Innovative Marketing

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What's most fascinating about the late night wars is how few people are actually watching. Once upon a time, there were three networks, an appearance on Johnny Carson could break your career wide open. Today, five percent of America watches NBC during prime time. Back in the '52-53 season, it was thirty percent. Something's changed. But the reporting hasn't.

Yes, I got these statistics from the "New York Times". But mostly the article on NBC/Conan/Leno was a rehash. It was as if you'd never paid attention to the story previously, as if you'd never read TMZ, had no Web connection. Trying to get the story right ended up making it so bland that only the most dedicated would ever read the article. But in the past, we read, because that's all we had. The Sunday "Times" plunked down on our doorstep, there was no Web.

But what made me fire up my computer was Stephen Elliott's essay "The D.I.Y. Book Tour" on the inside back page of the "Book Review".

Ever wander into a bookstore during a reading? The room can be packed with bodies, but oftentimes there's no one there but the author and the proprietor. But this is how you sell books. By going to where the people buy them.

"The Adderall Diaries" is Mr. Elliott's seventh book. It got good reviews. But the concept of going out on the usual suspect book tour depressed him, he "didn’t want to travel thousands of miles to read to 10 people, sell four books, then spend the night in a cheap hotel room before flying home. And my publisher didn’t have the money for that many hotel rooms anyway."

Sound like the music business? You can't even get a deal with a major label, and if you do, they take a plethora of rights and are reluctant to spend cash. And if they do open their wallet, it's to put you on TV, to meet radio programmers, who are inundated with talent and rarely care about you. They're worried about their own jobs, not yours. There's an unending supply of wannabe acts. If you don't make it, so be it.

Mr. Elliott decided to try something different:

"Before my book came out, I had set up a lending library allowing anyone to receive a free review copy on the condition they forward it within a week to the next reader, at their own expense. (Now that a majority of reviews are appearing on blogs and in Facebook notes, everyone is a reviewer.) I asked if people wanted to hold an event in their homes. They had to promise 20 attendees. I would sleep on their couch. My publisher would pay for some of the airfare, and I would fund the rest by selling the books myself."

Few people want a free book. What I'm saying is, only those people who truly wanted the free book would ask for it. Try this experiment... Stand on a street corner and try to give away your unknown CD. It's a difficult proposition, almost no one will take it. And those that do are probably afraid to deny you and will never listen to it anyway.

The readings that resulted were far different from in-store experiences. Some attendees were completely out of the loop when it came to famous authors. But the attendees couldn't get enough.

"The readings mostly went very long, over an hour with questions, and people didn’t leave. We were often up discussing until 1 in the morning."

The audience was rapt with attention, involved.

"All together, I sold about 1,100 books (not counting copies of my older books, which I was also selling) at 73 events. Seven hundred of those were books I purchased wholesale, a few hundred more were sold by local booksellers invited to the readings."

That's a lot of books. And you can bet those who read Mr. Elliott's book will continue to follow his career. After all, he came to their friend's house, they met him! It would be like seeing a new band in your buddy's living room.

But new bands would rather get radio airplay, or appear on TV. Both of which are difficult to achieve, are highly impersonal and rarely pay lasting dividends. But those are the established ways of breaking. But it's even worse, just like network TV, fewer people are paying attention.

You might feel good getting your album reviewed in the paper, even the "New York Times". But does your audience really learn about music from a traditional media outlet, where you can't even hear it?

Lost in the outcry about the death of traditional media is the fact that the audience has scattered, fewer people are paying attention, it's harder than ever to truly reach your potential audience, get them to check you out and close them. And it's actually converting people that counts. Radio statistics mean nothing in the abstract, nor do media clippings. It comes down to whether you have fans. But how do you get those fans to begin with?

Large music institutions are no different from NBC or the "New York Times". They keep tightening their belts and complaining that things are not the way they used to be. They're never going back to the way they used to be. We're never going to be limited to three networks again. If you want to succeed in the future you've got to throw the old rule book out, you've got to go directly to the people.

