Ch-ch-changes

Flaming Lips Bubble

Breaking out of my bubble
(Image Credit: Las Vegas Cosmopolitan)

As some of you may know, for several years I wrote about the other side of music… you know, the side where you just listen and enjoy, rather than try to come up with ingenious ways to encourage others to listen? It was a passion project called Heavier ~ Than ~ Air and it was a whole heap of fun.

Then I lost belief in music blogs/ran out of steam/had my beloved son (delete as applicable) and, well, the only non-marketing music writing I managed was the odd tweet raging against Cowell’s relentless production line of manufactured muppets.

The urge has taken me again more recently, however, and combined with doing a lot more reading around the wider entertainment industry, I thought it could serve as a boost for the content here. I’ve rearranged the organization a little to cover the various sections of entertainment that I anticipate writing about, so you’ll start to see those pieces popping in among the usual marketing advice for creators (and other general rambling). I hope it will add to the evolution of the site as a well-rounded resource for anyone with an interest in the entertainment and creative industries.

If you’re only interested in the business stuff, I’d recommend that you subscribe to my marketing newsletter here. That will contain just the cream of the advice, as well as a few extras to say thank you for allowing me into your inbox.

I’m also open to suggestions on what you’d like to see written about herein… what’s missing from your marketing reads?

November 16, 2013 by 1 Comment
Filed Under: Entertainment, Miscellaneous Tagged With: , , ,

Love It Or Loathe It, Learn To Live It: Musicians Must Be Entrepreneurs

Musicians in suits... and traffic

Suits You Sir: Can you play the music game?

The business of music is often anathema to artists.

Equal parts strategy and schmoozing, some do one well but fall down on the other. Whatever strengths an individual artist brings to the table, putting in the effort to fill the gaps is a vital factor in a successful music career.

This recent piece by Ari Herstand on music networking reminded me of the importance of the musician as entrepreneur, treating your band as a business, positioning your creations as a calculated career move.

All of which sounds appalling to many of you, I know, so let me re-frame this in terms that should make it more palatable.

Alternative Applications of Creativity

As a creator, you already own the most fundamental tool to entrepreneurial endeavor.

The ability to imagine and let your ideas follow their own path is one that many finely-tuned business minds struggle with on a daily basis. One need only review the many traditionally successful media giants floundering for a foothold in today’s digital world to understand that creativity, experimentation, and a willingness to breach boundaries are almost prerequisites for advancement in the shifting sands of this environment.

They are also traits synonymous with successful entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs ask “what if?“, rather than “what for?”

Entrepreneurs view obstacles as a creative challenge, not a cause to complain.

And entrepreneurs have a guiding passion that fuels them when the path isn’t clear, keeping faith in the greater good of what they’re trying to achieve, even in the face of frequent setbacks.

I don’t know about you, but to me these characteristics also sound a lot like those of successful artists.

Embrace Your Entrepreneurship

Not merely accepting, but embracing the fact that you can apply an entrepreneur’s outlook to your art will expand the horizons of your music career.

Viewing networking not as a chore, but as an opportunity to connect with and to help others who may one day help you, revives your enthusiasm for events and can open new doors. Understanding and accepting the fluctuating revenue streams of the music industry as a creative challenge will open your eyes to potential new sources of income. Taking time to develop a cohesive approach to communicating with your listeners will help to develop life-long fans.

While some artists choose to stick their heads in the sand and complain about the latest ostensibly unfair practice of a music business gone digital, musicians with a broader, entrepreneurial perspective can do the work and climb to the top of their game.  As even the notoriously crusty major record labels begin to explore the opportunities presented to them by new technology, rising artists cannot afford to be left behind in a self-indulgent stupor.

Understand your industry and be prepared to poke into every new nook and cranny for the opportunities that are being created. When you spot an early entry point to exploit the next big shift, you’ll be glad you chose to get into the game, rather than standing on the sidelines.

