After publishing Why You Should Give Your Music Away for Free here on Music Think Tank, I have been inundated with articles, comments, and other assorted replies decrying that the new digital music business models are killing the music industry. It got me thinking about a crucial distinction that is being overlooked, and the consequences of doing so are preventing many from seeing the opportunities that are abound. It boils down to one main concept.

The Music Industry is different than the Recording Industry, and these terms should not be used interchangeably. 

Allow me to explain.

The Music Industry is a huge, overarching behemoth that includes all kinds of different smaller industries. For example:

• Recording
• Licensing
• Touring & Live
• Merchandise
• Print & Web Design
• Publishing
• Marketing, Advertising & Public Relations
• Video Production
• Magazines & Newspapers
• Instrument Design & Manufacturing
• Music Hardware & Software

These are just the ones off the top of my head…I could go on if I kept thinking about it. The bottom line is that any business that is involved in music in any way can be considered part of the music industry. If you are a graphic designer who spends their time designing album art, or a bus driver who drives tour busses all over the country, then you are in the music industry.

The Record Industry is just one small subset of this larger “music industry.” Within the business world, it’s known as a vertical. The record industry is in the business of making money off the recordings of music. That is why the companies who participate are called “Record Labels.” They sell records, i.e. recordings. You may have heard of the RIAA, a political lobby whose mission it is to protect the major record labels. Notice that its called the RIAA – the Recording Industry Association of America. They are not called the Music Industry Association of America. That’s because they represent only a small subset of the industry as a whole.

It is critical to make the distinction between these two terms. Mind you, I am by no means the first person to bring this to light. But too many people are crying about the death of the music industry lately, and I wanted to remind everyone that the sky is not falling. The Music Industry as a whole is fine. There is a new wave of innovative business models that take into account the new economic realities of the industry. It is the Recording Industry that is in trouble, and without some serious innovation by the interested parties, it’s likely to get worse for them.

Jeremy Belcher is the Editor of Think Like a Label, a magazine for musicians & their people. Prior to that, he co-founded FoxyMelody Digital Distribution in 2005, one of the first companies that distributed independent music to the online music services (which we shut down this year). You can follow him on Twitter @thinklikealabel or visit Think Like a Label

The music industry today seems, to the casual observer, a veritable “Chicken Little” scenario, with all its members and participants, heads craned piously upward, scurrying about as if the sky were falling—the firmament of their reliable, decades-old business model crashing about them. From the haughtiest record company executive to the lowliest basement-dwelling ensemble, everyone in the music business is struggling to shore up their respective rungs on the industry ladder. However, as apocalyptic as the situation may seem, this can be an exciting time for newcomers to the music industry; we’ve all heard of the myriad merits of self-promotion and utilizing the internet, of the tales of insta-stardom, courtesy of YouTube. Many involved in music have conjectured this might be a viable business model for the nouveau-cottage industry of the music business as it stands in 2012—that the model of the self-promoted solo artist has become far more conducive to success than than of the traditional band.

When one considers the dichotomy of the solo artist versus the traditional band setup, the former might start to look slightly more appealing in light of the collapse of the music industry’s overall business model. Consider the ubiquity of online utilities available for self-promotion and contrast this notion with the stereotypically “traditional” path to success as an outfit or ensemble, paying special mind to the logistical and pragmatic difficulties of achieving tangible success as a band. The reality of the new music industry is, simply put, that being a solo artist might just be easier than putting oneself in a band setting. Over the past few years, we’ve witnessed the meteoric rise of solo artists spanning all genres of contemporary music. From EMA to The Weeknd to St. Vincent, Owl City, and yes, even Justin Bieber, we’ve seen solo artists emerge and set themselves apart from the milieu, garnering cults of personality by using social media and a variety of online tools to popularize themselves (before being picked up by record companies, that is).

On the subject of the so-called “cult of personality,” it seems dually fitting that we should see a shift in the collective attention of the music-consuming portion of society to more solo artists as social media shifts, simultaneously, toward more overtly egocentric platforms (see: Facebook, Twitter). Add to this the relative ease with which many DIY artists record, produce, disseminate, and promote their music and the appeal of being a solo artist becomes obvious.

In contrast to the facile nature of existing as a solo artist, being in a band can prove a somewhat trying ordeal. Think of a band as a relationship—the members are all significant others with their respective shares of issues, conflicts, and obligations. Forming a band is akin to dating, with potential members comparing interests and skill levels, seeing if their personalities mesh, and considering any logistical problems having to do with being in the band itself. Whereas solo artists have only themselves to consider and worry about, each member of a band needs to be concerned about the other members: will [name here] be able to make it to practice today? Does [name here] know all the music? We have a show, Friday! Is [name here] going to have his equipment ready and be able to get to the venue on time?, et cetera. Furthermore, should a band find themselves lucky enough to get picked up by a label or signed to a booking, management, or promotions company, these companies will then be privy to these “family matters,” so to speak, and no music industry professional likes dealing with a prima donna outfit of quarrelling members who can barely manage their own affairs, let alone ensure that the group as a whole has the capacity to move forward. 

