new social music strategies

Okay right now what we have here is some more solid analysis from Andrew Dubber of new music strategies at the Futuresonic conference critiquing Scott Cohen of digital distributors The Orchard who was speaking at a session on social music.

http://newmusicstrategies.com/2008/05/03/social-music/ 

Dubber said that he was surprised to find that he agreed with so much he was saying despite his reservations with The Orchard’s business model.

See what The Orchard does made a lot more sense when getting digital distribution – itunes – negotiated for your release wasn’t as simple as just signing up for cd baby or tunecore.

I guess mainly it remains a digital distributor for high end independent artists – I think Joe Cocker is one of their clients.

In other words it’s not really DIY solution it’s a “ I can afford the luxury of paying someone else to do it” solution. You may as well sign up for a kurb coaching package at $200 p/month, helping you get your music on itunes and 30 other digital retailers  

According to Dubbers post there was also a Last.fm guy speaking at this session who presented data to suggest that giving songs away free actually led to more sales.

Because if you’re not established or you haven’t validated your music to your audience in some way then of course theyre not going to be interested.

I personally can get free music whenever I like, I only pay for music when I have to or when I am indulging my passion following the artists I love.

I can steal that music if I want but I choose not to. I listen to the song, if I like it I buy it.   

 

ANDREW DUBBER @ NEW MUSIC STRATEGIES RESPONDS TO POINTS MADE BY  SCOTT COHEN @ THE ORCHARD.

 

1. Not a website – last century
You don’t want a website. That’s a very old school idea. It shouldn’t be a brochure. You should have a place where people can engage with you and each other. There’s more on this idea in my 20 Things e-book in the section on Web 2.0.

2. MTV – “I am not an actor”
When MTV came along, a lot of musicians didn’t want to be in videos because it ‘wasn’t their thing’. The ones who became super successful were the ones who made (and appeared in) great clips. Same deal with communities online. Those who engage survive. This seems quite close to my Theatre Director’s Dilemma story.

3. Real voice – blog
There’s no point acting all superior and aloof. People want real. Again, can’t argue here. I’ve talked about this stuff in terms of ‘selling relationship’.

4. Statement – stand for something
If you plant your flag and stand for something, then people have something to align themselves with. It strengthens and builds community around a shared set of values. There’s good further reading in the book The Culting of Brands.

5. Update continuously – dynamic
Nobody’s coming back to a community that only updates once a month or once a week. There should be constant, dynamic action. You and I have had this conversation.

6. Engage with audience – responsive
You can’t just open a community and have others do the work. Does Beyonce respond to comments in her MySpace page? No – and nobody believes she does. You have to actually be part of the discussion. This is good advice. You can’t fake engagement.

7. Remove non-members – spam
Your community is like a garden. Weed it. If people don’t play by the rules, kick them out. Nobody wants to be part of a community that is not policed. I’m not as sold on this beyond the elimination of spam. Communities can be self-healing and responsive rather than being gated areas with burly security guards. I’d say use the community to keep the community in order.

8. Shopping – not buying
Dont’ put a ‘Buy It’ button everywhere. If people want to make a purchase, they’ll go to the right page or alternatively, they know where iTunes and Amazon are. They’re not stupid. So let them just shop around. Leave them alone. This is good advice. A ‘find out more’ button might be more appropriate.

9. Feed the audience – free
Give them free stuff constantly. Keep the gift channels open at all times. I’ve talked about this in terms of rewarding and incentivising your audience.

10. Build to an event – ongoing promotion
The reason X-Factor and Pop Idol work is that Simon Cowell doesn’t just come out on the stage and say “We spent the last few months scouring the country for the best in the land, and here they are. Now buy the record.” It’s the build-up, the narrative and getting to know the characters that makes it work. It’s absurd that Coldplay disappear for two years, and then come back with a new album – “tah-dah! Miss us?”

two outside perspectives on micro music marketing

Yes two short articles here from people who have a pretty firm grasp on marketing in practice, but not specifically in music, making some observations on their local music microcosm.

If you’re outside of the industry well . . . you’re outside of the industry! Maybe this gives some fresh outside perspective into what the average punter sees . . .

