Category: music marketing & business

The Real Cost of Direct To Fan

Midem posted a concise summary of the direct to fan model. And I like the SlideShare format for sharability (for what would typically be a pdf or doc), though they could have broken up the text a bit and not made the font so small. Best viewed fullscreen.

The Real Cost of Direct To Fan – midem-exclusive White Paper

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Apply Obama’s Marketing Strategy

How did Obama do it? Here are five easy steps to a dynamite campaign.

“The market for something to believe in is infinite.” - Macleod

The Rules Of Engagement

  1. Truly believe in your cause. Work harder than anyone for the cause.
  2. Spread the word. Be ready to tell it in 1 word, 10 words, 100 words, simple and powerful, all the time. Know it’s essence and never stray from the core message. Constantly champion the stories of those behind the cause.
  3. Make it urgent. Always be beating the drum for some impending deadline to advance the cause.
  4. Give the power to the people. Let it sell itself. Give them the microphone, the communications tools, the community building tools, the network and get out of the way. Create environments where it flows. Ride the movement with everyone else. Give up control of your movement, open up to THE movement.
  5. Report from the front-line. Hard-working, open, authentic, sharing, available communicators gather supporters by simply participating in our hyper-networked world.

Short and sweet: Believe in your cause, spread the word, make it urgent, power to the people, and report from the front-line.

The Rules of En-J-ment

  1. Truly believe in my cause: Nothing is more important than making and sharing great art, song. This year I need to make a great album, site, and share it with Austin (DC, New York, San Diego…) and the world.
  2. Spread the word: I am a songwriter who cares about lyrics and poetry and uses a palette of folk, funk, soul, jazz, latin, rock and reggae. Everyday J making poetry pop.
  3. Make it urgent: Countdown to the next album: 5 months. It’s been 4 years since my last album and I’ve got scads of unrecorded songs. I’ve been in Austin for 13 years and am almost completely unknown beyond my friends. The time is NOW! Make a great album, show, site. Get on the map in Austin, at the very least.
  4. Give the power to the people: Solicit fan feedback on everything I do. Listen, write, record, perform for them. Create ways for fans to easily share it with their friends.
  5. Report from the front-line: Progress reports all the time from the center of the action.

In a nutshell: Make music, post songs, live for deadlines, share and engage with fans, always be broadcasting cool new stuff. Break!

I’ve got 5 months to make an album and 6 to sell it. I’ve got 8 songs picked for a theme and want it to be a soul album called Folk Dub for its personal funky acoustic beach reggae feel. Songs stripped down to rhythmic essence adorned with funky jazzy bass, guitar, organ, horns, and back-up singers. Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder and Jobim. Manu Chao,  D’Angelo, U2/Eno/Lanois.

  1. I Can See You -  reggae soul
  2. God Has Been Good To Me1 and 2 -  gospel funk
  3. Sat Morn (video) -  funk folk
  4. Mi Estilo Es Tranquilo -  reggae tejano
  5. Un Momento Perfecto – folk samba jazz
  6. Lake Rules  -  reggae kids fun
  7. All The Above -  pop folk rock funk vocal
  8. Speeding1 and 2– reggae folk rock bluegrass
  9. Nobody Knows What It Means – soul pop horns and harmonies
  10. Dub Lub – stone cold reggae jam (needs lyrics?)

 

Crowd-funding Article in the Statesman

My boss Dave told me last week that a reporter from the Statesman had called inquiring about sources for an article on crowd-funding, and that he’d referred him to me. So I met Barry for an interview, and Deborah for a photoshoot later in the week, and this morning the article is on the frontpage of the business section of the paper: Crowdfunding is the new creative way to finance movies, CDs and more

Standing in Waller Creek - Photo by Deborah Cannon/AMERICAN-STATESMAN

I was quoted:

“It was the most valuable thing I’ve ever done as a musician,” Molin said. “It made me ask something of my fans. And before I could ask something of my fans, it made me figure out what my value proposition was. … What am I offering, and what are people getting in return?”

Molin, 38, said he realized he needed “to stop looking for new fans and trying to get new people interested; you’ve got 100 people who like you already. Make them happy.”

“This is really part of the whole do-it-yourself, social media promise, which is that you don’t need a record label any longer, you are not waiting to be discovered, you’re not waiting to get picked,” Molin said. “Reject the tyranny of ‘picked’ and pick yourself.”

That last bit about rejecting the tyranny of picked is straight up Seth Godin. Thanks Seth!

Continue reading Crowd-funding Article in the Statesman

Be Audacious, Make Connections

Matt Van Horn

I saw Matt Van Horn speak at SXSWi on how to be audacious enough to build business relationships from nothing. Here are my notes:

  • make a list of your top ten companies and stalk them
  • send quick 2-3 line emails (w/in 48hrs of meeting)
  • mention one unique thing about yourself to help them remember you
  • add them on your social network
  • add value! do some research and thinking about how you can help them
  • get a 1 on 1
  • read Never Eat Alone
  • fit as much info in the subject line as possible, very helpful
  • LinkedIn is great for search (b/c of degrees of separation, FB could kill them if their search did this) and nothing else, don’t use to contact people
  • Twitter is great for @replies for getting on people’s radar, pre-introduction
  • Dunbar’s number says we can only maintain 150 connections, know yours, choose them wisely
  • Major relationship decay occurs after 9 months of not seeing someone so make sure you at least contact important connections every 3-6 months
  • get interesting people together, example: when you visit somewhere, tell all your friends to come to a happy hour and introduce them
  • build a personal board of directors, mentors with whom you keep monthly contact
  • when you go to a conference make a list of 10 must-meet people and find connections, introductions

 

http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_IAP7105