Should the band itself fail, a breakup can be just as messy as the breakup of significant others, with parties taking sides, disputes over shared property, and other various pitfalls. This point can be especially valid in light of the fact that a solo artist never has to break up with his or herself. Being in a band with the goal of commercial success is a full-time job, with each member’s financial, logistical, and personal responsibilities to the group itself; conversely, solo artistry can run the gamut from being a hobby to being a career, and doesn’t involve the “relationship” aspect one can expect in a band setting. 

What happens when band relationships turn sour…

However, there are indeed two sides to the proverbial coin in both the band and solo setting. While problems similar to those one would encounter in a romantic relationship are liable to arise within a band, it would seem the old addage that “two heads are better than one” would be readily applicable as well. Should they utilize the strength of their numbers, the traditional band setup stands to provide advantages a solo artist would be hard-pressed to find, such as having additional manpower to cover tour, recording, and merchandise expenses, or to promote the band itself. A solo artist would also be at a significant disadvantage in terms of self-promotion, as one would assume creating awareness of one’s music would be more easily and efficiently done by five or six people, versus one person. The collective creative brainpower of a group of people versus a solo artist could be seen as another perceived advantage to the band setting, although it would seem that many solo artists have a specific “vision” for their craft, while bands tend to make their writing genre-specific because common tastes are usually a touchstone between members.

From an overarching standpoint it would appear that, especially with regard to the past decade, the model of the solo artist has become the norm and the traditional band setup has become the exception. We are no longer experiencing a mode of popular culture that hinges around rock music; successful music, even pop music, that used to rely on the tenets of rock has given way to popular music that relies on undertones of hip-hop and electronica. In the 80s and 90s, groups and solo artists that achieved success used rock as their medium (see: 80s hair metal bands, Madonna, Pat Benetar, Nirvana, Michael Jackson)—now, success comes through musical stylings other than rock (see: Skrillex, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Kid Cudi). By and large, there has been a noted change in the tastes of our culture.

Think of the past year, in which we’ve seen many solo artists emerge, but few bands, and the bands that have achieved some tangible levels of success have either faced a years-long uphill struggle or have, in plain view, been assembled by record labels. These are groups like Mumford & Sons and Foster The People, who’ve worked for years to achieve some modicum of commercial success—these are also groups who (like Paramore, when two of their main members released statements regarding their respective departures) were exposed, via a mordant blog post, as an outfit built deliberately by a major label around the solo artistry of their frontwoman. These bands are the exceptions. More common have become tales of solo artists striking pay-dirt as a result of their own work ethic: Adam Young of Owl City self-produced and sold over 200,000 units from his parents’ basement before being approached by Universal Republic in 2008; The Weeknd has self-released three separate mixtapes over the past year, garnering international attention in addition to being short-listed for the Polaris Music Prize and collaborating with Drake on more than a couple songs.

Besides the obvious nature of dealing with finances—one artist clearly earns more, proportionally, than a group of four or five—it should be clear, at this point, that the more viable business model is that of the solo artist, especially when taken in light of the sociocultural and economic developments of the past decade. Social media and our collective cultural shift away from music in which a more traditional band setting is a requisite have helped to set the stage for the solidification of the solo artist as the recommended model for achieving commercial success. However, this notion is not meant to detract validity from the traditional band setup but should be viewed as an informed caveat to those who wish to pursue music as performers; it should further serve as a reminder that we, as conscientious members of the music industry and the music-consuming community, need to pay close attention to the direction in which cultural tastes are moving and learn to exploit these trends in favor of propelling the industry, as well as the craft itself, forward.

—

Paul Adler is a freelance writer, blogger, musician, and former liquor store employee. Connect with him on Twitter or Tumblr.

Indie Ambassador TV is an educational series produced by Indie Ambassador. Through our video panels, industry profiles and articles, artists and music professionals can educate themselves on general business topics, new technology and current industry trends.

Google, in my humble opinion, is the most amazing invention since anything else I can really think of. And Google is not just a big search engine, although it would still be awesome if that’s all it did.

Google has been offering a suite of incredibly powerful tools for years; way before ‘in the clouds’ become the next big thing for companies like Apple and Microsoft. And to make it even better, Google has recently created a platform for musicians that offers even further tools that will help independent musicians all over the world to thrive in the digital world.

Google is, quite simply, a portal that truly puts all of the worlds electronic information at your fingertips – there’s a good reason why the word “Google” has become synonymous with searching online.

