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.
Cheers for the connection with Kurb.
We’re supporting musicians with successful promotion strategies for a budget. Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program.
All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
.....................
Kurb Myspace
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
content and trust - working backwards from success
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.
We’re supporting musicians with successful promotion strategies for a budget. Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program.
All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
.....................
Kurb Myspace
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.
We’re supporting musicians with successful promotion strategies for a budget. Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program.
All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
.....................
Kurb Myspace
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Facebook doesn't grab me but I'm grabbing it
FACEBOOK MUSIC IS ON!!!! GO! GO NOW! GET IN THERE.
More coming up on Googles new open social that should fix everything. I mean . . . well . . .
Social networks on the move: Facebook doesn’t grab me but I’m grabbing it
I don’t like Facebook! It doesn’t do much for me! Silly little stupid boxes everywhere and constantly updating streams of information every time someone on my friends list scratches their arse!
People I barely know off my address book are cyber “hugging” me with their crazy apps and widgets (these are little like mini websites embedded within a website page which are massive component for web 2.0 and distributing content) and “challenging me to an arm wrestle” or “buying me a drink”.
It’s bizarre. What does it mean? I came to network!
I came to represent what I have to offer! I came to reap the kudos of electro shocking music promotion techniques in New Zealand into the 21st century! I don’t want to exchange cutesy little trivialities, just read my damn blog feed – and where am I to pimp my big ass backlinks back to my blog and back to the kurb home site, where I’ve got you where I want you? I’ve got to say myspace is much better for marketing and branding. Facebook’s great if you want to mess around with your mates. But I don’t know about breaking new bands.
Oh I know what you’re thinking, I’m just put out because everyone’s leaving myspace and I can’t get them with my spam. Well just you shush up and don’t worry about that. I got all the spam I need – it just takes time to perfect the recipe and this one’s going to take an extra spoonful of my patented innocuous enthusiasm infused with mass produced sincerity too work the touchy feely environment of Facebook. And Bebo is much the same, but with much a much larger teen focus.
On Bebo the concept of a “band page” is more like a myspace group while Facebook you can’t even have a weird sounding name! To me, unless there’s a change in direction, it is even more of a call to develop your secondary content (video, blog, alternative audio content that you can still promote on facebook) as a strong brand for your band’s identity because on facebook . . . your band isn’t allowed an identity!
THAT of course could all be about to change with Facebook music rumours now flying all over the place.
BREAKING NEWS: FACEBOOK MUSIC IS NOW ON!!! GO GO GO!!!
This from Co-Ed magazine:
Here’s how it works:
Major and independent label artists and will register their sub-domain name through Facebook. Like “www.facebook.com/insertba
On this page Facebook users will be allowed to become “fans” of the artist and connect to the media hosted on the “artist page.”
In the first generation of Facebook Music “fans” will be allowed to listen to artist’s music, watch videos, upload pictures, add music to their page, receive tour information and interact with other fans. Online music moguls, be warned.
Future generations will come quickly and allow unprecedented targeted marketing, ad buys and media promotion. Facebook is developing artist specific sales widgets to allow for music sales through the site as well.
Of course there is an important reason I’m bringing up these new socials which relates to a common theme recently – go where the people are, carve your fanbase out of the traffic.
% of web traffic in NZ October 2007-10-25
1 – Google – 7.13%
2 – Trademe – 3.92%
4 – Bebo - 2.06%
8 – Facebook – 1.11%
9 – Youtube – 1.08%
20 – Myspace - .49%
You feeling me? Myspace is done. I hope you didn’t put too much effort like some.
Go where the people are. The kiddies are going to Bebo, and the grown ups are going to Facebook.
And of course, Kurb is offering all the tools to give you the edge. Seeya there.
Cheers for the connection with Kurb.
We’re supporting musicians with successful promotion strategies for a budget. Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program.
All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
More coming up on Googles new open social that should fix everything. I mean . . . well . . .
Social networks on the move: Facebook doesn’t grab me but I’m grabbing it
I don’t like Facebook! It doesn’t do much for me! Silly little stupid boxes everywhere and constantly updating streams of information every time someone on my friends list scratches their arse!
People I barely know off my address book are cyber “hugging” me with their crazy apps and widgets (these are little like mini websites embedded within a website page which are massive component for web 2.0 and distributing content) and “challenging me to an arm wrestle” or “buying me a drink”.