First is from Geoff at http://cantgetrich.com

Geoff is a internet marketer with a slightly tongue in cheek take on the revolution of “pajama clad entrepreneurs”.

http://www.cantgetrich.com/2008/04/22/you-cant-get-rich-if-youre-a-tone-deaf-indie-myspace-band/

 

About a block from where I work, there’s a coffee shop that makes the best quesadillas in town. I go down there two or three times a week to grab dinner. Unfortunately, it seems like every time I walk in, there’s some horrible local emo-pop band in there hell-bent on wrecking my eardrums. They always have overpriced Cafepress shirts, they always have flyers advertising their Myspace page, and they always suck.

Thanks digital distribution

The one that was playing last night even tried to charge me $2 to get in. I told him to piss off and that I was there for the food, not the band (tech support puts me in a bad mood). I ended up having to use a combination of sign language, writing, and pointing at the menu to communicate with the barista, since the band was so loud. After I placed my order, I had a good ten minutes to witness a terrible assault on my senses and enumerate their many issues. If you’re a part of, or have ever wanted to make your own band, pay attention:

The venue is everything

The coffee shop I was in is about the size and shape of a shoebox. Shoeboxes don’t have good acoustics (only slightly better than a two-dimensional shape). The band, of course, compensated for this by turning up the volume to glass-shatteringly high levels.

The singer is probably holding you back

I have to admit that the drummer, guitarist, and bassist were all pretty good. The vocalist, on the other hand, was too loud, off beat, and tone deaf. Ruined the whole experience.

Make sure your equipment is working before going live

Apparently there were two guitarists, but one was having technical issues. For three songs.

Don’t send mixed signals

You have depressing, emo clothes and haircuts. Your backdrop is black. Your hair has been dyed black. Your logo is a skull (on a black background). Why are you dancing around like monkeys and singing about how life is great and you’ll never give up?

Don’t quit your day job

If you’re performing in a coffee shop to 13 people, you’re probably not very good. Fire your singer and stay in school.

 

Speaks to me about a point Bruce Warila made:

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/create-validate-sell.html

This is such a massive part of what I’m doing now. You cant expect to make music and then run out there and start making it if you haven’t put any effort into establishing yourself and validating your music with your audience as something worthy of attention.

 

The second is professor Cornwall who is a professor of entrepreneurship at the university of Belmont in Tennessee at http://theentrepreneurialmind.com

 http://forum.belmont.edu/cornwall/archives/009465.html

Last evening we went to hear a group of songwriters at the Bluebird Cafe here in Nashville as part of the Folk Alliance (their website is folk.org, which seems to be down this morning as I write this post). One of them performing last night, James Lee Stanley, is one we first heard over thirty years ago — I blogged about him a couple of months ago.

What a wonderful evening of music and an affirmation that the music industry is alive and well. The three featured songwriters had all been writing and performing since the 1970s. Are they rich and famous? No. Have they been making a living pursuing what gives them passion? Absolutely.

There is a good lesson here for entrepreneurs in any industry.

Too much attention is given to celebrity and fame. We see it in entertainment and more and more we see it in the world of entrepreneurship. The vast majority of our economic growth is coming from entrepreneurs working in small businesses across the country. It is hard work. It is not very glamorous. But, it has created economic independence for these entrepreneurs and the people working with them.

The same is true in music. There are thousands of songwriters and performers toiling away out there. Many are fortunate and have become successful enough to make a living at it.
The vast majority of entrepreneurs will not reach the heights of Gates, Dell, Jobs, and others whose little ventures grew into empires. In fact, most won’t even make their local list of “leading entrepreneurs” in their community.

But, most entrepreneurs don’t really care about fame and recognition. That is not what drives them. That is not how they measure their success.

What a blessing it is to be able to share in real success — the songwriters who continue to hone their craft — the entrepreneurs who pursue their passion and find fulfillment in the businesses they create.

Yes I DID cut and paste from other blogs BUT at least I am attempting to atone not only backlinking (of course) but I stumbled both posts and bookmarked on delicious.

PS had record days on my blog with the “blogging for musicians 2008″ post!!! up around 200 visitors 2 days in a row!!! Yes this could be because I took the effort to use a bit of social media by stumbling, digging and posting to delicious but mainly it is because a couple of bigger bloggers dropped a link on their blog – probably after finding it on stumbleupon or delicious in the first place.

so special thanks to

http://largeheartedboy.com

SO according to my adsense stats, if I’d been running adsense on wordpress I would have made around $US3 from this blog alone on consecutive days!

It’s looking good people – it just keeps getting better, it’s all about the EXPONENTIAL GROWTH – so keep blogging!