But this isn't sexy. You want to tell your mother your record was spun on KDRECK in Albuquerque, you don't want to tell her you played for thirty people in a living room. But the latter will probably pay more dividends.

But it's not as simple as finding a small place to play. You've got to tailor your act to your audience. Beat-driven extravaganzas don't work in living rooms. Nor does heavy metal cacophony. Acoustic music, with stories, featuring songs that work without production connect one on one.

Sure, people love to dance. They even love to head bang. But the audience for dance music loves the record more than the act, which sucks if you're the act. As for metal music... You just need a bigger place to play. Or one that befits your music. A large garage, with a keg of beer.

But whatever you do, your music must be inviting to the audience. Don't tell people that you've got it right, that they're wrong and they need to acknowledge your greatness. You've got to be so good, so in the pocket that people will call their friends to stop by, as opposed to making excuses and leaving themselves.

You've got to think for yourself. You've got to know most people over thirty five telling you how to make it have no idea what's really going on. You've got to know that you've got to start extremely small, and that growth to ubiquity might never occur. But if you're good, if people like you, your audience will expand, you'll make more money, you'll be satisfied, you will have built it yourself, reliant on no fat cat, fearful of no one pulling the plug.

"The D.I.Y. Book Tour": http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/books/review/Elliott-t.html

"NBC's Slide to Troubled Nightly Punch Line": http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/business/media/17nbc.html

"More Than A Rough Patch": http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/01/17/business/17nbc_g.html

Too Much Joy !!!

Image via CrunchBase

I was forwarded this link earlier today, and I believe you may find it interesting how Warners handles digital royalties on bands no longer on their roster.

http://www.toomuchjoy.com/?p=1397

_____________________________________

I didn't read this e-mail until 8 PM.

And I immediately tweeted about it.

There are two kinds of people. Those who use Twitter and those who don't.

Please don't fall into the second category.

This ain't no MySpace, this ain't no Facebook, this is information, plain and simple.

Forget the hype, that it's those without lives listening to the minutiae of others. Sure, there are those who update their whereabouts on a regular basis. And those who think Twitter is purely for hype. Hell, I've now learned that Ian Rogers is not a discerning listener. Makes me wonder about Topspin. He's constantly tweeting that the music of every act the company works with is good. That's utter hogwash. Especially when the tunes are outside his normal flavor field.

Yes, you can learn a lot reading between the lines.

But you can also gain a ton of information.

First and foremost, you must make Twitter comprehensible.

Use Tweetdeck: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/

When it asks to install Adobe Air, just say yes. Adobe Air powers all the hip new software, like the New York Times Reader: https://timesreader.nytimes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/TimesReader?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001 (It's free if you're a print subscriber.) The Reader is much faster than your browser. And more comprehensible.

And that's what Tweetdeck is all about, comprehension. It makes Twitter understandable, listing the tweets of those you follow, those that reference to you... There are a lot of "hidden" tricks in the app. Like click on someone's name, and a column appears delineating all their details. Play around.

But only if you've got a lot of RAM and a fairly new computer.

As for competing products... Start with Tweetdeck. Power users have favorites, but I don't want to overwhelm you.

So, I got this e-mail about the Too Much Joy royalty statement and upon reading it immediately tweeted about it.

And then my Tweetdeck notifications went berserk. People were retweeting my tweet.

In other words, the word was spreading.

How fast and how far?

To the point wherein minutes, the Webpage referenced was inaccessible, a data error showed up if you got anything at all.

Sure, this illustrates that if you've got information to purvey, be sure to have enough horsepower to get it out there.

But more importantly, that interesting information spreads like wildfire. Instantly. And far.

How far?

I've only got a fraction of my regular e-mail list following me on Twitter. I don't want to overload your inbox, especially with just raw information. So I tweeted as opposed to e-mailed.

It wasn't until the middle of the next day that I got a single e-mail about this Too Much Joy post. In other words, those relying on nineties technology, which e-mail is, were a step behind.