It’s bizarre. What does it mean? I came to network!
I came to represent what I have to offer! I came to reap the kudos of electro shocking music promotion techniques in New Zealand into the 21st century! I don’t want to exchange cutesy little trivialities, just read my damn blog feed – and where am I to pimp my big ass backlinks back to my blog and back to the kurb home site, where I’ve got you where I want you? I’ve got to say myspace is much better for marketing and branding. Facebook’s great if you want to mess around with your mates. But I don’t know about breaking new bands.
Oh I know what you’re thinking, I’m just put out because everyone’s leaving myspace and I can’t get them with my spam. Well just you shush up and don’t worry about that. I got all the spam I need – it just takes time to perfect the recipe and this one’s going to take an extra spoonful of my patented innocuous enthusiasm infused with mass produced sincerity too work the touchy feely environment of Facebook. And Bebo is much the same, but with much a much larger teen focus.
On Bebo the concept of a “band page” is more like a myspace group while Facebook you can’t even have a weird sounding name! To me, unless there’s a change in direction, it is even more of a call to develop your secondary content (video, blog, alternative audio content that you can still promote on facebook) as a strong brand for your band’s identity because on facebook . . . your band isn’t allowed an identity!
THAT of course could all be about to change with Facebook music rumours now flying all over the place.
BREAKING NEWS: FACEBOOK MUSIC IS NOW ON!!! GO GO GO!!!
This from Co-Ed magazine:
Here’s how it works:
Major and independent label artists and will register their sub-domain name through Facebook. Like “www.facebook.com/insertba
On this page Facebook users will be allowed to become “fans” of the artist and connect to the media hosted on the “artist page.”
In the first generation of Facebook Music “fans” will be allowed to listen to artist’s music, watch videos, upload pictures, add music to their page, receive tour information and interact with other fans. Online music moguls, be warned.
Future generations will come quickly and allow unprecedented targeted marketing, ad buys and media promotion. Facebook is developing artist specific sales widgets to allow for music sales through the site as well.
Of course there is an important reason I’m bringing up these new socials which relates to a common theme recently – go where the people are, carve your fanbase out of the traffic.
% of web traffic in NZ October 2007-10-25
1 – Google – 7.13%
2 – Trademe – 3.92%
4 – Bebo - 2.06%
8 – Facebook – 1.11%
9 – Youtube – 1.08%
20 – Myspace - .49%
You feeling me? Myspace is done. I hope you didn’t put too much effort like some.
Go where the people are. The kiddies are going to Bebo, and the grown ups are going to Facebook.
And of course, Kurb is offering all the tools to give you the edge. Seeya there.
Cheers for the connection with Kurb.
We’re supporting musicians with successful promotion strategies for a budget. Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program.
All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Online music promotion: 44 apps and critical mass
So recently if you follow my stuff on myspace, or my main blog, or facebook, I’ve been talking about the importance of creating and distributing regular online content and now I’m going to be talking about the best way to go about deciding how and where to do that.
I’ve talked about your website as your online “home” – a place where you might build a community for fans, and of sites like myspace as “doorways” to that community. We’re talking about the best ways for you to take your content and fit it in with media communities that already exist – that is, going to where the people already are. So build a great big ornate entrance for the main streets that are Myspace, Facebook, and Youtube but just forget about all those back alley sites that no one cares about!
Gerd Leonhard recently blogged this little slideshow from hypebot/gotoweb2.0 covering 44 web 2.0 music sites. And recently with me having to slog through more geek shit on Social bookmarking now in order to evaluate it’s ability to get results for me and my clients, I had to say, even me, who goes on 6 hour online research binges – is their really time for all this? 44 new web 2.0 sites to promote your music on?
http://go2web2.blogspot.com/2007/10/44-web-20-music-services-in-one.html
I mean guys I get all my juice from such as Andrew Dubber (www.newmusicstrategies.com) and Gerd Leonhard (www.mediafuturist.com) are always like – try this new site, watch out for this new start up, try this new app, add this widget – even those hypebot tips I posted! And what? Is there anybody there? Is anybody listening? Is the crowd calling out for more? Sure if you’re radiohead then it doesn’t matter what platform you’re using, the masses are already looking for you!
Look I been through all this and basically, if you don’t even have an audience to identify, getting exposure for your stuff on the net is going to come down – once again – to the numbers game . . . on the internet means that means TRAFFIC.
