E urope - Parent Directory

SECTION EIGHT: A R T I C L E S
T H AT WILL H E L P YOU TO
SUCCEED IN THE MUSIC
B U S I N E S S
“Don’t forget to applaud the little steps, as well as the big.” – J a n e t
F i s h e r, Goodnight Kiss Music
While creating The Indie Bible I have been fortunate enough to have
met many of the most knowledgeable people in the independent
music industry. Successful authors, publicists, music re v i e w e r s ,
e n t e rtainment lawyers etc. I thought it would be a perfect fit if I
p resented several of their articles to help you gain insight on how to
deal with the many twists and turns of this complicated industry. The
a rticles in this section are sure to be helpful to musicians and
songwriters, and especially to those that are just starting out. Every
author I asked was kind enough to submit an article that will help
you to move forw a rd with your music care e r. Do yourself a favor,
and put their experience to work for you!
o v e r v i e w
S TAYING AHEAD OF THE CURVE: MUSIC
MARKETING TRENDS YOU CAN COUNT ON
by Peter Spellman, MbSolutions.com
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
The music biz stands at an historical crossroads – almost every aspect of
the way people create, consume and listen to popular music is changing,
dwarfing even the seismic shift in the 1880s when music lovers turned
from sheet music and player pianos to wax cylinders and later, newfangled
78 rpm phonograph records.
The following highlights some of the most ground-shaking and, (in
my opinion), enduring “metatrends” currently shaping the biz. The intent is
to give guidelines to both musicians and industry careerists to help set their
forward sails on this crazy ocean we call music.
M E TATREND 1: Empowered Music Consumers
Today may be the very best time to be a music fan, especially one looking
for a connection to a favorite artist or guidance and access to the exotic or
r a r e .
Be it the iPod, alluring satellite radio services such as XM, the fanbeloved
minutiae posted on Web sites, the availability of live music
performances on AOL, the esoteric music videos streaming off
Launch.com or the self-tailored satisfaction of burning a homemade mix on
CD at home, there is a singular zest to the modern fan
experience today.
The public is now driving the market. The challenge to the industry is
to respond positively in such a way as to secure the future of music while
satisfying customer demand and providing choice.
I t ’s becoming increasingly more difficult for companies to treat us like
“mass market” ciphers. The trend is towards “mass customization” where
c o n s u m e r s ’ unique needs are front and center. Some marketing gurus call
this trend “The 1-to-1 Future” and the companies that can dance with this
trend will prosper.
What You Can Do About It
• Get to know your fans. They are your chief asset going forward and
the better you know them, the better you can communicate with them,
build loyalty and enlist them in lending their support to you and your
music projects.
• Involve them, empower them, mobilize them, let them co-create with
you. None of us knows what all of us know. Build a community, a fan
club, a subscription service and learn how to pool the wisdom of your
f o l l o w i n g .
• Provide potential customers with as much choice as possible.
• Learn the technologies that will help you customize your
communications with customers and fans.
M E TATREND 2: Music Product to Music as Service
Presenting music as a service, like radio or T V, would seem on the surface
to be less profitable than selling millions of CDs, but actually, this change
will be positive for the music industry. It will be able to sell more things
associated with music. But the actual sale of music as a product will make
less sense. It will be a move from transaction-based push to flat-fee pull.
Consumers have clicked, and they demand access to content by any
means necessary. Just as A O L has gone from selling you five minutes of
access to a take-whatever-you-want model, music too will move to a flatfee
model.
We’re not there just yet. But in the next few years, the requisite
technology will fall into place. Then most of us will carry a wireless
Internet uber-gadget wherever we go – a unified cellphone/MP3 player/
digital assistant/Blackberry/ camera/GPS locater/video recorder/co-pilot for
life. This device will receive wireless Internet audio, a loose term I use to
describe the various forms of streaming audio starting to appear on the
Internet. With streaming audio, you can hear the music you love any time,
a n y w h e r e .
The future isn’t about a change in distribution, it’s about the atrophy
of distribution itself. Instead of distributing things, we’ll get access. It’s a
critical diff e r e n c e .
The future isn’t about downloading songs and burning CDs. It’s about
just-in-time customized delivery. Music as on-demand service not as
industry-dictated product.
Just as in the early days of the record industry (c. 1900), music
publishing will once again assume the primary role in the biz. Music will
become available for diverse uses dictated by consumers and businesses.
How fast will the sun set on the compact disc? Quarter-size CDs that
can float among compatible music players, computers, game devices,
digital cameras and personal digital assistants are already developed.
Of course, a massive installed base of CD players means that the
traditional recording industry markets are not going to disappear or even be
impacted by digital distribution in the short term. But rising consumer
interest in downloads and an increasingly multi-media business-to-business
economy opens new opportunities for composers, editors, sound designers,
and all forms of audio producer.
What You Can Do About It
• You should be figuring out how to distribute your work through
digital music services now. The Net is your Open Mic to the world.
Get yourself onto iTunes, Rhapsody and MusicNet. Learn the virtual
r o p e s .
• As the industry moves away from physical product, it becomes
increasingly important for musicians to learn the rules for licensing
(read, ‘renting’) their music.
• Seek out users of music as well as buyers.
• Prepare for a multi-platform approach – value-added packages
containing your music, artwork, DVDs, etc AND a container- l e s s
presentation using various online showcases, message boards and
p o r t a l s .
• Develop marketing plans for both your selected singles as well as for
your full-length albums. 50% of current online music sales are in the
singles format.
M E TATREND 3: The Next Music Companies
The writing is on the wall for traditional music companies. The record
industry grew rapidly, matured, and is now in the throes of transformation.
How successful this transformation will be depends on how creatively the
musical industrial complex can dance with all the changes spiraling
around it.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y, so much of the music industry is beholden to corporate
www.indiebible.com The Indie Bible – 10 th Edition