I’m fortunate to live in a city that oozes culture.  From the orchestras and the ballets to the concerts at Madison Square Garden or Radio City Music Hall, NYC knows no shortage of spectacularly good music. But, many people (even those who live here) fail to notice the smaller things. Free concerts in the park(s), small music venues that bring in upcoming band after upcoming band, street performers/subway musicians all often escape attention from the general public.  I personally can’t count the number of times I’ve walked by a particularly amazing violinist in the 14th St/8th Ave subway station instead of stopping to listen, all in the name of getting home that much sooner.

In my case, I was wandering home from the cheese shop after choosing to ride the subway the few short stops home instead of risking my cheese on the 95-degree walk from one side of my neighborhood to the other.  I walked into the station and headed down the stairs to the platform while listening to what sounded like a full band playing down below.  To my surprise it was only 2 saxes and a fairly simple drum set, but I still purposefully missed my arriving train and watched them play until the next train came about 10 minutes later.

Now, I’m just as guilty as anyone of passing by subway musicians or street performers. You really get used to ignoring things when you live here.  You ignore the people begging for change on the sidewalk, the taxis incessantly honking their horns, the foul smells originating from bags of trash waiting to be collected, the people handing flyers out for yet another free comedy show, the charity petitioners begging for a second or two of your time, the phone conversations you happen to overhear… you get the picture.  I wrote about the practiced art of ignoring life in the city before when this blog was just a wee baby blog (ok, a really wee baby blog) and it still stands true today. We ignore, we segment, we automate, and we forget how to communicate with people.

We forget what it means to connect.

Me and my cheese connected with new music on Saturday. We connected with the ladies dancing beside me, the numerous other people that missed the first train to stand and listen to these guys play, the people stopping to drop a few dollars off in their case and of course, the music.

I took a video (of course) – watch. It gets REALLY good around 1:15.

You know what I wish, though? I wish they’d included their name.  I dropped some cash in to help them with their quest to record, but I’d love to see them play in a proper venue someday.  Anyone that makes me spontaneously stop for an extra 10 minutes just to sit and listen deserves much more than a few bucks.  But alas, they didn’t put their name on their sign anywhere.

Lessons learned? Be ridiculously good and be easy to find.

Change is hard. There’s the things we want to change but can’t, work on changing but seem to take two steps backward with every step forward, and the things that change without you noticing – until one day you do.

I work on certain changes on a daily basis. I work to make this sentence better than the last. I work to put a bit more care into this action than any other action I’ve completed before. Shoot, I’ve changed jobs and locations more times in the past 7 years than some people do in their entire lives.

Change is probably the one constant in my life, as it is in yours as well. As the saying goes, “change is the only thing that ever stays the same.”

I’ve gone through all of the stages of grief with my dear friend Change.  The denial, the anger, and finally the acceptance.  Now, we’re buddies.

I evolve, just like you evolve. Our lives evolve, and the music we make, or care to hear, evolves.

It’s too easy to want to be pigeon-holed, to define a sound and cling to it, grasping at what brought you popularity in the first place.

What gets forgotten in that situation is the fact that just as you are changing, your audience is changing.  Their tastes are evolving, and you owe it to them to show them that you are too.

You owe it to yourself to define your own sound, even if that sound is change itself.

The labels and the critics want to have a yardstick to measure you by. It’s fine to give them one – and say who you sound like. They want to know what’s behind your music, and that’s fine too – tell them your inspiration. But don’t be afraid to change, and take new inspirations – evolve your sound.

After all, if everything else is changing but you in the world – won’t you just be left behind?

There’s this notion that if you build something people will come. That notion is crap.

There’s also this notion that if you invest time, resources and energy into social media to build a presence, that people will automatically love you just because you’re there. That notion is also crap.

If anything, social media has shortened the life cycle of stardom to almost nothing.  How many bands do you know that were unknown one day, only to be the “next big thing” the next? Out of those, how many are still popular?

Before you get out there and start telling people about who you are any why they should care, focus on your product. Focus on creating something people will care about, THEN get out there and start talking.

I’m not saying wait until you’re perfect, but don’t expect social media to cover up the fact that you may not be all that good. Put out stuff you believe in and constantly push yourself to be better. Prepare for honest feedback and embrace it. It’s a tough lesson to learn, and a tough spot to be in, but congrats – it’s reality.

Aim to not suck and start from there.

Memories are powerful. Some songs play a leading role in certain memories, while others appear as a backup role.

I recently posted a question on my Twitter account (@misskatiemo) asking people what songs they associated with certain memories.  Their answers are below.

