Lefsetz on Spotify and the economy of free:

Spotify is so good, it closes you instantly. But the rights holders refuse to offer this dope. Under the guise of maintaining the value of music, of not making music free, but don’t you get it? MUSIC IS ALREADY FREE!

Ariel Hyatt cites the Top 7 Reasons Why Artists Resist Social Media. What is your stance?

1. I don’t want to be pushy and over-hypey.

2. Social Media won’t put any money in my pocket.

3. Social Media and Marketing takes too much time.

4. “Social” Media isn’t “real” media.

5. Social media is just for young people.

6. Status Updates on Facebook and Twitter Tweets are stupid.

7. I’m not a social person.

And think about this: how many clicks does it take to buy or to listen to your music?

In the two upcoming posts I want to refer to two cases, which aren’t hot news any more, but which prove how traditional players in the music industry have problems with handling the new rules of surviving in an internet-driven digital age.

The first case is about the popular country singer Taylor Swift. Last September she was still the darling of the general public after she was rudely interrupted by Kanye West during the VMAs (MTV’s video awards). However, more recently she made a bad impression during the Grammys by embarrassingly singing out of tune. The story spread like wildfire on the internet. The Washington Post posted a sampling of Twitter comments about her performance.

@Borowitz Report Satan Chooses Taylor Swift Performance as Ringtone

@questlove dear kanye im sorry

@Borowitz Report: God Hoping Taylor Swift Does Not Thank Him

@jfdulac Wifey, listening to Taylor on the #Grammys: “She couldn’t even get into the chamber choir at my high school singing like that.”

@Borowitz Report T-Pain Hired to Autotune Taylor Swift at 2011

@idolator How suitable: that guy from #americanidol introduces @taylorswift13, who ” we have to say ” sounds a little pitchy, dawg.

@harvilla taylor swift’s career singing on live television should’ve gotten an “in memorium” nod

@Kiarri Last year the big battle was between Rihanna & C Brown. This year the fight was between Taylor Swift & pitch.

@jjjrrr Dear Taylor Swift, the music store called, you left your pitch on the counter with your lip gloss

@jeffstearns Taylor Swift? More like Francis Scott Off-Key, am I right?

@feliciapollack Taylor Swift can’t sing. She sounds like she’s playing “Rock Band” in her basement.

@JenRBoyd Oh boy. Taylor Swift’s pitch is flatter than a pancake tonight. Bless her heart

@ianfrancisbush I am starting a disaster relief fund to get Taylor Swift a chromatic tuner.

As Lefsetz writes in his analysis, the abominable performance didn’t get much attention in the mainstream media, but the story spread quickly on Facebook and Twitter. Some even say that it might ruin her career. Taylor Swift is a product of traditional music business: a young girl who is surrounded by a team making marketing plans in a meeting room. As Lefsetz puts it in his typical style:

So you can sit in your marketing meeting, calculate how you’re going to placate radio, but there’s a shitstorm blowing somewhere you’re not even paying attention. (…) Yes, as oldsters decry Twitter as a waste of time, a place where those with no life delineate what they ate for breakfast, these same supposed peons are ripping their clients a new asshole.

In the digital world, authenticity is key. You can’t fake anything and you must deliver when you are on stage. Taylor Swift underdelivered and the public formed its opinion. People have always had their opinions, but until recently they would only say it to their family sitting in the living room. Nowadays they post their opinion on Twitter or Facebook and they reach an audience of a couple of 100 people. Those people maybe even didn’t see the show, but watch the YouTube movie and further spread the story amoung their audience.

Exactly that is the power of new media such as Facebook and Twitter, and it is a power that may be underestimated by most traditional music business people, who carefully construct a tv and radio image for a young, unexperienced artist like Taylor Swift. Don’t understand me wrong: clear thinking about your image and shaping a thorough communication strategy is also very important in new media. But be aware of the fact that this image must be authentic. You must be able to keep it consistent in all circumstances, since there could be someone with a camera standing behind every corner, ready to upload your faux pas to YouTube. Show your vulnerability, be real, and don’t grow faster than you are capable of. That is probably the lesson that we should learn from the Taylor Swift story.

Lefsetz legt het nog maar eens netjes uit. Eigenlijk is het hele artikel de moeite waard om te lezen. Maar het belangrijkste stuk citeer ik hieronder.

Knowing exactly who your fan is, that’s the key in the future. And so far, the acts do it better than the labels. But, if you capture the e-mail address at the point of ticket sale, and you continue to market to those who want messages, targeted missives, not spam, you can build something. But old wave thinking is short term thinking, we haven’t got time to invest in our future, we’re focused on the bottom line!

Don’t focus on albums, focus on fan relationships. A dedicated fan will want all the material, in whatever form it can be acquired. He’s going to want the bootleg and the authorized live performance. When you give away music, you don’t lose money, you invest in your future!