These 44 sites – I don’t care. I don’t care how snazzy they look or what exciting new feature they offer. Or how many times they advance theoretically how they can “get your music out to the world” using this new fangled computer internet thing.
If nobodies using their site, if there’s no audience to promote to, then it’s just a waste of time. You’ll come back in a year, and the site will be gone. Another failed online music industry concept start up goes out with a whimper.
Should we get excited about www.we7.com, the site that offers artists a share of advertising revenue in exchange for offering free downloads?
Well why is myspace such a big deal? Bebo? Youtube? Facebook? Google? Itunes? Because it’s what everyone’s using!!! It’s the party that everyone’s at. They’re not at those other 44 sites! I look at the traffic.
Let’s look at specifically our local NZ target audience. I hope you’re not working to hard on your myspace presence or this could be a little deflating. You gotta stay up with it.
% of web traffic in NZ October 2007-10-25
1 – Google – 7.13%
2 – Trademe – 3.92%
4 – Bebo - 2.06%
8 – Facebook – 1.11%
9 – Youtube – 1.08%
20 – Myspace - .49%
See if you’re smart like me you’ll be thinking of clever ways to exploit trademe for marketing. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve but i’m keeping those little puppies close to my chest.
(trademe is NZ's ebay for overseas readers)
Socials like myspace dwarf distribution sites like Soundclick, Download and Mp3. Still use them! Use Last.fm – the biggest aggregator, use Garageband.com or sonific to create a media platform you can distribute – for example the Ilike widget for spreading your music on facebook . . . which is NOW partnered with billboard to render chart information!
But don’t waste your time on sites without any qualifying knowledge as to what signing up and maintaining your presence or even paying them for services will really render in return.
Paying to use a website is like buying a cd. It's a 20th century thing. Forget about it. It's antiquated.
But let's use an example, I’m really excited about the new isynx.com site which is attempting to open up licensing and syncing royalties to everyday artist – tipped to be see major growth in revenue distribution for artists.
But it doesn’t matter how romantic I am about these ideas, it won’t make this site work. So no, I’m not going to spend even 20 minutes to sign up. I’m going to come back in a month and see what happens, to see if gets traction, if it can build a critical mass.
So how do you know where to invest your effort? Quick rule of thumb: If you hear a site discussed in offline media – like myspace, bebo or facebook – you better get your ass on there.
This is really about time management. You know you’ve got to build your presence painstakingly online. Every online promo handbook tells you to create every opportunity for exposure, but really! It takes energy to create energy. Your promotional effort online has to be just like a gig, a rookie band playing a warm up, you’ve got to get the crowd involved, create a vibe, foster the community and create something there that people walking past will see and want to be a part of. But not if there’s nobody walking past! Your energy might be better applied to other tasks in other areas.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
social bookmarking: geeking out on it
See this is one frustrating part of my job is trying to understand technology that only geeks currently use so that 6,12,18 months down the track when it becomes popular enough to offer real promotion opportunities to musicians and creatives I've already got a thorough understanding - as it was one of the great fortunes of my life that such a thing happened with myspace and social networking to put me where I am today.
I will be blogging soon about deciding how to avoid wasting your time resources on sites that won't help promote your music because there's no one there to promote your music to.
But see as I've said before, promoting on the net is all about having the distribution systems in place for the ongoing genration of content, and having this set up in the most favourable way for search.
Although theories are starting to fester in the unlikeliest corners of Nigeria that Social - with the potential to infinitely and effortlessly connect, network, aggregate and deliver is gonna eventually be bigger than search, the sons of myspace will destroy the sons of google.
But you'll see that rather than going nutty on the quantity and quality of my content creation (and here I am writing a boring as geeky blog post to blow off steam) which comes further down the line, I'm strengthening my distribution network.
Because the latest technology I am trying to come to grips with in this area is social bookmarking and feeds and the like and though it may seem otherwise to you who are co ordinated enough to play an instrument - I am not naturally adapted to such geek environments.
And don't try and argue that Stumbleupon, Digg and Del.icio.us isn't geek shit. Myspace is mainstream. Social bookmarking is still geek shit.
So whats it about? Well I have managed to wrap my head around the significance of distribution and ease of access to quality information.
Although as you know I write my own material when I can, and I'm trying to get more into useful and unique analyses, you probably notice I repost a lot of articles I find for you people to read and the happy result is more business and more kudos for my business by providing access to significant items of interest in my chosen field of expertise.