July 24, 2013 by 3 Comments
Filed Under: Concepts, Opinion Tagged With: , , , , ,

From Listen to Live Show, Music Streaming Just Got Smarter

Spotify has undoubtedly made my music listening life infinitely better, but there remain several areas in which it can improve. Recently the guys and gals in green made a huge stride in one of these areas, namely that of applying data to discovery.

Spotify Discover Function

From listen to live show, can apps like Songkick drive up show attendances?

I have plenty to write about on music discovery via algorithms versus the human touch, but here I simply want to shine a light on the elegant simplicity of integrating local concert listings into this broader recommendations channel.

 

From the Stream To the Show

Who makes up your music audience?

Image Credit: Anirudh Koul

This may seem like a natural extension – indeed, one that was already available by visiting the existing Songkick app tab – but the significance of bringing the show alongside song recommendations should not be overlooked.

Many users look for guidance on what to play when they first open a listening platform such as Spotify, meaning that the Discover page will be a highly visited area. Throw in what appears to be a much refined recommendation engine, one that has thrown up some genuinely intriguing unknowns for me in the last week, and you have the potential for a lot of eyeballs perusing these listings.

If even a small percentage begin to show an interest in the concert element of the page, it seems like something that all parties involved would benefit from developing further.

Personally, I see an increasingly valuable place for services like Songkick in both becoming a go-to source when I want to browse gig listings and delivering concert news to me. Combining my online listening history with that service helps to filter and improve the latter, making both services even more useful and raising the likelihood that I can be persuaded to purchase a ticket.

 

Next Steps

From integrating Facebook data to recommend shows based on the upcoming events of friends, to converting fan follows and listener likes into information that artists can use to better target their marketing, there are a great many extensions of this move that may bode well for music makers.

At a time when streaming services are regularly under fire for simply making money off the backs of the creators whose content fuels their business model, it is heartening to see moves being made to use the vast data sets they collect to pull fans further into the music.

Whether or not such connections actually drive up sales and attendances remains to be seen but, as any marketer will tell you, visibility, relevance, and a compelling call to action are key. Functions like Spotify’s Discover begin to solve the first two elements, but there will be a great deal of tweaking and dealing on the third before we begin to see a truly valuable connection between the listen and the live show.

 

June 29, 2013 by 1 Comment
Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Importance of Not Missing Your Moments

Very few things are scarce in the music industry as it stands today.

From vast online libraries of digital downloads – legal or otherwise – to over 20 million tracks available for on-demand streaming, abundance abounds in an industry that once traded on limited distribution and highly anticipated release dates.

All of which makes it crucial for today’s musicians to seize the day when a moment of scarcity arises for your art.

Make Moments for Your Music Fans

Image Credit: Kmeron

Making the Most of Your Moments

I define “your moments” as any opportunity to connect with a fan in a way that is unlikely to arise again for some time, if ever.

Sometimes this will be limited to deepening your relationship, but often it will include a rare chance to offer them something that supports your art monetarily. Some examples:

  • Talking to fans after a live performance at the merch table is a moment,
  • The day you release a new piece of music is a moment,
  • Filming a music video is a moment,
  • The buzz a fan feels after purchasing a ticket for your future show is a moment,
  • Collaborating with other artists on a new project is a moment.

Making the most of these requires you to actively nurture the nature of the moment, turning an already important interaction into something even more lasting, be that emotionally, materially, or both.

To transform the scenarios above, for example:

  • Creating a unique recording of that live show and offering it for sale before the adrenaline fades makes the most of the moment,
  • Offering limited edition versions of your new release in a physical format with creative artwork or merchandise is making the most of the moment,
  • Inviting fans to participate in the filming process, perhaps even helping to inspire and refine the concept, is making the most of the moment,
  • Capturing that excitement and channeling it into a social share or offering a VIP experience is making the most of the moment,
  • Planning a unique launch event for the collaboration and inviting a select group of passionate fans is making the most of the moment.

Eyes Wide Open

More important than following specific examples such as these is keeping your eyes and mind open to opportunities around you. As you create, network, and interact with fans, always keep one eye on the potential to develop a unique moment.

