Music Think Tank is Under Renovation

Over the next few days, Music Think Tank will be undergoing some cosmetic renovations.  At times, the site may appear unfinished and some items may look out of place.

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Does Anyone Have a Music Related Domain For Sale?

Does anyone have a good music-related domain they want to sell for less than $1,000 USD?  Please post a comment that includes the domain.  I can’t provide more information, but chances are there are other readers looking also.  Personally, I prefer the .com over any other extension.  Thanks.

Socialnomics Video

If you are interested in stats and examples about the power and cost of social media, check out this video.

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Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career

As the holiday season approaches, and we get in to that thing about good will to all, all those other quips about being better people for a moment—which personally, I think should go through out the whole year and not just the shopping season (sorry, holiday season), I wanted to put out a quick rant (speaking of Good Will) that I’ll call Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career. These apply to both the music and business sides of he equation. Many apply to those who are not musicians but work in the music business.
Hell, a few apply to anyone working in any business. So, New title: Ten Tips for Everyone Alive on the Planet

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Transformative Vs Incremental Change

OK, I’m going to try and explain why Big Music genuinely doesn’t get what’s happening with the online stuff. It’s easy to dismiss the thoughts coming out about ‘3 Strikes Laws’, and Bit Torrent being to blame for the death of musicians’ livelihoods etc. as being a bunch of really rich people want to keep their massive piece of the pie - and there is some of that, for sure. But there’s also an entire way of thinking that explains why they feel the way they do. 

The problem is to do with the difference in response required between transformative change, and incremental change. 

Sticking with the music industry, let’s have a look at some examples of both, starting with incremental change:

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How to RUIN Your Music Career in 7 Easy Steps

Everybody wants to know the easy, proven steps to music success. Therefore, most experts offers tips and strategies to help you reach your goals in a positive light — including me.

Well, it’s time to shake things up and serve a new audience — which explains why this post takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the dark side: How to destroy your music career in seven easy steps …

1) Give Away Your Personal Power

The first step to destroying your music career is to realize that your destiny is in the hands of other people and circumstances beyond your control. Fully embrace the fact that you need to be in the right place at the right time to get your “lucky break” and be “discovered.”

Know that industry people and music critics must deem you worthy of success for you to have value as a musician. Also, cling to the belief that all the answers are “out there” somewhere and out of your control and you will be incredibly successful at failure.

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University research proves that the smart interlinking of multiple artist-controlled web properties drives success

I recently took a fantastic journey to Australia where I spoke at a music conference called Big Sound in Brisbane. There I had the honor and privilege of meeting Dave Carter, a Dr. at Griffith University who was presenting a fascinating study called The Online Marketing Research Paper. 

The Online Marketing Research Paper examines the web presence and sales data for 99 independent Australian artists distributed by Musicadium (a digital music & video distribution service) to identify whether any of the documented online activity corresponded with proportionally higher royalty returns to artists.

I think all artists should read through this important case study.  You can download it by visiting here: http://www.musicadium.com/online-marketing-research-paper

In my opinion Dave Carter found out some very interesting things: (Disclaimer: I may find this study so inspiring is it scientifically backs up my theories and teachings at Ariel Publicity and in my book/online course Music Success in Nine Weeks. Affirmation feels so sweet….)

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Ok, you make great music, but what’s your value proposition?

Listen to your music for the first time again.
Examine your online presence as a first-time visitor would.
Imagine standing in a corner watching one of your shows for the first time.

Ask yourself: As a fan or potential fan, what does your stuff, message and existence do for me?  The answer to this question is your ‘value proposition’. 

For example:
All of this entertains me.
All of this helps me to forget.
All of this helps my social life.
All of this makes me socially aware.
All of this informs me.
All of this energizes me.
All of this calms me.
All of this helps me to feel young again.

Artists and songs don’t necessarily compete, but the value proposition(s) you choose to deliver defines the broad (market and product) segment you are competing within.  For example: are you competing within the ‘all-this-entertains-me’ segment or within the ‘all-of-this-energizes-me’ segment or within an overlapping slice in between?

When considering the delivery of a value proposition, consider the following (random examples):

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What are you listening to when it comes to music?

What music did you listen to today? Was it one of your favorite songs, albums or compilations? Was it something you listen to often? Once you’ve got that figured out, ask yourself a few more questions. Beyond practicing your instrument, writing your music and managing the business side of things, how are you nurturing your ears and your inspirations? Just as you needed books in school to provide you with a vocabulary that would allow you to write, you need to listen to music in the same way. It’s about connecting with what you like but also listening to where it comes from.

In some ways it’s like vitamins—musical supplements. While you might prefer big band jazz, it can be educational to listen to other styles, like pop, country and Latin, to name a few. Even crooners like Frank Sinatra listened to and even covered artists like the Beatles. It’s about understanding what inspires you, but also about being a student of music, which means listening to as much as you can, even the stuff you don’t like.

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Photo and Video Release

When I had live video shot in the past, we hung large, dated signs up that clearly declared our ownership of the video.  The signs also strongly suggested that anyone that did not want to be included in the video should please leave.  We also had our camera crew shoot the signs right into the footage as ‘evidence’ if needed.

Here’s a video and photo release (below) you can use when you believe it really matters.  Get an attorney to check this for you.  Always try to get verified (check an ID) addresses and phone numbers on these releases.

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Keep Shooting High-Definition Music Video and Related Material

Here’s another reason to shoot high-definition video that’s connected to your music-related ventures:  Demand for short, interesting, compelling, non-explicit, music-infused, high-quality, high-def content is going to be driven by the digital signage industry.

I have been doing some work for a venture that’s focused on digital signage. Here are some stats to consider:

• Digital signage is going to be an explosive growth (exposure) opportunity - with over 500-million connected screens predicted to be in the market by 2013.  
• The combination of all the impressions generated by all the connected digital signs - already makes digital signage one of the largest impression-generating networks on earth.

Since the average exposure (time) to digital signage is relatively short, music videos are perfect for digital signage loops.  Expect new mass-exposure opportunities to grow out of the digital signage networks over the next twenty-four months.

Question:  Do any MTT readers have high-quality music videos that they feel are under exposed?

About Bruce Warila

Start Your Own Scene

I hear a lot of people complain that their band can’t really get anywhere because there’s not much of a scene where they live. However I don’t see a lot of people doing anything about it. If there’s going to be a scene, someone needs to have the vision and initiative to start it. So if you don’t have a booming scene where you live – start your own! Here’s how: The first thing that you need to do is to scout out at least one good venue. What you want to look for are venues that are:

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What are music fans willing to pay for?

I’m not a musician. I’m a fan. And from my perspective, it’s clear that fans do want to support artists that they like. Here’s a list of things that fans will pay for, even if they can get your music for free:

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Posting and announcing your gigs.

So you have a show and you want to promote it. Many artists take this pretty simply. They post on their website, announce it on Myspace, share it on Facebook, sometimes list it on Craigslist and then maybe send it to a local music magazine. There is this idea that people will just make the effort to find out about you. Now in some cases that can be true, but with each gig and show it is much more effective to pull those that already know you, reach out to those that might be some what familiar with you and connect with people that have never heard of you before.

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