Music Marketing [dot] com

The "Downside" of Spotify

Yesterday, I talked about how Spotify can help your music career. Today, the topic is the "darkside" of Spotify...and the music business in general.

As previously mentioned, there are Spotify has three options to choose from. There is a free service, with limited access and commercials, a "computer" based service with unlimited access for $4.99/month, and a "mobile" service, also with unlimited access, but with higher quality streaming for both computers and mobile devices for $9.99.

To me, it's a great deal. Spotify doesn't have everything, so there are plenty of songs you won't be able to listen to through the service, but they've got 13,000,000 titles available, which should be more than enough for the average consumer.

So it's blown me away how many people are out begging for an "invite" to the free service, when you start using an "unlimited" and ad-free version immediately for only $4.99/month. Is having instant access to 13,000,000 songs not worth $4.99/month?

The answer is that it's not worth it...to some people. After all, not everybody is a music fan and not every music fan thinks that music is worth spending money on.

That's the reality. And it's the reality that some people are going to copy your music, sneak into your shows, and steal the t-shirts you're trying to sell.

Not everybody is going to see value in the work that you do. That can be frustrating.

Instead of spending time and energy on the people who don't care about what you're doing, focus on the people who do. Cultivate the "superfans" who will not only come to an occasional show, but come to every show...and walk out with CDs, t-shirts, and whatever else you're selling.

And take a look at the people who aren't yet into you enough to spend any money, but still provide some type of value. For example, the people who are copying your music to share it with friends.

Should you encourage people to copy your music? Maybe. For most bands, an issue far greater than piracy is that nobody wants what they've got for free. If you've got somebody who is so enthusiastic about what you're doing that he's making copies and telling all his friends about it, that may put you in a better position to make money than if he wasn't doing that.

Think about the big picture. Spotify is here; you can either use it to your advantage or not.

Spotify - How it Will Help Your Music Career

Spoify, a music service with instant access to over 13,000,000 songs, launched in the United States last month to huge buzz. Users have three options to access it. There is a free service, with limited access and commercials, a "computer" based service with unlimited access for $4.99/month, and a "mobile" service, also with unlimited access, but with higher quality streaming for both computers and mobile devices for $9.99.

It's a great service. More or less, you type the artist you want to listen to, click on the song you want, and it starts playing.

And I think it's good for the music business. At the height of the business, when people were both new CDs as well as back catalog, to replace worn out vinyl and cassette albums, the average consumer was spending about $3/month, which was split between retailers, distributors, labels, publishers, songwriters, producers, and artists.

If we can get 2-3x that money, without worrying about the "middlemen" and costs of physical distribution, we'll be in good shape as far as revenue.

Plus, a service like Spotify allows consumers to explore music. You can find an artist that you like and, instead of focusing on one album or a single you've heard, you can dig deeper, going into back catalog and more obscure recordings, of which Spotify has many.

This gets people more interested in and involved with the acts they like. Knowing one song is great, but knowing entire albums worth of material creates a relationship.

Imagine having fans who knew everything that you've ever done, thanks to a service that paid you every time your music was played? That's Spotify.

Spotify, and services like it, will help you to develop the type of fans you're looking for. People who have access to music like this are more likely to come to a live show, more likely to buy a t-shirt or other mechandise, and more likely to support you in future endeavors.

If your music is not available on Spotify, you can make that happen now via CD Baby or Ditto Music.

How CD Baby Changed Everything

Yesterday, Derek Sivers released a new book. It got me thinking about the number of things that have changed for independent musicians since he started CD Baby in 1998.

So I went back to the archive.

In 1998, I had a mailing list for indie musicians called IndieBiz. On May 6, Rik Wright of HipSync Records asked this question...

Does anyone know of a company that JUST processes and ships orders from Web commerce? What I want to do is have my Record Company's site have a consistent look and feel, yet, when a viewer wants to purchase - have our "shopping cart" reside on someone else's server (with our look and feel or a non-proprietary one) and have them process and ship the product. My thought is that the arrangement would be similar to a distribution deal where we pay them a percentage per sale. Does anyone know of a company that might do something like this?

Later that day, Derek Sivers responded...

Hey Rik -

I think I can help you with this:

I setup my online record store, "CD Baby", to be able to do that for you. Your customers don't need to come in my "front door" and search for your record. You can put a "Buy CD" or "Buy Tape" button on your site and it will jump right to YOUR OWN ordering page on CD Baby. (nobody else's records there. no ads. no distractions. just collecting your customer's info so we can charge their card & send your CD to them within 48 hours.)

As far as the LOOK, I usually add bands to CD Baby for NO setup charge and it's good look. (check out a sample page at: http://www.cdbaby.com/buy/arlen.htm)

But if you want to stay consistent with the look of your website, I can grab your HTML and imitate it for a $20 setup fee. That way your customers won't really notice they've left your website.

Lemme know whatcha think.

