MUSIC INDUSTRY BLOG

Scott Ginsberg, author and motivational speaker, writes:

Because of our instant gratification culture, we’re impatient.

Because of our privileged upbringing, we developed a mediocre work ethic.

Because of our self-reliant, entrepreneurial bent, we don’t offer loyalty easily.

Because of our abundance of choices, we’re quick to quit and pursue something better.

No wonder we can’t stick with anything for very long.

Now let me ask you this:

Are you sticking to your plan to achieve a successful career in music?

And what do you do when your plan doesn’t go according to plan?

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Not as many as you’d like, I suspect.

It’s not because your music is ‘bad’.  In fact, people talk about bad music just as much as they do about good music.

So why isn’t there a larger conversation around you and your art?

Because you’re relying on your music.

There are 13 million music profiles on MySpace but only 4,000 artists on the rosters of the major music labels.

It’s fair to assume that a lot more than 4,000 artists are writing, producing and performing great songs.  Some of them are making ends meet on indie labels or on their own…

…But the sad truth is that most of them are working day jobs and you will probably never hear of them.

The competition is fierce.

If your strategy for success hinges on great songs, awesome production, and a tight live act alone, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

Here is an example of an artist who made it easy for music fans to talk about her, but she did NOT center the conversation around her music.

Instead, she created this video …and it worked!

Owning a Gibson guitar is like owning a BMW.

It’s a statement.

For BMW, the “German Engineering” stamp is impervious to Lexus.

For Gibson, “Made In The USA” is just as sacred.

It takes decades to establish the reputation that Gibson has achieved.

Yet only minutes to flush it down the toilet.

Gibson, like many heritage brands, engaged itself with a young spunky marketing consultant that dazzled its management team with social media catchwords like “viral”, “buzz” and “tweet”.

How the conversation went down:

Spunky Consultant:  “You’re doing everything wrong.  Everything!”

Gibson Management:  “We are?  Sales are up.  Overhead is down.  What do you mean?”

Spunky Consultant:  “Sales Shmales.  It’s not about the money, it’s about your brand equity!”

Gibson Management:  “Sales Shmales?”

Spunky Consultant:  “You want to connect with your fans, engage with your customers and create a conversation around you, see?”

Gibson Management:  “Will that increase sales?”

Spunky Consultant:  “Forget sales already.  I’m going to get you buzz.  You do want buzz, don’t you?”

Gibson Management:  “Does buzz increase sales?”

Spunky Consultant:  “Look, do you want followers or not?”

Gibson Management:  “I… guess… that… we… do…”

Spunky Consultant:  “Great!  Make the check out to…”

So what happened the next day?

Gibson launched a new website that displays each of its exquisite instruments in the light that they deserve.  Best of all, on every page of the website, beneath the featured instrument, they included threaded comments (like on YouTube) where visitors can comment on the featured guitar and the community can vote the comment up or down.

This is spunky, dynamic, web 2.0-ish online social media marketing at its finest!

Except for one thing…

The most popular comments, those that received the largest number of votes, make Gibson look like a Buick, not a luxury premium.

One comment in particular, truly struck a chord with me.  Here it is at No. 1 with 452 votes for the Gibson Les Paul Dusk Tiger:

I can see the salesmen at Guitar Center now: Salesman: “Hey man check out the new Gibson Dusk Tiger! It’s got all of these amazing features!” Customer: “It looks kinda stupid.” Salesman: “Yeah but it tunes itself! You can dial in any tone you want on this baby!” Customer: “Can you dial in a less stupid looking finish? My band will laugh at me if I turn up to a gig with that thing” Salesman: “It only comes in the one color, but it’s LIMITED EDITION! There’s only gonna be 1000 of these made!” Customer: “I think it’s a limited edition because there’s a limited market for these things. Even then I doubt that there are enough guys out there wearing the leather pants, wolf t-shirt and eye makeup necessary to look as stupid as this guitar. And those guys usually don’t have $4000 to waste on what is basically a gimmicky Les Paul dressed as a gay tiger, so you’re going to have a hard time selling these, aren’t you?” Salesman: “Like you would not believe”

Where do you think Gibson went wrong with its online marketing strategy?

