Tag Archive for: Marketing

Leverage: Are You Creating Any In The Music Business?

Leverage The Climb Feature

Creating leverage is mission critical to all communications between business relationships, familial relationships, romantic relationships, platonic relationships, and the coveted artist/fan relationships.Leverage Collage

 

Leverage is paramount to solidifying the outcome that the communicator wishes to create.

Leverage, when wielded benevolently, can foster an openness from the receiver to accept or at least strongly consider the message the communicator is attempting to send.

 

In plain English, the more clout you have, the more the receiver is willing to “give you a shot” and/or succumb to your wishes.

 

 

Some of you have inevitably painted the picture of a gross, forceful, one-sided power situation in your heads already (probably because you’ve been on the receiving end of such a nasty exchange) so now the subject matter of “leverage” disgusts you.

 

Leverage Scales

 

Y’all utilize leverage every single day of your lives. While the world is always full of assholes, most of us are compassionate, generous, and come from a good place while we try to influence the outcome of our lives; but we all try to impact our futures don’t we?

 

 

 

For instance, if you meet a person you are sexually attracted to, your odds of “closing the deal” increase significantly if you begin the relationship with leverage, like an introduction from a trusted friend of your future conquest.

Leverage Laid

 

In this scenario, you incorporate implied familiarity via a referral into the equation which vastly improves the weight you bring to what will ultimately become a negotiation.

 

How many of you have cleverly and expertly orchestrated a scenario that would improve the leverage you had in a relationship for the purposes of getting laid?

 

You’re smiling, I thought so. Y’all are evil manipulators!  (I’m kidding but you get the point)

 

How about when you are artistically pining for that awesome musician you MUST have in your band but you don’t know him/her?

 

Some kind of influence is going to be required to sway the decision of your target, yes?

 

That effect could come from your artist track record; maybe you’re kind of a big deal. It could come from the art itself, maybe your project is the right “artistic pair of pants” for your target. You could convince your target with a paycheck. Maybe a simple referral, once again, is apropos.

 

When you think, “How do I get so-and-so into the fold”, you are architecting leverage.

 

So you see, we unknowingly do this every day, in all parts of our lives. Hell, something as simple as politicking to convince your friends to see the movie YOU want to see is an exercise in creating leverage.

Leverage Proper Prior Planning

 

So why then, if you are so good at this application in EVERY OTHER part of your lives, are you so negligent about the use of this dynamic to your music and your music career?

 

Proper, prior, planning prevents piss, poor performance when it comes to introducing consumers to your music and making the kind of deals that will advance your career in the business side of it.

 

Let’s compare different circumstances with regards to how a consumer is exposed to your music for the first time.

 

 

If you hit them up on social media with a “Check me out, I’m the hottest new thing” message your chances of the receiver being open and willing to consider your communication are far less than if you are performing a live show (and killing it) when the receiver first becomes aware of your existence.

 

You have more leverage onstage, than you would as a digital “door-knocking salesman”.

Leverage CLIMB

 

The influence increases again if the consumer reads about you in a reliable blog or magazine and then immediately has the opportunity to download and experience your music.

 

Creating Leverage in the Music Business (C.L.I.M.B.) is what it’s all about and most artists are completely missing the boat.

 

Most artists are focused only on the outcome. They want to envision themselves staring down the barrel of a major game-changing opportunity, but they seem to always avoid emphasis on constructing the circumstances that would create the opportunity (usually because that requires WORK…but I digress).

 

Milton Berle was quoted as saying “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”

Leverage If Opportunity Doesn't Knock MEME

 

For instance, y’all want your record deal I get that.

 

It makes total sense.

 

I did too.

 

How much thought have you put into dreaming about what that conversation, process, and ultimately the deal would look like?

 

Do you want to be on your side of the negotiating table with your hat in your hand, fingers crossed, putting all your hopes, dreams, blood, sweat, and tears into the hands of a label executive who may or may not be in a good mood the day you get your shot?

Leverage Negotiation do what you love

 

What if the label exec was having a really bad day on the day of your meeting?

 

What if you were at that same negotiating table and the label executive was worried about your mood?

 

That’s leverage!

 

What if you made yourself in to such an undeniable business opportunity that the label had their proverbial hat in THEIR hands?

 

This won’t happen because your music is awesome by the way. It will happen because you’ve targeted your audience, you’ve connected with this audience, you’re already making money and the label wants in.

Leverage Steve Martin Quote2

Steve Martin said “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” These days that quote is just as much about business as it is about talent in the entertainment industry.

 

All the major companies that you will need to climb the ladder of success in the music industry are run by people.

 

Behavior in people is somewhat predictable.

 

 

We all want what we can’t have.

 

We all get drunk with power. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

 

We all want real opportunities to advance our own agendas.

 

Consider these ideas when you are putting your master plan together.

 

A statement like “My music is amazing and I’m going to give YOU the opportunity to help me for a piece of the pie (on the back end)” is asinine.

 

YOU wouldn’t accept an offer like that, would you?Leverage idiot

 

If some unknown rookie player came up to you and said, “I want a job, I want to be your guitar player. I’m awesome! I’ll need $1 million dollars and I will make a killer deal for you to recoup your investment on the back end because the world’s gonna stand up and salute your artistry once I’m your guitar player.”

 

C’mon, you would think that person was an idiot and probably obnoxious.

 

I mean, what data would you have to support that musicians claim, #1, and #2, you aren’t in the business of developing guitar players, are you?

 

Leverage is also a self-esteem head game. If you feel inferior inside your own head, you will undoubtedly project those secret sentiments into your presentation very naturally.

Leverage You Are Beautiful Self Esteem

 

You are what you think.

 

Thoughts are things.

 

Realize and articulate your REAL value in the relationship before you open your mouth.

 

 

There was a time, right after the financial meltdown, that I was considering putting my engineering skills to work at a studio in L.A. I loved producing and I was a good engineer, but I realized that I had ZERO leverage. I would, at best, start off as a runner and 3rd string engineer which made any possible opportunity in a studio not opportune for me.Leverage REAL value

 

 

Sometimes a situation occurs where you or some other player may be unsure of the value you bring to the table.

 

 

In this case I will share with you one of the greatest lessons my parents ever taught me, “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, then to open it up and remove all doubt.”

 

Leverage Gagged Photo Jerry Daykin

 

Keep your mouth shut and listen. Open it only to ask questions. Questions keep them talking and people love to hear themselves talk. The more they talk, the more you learn. In real business, nobody is impressed with bullshit. They may find bull-shitters entertaining, but I promise they are acutely aware of what they will require in the deal, if you bring it great, if you can’t bring it don’t pretend.

 

 

Better to discover and mutually recognize that the situation isn’t going to work than to pretend it is and be butt-hurt that you didn’t get it.

 

That just makes you cynical.

 

Honesty and humility create leverage in these situations too.  Sometimes you’re a good fit, albeit a greenhorn, and their willing to give you a chance. Knowing that you’re honest not just with them but with yourself is going to weigh heavily in their decision.

 

Leverage HonestyAll this sets up some GREAT NEWS! In the next week I will be launching a new podcast/video series entitled The C.L.I.M.B. with hit songwriter Brent Baxter who is my good friend and the mastermind behind the Man vs. Row blog and video series. These episodes will focus on songwriting tricks and strategies as well as marketing tricks and strategies to help singers, songwriters, and indie artists like you create more leverage in the music business.

 

FYI I will be shooting out 1 video each week via the same channels as the blog. These video episodes will be short and tidy (around 20 minutes). So the video will be available on a YouTube channel, your email, and the podcast will be made available as well if that is easier for you to consume.

 

Please let us know what you think of these episodes and, of course, tell us what you want us to talk about.

 

If you like this post, please SHARE it and/or LEAVE A COMMENT thank you!

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Is Your Perspective Killing Your Career Right Now?

Perspective Feature MEME

Isn’t perspective the answer to everything?

 

More succinctly PROPER perspective is the answer to being the smoothest player in the game of life.Perspective Spinal Tap Meme

 

At the risk of sounding redundant, proper perspective puts things in proper perspective.

 

Proper perspective increases your chances of success exponentially.

 

On the contrary, an inaccurate perspective can ruin your chances of success and/or ruin your success. Just ask the late Kevin Dubrow from Quiet Riot or Terence Trent D’Arby.

Perspective Dubrow D'Arby Collage

 

Perspective is a soothing substance is the difference between you freaking out about a win or loss in your career and realization that this is just one necessary step on the journey.

The Universe is always as it should be.

 

This knowledge calms my soul and makes me comfortable in my own skin.

 

I’m noticing the hardest perspective for people to obtain, especially artists, is a viewpoint on the “known unknowns”.

 

How does one think about a subject or situation that they know they don’t know?

 

What is your take on really making a living doing what you love to do?

Perspective Jumping in

 

My take is that a life spent doing what you love is the greatest life of all. It’s an existence free of the dichotomy too many of us live.

 

Why do artists continually ignore marketing when that is clearly the key to jumping from a hobby into a profession?

 

The answer is a lack of proper perspective.

 

Today marketing can and should be happening all the time. It should be happening while you’re in the process of making the music.

 

In ADVANCE of the CD release.

Perspective Fallen Tree

 

I have trouble with this one because it’s so painfully obvious. To me it’s plain old common sense.

 

I don’t care how amazing your musical masterpiece is, if nobody hears it, it’s irrelevant.

 

Period.

 

Irrelevant means it doesn’t matter. Who cares if no one knows?

 

 

As artists we ALL want validation for our art.

 

Validation is like oxygen to an artist.

 

Using this analogy all artists need to breathe, yet, a naïve or down right ignorant perspective has them minimalizing the importance of Perspective Suffocationmarketing which keeps a bag over their head and they suffocate. They continue to gasp for air until the dream and the artist eventually dies within their soul.

 

Somewhere along that downward spiritual spiral, the artist gets jaded and cynical.

 

Angry at the world and the system that prevented them from achieving their dream.

 

Often, these unfulfilled artist souls become miserable people too.

 

So sad.

 

Especially considering the fact that the solutions are readily available making this scenario preventable.

