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LETSGETMADE's blog
| Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Want To Be Like Coldplay? Get Friction
I read an article on Billboard.com a few days ago which said that Coldplay is going to give away their live CD “leftrightleftrightleft” to all fans attending its Viva La Vida summer tour. Brilliant!
“Playing live is what we love,” says Coldplay .Exactly! It should be. Surely, a day doesn’t go by where you don’t hear about how you should be giving away free music, right? You should be. As I’ve mentioned before, music as a product doesn’t have much value anymore because it’s too common. It’s basic supply and demand.
Ok, so now, instead of hoping in earnest that somebody buys your tracks, you should be hoping that as many of them as possible download them for free. But does that mean you’ll make a penny off of your free downloads down the road? Well, it depends. Coldplay does. And they’re making lots of it. So why can’t you?
Well, you can. But first, there’s a simple concept your need to understand. Coldplay demonstrates it very well. It’s the concept of friction. The most important question any indie music artist—or anybody doing anything difficult—can address in the quest for success and profit is the following: Is there friction in what I’m doing?
Friction is basically that unique thing that you have or develop that makes it hard for others to compete against you. Coldplay can give away a ton of free stuff and still make a killing because a ton of people are going to pay for their concerts. People go to Coldplay shows because they’re a one of a kind. It's like Google. They're an industry leading company because they have a ton of friction.
Coldplay has a lot of friction because it’s awfully hard to be like them. There’s a high barrier of entry to being like Coldplay. But Coldplay didn’t become who they are just off of talent alone. I don’t know what personal circumstances or luck came into play to bring together the members that make up the band Coldplay, but you can bet that there were tens of thousands of tiny acts of dedication, persistence and just plain old hard work that gave Coldplay the tremendous friction that they have today.
But you don’t need to be superstars like Coldplay. There are different levels of success that can all be satisfying, depending on what you want.
There are people who say that Twitter is going to fail because it has a churn rate of 60%. In other words, 60% of people who try Twitter quit after one month. To me, that shows that Twitter is vibrant. Twitter is valuable because the 40% that sticks with it has surmounted the barrier to entry, which is constantly engaging other people on Twitter, which isn’t an easy thing to do. It's so unlike MySpace where you don't really have to do much work to be a part of it, but you also won't really get noticed by anyone because there's too many other people doing what you do. The “survivors” on Twitter, simply by persevering, have made it harder to be like them than the people who quit. They have friction and friction is value.
It’s the same thing with the indie music scene. If you don’t make it hard to be like you, if you don’t have any friction, then you’re just like everybody else. If you’re just like everybody else, then why should I care if you’re offering me free tracks? Are they worth my time to listen to? Are you worth paying attention to?
So how do you create friction? One step at a time. First, you have to decide what your goal is. What are you trying to achieve? Then you create your music brand around that. But it’s not just about your music. It’s about all your ideas too.
It’s not about being popular. It’s about being respected. It’s better to have a few thousand loyal fans than hundreds of thousands who aren’t.
Take your time to create high value stuff for hardcore followers. There’s lots of really crappy blogs on band websites out there. Why aren’t people spending more time crafting quality blogs? Your ideas are your brand today. Your stories are your identity. They’re powerful.
You create friction by striving for perfection. Then freemium will work.
Posted By LETSGETMADE @ 10:21 PM | Comments: 0 |
| Monday, May 25th, 2009
5 Things The Labels Did That You Shouldn’t
Kanye West has perhaps one of the fattest egos of any human being on Earth. He was once asked what the greatest pain in his life is. He replied that his greatest pain is not being able to see himself perform live because he’s “God’s Vessel.”
Let me admit that I think there’s nothing wrong with having a big ego—in fact it can be beneficial if you’re trying to accomplish very big things—but your downfall begins when you start to think you’re invincible.
I think of the spectacular downfall of people like Bernie Madoff and companies like Enron. They all thought they had the world at their feet. Until the world pushed back.
