The music business of the past was driven by a relatively small number of people who controlled the distribution channels, the marketing channels (radio) and the financing available to artists and writers. If you knew one of these mavens or could network your way to them, then you had a shot at success. It was the dream of every artist to “get signed” by a major label and plug into the “star maker machinery”.
The Internet changed all of that in a matter of 10 years or less. This disruptive force broke down the concentration of power from the hands of a few, to the hands of many. These days music distribution is a commodity that one can have access to quite simply via CDBaby, Tunecore or a variety of other options. Terrestrial radio, the marketing channel that broke all major artists of the last 60 years is no longer effective, and has been replaced by literally thousands of touch points available online including tastemakers like Pitchfork, sites like MySpace and Yahoo, social networking outlets like Twitter and Facebook, the search monster Google and countless websites, blogs and online media.
Today it is more important What You Know, than Who You Know. This is a Major shift in strategy from the past and is the name of the game for achieving success in the future.
Here are two examples of the kinds of things you need to know. One from the point of view of a structured approach to developing the skills and knowledge to help you succeed, and the other a real-world example of innovation at work in the hands of a savvy artist.
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From Celia Hirschman with On the Beat for station KCRW:
Today’s music business is not just about hustle, music knowledge and who you know. Today, it’s also about digital prowess, online inventiveness and a fast Internet connection.
I worked my way up through the industry, learning as I went. I took numerous jobs in the business, each one teaching me more than I had known before.
My school of hard knocks earned me a lot of opportunity. But the lessons of today’s music business are not taught in the nightclubs, the record stores or the board rooms. Today’s music business actually requires hitting the books, academically. Many active music buyers are online. Reaching them requires sophisticated online marketing knowledge.
No better way to learn than from the professionals. The prestigious Berklee College of Music has built an online extension program. Their BerkleeMusic.com offers a number of interesting classes online to fill in experiential gaps.
A useful course is titled “Online Music Marketing with Topspin.” Topspin is the leading digital-music marketing and sales company. In this course, Berklee’s Michael King and Topspin’s CEO Ian Rogers have deconstructed the marketing matrix, providing a hands-on education in digital record marketing. Students learn how to build digital touch-points, optimize site visits, develop fan integration and build brands. It is a first class education in online music marketing.
It doesn’t hurt that the whole course studies the TopSpin platform, similar to how a course might focus on PhotoShop or Excel. Topspin has developed a robust program to maximize online visibility and sell through. Musicians and music companies around the world can participate and socialize in a private trusted community.
Listen to the KCRW radio show here.
Cudos to @atomzooey for developing a great course.
Read more on Direct to Fan Marketing at Mike King’s Blog.
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The Duo of Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn are the band Pomplamoose and they are generating huge YouTube interest and views with their VideoSong format. They got tens of millions of views in a very short time with this number increasing while you read this. The VideoSong format these two produce is very inviting and addictive, providing a glimpse into the process of recording and creating music. The have combined a unique video format, with creative versions of popular cover songs and online distribution to reach tens of millions of people without any label support or significant marketing budget. They have found a way to make music their full time career without performing live, by leveraging social media.
Listen to an audio interview with Jack Conte from CDBaby
http://cdbabypodcast.com/?p=877
As we have seen, there are many different ways to make money in music today. In the past few years, much has been said and written about the 360 degree deal, where an artist/writer enters into a business partnership with a company and gives the company lots of rights to recordings, songs, merchandise, and touring, usually in exchange for a larger advance.
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