Anything that closes the gap to your listeners is what you’re looking for, but especially those with the potential to create a memory that can’t be replicated.

Making those moments gives you a long term, inimitable connection to the individuals with whom you  live the experience, something that could be worth its weight in gold in an environment where it’s increasingly difficult to make your music stand out for a single spin, let alone the span of a career.

Where have you seen musicians creating moments that live long in the memory for you as a fan?

Share and inspire us, if you’d be so kind… 

June 17, 2013 by 3 Comments
Filed Under: Concepts, Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Revisiting Direct-to-Fan Music & Merch: Are You Leaving Money On The Table?

Direct-to-fan (D2F) music was one of the first widely lauded advantages of the digital era for independent artists. With barriers removed, musicians could simply create songs, get them online, and connect them straight to listeners with no middle man delaying the gratification process. Nirvana!

Cut Out the Music Middle Man

Image Credit: Jake Johnson

Except that it turns out we need the middle men.

At the very least – and more accurately – we need some standardized channel, because there exists a mass of music and a bewildering variety of ways to process the payment for it.

In these early years, efficient digital stores have risen up to fill the void. From iTunes and Amazon to Bandcamp and CD Baby, paying music fans have chosen convenience over a deeper commitment to their favored artists. This is understandable, given a voracious appetite for music and the ease-of-access that consumers have come to expect from online transactions.

Nonetheless, this need not eliminate the original promise of D2F, to connect artists directly to their most passionate fans and deepen the relationship between them. This includes selling music and merchandise and is an area where most artists are leaving money on the table.

 

Know Your Fans, Narrow Your Focus

At any size an artist needs to develop deeper relationships with listeners, but the extent to which a platform is required to do this will vary greatly according to size and stage of career. For those just starting out, the emphasis will be more on discovery and gaining attention, making the breadth of platforms more crucial than the depth.

As a fan base accumulates, however, too many artists stop short and continue to focus on that breadth, without customizing their art, content, and merch to the most passionate fans. This fails to take D2F to its most beneficial conclusion. Those building the closest ties to fans, offering the most of themselves, lay the groundwork for those same people to spend more time with – and more money on – their music.

By narrowing your focus to that small percentage of your fan base that is intrigued by everything you do, opportunities arise to better understand and cater to their needs…

Are they moved by visuals you present?

Do they react particularly well when you post lyrics to your songs?

Perhaps they praised a specific collaboration or project that you worked on?

When you know the answer to what really gets your core fan base bubbling up, you have a starting point for creatively-minded merchandise and physical records that suit the D2F approach.

 

Separating Merch From Marketing

Although the two are of course inextricably linked, it’s important to remember that D2F music and merchandise is largely to be considered in terms of income. It can be time-consuming to set up anything more than a rudimentary store and will require ongoing maintenance, so both the product and the demand must be there to justify investing in D2F merchandise to any great degree.

Knowing your costs and projecting what you expect to make are crucial factors in deciding just how viable any given D2F product will be.

This doesn’t preclude artists from producing simpler items for fans that can be given away at shows or included as a bonus with other orders, of course. Just remember that these are generally not items with any significant profit margin and, as such, they fall into the category of marketing materials. In the same vein as a show flyer or postcard, their job is to keep you in the minds of listeners for further connection, rather than make money in their own right.

Retaining a focus on cost and sale price helps you to judge what fits into the category of merch that you should sell directly to fans, as opposed to outsourcing the sale to an established digital store front. Limited edition releases and intricate art work related to your music are ideal starting points but this is an area where you can let your creative streak run wild, as the concept of this recent Music Think Tank article explains.

Over To You…

Was the promise of the direct-to-fan model vastly overstated or has it simply been swamped by the generic digital offerings that are presented to music fans today?

What examples have you seen of artists succeeding in offering their fans unique products?

 

May 22, 2013 by 2 Comments
Filed Under: Concepts Tagged With: , , , , ,
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