Leave me your thoughts please.

1. Email Is The Holy Grail
Whether you’re tricking out your MySpace page or performing at your local venue, always think about what you can do to collect more email addresses. Believe me, there is nothing of greater importance than your email list.  If you’re not using a professional email marketing service (EMS), you should start now.  Mad Mimi is my favorite but I have also tried iContact (which I hated), MailChimp (which I liked) and Emma (which I loved but it’s a bit pricey).

2. Passive Radio Is Passé
Massive online radio sites get your music in front of targeted music fans.  They are not your average passive radio listeners, they are music fanatics feverishly searching for music just like yours.  Yeah, you have to pay for the privilege, but the exposure you get in return is guaranteed and trackable.  In the music biz, it’s hard to find that kind of bang-for-your-buck value. Jango Airplay is the largest online radio promotion service that I know of.  As a Jango affiliate, I regularly send artists in their direction.  The feedback from these artists has been phenomenal.

3. Get Professional Help
Whether it’s your songwriting or your marketing (or anything else), never underestimate the value of expert advice.  We Are Listening provides professional assessments for songs and lyrics.  It’s what we know and what we’re good at.  But you can find a service, coach or consultant for any project you wish to fast track to success.  The humility required to ask for help and receive critical feedback is the mark of an independent artist and entrepreneur that people want to listen to and associate with.  Personally, I can use all the help I can get!

4. Stand Out
You don’t have to be loud to stand out.  The smallest touches can make a huge impact… and I don’t mean limited edition vinyls or glow-in-the-dark t-shirts.  For example, I recently discovered that you can create your own custom M&Ms.  It’s awesome.  Imagine every M&M with your message and image on it, any colour scheme you like, and branded packaging.  Great munchies at a gig.  Lovely gift for any holiday.

5. Follow The Leaders
I can’t think of a better way to learn about the music industry and make great connections than by following individuals who have been there, done it, succeeded, and willing to share their experiences with you.  For free.  I recently published a post on the subject that should get you started:
14 Music Industry Leaders (You Should Follow)

6. Be An Outstanding Communicator
Most people are not.  But it’s something that can be learned.  Remember Secret #1 (Email Is The Holy Grail)?  Well, that email list you’ve been growing is not worth a dime if you can’t put a compelling message together.  Outstanding communicators stand out, lead and succeed.  Are you an outstanding communicator?

Bonus Tip
If you’re already running your own newsletter campaigns, whatever you do, don’t do this.

3 Music Marketing Success Stories:
$10,000 In 48 Hours (Without A Label)
How To Get 200 New Fans A Week
How To Raise $10,000

Yesterday, I received a newsletter for which I didn’t opt-in to from an artist I have never heard of.

To make matters worse, he used “Vote for me, promote my stuff!” as the subject line.  The message was in two languages, only one of which I can understand, and it read:

Promote my music, post links in the web, send my reverbnation ploayer to other people, you can copy the player and paste it in mails or comments on other websites like myspace. If you want to buy my musik just click the shops, or the links that I will post on myspace during the day! ; )

I accept that, as an occupational hazard, I am added to artists’ email lists without my permission on a daily basis.  Not a problem.  When I receive their group messages, I swiftly click on Spam or Unsubscribe, depending on my mood.

This guy, though, failed [himself] on all fronts:

1. No permission from me
2. Pompous subject line followed by a…
3. Conceited message that’s…
4. Irrelevant to me

Don’t do this.

3 Music Marketing Success Stories:
$10,000 In 48 Hours (Without A Label)
How To Get 200 New Fans A Week
How To Raise $10,000

I just discovered that anyone can create their own custom M&Ms!

Just imagine:  Every bite with your message, artwork, logo or face on it.  How cool is that?

You can also choose from a variety of personalized color schemes and packaging.

