Artists, if you don’t read Permission Marketing by Seth Godin you’re an idiot. Period.

 

The first 50 pages of this book absolutely confirm the messaging and concepts of every music marketing article I have ever written over the last 3 years; it is exactly the business model that Daredevil Production is building.

 

It’s exactly the business model for the new music business.

Which means that whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, or whether you know it or not, this is YOUR BUSINESS MODEL.

 

The fact that I devour books (especially marketing books), and I’m aware of Seth Godin because I have read many of his blogs, and I’ve just now read this book, makes me an idiot.

 

There, I said it.

 

This book was originally published in 1999!

 

This is not a new concept in today’s society, but it is brand new to the music business.

 

Which means there will be little competition to the early adopters.

 

Two Questions: How will your song become my jam in 2016? How will ALL ARTISTS find an audience, expose their music to that audience, and create lifelong Superfans in the future?

 

Answer: Permission Marketing

 

“Oh, let’s get in to this right now.” He says, rhythmically tapping his fingertips. (So exciting!)

 

Permission Marketing is not new. In fact, it’s the way all commerce was done prior to 106 years ago; prior to the industrial revolution.

 

Huh?

 

Yes, before mass media, nationwide affordable telecommunication and motorized transportation, every consumer had a relationship with their seller of goods and services.

 

People knew the owner of the local General Store, blacksmith, doctor, pharmacist, and would frequent these establishments consistently. Think about that for a second, these consumers were super loyal.

 

There was trust.

 

 

There was understanding.

 

There was constant commerce.

 

Because the makers of goods and services couldn’t effectively reach anyone outside of a radius of a few miles, the businesses need not expand. What would be the point?

 

The opposite of Permission Marketing is Mass Media, or Mass Marketing. Godin refers to this as “Interruptive Marketing”.

 

We interrupt this television show, radio program, web browsing experience to show you a word from our sponsors.

 

You get it.

 

Marketing changed drastically with the industrial revolution and the invention of the automobile and is now morphing again with the advent and acceptance of the internet.

 

 

 

Godin accurately states that mass media was created as a result of the emerging giant brands and multinational companies. What good was building a huge factory to make a product cheaper (this is called the economy of scale) if you couldn’t sell it to anyone beyond a radius of a few miles?

 

At that moment we witnessed the birth of national magazines and newspapers.

 

Then radio.

 

Then television.

 

Boomtown.

 

 

It was easy back then. Few channels meant less messages which means the ads were actually seen by the masses. Bigger reach and super effective frequency of ads meant quicker, more lethal advertising ROI’s (Returns On Investment).

The resulting sales were astounding! The more money you spent on advertising the more sales you created.

Simple.

 

 

By building national brands like Dove soap (which was the first product to replace homemade soap) and Crisco (which was the first product to replace lard) Proctor & Gamble began the start of a multi-billion dollar home product empire.

 

 

But now, consumers are POUNDED with advertising messages and have become comfortably numb.

 

 

This is human nature, predictable human psychology. If you eat at the very best, most expensive restaurant in the world, every day, it becomes blasé and boring after a while.

 

In the music business, we call this “overexposure”. Seeing Adele live is an event so huge she sold out her whole concert tour in something like 3 minutes. If she played your local bar every Friday and Saturday nobody would care.

 

Get it?

 

Boring but relevant statistic: You are exposed to 3,000 ads per day.

 

Consequently, nobody cares about your song, man, well, kind of.

 

Nobody is interested in learning about your song or taking a chance on spending 3:30 to discover you suck, even if you do manage to get a little crumb of their valuable attention.

 

We are now seeing advertisers, which includes indie artists and record labels, making the same fatal marketing mistake. Their advertising has become less effective because it’s reaching far less people and the people it does reach are not responding as much.

 

The increasing lack of response is because of all the clutter, all the noise, all the ads we are constantly deluged with.

