articles posted with tag: music-business | See all tags

Street Teams

Record labels and independent musicians have been utilizing street teams to deploy on-the-street guerrilla marketing tactics for a long time. But mobilizing these fans can be a complicated exercise in logistics and time management.

Now there is an online software platform available for managing street teams no matter where they are. A great idea whose time has come and something events also should look into. It’s comprehensive, user-friendly, with built-in quality control and incentives for the best street teamers.

Check out Fancorps.com.

Posted Tuesday April 22, 2008
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Thoughts on South by Southwest '08

No surprise, SXSW was replete with way too much to do to squeeze it all in. Crazy! My musical highlights included punk veterans X and I finally got around to seeing Tom Freund, for whom a friend plays drums. I’d say his music is a cross between Lucinda Williams and Leonard Cohen. WOW.

And of course it was a marketing explosion. Very well done in most cases, I’d say, although there was so much of it that it’s easy to get lost in the chaos. Dell did a killer lounge in the convention center, with a fake fireplace, plush carpet, and acoustic acts playing during the day. Probably something they do all the time at trade shows, but not really the kind of thing you see at events like South-by, where the marketing is as much B(usiness) to C(onsumer) as it is B to B.

Several companies had their own venues, be it an actual existing brick and mortar space or a big tent they popped up just for the occasion. Either way, it’s an effective way for a brand to take ownership of the goings-on and then share that with consumers. A nice version of the pop-up store concept.

There was a good bit of “ambush marketing” as well – non-sponsoring companies (who are often competitors with the official sponsors) just showing up and giving away product and swag – which sucks for sponsors but it happens all the time at events. It would be nice if event organizers would police that more effectively but sometimes they can’t and then sometimes they just don’t.

Posted Thursday March 20, 2008
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South by Southwest Hosts Marketing with Music Panels

One of the (many) reasons SXSW is such a hot property is the daytime panel discussions at which top industry pros discuss myriad topics relevant to the business of music. Panels are only open to badge-holders, which means you have to be a festival registrant. (SXSW also sells wristbands for fans who are only interested in attending the artist showcases.)

This year there will be two panels discussing the partnership opportunities between bands & brands:

Brands, Bands, and Fans
Here’s the description of the panel according to the website:
With the traditional music industry in a state of flux, new opportunities for investment and exposure are arising. Music has the ability to inspire passion, engage audiences on a variety of levels, and offers a versatile media for conveying thoughts, feelings and ideas. It is no surprise then that consumer brands around the world see music as an effective platform for delivering a brand experience. Leading music and brand specialists look at which campaigns actually succeed in putting value back into music, and what lessons can the music industry learn to develop preferable brand partnerships in future.

This Year’s Model: Brand Labels
Description:
The music business is undergoing a sea of change as name artists become free agents and new artists question the value of the traditional label/publisher relationship. There are only so many movie, TV, and game slots to expose new music. Starbucks Hear Music has opened the door to yet another alternative: the brand label. Brands are becoming very active in working with artists in more of a partnership arrangement. The panel will discuss the opportunities and ramifications of this new model.

Posted Wednesday March 5, 2008
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South by Southwest

Spring Break for music industry folk takes place every March in Austin, Tx. Being a native Texan, SXSW is a ritual for me. Now that I’m in Seattle, it’s not as easy to get to, but get to I do.

When I first started going in the mid-90’s, folks were complaining about how it had grown from a cool little event that showcased the best of Texas and regional music, to a commercialized sellout that kowtowed to the major labels. Well if that were the case circa 1995, it’s now a grotesque orgy of expense accounts, schmoozing and marketing, with a little music thrown in.

I still have a blast every year! Drop me a line if you’re going.

Posted Sunday February 24, 2008
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Blurring the Lines

Superstar hip-hop producer Timbaland has agreed to produce songs exclusively for distribution to subscribers of Verizon’s V-Cast service. Subscribers will get other exclusives too, such as “making of” videos, and of course ringtones and ringbacks.