Carla Lynne Hall: “Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James and The Shondells because it reminds me of growing up in Miami, with its blue skies and sunny days. Whenever I hear it, I think of carefree days of being a kid, with all of the time in the world to just dream and play. Ahhh….

Prescott Perez-Fox:  When I hear “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles, I am wandering through a church yard in North London on my way to work.

Amy Garland:  Footloose – This was my favorite movie growing up (still is), and I always loved dancing to the end (prom scene). Whenever the song plays at a wedding, my sister and/or I try to get everyone to form two lines and take turns dancing down the middle (like the movie). This song always brings great memories from weddings, etc to mind!

Andrew Stugots:  New Years day 1999 my cousin and best friend in the world passed away after a life long battle with brain cancer. He was found laying in the parking lot of his job.  Phillip lived life as if it was his last day on earth and pushed others to do the same. A year later I met a seer, Jennifer. I never believed in this type of stuff but take it for what you will. Over dinner with others she leaned over to me and said “Phillip said to tell you “Don’t Dream It’s Over“. I sat there with my mouth agape, she continued “Yeah, he is just singing that song over and over again ‘Hey now, hey now, dont dream its over. There is freedom within, there is freedom without….” and then she said, he waved and walked away. The song still gives me goosebumps and will make me get teary eyed.

My own memory is along the line of Andrew’s.  Whenever I hear “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” or “Amazing Grace” I think of my Grandmother playing the piano as childhood versions of me and my younger sister bound up the stairs to her house.

Chris Brogan recently wrote about “Emotions At A Distance” – or, in other words, remembering that the people we connect and deal with from behind computer screens are just that – people.

It’s easy to get caught up in the nuances of your work from inside a practice room or behind a computer monitor. Not so easy when you’re performing your music in front of a crowd, or get recognized by a fan on the street.  Music connects people across age differences, language barriers, and continents.  Always remember that people have a choice to listen to your music, and that the music you create forms a very real part of the soundtrack of their lives.

What memories do you associated with music?

I attended the Boxee Beta launch party at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Monday, and I was blown away by their product. Wired’s Epicenter blog reviewed the launch here.

For those that don’t know what Boxee is, watch their video talking about their Alpha product below:

Boxee Beta

A lot of thought was put into the new Boxee Beta menu, and to many users, the updated menu style respresented almost a complete overhaul from the Alpha version.  That’s all well and good, but what really got me excited was the way Beta removes barriers.

What if I want to watch TV in bed? Great. I can do that.

Movies? Them too.

Hook it up to a TV and control via a remote? I only need my phone (really, they have an app for that).

Look at photos on Flickr while listening to music on Pandora? You betcha.

Why You Should Care

Boxee has an interesting “App” section.

Photo credit: Boxee.tv Blog

If you take a look, you can see major social platforms, websites and media companies all coming out with their own applications.

That’s great! But wait… can’t you do the same?

You’re on MySpace, you’re on YouTube, you’re on Twitter and you’re on Facebook. Why not create an application that aggregates that content in your own Boxee app? Your fans can download your app and have even more access to you though Boxee, which is mobile (seeing as it’s a piece of software that sits on their computer) and allows people to consume the content they want – when they want.

Or, what about going a step further and making sure that your upcoming events are there, the app points to your website, and why not even set up an email address for fans to submit their own content and allow your app to aggregate it? I’m no programmer, but those ideas sound appealing to me as a music fan, and I’m willing to bet there are quite a few people who have already started developing things like this from the tech side.

Mary McKnight posted this tweet (regarding labels) in response to Jeremy Meyers earlier this week, which resonates with me for a number of different reasons:

That’s the subject of another post (or five), but as it relates to Boxee, the point is this: Boxee provides an easy, “what I want, when I want, where I want” way to connect you and your lives/music/brand/story to fans.

If you haven’t checked out Boxee I highly suggest you do, and keep a close eye on them over the next 4-6 months. The potential here for musicians is huge and I’m looking forward to see who jumps on the bandwagon, and how they pimp it out to fit their brand.

Do you use Boxee? Love it? Hate it? Have another idea to share? The comments are yours!

Because I reference my parent company in this post, I’d like to point you to my disclaimer:

This blog expresses my personal opinions and not the opinions of anyone else… unless they’re being interviewed or I’m summarizing something they said – then it does. In any case, this blog is mine and mine alone. I reserve the right to be a “typical female” with regards to opinions and change them frequently and without logical explanation. If you disagree with my opinions you’re welcome to comment, but please do say something slightly intelligent (or positive, we all love a compliment!).

Bonus points if your comment is intelligent AND positive!

