Music, community & file-sharing: from Napster to Ping 9 Sep 2010, 4:08 pm

The launch of Ping, Apple’s new Facebook-meets-iTunes service, has once again underlined the somewhat novel idea that people want to chat and interact to a greater degree about the music they like. If it succeeds, it will be because people don’t just want access to music: they want to belong to a music community. 

In making predictions, it’s wise to look to the past. The tendency towards community isn’t surprising to anybody who has watched file-sharing evolve over the past decade. 

A (very) brief history of file-sharing 

The first wave of file-sharing, Napster, was a lonely affair: users searched and downloaded music through the central hub with as much social interaction as a simple Google search - i.e. none. You downloaded from a computer - whether there was a person in front of it was irrelevant. 

Napster, of course, gave way to decentralized file-sharing services like Gnutella, where users traded directly with each other, one at a time, with the option, but not the requirement, of communicating individually with their peers. Some chatted and formed links with those they swapped music with; some didn’t. 

As legal obstacles paved the way for bit torrents, where users downloaded from many users simultaneously, the importance of community participation grew drastically. Sites relied on a) the comments of users to protect against “fake” versions of torrents and b) the good will of downloaders to upload their share after download is complete. In a non-participative community the site would be flooded by fake torrents while authentic torrents would be slow to download through lack of uploading. 

At each step, the necessity of participating in a community of peers had grown and with this, the links and support within the community for a more file-sharing-friendly copyright system. This brings us to where we are now. 

With the growth of upload services inspired by yousendit.com the trend amongst file-sharers was at first to have a discussion forum where specific media are requested and yousendit/etc. links posted by other members. This was the high water mark for community interaction in file-sharing in general.  

These forums continue to be used for less mainstream types of music, but increasingly, a simple Google search that uses the form [album title] + [downloading service] can reveal pretty much anything currently popular, allowing the end user to bypass any kind of community. As availability has increased, the necessity for participation in a community has plummeted. 

Copyright reform and protest 

Also based around community is the “Fair Copyright” movement seen here in Canada. Some claimed that the movement was simply driven by “pirates” - or better yet, “radical extremists”, both terms that imply isolated individualism.  

While the exact numbers aren’t available, there’s no doubt that some people involved in the movement were also products of a file-sharing community. But that’s the key word: “community”, not isolated individuals. People are, after all, more likely to fight for a community they belong to rather than a service they occasionally use. More so, file-sharers were used to participating in something - being part of a community, even online, is a skill that people need to develop. 

Social movements like the “Fair Copyright” movement need a tight community to do the heavy lifting: to figure out tactics, organize events, send invites, etc. If file-sharing had evolved without placing a steadily-increasing emphasis on community, it’s doubtful that people from the file-sharing community would have participated so enthusiastically in the “Fair Copyright” movement.  

The future 

This is a crucial point for community: just as music buyers can choose to search for music as individuals through iTunes OR turn to Ping’s “community”, file-sharers can now either go through an anonymous search engine or a file-sharing “community”.  

If Spotify proves to be the revolution some people claim it will be, and if it fuses both buyers and sharers, what effect will its Facebook functionality have in terms of creating communities? People’s choices, given those options, will tell us a lot about the value of community in their life. 

Whether people are paying for their music or not, the conclusion is the same: If people obtain their music by bypassing communities or by simply not creating them, it would weaken the sense of cohesion that has helped in the creation of the “Fair Copyright” movement. This would be a step towards the “taming” of the internet, no doubt to the joy of copyright owners.

Matthew Hiscock is a music lifer, occasional journalist, record label manager and alumni of Concordia University’s School of Community and Public Affairs. You can hear his music here and read his interviews with “bass music” producers here.

Using Fan-Funding Techniques to Help Direct a DTF Marketing and Sales Campaign 8 Sep 2010, 3:45 pm



Merch Table Essentials: 15 Ways For Musicians To Increase Sales, Fans and Efficiency 7 Sep 2010, 3:33 pm

As album sales are becoming a less meaningful component in the overall success of an artist or band, the live performance sector, including ticket sales and merchandise sales, is becoming increasingly important. While the live show itself must be unique in order to encourage repeat customers and ultimately drive ticket sales, the merchandise table has the opportunity to drive significant revenue and first hand, artist-fan engagement. But just having a merch table is not enough, as there are essential elements that must be accounted for in order to make the effort worth while.