 

The mistake they make is that they respond to the dwindling return of sales from advertising by paying for more ads in an attempt to reach more people.

 

Which creates more clutter.

 

Which further deteriorates the effectiveness of their marketing.

 

Catch-22:  The more they spend the less it works. The less it works, the more they spend. (All praise be to Seth Godin).

 

Interruptive Marketing fails because it is unable to get enough attention from consumers.

 

This creates the opportunity for Permission Marketing, especially in the music business.

 

At Daredevil Production, we are taking it back to the old days; creating relationships.

 

We are turning all this advertising clutter into an asset for our artists and ourselves. This is what I am constantly trying to share with you in an effort to help you succeed.

 

If you are an avid reader of this blog, you regularly give me permission to email you and deepen our relationship.

 

 

There is so much competition for artists on the internet. With mass marketing breaking (broken) down, your music isn’t going to begin your career.

 

A relationship with a potential fan is.

 

You’ve read my updates on our artist Bailey James. Bailey and her family get it.

 

Do you now see why I tell our artists to engage everybody?

 

 

Do you want to know how much of an advantage that you really have by taking the leap of faith by learning and mastering Permission Marketing?

 

This is a general statement (fact) but it certainly applies to the music business.

 

Through decades of Interruptive Marketing, the big brands (all the major labels) have become bigger and supremely dominant.

 

The top 100 advertisers account for 87 percent of all advertising expenditures in the USA. More than eighty of these companies have been advertising for more than 20 years.

 

Wow! Did you get that?

 

 

There are 2 takeaways from that statement that overtly affect your advantage as an indie artist/master marketer and any decisions you might be entertaining to obtain a major label record deal.

 

First, big companies don’t hire people to reinvent decades-old super successful marketing techniques. They train their newbies to do exactly what the last marketing person did.

 

Second, the newbies don’t want to rock the boat even though they have great ideas and understand the old marketing methodologies are not working as well. Simply put, they weren’t hired to demolish the distribution channel or to question the very foundation of their marketing heritage.

 

This means the biggies will stick to their guns and the old school way of doing things until it’s too late.

 

Until the ship sinks.

 

Your proof of this statement lies in the fact that there are only 3 major labels left, Warner Brothers, Sony, and Universal.

 

 

Your proof also lies in the fact that all the majors are STILL sending consumers to iTunes to purchase music.

 

For what? How hard is it to set up a webstore with a major label brand name that would allow the label to get 100% of that precious sale?

 

Therein lies YOUR opportunity.

 

Here is your chance to stick out and create name for yourself as an artist.

 

Bailey tells us her fans say that she is amongst only 1 or 2 other artists who actually respond to them.

 

Here is your chance to intelligently assemble an effective business plan to realize your dream of making a living (dare I say GOOD living?) creating music.

 

You must accept that the old way of marketing especially with radio spins is toast; like the buggy whip.

 

You must become aware that all your favorite icons, the most important artists to you, were made famous by the old school way because it worked.

 

Now it doesn’t. Clearly.

 

 

It will not work for you.

 

Even if you get the major label deal with the big radio budget.

 

Learn about Permission Marketing.

 

Learn how to create relationships and monetize them online.

 

 

 

Permission Marketing is real.

 

Permission Marketing works.

 

If you music is good and your recordings are competitive, you are just lacking one mission critical piece of the puzzle; Permission Marketing.

 

 

P.S. It was my privilege and honor to offer my blog subscribers the new Advanced Music Marketing on Twitter book free. Please reciprocate and take a second to leave a rating and review (just click the link and scroll down to the review section). THANK YOU!

 

 

 

 

P. P. S. Learn to Create Leverage In the Music Industry with a new podcast entitled, “The C.L.I.M.B.”. My co-host and hit songwriter Brent Baxter and I trade off quick 20 minute episodes discussing turning pro as a songwriter and music marketing strategies. If you do find that interesting, PLEASE leave a review and a rating on iTunes!

 

Stay

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