You might be saying to yourself, “Wait a minute, I thought Verizon was a cell-phone service. But this sounds more like an entertainment service.”

Now THAT is Engagement Marketing.

Posted Friday February 8, 2008
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Marketing and Music Industry Chaos

The music industry is in something of a Jekyll and Hyde situation right now. CD sales have been in decline for several years, and the ball is rolling downhill faster and faster. This means that major record labels are slowly imploding. That’s the down side.

The up side is that music is more ubiquitous than ever; bands and artists have MUCH more power and options than ever; and there are tons more marketing channels and ways for an artist to build their business besides selling records.

Not long ago it was cd sales (“units moved”) that was the only measure of an act’s success, and touring was primarily a means of promoting and selling cd’s. But the decades-old paradigm is shifting. Full-length cd’s are being eclipsed by single downloads, and music is often given away for free as a promotional tool that then hooks the fan into buying merch, concert tickets, not to mention the ever-increasing pool of artists’ ancillary businesses such as clothing and fragrances. CD sales tracking is now only one element of the overall success measure, as things like live shows, ringtones, blog and chat room buzz, and social networking show the bigger picture of who’s hot and who’s not. Very often cd sales don’t translate into ticket sales, and artists who don’t sell many cd’s consistently play sold-out shows. Artists who use to be tied to major labels out of necessity are now taking control back and doing all kinds of never-seen-before experiments and deals. It’s pretty exciting, unless you’re employed at a major.

So major labels are hurting badly, other things are still evolving and have yet to settle into a predictable methodology, and many other music business aspects are positively thriving. It just so happens that those thriving parts, and even the still-evolving parts, are the ones that a business of any type and any size can utilize in a marketing partnership. Don’t let any reports of doom and gloom give you the wrong impression. These are the days.

Posted Thursday December 20, 2007
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Great Info for Musicians

Here is an excellent resource for finding all manner of advice regarding the music business. Any baby band or emerging artist has to take care of their own business at least for a while, like it or not. Not knowing the tricks of the trade can really hurt an artist creatively and financially, and in fact has hurt many including some of the most well-known. The Beatles, for one.

Even after an artist has achieved a level of success that warrants having a manager, booking agent, attorney, publicist, business manager, label, publisher, distributor, etc., it’s still important for a musician to understand the business. This can be difficult because business often feels counter-intuitive to a musician’s creativity. But there are literally hundreds if not thousands of horror stories of musicians who just didn’t know any better and got totally screwed because of it.

There are tons and tons of books, blogs and websites that dole out music business advice and tips, but I like this as a real user-friendly and easy to navigate page; and the information is sourced from bona-fide industry pros. I’ve checked out a few of the articles on the page, and so far everything is very thorough and spot on. I highly recommend taking the time to utilize this valuable resource on a continual basis.

Posted Wednesday December 19, 2007
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Music + Marketing = Win-Win

Digital Music News reports a huge investment by energy drink brand Red Bull into the music business, including a state of the art recording studio at their U.S. headquarters in California. Details are scarce for now, but the report also says that many top music executives are in on the happenings.

Clearly the brand is looking to enhance and expand its lifestyle profile by adding music artists to the list of tastemakers and events, mostly in the realm of extreme sports, that they are already aligned with. It remains to be seen whether these artists will be household names or not, but my guess is they will first go after acts who also fit into the extreme sports lifestyle, such as emerging acts in punk, and DJs.

This arrangement should be a win-win for Red Bull and the artists (and labels? producers?) it works with. The scenario will likely include things like Red Bull having exclusivity on some singles that can be digitally and otherwise distributed to their consumers; and of course tour support. In exchange, the artist will probably get free studio time, added exposure, and of course money. The trick here is to work the deal so that the artist gets the money and promotion without feeling like – or coming off to their fans as – a shill. Look for an upcoming white paper on this very subject from Combo Platter.

Often referred to as “Bands and Brands” or something similar, you will see lots of discussion on this type of association here.

Posted Tuesday November 20, 2007
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