Notice, "Hits" didn't write about it. It seems that they've buried the hatchet with Lyor/Warner and don't want to piss anybody off.

The aforementioned "New York Times" doesn't think this is a big enough story and has no infrastructure anyway. They've got Ben Sisario writing about the music business and..? Meanwhile, if something is written on one of their blogs...NO ONE READS THEIR BLOGS!

But if you're a musician, if you're a dedicated follower of music, this Too Much Joy post was pure gold. Proof that the major labels' business paradigm is theft. Plain and simple.

Tim Quirk just wants what is owed to him. A statement.

Warner can't even deliver that. And when the company does, it's inaccurate.

Furthermore, Tim reveals the fallacy of recoupment. It's not dollar for dollar, but based on your royalty rate. So, you might still be underwater, but your company can be rolling in dough!

Believe me, you can automate these processes. You can deliver accurate royalty statements on time. But the major labels don't want to. Apple has a history of everything I've purchased. But somehow the label can't find this info. It's just data. Computing power and the Internet can put this at your fingertips.

What happens first? Do the labels enter the twenty first century or do musicians avoid them?

We already have our answer. It's the latter. Major labels sign few artists, and screw them in the process. If they can't account to you on digital sales, raw data, do you really trust them with other revenue streams in your 360 deal?

The labels are old school. And everybody knows it.

Except maybe the mainstream press. Which is just as ancient in its thinking as the labels.

I was frustrated, I thought this story had no legs. But then I read this "Billboard" article: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3ib78b45167c2724124247727de2177597 (and why can't "Billboard" render properly in Safari, since Macs are the platform of choice for musicians) interviewing Mr. Quirk.

The story was picked up by the "Village Voice" blog, "Daily Swarm", "Hypebot", me and the "Onion AV" blog. And if you don't know the power of the "Onion AV", you probably run a major label.

The word got out. Not via the mainstream. Those who needed to know saw it. So, unlike straight news stories that have no traction because someone shortly thereafter gets kidnapped or killed, the target audience read and digested Tim Quirk's story.

How you gonna convince people not to steal when you're stealing yourself?

The record industry never pondered that question.

You could have been there first. You could have seen the story on Twitter. As opposed to being the last to know.

What do you not know?

That's what's killing the major labels, what they don't know.

And we live in an information society. And your so-called enemy, the public, now has access to all kinds of data. Great info finds its audience. Great music finds its audience also. Ever think that the reason few new acts break is because the music's not good enough?

I know, that's heresy. Stone me.

But if you hear something good you tell everybody you know.

Via social media. Via Twitter.

Magnificent

Image by Clancy3434 via Flickr

That was FANTASTIC!

Metallica lacked the bottom, that visceral pounding on your chest that you get at a live gig. They proved conventional wisdom, that rock and roll doesn't work on TV.

I stumbled into last night's 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert during Paul Simon. When Crosby & Nash joined him to sing "Here Comes The Sun" I felt warm all over. I remembered playing the track two months after "Abbey Road" was released, when it finally stopped snowing after two days and the glowing orb emerged. George Harrison seems to have been forgotten, this was a fitting tribute. And it reminded us of a time when rock and roll drove the world, when nothing more important was happening than the Beatles.

Everybody took up a guitar. Everybody listened to the radio. We needed to get closer. This was no Facebook, this was something fully alive, that got inside and made you feel powerful, allowed you to transcend your problems, you just wanted to get closer.

And when Art Garfunkel came out and joined his old partner I marveled that "Sounds Of Silence" was a hit fully forty four years ago, at this exact time of year. To listen to the two men sing was to feel young and old at the same time.

Then the rockers hit the stage. Ray Davies was out of voice, the Lou Reed number didn't quite come together and Ozzy was hilarious but he looked younger than anybody on stage, having had way too much work. They all tried. But this was what it appeared to be, a special event, pairing buddies both old and new and leaving us...sadly somnambulant. We were watching TV, we weren't feeling TV!

Then came U2. "Vertigo" was botched so badly at first I wasn't even sure what song it was.

