You may have read my blog post last year about social media, and how it was still a geek thing . . . but you gotta remember that once upon a time, back in 2004 when I joined myspace, Soical Networking was a geek thing too.
Now "Social Networking" is sites like Myspace, Facebook and Bebo.
In "Social Media" the big names are Stumbleupon, Digg and Del.icio.us.
It's about users "Stumbling" or "Digging" their favourite online stuff, and that data is then redistributed to people looking for their own kinds of stuff, whether it's knowledge, tech tools and software, or entertainment, whatever.
There's been talk about the idea that "Social Media" will one day eclipse the power of "Search Media" - why rely on Google when slowly, sites like Facebook as well as Last.fm and other forms of aggregators, are creating networks where data analysis can provide you with information and entertainment tailored to you based on the choices of not only your friend networks but unconnected users who show metric consistencies with you.
I mean sure jump on google, it feels more self sufficient than having to ask a friend who possibly knows more than you. But in the near future, you'll be instantly connected to information and entertainment based on its aggregate value created within your network of friend contacts and those with consistent data to your tastes and interests.
ANYWHO . . .
The point is it's working! I've had two killer spikes in the last week sending my daily traffic to www.kurb.co.nz well into the hundreds, which I discovered from my stats was the result of a very modest amount of traction on Stumbleupon.
Now in desperately scratching my head over how everyday muso's are going to make cash I begun to think about where the value is created on myspace. (y'know? like the $US570M sale back in 2005?)
It's not just the thing that built it, but its now one of the only things keeping Myspace alive . . . FANS FOLLOWING ACTS.
Myspace maybe the "new radio". Fans follow acts and trends and they put up with crap like ads . . . but the artist is seeing none of that revenue!
I don't think I said it loud enough the first time:
YOUR WEBSITE IS NOW MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR CD.
Radiohead just put 10 x more cash in their pocket from their site and they didn't even have ads on it!!!
Look. Let's make a deal.
If YOU can get 3 million people to come to your website - here I'll make it easy - before you die, I'm pretty sure you and me - we can both get rich off advertising.
This is the thing. If you BLOG then making money off advertising . . . That's your bag. Pro bloggers don't put out a CD, tour or do merch. Oh sure they'll do an E-book; but half the time they give it away or its only salivating fans who pay for it. The 5 figure monthly pay outs these guys collect are from their ads.
More than ever you need to create your OWN website, stake out your own claim, so you're prepared to start monetizing on ad supported revenue as the flow of marketing money from TV and Radio to online advertising grows in momentum.
Build a place of culture and community where people can hang out and interact. Create value, fill your site with relevant information, relevant advertising, every digital products and merchandise you can imagine, make it customisable, let fans create their own digital and merchandise packages . . .
Look, as far as I'm concerned . . . 2008 and is ALL ABOUT 2009.
Yeah, I had to wrap that up, I've got work to do.
Don't forget these New Years specials may not last, there's a frenzied mob gathering on my doorstep already, so we may have to shut it down to new jobs.
$100 – 100 CD Discs printed and duplicated
$70 – 50 DVD Discs printed and duplicated
$100 – 1 month online promotion management package
$100 – 100 colour posters printed
OR $250 FOR THE LOT.
HOW I APPROACH A NEW CLIENT FOR PROMOTION@ KURB
how digital promotion and social marketing works
more indie self promotion articles hub
Our artist packages
Overview of online promotion strategies
Real cheap CD/DVD reproduction in NZ
postering – placement in Auckland / Free delivery in NZ
Cheers and all the best with your work from Kurb
recent tidbits
ON RADIO
. . Executives at some individual stations say they are playing hits more heavily than they did even two years ago. That is not so much out of concern over digital competition as it is a desire to respond to listeners’ busy lives, said Kat Jensen, music director for KKMG-FM in Colorado Springs, which played “Apologize” 78 times last week. “There’s a very limited window. If they’re going to listen 15 minutes a day, you want to make sure they hear their favorite song in that 15 minutes. It’s really the fast-paced life style that we all live.”
ON BIG LABELS
IN 2006 EMI, the world's fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits. At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. “That was the moment we realised the game was completely up,” says a person who was there.
ON AD SUPPORTED REVENUE
"As a result, advertisers and their agencies who want to engage with today’s consumers will have to start turning their ads into content. Ultimately, they will need to be able to produce content that is so compelling, relevant and entertaining that consumers will seek it out and want to share it with others. The new ad model is about creating great content and finding clever ways to embed it in the fabric of communities and content platforms where consumers are hanging out and actively participating."
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