My blog may come across as slightly sarcastic at times. That’s because I’m slightly sarcastic at times. Again, this is me, not my employer, my family, my friends or my favorite cactus talking.

Music Industry + Publishing Industry = Same Fundamental Problem

Someone from my company explicitly pointed this out last week, and the sentiment was reinforced by Bill at the Clive Davis SoundCTRL event, as well as post-event discussions with David E. Beats.

The music industry is trying to get their consumers to pay for something that the consumer now believes should be free. Music.

The publishing industry is trying to get their consumers to pay for something that the consumer now believes should be free. Content.

It’s the same problem.

Now, each industry has resorted to increasing focus on their main revenue streams, or capitalizing on the “safest” revenue streams. Things like subscriptions, ad sales, 360 degree record deals, etc.

The real crux of the problem though, is that these are the “old school” ways of making money.

I’m not saying they’re wrong, but I am saying that they can be improved upon.

The disconnect is this: if people fundamentally believe that the product you’re selling should be 100% free, you need to take that into consideration. Their perception isn’t very likely to change with regards to content or music at any point soon, and if anything, MORE of the public are waking up to this “it should be free” idea.

So. You’re a large music or publishing company (in Bill’s case, you’re both – JOY!) and you wake up one day and decide to tackle the problem of “How can I update my business model so that it not only fulfills the needs of my customers, but also makes me money in the short and long-term?”

What do you do?

If I had the answer to that I certainly wouldn’t be writing this blog… I’d be making millions consulting.

In all seriousness, that IS the question. What do these companies do in the midst of not only “the current economic climate”, but also the seismic shifts in their respective industries.

One option is what they’re doing – going back to what works and sticking with that until they figure things out.

Another option is innovation. Otherwise known as “the stuff businesses do when the market changes and they want to keep existing”.

My company is owned by a major publisher. Our clients are publishers and marketers, and I get that it’s difficult for everyone. On top of that, I write this blog and am active in the NYC music/tech “scene”. So, I get that it’s difficult from all sides there too.

Even still, what successful exective have you ever seen throw up their hands and go “We can’t, it’s difficult” when faced with a complex business challenge?

Answer? The one that isn’t around anymore.

The answer for the publishing industry isn’t subscription revenue, and advertisers are re-thinking their spend, so it’s probably not ad revenue either.

The answer for the music industry isn’t signing every single “potentially mediocre or big smash hit” to 360 degree deals.

Both of those are limiting for the consumers, and short-term tactics for the businesses involved.

What is absolutely needed – no, required – is innovation.

So musicians – wake up and smell the publishing industry. Dig around a bit, see what struggles they face. Are they analagous to struggles you face? Can you use any of their tactics to fix your problems; can you experiment a bit?

Publishers – do the same. Go talk to a musician, or a record label exec and see what struggles they’re facing. What creative ways have they come up with to solve their problems?

Bob Lefsetz said something similar in his newsletter today (emphasis mine):

People are always looking for the answer. Usually, the answer comes after the start. You’ve got to begin in order to find out where you’re going. But if you never begin, you never get to the destination.

This is what has been lacking in the music business. It has historically been run by the labels, by the RIAA. Which are about protection of their present business model as opposed to any kind of vision, any kind of leadership. I wouldn’t follow Mitch Bainwol anywhere. Nor the heads of any label. Because they’ve got their heads up their asses. Does Daniel Ek at Spotify have the answers? I’m not sure. But he’s trying to lead in this uncertain world. Even Irving Azoff and Michael Rapino too. They’re in search of answers.

When things are bad, we need to be led out of the wilderness. We’ve got to get behind somebody. Funny, in the music industry, the acts used to be the leaders. Some still are. Trent Reznor is a prime example. He’s trying to do it without sacrificing his integrity, without selling out to the man, because music, when done right, must be pure. Shawn Fanning created a platform where all people could have all music. Was it economically flawed? Of course. But if you think restricting access to copyrighted material is the answer, you’re unaware of how many sites hosting copyrighted material have sprung up since the crackdown on the Pirate Bay. They’re multiplying like crazy.

Get angry, tell me your business model isn’t screwed, promise me that you’re innovating, or tell me i’m 150% right and you’re happy to see this post. Either way, leave it in the comments…

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!)

With Radiohead recently hinting that they would be “unlikely to release another album conventionally” and Mos Def’s newest album released via t-shirt (yes, t-shirt), I can’t help but wonder what else we’ll see from artists in the coming months.

