It’s funny.  In certain circles, weird looks cross faces when I mention speaking to people for years without ever meeting them.  In other circles, it’s completely normal. It’s been this way for about 10 years now, at least as I remember it.

Ever since my teenage years, I’ve seen the Internet as a tool to connect with people.  At first it was old friends – people that had moved or that I’d lost contact with for one way other other.  Later, I got into WGI (the link is an MP3 to the last show I played, the Overture to Candide played from finish to start, then from start to finish – in case you’re wondering).  I also joined LiveJournal around the same time and started to see things changing.  All of a sudden, the Internet became a place for me to chat with people about upcoming shows, connect with members of other drumlines before we ran into them at a competition, capture my thoughts and feelings as I had them, and ultimately meet new people.

All in all, this seemed pretty natural.  I’d be meeting these people in person a short time later – and many of them I’d already met in passing – we just didn’t have the luxury of time to talk.  In that social circle, connecting online was normal.  Mention this to people I went to school with though and I got a completely different reaction – it clearly wasn’t normal to them and in fact, was really, really strange.

Jump forward a decade and these days, I’m hard-pressed to count friends and acquaintances that I haven’t met online on two hands – part of this is work-related (I work in marketing/social media as a job), and part of this is lifestyle related, seeing as I’m into music with a really strong online presence and community (drum and bass, dubstep, WGI/DCI, etc).

I spent Thanksgiving in the UK and got to thinking about it on the plane ride back.

The friend who let me crash at their place? I met them in person, but through someone I met online.  We’ve kept in contact for 5ish years exclusively online, and kept up online by and large even when I lived in the UK.

The offices I visited when I arrived, to catch up with people I’ve previously worked with? I met them at an event in NYC, but only because I saw a Tweet that they’d be in town and arranged to meet up.  I knew them online first and have kept in contact online ever since (over a year and a half now).

The old friend I caught drinks/dinner with and my old flatmate who came into town to see me? I met one online and one through well, living together, but we’ve all kept in contact online for the past year and a half and 5+ (respectively).

These are just a few examples, but in each one, the relationship wouldn’t have happened or be maintained without the use of the Internet.  Nowadays I find it normal to keep in contact with people all over the world and feel like I actually know what’s going on in their lives – even if we haven’t seen each other in person for years.

What’s this mean for you? It means that you shouldn’t overlook the power of the Internet as a medium – not only to promote your own stuff, but to discover new people and new opportunities, as well as maintain the ones you have.

Pretty simple. huh?

I’ll admit it, I like bass. I like crispy, crunchy basslines – full of rhythm and groove.  I dig the sub bass that is so prominently featured in dubstep, and as an overall preference, I like rich music, full of sound, nuances and flavor.

I suppose it’s only natural, seeing as I grew up playing violin first, then percussion – all for a grand total of about 15 years combined.  I tried my hand at DJ’ing briefly in college (and have lately been debating taking that back up, but that’s another matter), but I ultimately decided that I wanted to focus on my career (marketing) and keep music as a hobby to be enjoyed, not worked for.

Nevertheless, I’ve stayed connected to the electronic music scene throughout my years – the list of DJ’s I’ve seen is quite lengthy and I still go to shows on a pretty regular basis – as long as they’re not obnoxiously late on a weeknight (which, regrettably, some are!).

In a bit of a departure for me, I’m sharing a mix with just a teenie marketing lesson… never underestimate the memory of your consumers. I downloaded this mix purely based on my past memories of Aquasky and was blown away – this mix has totally brought Aquasky to the forefront of my mind and you can bet that I’ll be looking to see if there are any upcoming gigs in my area.

There – business over.  Go download this ridiculously rude mix.  Rude being said in the very best of contexts, of course.  I have a feeling that you’ll love it as much as I do if you’re into bass-heavy, upbeat electronic music.  It’s all over the place genre-wise, from drum n bass to dubstep, nuskool and some electroish stuff, to name a few.

*download* Aquasky Nov. 2010 mixtape by Dave Aquasky

After living in NYC for well over a year, I finally ventured out to Governors Island to catch an outdoor concert.  In my usual “my weekend plans are to have no set plans” style, this was totally last minute and I found myself hopping on the quickest subway train from Herald Square to South Street Seaport I could find (it was the 2,3 – in case you were wondering).

