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"Safe" Art Doesn't Count

One of the cool things about Canada is FACTOR, the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings.

From the FACTOR website...

"Support is provided to Canadian recording artists, songwriters, managers, labels and distributors through various programs which all aid in the development of the industry. Whether an artist is looking to record a demo, full length sound recording, market and promote an already existing album or showcase and tour domestically and internationally, funding is available. FACTOR supports many facets of the infrastructure which must be in place in order for artists and Canadian labels to progress into the international arena."

Last August, a band called Living with Lions got $13,248 from FACTOR and produced an album called "Holy Shit."

And that's when the shit hit the fan...

Heritage Minister James Moore is pissed. "It's one thing for art to be edgy," he said. "It's another thing for art to be deliberately attacking a group of Canadians based on their faith."

So the band is pulling the album and giving back the money...

"We regret the negative attention that this matter has brought to FACTOR," was what they said about the decision.

The album will be released later as a non-FACTOR project.

My Thoughts:

I like that Canada has something like FACTOR. Not only is it good for upcoming artists, it's also good for the country. Being so close to the United States, which is the #1 producer of "entertainment" in the world, it would be easy to be run over, and things like FACTOR grants and "Canadian Content" laws have helped to make sure that hasn't happened...at least not as much.

I think it was a classy act for the band to give back the money.

What I find frustrating is that this is even an issue. Even the United States, which has been marketed as the beacon of "freedom" and expression, has seen similar issues involving the National Endowment for the Arts.

What Makes "Good" Art?

I don't know, but I do know what makes for boring art that doesn't matter...

Art that everybody likes doesn't exist and art that everybody ignores doesn't count.

Art that doesn't offend at least somebody doesn't count.

Art that plays it safe doesn't count.

What Counts As "Canadian" Content?

There is a "technical" of getting art on tape as well as the "creative" side. Shouldn't "Canadian Content" have both? If so...

"Canada's Next Top Model" is a ripoff of the United States and it doesn't count.

"Canadian Idol" is a ripoff of the United States and it doesn't count.

"Dragon's Den" is a ripoff of England and it doesn't count.

The Bottom Line

If you want "Canadian Content" to exist, you have to embrace all of it, even if you don't like it.

The 100-Year-Old Music Marketing Trick

Sophie Tucker (1886–1966) was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risque songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first two-thirds of the 20th century. She was widely known by the nickname "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas." Her song, My Yiddische Mama, was banned by Hitler...which made it even more popular.

Tucker's early career consisted of playing piano and singing burlesque and vaudeville tunes, at first in blackface. She later said that this was at the insistence of theatre managers, who said she was "too fat and ugly" to be accepted by an audience in any other context. She sang songs that acknowledged her size, such as "Nobody Loves a Fat Girl, But Oh How a Fat Girl Can Love".

She made a name for herself in a style that was known at the time as a "Coon Shouter", performing African American influenced songs, but not content with performing in the simple minstrel traditions, she hired some of the best African American singers of the time to give her lessons, as well as African American composers to write songs for her act.

That's what people think of when they think of Sophie Tucker... But what most people don't know is what a great marketer she was.

As Sophie toured the United States she would take down the names and addresses of the people in her audience. Before she would come to town again, she would send people a personal postcard, letting them know when and where she would be performing.

Here is a postcard from her later years, promoting a show in Las Vegas...

She was a big fan of hand-written letters and postcards, sending them to keep in touch with not only fans, but business associates as well...

It's a good "trick" to let people know what you're up to and it still works today. In fact, it works better than ever today, since much of our "postcard" communication has been replaced by emails, text messages, and phone calls and it's easier for your message to stand out.

Email is easy to delete...and that assumes it gets opened in the first place. Text messages all look the same. And who is going to call every single fan to come to a show?

Postcards allow you to get your message out, quickly, easily, and cheaply. A postcard is something that can sit on a table for days (or even weeks), reminding somebody to come to your show. And it's not as easy to throw away as hitting the delete button on an email...

Does it cost more money than an email? Yes. But it's not how much something costs that matters...it's how much it makes you. And postcards make musicians money!

So do it!

What Do Your Fans Want? (Part 3) - What They REALLY Want

People lie. They say they'll come to your show, but they don't. They say they've purchased your album, but they haven't. They say they're vegetarians when they actually eat fish.

It's not that people are all liars though... Sometimes, like the vegetarian thing, it's perception. Just ask anybody who has been on an online dating site... What people THINK is an honest description of themselves can sometimes be far from "honest."

What does an "average" body type mean?

And what qualifies as "married" anyway?

You get the point...

This stuff can fool even the best marketers. Until you've rolled out your product or service and have people actually handing over their cash for it, you can't be sure. Just ask Coca-Cola.