The Internet is the new medium. It’s not only killed physical retail, it’s put a huge dent in radio and now television. To try to corral people into old behaviors is as fruitless as getting people to refrain from buying televisions in 1949.

“People only trust their friends. So you’ve got to create friends in order for them to bring in new friends.

So stop talking about your social network marketing plans, how you’re going to spread the word via the millions posting updates and pics about their lives. Think about building a fire that will draw people to you! Embody trust. And quality. It’s a brand new world.”

Lees het hele artikel hier.

Het valt allicht alsmaar meer op: de 21ste eeuw lijkt wel het hoogtepunt van het gratismodel. Alle Google Services zijn gratis, op internet zijn zo veel dingen gratis… Volgens Chris Anderson wordt het zelfs een nieuw economisch model.

Ook muziek ontsnapt niet aan het gratisverhaal: Radiohead deden het, Sarah Bettens, Gabriel Rios.

Zoals ik al eerder schreef: vandaag de dag is distributie van muziek niet het probleem, ‘awareness’ is het grote struikelblok. Mensen moeten in het grote overaanbod te weten komen dat je überhaupt bestaat. Daarom dat gratis dingen weggeven een belangrijke stap kan zijn.

Lefsetz reproduceerde een tijdje geleden het geweldige verhaal van Joe Pug, een jonge singer/songwriter met een pak goede songs, die een promotionele boost kon gebruiken.

Wat deden ze? Ze zetten een gratis actie op. Op de site en de MySpace van Joe Pug plaatsten ze een bericht. Ze beloofden gratis een sample-cd met twee nummers op te sturen naar iedereen die dat graag wilde en die dacht mensen te kennen die de songs van Joe zou willen horen. De actie was een groot succes. Ze kregen alsmaar meer vragen om cd’s op te sturen, de activiteit op Joe’s sites werd gevoelig groter en de verkoop van nummers op iTunes nam een hoge vlucht.

Volgens Joe’s manager was het een essentieel punt dat het om een ‘fysiek product’ ging. Mensen hechten veel meer waarde aan een (bovendien gesigneerde) cd dan aan een gratis download op het internet. Dat heeft er uiteraard voor gezorgd dat het hen wat gekost heeft, maar in vergelijking met een campagne van een tradiotionele PR-firma was het gewoon een koopje.

En dan natuurlijk nog een essentieel punt: de muziek is steengoed. Dat is iets dat we niet mogen vergeten: zo’n actie werkt maar als de mensen echt gek zijn op de muziek die je maakt.

Bob Lefsetz heeft behoorlijke profeet-allures in de Amerikaanse muziekbusiness. Maar wat hij zegt, heeft ook wel vaak zin. Zijn raad van vandaag: als startende band met een beperkte fanbase moet je je concentreren op singles. Weinig mensen zitten op een album te wachten.

Albums are for fans. Singles are for newbies.

So, if you’re nobody, and you’re not live-based, focus on the single, that’s all people want. Hook ‘em with a few singles and you’ve suddenly got fans. Who want more. Does this mean a full-length, with fifteen tracks and seventy eight minutes of music? Probably not. After all, they’ve just come to know you. You don’t want to get married after the first date. So, feed ‘em three or four tracks. At an incredibly discounted price on iTunes if you must, a package price. Build slowly. And whenever you get a good-sized fan base, don’t overload them all at once! Today’s albums are incomprehensible. Too long, never mind too expensive. Better to put out three tracks five times a year than fifteen all at once. Not only do you maintain your buzz, your audience stays bonded, doesn’t go on a hejira somewhere else, waiting years for your next opus, possibly forgetting you in the interim..

If you’ve already got a fan base, release that album if you must. But know that non-fans don’t care. And, if they come to care via airplay, old wave media, they only want THE TRACK! If you learn of an act from a friend, you might want an album. But if you’re dipping your toes, you don’t want to get soaking wet!

So if you’re making an album, don’t think of world domination. Think of satiating your fans. If you must, include a catchy single for radio airplay. But it probably won’t get airplay and will quite possibly alienate your core audience. If you’re only about the core, don’t sell out, feed your homies. But, if you want someone new, sell individual tracks online, allow people a taste. Better yet, give them a taste for free, just like dope dealers. If you’re purveying really good shit, people will want more and will get hooked.

Ik neem alvast zijn raad ten harte.

Ik ben al meer dan een jaar geabonneerd op de nieuwsbrief/blog van Bof Lefsetz, de Lefsetz Letter. Lefsetz is een ‘angry old man’ met heel uitgesproken meningen over de muziekbusiness. Uiteraard een Amerikaan en de Amerikaanse situatie is niet altijd helemaal dezelfde als bij ons. Soms gaat de blog ook over zijn persoonlijke leven of zijn muzikale voorkeuren, wat dan even wat minder relevant is voor een ondernemend muzikant met weinig tijd. Maar af en toe slaat hij zo de nagel op de kop. Vandaag weer, dus citeer ik zijn post volledig:

One of the reasons the major labels missed the Net revolution is those who ran them were not computer-savvy. When they finally got e-mail, they had their assistants print it out, and type responses. is it any wonder they couldn’t understand the merits of file-trading? They never used it!