The concert was a 2-stage multi-act shindig, and my group had high hopes for not only the opening acts, but the headliner, M.I.A. – one of my favorite acts.

Karri totally blogged about the concert and her post is worth a read, especially if you’re into Ali G turned South African hip hop (for the record, I totally am – and they’re called Die Antwoord). Aside from personal favorites Skream and Benga, these guys totally stole the show.

Really, who doesn’t love songs about ninjas?

Then comes M.I.A. – aka: the lady I’ve been waiting in the sticky “holy cow it’s still 85 degrees and it’s almost midnight!” heat to see. Since way before “almost midnight”.

To put it plainly? She blew.

Blew out my ears.

Sounded like she was going to blow out the speakers.

Blew me from my spot sort of close to the stage to back by the food vendors.

Blew me all the way out to the ferry, with hundreds of other fans.

Two. Songs. In.

Now, I’m going to go on record here and say that I don’t actually think that she was the problem. I think that it was the lack of a soundcheck that was the problem here.  Die Antwoord stopped mid-song to ask the sound guys to turn their monitors up, and they sounded crisp and clean. Even Skeam and Benga sounded clear, and their music is full of bass and sub bass. The bass is what makes dubstep, dubstep!

M.I.A. on the other hand… wow. She sounded like she was close to a half a beat behind, she had a wicked reverb on her mic, she kept getting feedback from the speakers, and the bass was so muddy that it all sounded like one big “boom” instead of music.

What in the heck happened to the soundcheck?!

Really, that’s all I want to know.  I know that I wasn’t the only disappointed fan judging by the hundreds that left with me on the ferry back to Manhattan less than 2 songs in. That’s for sure.  But I am inquisitive, and I really want to know how the sound can go from crisp and clean in one set, to so awful I pick up and leave while barely into the set in the next moment. Especially because she was the headliner!

Us fans, we may act impatient, but we’re really, honestly and truly, willing to wait for the crew to perform a soundcheck if it’s going to mean that we get to enjoy the music we paid (in this case $50 and up) to see.

Performance quality still matters people – and it often starts with the basics – like the soundcheck.

I’M ON A BOAT! Yes, really. I’m on a cruise to Mexico currently, but just had to queue up this post to share some randomness with you while I sun myself and consume fruity tropical drinks for a few days. On with it!

Lee Scratch Perry (dub LEGEND) explains how things shifted from dub to dubstep over the years. Slight promo for his new stuff at the end, but the video is quality regardless.

Ghostbusters Theme Song Multitrack – just plain fun!

Video Interview with DJ Elijah (Butterz)

Before I tell this story, I want to fully disclose that I’m involved with this project. I DO NOT receive monetary compensation for my work (nor have I ever) on this project, but I do receive the releases we put out for free in digital format. Thus far I haven’t received the actual vinyl releases for free, but this may happen in the future, so I’ll go ahead and disclose that now, too.

In other words, I put in a lot of work at night and on the weekends and get “paid” in free music a few times a year.

I’ve written before about collaboration, and this is an extension of that story.

In 2006, a few members of the dubstepforum.com message board mentioned in a thread (conversation) that the forum had a lot of unsigned talent among their 5,000 members, and enough resources on the forum to start a record label and get those talented artists exposed to the limelight.

In short order, Pressing Issues was formed. Members of dubstepforum.com came together from all over the US (NYC all the way to San Francisco), Canada, the UK, and eastern europe to work in A&R, marketing, operations and design roles.

The logo? Community chosen
The music? Submitted by the community and voted on by the community
The initial funding? Provided by the community

Everything about this project came from the community.

Pressing Issues took a hiatus in late 2008-2009, but is now back planning the 3rd release. Even though dubstepforum.com has exploded from 5,000 to almost 35,000 members, Pressing Issues is still about the community.

The greatest thing about the concept is that every community has the power to come together and make a project like this happen. We all have our unique talents, our individual interests, and something special to contribute to group projects.

I challenge musicians and aspiring musicians out there reading to see what your community can come together to accomplish. As already shown, something as simple as a post on a message board can quickly transform into something much bigger. In this case, a record label. In your case… who knows?

