The Missing Elements from Digital Downloads

CDs used to be a way of life. Actually, much of life’s greatest events for our 90′s youth centered around Music CDs; The release date of a new album, the pre-launch release party, and the fan camraderie at school all added to the excitement and social bonding experience around acquiring new music.

Today, a digital download, even at its 1/20th of the cost of a normal CD, still doesn’t impart the same look, feel and experience a CD or vinyl used to. In particular, a band’s self expression was made evidenced by their unique CD insert which often included coveted artwork, lyrics, credits to producers and band mates/family/friends, and more. Is that a lost medium of today? Do fans really read the iTunes Bio pages?

Unwrapping a new CD, the feel of the plastic and untouched content was a magical experience. A personal CD collection was a treasured asset, not spmething that could be backed up with a 20GB HD.

I admit, the convenience and cost effectiveness of an mp3 will always beat a CD, but its fun to think about how much the CD impacted our worlds, both personally and within the Music Business. It was inevitable that digital technologies would transform our industries…but how does it alter our life’s experiences?

The Power of the “Play” Button

Word-of-mouth, Viral, and Customer Referral are usually sought after quests for promotional programs. The challenge has always been, good news travels slow, bad news travels fast…So how about if your customers actions spoke louder than their words?  

Facebook’s new partnership with UK fav music site Spotify has created a new kind of Listener BUZZ. At the recent f8 Facebook conference (Sept), the merger was highlighted. From that, Billboard noted:

“Facebook will list every song listened to, radio stations streamed and albums heard once giving it permission to do so. Something Zuckerberg called “real-time serendipity.” It saves users from having to actively “like” any particular artist, song or album. It happens automatically. “You’re going to discover all the things your friends are doing around you, right now,” he said.

Users can control what they share, and who will see it. What’s more, friends can then stream the same music from their friends’ profiles in real time. During the demo, only Spotify was showcased. And while it wasn’t made clear, it appeared that other users would need to have Spotify installed as well to stream music from their friends’ feeds. There was no mention made of being able to stream the same songs from other music services, the notion of “content resolution” that has been rumored to be a key feature of what Facebook is offering”.

What does this mean for the dissemination of music throughout micro social groups around the world? It could mean that more new music will spread like wildfire, and that a wider range and depth of musical talent will become exposed to nearly 800 million facebook users’ peer groups.

GroupOn Expands Music Category

Last year, Groupon (http://www.groupon.com), a shopping website offering a daily deal in more than 300 markets around the world, announced it “will offer recorded music features, kicking off with the fifth studio album from pop sensation Rihanna, “LOUD” (Island Def Jam Music Group), in addition to the variety of unbeatable features that have made Groupon a global phenomenon, “LOUD” will be available as a $5 digital download in the inaugural holiday store of Groupon, the Grouponicus Store”

On top of the digital album download from Rihanna, Groupon continued to sell tickets for area festivals and concerts, previously featuring in-demand events including Chicago’s Riot Fest and tickets to Bon Jovi.

Many music industry professionals point to touring as the last frontier to make money for bands and artists, as music sales (CD / downloads) have dwindled. But can larger Music Acts, Concert Promoters and Tour Management yield sufficient revenue from Concerts if they’re giving tickets away at 50% off?

The answer is that they are leveraging GroupOn to fill arenas that on “off” dates or venues that don’t drive as much traffic, and plan on making up for the lost ticket revenue via merchandise sales and concessions. In addition, the “buzz” that’s generated when fans hear that a concert is “SOLD OUT” is magnetic and often encourages others to buy tickets for other dates and venues on the tour schedule.

What are your thoughts on Groupon for Music? Will it help or hurt Music Talent or Fans?

Where have all the Live Music Venues gone?

 Are the days of getting discovered at Indie music venues over for Musicians & Bands?

 The consolidation of live music venues by concert promotion juggernauts Live Nation / House of Blues, coupled with the depletion of small venues by the downed economy, have left musicians out in the cold…literally as we enter the Holidays.

 Add to that situation, the explosive growth of DJs with Mac Laptops who play a full night’s worth of entertainment without breaking a sweat or costing the venue much more than $100 bucks and a few beers, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for the collapse of the entry-level, Independent Live Music scene.

 So how can Artists and Bands plot their growth at a local level, build their local fan base, and amass “buzz” to propel them to the dream of playing medium / large size performance status?

Google Music

Google will be launching its Google Music service soon, and many are speculating on how it will enable musicians to leverage their social networks more fully via the Google+ Social Network platform, and actually make a few bucks in the process selling music / promoting their brands.

Billboard Biz notes that:

” Social networking has turned out to be a key battleground for market share and overall growth in digital music. Facebook has already partnered with streaming services – ranging from Spotify to iHeartRadio – to include automatically include users’ activity in their news feeds. Apple and Amazon already have MP3 stores, but lack the kind of social integration that Google has readily available” .

” The fact that YouTube’s new Merch Store, a direct-to-fan storefront integrated into artist’s YouTube channels, is launching with iTunes and Amazon MP3 as partners is a signal that a Google MP3 store is likely to have holes in its catalog “.

So, what does this mean for Independent Artists looking to get greater traction from their fan base? Start promoting the hell out of your Google+ before other Bands catch on. Once Google Music service launches officially, you will have an edge up on other acts! Go get em!

CMJ Music Marathon Starts Today!

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC. This event has been known by many Indie bands to be a proven launching pad for their careers.

The question being, is how do you make a splash and really get noticed by Industry insiders, Media, and Journalists? 

If you can’t be there to partake in the audible festivities, you can still catch footage on CMJ TV here:

http://www.cmj.com/tv/

Keep Rocking!

The Re-Invention of MySpace.com 3.0

With the recent acquisition of MySpace Corporation by Advertising Group, Specific Media (http://www.specificmedia.com/), the quest to ‘bring sexy back to the brand‘ lead by award-winning Singer/Songwriter/Actor and Entrepreneur Justin Timberlake,  has begun.

For a site that at one point was the official birthplace of millions of musicians seeking Hollywood stardom, the hallowed Profiles now seem more like a defunct record label primed for the history books. For Web 2.0 historians, MySpace.com was the quintessential social network that empowered global youth to fully express themselves, from their creativity to their sociability. From the beginning, MySpace was flawed however, plagued by buggy, HTML overloaded, Flash infused pages, that took on average about 1 and a half minutes to load (which in our ADHD, caffeinated, overly socially and technologically distracted world is about…88 seconds too long). In addition, the overabundance of erroneous wall posts by spammers pretending to be fans, and stalkers, the MySpace we once knew became a cluster zone that detracted from the original concept that catalyzed individuality, self expression and worthwhile promotion.

So how can a group of tech savvy, Advertising aficionados and a music legend revive the dejected brand? Bring it back to its roots…INDEPENDENT MUSIC.

The challenge they will face will be attracting both Musicians as well as Fans once again who have since migrated to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, for their content, news and social connections. With the plethora of sites geared at Band to Fan interaction, commercial exchange, and social outreach, articles point to MySpace 3.0 to deliver greater music distribution services for independent artists, bands, singers and songwriters. However, will this be enough to satisfy the engrained ways of an Apple Generation?