 

Artists understand they need marketing but are generally uninterested in doing anything about it.

 

They habitually blame money, yet every day I see the poorest most financially destitute artists apply their tax return to purchase a new guitar or pay for studio time, drugs, vacations, blah, blah, blah.

 

Perspective Les Paul Collage

 

In short, because their outlook is that they need the guitar, they find a way to get the guitar; the Universe provides.

 

What if they viewed marketing in the same way?

 

Do you see how a simple change in perspective could absolutely change so many outcomes?

 

I wonder how much great music we’re missing out on simply because the artist bought a Les Paul as opposed to some solid marketing and/or some valuable marketing education.

 

 

How many amazing artists are locked up, deep down inside an artist soul never to be shared with the public simply because they lack proper perspective?

 

How many lives won’t be changed because of that great song we never heard, man?

 

What if artists finally understood that the marketing is equally as important as the music if they want validation and respect from fans?

 

What if artists decided they really need to do whatever it takes to breathe?

 

I just had a conversation with another older artist friend of mine. He’s an amazing talent, really. His voice is a gift from God.

Perspective Reversed

 

We talked about marketing and like EVERY other artist I speak to, his thoughts are that he needs new music first and then he’ll worry about marketing it, one step at a time.

 

He also thinks he needs to get money first.

 

My intuition is SCREAMING to me saying that he needs to grow his fan base and the money will be easier to get. Yes, one step at a time but he has the steps reversed.

 

With our artist Bailey James, we have grown her Instagram account to over 30,000 followers. Bailey has fostered the relationships. She averages over 600 likes and 85 comments per post because she engages EVERYBODY.

 

Comp-Bailey James-8x10 DannyThese social media relationships, which we have been developing for a year now, have been EXTREMELY influential with regards to how Bailey is being received by the industry, such as PR companies, video promo companies, and school institutions that we are trying to book performances at.

 

From the industry’s standpoint, looking at her social media presence, there is clearly something going on with Bailey James.

 

They’re more excited.

 

She’s created impact with these new business relationships. They’re more likely to go out on a limb and take a chance (making time for her project) because almost all artists at this stage of the game, like you, have zero social media presence.

 

With zero marketing it feels to these business relationships as if they have to completely build the momentum from the ground up.

 

That feels exhausting even before the job begins. Ugh. Too Risky!

 

Think about how risky that is from the industry side. An artist with zero marketing is asking future team members to not only trust that the music will resonate with fans, but trust that the artist will “suddenly” begin working on marketing once the future teammates commit.

Perspective Risky Caution

 

It’s the same as the artist saying, “Once you get involved, I’ll take my career more seriously.”

 

Get it?

 

On the contrary, an artist that works to put themselves in a position like Bailey James is far more attractive to the industry because it’s clear there are people responding to the artist in the marketplace and it’s also undeniable that the artist worked their butt off to make that happen. In this scenario, it’s like the artist is saying, “I’m driving this train and you’re welcome to join but we’re moving with or without you.”

 

Which of these perspectives do you want future business allies to have about you?

 

It’s seems much more fun to hop on a train that has a little bit of steam as opposed to one that doesn’t even have a pilot light started.

 

And it really isn’t that difficult if you have a serious attitude about it and learn what needs to be done.

 

The video promotion guys are telling us there is a chance Bailey can get into a few places an artist at her level wouldn’t normally be considered for because of the marketing that has been done already.

 

That’s strong. That was purposefully created.

 

Waiting for the music to be finished, waiting to get money, waiting for whatever excuse you’re currently waiting for is just waiting.

Waiting.Perspective Waiting

Waiting.

Waiting.

And more waiting.

You’re waiting because you don’t know what to do and you don’t want to do it.

 

 

You’re smarter than this.

 

You KNOW that SOMEBODY is going to have to market your music if you want to make a living at it.

 

How long will you wait before you figure out that somebody is YOU?

 

The work you do NOW on your marketing has a significant impact on the way the industry will perceive you tomorrow.

 

That never changes, by the way even if you’re a superstar.

Perspective Michael Jackson

 

I just watched a Spike Lee documentary on Michael Jackson that chronicled his rise from the Jackson 5 as a little kid, to his first solo record Off The Wall.

 

We all know Michael Jackson was a massive international star.

 

Spike interviewed a few record Epic Records promo executives that didn’t want to sign MJ to a solo deal because they thought he was over. Their opinion was that he was a novelty as a little kid but nobody would take him seriously as an adult solo artist.

 

These weren’t bad guys or stupid guys, they had an opinion, a lot of it due to the nature of the family musical group and the cheesy cartoon series. Michael outworked everybody else and proved them wrong because he had to.

 

Isn’t that amazing?

 

Berry Gordy, Leon Huff, Kenny Gamble, Valerie Simpson, Quincy Jones, and Bruce Swedien were all interviewed. They all had similar stories. Michael was always asking questions about recording, engineering, marketing, songwriting, etc. He was interested in learning every aspect of the business, man.

 

Perspective Barry Gordy

 

Berry Gordy said something like, “It could be 4 am and I would be mixing. I would joke to my engineer and say I KNOW Michael is behind me and staring at me, watching.”

 

Michael’s perspective was the more he knew, the better artist he could be and the better he could understand the perspectives of the teammates.

 

Having that knowledge would make Michael a better teammate.

 

So many of you want the industry to stand up and salute you as an artist based on the merits of your music alone.

 

But what if a possible key member to your team doesn’t particularly care for your kind of music?

 

What if you’re a rap artist and that key member only listens to classical music? Does that make them bad at their job?

 

Does that mean he couldn’t possibly play a key role in your ascending artist career?

Perspective Epic Records Logo

 

No.

 

Those promo guys at Epic Records (where the Jackson’s went to after Motown) didn’t believe Michael was going to make it as a solo artist. Put yourself in that situation for a second. You’re already a star, you’ve already sold records and proved your worth. Now you want to change up the recipe a bit and your own team members on the record label don’t believe you can do it.

 

This crap happens a lot, you know.

 

So what is in your power to “move the needle” on industry perceptions?

Perspective VU Meter

 

The perspective that you’ll hit easy street once you get your deal or once you get the “right people” to hear your music is naïve and wrong.

 

Attacking your marketing now means you’ll speak more intelligently at the table when the industry does take notice.

 

 

Why would you want to trust anybody else but YOU with regards to your future as an artist?

 

Why wouldn’t you feel the burning need to learn this stuff to protect your efforts?

 

I can think of several artists who did the work they needed to do in order to get a deal, and then chose not to participate, not to influence the marketing team after the deal was signed. The label lost all their momentum because the label didn’t understand exactly what the artist did to create the buzz.

Perspective Where Are They Now

 

Those artists now reside in the “Where Are They Now” file.

 

Step one is spend some money learning to market yourself. Then play the role of Michael Jackson watching every move and asking questions.

 

Step two is watch how the perceptions change amongst fans and industry personnel when you start to show marketing progress.

 

Now you stand out.

 

Now you’ve clearly demonstrated your work ethic to the industry.

 

Now there is a little less of a risk because the fans and the industry sees that people like you and it’s clear to the industry that you’re serious about your career.

 

Perspective Make Your Own Momentum

 

Your marketing has influence.

 

How about a potential investor? We all need money to do this, right?

 

Back to common sense, wouldn’t said investor be more likely to cut a check if he sees that there is something going on already in the marketplace?

 

If your perspective was accurate, you would be making a living doing what you love to do; what you maybe were born to do.

 

Absolute BLISS.

 

God’s work.Perspective Stream Train MEME

 

If this is not your reality, then maybe you should consider the idea that your perspective needs to be refined

 

Stay

In

Tune.

 

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20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Feature

At the end of every year I ask y’all to respond to me about your feelings on the article content. I also ask for any suggestions on what you want me to write about moving forward. Many of you responded with requests for help.

You asked for answers to some of the common problems I’m expressing; especially with marketing your music.

Much of the content in this article was posted in a June 25, 2014 article simply as an articulation of the mistake. Here is a revved up version of that same content with some ideas and direction towards solutions. I hope this helps.

Please let me know what you think.

1. Misguided Language – Too many of you are telling people what to do on your CTA’s (Calls to Action) and failing to get conversions.20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Paraverbal Example: “Check out my new single” or “Hottest new rap artist spitting real life, yo, check him out now” or “Donate to our Kickstarter campaign”.

Nobody cares.

Hype on social media is as useless as screen doors on submarine. What you should be doing is making it about Say something like, “Wow, thank you for the follows #grateful, I want you to have a free download of my first single in return”. When someone engages YOU, respond with a similar message. Your conversion rates will skyrocket and people will begin to actually give your song a listen. This is a social media adaptation of paraverbal communication.

 

2. Paying For Discovery – Imagine a late night infomercial starting off with “Just $19.99!!!” Asking for the money and then attempting you to get excited about the product.

Would you watch?

Would you care?

Every day I see a tweet that says something like “Discover us on 20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes iTunesiTunes” or “Download our first single on iTunes”. Indie artists are misguided into thinking that giving music away is devaluing it somehow and “good business” means collecting money.

Listen, I’m all about collecting money, but just like you, I have NEVER, EVER, EVER, paid to discover an artist in my life.

Think about it, your favorite iconic artists came into your awareness for free. You discovered them on the radio (while you were waiting to hear your “jam”), a friend turned you on to them after he/she found them on the radio, or you paid to see a headlining act that you knew was worth the money and 20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Kickstarterwere pleasantly surprised by the opening act.

Without terrestrial radio,  marketing means you are going to have to get people interested in you and emotionally involved in your artistic journey before you shake them down for the cash.

In simple sales terms, you have to build desire first.

 

3. Likes and Follows Are Strong Connections – This is the biggest common fallacy.

Likes and follows are NOT strong connections in any way, shape, or form. If you ask for money directly after a like or follow it’s the same as meeting someone at a cocktail party, handing them your 20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Chain Link WeakCD and asking for $10.

Can you imagine? “Hi, I’m Johnny D, here’s my CD. You’re going to love it! That’ll be 10 bucks.”