Fortunately, technology has allowed us to "spy" on people to get information about what they actually spend their money on and where they spend it, not just what they say (or think) they do.

Sites I recommend and why...

1. Foursquare - This is the best way to find out where your fans hang out and can make your job of reaching them a lot easier. If you notice they're all going to certain places, perhaps you need to think about being in those places too...

2. Blippy - Where are your fans spending money? What are they buying? How much did something cost? Blippy knows... Click here for an example of where I'm spending my money.

There are other variations of each of these sites, but these are the big ones for their categories and probably the best place for you to start.

What Do Your Fans Want? (Part 2) - The Value of Testing

When Coca-Cola introduces a new product, they don't just unleash it on the world. They start small, testing things in focus groups, and eventually a few select markets, to make sure people actually want what they've got.

Sometimes there are problems...

For example, "New Coke" was very popular in blind taste tests, but rejected when marketed under the Coca-Cola name. And "The Pepsi Challenge" in the early 1980s, had to change its method of collecting data, when more people picked Coke.

When dealing something as music, tests aren't perfect. People like music for a number of reasons, one of which is that their friends like the same music. Still, don't let that stop you from "testing" different versions of the same song, different set lists, different stage banter, and different merchandise to get an idea of what works best. Some idea is better than no clue...

In the direct marketing business, it's not uncommon to run two different marketing campaigns for the same product, at the same time. For example, if the method of reaching people were postcards, 50% of the postcards mailed would be "Option A" and the other 50% would be "Option B."

Sometimes the results, when you're testing on a small level, can be subtle... Little things can mean a big difference when you "go big" though.

If you mail 10,000 postcards, 5000 of each option, and get 37 orders from "Option A" and 43 orders from "Option B", that might not seem like a big difference, but with a mailing of 100,000 postcards, assuming you get the same percentage of orders, you'll get an additional 60 orders from mailing "Option B." And mailing 1,000,000 postcards, which isn't uncommon, can mean a difference of 600 orders.

Same work and same cost of doing business, but much different results...

You never know if you can do better than you are now if you don't test, so this is something I encourage you to look at. And once you do find something that works better, I encourage you to test something else against that, to see if you can improve things yet again.

The above method of testing is the foundation of why the process is so powerful, but something I feel most musicians will relate to is the testing that you see a comic do when he's telling jokes. 

Let's face it...some things seem funny at times, but they're not funny at other times. And what you think is funny might not be funny to somebody else.

Do how does a comic find out if most people in the audience think something is funny?

1. He tells the joke every time he's on stage.

2. He asks, "Does it get consistent laughs?"

• If yes, he keep telling it.
• If no, he tweaks it until it does get consistent laughs...or he drops it, if it can't be improved.

It's a little less scientific, but can absolutely make a huge difference in the success you're having.

Every comic goes through this process. By the time you see a guy on HBO, he's tested everything, because a big gig like an HBO special isn't the time to find out if something doesn't work. You want to do that in the small clubs, with a limited audience, so not everybody will see you fail.

Same for musicians. Get out there, try new things, fail fast, and fail often, but keep it small. Keep the stuff that works, tweaking it to be as good as it came be, while slowly expanding it to larger and larger audiences. During smaller gigs, keep trying new stuff and really tweak the things that don't work, eventually dropping it, if you can't turn it around.

Need something to test? Try these...

• stage banter/stories
• electric vs. acoustic
• melodies
• song titles
• lyrics
• hooks
• instrumentation
• long intro vs. short intro
• solo vs. no solo
• harmonies
• extra verses
• tempos
• time signatures
• styles

Have fun!

What Do Your Fans Want? (Part 1) - Product Research

If you had access to "X-Ray Glasses" that would allow you to see exactly what your fans wanted, do you think it would help you to sell more music and get more people to shows?

If so, keep reading, because I have a tool that does just this... In fact, there is a good chance you've already used it at some point.

Almost every group we belong to has its own "language." If you go to church, you may hear about a "crisis of faith." If you go to a yoga studio, you're probably familiar with the term "Adho Mukha Svanasana." If you play Scrabble, you know what "Triple-Word Score" means.

So let's say you've got some music that's very relaxing and you think it would be good for a yoga studio? Obviously, if you're part of this group, actively going to yoga classes, that's the best way to know what others in this market are looking for. What if you have no personal interest in yoga though?

Perhaps the quickest and best way to get connected with buyers in any market is to hit a site with product reviews, such as Amazon. Read the reviews, find out how people talk, what they're looking for, what they like about certain products, and what they can do without...

When you develop your product, talk in their language, give them what they want, and avoid what they don't. This will put you way ahead of something creating something at random, throwing it against a wall, and hoping it sticks.