Music Business Blog by Jason Feinberg

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We’ve been saying it for ages - content is king - but do bands really get it? My company works with so many artists, from evolving bands to artists with decades of success, but there isn’t really any consistency in either direction.

Some developing bands work as hard as possible to give their fans as much content as they can ingest; others think that their music alone is enough. Some established artists feel their name will carry them; others realize that their fans want to be on the inside more than ever before. In my experience the past few years, and certainly moving forward, content has not only become a tool but a currency. Artists can no longer prosper without it. Fans don’t simply want a great CD, a t-shirt, and to occasionally read or watch an interview. They want to know what it’s like backstage. What it’s like in the studio. On the tour bus. Walking down the street. They want transparency - and if you want a long term career moving forward, you better give it to them.

This could be regular blog updates, video from a tour, unreleased exclusive live tracks, a list of books you are reading, your favorite meatloaf recipe, or anything else that expresses who you are and gives your fans a further glimpse into your universe.

It’s not a difficult concept, but so many artists don’t consistently deliver. The challenge is not giving your fans something interesting - it is continually doing it so they come back over and over. Anyone in music marketing can tell you that it’s usually not tough to get attention, but it can be insanely hard to maintain and grow it.

So remember this moving forward - almost anything an artist does can be rolled up into (web) content, and that is one of the most valuable assets we have in this industry.

Yes it’s true - Neil Diamond finally has his first #1 record on the Billboard Charts! The closest he has made it was in 1973, the soundtrack to “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” (which is a pretty good book by the way).

No, he’s not a client (although I’d do some pretty unspeakable things to make that happen) but I am simply happy for the guy - see my post from last week. He sold 146,000 copies the first week, slapping Toby Keith in the face (coming in at #2) and shoving Madonna down to #3. I kid, I kid, it’s all in good fun. But seriously, Neil Diamond rules.

Read the Billboard article here.

BUY THE CD! (standard)
BUY THE CD (deluxe)

Spent last week in San Fran at the Digital NARM and MusicTech2 conferences. Excellent time, got to see tons of friends and meet a bunch of new ones.

Learned a little, networked a lot, had many good conversations, but the one thing that made my entire week worth it was a comment made (and repeated) at the MusicTech2 conference.

Tim Westegren from Pandora said something to the effect of “all bands need to begin employing a full time marketer, almost as the fifth member of the band.” Since I own a new media marketing firm, this works for me! It was repeated by Dave Allen, the bass player from Gang of Four (my long-time readers may remember this post about how Gang of Four is one of my top bands of all time, so that is extra-sweet), and then Corey Denis from Rumblefish said it yet again on the Marketing panel.

It’s not a far leap to say I agree fully with this. My company has worked with hundreds of artists over the past 5 years and we see no signs of slowing - it’s quite the opposite, a continuous challenge to grow as fast as this segment of the industry is. There are so many new marketing avenues daily, and so many artists are getting clued in to what it takes to survive in the evolving music biz.

So Tim, Dave, and Corey - Thanks!

More Info
Tim Westegren - Pandora.com
Dave Allen - Pampelmoose.com
Corey Denis - Rumblefish.com

Another example of the types of online promotions my company develops, we’re working with the classic punk band The Meatmen who have recently resurfaced, hit the road, reissued some CDs, have a DVD of rarities on the way, and are set to record a new CD later this year.

We’ve set up a promo with Fuzz.com, an independent music community, where the band is taking over the entire site for today. They are offering free downloads, an exclusive video, a career retrospective, an exclusive interview, and much more.

Check it out at http://www.fuzz.com

Been an amazing two days.

Went down to the Jimmy Kimmel taping on Tuesday, where the ultimate human, Neil Diamond showered us with awesome rays during a 4 song outdoor set. The new single Pretty Amazing Grace, Cracklin’ Rosie, Solitary Man, and Cherry Cherry. Hell yeah. We were three people back from the stage, slightly left of center. The man himself was no more than 15 feet away, I think that’s what it feels like when you see the image of Jesus in your toast.

His band was stellar as always, I’ve seen Neil live twice before and I give both shows an A+. I met his bass player a few years ago at NAMM, he’s been with Neil for ages (as has much of his band) and they just get better all the time.