This is the fifth post in this series, covering promotion. Previous posts have covered developing your overall goals, figuring out what your product(s) could be, determining how to price those product(s), and deciding where to place yourself and the product(s) you’re selling.

Promotion is often the most prominent of the 4P’s, as much of the “What should we sell?” and “How much should we sell it for?” takes place behind the scenes. However, the basis of promoting your products in the places you’ve chosen are founded in the decisions you made earlier in this series, so they’re no less important to you.

Here’s where our first ideas really come in handy, “the big picture”.

1. What is my ultimate goal?
2. What do I want to achieve on the way to my ultimate goal?
3. Why am I in the music business; what’s my motivation?
4. If I’m going to make money off of this venture, what are the ways I see myself doing so?
5. How in the hell am I going to measure success?

Big Idea(s) –> Strategy –> Tactics –> Execution

Your product, price, and place(s) must all tie in with the answers to theses questions.  The promotion questions really start to guide your execution. It all fits together.

How Should I Promote Myself?

In place, we covered these three questions:

1. Where does your audience exist?
2. Where does your audience go for information?
3. How does your audience prefer to connect with each other (and with you)?

Your answers are a great start for your promotions strategy.  You know what you want to sell, whether it’s  your music, your schwag, your services, your shows, or even your brand (guest appearances, anyone?).  You know where your audience exists, which gives you a clear path for how to reach them.  Promotion follows logically from there.

1. What is my ultimate goal?
2. What do I want to achieve on the way to my ultimate goal?
3. Why am I in the music business; what’s my motivation?
4. If I’m going to make money off of this venture, what are the ways I see myself doing so?
5. How in the hell am I going to measure success?

These are all questions that your promotion strategy can help you answer, though I’m sad to say that there’s no “magic formula” I can give you to help you determine the “right” answers to these questions.  Some of it is gut instinct, some of it is personal preference, and a lot of it is making sure that your promotions are intimately tied with the product you’re selling, the price you’re selling it at and the place that sells it.

Promotion… What?

Consider this…

If you run a promotional campaign for your new record, where will this campaign run? Will you print posters to put in your local record shop, or buy banner ads online? If you buy banner ads, what sites will you buy them on? Should you have a Facebook Fan Page to help promote the album? Should you create a Facebook Event to allow your fans to register for, and share your even with their friends? How does Twitter fit into everything? What about your blog? Should you even have a blog?

OK, breathe…

Start with these questions:

1. In the places where I’m selling my products, how do people communicate?
2. Are there opportunities to get in front of my fans virtually? If so, where and how?
3. What has “worked” for people similar to me in the past? Even better, what “hasn’t worked”?

Now, here’s where more than a few common mistakes are made.  For example, as a counterpart to Pistachio’s “Musician’s Guide to Rocking Twitter“, I created “A Guide to Completely Failing at Twitter (As A Musician)“.  We’ll get to more later, but as you move through your answers, you may want to power up Google or Twitter Search and type in a few of the keywords in your answers.

As for our hip hop band, their answers are below.

Q: In the places where I’m selling my products, how do people communicate?

A: My local record store is a really tight-knit community.  In-store performances and discounts to shows work well.  My fans are also on message boards talking to each other, on Twitter and on our website.

Q: Are there opportunities to get in front of my fans virtually? If so, where and how?

A: Yes, on Twitter, our website and major hip hop message boards.  We notice that most people go to Facebook more than MySpace now, but our fans aren’t really into either.

Q: What has “worked” for people similar to me in the past? Even better, what “hasn’t worked”?

A: MF Doom and Burial have built quite the name for themselves being slightly mysterious, and both Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have made quite a bit of money offering their music up for what their fans feel like paying.  More recently, Imogen Heap created great buzz before her album launch by involving her fans in the process of making the album.

Here are a few resources, giving you some ideas of how to plan and execute your promotions.

• Integrated Marketing Communications Plan (it sounds complicated, but click anyway as it’s good info to know)
• Guerilla Music Marketing Suggestions
• Creating a Music Marketing Plan (bit old, but there’s good info in here)
• 1,000 True Fans (saved the best for last!)

Yes, really.