I also think of the mighty music industry…with its guts all over the floor now. The music industry thought it would have MTV and CDs forever. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The other industry that had the same air of invincibility that the music business did is the newspaper business. And it’s also got its guts hanging out. They’re both now asking for forgiveness from the future.
Powerful people, powerful companies and powerful industries all fall for similar reasons. Hubris is always the worst of them. There are five areas where the major record labels really went wrong. Analyzing them would be instructive to every indie music artist. Knowing how not to act and think can be just as useful to you as knowing how to act and think.
The reason the major labels are beneath you and me today is because of five characteristics. I call them habits of the doomed. If you avoid these ways of thinking, you’ll have a much smoother music career and life.
CONCERN WITH PROTECTING YOUR EGO
When you come across a problem you don’t understand, you act like you understand the situation instead of asking for answers. The major labels were more concerned with protecting their image as geniuses and the be-all-end-all than they were with addressing the new realities that were bubbling up beneath them.
Steve Knopper of Rolling Stone wrote a book called “Appetite For Self Destruction: The spectacular crash of the record industry in the digital age”. He did an interview about it at rollogrady.com where he described how the labels just completely ignored the Internet when they knew it was coming. He says that Universal, for example, “…had lots of technologists on staff. It’s just that the top executives at Universal weren’t really paying attention to them. I think to an extent that was true at all the labels. There would be marketing meetings where radio, retail and MTV Video would take up 90% of the time and then the last ten minutes some executive would say, ‘Hey, how about this crazy new Internet thing?’ Then they’d give their five or ten minute spiel about it and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to do some MP3 stuff or some AOL chat-room stuff, OK? Alright!’ They’d pat them on the head and go away. That continued all the way up until 2004 or 2005. It is pretty extraordinary how long that sort of attitude continued at the labels.”
They all ignored the iPod and Napster. The lesson in this is that you should never stop asking questions. Never let your ego get in the way of learning new things.
HAVING A CONSUMER MENTALITY
The labels lost their way because they became obsessed with selling nihilistic music on overpriced CDs. They completely sold out to the greenback. But music is always about music first. It has to be. That’s what the Indie scene has brought back. Always remember, the music comes first. Without it, nothing makes sense.
BEING WISH-FOCUSED
A good way to fail at what you want in life is to be a day dreamer…by spending gobs of time fantasizing about how much money you could be making instead of acting and analyzing your actions and those of others. The entire music industry was based on wishful thinking…and a good dose of detachment from reality. They kept wishing things would stay the same for just one more day. Unfortunately for them, the future happened now. And it was a hell of a thing to behold.
RESISTING CHANGE
The labels knew about a lot of the changes that were about to happen in the music industry before many others did. They hired companies like Big Champagne to analyze user behavior on P2P networks. But they didn’t do anything with that data because they thought they were bigger than change. So did the Republican Party in 2008. They all resisted change. And they lost.
If everybody’s all of a sudden doing something, there must be a good reason why. Always try to be a few steps ahead of the curve. Especially on the Web. Learn about Twitter. Learn about Spotify. Even if you don’t want to use them, at least it’s good to know what’s going on.
BEING PESSIMISTIC AND JEALOUS
The major labels dismissed Napster and the iPod. They didn’t think the iPod would ever catch on; that it was a fluke. Dismissing other people’s success by saying “That guy’s just lucky” or “It’ll never last” isn’t prudent. Instead, you should be asking, “How can I do that?” or “What’s his secret?”
Posted By LETSGETMADE @ 1:54 PM | Comments: 0 |
| Sunday, May 24th, 2009
What?!Your Band Doesn’t Have A Website?
I’ve got to say, I’m a bit shocked by how little time and effort so many indie bands put into their websites. And I’m very shocked at how many indie bands still don’t even own their own website. Not having your own band website is inexcusable in 2009.
One thing I see a lot with bands is that they spread themselves thin. They’re so consumed with all the social networking platforms out there that they lose sight of the importance of having a central hub.
I think it’s great that people are using MySpace, Twitter, Reverbnation, Sonic Bids and all that good stuff. But not having your own website is like running a package delivery company with delivery offices in different cities, but no headquarters. You have no control over your operations and your message. People won’t take you seriously.