You KNOW that won’t work.

It doesn’t on social media either.

A like or a follow is a handshake after an introduction at best.

If you’ve toured at all you KNOW that you cannot possibly remember everyone you meet. Something else needs to happen for you to remember a fan, right? You need to remember that when you networking on social media.

 

4. Selling, Selling, Selling – Too many indie artists just ask for money or hype themselves on social media with every post. This is the 20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Jabequivalent of digital panhandling.

You’ve got to give to receive, man.

Create content that is focused around YOU that can be offered for free to potential fans (make sure they know you’re benevolent) to get them interested in YOU first. THEN about every 4th post, serve up a CTA but give them the single.

You want to space out your CTA’s (where they need to act) with cool content that is about you and your brand. Read Gary Vaynerchuk’s Jab, Jab, Jab, RIGHT HOOK for more ideas on this subject.

 

 

 

5. Old School Marketing Methods – Look, I get it. Every artist we love was marketed to us via the radio, that’s where we most likely discovered them and that’s certainly where their music was driven into our brain enough 20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Old Man MEMEto become familiar after we discovered them.

It stands to reason that is how you would fashion your marketing plan because that is all you know. Listen, radio is no longer effective for exposing new artists.

The power of radio to introduce a new artist into a market is over because consumers don’t have to suffer through the “getting-to-know-you-process” of listening to unfamiliar music.

Even if you have 1 million dollars to spend on a P1 radio campaign, they have Wi-Fi in the car, man.

They’re going to change the channel when faced with an unfamiliar tune to find their jam because, well, now they can.

While there are always exceptions to the rule, I submit to you that outside of country music no new artists have broken on rock or pop radio in the last 5 years. Any artist that has their very first single on radio in the last 5 years broke somewhere else and THEN radio started spinning them.

They broke first on YouTube, American Idol, The X Factor, The Voice, TV show soundtracks (theme song music), some anomaly that created attention, or great online marketing.

Most of you don’t have 1 million dollars so relying on radio to break you is a convenient cop out that ensures you won’t make it and it’s not your fault.

Spend your money putting your promotional content in front of a targeted set of eyes. Spend your money on a PR launch for your record to get some valuable press that you can use for social proof. Spend your money either on a company that can help you find your audience on social media OR learning to do it yourself. (Gasp!!)

 

6. Directing Traffic to Digital Distributors – If you’ve marketed correctly, you’ve influenced a consumer buying decision and they will find a way to purchase your product line.20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Traffic Cop

Digital distribution has exactly ZERO effect on sales today.

No artist broke on iTunes and nobody is stumbling across cool music there either. They’re buying what they went to iTunes to look for.

So, if you’re spending the money and busting your butt to influence buying decisions and drive traffic, why send them to a digital distributor and give up such a huge percentage on purpose?

YES, OF COURSE, you need to have a presence on all DD’s but drive them to your webstore and let the consumer decide to go somewhere else. At least 45% of them will probably go somewhere else, the rest will buy directly from you where you get 100% of the money.

BTW, don’t be afraid to offer packages and products that aren’t available on digital distribution making it sexier and smarter to buy direct.

 

7. Zero Bundling On Artist Webstore – Let’s be honest, most of you don’t have a webstore which is 20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes abbeyincredibly idiotic. You’re giving at least 30% of your hard earned revenue to a company to access essentially free 1’s and 0’s.

Those of you that do have a webstore (Kudos!), don’t have bundles.

FACT: 30% of your buyers are willing to be upsold and will purchase more while their credit card is out. That is as long as there is something for them to purchase!

There is a 70% chance you are NOT one of these kinds of people who can be easily upsold, but don’t that be your erroneous, short-sighted reason for leaving money on the table.

 

8. Ignoring YouTube – YouTube is probably the biggest marketing asset you have available to you and hardly any of you are using it. The ones that do use it aren’t consistently posting videos.

YouTube is your own private TV network, treat it as such.

Many artists break on YouTube.

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Ditzy

Hardly any have broken on the radio in the last 5 years with the exception of country music and those days are numbered.

Our artist Bailey James is 13 years old and has over 260K views on her YouTube channel and I assure you that was from consistent content with ZERO paid promotion.

That’ll change soon but 260k views and 2,900+ subscribers from just hard work and intelligence isn’t too bad.

There’s at least 2,900 people that want to see her next video enough to subscribe. How many do you have?

 

 

9. Zero Marketing – Sadly, MOST indie artists spend every dollar of their precious, limited financial resources making the record and 20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Zero MarketingZERO dollars marketing it.

Sound familiar?

If they do spend any money marketing it is horribly misspent and proportionately upside down.

Good music has rarely if ever found its own audience “organically”.

Somebody, somewhere, somehow was putting the artist works in front of the right group of people to create a little fire in the grassroots.

Whether they PAID for radio promotion, or they PAID for PR to get them on Letterman, Oprah, Jimmy Fallon, Leno, GMA, Rolling Stone, Spin, or they PAID for tour support, or they PAID for a radio promo, these were all strategic calculated marketing plans.

If you got a record deal tomorrow the label would spend around 10% of your total budget making the record and 90% promoting it. Try adjusting your budget to get closer to spending 9 times the recording funds on marketing and see what happens. Even if it means recording just one song.

Any other approach is as asinine as flip flopping the salt and the sugar amounts in any given dessert recipe. If you don’t follow the recipe you’re masterpiece is going to taste like crap.

 

10. You’re Not Asking the Right Questions – Too many of you are asking yourselves “How can I get my music to the right industry people so I can make it?” or “How do I get 1 million dollars so I can get my shot at fame”.

The questions indie artists should be asking are “Who is my audience?” “Where can I find them?”, “How can I connect with20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Question them?” “What can I do to get them to seriously listen to my music with an open heart and mind?” “Where can I learn the right questions to ask?” and “Where can I learn the answers for the right questions?”

All the marketing power you require is available on your computer and it’s mostly free.

The only thing missing is a good, creative attitude about the project, some education to get you accurately inspired, and then the gumption to get started!

If you don’t know, LEARN. Yes the education is going to cost some money but somehow you managed to get your music recorded and that wasn’t free. If it was free the recording equipment you used wasn’t.

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Book collageYou’re resourceful, when you really decide to make it happen you’ll find a way, believe me. Some good books to start getting intelligent, accurate marketing strategies are:

Jab, Jab, Jab, RIGHT HOOK: How to Tell Your Story In A Noisy World by Gary Vaynerchuk

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger

Music Marketing on Twitter: How To Get 1,000 Loyal Music Fans Every Month in Just 15 Minutes a Day by yours truly , Johnny Dwinell (this one is free so just click the link and tell me where to send it. You’re welcome)

 

 

 

11. Consistency – Most indie artists are not consistent with social media marketing.20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Consistency

 

Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Periscope, Facebook, and all social media platforms require consistency and content.

If I were to grow a client’s account without adding content the followers will soon unfollow because there is nothing to consume.

I would be like going to party and the host never shows up so nobody has cocktails and there is no music playing. See Ya! You have to provide regular consistent content or you’ll lose them regardless of how captivating you are.

 

 

 

12. Engagement ­– The days of the mysterious rock star have been over for quite some time now.

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes BaileyIndie artists need to engage EVERYBODY that engages them.

People still admire creatives but they require more if they meet you through their device.

My amazing 13 year old client Bailey James interacts with every single person that reaches out to her on social media.

They can’t believe it when she does that which makes her look genuine and makes them feel special.

She has over 30k followers on Instagram and every post that little girl puts up averages a SOLID 600 likes and 85 comments per post.

The difference between you and Bailey is she gets it and you’re still making excuses as to why you can’t, why you shouldn’t, or why you won’t.

You’re meeting people for the first time on social media, think of it like a cocktail party.

FACT:  When you meet someone for the first time they won’t remember what you said so much as they will remember how you made them feel. Remember that and your fan responses will instantly change.

 

 

13. Lack of Aggression ­– You can’t seriously believe that being antisocial on social media is a smart idea.

Too many Indie artists wait around for people to follow them in a misguided attempt to grow their social media accounts “organically”.20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Aggressivve

Your favorite iconic artists have massive social media followers because they’re famous. Paying millions of dollars to promote these major label artists all over the world is what made them famous which means it was man-made, not organic. Consumers were exposed to an artist and liked what they saw or heard the music and chose to follow that artist.

This approach doesn’t create “organic” traffic, rather it’s targeted to strategic groups of people they think will like the music. The PR convinced them it was cool.

You can promote yourself online via social media and create a similar effect but you have to follow somebody first for crying out loud.

And why not be aggressive this way?

When you do the initial following you are handpicking the people most likely to connect with you.

You’re targeting (remember picking teams on the playground when you were a kid? Some of you did the picking and you picked in a certain order for a reason. Some of you were always the last to be picked you felt horrible. Well, now you’re doing the picking. Pick intelligently and make them feel welcome or they’ll feel like you when you were passed over).

Essentially, you’re deciding who gets invited to your cocktail party. A bunch will follow back if you’re not a douchebag and they’ll stay if you have regular content.

 

 

14. Overthinking YouTube – Save the super creative, expensive, big time videos for the single promotion.

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes OverthinkingThe “I can’t afford a good video” routine is a cop out.

Every week you should be gleaning potential fans from popular videos by doing regular cover songs. Do this via low-cost, easy-to-shoot, one-shot, smart phone videos of you putting your artistic spin on whatever the most popular video will be that week regardless of genre.

In fact, the more disparate your version of the hit song/video is from the original artist, the more compelling it will be.

Study and compare Noah Guthrie’s version of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” or The Gourd’s version of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” to get an idea of what I mean by different.

BTW, Bailey James’ YouTube channel at this moment has one professionally done video with about 3,500 views. 99% of the content is shot with an iPad camera. The most popular videos were shot this way as well. Just sayin’.

 

 

15. Annotating YouTube Videos – Here it is plain and simple.

They won’t subscribe if you don’t ask.20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Annotate

They won’t download that free single if you don’t ask.

FACT:  You get 80% of what you ask for in life so why not do it? The worst thing that could happen is they say “no” but then, since its social media, you’ll never deal directly with the rejection.