But one thing was clear. In this context, where you could see him, it was indisputable that Bono was a phenomenal front man. The moves, the words, they were beyond charisma. Charisma is what an actor has, something surface, something vapid. Whereas we want to get inside our rock stars, we want to see what makes them tick.

And when the number ended, Bono started to rap. About going to Yonkers, to Queens. But then he and his band took us higher than that, lifted us up over Madison Square Garden to the point we were hovering over the entire isle of Manhattan.

This was the treated guitar intro introduced on "Achtung Baby". The dark sound that dared us to come inside, to join the experience. And then the twiddling lead, like a blinking star in the sky inviting our attention. Then the rat-a-tat-tat of Larry Mullen, Jr.'s drums. Eventually I saw Vinnie Colaiuta pound the skins behind Jeff Beck, but I enjoyed Mr. Mullen more. Because just like Ringo, he perfectly complemented his band's sound. This was an attack, Larry was pounding bullets, imploring us, driving us forward.

And then Bono starts to sing like he means it. They're his words, not the rhymes of some hack in a back room. He was feeling it, and as a result we felt it too.

Everything I thought I knew was wrong. Not only soft music could work on TV, U2 was killing it! Unlike what had come before, this was not nostalgia, but alive and kicking. This was rock and roll!

Bono wasn't playing to the back row of a stadium, seeming miles away.

He wasn't playing for the YouTube audience.

He was playing just for us.

But it was better than that. He wasn't trying to convince the audience, he was showing the audience. That's what the Who specialized in, a veritable assault. You didn't nod your head and smile, singing along, your hair was blown back, you couldn't believe what you were seeing.

This number was brand new. But it fit perfectly in U2's canon, with "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Until The End Of The World".

Mick Jagger took the stage and one could see the lineage, of someone who took over and demanded your attention, Bono was in a long line...well, maybe a short line of commanding performers. And Fergie was better than could be imagined, but "Gimmie Shelter" never gelled, because unlike "Magnificent", it was never haunting, it lacked the ethereal quality of the original.

And Bono's duet with Mick fell flat too, the song just wasn't good enough.

But "Magnificent" was. I couldn't speak. My eyes were glued to the tube. I remembered what made me a believer.

From there it was downhill.

Until Sam Moore took the stage behind Bruce Springsteen's amalgamation and took a bizarre victory lap that rang so true, as he poured out "Hold On I'm Comin'" and "Soul Man".

But it's "Magnificent" that stuck with me. Because it encapsulated exactly Bono's description of rock and roll. Liberation!

A GOOD MUSIC EDUCATION IS PRICELESS

Cover via Amazon

To be successful, a music publisher must be thoroughly educated about the complexities of the music business. Here are three books I recomend:

All You Need To Know About the Music Business, 6th ed., by Donald S. Passman (Free Press, 2003). This is a must-read for music publishers, especially those who are also performing musicians or aspiring recording artists.

Music, Money and Success, 5th ed., by Jeffrey Brabec and Todd Brabec (Schirmer Trade Books, 2006). Reviewed in November 2007 issue of EM, this is the most comprehensive reference book for music publishers and other industry professionals I've read to date. The last chapter contains five sample contracts.

This Business of Music, 9th ed., by William Krasilovsky and Sydney Shemel (Billboard Books, 2003). Considered by some to be "old school" and short on dollars-and-sense advice, this book never-theless includes excellent chapters on copyright law.

We have 3 more segments to complete this music publishing series. Following that we will begin a series on Copyrights and Wrongs and for those of you interested in our real estate series, we will do that simultaneously.

If you have friends that are on your MySpace, FB or Twitter pages and feel that they would benefit from this series, please feel free to email them with a link to share this valuable information with them at http://composer62.blogspot.com

More tomorrow....

Are You Nine Tenths Under Water by Pat Melfi

Image via Wikipedia

Interestingly enough today comes with a topic we call "action." When Donald Trump was asked what the first part of oratory was, he answered : "Action"; and what the second was, he answered "Action" and the third, he still answered, "Action".