Here are 9 Hot Tips designed to help you through all of Google’s awesomeness and use it to your benefit.

1. Google Alerts
Have you ever spent hours trying to track down articles on a certain subject, topic or even about your band / your brand? With Google Alerts, whatever words you select will be searched by Google and emails will be delivered to in your in-box.

To Setup A Google Alert

1. Visit http://www.google.com/alerts
2. Choose your search terms.
   1. You may include wildcard characters (*) to expand the search to find words containing the search terms, i.e. “fi*” will return results for “fish,” as well as “ficus”
   2. Use quotation marks (“ Cyber PR ”) to search for only the exact words in the search, in the exact order entered
3. Choose the type of alert you would like.
4. Select the frequency of alert emails.(Daily works best)
5. Enter the email to which you would like the alerts emailed

2. Google Blog Search
This is basically a filter for only searching blogs; and with 100 million blogs out there, on top of all the websites, this is a great filter for all the noise. This is also a great place to track your band on blogs. To search on Google’s Blog search, go to this link: http://blogsearch.google.com/

3. Google RSS Reader
FIRST: Watch this video: It only takes 3 minutes and 43 seconds
http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english
Now that you know exactly what this is from watching RSS in Plain English,
Setting up your RSS reader is the perfect way for getting the information you want (not only from blogs but from also from other sites you frequent) to come to you instead of having to check constantly to see what has been updated.

4. Gmail
If you still have an AOL or hotmail address, you’re in trouble. Gmail just may be the best e-mail program/website on the planet. Many bloggers and new media makers use Gmail and it shows you’re in the know, so get signed up.

Google e-mail is so wonderful because it is searchable by topic or by word, and Google provides you with a huge amount of storage space.

Using Gmail as your default mail host, you can set up an URL and add GoDaddy for 7.95, then point it to the server and voila! You have a customized e-mail addresses for free.

5. iGoogle – Your customizable home page
Whether RSS, certain news links or weather, Google home pages tools can certainly help you. Google does not have to be this one-frame box. By opening a Google account, you also gain access to iGoogle, your personal home page. Here you can add just about any sort of information you like; from the silly, such as small Flash games, to the more serious such as tracking mentions of your or your brand’s name on the Web.

6. Google Docs
Google Docs is, in essence, the entire Microsoft Office suite offered to you for free, is synced completely online so you can access it from anywhere without taking up any storage space on your computer, and can be shared with anyone who has a Google account. This is an incredibly helpful tool for you and your team to take advantage of to keep track of lyrics, merchandise, accounting, and anything else you would otherwise use Word or Excel for.

7. Google Music Artist Hub
Google recently introduced their first digital music store called Google Music, and unlike iTunes and Amazon, Google has made Google Music incredibly easy for you to get your music listed for sale by creating the Google Music Artist Hub, a platform for you to be able to list, organize and manage all of your music being sold in their store. And to make it even better, having your music for sale in the Google Music store also means that you can sell your music though Youtube as well!

All you need to do to get on Google Music is to register for an Artist Hub account, which requires a one-time, $25 fee, and they will walk you through how to get your music published!

8. Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a highly integrated, yet very simple calendar application that is synced to your Google account so it can be accessed form anywhere you can access the internet. The best reason for you to be using Google Calendar is that multiple users can sync to the same calendar, which means it is a free solution for you, your band, and your team to be on the same page for any upcoming events or deadlines that you may have.

9. Google +
Google introduced Google + in 2011, and the Facebook meets Twitter design and functionality made it the latest and greatest social networking platform to enter the competitive market. What makes Google+ so important for you is that, because it is a Google owned and operated platform, it ranks very highly in Google searches, helping you with your search engine optimization.

Google + is so deep that we dedicated an entire Musician’s Guide article to the platform, covering many of the important features you’ll need to know about!

10. Android
Google has entered the mobile market with Android, which is now the most widely used and fastest growing mobile operating system available. The obvious benefit to using Android is that it syncs all of your Google apps together, including Google +, Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google Music and even Google Docs so that you’ll never miss a beat when you’re on the go.

So as we know, if a song reaches a certain level of popularity these days, there’s pretty much a guarantee that someone, somewhere is going to pirate it. This is now a fact. Should it happen? Some say yes, and some say no, and there will probably never be a consensus. Regardless of the answer to that question, the unrelenting truth of the matter is that it DOES happen. The smartest response in this case then is to stop arguing about the should’s or the why’s, and simply accept the fact that this is happening. The ground is shifting below our feet, and we need to act or we will all get sucked under.