So whereas in times past this would have been considered akin to plagiarism, these days, with the flaws of the internet manifested by google in screeds of pointless unvaluable information or "noise", being able to provide direct access to high quality information, creating trust and worthiness - as I've pointed out several times - is now quite a powerful marketing strategy.
Hopefully you can reflect on how all this relates to YOUR online promotion strategy.
What kind of access and redistribution of information can you provide to your fanbase to add value to your brand?
More less geek oriented stuff coming through soon.
Stupid bloody bookmarking sites. This better bump my google ranking and get me lots of hits.
Lets see how this goes:
Monday, October 22, 2007
Hot to get gigs/shows/bookings
How to get gigs |
| Here's another article I grabbed this time from about.com (music.about.com) they got a few good ones! People are always asking me how to get gigs, but I don't touch that stuff! Posters I do, press kits I do, CD promos I do, gig promotion on and networking on myspace, bebo, facebook I do. My role I see as a happy helper who makes sure your gig doesn't go completely to shit and become a lasting scar on your psyche. Not a bad deal for a couple of hundy. I know all about gigging, touring, promoting gigs, I've done plenty of it, made all the mistakes. If you're an unknown, you're going to have to spend a couple of years playing gigs to no one and it coming out of your own pocket and there's no cut in that for me! If you're not an unknown, then you'll already have a manager. Poor sod. Fortunately, online promotion and networking gives you a chance to at least generate some interest before you hit the stage, but being a manager is not a glamourous or thankful job - that's why I charge $500 p/month to do it on top of a full promotions package. OH ALSO: one day I will have to write about why it's important to be nice. From my experience Auckland is the ONLY place in NZ where not being nice won't fuck your career and even then, you'll be lucky. Pay your debts, don't be rude or demanding, don't get into "beef" on the "scene" with other musicians. Trust me. Or 6 months from now you'll be sitting in your room wondering why you never get any gigs. Of course it wasn't to do with you dissing that band on the message boards. HOW TO GET GIGS: One of the best ways to build up a fan base for your band is to get out there and play live, as often as your can. But often bands find themselves between a rock and hard place - to get a gig, you need an audience, but to get an audience, you need a gig. You can rise above that, however, and get your band in front of the crowd if you follow the right steps. This how-to guide will cover getting a single show, but many of these steps can be built upon to book your band an entire tour. 1. Think Locally - The best place to start looking for gigs is in your own backyard. Get to know the music scene in your area. What venues and promoters are willing to give up and coming bands a chance? What bands in your area play live often and might need a support act? What venues in your area put on touring bands, who might need a local opening act? To get a gig, all of these factors can come into play. Approaching the right venues will open doors to you, and there is strength in numbers, so working together will the other bands in the area will increase the opportunities for everyone. (Plus, you can share gear!) 2. Get your Promo Package Together - [or "media kit"] Have a standard package ready to introduce yourself to venues and promoters. Much like the package you use when you send a demo to a label , this promo package should be short and sweet. Include a short demo CD, a short bio or one sheet to introduce the band, and some press clippings, if you have any (especially ones that review live performances). If you're going to approach people by email instead, cut and paste the info into the body of an email and include a link to a site where your music can be heard. Don't send attachments - most people won't open them. 3. Approach the Venue - To get a gig directly with a venue, call and find out who is in charge of booking bands and send them your promo package. They may tell when to contact them again. If not, give them about a week, and follow up by phone or email. Keep trying until you get an answer. If you've haven't played live much, your best bet is try to get on an existing bill with a band that already has a bit of a following. Keep in mind that if you book with a venue, you may be in charge of promoting the show yourself and paying venue rental fees, unless you are invited on to an existing concert bill. 4. Approach the Promoter - If you'd rather not self promote and take on venue fees, you can approach a promoter to get a gig. Send your promo pack to the promoter and follow up in the same way you would with a venue. If a promoter agrees to get you a show, they will book the venue and promote the show for you, but you may need to send them posters you have made yourself to do so. If the promoter doesn't want to put you on by yourself yet, ask them if they have any shows you could play as an opening act. If they say no, check in from time to time to remind them you are always available as a support act. [Matt - lets not pussyfoot about. If you're not established and there's a big promoter guy who's running game in your scene, you'll have to offer to play for free. Rememeber, promoters are often people who like to feel important. work with that.] 5. Understand the Deal - This is the trickiest part for most bands. First, understand that when you are just getting started, you often will not make money on your shows. In fact, you may even end up out of pocket. That doesn't mean it was all for nothing - building up your fan base will mean you do make money on future gigs. If you do make money, you will either have a deal where you get paid a pre-agreed amount no matter how many people turn up, or you will have a door split deal . Either deal is fine and fair. Focus on building your audience and not the money right now. 6. Play the Gig - Sounds obvious, I know, but the way you handle the gig can have a lasting impact on your ability to