More men and women have been cheated of their destiny by inaction than by any other cause. And even men and women of mediocre talents have achieved success beyond their dreams by the simple process of harnessing great energies to modest abilities.

For action itself is a form of ability, and the greatest talents are useless without the decision and the drive to launch them and put them over among those we are anxious to reach and impress. You will hear the word "action" frequently repeated in my vocabulary, since action is one of the most important phrases of a successful life and an imperative command for men and women who want to convert their abilities into cash. The time for ACTION is NOW !!! Take a look around us...action wins wars, sells goods, pays divedends, solves labor troubles, stabalizes industry and government, and commands the grudging respect of men and women everywhere who are incapacitated and defeated by the inability to act.

By a show of hands and be honest...how often, in envy of another man or women's success, have you said to yourself, "He or She's got nothing I haven't got"; or even "He or she hasn't got even as much as I do"? Yet, far from being immodest, your conclusions may be demonstrably true; but only demonstration can prove it; and that's something the other man or woman has that you haven't got! They demonstrate while others only dream. The truth is, action must be an integral part of your equipment, or your other qualifications, however exceptional, will receive scant consideration in the market place. If you possess the gift of action, you need not fret too much about your limited endowments.

Man is not the largest physical creature in the world, yet he has dominion over the earth, and all things in it. God gave this dominion to man through Mind and the conscious ability to form ideas. Man, through his imagination and applied acquired knowledge, discovers and explores the physical laws, and harnesses these laws and puts them in service for his comfort and convenience. Everything that men and women create has its origin in Mind.

What is Ability? Ability is the capacity to act, the quality or state of being able. It is the power to perform, whether physical, moral, intellectual or legal. The ability of the average man or woman may be compared to an ice-berg: about nine-tenths of it is under water. Professor William James, the eminent and renowned psychologist, estimated that the average man and woman uses only 10 percent of their real ability, while the other 90 percent is latent. Latent ability is potential power, and can be released by the proper encouragement and the proper treatment. The might and power of ability feeds on its own achievement, and when inspired it permeates the whole consciousness with a synchronized responsiveness and any art, craft, or business is performed efficiently, and enjoyed freely. A superior service is rendered and a larger income is earned.

Let's talk about a way to develop ability! It cannot be developed all at once. It is like building a house. One brick must be laid at a time. Most people want to begin with the house instead of the bricks. Things are not built as a whole, but in parts, and each part must be built. The same principle applies to ability. You must build a little each day.

Here is a challenge I would like to make to you. Develop 3 sentences each day on the improvement of yourself, a profession, craft or business. At the end of 1 year you will have a total of 1100 sentences, and at the end of 4 years enough material to write a book. This can be accomplished in 15 minutes each day...a little built each day is amazing in its results. We are taught in our families, in our civic organizations, in our schools, in our churches to be satisfied with what we have, to want more is wrong. I challenge you to never be satisfied, instead always be grateful for everything around you. I cannot recall anywhere in my research hearing God say you cannot have everything and more of what you desire...as long as you check with me. Did you get that? Check with me...If it is the will of God, and it is, and you have the desire, it will manifest before your very eyes if you apply the knowledge you gain. Oh that word again..."application"....hmmmm!!!

Let's consider that word "application" for a minute. The application of what you know reveals how many things you do not know. Stop here and re-read this...the application of what you know reveals how many things you DO NOT know. But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of men and women, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. Application puts this principle of the the Bible into operation. Application of ability is like steam to a locomotive. It draws into action all the mechanisms and channels it into power.

Another way to develop your ability is to lay down a challenge. In analyzing those individuals who have made a phenomenal success, we find that it was not the result of an elaborate education, or a specialized training. Instead we see most of them had little formal education and none of them were trained for leadership. What then is this big secret behind their success? These individuals had one quality in common--the daring ability to start something. They challenged their own ability. They dared to think for themselves. They determined to do something and rely on their own. Did you get that...rely on their own...it is NOT someone elses reponsibility to apply for your life, it is yours.