To me it seems pointless to even bring up the prospect of a subscription service, or even a pay-as-you-go model as a viable solution for a future sustainable industry model. This is because the internet, now the basis of content consumption, is like a huge river of information. A paywall is like a little pebble being thrown into it. The water in the river has no trouble getting around the pebble. Paywalls will never solve the piracy problem, and damming up the whole river, as we’ve seen with SOPA, will not be easy, and most likely will never happen.

Really though, I don’t think that the actual problem that the rights holders have with piracy is the copying, but rather it is the loss of revenue brought about by the copying that motivates the rights holders into action. They want to be rightly compensated for their work. Who wouldn’t? The problem is that the business model - the mechanism that they’ve chosen to help them receive compensation, is not only a little dated, but it has been proven ineffective in this new environment that is very different from the one we saw even 15 years ago.

The rights holders need a new mechanism for compensation. It’s that simple. Why they’re trying to preserve the one they have, I really don’t know. But the sooner they accept the fact that it is broken and it’s time to get a new one, the happier they will be.

So pay walls aren’t the answer. They won’t work in this environment. But if fans don’t pay, how then can the artists make money? This, it turns out, can be solved with a concept that has been around for about 4o years, with a little twist. It all starts with the long established Basic Cable ad revenue model. I can’t speak about before then, but in the early 90’s, you had something like 13 basic cable channels that any TV with an antenna could pick up, with no other wires or services required. The viewers would watch for free, but they were also being exposed to ads, and so the content providers on these 13 channels were still justly payed through ad revenue models.

This model worked okay, but it often times lead to media networks selling out to the point where they were willingly subjecting their viewers to incredibly interruptive messaging and breaks in programming, often at the most crucial times. This was not as serious of an issue for the rights holders however, because there was simply no alternative for their consumers to run to. Obviously, no longer is this the case.

So this is where the twist comes in. There needs to be a shift in advertising and marketing as it is practiced today. As Seth Godin so enthusiastically preaches, interruptive marketing is NOT the solution. The new cardinal rule of marketing should be: NEVER INTERRUPT THE CONENT THE AUDIENCE IS THERE TO EXPERIENCE. Think about it logically. The incentive for viewers or listeners to tune in is the content. When there are breaks in content, the incentives for viewers and listeners to stay are weakened, which creates the perfect opportunity for those offering uninterrupted alternative experiences that are also free, an opportunity that the internet community has never failed to capitalize on. The efficiency of the internet to provide alternatives makes any weakness in audience loyalty or incentives, a very dangerous thing for a rights holder.

But this does not have to be the end of advertising or ad-supported models, just perhaps the end of advertising as we know it today. There is in fact a new choice - a new way of marketing which will benefit all parties involved, and then some. Take a look at the Beat-Play ad model. 

So just like with basic cable, artists can give away their songs (preferably trackable streams) for free, in one place - say Facebook - and fans would no longer have to bother risking viruses on torrent websites because they could go right to the artist instead, in a more convenient and safe location. Then the artists, with the right tools, could (for the first time) track not only all of their fans, but all of their actual plays.

These analytics can then be used as leverage to negotiate the price of an artist’s ad space on Facebook. The more popular the music, meaning the more it’s being shared, the more money an artist could actually make.

The real difference maker here lies in the ads themselves though. No longer can the ads be obtrusive to the user’s experience. No longer can irrelevant messages be blared in your face seemingly at random. This, again, breaks down consumer incentives, and as Freakonomics has taught us, incentives are everything.

Instead of the advertisers taking something from the viewer or listener (their time), brands need to be willing to give something of value to their prospective customers. A great way to start is to sponsor the music or content that their demographics love and care about. This is an amazing PR move for brands. The fans would be getting their music for free, and they would (even if subconsciously) know who has provided it to them so easily.

As for integrating the brand into the user’s experience with the content, this is where the interactive media comes in, or what I like to call Smart Media. This is the Skrillex Mothership Invaders Game, or the Kelly Clarkson Fashion Showdown app. It could really be almost anything, as long as it fits into 1 of the following 4 categories: Interactive, Fun, Useful or Beautiful. If an ad does not fit one of these categories, and if it is not relevant to the artist or content, it threatens to weaken the chances for retaining an audience, and it could hurt the rights holders, the brands and even the fans.

The end goal of these ads is to actually add to the user’s experience. These ads should be designed so people will actually want to click on them and interact. This encourages authentic engagement with the brand. Mix that engagement with the already established cred from giving away the music for free, and you’ve finally got a reciprotive advertising model.

The end result – The artists release their music to the world, the fans consume and share it all they want for free, the advertisers tap into those fans and utilize the artist’s momentum for effective marketing. The rights holders get paid justly with full control over negotiations with brands, the brands gain significant cred amongst their demographics, which in theory, should boost sales, the fans gain a more relevant, more useful ad experience with no needed interruption, and they get all of the content that they could want in one simple and easily accessible location. Everybody wins, and the rights holders have the potential to make even more money with this free model than with their current one, because of the viral nature of content sharing and the ability to now directly correlate it to revenue potential.

