I have kind of a strange New Year’s Eve tradition: I make a list of everything I’d like to be free of. Then, I burn it. And then I flush it. Double catharsis.
On that note, I thought it might be handy to have a list of the Top 10 CUT THROUGH THE NOISE posts of 2009 to not burn/flush and to hopefully (!) reread/re-forward.:
1. Content Is Not King
It’s YOUR job to identify and celebrate your fans, to turn them into super-fans; your brand runs on super-fans.
2. The New Free
Free is dead. Over. Overdone. We killed it.
3. Size Matters
It’s not the length that matters… it’s how you use it.
4. I’m Broke But Here’s $100 Anyway
Sell me a shared experience. Not only will you get my money (even when I don’t have it to give) but also free publicity (as I brag to all my friends).
5. Everyone’s a Lazy Idiot (Including Me)
Newsletters, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc… if you’re still pooh-poohing any of these, wake the fuck up.
6. My Mom Wants Your Fans
If you don’t have me at RT, somebody else will. And that somebody could very well be my mom. Or your mom. Or Joe the Plumber.
7. When You Don’t Ask, the Answer Is Always No
Not asking is like leaving money lying on the table.
8. Lefsetz Is Wrong
The way you make me feel about your product handily trumps the actual product. In a heartbeat.
9. Think Outside the Tribe
Other than your music, what else do your fans have in common?
10. My English Major Beat the Crap Out Of Your Rockstar
Not only do you have to make great music, you have to learn how to write about it.
Happy New Year!
xo
12/28/09 | Comments (0)Tags: Bob Lefsetz, CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Fans, KATE BRADLEY, MASOKO SOCIAL, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, Seth Godin, shared experience, The New Free, The Value of Emotional Value, Tribes, Twitter —
Not so much a letter this go-round but… a guest appearance via e-mail interview this week from acclaimed author and entertainment attorney Donald Passman (REM, Janet Jackson, Tina Turner, etc.). Holy beans, even we can still hardly believe it.
Don’s latest version of All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Seventh Edition
Take it away Don….
OUTLANDOS MUSIC: Radiohead, Trent Reznor, Jill Sobule… with historically built-in fan bases, these artists make giving music away for free, DIY fundraising packages and social media marketing look easy. But what if you’re a complete unknown? Where do you start?
DONALD PASSMAN: MANY ARTISTS ARE NOW STARTING WITH A VERY GRASS ROOTS LEVEL. THEY BUILD A FANBASE BY GIVING AWAY THINGS (PINS, STICKERS, ETC.) AT THEIR SHOWS IN EXCHANGE FOR AN EMAIL ADDRESS, THEN THEY STAY IN TOUCH WITH THEIR FANS ON A REGULAR BASIS, BUILDING A FOLLOWING UNTIL IT REACHES CRITICAL MASS.
OM: Because so many artists have been quick to attempt the above model, “free” may, in fact, be dead. Now that we expect it; where’s the value in that? Which then begs the question, what’s the new “free?”
DP: THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS BREAKING THROUGH THE NOISE. THERE ARE OVER SEVEN MILLION BANDS ON MYSPACE. OTHER THAN A FLUKE DISCOVERY THAT CATCHES ON VIRALLY, IT’S BASED ON HARD WORK AND BUILDING A FOLLOWING, AS NOTED ABOVE. ALSO, THE RECORD COMPANIES PUT MONEY AND EXPERTISE INTO MARKETING. TO DATE, NO ONE HAS BROKEN THROUGH ON A TRULY MAJOR LEVEL WITHOUT A COMPANY BEHIND THEM. THAT MAY CHANGE IN THE FUTURE, BUT FOR NOW, THAT’S THE CASE.
OM: Honing one’s craft versus social media efforts: if you had to assign percentages between only these two things, denoting over all time spent, what would they be and why?
DP: THE COMMON DENOMINATOR TO ALL SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE IS A BLEND OF TALENT AND DRIVE, WITH (FRANKLY) DRIVE HAVING THE EDGE. THERE ARE MODERATELY TALENTED PEOPLE WITH MAJOR CAREERS WHO ARE VERY GOOD AT MARKETING THEMSELVES, JUST AS THERE ARE MAJOR TALENTS WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN SUCCESSFUL. IT TAKES BOTH. YOU NEED THE GOODS, BUT PEOPLE HAVE TO KNOW ABOUT THEM.
OM: Be honest. If a fledgling artist (whose music you loved) came to you and asked your advice, if they should quit their day job and try to make it, so to speak, in this day and age, where fledgling artists are a dime a dozen and for the most part labels no longer nurture careers, would you say “go for it” or “don’t quit your day job?”
DP: I WOULDN’T GIVE UP THE DAY GIG UNTIL I HAD A PRETTY GOOD SENSE THAT THERE WAS A “THERE THERE.” IF THERE’S MOMENTUM, SOME MONEY COMING IN, THEN IT’S TIME TO GO FOR IT. THERE’S NO MAGIC FORMULA; EVERYONE HAS TO MAKE THAT DECISION ON THEIR OWN.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INTERVIEW!
DON
11/2/09 | Comments (3)Tags: Bob Lefsetz, CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Donald Passman, KATE BRADLEY, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, THE iNSIDERS NETWORK —
Yes, being great at whatever it is you do has merit (for it). But quality isn’t nearly enough. You HAVE to huck it, kids. Every second of every day. Re: The Death of Marketing? Sorry Bob, respectfully disagree.