get future shows. Show up on time for the soundcheck and if there are other bands playing, remember everyone needs time for their soundcheck. Be professional - there is likely to be free drinks around, but remember everyone is there to hear your music, not to see if you can handle your beer. Don't sell yourself short by getting on stage in anything but your top shape, ready to play a great show. Play a good show, be courteous and professional, and you'll soon be getting more show offers! [Matt - this is a big one. If you're just starting out, don't be all anal about soundcheck and free drinks!!! You're just there to fill in the gap before the guys everyones coming to see plays. The promoter will look at you like the amateur you are if you stat getting huffy and making demands.] Tips: 1. Don't Get Caught Up on the Deal - This is worth repeating. Your goal is build up your audience. Promoters and venues are taking a chance on you when you are just getting started - they will be more willing to give you a chance if you don't have a lot of financial demands. 2. But Don't Pay to Play - If you're putting on your own show, of course you may have to pay a venue hire fee and you may to pay some promotional costs. However, don't pay money simply to get on a bill, and don't trust anyone who asks you to. 3. Invite the Press - Keep the entertainment writers at your local papers informed about your activities and always invite them to the show. Also, keep your local radio stations up to date on what's happening with your band and when you're playing. 4. Respect the Guest List - Guests lists have a way of getting out of hand, fast. Don't push it with promoters with the guest list when you are trying to build up a name for yourself. If you're part of a larger bill, you may not even have any guest list spaces. If you do, use what you have and be done with it. Don't try to get 50 of your closest cheapskate friends into every show for free. You'll get a bad name for yourself. More How To's from your Guide To Music Careers Playing live may be the most important thing a band can do. If your band is unsigned, playing live is a great way to build up a loyal fan base, get some media attention and attract record label interest. For signed bands, gigs are the means by which you can keep building your audience while promoting your new releases. Booking a gig can seem like an overwhelming process, however, especially when a band is doing all of the booking themselves. If you're in a cold sweat, wondering how to get some shows for your band, never fear. Take a deep breath, relax and follow these steps that are sure to get your band on stage. The Basics - Let's go right back to the beginning. Before you even can think about booking a gig, there are a few things you will need to have in place: • A demo or a finished CD, or a website on which people can listen to your music • A press pack, including information about your band and clippings of any press coverage you may have had. You should also have an idea of when you want to play a show - approaching a venue or promoter and asking for a gig "whenever" isn't very helpful. Come up with a window of preferred dates and make sure everyone in the band has their calendar clear for those days. Find the Right People - So, you've got the promo package and demo ready to go - now, who should you send it to? There are two ways you can go about booking a gig: • Book directly with the venue, in which case you as a band take on the costs and responsibilities of promoting the show • Book with a promoter, who takes charge of promoting the show Sometimes, venues work with a specific promoter, and sometimes they don't. Give your venue of choice a call to find out how they do things. If you don't know any promoters, ask the venue for advice, or ask around to find out with whom other bands in your area work. If possible, get the names of a few different promoters and venue booking agents and send them all promo packages - nothing wrong with people fighting to give you a chance to play, right? Tired of booking gigs for yourself? Try getting a manager or agent on board who can help you get the shows you want. The Deal - A good deal is part and parcel of a good gig. You should prepare yourself, however, for the fact that many shows lose money. If you're just getting started and don't have much of a following yet, you should think of your gigs as promotional opportunities for your band rather than money making opportunities. Your willingness to work with a promoter and/or a venue to try and minimize the financial risk involved in a show will only help you convince people to work with you. Your deal should detail how any income for the show will be divided, as well as confirming information about things like accommodation for the band, riders, backline, and soundchecks. If there is something you're unsure about or you don't think is fair, speak up well in advance of the show. • Door Split Deals • Before you Sign a Music Promoter Contract • Backline • Rider • Should I Pay to Play a Gig? Show Up and Play - Now all you have to do is show up and play a good show. Be professional, treat the promoter and the people at the venue with respect, and if you can't handle drinking all of the rider before going on stage, then for goodness sake, don't do it. If you happen to have an off night, but you have treated people well, most promoters will want to work with you again. If you've given everyone working to put on the show a night of utter chaos and stress, well, then, you'll probably be looking for a new place to play. Make sure you take full advantage of the audience at the show and promote any releases, new websites, or any other news the band may have. Encourage everyone who enjoyed your set to sign your mailing list, so you can let them know when you're playing again. Cheers for the connection with Kurb. Supporting musicians with successful strategies on a budget. Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program. All the best with your music, from Kurb For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo ..................... Kurb Myspace |
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Music Industry Long Tail - Everythings up! Except CD's.