Take it from people within the traditional music industry. They’re the real canaries in the goldmine. I’ve got a good friend who’s close to people at the major record labels. He’s privy to many of the conversations going on right now at the Majors. One of the things he mentioned to me the other day is that the labels are doing some serious house cleaning. They’re cutting a lot of people loose. And it’s not just because of the recession. It’s the industry.
They’re realizing that by clearing the industry of a lot of dead wood, and by recruiting fresh, young talent, they’ll be much better prepared to take advantage of new marketing trends. One tactic they’re beginning to employ more and more is marketing their artists on influential music blogs.
The point I’m making is that even the almighty major record labels are succumbing to the power of websites because websites have a way of authentically connecting with people that magazines don’t anymore.
Rapper Jadakiss was interviewed recently on a local radio station. They asked him what’s the most important piece of advice he would give to up and coming music artists. He said that instead of worrying about a record deal, think about getting a website.
If you don’t have a good, clean looking website of your own, you’re going against powerful tides.
The vertical world of hits died. It was killed by the horizontal world of networks. In the 70s and 80s, you listened to a song because it was a hit and everyone else was listening to it. Now, you listen to a song because you genuinely like it. You picked it out of the infinite variety out there and put it on your iPod. That little horizontal slice of the music tapestry that people attach themselves to is the niche. People join niche groups because they want to believe in something. They want to be a part of something.
If you’re a band and you’ve carved out your own tiny niche, you maintain a stronghold on your fan base by developing a strong identity. If you don’t have a website, it’s hard to maintain a strong identity because people won’t have a place to interact with you when they’re not at your shows.
A good, clean website is one of your most important assets today.
Posted By LETSGETMADE @ 5:31 PM | Comments: 0 |
| Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Why Fans Are The New Music Copyright
Singer-songwriter Cat Stevens says he may sue Coldplay. Did you hear about this? He said that his son brought it to his attention that “Viva La Vida” sounds like his 1973 song “Foreigner’s Suite” and that he might consider suing for plagiarism.
But first, he wants to wait and see what happens with U.S guitarist Joe Satriani who has already sued Coldplay for copyrights infringement. Satriani says parts of his song “If I could fly” were recycled in “Viva La Vida”.
What do you think about all this? I think it’s idiotic. The music business of the last several decades has been the biggest property protection scheme of all time. The industry became synonymous with the word lawyer. You were instructed to copyright every single composition because it mattered a great deal to your CD sales.
Now, indie musicians know they can’t protect their music. The rules have changed dramatically. Cat Stevens must know this; that’s why he’s eagerly awaiting the Satriani verdict.
I used to know a music lawyer at the firm of Selverne, Mandelbaum and Mintz in New York. He thought he was the shit until he lost his job early this year because the firm’s struggling to find work. This is a firm that has represented Ludacris, Nelly and Cassie. The walls in their waiting room were festooned with awards and plaques when I was in there several years ago. But now this dude’s out of a job. It’s when shit like this goes down that I know the traditional record industry is screwed.
The last thing an indie music artist in this day and age really needs is to be losing sleep over protecting intellectual property. I’m not saying you should let people rip your songs word for word(that rarely happens anyway). I’m just saying, times have changed and you have very little control over what happens to your intellectual property these days.
As a result, instead of being in a constant protectionist mindset when it comes to your music, you should be focusing mostly on collecting what’s called mindshare. It’s the best way to protect yourself and compete.
Media futurist Seth Godin writes on his blog about the elements of a business model. They are:
1. What compelling reason exists for people to give you money? (or votes or donations)
2. How do you acquire what you're selling for less than it costs to sell it?
3. What structural insulation do you have from relentless commoditization and a price war?
4. How will strangers find out about the business and decide to become customers?
All four of these will always be relevant to any business no matter the era. Business is business. It’s just the form each takes that changes with the times. All of these are also highly relevant to the music business.
Number three is important because that’s where mindshare fits in. And that matters to you right now. If you want to copyright all of your intellectual property, that’s fine, but all I’m going to say is good luck with that. The labels have all been there before and failed.
