Documentary & Independent films are booming these days as the big budget blockbusters decline. The film industry is not looking as good as it used to. Their profits are thinning because of the growing piracy online and so more and more lawsuits are forming against these companies. I feel deja vu big time right now. When the music industry started feeling the pains of its consumer’s ability to find music for free online the lawsuits came fast. With the recent forced takedowns against FanSub sites the film industry has their own version of Napster. One of my favorite movies ever (Citizen Kane is my favorite) is Back To The Future. I feel that if I went back in time it would be to this post hoping that a film industry professional would read this and realize that I’m right. The film industry is on it’s decline. The formats are being forced to change. But who will be the Trent Reznor of the film world? Using Mr. Masnick’s phrase, “Who will be the first to make things remarkable by giving the consumer a “reason to buy””? I wish I was a filmmaker right now because the knowledge I have in the music industry feels like a winning lottery ticket in the film industry.

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Tags: film, Music, piracy, word of mouth marketing

As much as I love feeding you useful and great information to advance your career, I thought I’d lighten your load with the following hilarious video. I promise you’ll enjoy it. If not, you can leave me hateful comments below!

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Tags: funny Friday, literal music videos, Total Eclipse of the Heart

We just came across this neat article at Digipendent on “The 10 Things an Artist Needs to Be Successful” and thought we’d share it with you.  And it requires little to no money!

1. Heart – This is the single most important attribute that every “true,” great artist must have.  Without it, great music cannot be felt, imagined or created.  It is the essence and spirit behind one’s own art. It is the powerful force behind the drive, perseverance and originality that brings art to life and creates the charisma that bonds great musical artists with their fans. » Continue Reading

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The last thing we want to be is a bunch of nags.  But seriously guys, eat your vegetables.  And then get on the Internet and start ENGAGING YOUR FANS. We really can’t stress this enough, which is why we’ll let Jason Feinberg of On Target Media Group do it instead in his article on “Five Tips for Musicians to Engage Their Fans Digitally.”

1) Add functionality that will connect to your fans.

In crafting your digital marketing plan, first ask, does this technology add functionality that will connect to your fans? Many artists fall into the trap of using a digital asset simply because it does something interesting or innovative. When they first came online, a slew of artists adopted video remix contests, but soon found that their fans were not willing to put in the time and effort to create a usable finished product. As people learned the hard way in the late ’90s, technology for technology’s sake often results in amazing software with no users. If the product being implemented does not encourage repeat use and add something to a fan’s experience, it is effectively useless. A great technology used once is barely better than nothing at all.

2) Technology is not a “one size fits all” solution.

Nine Inch Nails has a tight community online. Photo by Rob Sheridan

Different technology platforms are geared towards different users. Mobile music marketing rarely makes a dent for older-facing musicians, while many youth-facing pop and hip-hop artists have used phone technology with tremendous results.

Shareable widgets often have massive value, but only if the artist’s fan base is naturally inclined to spread things they find interesting. Nine Inch Nails fans are notorious for being a tight-knit community; technology that engages them will not work for an artist whose fans are simply into their music and not the associated community.

3) Do not underestimate time commitments.

Next, artists must consider how much time they are willing to commit to implementing the chosen technologies. Just as a fan only using something once has little value, there’s little value when artists do not follow through in their marketing efforts.

In fact, depending on the scale and depth to which fans have been involved, abandoning efforts can have a negative impact on the artist’s reputation. For example, if a musician begins using the micro-blogging platform Twitter, builds a large base of followers, gives them a glimpse behind the scenes, then abandons the effort, these fans may not just lose interest but take their disappointment public in the form of message board posts, social network comments, and other inter-fan communication.

This has happened recently in the political arena as a number of President Obama’s Twitter followers publicly voiced their annoyance that his tweets had dried up since taking office. Often this only has a limited effect, but, given the viral nature of social media, this can damage an artist’s brand in the long run. If a long-term digital marketing effort is not sustainable, a more realistic or shorter-term alternative needs to be substituted.

4) Create a plan for implementation and awareness.

Artists must also develop a plan for creating awareness of these digital tools. Without fans’ eyes and ears, the quality of the product and the plan are irrelevant. Musicians must find a balance between using forward-thinking technology and spending time on core fan-building techniques. The enormous benefit of music technology is that it enables artists to continually give their fans a reason to pay attention. However, if a band only has a weak fan base to begin with, their foundation must be strengthened before the value of these digital tools can be realized.