For those who are not familiar with the "Long Tail" theory it is one of the most persuasive theories in the economy of the entertainment business right now - that the infinite shelf space of the internet will cater to so many more tastes and demands out there than before, that the small amount of "hits" and "hitmakers" traditionally responsible for the bulk of profits will see a decline as tatses diversify amongst the infinite range of whats now available.
Here's an update from author and editor of wired magazine Chris Anderson on the state of the music industry.
October 19, 2007
Everything in the music industry is up! (except those plastic discs)
At a speech last week I was asked a question that has come up every day since the Radiohead (and Madonna, NIN, Prince, etc, etc) announcement: What's going to happen to the music industry?
To which I answered "Which music industry?" You don't mean just the one that sells CDs, do you? Because it's a big mistake to equate the major labels and their plastic disc business with the industry as a whole. Indeed, when you stand back and look at all of music, things don't look so bad at all.
Indeed, it appears that every single part of the music industry except the sale of compact discs is up.
* Concerts and merchandise: UP (+4%)
* Digital tracks: UP (+46%)
* Ringtones: UP (+86% last year, but probably just single-digit percent this year)
* Licensing for commercials, TV shows, movies and videogames: UP (Warner Music saw licensing grow by about $20 million over the past year)
* Even vinyl singles (think DJs): UP (more than doubled in the UK)
* And, if you include the iPod in the music industry, as I'd argue a fair-minded analysis would: UP, UP, UP! (+31% this year)
Only CDs are down (-18%). They're around 60% of the industry not including the MP3 players, but just around 25% if you do include them.
So the problem with the music labels is not that music is an industry in decline, but that they have a too-narrow view of what business they're in. Madonna's switch from a label to a concert promoter should be a clue. This quote from an excellent article (it's worth reading it all) in Entertainment Weekly says it all:
''Soon a lot of these companies won't define themselves as record companies,'' says Steve Greenberg, the former head of Columbia Records who now runs the independent record company S-Curve. ''They'll define themselves as artist development companies. If you're involved in an entire career with an artist, then everyone's interests can be aligned."
I think most music will soon be free, as artists give away the product as marketing for their performances and licensing, and as a celebrity accelerant that creates more opportunities to make money than just from the sale of a record.
And for those who say that this avenue is only available to artists at the head of the curve, such as Madonna and Radiohead, I'd point out that the other group poorly served by the labels are those at the bottom of the curve, the many thousands of bands who fall below the radar of the hit-driven majors. I'd argue that they, too, have nothing to lose by letting their music go free, nothing to lose but the prospect of becoming indentured to companies stuck in last century's model of monetizing music,
Posted by Chris Anderson Permalink
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And, for what it's worth, down here in long-tail retailer land at CD Baby, even physical CD sales are up 35% over this same month last year. I suspect that part (not all) of the decline of the top-40 CD sales are people buying more CDs directly from independent musicians and alternative outlets.
Posted by: Derek Sivers October 19, 2007 at 11:07 PM
Then there's the content. I'd bet that # of bands, # of musicians, # of tracks being made and available somewhere, # of venues are all up as well. My gut feel is that there are more people making more music than ever before. Then how about streaming; Last.fm and Pandora up. P2P sharing; Up. Number of shoutcast servers; Up. Digital radio and radio over cable/satellite stations are Up.
It's highly likely that more people are listening to more (and more varied) music than ever before.
It's not really CD sales that are down. It's the Music Major's profits.