All of a sudden this argument over piracy, or file sharing, seems incredibly useless and irrelevant. There is a solution laying here untouched that makes the sharing of the content a way more profitable prospect than the selling of it. It means a shift from monetizing song purchases to monetizing song plays! What an amazingly huge opportunity just lying in wait for rights holders, most of whom are too busy complaining about why their current business model is failing for them to notice.

So this is my message to rights holders - LET THE CONTENT BE FREE! In every sense of the phrase.

Now this does not mean that every artist should go out and start giving their music away for free right away, nor does it mean that they shouldn’t. Of course some artists may never want to give their music away at all, and that is okay. What it does mean is that we need more established platforms to track online content usage, make communications with advertisers easier, make access and management of content better for the consumers, and we need to establish standards that set important precedents for everyone, in order to optimize results with emerging solutions and models like the one proposed here. There needs to be better tools to organize and manage these solutions, which will be required to make a new system function. We, as a world community of content creators, need to unify, and get started in supporting one common platform that provides solutions for these needs, and something that most importantly syncs well with existing networks like Facebook and the various Mobile platforms where the biggest support already lies.

This is what I have spent the last 4 years of my life working on. As an independent artist who dropped out of college at 18 with no plan, and decided to pursue a career in music, I have been actively attempting to develop and design solutions that would make this new model of promotion and monetization for artists everywhere possible, especially for independent artists like myself. I am happy to say that we are closer than ever to realizing the very first steps towards this new, open and profitable environment, but we cannot do it without the support of the whole community. We cannot even attempt it if we are alone. We need contributions from everyone. Contributions of faith, action and unity.

We need to spread the word of a solution to the world, and then, maybe, people will forget all about this whole SOPA business. The bill may have been abandoned for now, but there is no doubt it will be back in some form in the future. The time is now for the community to forge solutions that make the prospect for these kinds of bills irrelevant, for everyone, as the ultimate protection.

Beat-Play is still undergoing many changes. Our platform is available now at Beatplay.com. We are releasing our newly redesigned interface (shown above) next month, and have plans for a mobile app in the next few months, along with increasing options for cultivating artist-to-brand relationships, and a lot more. Currently we support 100% unlimited and free music and video uploads. We also support the Youtube and Soundcloud API’s, which create some amazing opportunities for creating playlists between the two platforms that were not possible before. This is just the beginning.

We are focused on creating sustainable solutions for all pieces of the music industry business model - Promotion, Distribution, Monetization, Organization and Playback. There is of course no one solution that is right for everyone. There must be multiple options available for every aspect of the industry just mentioned. That is why we need to enlist the help of you, the music community, to provide the proper cultivation of these new solutions, and proper stewardship necessary to transform these amazing opportunities into full-blown sustainable solutions for the entertainment industry moving forward. Help us build a thriving and sustainable world music community. Please join our efforts. The solutions are in right our grasp, we just need to act.

Contact us anytime, we would love to talk, and we will be at MIDEM this week!

Beat-Play on Facebook

MusicWithoutLabels Blog

Written by: Dante Cullari Founder & CEO Beat-Play, LLC

Spotify: Millions of DJs

As a music fan, the growing number of free and subscription based streaming services can be a dream come true. Install Spotify (or Rdio, Mog, Slacker, Rhapsody, Deezer, etc.) on your computer, your mobile phone, your internet-enabled stereo, and you have instant access to pretty much all the music that’s out there. Build playlists, see what your friends are listening to, those services have become a great tool to discover and enjoy music. Amazing.

From the artists that create this abundance of music, there’s been a very mixed reaction. I strongly suggest you read this 2011 recap by Bandzoogle friend and Nashville music marketing genius Charles Alexander. In it, he links to many articles and posts about Spotify that give you a good sense of why so many are worried or pissed off about it. You can also read the comments section to any post about Spotify on Hypebot, or Digital Music News and you’ll see that very graphic language is often used.

The short version ?

• The revenue that labels and artists get is pocket change (even established artists).
• Indie artists and labels are treated somewhat unfairly vs. majors
• There is a lack of transparency in reporting (so you can’t know by who and where and how much a certain song was streamed, and how much royalties this means, and who gets it).

All valid concerns (especially the third one, if you ask me). So I’ve been discussing the topic with many musician friends and many Bandzoogle members that aren’t sure what to think. Should I make my tracks available on those services ? Is it going to cannibalize my music sales ?

My answer to the first question is “Yes, I think you should embrace it”. My answer to the second question is “Maybe, maybe not. So focus on other parts of your business and view it as an opportunity to grow those revenue lines”.