This post is a direct result of a dubstepforum.com thread about a certain big-name Dubstep label removing their tracks from being sold online.

This argument can be broken down into two sides.

Side 1 – Labels should release content in one (or a limited # of) format(s)

Side 2 – Labels should release content in multiple formats

This is one of the most heated debates happening around music right now. Feel free to comment and tell me how wrong I am if you disagree with my viewpoints!

To the arguments!

Side 1 – Labels should release content in one (or a limited # of) format(s)

The “pro” argument for this side really comes down to two points:

1. By releasing in a select # of formats you preserve the value of the music (i.e. – if it’s on vinyl, those pieces could become collectors items eventually)
2. By only releasing a select # of formats you make it harder for people to illegally share your music (ex: if you want to illegally share your vinyl you have to rip it to your computer first, then share it – it’s much harder than just sharing a digital release)

The “pro” arguments of this make sense, and while I’m not saying they’re false, I do disagree with the implications of these arguments.

Supply and demand ” concludes that in a competitive market, price will function to equalize the quantity demanded by consumers, and the quantity supplied by producers, resulting in an economic equilibrium of price and quantity. An increase in the quantity produced or supplied will typically result in a reduction in price and vice-versa.”

In other words, the more something is wanted and the less resources of that “something” available, the higher the value of that “something” will be.  See below for the pretty picture. (the above quote and below photo are all from the Wikipedia page linked above)

The implication of this supply and demand argument (#1) is that you should produce a small quantity of an item, and certainly smaller than you anticipate demand to be for this particular item. That, in turn, creates incentive for people to pre-order or stand in line (for example) to purchase your music.  The format will preserve it’s “value” because your item is now a limited resource. Think “collectors item” as far as the consumer is concerned.

That’s all well and good, but not every piece of music is going to be a collector’s item.

I’m getting ahead of myself…

On to Argument #2 – “By only releasing a select # of formats you make it harder for people to illegally share your music”

Here’s where I really have my beef with limited format releases. I’m willing to buy your music. I may not buy a lot of it these days because I can find what I like in other formats (i.e. – mix sets), but if I like a piece of music I’m absolutely willing to go to your store (whether it be a website or a physical store) to buy your music.

What really upsets me as a consumer is when I’m ready and willing to buy your music, and you put barriers in my way.  Let’s stick with the electronic genre for a moment, and consider that their target audience usually owns a record player. It makes sense, if I’m trying to prevent people from sharing my music illegally, to limit my release to a format that makes it harder for people to do just that.  For the vinyl example I’d have to play the track, record a high-quality version on to my computer, then upload that to a filesharing program somewhere and distribute. That’s harder than just sticking a CD in my computer and clicking “copy”… but not by much.

Here I am, willing consumer ready, able and wanting to part with my money, and I can’t. Why can’t I? I don’t own a record player. If you offered your music on CD or in a digital format I could play it, but as it happens, I don’t have the resources to play your music.

What do I do instead? I go search for it online.

Lost money for you, and I’m now helping to perpetuate exactly what you don’t want – illegal download of your music.

Side 2 – Labels should release content in multiple formats

On the flip side of this argument you have the “go forth and prosper” folks, or, as they can be called, the consumers.

This side comes down to a few simple arguments as well:

1. If I’m ready to part with my money to buy your music, I want to purchase your music in a format I can enjoy.
2. If you put barriers in my way, there are easy ways I can overcome them. Very few of these ways equal money in your pocket.

I stated this above, but it’s worth repeating.

Here I am, willing consumer ready, able and wanting to part with my money, and I can’t. Why can’t I? I don’t own a record player. If you offered your music on CD or in a digital format I could play it, but as it happens, I don’t have the resources to play your music.

What do I do instead? I go search for it online.

Lost money for you, and I’m now helping to perpetuate exactly what you don’t want – illegal download of your music.

I’m a consumer. I want to consumer your music. I may prefer the richness of a track on vinyl, or I may be riding a subway for an hour a day and really want something new for my MP3 player. Either way, I want you to cater to my wants and needs. I’m giving my money to you and in this day and age, I’m used to getting what I want, how I want it, when I want it.

Please me, please.