Assuming that you have accounted for the typical ‘guts’, such as T-Shirts, CDs, Hats, Stickers, etc. there are essentials to any effective merch table that will do three very important thing:

- Increase your sales

- Increase your long-term engagement with new and existing fans

- Decrease wasteful overhead when investing in the merch for your next tour

Use these following merch table essentials to make sure that you are making the most of every opportunity at every show to make as much money and as many new fans as possible:

1) Mailing List: Far too often overlooked, yet one of the most crucial aspects of retaining fans, the mailing list is an absolute must on any and ever merch table. If someone is willing to invest the time and money to come over to your merch table and purchase your music, your t-shirts or even just a little sticker or button, it means they felt strongly enough about the performance to further their interest. Every merch table customer is a valuable potential fan. Do not let them get away from you.

2) Accept Credit Cards: To be frank, if you do not accept credit cards, you are not maximizing your potential to make money, and are letting potentially valuable fans walk away without your music or merch in hand. There are a few different apps out for the iPhone/ iPod Touch, iPad and Android platforms that allow you to turn your device into a credit card terminal, including the Square, ProcessAway, Merchant Swipe and iSwipe. 

3) High Traffic Area:  As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Putting your merch table in a high-traffic area is crucial to sales. The increase in passersby will make your table seem more desirable. As more people check out your merch and start to make purchases, the more likely it will be that others will want to check out the scene as well.

4) Lockbox for Money: Professionalism is crucial when dealing with a merch table. No matter how the musicians represent themselves on stage, online or in public, merchandising is purely the business side of the operation. Not only does a lockbox hold one person accountable for any lost cash and discourages outside theft, but It also makes it less apparent how little or how much cash you actually have from the event.

5) The Plug from the band: Make sure the people who are actually listening to the music and who are enjoying it, have the opportunity to at least join the mailing list if nothing else. Announce the table, its location, and that YOU, the artist, will be there and are looking forward to speaking with everyone.

6) The Main Attraction: It is understandable that artists are either exhausted or are ready for more after the show, but nothing helps merch sell faster than putting the artists behind the table. Especially after the band has plugged the merch table and its specific location, it will be a delight for fans to have the opportunity to speak with the artists, get engaged and walk away with a new album and/ or a t-shirt because of the pleasant experience.

7) A Clean Table: Just like any store (think grocery store, toy store, convenience store, clothing store), potential customers connect the appearance of unorganization and sloppiness with that of a weak business. By splitting the table into well organized sections dedicated to each type of merch or even price point, it makes it much easier on the eyes, makes sales much more likely. Also continue to think of a clothing store, make sure you have clean, well folded t-shirts that range in color, size and gender specificity.

8) Bright Colors: Not only should your merch table be located in a high-traffic area, but it should pop out as the sour thumb in the room. Venues are typically dark, so keep in mind that darker colors will be lost into the clutter of the room. Set up a back-drop, use a table cloth and create a banner, all of which should use bright, vibrant colors to catch people’s attention.

9) Prices: Setting the right prices for the available merch is crucial to successful sales. Not only should everything be fairly prices based on the industry standard (which means you MUST do your research when planning the pricing strategy), but there absolutely needs to be merch available at every price point, from $1 dollar up to $100 dollars (or more depending on what you are offering).

10) Inventory Sheet: Organization is key to a healthy business. Using an inventory sheet will help you keep track of sales and will decrease the chances of wasteful overhead for your next tour. You can start to use the historical sales to forecast growth. This is especially important if you do decide to create unique merchandise for each stop on the tour, as it allows you to see where your merch sold better or worse, so you don’t waste money creating unique merch for the wrong places.

11) Unique Collectables:  Though this is a much more expensive option to consider, creating unique collectables for each show creates an incentive for repeat purchases from repeat customers. Some fans will be so into your music that they decide to hit every show within a 100 mile radius of their hometown, so why not create incentive for them to hit the merch table at EVERY show they attend?

Ideas for some unique collectables are merit badges with a unique design reflecting each venue, laminated tour passes with specific dates printed on them, high-quality original prints of the show poster (signed by the band AND artist of the poster) and even shirts that specifically reflect the venue, date and city.

12) Bundles: Just like the unique collectables, you want to make sure that you offer unique bundles that can only be purchased from the merch table. The more creative you can get with these bundles, the more likely you will be to encourage a higher volume of sales, as well as repeat attendance to future dates of the tour.

An idea for unique bundles include a unique USB thumb-drive with hand-painted artwork that offers the entire back catalog of studio albums, plus free admission to all shows for the next year. The more unique, limited edition and exclusive you can make these bundles, the more people will be willing to seek them out, not to mention pay a premium for them.