I still maintain that’s the problem… If label heads, and artists even, experienced the joy of discovery, the ability to have the world of music at your fingertips for the sampling, not only the studio releases but the rarities, P2P would be legitimized, its power would be harnessed. Hell, that’s what turned me around. I was a Napster hater until rare tracks started flowing down the pipe to my sister’s Windows computer in the summer of 2000.

But my point is not about P2P. It’s got do with artistry. You see it’s no longer enough.

Years ago, you could get away with just being the artist. You’d surround yourself with handlers and they’d get the day to day, er, shitwork, done. This was an extremely labor intensive system, but it worked because very few artists got this treatment, and those that did were throwing off huge sums of cash, to pay for it.

Those huge sums are gone. Except for a handful of superstar acts. And there’s not enough manpower to service each and every act down the food chain. In other words, you’ve got to be your own manager, your own publicity agent, sometimes even your own booking agent!

I know, I know, you don’t want to do this. You just want free time to sit around and write, to smoke pot, to watch DVDs… But that’s not how our world is constructed anymore. Along with the burden of needing two incomes to support a family, a lot of the lifting in life, some of it quite heavy, has been put on the shoulders of the individual. We do our own banking, whether it be at the ATM or online. We chart our stocks. And we like some of the modern conveniences. I’ve had bank clerks make mistakes, but never ATMs.

In other words, being a musician is not enough. Thumbing through ancient “Rolling Stone” magazines, you might yearn for that lifestyle, but it’s gone. A new act can’t get the kind of traction needed to sustain those numbers. And the new paradigm is coming down off your perch and interacting with fans.

So, you’ve got to be able to type. I’d say to put this in front of guitar lessons (assuming you already know how to play!) If you can’t type, quickly, without mistakes, you’re going to be left out of the Web world, and everything is driven by the Web now. Sure, radio delivers its own hits, but those acts are usually flashes in the pan anyway.

2. You must familiarize yourself with music sites and blogs. If you don’t know what Pitchfork and the Hype Machine are, chances are you’re not going to make it. Furthermore, you’ve got to know what’s hot. That iMeem is streaming more music than not only Yahoo, but MySpace

Imeem Unseats Yahoo: Top U.S. Music-Streaming Site

Stop concentrating on acting cool and start tracking cool.

3. You must have a Web presence. A front door to your music, your career. It must be more about information than flashy graphics. It must run fast and feature an extensive bio, that is not cookie-cutter, but unique, written by you, and a plethora of photos, not only studio shots, but candids, to humanize you. At least stream your entire new album. And give away at least one MP3. Your music is your calling card. If you can’t give your card away, how is someone going to remember you, how are they going to spread the word? And, if you’re really lucky, the word will be spread via the P2P mentioned above. Or via instant messenger. You do know you can speedily transfer files via IM, right? And you must post new content, preferably the story of your career, your struggles and heartbreaks, to your site every day. At least three times a week at least. So people will keep coming back, so they can bond with you. If you’re not willing to answer all your e-mail, quickly, put up a forum/message board. Or, do both. As for creating this site? Speak to your friends. If you don’t have someone knowledgeable who will do this for free, then you don’t have any friends. People want to give, to be involved!

4. No one will come to see you live if they don’t know who you are. Create a frenzy online then give a concert. Use Eventful.com to book shows. Go where the demand is, don’t think just because you set up your gear people are interested. Maybe you’re in New York, but your fan base is in Wisconsin. You can track not only the location of the demand via Eventful, but you can use Google’s stats to find out about who’s coming to your site, and just this week YouTube announced they’re delivering a ton of info to video posters. Use this data! It’s the new SoundScan. Cliff Burnstein is the master of SoundScan, this almost math Ph.D. uses this information to plot and steer careers. Utilize this new information to your benefit. You don’t have to be a math major yourself, this information is not that complicated to understand, but you must dig in!

5. You’re the retailer. And the wholesaler. And the manufacturer. You’ve got to sell stuff on your site. It’s about satiating the core more than scouring for new fans. They want to download your music for free and buy a CD and/or vinyl record. They want t-shirts. They want autographed photos. All of this is easily provided. Maybe your spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend has to do the heavy lifting, but they love you, right? It’s a way for you to get closer! That’s the focus, on the core team, not looking for some heavyweight to rescue you. How can they, they just started reading their own e-mail, they can’t type at all, they’re not net-savvy, they’re going to save you? Save yourself!