As a music producer or label, you can probably guesstimate what % of your target audience consumes music in which format. You can base this off of previous sales or market trends/statistics, for example. That’s smart. What’s not smart is saying “So 70% of our audience consumes our music in this format, so we’re going to ignore the other 30% and just cater to this 70%.”

Using the vinyl example (again), how do you know that I’m not a traveling DJ who really prefers DJ’ing with actual records when at home, but prefers using Serato or CDJ’s when I’m on the road? Sure, I could follow the example above and rip your music to my computer without spending any extra money, but that requires time and I think my time is worth coughing up the extra cash to also download a digital version.

I may be in your 70% that consumes your music on vinyl, but how do you know I’m not also in the 30% contributing to consumption in another way??

You don’t.

This brings me to the second argument. “If you put barriers in my way, there are easy ways I can overcome them. Very few of these ways equal money in your pocket.”

I’ll, again, re-iterate what I said above:

Here I am, willing consumer ready, able and wanting to part with my money, and I can’t. Why can’t I? I don’t own a record player. If you offered your music on CD or in a digital format I could play it, but as it happens, I don’t have the resources to play your music.

What do I do instead? I go search for it online.

Lost money for you, and I’m now helping to perpetuate exactly what you don’t want – illegal download of your music.

I’m an honest consumer who is ready and willing to part with my money to buy your music. Please, let me!

A forum member stated this exact thought pretty well, saying that they were searching online for tunes to buy but couldn’t find any of them, and since the label didn’t release in a digital format and he didn’t own a record player, he couldn’t buy their music. The post has since been moved or deleted, preventing me from quoting.

Summary: Perhaps “idiot” is a harsh term to some, but I think it’s fitting. Consumers have more power now than they ever had before, and the companies that are succeeding are companies that are keeping this power in mind. My suggestion isn’t to bend over backwards and do whatever the consumer wants, but my suggestion is to keep their needs and preferences in mind, and see how you, as a music producer, can modify your actions to accomodate their needs/wants.  Gone are the days of “consumers will do as the company commands” – and the quicker companies realize this, the better off they’ll be.

A suggestion, if I may.  Encourage people to buy your music in multiple formats by offering discounted pricing on these items. If I purchase your music in a store, give me a discount to buy it digitally too. You can track this to figure out where/when I bought, as well as end up with more money in your pocket in the end. I don’t expect things for free, but I do want to feel like you actually care for my preferences. Show me that and not only get my money, but begin to win my loyalty.

On with the controversy. I’m eager to hear your thoughts!

For those that don’t know, I’ve been a big fan of electronic music since my teenage years.  My tastes have evolved over the years, starting with trance but quickly migrating to the “darker” side of things including drum n bass and dubstep.

Through the years I’ve been fortunate to meet some amazing people involved in the music business.

A not-so-recent conversation with Headhunter, a dubstep producer and DJ visiting from the UK, has remained in my mind for over a year. The conversation happened in the parking garage of a Charlotte Uptown establishment, en route to a gig after leaving a social media meetup.

The group at the meetup had been talking about the usual suspects – Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, WordPress and how “MySpace is dying”.  Throughout the conversation, Headhunter remained fairly silent, seemingly content with watching the game on TV and chatting with those around him as most were doing.

When we left to go to the car, we got into a conversation about “What is social media?”.

BINGO. A lightbulb went off.

To many electronic artists, the things they do to market themselves are just that, “just what I do”. It’s not about a new hot term, or this new thing. It’s how things have been done for years – way before big business started getting the picture.

If you’re into electronic music, check out your favorite artist and see how active they are.

I’ll use Headhunter as my example, not only because I’ve already mentioned him, but also because he’s a very talented producer and DJ and I’m always happy to point people in the direction of his music. Really, I am.

He blogs

He has a page on MySpace

He’s on Facebook

He’s on YouTube

He shares his music

He posts on message boards

He gets social media. He knows the norms, he interacts with his fans, and he maintains his presence in the social web throughout his travels.

To people in the social media world, this is a case study. It’s something to be explored, dissected, and asked “So, what’s the ROI?”.

To DJ’s, producers, and others involved in the electronic music scene, it’s the way they market themselves. It’s how they get their gigs, and it’s how they make their living. What’s the ROI? Their life is the ROI.

“It’s just what I do.”