13) Contest/ Drawing: This is a great way to ensure longer-term engagement with fans. The drawing could be for free tickets, a free limited edition bundle of music or even something above and beyond like an opportunity to go out to dinner and hang out with the band.

14) Picture Board: Remember the idea of the main attraction? (see above).  Using a picture board is an opportunity for the artist(s) to establish a stronger connection with fans, meanwhile advertising the merch in order to increase sales. Start taking pictures of the artists with fans who are either wearing or holding up newly purchased merch. Then compile a huge collection of the pictures taken and display the picture board either behind the table or to the side of the table. Make sure it is visible and most importantly, make sure to include a band member in the pictures!

15) Branch Out Beyond The Table: Though the purpose of this list is to make the merch table itself more effective, the ultimate goal is to increase revenue and fan engagement. Grab a few friends and have them walk around the venue in a crisp new band shirt with their own mailing list sign-up sheet, some albums for sale, a few t-shirts for sale (especially the one they are wearing) and some FREE stickers or buttons. The idea here is to engage as many attendees as possible and to direct them back to the actual merch table where they can interact with the band members, buy an increased level of merch because of this new connection to the band and will walk away with a great, personal experience from the show rather than just a ‘fun time’.

Using a merch table to increase sales is always good, but if used properly it can be so much more than that. If you are going to take the time, effort and money to plan out and finance the merchandise for your tour, make sure you have taken all of these things into consideration to ensure that you maximize revenue and fan engagement at every show.

What other ideas have you used to make your merch table more effective?

Jonathan Ostrow (@miccontrol) is the co-founder of MicControl, a music blogging network based on a social networking platform.

(Not) In The Pages Of The Rolling Stone.... A Little Music Business Ditty 30 Aug 2010, 8:00 pm

Here’s a little music business story for you… This one is all about MENTORING and Rolling Stone Magazine.

A Few weeks ago I participated in the mentoring sessions at the NYC New Music Seminar.This was special for me because I helped develop the mentoring sessions as an advisor to the NMS. Spending time with active artists in an intimate atmosphere where we could ask each other questions one-on-one got me thinking about the value of having access to music industry professionals and the pure gold in having mentors no matter how big a role they play in your everyday life.

Which, brought me back to a mentoring experience I will never, ever forget. It was 1998 at South by Southwest. Where I signed up to meet David Wild, an editor from Rolling Stone at the one- to - one mentoring sessions in the hallway of the Austin Convention Center.

As a young publicist with a stable full of full-time touring artists, the number one request I was getting from absolutely every artist who came through my agency was, “I want to be in Rolling Stone.” This request came to me no matter how small or how big the client was. And I dreaded this request because I had a problem:

The problem was, I didn’t know how to get an artist into Rolling Stone. I knew how to do PR and had placed a lot of articles in a lot of publications but the mighty RS had alluded me every time….

So I kept mailing CDs to, and leaving voicemail messages for all of the editors.  At the same time, my artists and their managers were offering me all kinds of horrendous advice.

“Send them a REAL New York pizza with our CD inside the box!”

(clearly this band was not from New York as REAL New York pizza is procurable every day in midtown and therefore NOT special)

“Go to the office and wait in the lobby until someone sees you.”

(um, lobby?  It’s an elevator bank)

“Pretend you are a messenger and hand deliver the music.”

(Ever heard of the delivery entrance?)

“We deserve the write up…The guy who mastered our album mastered an album that fillin the name of the editor of Rolling Stone JUST wrote about in the last issue.”
(oy vey.)

No matter how many packages I sent, no matter how many messages I left, I couldn’t get a single RS journalist to respond at all, much less say no to me. Which would of been deeply welcomed.

So, when I saw David Wild’s name on a mentoring sign-up sheet, I was freaking out, incredulous and nervous all at the same time. It turned out David Wild was a really nice man, and he’d heard of a lot of my artists. In fact, he’d listened to a lot of the albums I had sent him. He’d even bought albums by my artists (that I didn’t send him for free).

Our conversation changed my life as a publicist.

It went something like this…..

David Wild: “What are you doing for your artists in the media?”

Ariel Hyatt: “Well, I’m getting them in all the regional newspapers and magazines, and on some local television, and even on some local radio shows in the markets they’re touring in.”

DW : “You’re doing exactly what you should be doing”, he told me.

I was floored…. “Really?”

DW: “ Yes. See, I write about “newsworthy” artists. And what I write about needs to appeal to our mass readership of over 1,000,000 people. You represent some great bands, but at this stage of their careers they rare not eady for, nor do they qualify, for the pages of Rolling Stone.”