As a former musician and DJ, I’ve consumed all forms of music media through the years.  I still have the very first CD I bought (Cake’s Fashion Nugget, for the record), have an old boom box lurking somewhere in a forgotten closet corner with a stack of tapes to match, and still have a bit of vinyl around from my DJ’ing years.

However, in recent years I’ve found that online streaming media and downloaded music (mixes and “here, have this for free” music of the legal kind, mind you) have served my musical appetite very well, leaving me very few reasons to actually go and purchase music, digitally or otherwise.

According to Trent Reznor, ” music IS free whether you want to believe that or not”.  As a musician, I agree.

Recording music? Not free

Promoting your recordings? Not free

Traveling to play a show? Not free

Here is where the problem lies.  Due to Napster and the birth of the current music-sharing “free for all” (pun not intended), recorded music is considered free, leaving the “not free” costs of recording the tracks to be covered by other means.

Consumers have a voice and they’ve been speaking for a long time by not purchasing what they consider to be over-priced music.  Liner notes, cover art and the physical medium (these days, CD’s) aren’t considered to have as much value as they once carried, and due to the endless alternatives available for acquiring the actual music, CD profits are continuing to decline.

None of this is news.

What is news, is the fact that artists are taking things into their own hands and using a bit of creativity with the packaging of their music.  Mos Def’s t-shirt is a great example, and I’d like to see other artists pick up on the trend.  Thinking from a marketing perspective, I argue that this is more valuable than just selling a basic CD, as the consumers are now walking billboards, promoting his music wherever they go (on top of spending the same price, or more, that they would have paid for the actual CD).

So what about vinyl? “Dead” a few decades ago, it’s experiencing a small resurgence.  Radiohead’s In Rainbows was released as a “pay what you want” digital download, CD set as well as limited-edition vinyl. In Rainbows, the vinyl edition, was the top-selling vinyl album of 2008 and single-handedly helped 2008 vinyl sales almost double.

The main point is this: With consumers unwilling to pay for traditional music formats, artists and labels are forced to find new (or old) ways to package their music.  The industry has been in decline for the better part of a decade, and it seems to be turning a much-needed corner by trying to innovate instead of just complain and punish.

I’m interested in keeping an eye on artists and labels who are embracing this innovation instead of shunning it, and wonder who we’ll see coming out with new methods of distribution next.

Any ideas?

*this photo made available under the Creative Commons license by Carolyn Coles

Musicians, Twitter and Facebook are NOT MySpace!

One thing I’ve noticed as musicians have started migrating away from MySpace, is that the habits of MySpace seem to have migrated to their newly-preferred social networks as well.

Some of these habits include:

• Tweeting exclusively about “my new track” or “my MySpace page” or “my upcoming show”
• Spamming your Facebook fans and friends with event requests
• @ reply spam (on Twitter)
• Adding completely random people on Facebook, a la MySpace style

I’m in favor of musicians having a presence on multiple social networks, but I’m only a fan of this if they take the time to observe and figure out what I like to call GANP – “Generally Accepted Networking Practices”.  Each network has a unique set of these, and they can be likened to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), as an over-arching set of accepted social behaviors.

I’ll be diving in deeper to each social space in further entries, but for this one I’ll leave you musicians with a few tips for each mentioned above.

Twitter

• Don’t auto-DM new followers (this is taboo)
• Don’t @ reply spam your followers asking them if they’ve heard your new track(s)
• Review your stream. Is it 100% about you? If so, QUIT TWEETING and take a look around
• DO deliver value
• DO engage with your fans
• DO mention your upcoming gigs, new tracks, etc… but in moderation

Facebook

• DON’T send event requests to your entire group/friends list/fan base.  If they don’t live in the close geographical area, this may get annoying.
• DON’T add random people who have no apparent connection to you or public interest in your music
• DON’T fill your status updates with the same stuff you’re posting on Twitter (mentioned above)… “me”, “more me”, “oh look, even more me”, and finally “the world revolves around ME”
• DO segment your audience and send messages and invitations as appropriate
• DO update your status with things of value and interest to your audience
• DO toot your own horn a bit, but DON’T go overboard

My personal pet peeves are pretty easy to guess from the above advice.  I’m happy to listen to a new track, but I much prefer being personally approached rather than spammed.  I’m happy to RSVP for your event, but not if it takes place 10 states away. I’m less likely to read your messages if you spam me with event invitations.  I’m even less likely to go to your event when you come around if I’ve been spammed.

Everyone has their own set of limits and preferences for each social network.  I’ve outlined my basic “rules” on my Contact Me page for easy reference.

What are your pet peeves about musicians and “the MySpace effect”?? I’m compiling a list of “Do’s” and “Dont’s” and want your advice.