Music Business

1. You won’t be mentally prepared to deal with all of the fame, fortune, and international attention. You will crash and burn. Remember what happened to Susan Boyle?

Are we just doing it wrong? The downer argument is that price-points are careening towards zero, scarcity has evaporated, and monetization is a lost cause.  But what about all the vast number of passives? The group that isn’t engaged, isn’t paying, or just hasn’t been approached the right way?

Here’s the take from ‘Tommy Boy’ Silverman, a fabulously successful executive in the old model, and someone with some interesting questions about the new.  He just made these comments in a broader interview withMusician Coaching.

“The number I’ve heard recently is that there are about 200 million music buyers in the world.  And there are about seven billion people in the world.  So, if we can make that 200 million grow to 250 million, we can make a little bit more money.  But that would only take the net world music business from $16 billion to $20 billion.  It won’t take it back to its peak in 1999.  It will just make it a little bigger.

If we can get the people who are buying music to buy more music, maybe we can push it a little further than that.  And if we can get them to spend a little more money, we might be able to take it even further than that.

But none of this will take us to a $100 billion worldwide business.  The only way we’ll get there is by finding a way to monetize passives.  Because, the passives outnumber music buyers – there are six billion passives vs. 200 million music buyers.”

There are six billion activated cell phones in the world. And there are 1.2 billion smartphones activated now, which means smartphones that are actively being used, with active subscriptions that have been paid for.”

The trend everywhere is moving towards smartphones. The entire world is going to open up to that level of accessing music. –Digital Music News

With a decade-spanning production resume that includes work for the likes of Jay-Z, Jay Electronica and Eminem, it is safe to say that Just Blaze knows a thing or two about the current state of the music industry. In addition, the New Jersey native is actively involved with the Grammy Career Day, an initiative that intends to inspire and provide direction and knowledge for students interested in music careers, and co-manages Harlem’s Stadium Red Studios. More than enough reasons for us to sit down with the award-winning producer and converse about various More

It’s a basic economic principle: as price increases, demand decreases. But that’s the beginner’s guide, and it doesn’t take psychological components into account.  Because sometimes, when you raise the price – or simply attach a price tag at all – demand actually increases.  And so does the perception of quality.

The music industry isn’t the best at studying pricing (that’s for sure), but there’s evidence that price tags actually increase overall interest and demand for your music – whether that results in a paid transaction or not.  Here’s a comment from a seriously DIY artist in the trenches, Steady Fingers, who offered this comment.

“But it’s funny that even when I used to give away [my music] for free, there wasn’t much traffic nor many downloads, almost nothing. Then we decided that we should put it up for sale so that we might be able to recoup some of the money spent on making the music videos (when it’s your brother making the videos, I still consider it DIY.) Anyway, as soon as people saw that the music was up for sale, the website and other related social media gizmos received much more attention. Also, people began looking for ways to download it for free, which isn’t always a bad sign.”

Welcome to the strange world of ‘perceived value,’ a murky science that enables all sorts of obscene markups – whether at Starbucks, Gucci, or the Apple Store.   But the basic idea is this: the simple presence of an elevated price tag – or a price tag at all – is often enough to convince someone that this product has worth.

The extreme example would involve something like a Rolls Royce – the ridiculous price actually attracts more interest.  But this occurs amongst everyday people, with everyday items: in fact, a recent research effort conducted at Stanford and Caltech found that people actually experienced more physical pleasure response from supposedly more expensive wines – even if they were tasting exactly the same thing!  In the classic ‘blind taste test’ involving a $5 and $45 wine (which were actually the same thing), the researchers found that pleasure synapses in the brain actually fired more strongly for the $45 wine.

The conclusion: higher prices can increase the perception of quality, and therefore, demand.  ”What we document is that price is not just about inferences of quality, but it can actually affect real quality,” said Stanford GSB professor Baba Shiv, who co-authored the study. “So, in essence, [price] is changing people’s experiences with a product and, therefore, the outcomes from consuming this product.”

