David Byrne's recent article in Wired describes six different business models for musicians seeking to make money in a rapidly evolving music marketplace. Among those is the self-distribution model:
When I'm otherwise unoccupied with the business of earning a living, I play rootsy Americana music in a four-piece band called The Elderly Brothers. Our aspirations are modest: we enjoy performing live, and like to do so on a semi-regular basis at selected local Cleveland venues. If we make a few bucks, fine, but we're not looking for fame, fortune, or a record contract.
But even those limited goals require some legwork -- virtual and real-world -- to promote the band to local club owners and make information about the band available to those who might actually want to see us perform. The real-world legwork involves talking to club owners, a task that poses little problem given the limited number of venues we target, all within a few minutes drive.
Online promotion is a horse of a different color, and the unique nature of online promotion has created a genuine identity crisis for this band, one that has obvious repercussions for anyone doing business of any sort online.
The problem is that while our band's name is unique in the Cleveland area, it is all too common in the global marketplace. This was a source of amusement early on, but it has recently become a serious issue.
The band has had a MySpace page for a little over a year. That page has proven to be far more effective at promotion than our original static web page -- and it's certainly a lot easier to maintain.
But a few days ago a Snocap widget appeared on our MySpace page, offering songs for sale from a band called The Elderly. Snocap is a fee-based service that allows artists to sell their music via MySpace pages. So while The Elderly paid for this service, their music, which is very definitely not the music of The Elderly Brothers, is being promoted on The Elderly Brothers' MySpace page. Given the similarity in names, visitors to the Elderly Brothers MySpace page are going to wonder if we've undergone some kind of bizarre transformation. And the members of The Elderly -- if they are even aware of the issue -- are very likely wondering why the Snocap service they paid for doesn't appear on their MySpace page.
In trying to correct this issue, I searched MySpace to try to locate The Elderly. It turns out that there are fifteen different bands using the name "The Elderly," and five other bands using "The Elderly Brothers," not to mention other variations. So far I have been unable to locate the right The Elderly. I've contacted MySpace support, but I have yet to hear from them.
So while this situation is a headache, it illustrates an important and exciting point: the redefinition of what it means to be a local band -- or a local anything.
My band may be competing with a limited number of other Cleveland bands for stage time, but we're competing on a global basis for the attention of those seeking information about who we are, what we do, bookings, and so on. If a user types "elderly brothers" into a search engine, the search engine doesn't care if we're a bunch of weekend warriors playing at the corner bar or a national touring act playing Madison Square Garden.
So when it comes to promotion, at least, we have to think beyond the confines of the local market. In a smallified global music marketplace, success, however you care to define it, requires a big, global mindset.
Technorati Tags: music business, Wired, David Byrne, global marketplace, MySpace, Snocap
Finally, at the far end of the scale, is the self-distribution model, where the music is self-produced, self-written, self-played, and self-marketed. CDs are sold at gigs and through a Web site. Promotion is a MySpace page.The significance of access to a global audience that MySpace and similar sites provide for musicians can't be understated. But along with that access come certain unique realities, as I recently discovered.
When I'm otherwise unoccupied with the business of earning a living, I play rootsy Americana music in a four-piece band called The Elderly Brothers. Our aspirations are modest: we enjoy performing live, and like to do so on a semi-regular basis at selected local Cleveland venues. If we make a few bucks, fine, but we're not looking for fame, fortune, or a record contract.
But even those limited goals require some legwork -- virtual and real-world -- to promote the band to local club owners and make information about the band available to those who might actually want to see us perform. The real-world legwork involves talking to club owners, a task that poses little problem given the limited number of venues we target, all within a few minutes drive.
Online promotion is a horse of a different color, and the unique nature of online promotion has created a genuine identity crisis for this band, one that has obvious repercussions for anyone doing business of any sort online.
The problem is that while our band's name is unique in the Cleveland area, it is all too common in the global marketplace. This was a source of amusement early on, but it has recently become a serious issue.
The band has had a MySpace page for a little over a year. That page has proven to be far more effective at promotion than our original static web page -- and it's certainly a lot easier to maintain.
But a few days ago a Snocap widget appeared on our MySpace page, offering songs for sale from a band called The Elderly. Snocap is a fee-based service that allows artists to sell their music via MySpace pages. So while The Elderly paid for this service, their music, which is very definitely not the music of The Elderly Brothers, is being promoted on The Elderly Brothers' MySpace page. Given the similarity in names, visitors to the Elderly Brothers MySpace page are going to wonder if we've undergone some kind of bizarre transformation. And the members of The Elderly -- if they are even aware of the issue -- are very likely wondering why the Snocap service they paid for doesn't appear on their MySpace page.
In trying to correct this issue, I searched MySpace to try to locate The Elderly. It turns out that there are fifteen different bands using the name "The Elderly," and five other bands using "The Elderly Brothers," not to mention other variations. So far I have been unable to locate the right The Elderly. I've contacted MySpace support, but I have yet to hear from them.
So while this situation is a headache, it illustrates an important and exciting point: the redefinition of what it means to be a local band -- or a local anything.
My band may be competing with a limited number of other Cleveland bands for stage time, but we're competing on a global basis for the attention of those seeking information about who we are, what we do, bookings, and so on. If a user types "elderly brothers" into a search engine, the search engine doesn't care if we're a bunch of weekend warriors playing at the corner bar or a national touring act playing Madison Square Garden.
So when it comes to promotion, at least, we have to think beyond the confines of the local market. In a smallified global music marketplace, success, however you care to define it, requires a big, global mindset.
Technorati Tags: music business, Wired, David Byrne, global marketplace, MySpace, Snocap
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