Today we have the phenomenal band we call The Eagles. On their last album they laid down some tracks to a very powerful and subliminal message in one of their love songs...........Do Something. With confidence engendered by action, they drew on their own ability to do things others thought impossible, using a love song. They did not know that they could not do it, so they went ahead and did it. A simple love song is entwined with, in my opinion, one of the most powerful phrases one can ever take into their mind....DO SOMETHING! I want to share some of these quality lyrics for your consideration; Everything I believe in has been turned upside down...and now it seems the whole wide world's gone crazy...and when I feel like giving up...and I'm ready to walk away...In the stillness I can hear a voice inside me say DO SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING...it's not too late for saving grace...don't just stand there taking up space....DO SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING...It's not over, no, its never too late to DO SOMETHING.

If you are here today, you know what I am talking about, you have had this stillness being referred to in this song, you have heard the words in your own heads, you have heard the message to DO SOMETHING. Many of my experiences in my life are surrounded by music. My associates one day challenged me to share my attitude with others that need this information. I have always chosen not to do that but then one day, from the most unsuspecting place came a re-acquaintance with an old freind. That freind, Geoff Watson. Many of you here know Geoff. Geoff and I go back 9-10 years now and while our paths were distintively diffent in travel, they had an interesting common denominator. They had ability, they had conviction, they had confidence, they had turmoil, they had failure, they are fascinating, (notice I said fascinating although one may intepret them as depressing...LOL),they had common losses in real estate, in music, in business and even poossibly put threats on our marriages. They had women that truly believed in us even under this level of stress. They saw our characters and held us up, gave us the strength to re-group and apply. Interestingly enough, for the both of us, it included a complete exit from our comfort zones, our careers, our knowingness of what we believed could support our families, raise our children, even give us financial freedom and position us to help our fellow man to do the same. It involved taking a risk at a very "broke" time...Scary huh ??? Geoff and I are truly grateful for what these women had the ability to do and moreso their ability to "take action" when we needed it.

Speaking of getting out of our comfort zone, he the master of the restoration of the renowned Corvette and I the master of Artist promotion and management, the personal development of the creative skill of others...it took something way outside of our comfort zone to achieve financial success and happiness. More than anything, it took courage, the support of others, and more than anything, it took "ACTION". On that note I want to leave you with this thought. The fact that you are here today tells me you may need to hear these last words.

Pasteur, who gave more knowledge for the preservation of health than any other man, was not a physician. Whitney, the man who invented the cotton gin, was a school teacher in Connecticut, far away from the fields of cotton. John D. Rockefeller was a clerk in a produce house. Andrew Carnegie was a bobbin boy. Thomas Edison was a newsboy. Henry Ford was an electrical mechanic. Benjamin Franklin was a printer's apprentice. Morse of telegraphic fame was a portrait painter. Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was a teacher of sound. Eastman, the Kodak king, was a bank clerk. Men and women who blaze new trails, character new routes, pioneer new methods, make new discoveries and invent new things are men and women who dare to do things that can't be done. While others faulter, these men and women go forward. I challenge you to seek and search and things will be revealed, even the innermost things of perfection. Men and women to do not need pull. They need to think. A challenge to dare, an incentive to undertake, and the urge to begin turns most things into a blessing. Those who dare to think stand out in the majesty of their own might.

If you are truly seeking change in your life, take a very close look at what we do. It WILL change your life. In my 35 years of promoting some of the world's biggest bands, I have always acted as my first customer. My conviction has been if it is good enough for me to buy, it is good enough for to sell or promote it. On the other hand, if it is not good enough for me to buy, it is not good enough for me to sell or promote it. Conviction based upon the principle of good is invincible and never fails to convince. It acts with determination and confidence. Convince yourself, and you will convince others and ALWAYS remember God is NOT partial to a fortunate few. His unlimited gifts and riches are free to all. However, there are certain laws that govern them starting with "Action." Take you action now, get with the person who brought you to this space and layout your plan of action.