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Mika Schiller is a writer for the Indie music website MADE and he writes about where the music industry’s headed and how it relates to the Independent Music artist. He gives irreverent career and personal development advice to the Indie music artist. For more great writing and irresistible advice, along with a free report on effective MySpace music marketing, please visit http://www.letsgetmade.com
The Silver Rule Of Music Marketing
I was approached by this guy the other day. He hollered at me from across the street. It happened at night, so I couldn’t really make out his face, but I could see that he had on a backwards baseball cap, baggy jeans and a CD in his hand.
He said, “Yo man, can I talk to you real quick?…” I thought to myself, “Oh shit. Not another numnuts trying to sell me a CD out of his car trunk.”
By the way, if you approach your customers by saying, “Yo man…” I suggest you stop it. Like, now. It’s kind of rude if you get my drift.
So anyway, this guy asked me if I wanted to buy his album. I said “No” and went home.
I’ve got to say though, I felt kind of sorry for him because he was trying hard. I’ve got a soft spot for people who do their own thing and who hustle. And I hate rejecting people
But this guy’s problem was that he broke one of the major rules of marketing anything. It’s this: Don’t appear weak.
You see, people basically buy for three different reasons. Think about these reasons the next time you try to sell something to your fans. I didn’t come up with these, by the way. They were laid out by the famous marketer and copywriter Bob Bly. He said prospects pay premium prices because:
1) They want or need what you are selling
2) They perceive your product or service as exclusive and difficult to get.
3) They believe that if they do not act quickly, it will be snapped up by others and therefore not available.
By crawling up to me in the street and shoving his CD in my face instead of me going to him because I like his music, the young man I encountered in the street showed me that he’s got a surplus of what he’s selling. So that makes me think to myself, hmm…how good could it be? By not appearing scarce, he broke rules number two and three.
The golden rule of marketing is this: “Get people to come to you rather than you going to them.” It’s the entire idea behind search that turned Google into a multibillion dollar company.
Mass advertising is what most of us over the age of about 10 have grown up on, but times are changing. Marketing must be personal now because the Internet allows people to find an unlimited number of options other than you. The way you compete now is by being more likeable.
I can easily walk away from you now because I’ll just get on Google to find what I need.
In 2009, my friends, there is no excuse for you to shove your message or your product down people’s throats. Also be careful about some of the advice being given out there about how you should promote yourself at shows. There’s one website I read recently by a former indie music artist, who should know better, which recommended that you stamp your website address on people’s hands at the gate. That way when they get home, they’ll log on to your site and love it and love you and send you adoring letters and flowers until the end of time…
DO NOT even think about doing that! The crowd will chase you out with pitchforks. And worse, you’ll wreck your brand. The way you make people come to your shows and your website is by becoming an authority in their minds. Authority is honey. It attracts all the hungry little bees.
You become an authority by producing great music and great content and by being authentic. People like people, not salesmen. Talk to them. Give them something first and then they’ll reward you.
Four Important Music Industry Trends You Need To Follow
The degree to which the music industry has ignored the future is criminal. It’s hurt a lot of people. It’s confused a lot of Indie Music types. Including maybe you. Think about American Idol. Here’s a hugely popular show that propagates the dusty old notion that music is still about “getting signed.”
That notion is a virus that will corrupt your mind if you engage it strongly enough. And I have no doubt that far too many of you still have this virus planted somewhere in the dark shadows of your mind. Maybe you’ve already accepted that the music industry changed changed over the last 8 years. Maybe you already understand that the labels are screwed.
Or maybe you keep reminding yourself, “Indie or Die!” You accept with zeal that what the labels used to do for you, you must now do yourself…the marketing, the promoting, the mixing…it’s all in your hands now. But, but…at the back of your mind, there’s still a hushed little voice that says, “maybe I’ll get signed.” Or “maybe the labels will figure it all out.”
I must admit though, over the last 40 years, the music industry has done a masterful job of branding itself as the Gate Keeper. The demi-God. The Adonis. And that branding has still got many people by the balls. But it’s beginning to loosen its grip and break down. Breathe easy now.
Walk with me into the future. There you’ll learn that everything you’ve ever hated about the music industry has fallen apart. From radio, to lack of talent, to fake glamour, to Beyonce’s L’Oreal face. It’s finally about the music now.
To be the future, you have to think the future. There are many lessons that you, the all-powerful Indie music artist can learn and apply from the collapse of the music industry. Here’s a few, which I think are the most important. Burn them into your memory:
ATTENTION IS YOUR GREATEST ASSET
There’s too many musicians making to much music that people don’t have time to hear. There’s too many people producing ideas and things that people don’t want to consume. There’s too much email. Too much information. There’s too much clutter in people’s lives and not enough time.
It’s becoming harder and harder to get people’s attention. But if you can get someone to pay attention to what you have to say or what you have to offer for even just 5 minutes, and you manage to do this over and over, then you’ve acquired a valuable asset. You’ve acquired their undivided attention. And with that attention comes the opportunity to build trust.
If you can do that with 10,000 people, then you have 10,000 fans. The old way, the major label way, was to find fans for the music. The new way is to make great music for your fans; your tribe. You don’t need all that many of them either. You just need a few who trust you and love you. That’s attention. And that’s your most valuable asset in music 2.0.
MUSIC CAN BE COPIED, COMMUNITY CAN’T
The RIAA once maintained that copying a CD to your computer amounts to making an illegal copy. What’s next? Remembering a song is copyright infringement? The RIAA is a gang. They’re an old school gang, and they’re 20 years behind the curve. The RIAA is made up of a bunch of crusty record execs living on an analog acid dream. They think that music can still be protected. The way a mother protects her child.
You on the other hand should give less than a shit about protecting your music because you can’t. Don’t waste your time trying. Plastic and vinyl are becoming obsolete, so there’s no value derived from scarcity anymore. You can’t make your music scarce because the Internet won’t let you. And things that aren’t scarce naturally have less value.
But the things that do have value are you and the community and interactivity you create. Your shows and your fan community are the things that have value today because they are scarce and hard to produce. Albums aren’t. Remember, you don’t need a huge following to create value. Just a following that adores you.
DIGITAL IS THE FUTURE
Most of the kids born in the last 10 years will never buy a CD or subscribe to a magazine. They live in a digital world. They are the consumers of the future. Forget CDs and albums.
In the future, to engage these consumers, you too will have to embrace digital. Think mp3s. And remember, your music should never be thought of as a stand-alone product. It’s now a service. A song is relatively easy to produce and easy to replicate. It holds little value. It should exist to create community and interactivity.
FORGET ABOUT “MAKING IT”. THINK MARKETING
Success in the digital music era will go to the best marketers. Don’t get me wrong, good music is still extremely important and will always be. But if you don’t have proper marketing, you might as well live in a black hole where nothing is seen, heard or felt.
The days of showing up to the record label and outsourcing your marketing are over. Done. Thank almighty God.
Marketing is the one thing you can’t neglect. Embrace marketing and especially teach yourself traditional marketing. Social network sites matter a great deal, but are of limited use if you can’t combine them with traditional online marketing channels. Remember, you actually need to talk to your people through controlled messages. Not the vomit that passes for conversation on many social networking sites. Think websites, email and good sales copy. Solid marketing will always be your ticket to success.
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