I walked away from that meeting feeling like I had done something right.

I would still have years of pitching Rolling Stone, because 99% of the artists I worked for still insisted that I do so. No matter what I said. They were paying for a publicist and therefore I was mailing those packages to Rolling Stone magazine - period.

I used to imagine David seeing my logo as my packages came across his desk, and I hoped that he actually remembered what we had talked about in Texas (and I hoped even more that he was enjoying my artists’ music).

That was what 10 minutes of mentoring did for me….

Eventually I did get a 2 of my artists in Rolling Stone:

1. Bruce Springsteen jumped up on stage with one of my artists Jen Chapin at a benefit show, oh and she happened to be holding her one-year-old child on her hip on stage at the time while singing. Oh, and she also happens to be the daughter of the late great Harry Chapin.

2. An artist who was internationally known (I won’t name names) had been arrested on a crack cocaine possession charge and was thrown in jail. 

Newsworthy…  Yep.

Why You Should Learn to Build Fans by Being a Fan 30 Aug 2010, 9:27 am

Last Week On Music Think Tank 28 Aug 2010, 2:11 am

Bruce Warila: If I Were A Record Label And You Were An Artist, Would You Marry Me Anyways, Would You Have My Baby?
Jason Mencer: Building A Festival: One Beer At A Time  
Josiah Mann: Making It In One Year - Is It Possible?
Ariel Hyatt: The Crowdfunding Quandry: Sales Vs. Art Vs. The Little Voice Inside Your Head

The Crowdfunding Quandry: Sales Vs. Art Vs. The Little Voice Inside Your Head 27 Aug 2010, 5:20 pm

“The In-Crowd” is an inside look at crowdfunding, with Ariel Publicity Artist Phil Putnam and RocketHub.com co-founder Brian Meece.  Each Monday, the boys are giving us an honest look at a crowdfunding project in action and dish on how things are going each week. From time to time Ariel weighs in as well. What is crowdfunding?  Find out here.

What does it look like?  See here.
-  -  -  -  -

Ariel Says:

I have been watching this project since it has started.  Full disclosure Phil works with me and I see him a few days a week. Here we are at WEEK 9(ish):  60 days in, with 15 days remaining.  Phil has $3,888 raised (39% of the $10,000 goal), and $6,112 needed to get to his goal. It’s been a journey to have a front row seat during this process.  As you may know I believe that crowd funding is a vital tool that artists will be using for the foreseeable future and I have been blogging a series here on MTT called in Defense of 1,000 True Fans, where I have been interviewing artists who are proving the model and creating sustainable livings from their music.  Phil points out that 200,000 people have been exposed in some way to his campaign and that 0.0003% people engaged.  I would like to point out a few other things.

First of all I want to commend Phil: To have 60 True Fans or “Super Fans” (the amount of people who have contributed to his campaign so far) is no mean feat.  Especially since Phil very rarely performs live and he has not had a mass exposure event (such as a placement on a major TV show).  These are two factors that seem to make major impact for artists, according to the interviews I have conducted so far.

 The Rule of 7

The marketing aphorism that your message must be seen at least 7 times before people take notice is probably truer today than ever before.  With the thousands of messages we see I bet is more like 10 or more before people really take notice.  There is a great article on that here: that I want to refer to because it brings up another very important point:  I love this article by Andrea J. Stenberg What is the Rule of Seven? And How Will it Improve Your Marketing? because it addresses:

“So why do prospects need to hear your message so many times before taking action? If you are doing your marketing well…You have created powerful marketing materials that use language your target audience relates to. You speak to their major problems and how you can solve them. Why don’t they jump to their feet and grab what you have to offer the first time they see your message?”

One MAJOR problem here is the fact that music unlike marketing a problem doesn’t exactly solve “major problems” for fans.  Music won’t help you lose weight, or keep your house clean or whiten your teeth.  People have to have an emotional connection to music in some way, which in my opinion can be largely fostered from having people see you play live.  So, the fact that people heard Phil on one podcast didn’t motivate them to invest heavily in his campaign because it was only one touch.  He did reach a lot of people but not enough.

Here’s the second thing: The way this process can make an artist feel.  Phil won’t say it because he tends to be one of the most positive people I have ever met however I could see as his friend, his publicist and his work colleague that this campaign felt confronting on many levels because asking friends and fans and family for money conjures up the little voice we all have inside our heads that tries to convince us we don’t deserve it, or we aren’t good enough or smart enough or whatever your little evil voice says to you.