Posted by: julian bond October 20, 2007 at 01:46 AM
The EW article is extremely interesting, just read it last night. Of particular interest are the "360" deals which include concerts, merchandising, etc. (all forms of revenue, not just CD's). These all-inclusive deals should be the logical progression for the music ologopoly. They clearly need to hedge their bets and diversifying is the answer. These big companies are also much better suited at trafficking in the short head rather than discovering talent in the long tail. Increasingly, technology is facilitating the discovery of longtail artists.
Perhaps this will evolve like the financial markets have. Large labels can start acting like investment banks rather than VC's or seed financiers. They become more transactional in nature and only deal with artists with a lower risk profile (guaranteed revenue stream). Technology will facilitate the viability of smaller unsigned artists getting discovered, and music labels will play less of a role in that process. Perhaps there is still room for labels to take risks and "make" unknown artists into superstars, but maybe it's time they embraced their future in "buying" artists rather than "building" them?
Posted by: Ryan October 20, 2007 at 08:08 AM
Sharing music to promote concerts has been going on for over forty years. The Jam Bands, specifically The Grateful Dead starting allowing their concerts to be taped and shared from their beginning. From this grew a fanatical group of concert goers that follows the band in it's various incarnations today.
They have now spawned a new genre which is instant high quality sound board mixes of the concerts that they do. At $10.00 for an MP3 it makes it worth while to purchase directly from the band online. I expect you'll see more of this as the "real" music companies catch on.....even if it only took them forty years.
Posted by: Josh Patrick October 20, 2007 at 08:38 AM
Sharing music to promote concerts has been going on for over forty years. The Jam Bands, specifically The Grateful Dead starting allowing their concerts to be taped and shared from their beginning. From this grew a fanatical group of concert goers that follows the band in it's various incarnations today.
They have now spawned a new genre which is instant high quality sound board mixes of the concerts that they do. At $10.00 for an MP3 it makes it worth while to purchase directly from the band online. I expect you'll see more of this as the "real" music companies catch on.....even if it only took them forty years.
Posted by: Josh Patrick October 20, 2007 at 08:39 AM
I'm still in shock that the RIAA is running such a gangster outfit... and the government is standing by them as well as the justice system. When more money is spent on lobbying than on marketing, you should take a hint that you're in a dying industry.
Posted by: Douglas Karr October 20, 2007 at 11:14 AM
Cheers for the connection with Kurb.
Supporting musicians with successful strategies on a budget.
Kurb is NZ’s leader in online promotion strategies for artists and creative projects plus we offer the cheapestCD/DVD reproduction and
posters available.
Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program.
All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
.....................
Kurb Myspace
Here's an update from author and editor of wired magazine Chris Anderson on the state of the music industry.
October 19, 2007
Everything in the music industry is up! (except those plastic discs)
At a speech last week I was asked a question that has come up every day since the Radiohead (and Madonna, NIN, Prince, etc, etc) announcement: What's going to happen to the music industry?
To which I answered "Which music industry?" You don't mean just the one that sells CDs, do you? Because it's a big mistake to equate the major labels and their plastic disc business with the industry as a whole. Indeed, when you stand back and look at all of music, things don't look so bad at all.
Indeed, it appears that every single part of the music industry except the sale of compact discs is up.
* Concerts and merchandise: UP (+4%)
* Digital tracks: UP (+46%)
* Ringtones: UP (+86% last year, but probably just single-digit percent this year)
* Licensing for commercials, TV shows, movies and videogames: UP (Warner Music saw licensing grow by about $20 million over the past year)
* Even vinyl singles (think DJs): UP (more than doubled in the UK)
* And, if you include the iPod in the music industry, as I'd argue a fair-minded analysis would: UP, UP, UP! (+31% this year)
Only CDs are down (-18%). They're around 60% of the industry not including the MP3 players, but just around 25% if you do include them.
So the problem with the music labels is not that music is an industry in decline, but that they have a too-narrow view of what business they're in. Madonna's switch from a label to a concert promoter should be a clue. This quote from an excellent article (it's worth reading it all) in Entertainment Weekly says it all:
''Soon a lot of these companies won't define themselves as record companies,'' says Steve Greenberg, the former head of Columbia Records who now runs the independent record company S-Curve. ''They'll define themselves as artist development companies. If you're involved in an entire career with an artist, then everyone's interests can be aligned."
