Jeff Price Provides Thoughts on Effective Marketing

This article began as a response by Jeff Price to TuneCorner contributor George Howard's essay on Psychographics. Here it is with its own space, including plenty of room for comments. Chime in!

Many artists believe that if they just had the proper marketing and promotion their music would get heard and their careers would take off.

When a major releases an album they are NOT looking to sell 50,000, 100,000, 250,000 copies of an album. They want to have a "grand slam", sell millions of copies and have a multi-platinum mega global hit. In order for them to have a "grand slam" they have to swing hard and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, on marketing and promotion - print ads, radio spots, videos, expensive re-mixes by top producers, flier campaigns, street teams, placement in record stores, independent radio promoters, posters, stickers and on and on. They go for it. Majors have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 50 years marketing and promoting bands yet 98% of major record label releases fail (this is such an important point, I am going to state it again - 98% of major record label releases fail!). How could this be possible, after all, they are marketing it aggressively?

Artists create art - music, paintings, poems, books, graphic drawings, movies, short films etc. People love art. We need it. It makes us human, it inspires us, it moves us, it defines us. We want to find the art in the world that makes us react - somehow. Hate it, love it, worship it, inspire to be as good as it, cause us to laugh, cry, scream....but it makes us react. People aspire to be the artist that can impact the world - and the lucky few have the talent and skills to create it.

In the world of music, the first steps are to create the songs and record them, then get it out to the world. In the "old" days, the way to get music out to the world was through the media outlets that people listened to, watched and read - commercial radio, television and magazines. Access to these media outlets was primarily provided by the record label. Many many artists and songs got played on the radio, videos played on MTV and feature articles in Rolling Stone and yet they did not take off. Why? Because people did not react to the music.

Take Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit". If the song or video did not cause people to react it would not have mattered how many times people heard it or saw it. It became a hit NOT because it got exposure, but because the exposure allowed people to see it and hear it and upon seeing and hearing it, it caused a reaction.

The magic is not in the exposure, its in the art!

In the old days, there was a huge fundamental problem, art could not gain access to the media outlets to get exposure UNLESS a gatekeeper let it in. But the media outlets have, and continue, to change thanks to the internet.

YouTube replaced MTV, and anyone can upload a video to YouTube. There is no gatekeeper. Your video is available to be seen. And when one person sees it, and likes it, they have the instant ability to share it with an unlimited amount of others via email, embedding it on their own webpage or rating it. Commercial radio is being replaced by web-based radio stations like iMeem, LastFM, MySpace Music and more. And anyone can have their songs available to hear at those "stations."

Playlists of music are not being programmed by an individual "Program Director" or "Music Director" but by algorithm based software and friend recommendations. Magazines have been replaced by Blogs and MP3 Blogs. Anyone can be a worldwide publisher around things they like. People search for things on the internet based on what THEY like, and search engines like Google scour the net to smallest crevices to provide specific links and results to what people they are looking for.

The point is, anyone now has access to the media outlets. Once in those outlets, the art can be seen, shared and discovered. The trick to all of this is you need to have art that causes a reaction. If you can do that, you can now directly put it into the new media outlets where it will have a profound and significant impact. You will become famous, and from there, well, you will need to figure out what to do next.

And if you think I am nuts and this just does not happen - here's some links to some things that has caused "reaction" and fame for its creators. Some are TuneCore customers, some are not. Some created fame accidentally, others intentionally. Some are straight up music videos (Boyce Avenue), some are people singing on top of other people's songs (Numma Numma), some have the action on top of the song causing the reaction (OK GO), some are funny (Kelly) others are just, well, I am not sure...but they do cause reaction (and one I just put in because I love it - and look how many people I get to share it with!)

The trick is no longer in getting access to the outlets, but in creating the art that reacts:

Kelly
Sick Puppies
Boyce Avenue
Chocolate Rain
Star Wars Kid
Charlie Bit Me
OK GO!
Mentos
Numa Numa

Final Countdown (the ear bleeder version)

Comments

[Lane Barrett]

It is my express intent that all proceeds from my music be delivered into the hands of the Salvation Army. For the blessings of my Father to be delivered unto the angels. Thank you for your service. Until the dawn!

[Pam from Arista Records]

This i so true, i'm working with a major record company and i see alot of money being spend on artist, but the song is not grabing to people likes 0r should i say " make people react to it" so it dont make alot of sales. let i share something i had witness to you, this is a fact, thier is a Jamaican reggae group name "Mystique GP" they don't have a music video, but they have a song name "Vanity" ft Willi Williams, it's a song many can relate to, because it's so good, it got crazy downloads from itunes, tunecore and many, other mp3 sites. I can agree with Jeff, cause music is my life and in my life of music i see bad things happen and i see great things happen. You can either take the light of truth or stay in the dark of none believe.

[Sven from spain]

There´s a fine line drawing our senses together on this issue,because we all have the tendency to put the internet and its musicdistributors as an oponent to the "classic" mediums.Very black or white.What everybody wants is getting cheap and effective exposure,with or without the net,with or without the huge record companies.What nobody wants is losing cash over it.So if Amy Winehouse sells 11 million records,imagine what she´d sell without downloading her tracks on various musical search engines!We live in the tender age where technology takes over the substance,and wether we like it or not,they go hand in hand.My particular filosophy is you should try out every possible way available;(T.V.does still have an enormous potential,and so does the net).They should complement each other,with fair share.The net is some powerfull beast for communication,but I do believe there´s still a whole lot to be done in terms of having decsent control over what´s happening on legal issues,generating low sales.To some degree,you could conclude that the record companies will eventually go to the net and start from there,with probably the same strategies as before.

[C. F. Icair]

First of all, I am glad that TuneCore is around.

Second, this blog is confusing a couple of issues, thus skewing the numbers of successful bands/album sales.

1. The artists funded and networked by labels are selling exponentially more product, playing higher grossing tours, and in front of more potential customers than ANY NEW indie could ever be. Again, this excludes legacy artists who made it big time only through the help of labels in the past, but are now indie for various reasons. Why? CASH! That is the big difference between an indie and a labeled artist. Indies foot the bill for everything. No loan shark labels involved.

2. Anyone can get distribution. Big deal. You don't even need iTunes or any other service. You can set up your own server and store. The problem is the same for either method. How do YOU get people to know you, like you and buy you? Music/art is not the answer! Not if we are talking about selling to the masses. This has always been true and why all musicians from day one have considered selling to the masses as "selling out".

3. The reason that the industry has a high failure rate has more to do with selling widgets. You have to have the right product, at the right time, at the right price, and where anyone can buy it. There are tons of world-class artists that have been produced, recorded and mixed by some of the best talent this world has ever seen/heard. But the timing or marketability was off, so great discs sit shelves. This is bigtime true in Nashville.

4. There are too many people making "music". Most of it sucks. There are legacy artists hangin on til death, trying to make a living. There are too many shows, costing too much money, and not enough disposable income to split between them all.

[CosmicD]

One would think that 'in the old days' peopple would 'only' like your music if it was released by a major label. Independent music would almost have been not worthy if emi, sony or universal or polygram logo wasn't on the cover.

I don't think for a fair amount of people this has changed though. There's still these people that will not buy music which is not hooked on stuff like looks, artificially constructed fame, x-factor, sterotypes and whatnot. But surely there are more and more people who dig the internet untill they find new and interesting music.

I've just tried releasing an E.P. on tunecore as well. I've been hosting and promoting music on myspace, mp3.com and soundclick for years and although I had many listens, I feel unexposed. It won't change because my music is on iTunes now. But If I can at least make 1 or 2 sales, it means that somewhere out there likes the music that I made enough to buy it. It sounds pathetic: I know. But it's something I'm wanting to find out in the near future.

[Kelly]

I do have to agree with the comments of others here as well as what Jeff Price has to say. However, being an artist and musician myself, I have to say that "artists" often lack the ability to plan, organize and conduct business. They're often times really good at what they do, but rarely are able to pull it together, organize and really make organized marketing, investment, and tour planning happen.

I say this from experience as I've spent the last 8 years working as a fine artist and working as a musician (both performance and recording). Because I recognize (in my personal life) that art without business is just a hobby, I have chosen to go back to school to get a degree in business and marketing. What I've learned so far is that these are two polar opposite professions that are interdependent upon each other much of the time. Crazy.

To sum it up, the world of mass exposure is largely in the hands of independent artists these days. However, without a clear plan and good organization, even "your" $400 (a drop in the bucket to the major competitors) may also reap a 98% loss.

[Ramin Streets]

I have heard all types of talk from all over the business (online, at the Midem conference, in print) and I have decided that nobody really has a clear answer to this. I just don't think music is generally valued as it once was. You can no longer hold it in your hand, read the jacket sleeve. As mainstream music has lost its quality, Westerners have lost what might generally be described as "good taste". This is a cultural issue of course. The only pieces I feel I agree with concerning the future of the independent artist is that yes, the power is now in your hands to self publish, distribute & promote. But we each have to plot our own unique path to owning our audience. If everyone is on MySpace requesting "friends" I don't see how anyone gets very far or stands out. Own your audience and make sure they are a responsive audience (i.e. they really care about your art vs. just being passive). To me there's the listener who bought your music, puts on the headphones and really listens in. And then there is the individual who plays your stuff as a backing track for some kegger. It's better to have 100 of the former vs. 1000 of the latter. The former will turn others on to your material. My 2 cents!

RS

[Al]

I have just released 2 albums via TuneCore, carried away by the exitement of getting my music into the largest record store in the world I didn't think too much about what was going to get people to buy it. I started to to think I couldn't possibly create a buzz no matter how many hours on myspace. Jeff's article has made me think again when I was considering the notion that for any success an artist would have to have major backing.

[Tim]

Good article and good comments. That said, there is a lot of other factors involved with a successful amateur or professional career in the music industry. Not the least of which is an artists drive to be seen, tour, play shows and promote themselves. There are many people who have started out this way without the internet and became well known. Even still, the Internet is and will be a primary method of music deliver for years to come.

[Minki AKA 50ft Woman]

I totally agree with this - in the same way that reality shows have become mainstream - everyone just 'wants to be famous'. When you ask them what they will be known for, it is very poignant when you just hear ...ummm.

I make music, but I want to make music that DOES make people think something, feel something, laugh, cry, hate it, love it.

And yet, yes, you do need exposure to take it to the next level and my one worry in all of this is people DO rely on the internet TOO much. The internet is like a haystack and you are a tiny amoeba on the end of the needle hidden in the haystack! It is lovely when someone discovers one of your tracks and videos - they can be anywhere in the world - an amazing thought. BUT, to really get somewhere in the music industry (ie to be a self sufficient, professional musician) it does really take that lucky break, for the right person to hear it or see it.

Thank you for a spot on blog!

[Rene]

Jeff Price hit it right on the button with this blog. I totally agree and thats why there are no break through artists today because of no artistic talent no matter how much exposure. I think artists today are more concerned with getting the exposure and not taking the time to perfect or improve on their music and image. Thats why I enjoy making music for myself and being able to have the freedom to take my time to improve on it and learn from mistakes. This blog is the way every artist new or old should think like.