5) Use all available web properties.

An artist must use sites they control (official site, social networks) as well as online social media (music portals, blogs) to maximize the reach of these assets. Without a combined effort on these two avenues, fans miss the communication and the marketing message falls flat.

Fortunately, most of the issues outlined here are fully within an artist’s control. Once an artist has an understanding of his fan base and the means to reach them, he can begin building a digital marketing strategy, one that will engage, inspire, and create long-term interest.

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Last Friday Audiolife held a photo shoot for its merchandise.  The pictures will be available for artists to pick and choose from when creating their stores.  Naturally, we ended up having a lot of fun and goofing off but are very excited with how the pictures turned out and look forward to sharing them with you!  In the meantime, we thought we’d take a moment and share the following video of our CEO, Brandon Hance & VP of Operations, Darin Barton:

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Tags: Audiolife, band merch, brandon hance, Darin Barton, photo shoot

In an age where listening to your fave band or artist is as simple as clicking the “buy now” button on iTunes, it becomes even more imperative that aspiring artists and musicians understand the ins and outs of the digital age—good and bad. Although brick-and-mortar stores that sell cd’s are still the “crème de la crème” in most artists’ eyes, the fact of the matter is that we need to make the psychological shift to embrace the digital age.

Gone are the days when the mark of a musician’s talent was whether or not she was placed on the “top artists” shelf at Tower Records—now it’s all about “digital visibility.” With that, however, come several risks that were not at play before, and several things you can do to make sure that the digital age becomes your best friend, as opposed to your worst enemy.

1. Copyright

Due to the mass exploitation of the Internet, now more than ever it’s important to copyright your songs. People – good and bad – now have access to download your songs, listen to them and share them… or in some cases, distribute them as their own. So it’s incredibly important to make sure you copyright your songs. If there’s one thing you should take away from this article, it is this: copyright your songs. I can’t say that enough!

You can copyright your songs individually for around $35, or as a compilation/album, which is relatively cheaper. Check out this site for exact pricing: http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html.

For more information on copyrights, visit: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

2: Distribute, Distribute, Distribute!

Before, it was all about finding a private distributor or a label to back you…now the ball is in your court–which means you have to be pro-active about finding distribution channels whereby potential fans (if you are a relatively new band) or tried-and-true fans can find you.

The fastest and cheapest way to do this: join as many social networks as you can and build your profile on each network. Here’s a good list to get you started:

• MySpace
• Facebook
• Bebo
• Hi5
• Twitter
• ReverbNation
• OurStage
• Friendster
• Buzznet

3. Manage Your Online Reputation

The best way to grow and keep your fan base is by understanding “fan behavior.” The best way to lose any momentum in the marketplace is to pretend you exist in a vacuum, continue making music that fans aren’t responding too, and ignore every request that comes your way.

To see what fans are saying about you, and to “manage your reputation,” sign up for Google or Yahoo Alerts. These are great tools to keep you posted every time a fan writes about you on their blog, or when you’ve been mentioned anywhere in the Internet world.

Another way to build and manage your reputation is by regularly contributing to related message boards. These serve as great opportunities for you to get involved in your community; message boards will help you stay on top of your fan base.

Step 4: Keep It Fresh

Traditionally, top artists are known for long interludes between albums. For Madonna and Britney Spears this works because it allows them to have 5 “comeback” albums before people catch on and a red-flag goes up. But for you, the indie artist, this is not the case (at least not yet).

So…the point is: you must continually keep fans engaged by creating fresh content. Whether it’s a new single piggy-backing on a holiday season or political scandal, a video of you playing at the Roxy, or just comments that you post on your blog, forum, or website…the only way to keep top of mind is to continually inundate fans and the market with fresh content. If it’s good, they’ll keep coming back for more!

5. Learn To Discern

One of the advantages of the digi-age is that there is a tool, software option, and gadget for almost anything and everything. While this can provide the means to be efficient with administrative and certain operational aspects of running your very own “music business,” the relationship with the fan reigns supreme.

In other words, you can automate some things, but relationship building and “fan-service” is only accomplished when the person on the other end is just that—a person. Don’t get too big for your britches: your fans are what got you to where you are….and they will either keep you there or watch you fall from grace.

Learn to discern when it’s ok to automate and when you need to inject your activities with a little TLC. And remember….Audiolife is always here to answer any questions you may have!

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