The problem for artists – at least on the recording side – is that there’s always a free or near-free option (unlike wines or cars).  But just charging something may just be the most effective ‘free music’ strategy.  Because your fans will steal your music no matter what — the main thing (like it or not) is that they’re interested enough to do so.  –Digital Music News

A while ago, I wrote this article about How to Get Better Results From Your Sonicbids Submissions. Since then, there have been a few changes to the site (both for promoters as well as performers). All of the advice from the first article still applies so if you haven’t read it, take a look at it first.

Here’s some practical advice for those of you who would like to use Sonicbids to get gigs and what my thoughts are on it (both as an artist as well as a promoter):

1. Make Your EPK Stand Out: There’s nothing worse than submitting an incomplete EPK. This includes tour dates. Contrary to what you might think, the EPK is the first thing that the promoter sees, not the submission questions that you’re sometimes required to complete. If you plan on using Sonicbids often (let’s face it, it’s one of the few ways to submit to SXSW, CMJ, or some other opportunities), then splurge a little and pay for the premium account, at least for the months that you’re using it often. Get your elevator pitch down. Grab their attention immediately. Listing the band members in your bio (unless you have a celebrity in the lineup) is a waste of time, same with spending an entire paragraph talking about what you sound like. Instead, focus on what sets you apart from every other artist, how you will make them money, and a deep understanding of your target audience.  Use bullet points when possible: if it easier to read and you make every sentence count, promoters are more likely to read it thoroughly. If you are not as active, simply downgrade your account later.
2. When Submitting to Gigs, Use the Sort Function: If you want more time and attention spent on your EPK, then get in line first. When you log into your profile, click on “Find Gigs” and then sort the listings by “Date Added.” Check this often. Artists that get in the door first show initiative and have a better chance of getting in (as opposed to those who submit last, after most of the decisions have already been made). Make it a weekly habit to check your status/messages from promoters and follow up. If you want to try being the last one in, you can always sort for submissions based on their deadline.
3. Link Your Account to All Other Social Media Sites: As soon as a promoter opens your EPK in a submission window, your social media stats are featured. In fact, they are shown more prominently than your bio or anything else. Right of the bat, a promoter will see how many fans you have on Myspace, what your Jango score is, and how many fans you have. Leave no stone unturned: even as irreverent  Myspace is, a higher number of fans on your profile still looks more impressive than an empty space. To add sites, click on “Edit My EPK” and enter the field in “Other Sites.” Drag the most prominent and active sites to the top. While you’re there. customized your URL. It looks much better to be sonicbids.com/BANDNAME than a collection of numbers/letters.
4. See What Others Are Doing: Check out the EPK’s of artists getting the most gigs each week (Track Buzz) so you can see what they’re doing right. Getting gigs helps you get more gigs (believe it or not, the little icons you get for “Booking your first 25, 50, or 100 gigs does stand out and is highlighted to the promoter).
5. Keep Up With Your Stats: If you have a premium account, you get access to your profile stats (Manage EPK>My Stats) so you can see how many views/plays you’re receiving, what parts of your profile are being looked at, etc. However, one of the greatest features is the oft-ignored “Plugins” section on the right hand side. The social media stats/buzz that you see here are the ones that are shared with promoters. If the Twitter Buzz results are pulling up results that are not relevant, make adjustments to the search query so that your music is being talked about (and not something else with a similar name).
6. Keep the Gig Calendar Full: I know, it’s a pain. Shows to enter on your own site, Reverb Nation, Myspace, Facebook Events, etc. It can get overwhelming with the amount of data entry. However, Murphy’s Law suggests that wherever you forget to include your tour dates, that will probably be the area that the promoter looks at. Promoters don’t have the time to following up with each of your sites to see how busy your band is. You might have an extensive tour booked all over the world on your website, but if someone looks at your EPK’s empty gig list, you’re going to look pretty pathetic. If it’s easier, delegate calendar updates in the band to different members – just make sure that the same basic information (show time, entry fee, etc.) is the same across the board.

Whether you like it or not, Sonicbids is a tool that is being used by many, many promoters, especially larger music festivals. If you are going to use the site, then do it properly so that you can maximize the results. If not, then focus on your own sites that you do well (most of the basic principles remain the same).

–Music Think Tank