(Okay this is a late breaking post, looks like I DID get a bit ahead of myself referring to this unpublished piece in my last blog! Whoops!)
I’m already probably getting a slightly notorious reputation in music 2.0 circles for my comments around the place – I don’t mean to be an upstart or create unhelpful contributions or show off although it might appear that way . . .
I just . . . well
Everyones talking about building communities, building relationships, building trust, building authority and how long it takes and how patient and persevering you have to be – and everyone knows I totally agree with all that stuff but y’know, if you want to be successful and get paid, I don’t think commenting blogs is exactly the direct path!
I mean I don’t mean to sound cynical. The point I’m suggesting is that internet marketing and online promotion has started to go a bit soft.
I mean sure. Build a community. Go for it. This is what you have to do if you want people to love you and your music. Especially I think communities are excellent ways for more performance (as opposed to more recording and “content” based artists) to build and mainatain fanbases.
But a lot of musicians aren’t crying out for adoration, they just want to see a bit of coin! Cut down to part time hours one day soon maybe!
And that’s why I wanted to write this piece as a preface to my new announcement just discussing innovation and how fundamental it is, because that’s what I’ve been getting at recently – building a community and a rapport with your audience is lovely but if you want to make money, you better get your head to innovating NOW.
What is so unique about what you’re doing that makes prospects desperate for your proposition?
What? because you’ve got a blog and a website and a couple of social presences such as myspace and facebook and twitter that you’re building conversation and community around?
That’s not unique. Having a platform is not unique and having a platform is not a proposition. A platform is a position from which to launch your proposition so that your voice will be heard and if it’s a truly unique and remarkable concept then it will gather traction.
That is why I think these bloggers ramping about “community” and Twitter and all these touchy feely marketing gurus are making so much money talking to so many people who are in fact not making any money, but like what theyre hearing.
Blogs and communities and social platforms are great and it’s my job to support artists in establishing those platforms but when it comes to the sale and the revenue it’s all about your proposition.
Have you become to safe in your unique proposition, is it unoriginal, are you offering something that others don’t and is that clearly illustrated to the prospect? Are you innovating to offer something that is truly unique in value?
Buying your album on itunes for $9.99 is not a uniquely innovative proposition. It does npt provide unique value because tens of thousands of other artists are already doing it.
What do I mean by innovation and how do you do it?
Well that’s why this post ended up being a separate post to the new announcement.
It was only a little way back I used to feel slightly ashamed when I announced a new project and it didn’t go ahead or come about. Now, you might notice I do it all the time.
Plasticast?
Kurb 50/50?
Choice.as?
Kurb Music?
Well, what happened Matt?
Well I was riffing! I was getting new ideas out there, into the conversation! I was thinking aloud. I’m developing and reflecting, testing and experimenting, improving and driving towards a significantly more effective way of providing value.
For example, with the plasticast, the innovation was to use my access to cheap cd production to create a free cd. The unique proposition to the user is: Do you want a free CD of new undiscovered bands?
It’s all about the beta launch, all about “Ready, fire, aim!” as they say. Launch, develop and refine.
Consider the weaknesses in your proposition in comparison to your competition and how they can be addressed and mitigated.
Do I feel like it has damaged my reputation? It doesn’t bother me. I would rather have a 100 ideas and go with the best one than going with whatever I thought of first and falling flat on my face.
Done that one before.
For me, innovation is a lot about the 20/80 concept – that 20% of your effort is responsible for 80% of the result and the other 80% is responsible for only 20% of the result, so I am constantly refining the techniques and propositions I use for an optimized result.
When Radiohead, NIN and Prince embraced innovation, they didn’t just make savvy financial decisions based on exercising the control they retained over their music, they gave their brands a massive shot in the arm.
To be honest, I hadn’t kept up with Radiohead since OK computer, but all the publicity bought me back into the fold. I didn’t buy anything, but I told a dozen peope I liked the new album, because I took the time out to actually be bothered listening to it! So, in short, for Radiohead, it worked!!!
Innovation is a ceaseless task. You must constantly consider new ways to improve on the marketing and delivery and on the product and service itself. As I’ve said I can’t be sure to assign the value of innovation to the changes that are happening right now in digital developments for creative industries but I can be pretty assured in saying no one doing things in the old way is going to meet with unexpected levels of success.
COMING SOON: Lets get down to the details of this new Kurb service!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment