The Film Industry to become the next Music Industry

Documentary & Independent films are booming these days as the big budget blockbusters decline. The film industry is not looking as good as it used to. Their profits are thinning because of the growing piracy online and so more and more lawsuits are forming against these companies. I feel deja vu big time right now. When the music industry started feeling the pains of its consumer’s ability to find music for free online the lawsuits came fast. With the recent forced takedowns against FanSub sites the film industry has their own version of Napster. One of my favorite movies ever (Citizen Kane is my favorite) is Back To The Future. I feel that if I went back in time it would be to this post hoping that a film industry professional would read this and realize that I’m right. The film industry is on it’s decline. The formats are being forced to change. But who will be the Trent Reznor of the film world? Using Mr. Masnick’s phrase, “Who will be the first to make things remarkable by giving the consumer a “reason to buy”"? I wish I was a filmmaker right now because the knowledge I have in the music industry feels like a winning lottery ticket in the film industry.

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Tags: film industry, Music Industry, piracy, Word Of Mouth Marketing

PEARL JAM to join the growing unsigned artist community

After completing their contract with Sony and J Records, Pearl Jam has joined the growing list of empowered unsigned artists just looking to bypass their labels and go more direct to their fans. Like their predecessors it has come down to the ability to control their future, increase their profits and open up a wide variety of inventive bundling options for it’s September 20th release. By using their name, having great songs and hiring the same business professionals that have been working with them in the past they have completely cut out lengthy contracts and undoubtably will have the same level of results. Why are more and more artists doing this? Major labels have lost their way. Before the internet boom, when an artist got signed that meant that the label would pour EVERYTHING they had into you. I can’t blame labels at all for being reluctant in this declining music industry however it’s the lack of ideas and unwillingness to jump all the way in that is killing them.

There’s one valuable point that has been forgotten…people still LOVE music.

Now, I’ve been notorious for saying that I’m not a fan of how major labels have handled their 21st century business models however there is still a place for them if they adjusted a bit. If labels signed “media partnerships” in addition to it’s new 360 deals they would be in more demand and bands like, Pearl Jam would not be lossed. The gap between would widen between the unsigned artist and the majors. Look at Disney. Disney signs 360 deals but they give everything in their 360 rights. As an artist you know that if you get signed by them, you will be given a chance to be involved in all their media projects from creating tv shows for you to being in the next movie. These powerful mediums can still work if done right. In my opinion, if you’re gonna be signed, be signed. Otherwise, DIY is your other choice. There are plenty of unsigned artists that are doing fine financially: Kari Kimmel (you can hear her on countless movie soundtracks, tv shows & commercials), Coffey Anderson (Burn Lounge’s #1 selling artist & plays a ton of churches and colleges for his adoring fans) and Ernie Halter (who has 513,000 twitter followers, tours 9 months out of the year and records out of his bathroom).

My prediction is that with the gap closing between the bigger independents and the majors, majors are going out of business. If majors truly embrace ALL of it’s artists as media partners on top they would increase their sales. Sure, they wouldn’t sign as many artists but at least the desire from the artist community wouldn’t be so negative.

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Tags: Major Labels, Pearl Jam, Unsigned Artists

GOALS

It’s quite interesting to me how easy it is to say you need goals yet so hard to make them for people. We get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget how important it is to our lives. In my opinion, there are a few things that makes the human species great and putting goals in front of you is one of them. This post will be able to be applied to anything in your life and I know I’m not making any headway with a revolutionary thought. However, saying and doing are two different things and as you’re reading this post you know who you are. I don’t have to tell you.

Irregardless, I want to encourage everybody reading to make at least 1 long term goal and then make a series of short goals. All of which should come with a ladder of steps on how you’re going to get there. The great thing about us as people is that we can do almost anything we put our minds to (as long as we apply ourselves). Jim Carrey is a great example of success. Before he became rich and famous he was a struggling actor just trying to get recognition. After many trying times he put a rather lofty goal in front of him: he wrote himself a 1,000,000 dollar check. Of course, he couldn’t cash it then but he sure did later after putting together a series of steps to get there. That was his goal. Another example would be a little known band at the time called, PLAIN WHITE T’s. Sure everybody knows them as the “Hey There Delilah” band but did you know that they couldn’t fill a 200 seat venue in their hometown? Through a very specific touring goal they rose up the ranks to where they are today. There’s nothing magical going on with these two examples. They simply put goals in front of them and put steps together to make that happen.

If you don’t know where you’re going you’ve applied yourself to a lack of purpose. This is not the answer to life (being a servant and sharing your life with others seems to be a better purpose) but you’ll find that life seems to be just a little bit better if you put goals in front of you.

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Tags: goals, life, Motivation

Why direct-to-fan is valuable

With a plethora of artists out there all trying to grab the attention of new fans on their own it’s becoming harder and harder to become a traditional rock star in the eyes of the consumer (imagine Michael Jackson when I say “Rock Star”). It’s not new news that sales are going down; however, people still appreciate music today as much as they did 50 years ago. The way people sell music today is much different and I’m here to tell you that direct-to-fan is the reason why the untouchable “Rock Star” is turning into a dinosaur. You won’t find a definition for Direct-To-Fan on Wikipedia but most music industry professionals on top of their game will all tell you the value of Direct To Fan. Direct-To-Fan turns the consumer into a True Fan (see Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans) by engaging them through various experiences directly from the artist. It turns ordinary items used to sell an experience like buying a concert ticket into an experience in and of itself through a deeper connection. Direct-To-Fan also leads to word of mouth too, which is ultimately what artists want. The Rock Stars of today (we’ll use Madonna as an example) will probably never need to entice their fans with direct to fan methodology to sell out tours; however, if Madonna jumped on a video stream and sold 100 tickets all personally autographed that would probably create a stir not just amongst the lucky fans able to engage with Madonna but amongst the music community as a whole. It’s that direct-to-fan example that can go a VERY long way and it’s free. It can also make artists seem more relevant (look at Trent Reznor of NIN) because if you’re friend tells you about it you’ll listen. If a TV ad runs you might not tell another sole. Unless they were advertising around direct-to-fan.

My 2 cents.

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Tags: direct to fan, word of mouth

The 4 Foot CD

With so many bands out there trying to get their music heard it seems more and more impossible to “make it”. I think it’s great because it’s turning musicians into smarter musicians. I beg the question many have asked from the marketing side of things, “Do you deserve being worthy of an opinion?” Good or Bad it doesn’t matter; however, if the answer is “no” then you probably need to re-evaluate what you’re doing. What makes things special is when they expect to hear, see or feel something and they don’t get what they expected. It’s that stimulation that can spur on something great and people will talk about it. Here’s an example, if I went to a record store (yeah yeah yeah, I still go to record stores) and I saw a CD that was 4 feet high I would probably give it a second look. It might intrigue me to go up to it, study it and then ask questions to the store employee like, “Why is the CD packaging so large?” The details of the CDs past the 4 foot high status are irrelevant; but the point is, I would talk about it to my friends and co-workers. That’s an opinion. I might not have bought that 4 foot high CD package; however, I might without even knowing it tell the person that might buy it. That’s what every band wants.

Always be prepared for what could happen when it comes to word of mouth. Getting the attention based on your clever ideas can turn the common consumer into an advocate. This is where you need to give direction and the tools for both online and offline for them to spread the word to their friends (your target consumer) about what you’re doing. The moment there’s a disconnect you just lost them. Also, make sure you constantly give special and unique items as added value to keep them coming back for more. Your consumer will appreciate you more because of this and if your added value gets their attention again they will again talk about it. That’s the cycle you want. You give; they talk. Go this route and your career will last quite a long time as a result of your growing audience. If you’re a band and you think you need a certain review in a magazine or you need your label to buy an ad to get things rolling, change your ways. Who cares anyway? There’s so much more that can be done with that money. Your word of mouth vision is your print ad, if you will. Only, it’s REAL. I want to challenge all bands to go the extra mile. I hope this will inspire you.

If you think you’ve got something equivalent to “a 4 foot CD,” then please feel free to share it with us below in the comments!

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Tags: music, outrageous marketing

Keeping A Leveled Head

This week I’d like to talk about what to do as a musician in order to make noise (from a business perspective), get the attention of fans and at the end of the day keep a leveled head. This might seem like a strange topic but nonetheless this needs to be addressed. You’ve probably seen this on a sitcom where a fan meets their favorite singer and the singer turns out to be a jerk. We call this “lead singer’s syndrome” but since that’s not every singer we’ll call it “band ego”. This one thing can kill your very existence as a group both internally, with your team members (management, label, booking agent, attorney etc) and with your fans. If you read last weeks article about being a “smart musician” this would fall into this group. Let me tell you a little story about a very real band going through this right now. Please take this to heart so you don’t do the same thing they did. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this too many times.
We’ll call them Restless Love (if there’s a band out there called, Restless Love this is not about you). Restless Love is a group of individuals who are hard working and proactive. They write a lot of great songs, can draw 400 kids in their hometown and often get letters on their MySpace about how great they are. Suddenly the industry has taken notice. They are picked up by a management company who then hands them a great attorney and they are off. Now the band is touring all the time playing in front of 500 new potential fans every night. They sign autographs, take photos and tell their new fans they love them and say, “thank you” for their support. Internally they realize that they’re getting bigger and press on. Their team (management & attorney) want to push harder so they act as their label handling everything they can for them. Restless Love is getting quite large and now labels are talking to them. They are not sure if they want to sign but after many conversations they decide to do so. Their deal is better than most because the hard work of everybody involved has empowered them. They are on top of the world. They go into the studio with A-list producers, they are selling out every show and everybody is hustling.

Here’s where everything goes wrong:

Egos start to form as a result of everybody telling them they are great and from then on they are driven by an unrealistic view. Restless Love’s songs suddenly are not good enough, their team doesn’t work hard enough, their label isn’t pushing them the way they like and this is where the firings begin. First it’s the attorney, then it’s their manager, then their booking agent. They are creating friction with their label and making others feel uncomfortable at their jobs too. “Why,” you ask? Why would a band do that? It’s all because of ego. The worst part is that they have also lost control of the workload and from the firings a real loss of work has also happened. They are going towards being another casualty of this business. They are losing the very reason why they started and are on the verge of “self destruction”. Suddenly everything that they have worked hard for is in turmoil. If a fan came up to them at this point you would have the sitcom all over again. Bands like this do not last long in the game of music.

The point is to be thankful and keep a leveled head. The music industry can be rough on bands but it doesn’t have to be if you don’t take things for granted. Bands: if I can give you one lesson about the entertainment business, it’s that it’s quite fun when a ton of people tell you you’re great. Just take it for what it is. The bands with lasting careers today are better off when they know what they are doing without the fog of an ego. They often make better decisions, listen to others and work best with everybody which ultimately makes all your fans and yourselves happy in the end.

Being in a band is no different than owning any other business. Keep a leveled head.

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Tags: attitude, being successful, music business

How To Empower Your Craft and Make Money Doing It.

For the artist that just thinks that getting signed is the answer to be big this is not for you.  You’re the lost generation and you need to wake up.  This article is for the artists that are tired of waiting for others to take notice. For the artists that just want to empower themselves through real work by their own hands and not by others.   How do you make money in this industry?  Simple.  Have great content and build your story.  How do you build a story?

Well first, let’s take a step back and talk about your content aka your music.   Is your music worth talking about?  Will people tell their friends when they hear it?  Many times artists think that they just need to write a few songs and get it out there.  In theory, “yes,” but what you put out represents you.  So, how do you know it’s good?  If you just want to sell music to your mom, sister and cousins I’m sure they will buy it and think it’s “cute” that you’re playing music.   But if you’re looking for a bigger more serious fan base there are great ways to test your new music before you release it: play shows, take a poll and stream the songs online, give some to complete strangers and ask for their opinion.  Whatever methods you use take some pride in your craft.  Be a good musician. Don’t think you’re gonna make money because you have music because if it’s not good go get another job.

So now you have stuff you’re ready to put out and it’s as good as you can make it.  What do you do now?  Build your story!  Chances are you’re not from Mars so another band inspired you to start your own band.  Be a smart musician. The internet and, more specifically, social media as a whole helps the musicians get the word out about what you’re up to.  Couple that with the many distribution outlets [coughs]Audiolife[coughs]  and you’ve just formed your base and the set up of what to say to people and where to direct them.  The best advice to get started though is to invest your time in seeing other successful campaigns large or small.   If you think you can copy those techniques then I see success in your future.  You might not be able to do exactly what they are doing but you’ll use that example to build your own story around your music.

Lastly, Outrageous marketing makes headlines folks. Be an outrageous musician. If Mos Def can sell his album on a t-shirt, Amanda Palmer can make $19,000 with a few simple ideas off Twitter, Josh Freese can sell a bundle for his latest record for $75,000 and Jeff Krantz can sell a $10,000 song you can do it too.  How?  They actually thought about being different.  Give your fans a reason to talk about you.  You don’t have to be a large artist to shake up the music industry.  You just have to be outrageous.  Engage your fans at all times during this process and they will follow you forever.  The untouchable rock star is so 80’s.  Your real rock stars feel like they are your next door neighbor who you can hang with.  I encourage everyone to be a good musician, a smart musician and an outrageous musician.  You’ll thank me for it later.  That’s how you can make money in the music industry.

Oh and by the way, if you do these things the music industry starts to take notice.  However, if you go this route you have the power to say “yes” or “no” to them rather than the other way around.  Something to think about.  As Ben Stiller once said in the movie, Starsky and Hutch…..”do it.”

 

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Tags: Music 2.0, Word Of Mouth Marketing