And, it’s not what an artist signs up to do. An artist wants to practice, create music and play not market sell and constantly ask for money and unfortunately in this world of 7 (at least) you are all forced to ask over and over again no matter what your circumstance.

Phil my friend, It’s not over yet and I commend you for your braveness.  I think that what you did is amazing because so few artists make $3,888 from selling their music. So maybe this year you don’t get to your goal but next year you WILL.

And in the end, win or lose I’m proud of you that you took yourself out of your own comfort zone and asked yourself to grow and expand in many ways that you probably can’t see just yet. Many people will benefit from your honesty and your effort. And Quit?  Not your style at all….  

Phil Says:

Having been raised in a WASP-ish household, I grew up understanding that social graces matter.  RSVP to invitations.  Never arrive at a party empty-handed (extra points if what you have in your hand is vodka).  A drunk bride is unforgivably tacky.  Don’t overstay your welcome.  Wear clean underwear, in case you get hit by a car, go to the hospital, and the medical community concludes that you’re a filthy slut.  And above all, handle every circumstance, good or bad, with style, satin wit, and grace.

You gotta recognize when people aren’t laughing at your jokes.  You gotta know when you’ve lost the room.  You just gotta be able to see when they’re not interested.  And that’s what I’ve done.  In general, people just aren’t interested in my crowdfunding project.  Besides the 60 sensational, faithful, deeply cherished friends and fans of mine who have supported the project, the rest of my community of fans/friends just don’t care.  Well, maybe they care, but the best I can see is that they’re indifferent.  Indifference speaks.  Caring acts.  Over the past 60 days, over 200,000 people have heard about this project directly from me, whether during podcast and radio interviews, videos they’ve viewed, facebook posts they’ve commented on and liked.  Over 200,000 people are aware of this project, and only 60 have taken action to support it.  That’s a 0.0003% response rate.  Three thousandths of a percent.  There’s no pretty way to paint that; it’s just not happening.  They’re just not interested, so I’m just not trying to push them to be.  Not anymore.  The party has crested, I’ve grabbed my coat, and I’m making the goodbye rounds gracefully.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not quitting the project before the full 75 days have passed.  WASPs don’t quit.  Good lord, WASPs just don’t quit.  Anything.  Quitters never prosper.  Quitters don’t go to Yale.  Quitters lose their country club membership.  And now my grandfather is crying.  Nice.  See how quitting tears families apart.  I’m not quitting, but I have essentially stopped pushing the project to my fans/friends.  No more new videos, no more facebook posts, no more “Please get involved” status messages and tweets.  Once it became clear that they weren’t interested, I started doing this cost/benefit foxtrot in my head, which you also will instinctively do if you’re ever in this situation.  I could see that it would take a massive promo push to have a chance of raising all the money, and I could also see that my fans/friends would become seriously aggravated, and then alienated, if I kept shoving the project at them.  I looked beyond the end of this project, this phase that is one short piece of a very long career still in front of me, and saw that it’s not worth souring their future allegiance for the sake of this present project that is, by all reasonable expectations, going to fail.  I want my community with me for the long haul, and to make that happen I have to let this one go.  So I did.  I have.

Barring some astonishing miracle of hellacious generosity, I will not raise all $10,000 and the Songs About You album will not be made.  That’s cool.  I’m okay with that.  The RocketHub team and I worked our asses off for this and it didn’t work.  Some projects fail.  Sometimes they fail publicly.  I have no problem failing publicly.  I’m content to fail because I love to learn, I love to grow, and I love to share my experience with others so that they can learn too.  Hence this blog.  There are still 15 days left in the countdown, and still a couple more entires to come in this series, in which I’m going to genuinely enjoy gathering up the good that has come from this journey and gratefully proclaim that nothing is ever a complete loss.  I’ll take warm delight in being that well-heeled gentleman who departs right on time and thanks the host on his way out the door.

We musicians can take a page from the WASP handbook.  We can handle every circumstance, good or bad, with style, satin wit, and, above all else, grace.

Brian Says:

One of the fun things about Crowdfunding a music project on RocketHub is that it allows you to gauge project demand, test the market without risk and tweak accordingly.

Phil has a very high-concept album project framed around co-writing songs about his fans.  So far the demand has been good, but not overwhelming for this particular project and this is valuable information to have.  To gauge and test without risk, the funding method is “all or nothing” so if Phil is unable to raise the goal amount within the selected time limit, the project is scrubbed and contributed funds are credited back to Fuelers. This protects his fans from getting a sub-standard product – and protects Phil from having to make something when the demand (and funding) is not in place.