Here’s what I mean…

You can look at Spotify as an alternative to fans buying your music. “My fans stream my tunes on demand, for free or almost-free, so they’ll stop buying my records. Man, this sucks. Hard.”

And, from that point-of-view, absolutely, it sucks.

But what I tell my artist friends is: Instead, you should look at Spotify as “a tool that enables millions of radio DJs to add your songs to their radio show (audience = 1)”.

If you’ve ever had the happy experience of learning that a DJ at a radio station in your town, or somewhere else, really loves your new single and has played it many times, it’s an amazing feeling, isn’t it ? You haven’t made any money here, but you know that getting this exposure opens the door to getting more fans interested in you as an artist, your music, you next gig, etc.

There are flaws in my argument, but, usage of streaming services will only keep growing, and through streaming services, fans and potential fans can discover and enjoy your music as much as they want, for almost free, at their fingertips. That’s a good thing. (And by the way, my opinion on private file-sharing is somewhat similar…). Get over the fact that streaming won’t ever pay you in any meaningful way, and focus on the opportunities it opens up.

Your job, as a serious artist, is to then find ways to reach those listeners, engage them, and figure out ways to monetize them as fans of your art (and not just “consumers of your shrink-wrapped product”).

This is where your creativity as an artist needs to kick in. We’ll post more soon about innovative ways to engage and monetize your fans (and music sales are still a huge part of it), but you can get ideas from this list that the Future of Music Coalition put together a while ago. I’m personally super excited by everything around fan-funding and patronage and, if your tracks aren’t available where people might discover them, you might be missing out on future financial backers and patrons of your art.

Addendum:

The day after I started writing this, the main business news item is “Kodak Files For Bankruptcy Protection”. Apparently, this huge, established, dominant company was not able to foresee and adapt to huge shifts in how people create images, and in what services and products they are willing to pay for. Makes you think, doesn’t it.

Question: What do you think of Spotify? Do you have your music available on Spotify? Why or why not?

1. Develop a consistent reputation with promoters in your area that you can pack out whatever venues you play. Part of getting this great buzz about your music is getting into local press or radio stations (usually with the help of a publicist), being proactive about promoting your shows, and demonstrating that you’d make a good fit for the show.
2. Buy your way in. Either you’ll be asked to sell a minimum number of tickets (and pay the difference if you are short) or pay the performer up front.
3. Enter a random contest that you have no control over (sometimes local promoters or radio stations have a contest for local artists to enter), but the results usually have to do deal with option #1 (how much of a buzz do you have).

The first option takes time, energy, and hard work. In the process, you’ll gain the respect of the local music industry. You’ll build true fans that will come to other shows, buy your merchandise, and support your career. It’s the equivalent of a business building solid, regular customers. If the act you’re opening for likes you, you’ll be invited to do future shows with them and they’ll probably encourage their fans to support you.

The second option requires money. You won’t gain respect in the industry (most managers, booking agents, and labels smell a “buy on” act a mile away). You might make new fans if people show up to the concert early (many people skip the opening acts), are paying attention, and you blow them away. These fans might or might not buy your merchandise and the probably won’t come to your future shows unless you really develop a rapport with them. The band you’re opening up for probably won’t watch you and doesn’t really care about you. This is akin to the business that just buys a bunch of ads and gives away free stuff, hoping people come back to shop.

It’s odd: people are so reluctant when they encounter “pay to play” models from promoters yet they’re so desperate that they’ll throw thousands of dollars down in order to open for a touring band they admire. The pay off usually isn’t there. I’d only recommend it if you weren’t losing money on the deal (you’ll have no problems selling all of the tickets). Same thing goes for people who “buy” friends on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Myspace (there are companies that sell a “like” service); one look at any of act’s pages and you can tell that there is no true engagement. Your time, money, and energy would be better spent elsewhere.

I forgot to mention a fourth option: be the promoter yourself. Rent a venue, book the band, put yourself on the bill. I’ve done it myself a few times, I know other promoters and bands who do this. If you know how to run a show, it’s a lot different than when you’re at someone’s mercy for the terms.

——-

Simon Tam is owner of Last Stop Booking, a full service agency that offers tour booking and music consulting services. Simon has appeared on stage at over 1,200 live events and has traveled North America presenting ideas about the music industry. Simon’s writing on music and marketing can be found at www.laststopbooking.com

The last half of 2011 was intense for a lot of us.  The financial news across the world remained bleak, Occupy Wall Street was all over the news as the 99% spoke up to be heard.

The music business continued to take hits with Spotify’s arrival and news of more layoffs at record labels and management companies as we all scratched our heads to blog about positive things and good outcomes.

Many of you may have seen this article (or another one) on setting goals as they crop up at this time of year.