I think most music will soon be free, as artists give away the product as marketing for their performances and licensing, and as a celebrity accelerant that creates more opportunities to make money than just from the sale of a record.
And for those who say that this avenue is only available to artists at the head of the curve, such as Madonna and Radiohead, I'd point out that the other group poorly served by the labels are those at the bottom of the curve, the many thousands of bands who fall below the radar of the hit-driven majors. I'd argue that they, too, have nothing to lose by letting their music go free, nothing to lose but the prospect of becoming indentured to companies stuck in last century's model of monetizing music,
Posted by Chris Anderson Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/156819/22604534
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Everything in the music industry is up! (except those plastic discs):
Comments
And, for what it's worth, down here in long-tail retailer land at CD Baby, even physical CD sales are up 35% over this same month last year. I suspect that part (not all) of the decline of the top-40 CD sales are people buying more CDs directly from independent musicians and alternative outlets.
Posted by: Derek Sivers October 19, 2007 at 11:07 PM
Then there's the content. I'd bet that # of bands, # of musicians, # of tracks being made and available somewhere, # of venues are all up as well. My gut feel is that there are more people making more music than ever before. Then how about streaming; Last.fm and Pandora up. P2P sharing; Up. Number of shoutcast servers; Up. Digital radio and radio over cable/satellite stations are Up.
It's highly likely that more people are listening to more (and more varied) music than ever before.
It's not really CD sales that are down. It's the Music Major's profits.
Posted by: julian bond October 20, 2007 at 01:46 AM
The EW article is extremely interesting, just read it last night. Of particular interest are the "360" deals which include concerts, merchandising, etc. (all forms of revenue, not just CD's). These all-inclusive deals should be the logical progression for the music ologopoly. They clearly need to hedge their bets and diversifying is the answer. These big companies are also much better suited at trafficking in the short head rather than discovering talent in the long tail. Increasingly, technology is facilitating the discovery of longtail artists.
Perhaps this will evolve like the financial markets have. Large labels can start acting like investment banks rather than VC's or seed financiers. They become more transactional in nature and only deal with artists with a lower risk profile (guaranteed revenue stream). Technology will facilitate the viability of smaller unsigned artists getting discovered, and music labels will play less of a role in that process. Perhaps there is still room for labels to take risks and "make" unknown artists into superstars, but maybe it's time they embraced their future in "buying" artists rather than "building" them?
Posted by: Ryan October 20, 2007 at 08:08 AM
Sharing music to promote concerts has been going on for over forty years. The Jam Bands, specifically The Grateful Dead starting allowing their concerts to be taped and shared from their beginning. From this grew a fanatical group of concert goers that follows the band in it's various incarnations today.
They have now spawned a new genre which is instant high quality sound board mixes of the concerts that they do. At $10.00 for an MP3 it makes it worth while to purchase directly from the band online. I expect you'll see more of this as the "real" music companies catch on.....even if it only took them forty years.
Posted by: Josh Patrick October 20, 2007 at 08:38 AM
Sharing music to promote concerts has been going on for over forty years. The Jam Bands, specifically The Grateful Dead starting allowing their concerts to be taped and shared from their beginning. From this grew a fanatical group of concert goers that follows the band in it's various incarnations today.
They have now spawned a new genre which is instant high quality sound board mixes of the concerts that they do. At $10.00 for an MP3 it makes it worth while to purchase directly from the band online. I expect you'll see more of this as the "real" music companies catch on.....even if it only took them forty years.
Posted by: Josh Patrick October 20, 2007 at 08:39 AM
I'm still in shock that the RIAA is running such a gangster outfit... and the government is standing by them as well as the justice system. When more money is spent on lobbying than on marketing, you should take a hint that you're in a dying industry.
Posted by: Douglas Karr October 20, 2007 at 11:14 AM
Cheers for the connection with Kurb.
Supporting musicians with successful strategies on a budget.
Kurb is NZ’s leader in online promotion strategies for artists and creative projects plus we offer the cheapestCD/DVD reproduction and
posters available.
Come by our page, theres plenty to pick up about new developments in the music industry in our blogs and theres a whole lot of free info and articles at our self promotions hub. Get some scope checking out our overview of online promotion strategies and if you’re interested our artist packages or brand new campaign packages including CD’s, posters and a dedicated online distribution, promotion and videomarketing program.
All the best with your music, from Kurb
For direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromo
.....................
Kurb Myspace
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