To be clear, Phil has had a high number of people contribute to his project  - over 60 so far.  Phil has also managed to raise close to $4,000.  These are solid numbers for any musician.  Plus Phil still has two weeks to raise roughly $6000 – which is also not impossible.  The bigger picture happening here is that Phil is getting valuable feedback from his network regarding this project – and this feedback will serve him well regardless of the campaign outcome.  This makes Phil a winner for taking the plunge and putting his emotions on the line.

Want to participate?  It’s not too late! 

http://rockethub.com/projects/140-songs-about-you



Making It In One Year - Is It Possible? 26 Aug 2010, 6:20 am

My name is Josiah Mann and I am the lead singer and founding member of the band Sufficient Cause. Our goal - ambitious or irrational as it may seem - is to become fully supported by our music, recorded or performed, within 12 months from today. We plan to do this without signing to a label (outside of a new type of record deal being made just for us…). We do not have a fan base. We have never released any music and we’ve never played a single show. We’re nobody.

Let me explain. From day one, I’ve done things differently than other musicians. Four years ago, after I had written my first couple of songs, I started out like many other musicians. I booked a gig at a little coffee shop and invited all my friends. I had played guitar for about a year and had played classical piano competitively, but singing and performing my own songs was a different story. The first show was pretty rough. I was extremely nervous and my voice quivered uncontrollably. I had never really heard my voice loudly in a speaker so I could hear how poorly I really sang, causing me to shy away from the mic. I couldn’t even hold my friends’ attention. It made it somewhat less stressful that everybody was talking over my music, though… Everybody told me “You just gotta keep doing it,” and “You’ll get used to it eventually,” but I didn’t see the point. After I’d played about 5 or 6 times at the same coffee shop, I threw in the towel. Not because I was scared; in fact in a former life I was a Heavyweight Golden Gloves Champion and National Chinese Kickboxing Champion. There was very little I was afraid of. But after a few performances, I knew I wasn’t ready.

I knew from my experience fighting that when someone steps in the ring against a professional fighter without proper training first, that doesn’t mean he’s brave. This is where I was different from other musicians. I knew that I needed to study.

So I trained. I became a student of music that is universally considered to be “classic”. I studied the music of bands like U2, Coldplay, Eagles, and Sarah McLachlan.

I also studied business. On one hand I saw Major Labels signing talent just to control the market and limit product choice and on the other I watched people like Trent Reznor and Corey Smith making a good living outside the established system.

Along with all this study, I also studied myself. I studied to know how I was different from these great musicians. I learned what my strengths and weaknesses as an artist and as a business person were and worked relentlessly to balance them.

About a year ago, after three years of recording the same songs on my Macbook Pro, I decided it was time to put together a band. But again I did it differently than most other musicians. I knew that to be successful for any meaningful amount of time we had to have the right team, a definite vision and message, and clear leadership. Otherwise we would fall apart over time like so many other bands before us. So I watched and waited for the right people. And once I knew I had the right people, we spent time getting on the same page and clarifying our purpose and mission.

From day one, we planned for success. We’ve built a foundation and now we are ready. Without playing a single show, we are competent musicians with good music. We have a self hosted website that is geared toward delivering consistent content and acquiring fan data. We have enough content to continually connect with fans and when the time is right we will give them a reason to buy. We have both a local and online strategy and are ready to put it in high gear.

All of these elements do not guarantee our success and we know that. We might die tomorrow. But we believe we have something valuable to offer and we will continue to enjoy the process regardless of the outcome.

We are doing a couple of things to chronicle our journey. First, here on MTT we will post monthly updates showing our stats and progress. We will also be blogging heavily one our site. In addition we plan to film the whole process for a documentary at the end of the 12 months. So without further ado, here are some of our current stats and the starting points as of (Aug 21, 2010).

Stats -

Total Shows Played : 0

Total Email Addresses: 51

Google Analytics insight

Goals -

Here is the basically the first stage of the plan, keeping in mind that opportunities are fluid and changing.

First Stage – Local Buzz

First off, we have recorded a free demo EP which is designed to get email addresses and help us start a local movement. We’re going to start gigging heavily immediately and our goal is to give away 5000 CD’s primarily at shows. Ideally, we would get an email address for each CD, but we might use other creative methods to give them away and get an email address on the back end… We’re going to build and leverage relationships with local media outlets as well as radio hosts and other local tastemakers in order to get coverage and build a buzz. While we are giving away this demo we will also be in studio recording our first full quality EP preparing for the next stage – blog coverage…

We are continuing looking to build our team, and if you listen to our music and want to be a part of what we are doing, please feel free to contact us at sufficientcause@gmail.com

To be continued…

P.S. We just put up the first song from our EP here on Music Think Tank. You can listen here.

