Music Business Blog by Jason Feinberg

Great article over at the Wired Blog – Music Industry Gurus’ Five Point Plan to Save their Business

Plenty of discussion on who came to these conclusions and how, but to sum them up –

1. Music needs to be bundled with other products and entertainment packages
2. Labels needs to experiment with new release schedules and formats
3. Free doesn’t mean no money
4. Change the charts
5. Trust the DJ

It’s an interesting read, and I agree with the majority of it. The bottom line from my perspective is that experimentation and throwing away all the traditional rules is essential moving forward. The Internet and other new media has introduced near-infinite new avenues for marketing, revenue, and distribution. Get on board now, folks!

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)