I don’t care how friggin spectacular you are… if you don’t have anyone to tell, it might as well not be true. It’s a chicken and the egg deal. Almost. Because, you CAN have real, passionate, loyal fans at every stage of your career, from fledgling to Trent; if I like you, I’ll help you. Period.
Think of it like this: the way you make me feel about your product handily trumps the actual product. In a heartbeat.
So… how do you do it? Um, it’s called MARKETING.
Singer-songwriter Seth Glier recently quoted a fan who said it best:
“You know Seth, I know we don’t see each other a lot but I consider you a friend…..Coldplay is JUST music to me.”
And Seth is hands-down one of the most spectacular self-marketers I know.
It works like this, in this order:
1. Make friends and fans.
2. Do/make something that’s meaningful to you.
3. Tell your friends and fans about it ASAP… DO NOT polish it to death or worry about it not being perfect (any successful entrepreneur will give you this exact advice). Get it out there as fast as possible. Make it pretty/hone your skills later.
4. Inspire and ask your friends and fans to help you/buy your stuff.
5. Rinse and repeat.
It really is that easy.
Don’t believe it? Here’s something I probably shouldn’t tell you. 21 people work for me for free. Our online views have increased 127% in four months. 6000+ people read our newsletter. And we’re in the black after less than two years. Certainly, I hope it’s because we’re doing great work but for sure, friends and fans made this possible. As in, 65% them. No joke.
Did someone say the value of emotional value? I’m just sayin.
9/21/09 | Comments (19)Tags: Bob Lefsetz, CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Fans, Guy Kawasaki, KATE BRADLEY, MASOKO SOCIAL, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, THE iNSIDERS NETWORK, The Value of Emotional Value —
First and foremost, does anyone really care? Is anyone even listening to radio anymore, let alone satellite radio? Even XM fanatic Bob Lefsetz questions satellite’s viability:
… if you pony up, you find out you’re in the wilderness, not a member of any club, not one of any size, and that freaks you out and you abandon your subscription.
He’s right. And he’s not alone. And XM and Sirius only have themselves to thank.
Throughout both companies’ histories, as marketing efforts focused on the “big” names, i.e., Major League Baseball, The NHL, the NFL, Opie and Anthony, Howard Stern, Oprah, Martha Stewart, Starbucks, Ellen DeGeneres, Tyra Banks, etc, what was weird and wonderful about satellite radio began to fade.
Having been been on the inside at XM, I witnessed it firsthand. And for a little while there we (the programmers) believed.
We believed in the true art of radio, the craft, the connection between great music and fans and the curator behind the scenes — a veritable magic of sorts, as those of you who came up through 70s radio knew all too well.
XM Cofounder Lon Levin knew this. Certainly, former Programming Senior VP and Chief Creative Officer Lee Abrams knew this.
Their vision, in the beginning, was all about celebrating that magic. And it was, truly, a beautiful thing.
But then former CEO Hugh Panero brought in the new guard: Programming Executive VP Eric Logan and John Zellner, terrestrial radio’s Infinity kings… not exactly purveyors of Abrams’ wondrous, contagious irreverence, the driving force behind XM’s once-upon-a-time magic.
Across many of the music channels, playlists were slashed and it seemed that XM was becoming a virtual mirror of terrestrial radio, just without commercials. Except, suddenly, there were commercials. Zoikes.
And still today, the channels that are most interesting, most human (XM Kids, X Country, Liquid Metal, Fungus, The Rhyme, Fine-Tuning, The Joint, The Loft, etc.) chug on but go virtually unnoticed. What’s worse is that the talented curators behind them remain grossly overworked and, sadly, underpaid. But that’s another story…
The fact is, collectively, XM and Sirius have a point: our other content options are numerous and in many cases better. So why would we keep paying for a service that’s become not all that different then terrestrial radio, which we can get for free? Good question. And I’d love to say that Mel Karmazin’s gonna save the day. But it’s no secret that Mel’s a business guy, not a music guy. Certainly, he’s no Lee Abrams.
Yet, in theory, it could happen.
Maybe if instead of continuing to blindly throw marketing dollars at the anonymous masses, satellite radio got back to what it’s poised to do best: creating a haven for the “weird and wonderful” and thereby perpetuating the shared experience, a.k.a., Lefsetz’ membership to “the club.”
After all, the masses aren’t fans. And, I can’t say this enough, FANS are what you want. Fans invest in music. Fans invest in the club. Loyal, diehard, spread-the-buzz fans who, simply by virtue of their devotion, will sell your product for you.
And it just so happens that the most likely fans of things “weird and wonderful” are adults… age 35-65… 1/3 of the population… wielding $1 trillion in disposable income. Do I sound like a broken record?
Music Industry Professor Jerry Del Colliano, in a recent Post article:
Young customers don’t have the need that we older folks have to have someone knowledgeable about the music tell them what’s new. They have their social network to tell them what’s cool.
Damn straight. Earth to Mel!
So maybe if instead of trying to be everything to everyone, satellite radio embraced this rather sizable niche and got back to its roots of humans programming for humans, then maybe the magic would prevail and satellite radio would, at the very least, survive… or at the very best, emerge as our savior. Now that would be worth paying for.
© Outlandos MusicTM 2008
3/31/08 | Comments (0)Tags: Bob Lefsetz, CUT THROUGH THE NOISE, Fans, KATE BRADLEY, Martha Stewart, OUTLANDOS MUSIC, Starbucks, The Loft, XM, XM Kids —