The way you protect yourself now isn’t by copyrighting and suing the hell out of people. It’s by building a network that’s difficult for someone else to disrupt. Personal branding is an important aspect of all this. We live in an age of personal branding. We also live in an age where it’s hard to persuade people with soulless sloganeering. People want stories to be convinced. They want you to persuade them with your stories, not your sound bites.
Music is no different. People want to feel like you’re with them. Like you’re a good friend.Not hiding behind a wall of legalese.
Thing is, once people are loyal to you, it’s hard for someone else to come in and take them from you. Once you’ve made people loyal to you, you’ve captured mindshare. It’s how you protect yourself from competition. And it’s powerful. Because in this day and age, marketing is largely about storytelling, there are many ways to capture mindshare.
Suing people doesn’t work anymore. It just pisses people off.
Posted By LETSGETMADE @ 11:09 AM | Comments: 3 |
| Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Wisdom For Dealing With The Harsh Music World
I usually write about the intersection between music and marketing. I want to get off the beaten path a bit with this article because I know that an indie music career is about more than marketing and money.
It’s about your inner spirit too. It’s about what you’re made of on the inside. It’s about how you deal with the world around you.
Your music is your life and life is messy. I was reminded of all this recently because I spoke with a guy who’s in a struggling indie band. It’s just been one problem after the next for them. They just can’t get a break.
He was talking to me about the hell they just went through with their now ex-manager. Basically, he had a falling out with their manager recently. Thing is, the manger knew the passwords to access their website’s server. He went in and deleted their website. Talk about being vindictive.
So that just made me think about the importance of mentally preparing oneself for dealing with the world when it doesn’t go your way. It’s extra tough these days too because the music business has become a do it yourself minefield.
Making something of yourself requires a mental toughness which demands that you deal with not just the new technical realities of the music business, but the difficulties that other people have always presented. People three thousand years before you were dealing with the same people issues.
It’s hard out there. But if you try to stick to a few solid habits of mind, you can deal with problems more effectively when they do arise. Here’s a few things to think about to overcome the stresses in your music career and life.
THE WORLD IS NOT YOUR OYSTER
Trying to constantly make the world bend to your will is a recipe for stress and frustration. Things usually won’t go your way. The best way to protect yourself from stress is to accept and internalize that fact. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. You’ve heard it before.
Being prepared for the worst always softens the blow. The world usually doesn’t go according to your plans. But don’t let that discourage you. Accept it and meet the world head on. And then move on. Life isn’t supposed to happen in a straight line. Accept that other people will do things differently and think differently than you.
Just because you’re leading a band or record label or anything at all doesn’t mean that everyone else has to or will necessarily fall in line with what you want. Many won’t. And some will sabotage you just to see you burn. You can only control your attitude towards others’ actions. Most of the time, you’re not in control. Deal with it.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower once said that a good delegator is someone who once he’s handed a letter he knows he could have written better, signs it anyway. The world isn’t your oyster.
DO WHAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT
One of the secrets to being happy is having integrity. Live a life where what you do matches up closely with what you believe and what you say. If you lie, cheat and misrepresent yourself, eventually you’ll develop a low opinion of yourself. And it will show. People will know. Lack of integrity will always bring you down.
A friend of mine is friends with a music manager in New York. The manager was approached recently by a music guy who wanted him to do business with him. To impress the music manager, this guy claimed that he had an email list with 14 million names. I don’t know who this guy is, but I know for sure that he doesn’t have a list of 14 million because not even Barack Obama has an email list that large.
Not only was this dude too dumb to come up with a credible lie, but he lacked integrity. Lack of integrity will kill your career. Contrary to popular belief, nice guys do finish first.
FOR EVERY NEGATIVE, THERE’S A POSITIVE
Don’t worry too much about things not going your way because usually, there’s a silver lining…if you look hard enough. I’m sure you can think of events in your life that have totally frustrated or even devastated you. But then, several months later, something wonderful happens that would never have been possible had the negative experience not happened to you. It’s universal balance.