Josiah Mann

http://SufficientCauseMusic.com

Building a Festival: One Beer at a Time 24 Aug 2010, 11:30 pm

“…and we’ll do it ourrrr way, yes ourrrr way. Make all our dreams come true…”

Upon walking into Asheville, NC’s Highland Brewery, the Laverne and Shirley theme song really couldn’t help but pop into my head.  For those of you, unfamiliar with the Laverne and Shirley theme, here’s your chance to fix that.

My bandmates and I were given an amazing opportunity and I was very excited about it.  We were about to get paid to work with beer…this was awesome!

This is Highland. This is where we pack the beers

Hailing from the blue collar world of western Pennsylvania, my bandmates and I understood a hard day’s work from the vantage of a steel worker or a coal miner.  We quickly mastered our extremely technical jobs of putting beers into boxes and found enough time to work as many as three jobs at once.  Highland noticed our enthusiasm and we were invited back.

After working a couple of times at Highland I realized the trend.  Look to your left, it’s a musician; look to your right, the same.  Highland Brewery supports musicians!  They understand that making music isn’t always the most lucrative of careers so they scour the local music scene and ask their favorite bands if they’d be interested in occasionally making a few extra bucks…wow!

Well, one day after looking to my right and left sides, I realized that I had been working with some of western North Carolina’s top musical acts.  There really were some incredible bands working at The Highland Brewery and nobody even knew it.  I spent the rest of the day thinking of a way to remedy that problem. 

I Decided To Build a Festival

This is me, I’m Jason.

The idea sat, undeveloped for quite a while when finally I sprang it on my band’s manager, Gene Dolan. That’s all he needed to hear.  His gears were now churning and this idea was rapidly turning into a physical thing.  For the next couple of days we had a one-track mind.  The Highland Mountain Medley Music Compilation was all anyone around us would hear about.  Our ideas became refined and eventually a functional blueprint started to evolve.

Being in a band, my number one concern was that the artists get paid.  Being a music fan, Gene wanted to make sure that it would all culminate into a giant, amazing event. 

We combined our goals and came up with an incredible plan.  We’re going to put together a sponsored compilation CD featuring bands and musicians associated with Highland Brewery.  Then, with the funds we’ve generated from CD and ad space sales we’re going to put together a small, but incredible one day festival. 

Our first move is to get all of our ducks in a row, lining up everything we would need to begin to take action.  Here’s what we’ve done so far:

1.  Make a plan.  Without a clear vision, our plan would never see the light of day.  We blocked out a couple of hours to create an outline from beginning to end.  This took several drafts as we worked through the possible roadblocks and pitfalls that we would unquestionably come across.  A functional structure eventually developed and we were now ready to test the waters.

2.  Pitch the plan.  We’re going to need a fair amount of support from media outlets, businesses, bands, and venues to successfully pull this off.  Now that we have a solid game plan, it’s time to find out if it’s got wings or not.  We contacted everybody on our lists that would end up being involved to see if they MIGHT be interested in participating.  Everyone said yes!

3.  Publicly document the project.  This step is monumentally important to the projects success for several reasons.  The most important of those reasons is that it will keep us on track.  I can imagine that it could be very easy to simply give up and let this project fall to the wayside.  It’s public documentation that will continually be forcing us to both stay on course, and to be perpetually moving forward. 

Another important aspect of documentation is publicity.  Not only do we need to make a music festival out of nothing but an idea, but we must also tell the story of how and why it happened.  It’s the story itself that will make people care about the project.  People seem to be more interested in the “how and why” of things transpiring, than the simple fact that something happened.  That’s why they’ll want to get involved, and ultimately, it’s the guaranteed publicity from the story that will make it easier to get sponsors, bands, and media on board.

It’s a good start that puts us well on our way to completion.  It will take an entire community of music supporters for this to be successful, but that is the direction that the music business is taking us in anyway.

A Long Way From Cruise Control

The industry has definitely changed.  There’s only so many times that I’m willing to ask our fans if they’ll give their email address as a vote so we can try and win another contest.  If we’re going to continue to pay our rent while doing what we love, it’s become obvious that we need to create new and innovative ways to gain fans while making money.  Grassroots, community oriented projects seems like one of the best ways to grow at a steady, organic pace.