It’s so awesome you have to check it out.  Yum!

Music marketing is hard. Really hard.

I have made all the rookie mistakes and then some.

From building websites to building an email list, I have spent a small fortune creating my business. Had I known then what I know today, I could have saved thousands of dollars, spared myself countless sleepless nights, and achieved the success I enjoy today much sooner.

If you’re already enjoying the success you deserve, read no further.

But if you’re feeling disgruntled with the music industry, frustrated with the promise of a multitude of internet services, and darn right pissed off that all the work you’re doing isn’t paying off, please read on. I’ll make it short.

Secret #1: Email Is The Holy Grail
Whether you’re tricking out your MySpace page or performing at your local venue, always think about what you can do to collect more email addresses. Believe me, there is nothing of greater importance than your email list. If you’re not using a professional email service, start now.

Secret #2: Passive Radio Is Passé
Massive online radio sites get your music in front of targeted music fans. They are not your average passive radio listeners, they are music fanatics feverishly searching for music just like yours. Yeah, you have to pay for the privilege, but the exposure you get in return is guaranteed and trackable. In the music biz, it’s hard to find that kind of bang-for-your-buck value. Jango Airplay is the largest online radio promotion service I know of. Are you on it?

Secret #3: Get Professional Help
Whether it’s your songwriting or your marketing (or anything else), never underestimate the value of expert advice. We Are Listening provides professional assessments for songs and lyrics. It’s what we know and what we’re good at. But you can find a service, coach or consultant for any project you wish to fast track to success. The humility required to ask for help and receive critical feedback is the mark of an independent artist and entrepreneur that people want to listen to and associate with. Personally, I can use all the help I can get!

Related Posts
Jango Airplay
Email & Newsletter Marketing Services
Song Contest & Critique Status Manager

Is the number of fans who open your messages, read your comments and click on your music player declining?

Maybe it’s time to try something different.

With SnailMailr, you can send a letter by postal mail directly from your desktop.  There’s no need to print anything, stand in line at the post office, purchase stamps, or practice your illegible handwriting on the envelope.    SnailMailr does it all for you and will even print a high quality image to include in your letter.

For $1 a piece, you’re not going to want to send a letter to 10,000 fans but, for the handful of supporters who truly went out of their way for you, it’s a lovely gesture.

Try going out of your way for them with a personal letter by postal mail.  It’s easy and looks great.

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Create your own blog in 10 seconds
Getting your fans’ undivided attention
How to get 200 new fans a week

In a press release distributed today by ReverbNation’s own Jed Carlson, ReverbNation, the all-under-one-roof music marketing portal with almost 400,000 users announced the pre-launch of a new product dubbed Site Builder, a collaborative effort with Bandzoogle, a custom website building service for indie artists.  Site Builder enables artists with no technical know-how to easily create their own websites in just a few clicks and automatically integrate their content from their ReverbNation accounts and connect their websites to other supporting ReverbNation features such as FanReach, the popular newsletter client.

“It’s critical for Artists to have their own ‘home’ where they can develop fan relationships, grow their brand, and conduct business directly with their fans,” says ReverbNation Co-Founder Lou Plaia.  “Site Builder is another step in creating a true, turnkey solution for the DIY artist.   Soon we will be adding a comprehensive direct-to-fan store that will allow artists to sell merchandise, music, ringtones, and tickets to their fans through all of their fan touch points online.”

The addition of Site Builder to ReverbNation’s comprehensive, one-stop service brings the company even closer to its 360-degree vision for DIY artists.

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Topspin, the enigmatic media technology company “dedicated to developing leading-edge marketing software and services that help artists and their partners build businesses and brands” has combined forces with Berkleemusic.com, the online extension of Berklee College of Music, to provide music marketing courses for artists and music promoters to master the Topspin direct-to-fan marketing strategy and dedicated technology tools.  The first online course, Marketing your Music with Topspin, available exclusively on Berkleemusic.com, is slated for release in September 2009, with course enrollment beginning next month.

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Re-Title Publishing
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