It’s a new year and a clear slate is in front of all of us. The turning of the calendar from 2011 to 2012 is an ideal time to set your goals. I see a marked difference between artists who set finite goals and those who do not regardless of what is happening in the world and in the news.

Ask yourself: Is this the year I want to make a difference for my music career?  And if so – what difference and how?

Think of goal setting as if you were driving in a foreign place – You wouldn’t get where you expect to go without a clear set of directions. Goal setting is like drawing a map for yourself.

This article is designed to assist you in creating a personal roadmap for achieving what you would like with your musical career this year, whether you consider music your hobby and you do it part time or you are making a living out of it full-time.

I have included a few links from some of the best musician related posts on how to think about and achieve goals as well.  So, bookmark this long article and refer to it throughout the year!

MAPPING OUT YOUR GOALS

Many studies have proven that long-term perspective is the most accurate single predictor of upward social and economic mobility in America. And it has been proven that people who have goals written down are much more likely to achieve them.

FOCUS AREAS – CREATING ORDER 

STEP 1: Write Down Your Focus Areas

Here is a list of some areas you may want to focus on. Skip the ones that are not for you and write out each focus area goal.

Branding – Your look and feel your image and health or your pitch and overall messaging.

Marketing – What will you do this year for your marketing plans.

Newsletter -  It’s still the #1 way to make money!  What will you do to create and send yours 12 – 24 times this year & how many people can you add to your e-mail list.

Website  – Building a new one or diversifying your online presence?

Social Networking  – How’s your Facebook Fan Page looking? How many tweets do you send each week?

PR – Getting covered on radio, print, or online.

Booking – Touring or local gigs this year or a combination?

New Music – How much will you release?

Money – How much money you would like to earn?

Film & TV Placements – Will you work towards them this year?

Expanding Your Fan Base – How will you do this?

Team – Will you be trying to get a manager or a booking agent?

Time – How will you manage to balance your time this year to make sure you can focus on your musical goals?

Songwriting – Recording an album or EP this year or just releasing singles as they come?

Instrument – Buying a new instrument or taking lessons?

Personal Health – So your performance is better – exercise, eating  etc.

STEP 2: Write Your Goals Down

•  Write each goal as if it is already happening – use the present tense

• Give dates by when you want to achieve each one

• Your goals should involve you and only you (they can’t be contingent on someone else)

•  Make them so they are realistically achievable

• Start with small goals so I can get them checked off the list and get in momentum fast!

• Make sure they make you FEEL MOTIVATED to complete!  Derek Sivers wrote great commentary on this: http://sivers.org/goals

STEP 3: Look At Them Everyday

I highly recommend writing your goals neatly on paper or creating a vision board that illustrates them. Use colored pens or make a collage that brings them to life and hang them in a place where you can see them everyday.

Keeping them within your sights will keep them in your mind

Carla Lynne Hall at Rockstar Life Lessons has a fabulous guide on how to create a vision board on her blog: http://bit.ly/CarlasVisionBoard

TECHNIQUES FOR ACHIEVING GOALS

1. Start With An Easy Goal And Complete It

One of the main reasons people don’t end up achieving their goals / keeping their new years resolutions is they set themselves up for failure by choosing goals that take a lot of discipline and time to achieve. There is nothing wrong with having big goals however, here’s what I recommend to overcome this issue…

Choose a simple goal and get it achieved within the next two weeks. This will start your momentum and get you feeling like you are in full forward motion.

Think of a small, achievable goal that only takes four to five hours to complete.

Choose something like:

• Organize cluttered studio
• Clean off desk
• Delete unwanted files from computer & emails
• Recycle last years unwanted papers
• Write one new song

Next, set a date when you will get it done by and go for it.

Now that you have achieved a goal within the first two weeks of the new year, the rest of your goal setting will seem a lot easier to accomplish, and you will be able to get things off your plate.

2. Make Lists To Stay On Track 

• Make daily lists of what you need to do to get your goals met – the night before! Do the hardest thing first in the morning – don’t procrastinate.

• Do something everyday that moves you towards the goals

• Delegate the little activities that waste your valuable time to other people (you would be amazed what you could do with 4 hours it takes to clean your house).

• Don’t overload yourself – studies show that 6 tasks is the maximum you can achieve in one day!

3.  Get Help

Build a TEAM to help you!! Get an intern or two – log on to http://www.entertainmentcareers.net and read http://www.internlikearockstar.com/ for inspiration and post as an employer seeking interns – you will be amazed at how many bright young people would like to get their feet wet in the business.

If you are not comfortable with the idea of an intern then ask a friend or a family member to help you.  Schedule just 2 hours a week with that person to attack the goals and get them in motion.

4. Structure Time to Achieve Goals

They won’t happen unless you have time to make sure they do!