The biggest successes I’ve seen from being in a band have come from our grassroots approach.  We started as a passionate busking band on the streets of Asheville, NC and grew from there.  We had no idea of what we were doing in the beginning.  We would go to new cities without any immediate plan of returning, all-the-while gaining new fans without asking for their email addresses.  It wasn’t working at all.  People in our hometown were loving us but there wasn’t a single market within four hours of Asheville where people could even remember our band’s name.

Slowly, we learned from our mistakes and we’re finally growing a consistent fanbase all around the southeastern United States.  We push the email list harder than our merchandise and we don’t touch cities where we can’t commit to returning again and again.  I’m seeing this system work.  Now we have 7 cities where we can guarantee a good turnout; and we’re finally hitting new markets, only to find venues packed with fans coming to see us for the very first time.

We’re still a long way from being on cruise control.  We’ve got to be constantly playing shows to gain more fans and collecting an email address and a phone number from every single person who enjoyed our show.  Basically, the trick, (for us) is to make yourself available for the fans to find you and then never let them out of your sight.  It’s the surest way of building long-standing musical success that I know of.

Over the next couple of months, I’m going to be writing about both the progresses and pitfalls of an up-and-coming band and a brand new venture as we turn boxing beers into a compilation CD, and from there into a small, successful festival…and of course, all-the-while we’ll be doing it our way, yes our way…make all our dreams come true, for me and you.

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Jason Mencer is in a band called Now You See Them.  He is also part of a team who’s building a booking/management/promotions company called The Lama Agency.

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If I were a record label and you were an artist, would you marry me anyways, would you have my baby? 24 Aug 2010, 9:27 pm

Connect the title of this post to Bobby Darin’s song “If I Were A Carpenter”.

This quick post is a fictitious letter from any random label to every artist on the roster.  If you have read any of my prior posts, you know this is a theme I touch on frequently.

From: Any Random Record Label

To: All The Artists On Our Roster

August 24th, 2010

Dear Friends,

It’s been said that over a million songs a year are being uploaded to the Internet, and that number is growing.  In addition, the number of new “artists” entering an already crowded marketplace is exploding.  And as you all know, it’s not only hard to generate a return on investment when promoting artists and music, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to fight through the noise.  The last thing music fans need right now is another PUMP; what fans do need and want…are FILTERS they can trust. 

From this day forward, this label will cease to PUMP out anything and everything you create.  Moreover this label will no longer support or promote artist websites and brands.  This label is going to have one management team, one fundraising initiative, one website, one set of widgets, a unified scheduling page, one mobile app, one social stream, one streaming radio service and one voice.

For the purpose of this letter, all this aggregated activity and the associated services will be known as The Venture.  Permanent branding decisions will be made over the coming weeks.

The Venture will only feature the best songs, videos, photos and fan contributions that are uploaded each month; while The Venture’s streaming radio and video podcast service (featuring attractive personalities) will also spin songs (with synergy) from other labels around the world.

Before you set fire to this letter, please note that the label is going to be sharing ownership in The Venture.  Ownership and profit sharing will be based upon measurable popularity metrics such as traffic and co-branded merch sales; everything will be transparent; specifics will be forthcoming; and if you are ever unhappy with the arrangement, we will help you move your stuff elsewhere.

The goal of this initiative will be to create a unique music and lifestyle brand that music consumers can connect with in cities all over the world.  Fans connecting through The Venture will find other humans that have overlapping tastes in music, as well as shared values, interests and desires.  Our long term goal is to be recognized as a brand that has unparalleled social sway and social impact within our target niche.

Although you can continue to maintain your own online identity, understand this: artists, songs and Internet uploaders are like ants; they are everywhere now; crawling all over the face of the earth; and building your own brand today is akin to taking on the world as a standalone ant.  The size and scale of the metaphor is that acute.

Our best advice is to thin down your internet presence and co-brand with The Venture.  The network effect of all of us (talented ants) working together will be far more powerful than any of you working separately.  This strategy is the best way to build a platform that’s capable of launching artists, songs, tours, and co-branded products and merchandise.  This strategy is also essential to our survival. 

As for revenue, there will be no advertisements on our website!  In addition to music and live performances, the products and merchandise we promote and sell together will be deftly woven into the fabric of who and what we are.  More details on this part of the program will also be forthcoming.

Finally, you have nothing to fear when it comes to losing your own identity.  Your name and your songs, which are the essential components of your brand, will always travel with you regardless of the label you affiliate with or the website you are on; once you have reached celebrity status, you can’t even hide from fans; they go where you go!  Peace.

Thank you for considering this urgent matter.

About Bruce Warila • on Twitter