And here is something from the same mailing list on June 12, 1998, where Derek responded to a thread about a contest people were entering just to get their music on the web...

Okay - I guess I would be a fool if I didn't toss in one little plug for CD Baby here.

Since some people seem to like the idea of Billboard Talent Net just to "be on the web" - I should let you know that my record store called CD Baby will not only set you up for FREE including digitizing two of your sound files in RealAudio, but we sell & ship your CDs for you, too. We just take a $4 cut per CD on the back-end. Nothing up front.

Obviously, you don't need your CDs in a store unless people are buying them, but if they ARE...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
-
CD BABY:
* no charge to put your CDs in our store
* we make you your own unique web page with all the links, reviews & bio info you want.
* you can link your fans directly to YOUR record, so they don't have to come through our front door & search for you.
* we don't categorize music into stupid "pop, r&b, alternative" categories - you are free to describe your music as you like
* we digitize & host two songs in RealAudio for FREE. We'd be glad to do as many as you'd like for only $10/song more.
* no advertisements(!) = no distractions for your fan who's about to buy.
* your fans can buy securely with Visa/Mastercard or AmEx, OR call our 1-800-# to order if they'd rather.
* we ship your CDs from here (New York) within 48 hours. great postage rates.
* and lastly: when you send us your records to be sold in CD Baby, we send you the famous "CD Baby carepak" with 100 full color postcards telling your fans where they can buy your CD, free music biz newsletters, coupons, and more...

ALL the info and details are on our site: http://www.cdbaby.com/home.htm
Email me with any questions or call me at 1-800-448-6369.

- Derek Sivers, president
- CD Baby & Hit Media Inc.
- http://www.cdbaby.com/

Glad things have changed! :)

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.

Big Brother and the Music Business

Like the TSA, where everybody is treated like a terrorist, Universal Music Group is now treating their customers like pirates by embedding tracking information in downloadable music...

As somebody who makes a living from intellectual property, I'm all for wanting to get paid, but I also recognize that...

1. It's better for somebody to have my music than not have it, even if it's stolen. This is especially true for new acts, who can really benefit from the word-of-mouth that comes along with friends sharing music with each other.

2. It's bad business to treat honest people like criminals. The people on who buy your music on Amazon, which is where this warning was taken from, or anywhere else, are the people allowing you to stay in business and they deserve better.

The Death of File-Sharing?

Discuss...

If You Have a New Album (and It's Not Selling...)

This is a subject I've touched on before, but here's a friendly reminder...

If you have a new album and it's not selling, it may very well be that people don't know it exists.  Believe it or not, 84% of people don't know when their favorite artists release new albums.

Automated systems from music stores like Amazon and iTunes, which look at purchasing patterns and let people know about things that might be interested in, can help, but don't count on them to do all the work for you.  Nobody is going to care about letting people know you have a new album available more than you do, so if you want to make sure that happens, you need to either do it yourself or hire somebody to do it for you; it won't happen automatically...at least not in the way you want it to.

Don't be shy about promoting yourself or think "my fans are different."  Your fans are not different.

Let people know about your new release.  Do it now.

The Best Day of the Month to Release a New Album...

Major labels in the US release new albums on Tuesdays.

One of the first "music business" jobs I had was working at a record store.  Always heard the reason Tuesday was chosen for new releases was because it makes distribution easier.  Sunday has traditionally been limited in terms of retail hours and most shipping companies don't deliver on Sundays, so it a Tuesday release gives everybody a little extra time to get things in order.

And that makes sense...

But as more and more releases are being sold digitally, will that matter in the future?  Maybe.  Labels want a great first week in Billboard and Tuesday is the day that allows a full seven days of sales to be counted.

If you're not interested in Billboard and aren't worrying with a physical product, I suggest releasing your album on the first Friday of the month, since the majority of people in the US get paid on the last day of the month, the 5th of the month, or on Fridays.  Going with a "First Friday" release means your fans have a better chance than average of having spending money in their pockets!

More thoughts on release dates via NPR...

Your thoughts below...

Die With Your Boots On

And by die, I mean sell records...

Iron Maiden has been around for 30+ years and is still kicking ass.

This is how you sell music.

Prince sez, "The Internet’s completely over!”

Prince is a smart guy and a great performer.  He's had a long career, so he must be doing something right.

But sometimes he's wrong... Like the time when he tried to handle his own distribution of the "Crystal Ball" box set in the late 1990s and failed miserably, even after he had 50,000 pre-orders.

Sometimes he's right though... Like when he packaged his album "Musicology" with tickets for his live show and sold over 632,000 copies in just five weeks.

Sure, it was sneaky, and SoundScan changed the rules of how it calculated album sales, but you can't argue that he got a lot of albums out there ...

But is he right about the Internet and the future of music sales?

"The Internet’s like MTV," Prince said in an interview with The Mirror. "At one time, MTV was hip, and suddenly it became outdated."

Thoughts?