 

I recently got the opportunity to work with an AMAZING 14 year old artist name Erin Kinsey. She had 3 videos on her YouTube channel with a total of around 250k views and 1,224 subscribers. They added a 4th video just before Christmas and I annotated all 4 asking for subscriptions.

That 4th video has over 113k views now and her subscriptions jumped 41% in 3 weeks adding 503 new subscribers for a total of 1,727.

All I did was ask.

All the info you need to learn to do this is on the YouTube “Creators” tab.

 

 

16. You Think You Own The Information – You don’t own the information.

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Own Info

 

Don’t fool yourself.

All your likes and follows may be from your real fans but you don’t own that information, and as such, somebody is going to charge you to access that data at some point if they haven’t already begun to do so (ahem, Facebook).

You need to be regularly trading free downloads in exchange for email addresses and/or phone numbers via squeeze page technology or text capture technology.

Facebook charges you for access to your following. Twitter will do the same, so will Instagram and so on. You have to own the information so you can reach them whenever you want for free, on your terms.

 

 

 

 

17. Ignoring Periscope – Why?

This is the most amazing app with the most amazing reach and the BEST capability of showing your true soul to your fans.

Be consistent and you’ll build an audience.20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Periscope

Remember, if you’re a pro artist you’re living a life most people only read about in books.

What would it be like for your viewers to experience walking onstage to a packed house of people?

How would your audience react if you told them they were live worldwide on Periscope?

Case Study:  With Bailey James we created an interactive exercise where we asked her social media following to help us pick the 5th song on her upcoming EP. They responded in droves with their choice between 2 songs.We announced the winning song live via Periscope from inside the recording studio on the day we tracked it accomplishing social proof and cool interaction. There were fans from Brazil, Canada, United States, and England on that broadcast. (Boom, drops mic).

Another neat idea is to ask for requests on your social media throughout the week and play 3 of them live at the same time on the same night, every week. When you play a request show a printed S/O to the requestor’s handle and thank them. This adds a vanity aspect to your weekly draw. They’ll want to see if you play their request and mention them. The ones you don’t mention will be excited for their opportunity next week.

 

 

18. Missing Live Show Contact Capture – Live shows have the best conversion rate if you’re good.

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Contact Capture

 

My good friend Wade Sutton at Rocket To The Stars recently worked with a band that tours so much they have performed over 1,000 shows in 4 years. They had 300 people on their mailing list. That’s like 1 person every 3rd show!

On the contrary we did 1 show with Bailey James at a middle school and received 160 contacts!! We gave away a free download and they just needed to tell us where to send it (translation: we got their email address or phone number).

It was easy.

Is it wrong that when I see a crowd in front of a stage I envision everyone with credit card heads?

Not for nothin’ but the more you do this the more you can reach out to individual markets to let them know you’re coming back to town. Your live draw will increase if you do it until you outgrow the venue. Just a thought.

 

 

19. Social Proof ­– 2 things to consider with this.

One is that most of you aren’t putting up enough social proof if you putting up any at all (no doubt because you don’t want to come off as bragging).20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Social Proof 2

Two, you’re putting it up incorrectly and you come off as bragging.

Social proof is anything that proves you’re really doing it and other people are into it.

 

This includes, reviews, interviews, fan comments from your social media platforms, emails, live show clips, BTS clips (Behind The Scenes), etc. Rather than implying “I’m awesome, check me out” which is bragging, why not give a “Shout Out” to the source of the content?

For instance, “S/O 2 Honkeytonk Central in Nashville for letting us play #Grateful We had a BLAST partying with all of you” with a 15s clip of the show.

 

 

20. Not Promoting Interactivity – People want to feel like they’re a part of something.

20 Biggest Indie Artist Marketing Mistakes Interactivity

 

Get them to interact. You can do this by engaging them.

You can accomplish this with controversial content. For instance, Bailey James posted a YouTube video of Luke Bryan’s “Kick the Dust Up” and it was controversial. I convinced her parents to LEAVE THE NEGATIVE UP and her fans defended the attackers. The result was deeper fan relations.

 

 

Also ask to be interactive. Have them send pictures of themselves and POST those pics with a S/O to the fan. This adds a “vanity” aspect to your web traffic. They want to see themselves, man.

 

Stay

In

Tune.

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Awesome Marketing That Will Make Your Music Absolutely Sticky

Sticky Music Marketing Feature

I’ve been reading the brilliant book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath. It breaks down why some ideas stick and some ideas die. For instance, why are Aesop’s fables still remembered after 2,500 years (“The Tortoise and the Hare”, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”, etc.)?Sticky Music Marketing Tortoise

 

Why are urban legends so “sticky” like the famous kidney harvester story which has a dude accepting a cocktail from a random hottie in a bar and waking up in a hotel bathroom in a tub full of ice, a phone within reach, and a note attached to it that reads “Don’t move, you are missing a kidney, dial 911”?

How do these ideas or stories survive over years, decades, and centuries?

 

Sticky Music Marketing Surgeon

 

 

Why are people so interested in retelling them?

 

Retelling is the old school term for SHARING.

How come nobody is interested in sharing your music?

Whoa, wait, what?

 

I’ll repeat the question, how is it that we ALL know a friend of a friend who witnessed the famed kidney harvester story and nobody wants to listen to, purchase, or tell people about your music?

 

Crazy, right?Sticky Music Marketing Urban Legends 2

 

That’s the rub.

 

I believe that if your music is marketed correctly, it will be heard, and it will matter. That’s what we all want, right? Money or no money, we want people to look at our art endeavors and experience the music as the soundtrack to their lives.

 

You want it to be your song they’re listening to the first time they have sex.

Sticky Music Marketing Making Out

 

 

You want it to be your song they’re listening to when that one crazy thing happens at the party that they’ll never forget for the rest of their lives.

 

That’s the code that needs to be cracked to find your success in today’s music business.

 

Mostly y’all haven’t really thought about this at all, have you?

 

At the very best, y’all have spent 5 minutes thinking about connecting with your future fans and your entire lifetime working on the music.

Sticky Music Marketing Scales 2

This disproportionate allocation of your creative time between music and marketing  is the reason behind your lack of response.

 

I will tell you that the same market shifting problems are at the core of the music industry’s sales slump.

 

You’re on your journey and your music is where your music is for right now. The quality, originality, and craftsmanship of your music is directly proportionate to how hard you’re willing to work at the recording and the creative process as well as your level of humility.

 

Sticky Music Marketing Most Successful Friends

 

I say humility because it’s no secret that my most successful friends and artists are always humbly asking questions (to anybody and everybody) while my least successful friends and artists are always telling people “how it is” and why they can’t get a leg up.

 

There’s a man who thinks he can and a man who thinks he can’t. Both men are right.

 

 

Which one are you?

 

Which one do you want to be?

 

These two questions could have completely different answers, huh?

 

Sticky Music Marketing Ask PermissionThe good news is that if you want to make a living being an artist today, you don’t need permission from anybody.

 

You don’t have to wait.

 

You don’t need to get “lucky” and meet the right people who will open all the doors for you and place in a room full of EZ buttons and unicorns.

 

No, you can get started right now…but, only if you really want it, of course.

 

It used to be you couldn’t put out a record without a major record label because it was WAY too cost prohibitive, now it’s super inexpensive.

 

Sticky Music Marketing Bon Jovi and Reznor

 

Jon Bon Jovi and Trent Reznor both figured out how to exchange their valuable time for studio access to create the recordings that broke them wide open and they did this without a record label when the cost of recording was 15 times what you’re facing.

 

Where there’s a will there’s a way (another sticky statement, right?)

 

If you can’t find a way, I assure you that the problem lies within your will. Either recognize and accept this notion to refocus your efforts or do yourself and the industry a favor and move on with your life.

 

Don’t be bitter about moving on if that’s your choice. It just means you didn’t really want it enough.

Sticky Music Marketing RADAR Screen

Your music is important but in today’s market it’s secondary when it comes to marketing. The first interaction a future fan will have with you as an artist will not be the music; it won’t be the single. Rather, the first interaction a future fan will have with you as an artist will be YOU.

 

If they like YOU, then they will listen to your music with an open heart and an open mind. At this point, the music better be good, man.

 

It better WORK.

 

If you’re sticky enough, they will respond and remember you.

 

But things have to be different. They have to be approached differently these days. This means they have to be thought about differently.

 

When you truly reexamine an approach things begin to change.

 

For instance, sometimes I will write more than 25 titles to a particular blog article. The first 15 are the obvious choices and the last 10 are when I really begin to rethink out of necessity. This is where the true creativity happens.

 

You have to approach your marketing this way.

 

Sticky Music Marketing Mr. BurnsFor the love of God, if your approach is to “let the label handle it” you might as well quit now. You’re going to fail with or without a label, man. It seriously won’t matter.

 

If the big wigs really knew what was going on in today’s market, we’d have a hell of a lot more platinum records than just Drake, Taylor Swift, and Adele.

 

You have to be your own business first. You have to.

 

If you think that you’re going record a demo, then get a deal, you’re wrong. They don’t care. Even if they LOVE your demo they don’t care.

It’s not in their business model to develop you as an artist.

 

What does that mean?

 

Would you be pissed off, hurt, distraught, and flabbergasted to find out that you cannot go to an IHOP and get your oil changed while you eat pancakes?Sticky Music Marketing Penzoil and Pancakes

 

No, of course not. It’s not in IHOP’s business model to change oil, they make pancakes.

 

Record labels can’t develop you because they no longer have the money.

 

They want to see that you have a growing business.

 

They want to see that your music has value in the market place not because you think it’s amazing, but because people are BUYING it. Period.

 

Record labels are looking to buy small businesses, not develop artists.

 

So the development is your job.

 

Artistically and in the marketplace.

 

Stop ignoring it.

 

You’re wasting valuable time.

 

If you need guidance, there are plenty of mentors out there to mold your creative endeavors as well as your marketing approach.

Sticky Music Marketing Targeting

Target your audience. Who will most likely dig what you are doing?

