SONG CONTEST BLOG

Gighit is another entry into the already crowded gig listing and search space.  With all the promise of its competitors, including Gigulate, which I covered last week, LiveKick, Songkick, and ItsLiveMusic, and others, I fail to see the differentiation.  That’s not to say that Gighit is any better or worse than the others but rather aiming at the very same target with no unique positioning in sight.  That goes for the others, of course.  Is the gig listing and search niche just a battle of who launches and unrolls more search functionality?

Gighit, developed by Caffeinehit Ltd., a London-based design company, claims to have been around since 2000 under various guises with the ambition to provide gig listings and artist promotion services on the web, prior to the onset of web2.0 and social networking.  Looking at Caffeinehit’s website, the team behind it is clearly talented (in terms of design, at least) but I question how they’re going to leverage this concept in a currently very noisy and cluttered live music environment.

Trent Reznor, a music pioneer on more than one level, has paved the way for a new music business attitude through forward-thinking marketing concepts to communicate with fans directly and provide them with a reason to consume his music and come to his shows.  In 2007, Reznor under the famed band alias, Nine Inch Nails, prior to the release of the album, “Year Zero”, launched an online reality-themed scavenger hunt, intended to engage fans and deliver a unique user experience.  In conjunction with this gaming initiative, Reznor dropped USB keys loaded with NIN music at his concert venue’s toilets for fans to pick-up and enjoy for free – and share.  At the time, it was not clear whether the music was leaked by fans or by Reznor himself which spurred the RIAA to put up takedown notices, fueling the campaign even further.  To make the album’s physical CD release distinctive, Reznor printed CDs that changed colour – a gimmick CD copies would not benefit from – to encourage fans to buy the originals to supplement whatever free digital content they may or may not have already had access to.  After this episode, Reznor left his label and went on his own, beginning with the independent release of “Ghosts I – IV”.  In this case, the 36-track album was offered to fans in a variety of attractive models, all under a Creative Commons license: first 9 tracks for free, $5 for all tracks plus a 40-page pdf booklet; $10 for 2 CD set plus a 16 page booklet; $75 Deluxe Edition Package (i.e. box set); $300 Ultra Deluxe Limited Edition Package, capped at 2500 units all signed by Reznor himself, which sold out in 30 hours.  Collectively, Reznor grossed $1.6 million in the first week from this independent initiative.  The album later became a number one seller on Amazon in spite of its attribution license which made the digital sharing of it legal.  Reznor’s following album, “The Slip”, was offered entirely for free two months later along with sample tracks from NIN’s opening acts.  All you needed to do is punch in your email address.  Again, Reznor provided a unique fan experience, along with a visual depiction of the volume of downloads by location on Google Maps and a full tour venue listing and ticketing options.  The tour was a huge success.

Gigulate is a new dotcom out of England that provides performing artist gig schedules and tour details by analyzing music industry news, blog posts and published gig listings across the web.  Much like SongKick, LiveKick and ItsLiveMusic, to name just a few competing gig listing search engines, Gigulate’s business model is fashioned on live music ticketing, a music industry sector on the up&up.  The idea is to provide music fans with a free and swift method of searching for and subscribing to specific live music events, and up-selling ticket purchases via third-party online ticket sellers such as WeGotTickets or See, two UK leaders.  Although the site, currently in private beta, does not yet provide a direct means for ticket purchases, the company will probably pursue a merger or acquisition by a leading player in the field to deploy the ticketing end; Ticketmaster would be an ideal candidate.

In the point of view of the booking agent, you – the artist – must be in place in your career that you can attract enough paying gig-goers to your show, do so frequently, and with consistent growth to justify the booking agent’s efforts in exchange for his 10% (sometimes 15%) cut.  Unfortunately, most developing artists, even those with a small but loyal following, are not attractive enough for the reputable booking agents to pursue.  Much like talent scouts, booking agents will sometimes take a chance on an act that they believe will develop successfully and provide a handsome financial return in the future, but this is a relationship that is both difficult to pursue and cultivate and its terms will be strongly in the favor of the booking agent.

If you’re not a savvy manager yourself, find an artist manager before looking for a booking agent.  Keeping in mind that your manager sees a cut of everything you do whereas the booking agent only sees a cut of your live performances, statistically, a manager should be easier to sign with because he is spreading his risk on all of your musical assets.  Your manager should already have music industry connections and a way in to discuss tour scheduling opportunities face to face with an established booking agent, rather than making cold calls yourself.  However, if this is not the case, at least the booking agent can see that you were talented enough to attract an artist manager in the first place and, therefore, worth attending your next show.

The multi-national booking and management agencies such as The Agency Group and William Morris Agency prefer to see that you have financial backing, usually in the form of a label contract.  This, if nothing else, ensures that the label can afford to finance your tour and even take a loss for the privilege of ‘breaking’ you.

Whatever the arrangement may be, everyone involved wants to make money.  As such, it’s your responsibility (or, better yet, your manager’s responsibility) to show that you are a great investment.

Live Nation, the world’s largest producer of live concerts and the leading purveyor of the mega-deal (or 360 music deal), has become a music industry powerhouse and, as result, drawing and signing the most lucrative artists in today’s live music market , a la Nickelback and Madonna.  The LA-based live music behemoth sells more than 45 million concert tickets each year and, in music industry standards, considered a promotional sure-fire.  In many respects, the company operates as a music label should: developing professional artists of every caliber by providing a financial pipeline into every aspect of the artist’s ‘portfolio’.   In 2008, Live Nation organized and produced 16,000 concerts for 1,500 in 57 countries.

ItsLiveMusic is a new search engine, currently in beta, for live music event listings throughout the US. The search engine sorts through and aggregates thousands of online sources to find all the live music events listed online at any given time. It also finds and displays basic information about the artists and the venues, and automatically creates a profile page for each.

It seems like eons ago that Madonna seeded file-sharing sites with MP3s of her voice scolding fans about the evils of music downloading. Well if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. In Early October, 2007, Madonna walked away from her 25 year relationship with Warner Music and signed a new 10-year contract worth $120 million with Live Nation, an LA-based concert promotion firm. In a released statement Madonna explained, “the paradigm in the music business has shifted and as an artist and a business woman, I have to move with that shift.”

So what does a concert promotion firm have that Warner Music doesn’t? Live Nation offers a complete marketing package for the Madonna label and recognizes, like Madonna now does, that music is the least of what she sells. The deal covers every aspect of the Madonna music brand including touring, merchandising, fan club, DVDs, website, music related TV and film, licensing and sponsorship agreements, and of course, record albums.

This mega-deal with the US’s largest concert promoter is the first step in which Live Nation aims to set itself up as a new breed of record company by appealing to mega-stars and offering them one-stop shopping benefits to market and sell their image, which, for an established artist, constitutes so much more than just their music. It combines two industry powerhouses into one efficient revenue stream that can more effectively promote the Madonna label and dramatically increase revenue for both parties.