So after the performance, we went home and watched American Idol where Neil was the mentor and all the contestants performed his songs. Some were great, some were travesties, but the segments with Neil coaching them were all fun to watch.

Wednesday night was the Idol eliminations where the contestants did a fairly poor Neil medley (amazing songs, cheese performance), and then later Neil came out and performed / talked to the contestants. He gave some great advice on career longevity, something he is truly an expert in. He’s had one hell of a career, read about it on his Wiki page.

I really can’t get enough Neil. I remember being six years old and hearing my parents rocking Neil Diamond cassettes, especially on long road trips. I’ve been a hardcore fan since I can remember, and hope that someday my marketing company will get to be involved in a Neil project. I don’t care if it is back catalog, a new release, or something different altogether, working with (or near) Neil would really be one of the top accomplishments in life.

Neil’s Official Site
The New CD
The New CD (Deluxe Edition)

I stumbled across my old profile page from when i was a DJ and Music Director at KUNV, the radio station on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas where I spent 3 of my 5 college years. This is from February 12, 1997. Pay special attention to how fast a computer rocked my world…

NAME: The Reverend MC Satan
SHOW: The Still Hour
WHEN: Sunday, Midnight - 2 A.M.
STYLE: Gothic, Industrial, Darkwave, Experimental…

But my friends just call me … when they need computer advice.. hehe

A Description? But of course… Pretty much a gothy, computer geek, internet spod…

I discovered the magic sounds of the Rock Avenue … while trying to get the Misfits played.. around..1990?

I’ve been paying my KUNV dues since … August ‘94.. Music Director September ‘95 - January ‘97.

The best thing about being a KUNV DJ is … forcing people to listen to kinds of music they are unaware of, whether they like it or not! I push the buttons people!!

The worst thing about being a KUNV DJ is … 4,791 requests for the *same* Dead Kennedys song every night.

The music I love … Older goth, newer non-cheese goth, some industrial, newer ethereal stuff… finally getting into Projekt artists..

The absolutely greatest bands are … Sisters of Mercy, Fields of The Nephilim, Corpus Delicti, Lycia, Christian Death (most Rozz and even some Valor..), Prick, Cranes, Death In June, Current 93, Cure, Skinny Puppy, etc… Links to most of these bands to come soon

5 Necessary Albums… Fields of The Nephilim “Elizium” - Sisters Of Mercy “First and Last and Always” - Death In June “Rose Clouds Of Holocaust” - Christian Death “Catastrophe Ballet” - Neil Diamond “*ANYTHING*”

The most overrated bands are … Any “punk” band whose members were 6 when the Germs and The Clash were in existence..

The song lyrics I live my life by … “I can wait a long, long time before I hear another love song…” - Sisters of Mercy — “You need yourself to set yourself free” - Wail Of Sumer

In my youth I had … A Cure poster and a Minor Threat tape… More computer knowledge than toys… A lot of stuffed animals…

Hey, it is incredibly deluxe … when code compiles with no errors, when i have food in my house (and/or stomach)

It TOTALLY pisses me off … when hosts and gateways don’t respond… when i forget the “;” at the end of a line… when my major gets pushed back *another* year…

My problems stem from being denied … a good computer in high school… I could have become a computer geek 4 years earlier!!

I am most influenced by … a little red angel that sits on my shoulder…

I have this recurring dream … that every time “Cradle Of Love” by Billy Idol comes on the radio, a small dog bites my arm and won’t let go until the end of the song…

My unusual behavior … is never seen becuase I am usually at home on my computer…

I socially interact … through the internet… telnet vivid.net 7979… look for seraphim… hehehe…

My fantasies and uncontrollable urges … tend to have to do with C++, Pentium 200 Mhz, and Sabrina Satanna!!!!!!!

Occasionally, I suffer hallucinations … but then I remove my head from inside the screen and my finger from the socket…

My philosophy is … 1) It’s all about intent… What do you *intend* to do? That’s how to judge a person. That is how to judge yourself… 2) You can learn anything, you can do anything.. that unused 93% of your brain must be good for something…

According to the UK’s Guardian Unlimited Blog, 58% of music in the US is not paid for.