 

Clearly Metallica fans are NOT going to give a crap about your amazing jazz music.

 

So target intelligently.

 

Go find your audience on social media and say “Hello”.

 

Yes, say “HELLO”. Is that so freaking hard?

Sticky Music Marketing Hello

 

Follow them first. When they follow back say hello. Give them something in a gesture of gratitude.

 

They will appreciate it if you serve it up right.

 

Ask QUESTIONS. Be interested in THEM.

 

When they feel that you are interested in them, they will begin to ask questions about you.

 

They will begin to be interested because you are an amazing person.

Sticky Music Marketing Questions

 

Answer their questions.

 

While you’re doing this provide some social proof that other people are interested in your music. One piece of social proof is a healthy following. Another would be some good reviews on your music. Another would be some quick clips of a live performance or two. Maybe a few BTS (Behind The Scenes) shots of you recording?

 

Remember walking out on the playground in grade school and seeing a huge group of kids in a circle? Probably a fight, right?

 

What did you do?

 

You went over to check it out!

Sticky Music Marketing Crowd

 

“Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd” – P.T. Barnum

 

Everyone wants to be a rock star.

 

You’re living a life that most people will only read about in books.

 

Realize this but don’t be cocky or condescending.

 

You need them.

 

Then offer a killer deal on your music.

 

You’ll sell something.

 

Now you have a measurement.

 

If you can measure it, you can manage it.

 

Sticky Music Marketing Post It Note

 

Tweak the plan.

 

Improve awareness.

 

Make a better living.

 

You make your music to “stick”.

 

 

Now make your marketing just as sticky.

 

Stay

In

Tune.

 

 

 

 

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David Bowie: Exhilarating and Terrifying

David Bowie Feature Image

Sorry this post took a while. I was a little devastated. I’m unsure as to whether I knew about David Bowie and his battle with cancer and ignored it or simply didn’t know. Either way, I felt blindsided. This is a tremendous loss for the artistic community. He was super intelligent. A visionary. Mostly he was an artist right up until the end.David Bowie Interview

 

 

Watch this 2000 interview with David Bowie. Here he begins to predict the power of the internet to change the music industry in the future.

 

 

 

David Bowie Exhilarating Ying Yang

 

 

 

“I don’t think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the internet is going to do to society – both good and bad – is unimaginable. I think we’re actually on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying.”

 

“The monopolies do not have a monopoly:”

 

David Bowie No Monopoly

 

Pretty spot on, huh? Hard to imagine it was 16 years ago that he gave this interview.

 

I want to discuss the “exhilarating and terrifying” part of that quote.

 

 

We need to touch a little on the terrifying to truly find an accurate perspective of the exhilaration counterpart that accompanies it.

 

The terrifying has manifested itself in many ways, hasn’t it? Free tracks have temporarily devalued music but artists like Taylor Swift have proven that when you embrace the new methods you can still sell 8.6 million records. Which blows the whole “if they can get it for free they won’t buy it” argument right out of the water; now THAT’S exhilarating!David Bowie Wolfman Jack

 

If she can sell 8.6 million records when the ENTIRE industry can’t really crack 1 million in sales, YOU can certainly make a living. Oh, and she’s clearly doing something different than the rest of the industry.

 

It’s terrifying that our tried and true methodologies of curation have broken down. It used to be that a trusted DJ in a market would spin something that moved him and if it was good (which it usually was because of the hurdles an artist had to overcome to get their song to the DJ to begin with), the world would catch on. Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” both broke in this fashion. They started abnormally in the Midwest and caught fire moving outwardly to the coasts. FYI, Pink Floyd’s single became viral in spite of a power play by The Syndicate (a group of 6 men that controlled radio in the 70’s) to keep Floyd OFF the air in an attempt to prove their power eclipsed their ability to get a song played.

 

It’s exhilarating that artists like Karmin, Noah, and Macklemore can find a huge audience without the corporate amen from the powers that be at terrestrial radio or major record labels.

David Bowie Karmin

 

 

It’s terrifying that records used to cost the 2016 equivalent of $29 and now they only cost $10.99.

 

It’s exhilarating that proper marketing can not only bring record sales back, but monetize the tremendous talents of artists in many brand new ways.

 

 

 

 

Unimaginable was what Bowie said, I believe.

David Bowie Unimaginable MEME

 

 

It’s terrifying that the record labels are so broke they no longer develop talent anymore. The methods artists used for 7 decades to get their music made and heard no longer apply. This is foreign and foreign creates feelings that range from the uncomfortable to downright scary.

 

 

It’s exhilarating that there is a new frontier with an embarrassment of artistic and monetary riches that waits for the pioneers that are willing to learn. It’s never been easier and this inexpensive to target, connect, and create relationships with your fans.

 

As David Bowie said in the interview, music is now a community experience.David Bowie Community

 

 

It used to be an artist would get distribution overseas and have no choice but to trust the suits that their music “wasn’t really selling”.

 

 

It used to be that an artist would sell 8 million records and never fully “recoup” the budget put forth by a record label because they could hide the money and screw the artist in perpetuity.

 

David Bowie Beggar

 

Now, we can track everything digitally. There is no reason for an artist to have to “trust” anyone. Now artists can “trust but verify”.

 

The monopolies no longer have a monopoly.

 

 

You don’t need a record label or radio to find your audience, you can find your own fans at your fingertips and it’s basically a free exercise.

 

You don’t need a record label or radio to create a buzz about your artistic efforts.

 

David Bowie Bailey JamesDaredevil artist Bailey James has at least 14 independently created social media accounts. They were created by fans. 12 on Instagram and 2 on Twitter last time I checked.

 

That’s buzz

 

She hasn’t even released her record yet.

 

It’s real, man.

 

About 6 months ago, Bailey posted a cover of Luke Bryan’s “Kick the Dust Up” on her YouTube channel. This song was chosen simply for the traffic value we felt it would bring and it didn’t disappoint. However, this cover was the first that created some real controversy. The reaction to the video was split down the middle with as many people hating it (whether it was Bailey’s performance of it or the song itself I’m still unsure) as loving it. Bailey’s father was systematically removing the negativity in an understandable paternal effort to protect his little girl (she was 12 years old).

 

I told both parents to keep it real and leave the negative comments up. I said this because there were people that were actually listening to our artist expecting a train wreck (due to the negative comments) that were blown away by her vocal prowess and therefore baffled at the negative commentary.

 

They commented as much.

David Bowie Bailey James YouTube 3

Now they’re fans and subscribers to Bailey’s channel.

 

Some of the best, deepest relationships in life are forged from adversity. If the adverse reactions were allowed to stay, I said, her fans would come to her defense.

 

What makes you believe something deeper than defending it? Psychologically, that has a subconscious positive effect on the defenders; a bond is created between the defenders and the defended.David Bowie Scary

 

Last week a little girl made the sorry mistake of posting an Instagram message calling Bailey James a “bitch”.

 

Papa bear let it ride.

 

Whoa. The fans SKEWERED that little girl who left the bitch comment so much I felt bad for her. She digressed and said it was some boy on the bus who posted the comment without her knowledge or approval so it wasn’t her fault.

David Bowie Bailey James Bitch

 

I think all those protectors will buy the record when it is released, don’t you?

 

They’re passionate now. Definitely more passionate than before the bitch comment.

 

All this is possible from a laptop or smartphone.

 

You can create your own demand.

 

You don’t need a record label to make a living making music, everything you need, including the education on how to do it, is right at your fingertips and instantly available for those who know to ask the right questions.

 

You don’t need a record label to monitor your money for you. In fact, collection agencies like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC are all feeling the pain of maintaining their relevance in this new digital age.

 

 

 

You don’t need 1 million dollars to make your music and market it these days. You just need to want to do it enough to venture forth into the unknown and learn some new skills.

 

That’s what I did.

 

You need to be bold instead of whiney.

 

You need to be courageous instead of fearful.

 

You need to be curious instead of lazy.

 

Embrace the change.

I still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streetsDavid Bowie Young Americans
And every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes
Don’t want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace timeDavid Bowie Hollywood Star

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes
Don’t tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes
Where’s your shame
You’ve left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can’t trace timeDavid Bowie Patch

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Changes are taking the pace
I’m going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
(Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes
Oh, look out you rock ‘n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes
Pretty soon now you’re gonna get older
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time
I said that time may change me
But I can’t trace time

 

You were a true genius, Davie Bowie.

 

Thanks for the great music, man.

 

God Speed.

 

Now any artist can make true art without corporate intervention and bring it to the world without corporate intervention.

That is, if they really want to.

 

When you can have complete control over your art and your cash, why would you place your future in the hands of 2 different committees (record labels and radio) whose businesses are dying right before your eyes?

 

Why on Earth would you want to do it the old way?

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

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Here Is Your Bottom Line

Bottom Line Feature MEME

Bottom Line Doubt WomanFar too many of you are dumbfounded and FRUSTRATED because you aren’t selling your CD’s after you put so much time, effort, money, blood, sweat, and tears into your beloved project.

 

How come nobody cares?

 

What is the reason that they aren’t selling?

 

YOU are the reason you aren’t selling.

 

That is to say it’s your business model.

Your bottom line is unless you recognize this fact and adjust accordingly you will continue getting the same results.

 

Bottom Line Signed Contract 2

 

Let’s say you were going to sign your dreamlike coveted major label record deal today. Let’s say the label agreed to a budget of 2 million dollars to launch your career.

 

MAYBE $200,000 would go towards making the record broken up into expenses that range from producers, engineers, studio time, musicians, food and lodging for all, mixing, mastering, and duplication.

 

That leaves $1.8 million.

 

What would they possibly spend that on?

MARKETING!

 

A major label record company never signed an artist using your current business model. That is to record the project the best they can and put it on the shelves, cross their fingers, and hope the world will catch on.

 

90% of the budget would go to exposing the artist’s music to a targeted audience and CREATING DEMAND for a product that nobody actually needs.Bottom LIne Chess

 

It’s a slight bit easier when you make a product that people need and you have to market the product to compete with the other products, like gasoline, automobiles, food, clothing, electronic devices, cleaning supplies, tools, building materials, restaurants, etc.