Make sure you set aside time and stick to it with pigheaded diligence

5. Remember You Can Change The Goals As You Go

Goals should be looked at as beacons and guiding points for you to keep yourself on track along your journey.  I would not recommend changing them every week but the music industry is changing so rapidly it’s hard to know what goals are reachable in this landscape. So if the course of the year your goals change its OK to cross one off or modify as you go.

6. Write Down 5 Successes Each Day

I’m inviting you to write down five little victories a day for this entire year.

I learned this powerful technique years ago from T. Harv Eker.  Once you start getting into this habit, you are training yourself to put the focus on the positive and get your brain to stop being so critical.

So put a notebook in your gig bag or next to your bed and each day write down 5 things. Make one or two of them music or band related.

Here are some examples:

1. Went to gym.

2. Wrote lyrics for a new song.

3. Called three clubs for potential booking.

4. Did the dishes.

5. Posted a blog.

7. MY FINAL PIECE OF ADVICE – GO EASY ON YOU!

This is a process intended to take a whole year and you will have your days where you may get frustrated, and you will start to beat yourself up (sound familiar?)

Self-criticism will interfere directly with achieving your goals and dreams.  So, the next time you are making yourself wrong, take a step back and instead acknowledge the good, and celebrate your achievements.

Another thing that will stop you is not taking time for YOU so schedule time to reflect and take it all in.  Maybe that’s a walk in the woods, maybe that’s cooking yourself a decadent meal, or maybe it’s spending time with people you love and turning down your power for a few days without the pressure of a holiday or an event….

Here’s to your success in 2012!

PS

WANT A GUIDE TO HELP YOU?

I wrote one

My completely new THIRD edition of Music Success in Nine Weeks is available for presale now! (and it’s $5 less than last year!)

This edition is completely revamped and now includes a full chapter on YouTube as well as new sections on Fan funding, and new blogging techniques.

Each book comes with My Cyber PR® Mastermind Forum –  Get goal support for $27.99 (ebook) $29.99 (physical book)

Many fabulous musicians and I will be there help you along with your goals. 1 Membership comes with each purchase. 

Order now:

http://www.musicsuccessinnineweeks.com/

Despite all the efforts that have gone into protecting the music industry from piracy, according to this brilliant Infographic by WebpageFX, the Music Industry has been ineffective, and has tough times ahead.

Infographic by WebpageFX

http://www.webpagefx.com/blog/internet/online-digital-piracy-infographic/#more-3465

Picture this: one day, a company comes out of nowhere to introduce a service that renders Twitter obsolete. Overnight, all of those hours you spent cranking out tweets are useless. Or are they?

Let’s face it: Twitter is not so much about our follower counts, retweets, or mentions. Those are just numbers. Here’s the real deal: Twitter prepares us for the future by teaching us valuable, real-world skills.

So even if Twitter dies tomorrow, here are the five most important skills we can learn from it.

1. Networking

Twitter is simply a tool we use to nuture our social and professional networks. Effective networking involves keeping track of what your colleagues are doing. That includes industry figures, friends, clients, and fans. Furthermore, we keep our networks fresh by staying engaged with people.

2. Engagement

Suddenly, social networking isn’t just about connecting. Now, it’s about engaging. Basically, real engagement just means we talk with our fans rather than at them. Now we’re treating followers like real people! Artists are speaking directly to fans instead of issuing a blanket press release written by someone outside of the band. Musicians are using this skill to resolve problems, show appreciation for kindness, and display interest in others’ personal lives.

3. Communicating Succinctly

Believe it or not, communicating succinctly is an incredibly valuable skill. After all, college journalism classes devote much time and energy to the art of the headline.

Twitter’s 160 character limit forces users to communicate efficiently. Concise communication helps people understand what you want. It lets them know exactly what you’re asking them to do.

4. Seeking Out Best Practices

There are thousands of articles that advise us on the best Twitter practices. Absord them. Implement them regularly. Before you know it, you’re conditioned to seek out the best practices in other areas of your business.

5. Adaption To Change

Forces outside of our control can change the whole playing field in an instant. Look no further than your own Twitter feed. New trends and opinions are constantly flowing in and out the landscape.

It’s not just important to take notice of these changes. The deeper skill is recognizing which changes apply to you, and how adapt your business accordingly.

It seems unlikely now, but the forces of change can bury Twitter alongside MySpace and Google Buzz. Depending on your perspective, that’s the wonderful thing about change. It doesn’t discriminate, and it can happen in an instant.

So going forward, take the larger lessons of Twitter and apply them to your music career.

Wes Davenport is the publicist for Nashville electro-rock band Vinyl Thief. He writes about ways modern artists can thrive at his blog, Where the Circle Ends. Follow him on Twitter @wesdavenport for more music industry insights.