advertising revenue, artist management, monetizing, music promotion, online promotion, web 2.0 | , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Working backwards from success – content and trust

It’s always good to take a “working backwards” perspective on things to get a clearer perspective on the journey from where you are to where you want to be.

That is, in my case, I create services out of successful strategies. I think in observing these strategies in both form and content, you can reflect on opportunities to adapt these techniques to your own uses promoting your music.

A lot of musicians are frustrated about not getting paid, and I understand. All I can do is provide concepts that have proven successful in my own web 2.0 kind of way and draw from that.

And basically I’m still promoting two major concepts: Content and Trust.

I don’t think you can be a musician any more. You are a provider of entertainment content. Content is contact. Contact is access. Access is value, and value is revenue.

Secondary content is blogs, videos, and podcasts, you’re covering your main social platforms, Myspace, Bebo, You’ve already signed up for a Facebook band page HAVEN’T YOU?, your blogs are on Blogger, WordPress, Livejournal maybe you’re paying for Typepad, but if you’re rancid on it, you’re on Stumbleupon, Digg and Del.icio.us. You’re on Last.fm, you use Ilike. You wanna kick out free mp3’s? Of course you’re on Mp3.com, Download.com, Soundclick.

You have to provide this content consistently to build and maintain your audience. This whole album release hype shit is nonsense. Look at youtube: you literally have to become a “channel”. Fans tune in. They want to be updated. They want fresh content. Producing an “album” is a distinctly arbitrary form of delivery.

My blogs are already kicking off quite nicely and I’m still just tooling around. At the end of the day I’ve at least got a couple of Page Rank 3’s under my belt, and most of my key content pages on www.kurb.co.nz has gone to PR3 too. I’m into the habit of posting regularly so things will only build.

As I said this summer I’m finishing our studio set in the garage. My goal is when working with bands, at LEAST fortnightly, we want them in front of the camera, reporting to fans, we want the fans to find out who the musicians are. We want to build relationships.

Presentation is a massive part of content, all this branding stuff, your aesthetic signatures, this IS important. You just can’t afford to spend money on this stuff!

I’m already making connections – obviously we’re living in the 21st century and India is well, it’s basically the done thing. That’s why what I’m doing is finding workers in India who can deliver to an expected standard design and web services on the more techy side of things where I am less adept, at a price that’s affordable for artists.

Which comes round to my second point. Trust.

Honesty and credibility are often in short supply on the internet and that’s why it’s becoming so valuable.

You wouldn’t really trust some Indian on the other side of the world to deliver a high standard of presentation encapsulating the finely nuanced visual message of your music. That is why it is my job to find trustworthy workers working within a quality regulated environment in this area to do so, provide trusted services, and profit from it.

What can I say about trust? How about this? If you’re music isn’t that good, don’t hide from it. Don’t pretend you’re the greatest band in the world if you’re not. This is the internet! People are looking to connect with something that’s honest, that they can understand, that they can relate to, identify with . . . and trust!!!

Trust is a commitment to providing access to valuable content. Useful content. You can gain trust and credibility just by being a source of valuable information – theres nothing to say you cant promote other peoples credited content that you feel has value to your online following.

That’s why I write these damn blogs, and I repost heaps of sourced articles. To most people the kind of stuff I do is way off the map, so it’s up to me to draw potential clients a picture, with them in it, just like I’m doing right now. So are you and your music. You gotta open your mouth and start talking, start a conversation with your fans, get them talking back, staying for a cuppa, and picking up something they can take away, share . . . and a reason to come back!

You don’t have to be the best band in the world in order for people to connect with what you’re doing but you’ve got to show them what your about, you’ve got to tell a story . . . or no one will really care.

Just another bunch of guys with a bunch of songs . . .

Cheers for the connection with Kurb.


For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo


November 19, 2007 Posted by Matt Turner | artist management, content | , , , | No Comments Yet

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