 

No, you are marketing a product that nobody is looking for or actually needs.

 

This is a trickier challenge. Recognize it and treat it as such.

 

I would imagine MOST of you haven’t really spent ANY money marketing your music meaning 100% of your precious funds were spent recording the project.

Bottom Line Business Plan

 

Those few that have spent any amount of money marketing probably spent 99% of the allotted budget on recording and maybe 1% on marketing, if that.

 

Record labels spend around 10% of the budget making the record, 90% marketing it.

 

You spent 100% of your budget making your CD and zero marketing it.

 

 

And the y’all get frustrated because nobody seems to care.

 

You get more than frustrated.

 

You get downright depressed.

Bottom Line Disappointment Road

 

You begin to doubt.

 

Maybe you’re always doubting and you increase your doubt every time you think about it.

 

You then begin to think of plan B, right?

 

Nobody knows about your music, man.

 

You don’t know how to reach them and they’re NOT looking to find you.

 

If you did know what you were doing, people would know about you.

 

Zero dollars on educating yourself about marketing were spent on your project.

Zero dollars paying a company to market your music were spent on your project.

Or very little was spent and probably misspent at that.

 

Let’s take a look at Daredevil Production artist, Tanya Marie Harris.

Bottom Line Tanya Marie Harris

 

Yes, she’s incredibly talented.

 

She’s also incredibly smart.

 

To be clear we produce Tanya and I occasionally have marketing conversations with her, but Tanya has done all her own marketing.

 

Instead of spending all her money on a whole CD she started with 2 songs. Then spent her precious monetary resources on marketing.

 

In this December 29th Chicago Tribune article she explains just a few of the accomplishments she’s achieved with this approach.

Read it now.

 

Maybe your business model needs to be tweaked?

 

Stay

In

Tune

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YOU Are Your Only Hope

Hope You Are Your Only Hope Feature

This is the absolutely most exciting time in the history of the music business. It’s unprecedented because you can create any kind of art you want and bring it to the world with the least amount of roadblocks. If you choose to, as an artist, you can create without a committee. Some of you areHope Exciting Time probably scoffing at that but most of you inadvertently create by committee because you’re too focused on emulating what is popular instead of finding your own voice.

 

What is popular these days whether it’s good or bad in your subjective opinion, was created by committee.

Finding your own voice is mission critical to true originality.

 

Finding your own voice is important to me mostly because, like you, I care mostly about ME.

 

Hope Relating

 

That is what will make you stand out from the crowd. Your own voice is truly interesting because somewhere in your own story, there are a couple threads, gestures, stories, experiences, downfalls, victories, struggles, and failures that I can relate to.

If I can relate to your reality, instead of a concocted image or alter-ego, our artist-consumer bond will strengthen.

 

 

That’s real.

 

The music business has always been about relationships and most of you are aware of this to point of it becoming a cliché. You think about these relationships in terms of business relationships. However, I would take it a step further and tell you that the music business is now all about relationships with your fans. Deep relationships at that or at least far deeper than a “follow” or a “like”.

 Hope Like Strength Equation 2

The music business used to be about B2C or business to consumer. Now it’s about P2P or people to people.

 

The artist that focuses on how to do that, how to make the fans feel as if they have a relationship with said artist, is the artist who cracks the Hope Code Laptopcode for success in the NEW music business, You will be the artist that fans will pay money to see live, to download your whole record, and to be a part of your tribe.

 

 

Today is so freaking exciting because YOU have the power. YOU have the strength, YOU have access to all the knowledge you choose to seek out, YOU have the ability, YOU have the talent and as long as YOU are willing to do something about it, there is hope.

 

Hope You Have the Power MEME

 

Hope that your music will become the soundtrack to a specific beehive of people.

 

Hope that your song will become my jam.

 

As long as YOU embrace the challenge of reaching the fans through marketing as seriously as you take the challenge of reaching them through your music, YOU will be successful. There is HOPE

 

YOU will live your dream.

 

Hope Dreams Come True

 

 

 

 

Or at least there is hope that you will live your dream.

 

 

 

 

 

I want you to read this excerpt from an amazing book I am reading called The Content Code by Mark W. Schaefer.

 

This is a marvelous, inspiring period of history when you can shed the traditional burdens of authority and build true influence on the webHope Content Code through your own merits. On the web, nobody cares where you went to college or how much money you have. The color of your skin or your body mass index don’t keep you from connecting to people on your own terms. Your ability to walk or run or even speak doesn’t matter because you can publish.

 

Yes, you can bring your work of art to a targeted audience of people who are predisposed to liking your style of music.

 

You can learn the psychological steps a consumer needs to take to internalize your music and make your song their jam.

 

You can find 1,000 Superfans that will pay $100 per year to experience you in all your glory.

Hope Superfan Meme

 

 

The music business will be better for it.

 

 

 

Gone are the days where a couple radio Program Directors decide what you will listen to, what you will like, and ultimately what music will become the soundtrack of your life. Now you get to choose.Hope No Board Of Directors

 

Gone are the days where a committee of corporate executives get to decide whether you’ll get a record deal and a shot an entertainment career. Now you get to choose.

 

 

Taylor Swift said “Today artists get record deals because they have fans, not the other way around.”

Hope Taylor Swift MEME

 

 

The internet holds the power of the radio times the whole world. The power to influence is more sophisticated but also more powerful and longer lasting.

 

It’s more sophisticated because the internet is decidedly NOT broadcasting which is how we are all used to being exposed to new music. The language has to change from what we know and what we’re used to. That will require innovation much like your music.

 

 

 

Playing an instrument well is extremely difficult.

 

Writing a really good song is extremely difficult because it requires simplicity and economy of words.Hope Guitar Lessons

 

Singing really well is astoundingly difficult and rare. This is why we are so impressed with musical talent. This is why we put rock stars on pedestals.

 

They make us feel.

They make us think.

They make our lives better.

Sometimes they make our lives tolerable.

 

So marketing in the NEW music business can be done well. It has been done well. One has to approach it like the burden they took on to learn to play guitar. I’ll bet most people spent MONEY on lessons, practiced for hours, spent MONEY on guitars, they spent MONEY on amplifiers, straps, guitar stands, cords, pedals, strings, and seasonal maintenance.

Why not marketing?

 

Hope Guitar Gear License Germanium

 

Why not approach marketing the same way one would approach learning a new instrument with all the costs and time involved in acquiring the necessary gear and attention to learning how to make it work correctly?

 

What would happen if a bunch of artists took on the challenge of reaching fans and treated it like the art form that it is?

 

What would happen if these forward thinking artists truly understood the difference between the art of connecting with someone through music and the art of connecting with someone through the internet?

Hope Code

 

What would happen if they spent the same amount of time and money learning to master music marketing as they did to master their instrument?

Connecting with fans is easy and sadly, most artists ignore that.

 

Deepening the relationship is more challenging.

 

Once an artist master the art of creating Superfans, they will own the world.

 

The internet is more powerful because one video can be seen by fans all over the globe as opposed to restricted to one market like a radio station or one country like MTV.

 

Never before has the music industry been more pregnant with opportunity for any artist who is smart enough to see the writing on the wall.

Hope the Unheard

 

Since most artists either can’t see it or choose to ignore it, the performers that do embrace the learning and master marketing will easily rise above the din of the abundant unheard.

 

I just giggled at that.

 

Separate yourself from the unheard.

 

There is hope for the artists who are smart enough, driven enough, and that really work towards getting their music heard.

 

This is the most exciting time in the music business but code you have to crack has changed, man.Hope Dreams flag

 

I say it’s exciting because you are the only one standing in your way; just you and your excuses.

 

You have access to all the tools, all the education, and all the methodologies you need to find your real voice in your music, create that music, and master the art of exposing your music to a targeted audience.

 

Hope Access

 

You are your only hope.

 

The artists that become aware will become successful.

 

The artists who choose to remain naïve will disappear amongst the unheard.

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

If you like this post, please SHARE it and/or LEAVE A COMMENT thank you!

 

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Is Your Amazing Talent Going To Be Enough?

Talent Scott Weiland Feature 2 MEME

On December 3rd, of this year, we lost Scott Weiland. We remember our favorite STP songs and Velvet Revolver songs (the “Fall to Pieces” video has now moved from behind the scenes rock-star-chic to disturbing and heartbreakingly downright pathetic). We relish our favorite memories ofTalent Scott the glory, the tours, but none of us see the reality. The work, the pain, the struggle, the compromise, the effort, the dedication, and the compulsion that define the drive necessary for success.

 

Talent_Rolling_Stone_Article

 

 

I read THIS ROLLING STONE ESSAY written by Scott’s ex-wife Mary Forsberg Weiland and his 2 teenage children Noah 15, and Lucy 13. The takeaway to this article was the bone chilling last 2 sentences of the first paragraph.

 

But the truth is, like so many other kids [of addictive parents], they lost their father years ago. What they truly lost on December 3rd was hope.

 

Ugh.

 

This cut me to the bone. I seriously teared up. Not because of the loss of Scott as a person and his artistry (which is horrifying), but because I was thinking of his children and ex-wife.

 

What a waste.Talent Do The Work

 

Scott couldn’t or wouldn’t do the work on himself. He clearly had to outwork all other front men artistically with his bands to get to the heights he achieved, but he failed to turn that drive and that perseverance inward to improve himself.

 

Heroin, crack, cocaine, and alcohol were not what killed Scott Weiland, they were just the weapons that were used. It was the hole he was trying so desperately to fill with these drugs that ultimately became his demise.

 

 

 

Talent HolesWhen addicts are trying to fill holes and partying “for the wrong reasons” they often bounce to new addictions after kicking the old ones. Heroin, cocaine, prescription pills, alcohol, sex addiction, and codependent relationships are the common interchangeable lily pads they land on.

 

 

 

So if kicking a drug like heroin doesn’t stop addiction, then heroin isn’t the problem, is it? The question is “Why are they behaving in this manner?” not “What poison should we eliminate?”.Talent LIly Pad MEME

 

 

 

 

 

The solution is eliminating the demons, not so much the drugs.