It’s an interesting read, one part I found quite interesting (and logical, and telling, and an opportunity for those that are open to it) is:

The New York Times’s Bits blog quotes Russ Crupnick, who runs NPD’s music service: “The number of people who do peer to peer in 2007 versus 2006 has been stable,” he said. “The number of files taken per users has increased significantly.” This is because of the shift of many users from Limewire to BitTorrent, which makes it easier to download whole albums.

Also VERY interesting:

Apple iTunes digital music sales are still 10 times that of AmazonMP3 on a unit basis, but differences in their consumer demographic profiles are telling. According to NPD’s initial consumer surveys, 64% of the AmazonMP3 unit sales were traced to males compared to 44% for iTunes. AmazonMP3 showed unexpected strength among young adults (consumers aged 18 to 25), but only 3% of their customers were teens (age 13 to 17). In contrast the iTunes Music store sold nearly a fifth (18%) of its music to teens. It should also be noted that iTunes has a strong franchise in gift cards used by teens, and Amazon has a relatively small base of teen CD buyers.. Read the whole article here.

So my company is promoting the new Asia CD “Phoenix” (available 4/15/08). It’s the original supergroup lineup and is exactly what one would hope the output would be.

The band is streaming a live concert the night of release, and via some simple flash code anyone can embed it in any website or blog. This is some seriously intelligent use of the web and digital assets. We’ve been reaching out to rock and progressive sites/blogs, and we’re getting people to embed it. It’s great - the site has awesome content that is pre-built and easy to add, their visitors get to see a live Asia show (branded as “brought to you by” the site), and we get widespread exposure.

Here’s the code for anyone that wants to embed it or check it out:

<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="425" height="355" id="SyncLiteFS" align="middle"> <param name="movie" value="http://lite.SyncLive.com/SLLiteWeb/home/Player/SyncLiteFS.swf?showid=20068&autoplay=true" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed src="http://lite.SyncLive.com/SLLiteWeb/home/Player/SyncLiteFS.swf?showid=20068&autoplay=true" width="425" height="355" allowFullScreen="true" quality="high" name="SyncLiteFS" align="middle" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" /></object>

And here it is in action:

I’m a sucker for lists, especially when it equates to a music playlist I’d want to hear. I’ve recently redefined myself as a drummer (after being a guitarist for 18 years), so I am listening to as much of the drum essentials as possible.

This site has compiled what they feel are the 100 Greatest Studio Drum Performances, and I have to admit it’s a pretty solid list. The whole thing can be seen at that link, but here’s the top 20:

1. Moby Dick - John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
2. Toad - Ginger Baker (Cream)
3. Ticks And Leeches - Danny Carey (Tool)
4. 21st Century Schizoid Man - Michael Giles (King Crimson)
5. La Villa Strangiato - Neil Peart (Rush)
6. Erotomania - Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater)
7. Cobwebs And Strange - Keith Moon (The Who)
8. Tarkus - Carl Palmer (ELP)
9. Hot For Teacher - Alex Van Halen (Van Halen)
10. Heart Of The Sunrise - Bill Bruford (Yes)
11. Jesus Christ Pose - Matt Cameron (Soundgarden)
12. Fire - Mitch Mitchell (Jimi Hendrix)
13. Aja - Steve Gadd (Steely Dan)
14. Space Truckin - Ian Paice (Deep Purple)
15. By-Tor And The Snow Dog - Neil Peart (Rush)
16. A Quick One - Keith Moon (The Who)
17. Wipeout - Ron Wilson (Surfaris)
18. Dharma For One - Clive Bunker (Jethro Tull)
19. Rosanna - Jeff Porcaro (Toto)
20. One More Red Nightmare - Bill Bruford (King Crimson)

What do you think? Agree, disagree, what’s missing??

I’ve registered for and will be attending both Digital NARM and San Fran MusicTech 2 in San Francisco in May. I like to mention these conferences as much as possible as I cannot emphasize enough how useful they are to people at almost all phases of their music business careers. So much of the networking starts (and re-energizes) at these events. It’s not rocket science - you get a bunch of music biz people in the same room and magic happens. Not every conference is right for every person or position, but in the big picture I’ve never come home from a conference without meeting people with shared interests.

Check out the conference pages here:
NARM
SF MusicTech

If any of you are attending, please let me know!