That guy I mentioned who’s ex-manager deleted his site, I’m sure there’s a silver lining in that too. It may take months or even years to realize it, but there’s something there. That’s usually how things work. As the author Richard Back put it in his book Illusion, “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly.”
Think about universal balance the next time your gig falls through or your star drummer deserts you.
Posted By LETSGETMADE @ 8:00 PM | Comments: 1 |
| Thursday, May 21st, 2009
What It Really Takes To Get 1000 True Fans
People usually won’t believe what you tell them.
People will sometimes believe what you show them.
People will usually believe what their friends tell them.
And People will always believe what they tell themselves.
Why am I telling you this? Because maybe you’re still in denial. Maybe you still think that the rules of the music industry haven’t changed. Or maybe you’ve accepted that everything has changed, but you don’t fully understand what it all means yet and how to put the new rules into practice.
Look at Coldplay. They’re giving away free albums now. They know that that’s the smart thing to do because it’ll make people tell themselves stories about Coldplay that they will tell their friends.
Coldplay has figured out that lowering the barrier of entry to spread the word about them is a much better marketing strategy to get people to come to their shows than charging fans in the form of a CD. Makes sense, right?
But then again, isn’t the only reason Coldplay is able to market so effectively with freemium because they’ve built up their name through the traditional major record label system? If Coldplay were a brand new band today, coming up under the new rules, would they have a chance at becoming as popular as they are?
I don’t have an answer for that. This new media landscape is still too new. The new music industry isn’t yet far enough removed from the triumvirate of radio, distribution and rights. Look at what happened to the Pirate Bay guys. They tried something different and they got a black eye.
I’m waiting for the first mega-popular act that comes up through a system completely detached from the triumvirate. After all, music law, radio and distribution are all dying creatures. Soon enough…
Wired Magazine founding Editor Kevin Kelly has a great article on his blog titled “1000 True Fans” that I linked to in last week’s newsletter. He talks about how you really can make a living off of 1000 true fans. Thing is, he was asked to show evidence of bands that are doing this in the real world and wasn’t able to.
My take on this is that his 1000 True Fans theory is correct. There are probably many bands out there succeeding on this model. But it’s such a new business model that we’ll need time for it to become the norm.
Bottom line is, in the new economy, copies are free, abundant and worth little. Copies of everything; music, articles, books, information. So you can’t really monetize them anymore. That’s why the CD is disappearing. When copies are infinitely abundant and worth little, it’s attention that becomes a valuable asset. It’s the new revenue generator.
That’s why being unique and having a unique story behind you is so valuable. But building an asset like attention takes time. Maybe part of the reason we aren’t yet seeing a plethora of bands succeeding with the 1000 True Fans model is because many musicians aren’t patient enough. I think it’s natural for people to want it all now. But wanting it all now isn’t a way to make yourself unique, and unique is what has value. You have to put in the time. There are no shortcuts.
I see musicians breaking the rules of new media all the time on the social networking sites. You can’t get potential fans to tell themselves a good story about you by spraying them with spam and shameless sound bytes. Anyone can do that.
Case in point: There’s this one indie musician I’ve been following on Twitter. He’s not very active on it. But every once in a while, he’ll log on and send 5-10 tweets promoting his MySpace and his band website. He’ll send the tweets out in machine gun-like rapid fire succession. Then, poof! He’s gone, in a swirl of dust.
No matter how good this guy’s music is, in my mind, I say to myself, “This dude’s a fugazzi…a car salesman.” I don’t like that. Nobody does.
People who shamelessly promote like that make it impossible for me to have a good impression of them; to tell myself a good story about them. They haven’t provided me with anything I can talk about. Especially to myself. As a result, I won’t talk to my friends about them. This guy’s band won’t get my attention or the attention of my friends because his mind is stuck in the 20th century.
Take your time to persuade people instead of advertising to them. Authentic persuasion takes a lot more skill and guts than advertising. Are you up to it?
Posted By LETSGETMADE @ 3:37 PM | Comments: 0 |
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