Talent NO Demons

 

The hole can be filled if the owner is willing to endure and go through the struggle it takes to fill it. It’s never easy, no matter how heavy or light the demons are that reside in said hole. Hell, I went through therapy for a spell to change some things I didn’t like about myself. It’s frustrating, aggravating, annoying, and scary. It makes you feel introspectively defensive and spotlights the deep inner conflicts you have going on every day.

It’s also worth it.

 

 

Nikki Sixx has done this and come out the other side a better man for the effort.

Eric Clapton did it.Talent Addict Collage

Stevie Ray Vaughan did it too, and then died in a helicopter crash.

 

 

You have to do the work.

 

There is just no way around it.

Talent Do The Work

 

Much like weight loss. I’m feeling a little heavy these days. There is no pill or shake that is going to magically change my weight. Changing my diet and increasing my exercise is the plain and simple, tried and true answer.

 

You have to do the work.

 

 

 

We only see the fame, the glory, we never see the struggle. It’s hard to conceptualize and relate to the work if all you see is the end result.

 

You HAVE to make yourself aware of this.

 

This makes me worry about the artist community that read my articles. I worry because so many of you are completely missing the point.

Talent Love me MEME

 

You want the success without the struggle. It’s really understandable to a degree because the press never shows us the struggle; only the glory.

Too many of you are falsely betting on your talent to make you successful.

 

You’ve heard how “talented” you are your whole life so you justifiably surmise, “that’s the ticket”. If your parents, friends, and local fans see it, why not the bigwigs in the music industry?

 

I got news for you, your success won’t be about your talent. Not one bit.

 

Huh?

 

Talent Totem Pole MEME

 

 You see talent is just a way we categorize the successful.

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a talent totem pole of success that we subconsciously use to rank the artists we’re aware of. Somebody has to be John, somebody has to be Paul, somebody has to be George, and somebody has got to be Ringo.Talent Totem Pole FINAL MEME

 

Sure there are hugely successful less-talented artists, there are mildly successful supremely talented artists, and a ton of able bodies in between.

 

There are also a million unknown, super talented phenoms that we will never hear about because, for whatever reason, they either can’t or choose not to make it out of the basement.

 

I personally know the most AMAZING singer. Her vocal control and tone blows away Whitney, Mariah, and seriously rivals Adele’s.

 

Not kidding.

 

Her talent got her a major label deal back in the 90’s. Guaranteed 2 record deal.

 

She worked with the BEST producers and the best teams in the industry.

 

She was invited by Quincy Jones to perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival. (That’s a BIG DEAL, man.)

 

She’s not an addict, but the way she handles her intelligence, strategy, and business ensured that you’ll never know about her.

 

Total bust for the record label.

 

Talent Quote Meme

 

So once again, your level of financial success or fame has nothing to do with your talent.

 

Talent just gets you noticed.

 

Success comes because of intelligence, strategy, hard work, and perseverance.

 

Once you’re successful, it’s especially awesome to the fans (and the industry) when you’re also super talented. Your success and far reach means your talent will get to touch more people.

But making a living at your passion, what I would define as success, has nothing to do with talent.

 

I hear so many of you tell me that you just need that one important industry person to “believe in you”. Once that ship comes in, it’s all puppy dogs and ice cream. You’ll get PAID. You’ll be FAMOUS.

 

Horse hockey.Talent Horse Poop License David MW

 

Here’s another factual smart-bomb. I think every top Producer, A&R exec, Label President, Booking Agent, Manager, and industry professional would agree, we don’t need to believe in your talent because your talent will be obvious.

 

When we talk about “believing in an artist” as industry pros, we are talking about all the other disciplines that a talented artist needs to succeed.

Talent Struggle

 

We wouldn’t be talking about you if you weren’t talented.

 

There have been so many labels that got burned by not looking more closely at this dynamic.

 

Y’all probably never heard of Mother Love Bone. They were the band that blended the 80’s metal glam with 90’s grunge and really ushered in the Seattle scene. Kurt Cobain and the boys from Nirvana considered them heroes. They OWNED the Seattle scene and with Soundgarden, they paved the way for all the big Seattle names we know and love in the grunge scene to get their shot and become successful.Talent MLB Poster 2

 

Mother Love Bone was important, man.

 

The band was comprised of front man and dreamy lyricist Andrew Wood backed in part by Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard who would eventually become Pearl Jam.

 

Andrew Wood overdosed on heroin days before the March 1990 release of the first major label LP Apple was released.

 

Talent Sublime Image

 

Bradly Nowell was the front man and main writer for the infamous Southern California underground band, Sublime. He overdosed on heroin 2 months before the release of their debut major label release on MCA Records.

 

These 2 stories are just the tippy top of the iceberg and more well known. What you don’t know, and should understand, is that there are literally hundreds of thousands of stories where industry people wanted to “believe” in an artist and got totally burned because the artist didn’t have the disciplines, outside of their amazing talent, to follow through.

 

I remember Tom Zutaut (A&R exec who signed Guns & Roses and Mötley Crüe) being asked if there was ever a band that he was jealous he didn’t get to sign. His answer was something like, “No, but I had a band I really wanted to sign badly and was glad I didn’t get to.”

Talent Tom Zutaut

That band was Mother Love Bone.

 

Too many of you want someone to bet their money and more scarce, their precious time on YOU because of your talent.

 

When you realize that success is about follow through, intelligence, perseverance, and good business, you’ll start to look for ways to showcase that along with your obvious artistic abilities.

 

Y’all know someone or know someone who knows someone that is supremely talented in anything (not just music) but doesn’t have it together.

 

God, I just want y’all to WIN and I want y’all to be healthy doing it!

 

Do the work

 

Do the work on yourself:  Attack those demons. WE ALL HAVE THEM. Generally speaking the more successful people in life learn what they want to change (because we’re all broken) and then take active steps to change it.Talent Therapy

 

I was once told by my manager that therapy should be mandatory like a driver’s license. It’s like college but for your mind. Just for you. You’ll be AMAZED by what you learn.

 

 

 

 

Do the work on your artistry: Constantly be improving.

 

Do the work on your marketing: The internet means the world is your oyster and you no longer need to wait around to find your audience. They’re out there. Find them. LEARN to market.

Talent Learn Marketing MEME

 

These are the traits that make a talented artist sexy to the industry and to big money.

 

We want you to prove you can work and work with an immeasurable consistency.

 

 

If we’re talking to you, we already know you’re talented.

 

So if you’re good enough to have relationships with industry people, and you’re not getting the love that you want, your talent isn’t the problem.

Talent Superman

 

Could it possibly be your work ethic, the pain you’re willing to endure, the struggle you’re willing to tolerate, the compromises you’re willing to make, the effort you’re putting forth, the dedication you’ve shown, and your compulsion that defines the drive necessary for success?

 

 

 

 

Maybe it’s the work outside of your talent, or lack thereof that is making you unattractive and therefore hindering the success you seek?

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

 

If you like this post, please SHARE it and/or LEAVE A COMMENT thank you!

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Are You Adamant or Ignorant About Your Path?

Path Adamant or Ignorant Feature

We humans are super stubborn especially when it comes to certain paths we take, we’re truly wired up that way.Path Donkey

 

You’ve heard the expression “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, right?

 

 

 

Think about this for a second:

 

 

Path Democrat Republican

 

We’re adamant about being a Democrat or Republican.

 

We’re adamant about being a vegan or a meat eater.

Path Chevrolet Ford

 

We’re obstinate about Ford vs. Chevrolet

 

Some of us have deep loyalties about Fender vs Gibson.

 

Path Fender vs Gibson

 

We’re adamant about the manner in which we handle our relationships (most if not all of us need consistent improvement on that, present company INCLUDED).

Quite often we are unwavering on these ideals and we don’t even know why. We don’t have an opinion that is based on any kind of facts or accurate information, we just do what our parents did.

 

We follow the crowd we hang out with.

Path Lincoln Quote

 

We staunchly support an ideal and we have done exactly ZERO research for ourselves.

 

I saw it on Facebook, so it must be true.

 

Ugh.

WAY too many artists are adamant about the path they are taking to climb the ladder of success in their careers.

Path No Excuses

 

They’re understandably resolute in their approach because they’ve experienced and seen the manner in which all their favorite, life-changing, iconic artists have come into their awareness.

But, when does adamant turn into ignorance?

 

It’s GOOD to be inflexible with regards to achieving your goals. This creates perseverance. When I was an artist there was no musician, girl, business deal, booking agent, tragedy, manager, label suit, sickness, injury, or excuse that I would give permission to stand in my way. No plan B. Only forward motion.

 

If you’re stubborn about achieving the goal, that’s awesome. If you’re unyielding on the path you’ve chosen to get there, you’re ignorant.

 

The path constantly changes in real life.

Path Don Henley Quote MEME

The path gets refined as you become more aware of what is really going on.

 

Many of you think you’re determined to succeed but really, as Don Henley says, “That’s just some people talking”.

Too many of you are blissfully clueless when it comes to any kind of discernible business plan to bring your amazing music to market.

 

 

 

Sadly, most of you that have any semblance of a process or business plan to expand the awareness of your music in a market are working with outdated and inaccurate information.

Path blind

 

You’re refusing to recognize this fact.

 

You’re sticking to your current path.

How’s that working for you?

 

What metrics are you using to measure your forward progress?

 

Did you sell more CD’s this year than last year?

 

Are you selling more tickets this year as opposed to 2014?Path Measure it Manage It Ruler

If you can measure it, you can manage it.

 

Do you have a reasonable, credible plan in place for 2016?

 

How is your song going to become my jam?

 

My father says that journeys like life or a business plan are living, breathing, entities in constant need of cultivation and reevaluation.  John Sr. says a journey is similar to the flight path of a butterfly in that it’s never in a straight line.

 

Path Butterfly

 

The butterfly that embarks on a voyage across a field of flowers will fly here, then fly there, fly forward, then backward, zigzagging, advancing and retreating until finally it reaches the other side.

 

A butterfly is never steadfast about the path. Untiring towards the goal, but open for suggestion and often unwillingly relocated by the winds of change along the way.

 

 

I’ve mentioned this in past blogs, but a great example of this was an experiment done in the 1940’s designed to gather information on what makes a person really lucky or really unlucky.

Path Lucky

The results were astounding.

 

Generally speaking, unlucky people are firmly entrenched in their pathway, blind to any outside anomalies or fluctuations happening around them.

Stubborn.

 

Lucky people were more prone to take it all in, pay attention to everything, and learn.

 

Open for suggestion.

 

The experiment asked people to respond to a newspaper ad requesting people reply if they felt they were generally lucky or generally unlucky. The respondents would be paid handsomely.

 

In the experiment, the whole group was given a newspaper and asked to count the number of images that were printed in the paper. They were instructed to hand in their answers once they finished and they would be paid $250 (again, this was in the 1940’s, I think, so that was big money).

The people who felt they were generally unlucky took an average of 2 minutes to complete the task.

 

The people who were generally lucky took an average of 15 seconds.

 

What was the reason for the disparity in the length of time required to complete the task?

 

Path More Than Good Music Meme

 

In the newspaper, on page 2, was a black and white ad in huge block letters that read, “THERE ARE 48 IMAGES IN THIS NEWSPAPER, THERE IS NO NEED TO KEEP COUNTING. PLEASE WRITE THIS DOWN, HAND YOUR PAPER INTO THE INSTRUCTOR AND COLLECT YOUR $250 CHECK.”

 

See my point?

The people that were ignorantly resolute on the guidelines (A.K.A. the path) continued to count all the images never seeing the ad with the answer because it wasn’t an image.

 

 

The answer wasn’t what they were looking for, rather, they were looking for images. Opportunities don’t always come looking like what you’d thought they should.

 

Get it?

What’s your plan of attack to make a living at your artistry?

 

While I’m quite sure you’re determined to never quit until you reach your goal, how resolute are you to the tactics you’re using to get there?

 

Don’t be a moron.

Don’t be naïve.

Plain and simple.

Path Consumers Like You MEME

 

Don’t mistake technologies that offer new ways for artists to connect with fans as the grand solution that will save the failing music industry and thus, your lot in life.

Consumers need reasons to like and stand behind an artist, not a new technological platform. When they have the reason, believe me the platform will not matter, they will find what they want.

 

How are all these artist platforms working for you?

 

Are they getting you paid?

Do you know anybody that knows anybody who BROKE on Pandora, Spotify, Bandzoogle, Reverbnation, iTunes, etc.?

 

If you’re #1 in Kalamazoo for alternative country on Reverbnation how does that translate with regards to your bank account?

 

Now you may say, “Johnny, we make art for the sake of art so the sales don’t matter, the recognition is what matters.”

 

Path Blue Ribbon MemeWell, somehow, at this moment, you’re paying your bills with something.

 

Where did those funds come from?

 

What if your current bosses decided to stop paying you in exchange for blue ribbon each pay period?

 

YOU’RE #1 IN OUR BOOK, THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS!

 

Can you imagine?

 

What would you do if this happened?

YOU’D CHANGE YOUR PATH AND FIND ANOTHER JOB.

 

You’d have to, wouldn’t you?

 

My point is that somehow, some way, you found out how to get paid for a job that you’d probably rather not do if you don’t straight up hate it.

 

Why on earth wouldn’t you want to find a way to get paid to be an artist?

 

Path StruggleIf you’re struggling that means you aren’t getting paid or you aren’t getting paid enough to survive.

If you’re just getting paid with some BS form of technological praise, I submit to you that the praise you receive PLUS $2.52 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

 

Change your path.

 

Change it often.

 

It took Edison an average of 1,000 experiments to obtain the successes he needed for EACH of his 2,332 patents.

 

Path Edison MEME

 

 

 

How may experiments have you tried to get paid for your music?

 

 

My guess is the first one, perhaps the only one, the one you’re on now, isn’t working well enough.

 

 

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

 

If you like this post, please SHARE it and/or LEAVE A COMMENT thank you!

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What Kind of Genuine Emotion Are You Selling?

Selling Emotion Sold Out Feature Image

Selling.

Selling is all about emotion not about the product. You sell every day you just choose to think about it differently.

 

Make no mistake, you are selling every day.Selling Emotion SALE Feature Image

 

You’re probably really good at it too.

 

Who is the most effective influencer amongst your circle of friends?

Selling Emotion Beatles

 

 

Who is John, who is Paul, who is George, and who is Ringo in your group?

 

John is the best at selling.

 

 

Think about insurance for example. I don’t think there has ever been an insurance product that has blown the other competing products out of the marketplace so much as to create a market demand like Windows did for operating systems or the Apple iPod did for mobile music.

Selling Emotion Insurance

 

We know that we all need car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, life insurance, renters insurance, final expense insurance, etc. The determining factor as to which insurance company we choose to do business with always comes from 2 places; how we connect with the insurance company’s ad messaging and the salesman.

 

More succinctly, do you like the salesperson?

 

If you like him, you’ll buy from him.

 

Especially on the more complicated types of life insurance that double as investments and estate protection instruments. It’s all about the salesperson.Selling Emotion Salesman Image

 

 

 

 

 

In the entertainment industry, we call this the “It Factor” or “Star Quality”.Selling Emotion Star Quality

 

 

 

If you think about it, it’s all about the salesperson in the entertainment industry too.

 

A hit song is a hit song is a hit song. Period.

 

Adele has a voice that could sell you a phone book.Selling Emotion Adele and Phone Book

 

Her singing, her gift, could sell you a phone book because if she sang the phone book she’d make you feel emotion.

 

Get it?

 

When you’re on stage performing, or when you’re writing a song, your goal is to evoke an emotion.

 

Selling Emotion Emoticon Collage

 

 

You attempt to evoke, love, lust, passion, disgust, fear, empowerment, heartbreak, redemption, empathy, sympathy, support, etc.

 

The better you are at that job, the more people will like you. The more they like you, the more they come to your shows and remember your song.

 

The more people remember your song, the more people will purchase it.

 

 

Consider this fact:  When you meet someone for the first time, they won’t really remember you or what you said so much as they will remember how you made them feel.

It’s the emotion that sticks with them. It’s the emotion that gets deposited into their emotional bank accounts.

 

Not words.Selling Emotion She Made Me Laugh MEME

Not intentions.

Not logic.

Not products.

Not Pitch.

Not Chords.

 

Just emotion.

 

Artists that truly embrace this reality have better radio tours. They charm the rank and file of each station far better than an artist who is oblivious. Thus, they get more adds and, of course, more spins.

 

Artists who embrace this reality have huge, loyal followers on social media and make better livings than those that don’t.

Selling Emotion Seth Godin License Steve Jurvetson

 

Seth Godin has an incredible blog. Y’all should experience it, after all, more knowledge is more potential power that once applied, becomes real, lethal, personal power. In one blog he was talking about Girl Scout Cookies. He talks about how the girls are taught to memorize a complicated spiel where they introduce themselves, describe all the good work the scouts do, and how the cookies will raise money for this or that.

 

Seth goes on to craft a question that in less than 10 words doubles the sales of Girl Scout Cookies.

 

“What’s your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?”

 

Selling Emotion Girl Scout Cookies 2

 

 

This sentence evokes emotion, a memory, and instantly transforms the Girl Scout from a supplicant begging for monetary assistance to a valuable supplier of memories and emotion.

 

 

Pretty powerful stuff, huh?

 

We all seem to equate sales with some kind of supplicant experience. When we think of sales we feel in some way like a beggar asking for change at your local intersection.

 

Most artists don’t want to feel like beggars, thus, the inherent apprehension most artists have with marketing and promotion.

 

That isn’t sales. Rather, that is HORRIBLE sales.

 

Selling Emotion Beggars and Concerts

 

Aren’t songs and artists trying to connect with fans just like selling Girl Scout Cookies? Either you have a mediocre song and you’re begging for people to listen to you, or you have a hit song delivered by a star quality performer, both of which evoke EMOTION and you are the valued supplier of music and memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s an example of emotional imagery in a song. This song is called Last First Kiss and was written by hit songwriters Brent Baxter, Jason Cox, and my artist Neill Skylar. The art of songwriting boils down to arousing emotion and imagery in as few words as possible.

 

I’ve been the whiskey on a liar’s lips

I’ve been a moonlight romance, sunrise regret.

I’ve been the suitcase left on the curb

I’ve been the desperate phone call, unreturned.

 

Selling Emotion Hands in Face

 

What emotion do these words make you feel?

 

Do they summon up a memory?

 

Have you been there?

 

Isn’t this what being an artist is all about?

 

Aren’t we supposed to connect with people and make them feel something?

 

Here’s my point:  Why not do this with your marketing?

 

Selling Emotion BoastingMarketing yourself does not have to and should not feel like begging or bragging. It should evoke emotion like the songs that you write and your live performances.

 

Do you feel like you’re boasting when you write a biographical lyric?

 

Most likely not.

 

That’s probably the biggest mistake I see with artists who are marketing themselves. They either come across like beggars (some of them outright begging by informing you of how downtrodden they are in life “I’m blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other, please buy my CD because you feel sorry for me”…Ugh) or braggers (“Check me out, I’m amazing”…double Ugh)

 

When we are inundated with these messages every day, we understandably feel a bit slimy when we think of marketing ourselves.

 

Selling Emotion Bob Marley

 

Don’t let most artist’s atrocious marketing techniques discourage you from finding your own voice.

 

There’s another way to do it.

 

 

We can make them feel something.

 

If they feel something they will like us.

 

If they like us enough, they will listen to the music with an open mind and an open heart.

 

If they like the music, and they feel something with the music, they will buy it.

 

Selling CD’s only helps the company that makes CD’s.

Selling Emotion Conjuring

 

Emotion is what will connect you with your audience and create life-long Superfans.

 

The art of conjuring passions in another is why we call you artists.

 

You do it in your art.

 

Now do it in your marketing.

 

Stay

In

Tune.

 

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