Tom Silverman addressing the crowd at the NMS
(Continued from previous post)
The Second Movement – Expose Yourself! Marketing for the Next Music Business; Myspace, Facebook and Twitter are not enough.
Conductor
- Jon Healy (LA Times)
Players
- Corey Denis (Not Shocking)
- Greg Estes (Mozes)
- Alexandra Patsavas (Chop Shop)
- Derek Sivers (CD Baby)
- Christina Calio (Microsoft Zune)
“Turn off your computer and practice!” – Derek Sivers
Notes from the second movement:
- Corey Denis recommends submitting your music to IndieFeed.com.
- Myspace fan counts are irrelevant. The most accurate gauge of where you’re at is your number of real twitter followers and facebook fans. Inflated numbers added by bots are irrelevant.
- Alexandra Patsavas suggests enlisting the services of a synch agent to get your music placed in film and television. (google ‘sync agent music licensing’)
- Derek Sivers suggests that you need to have some facts in your back pocket when you pitch yourself to the people who can help take you to the next level. Facts take the subjectivity out of the
The Second Movement
equation and give you something to hang your hat on. People are far more likely to listen when you tell them that you sold 5,000 CDs then when you tell them that kids really like your music.
- Great Estes spoke mostly about his company, Mozes, who specializes in mobile marketing. Check ‘em out: Mozes.com.
- Sivers gave an example where a few friends are at a Pizza place doing their thing with the music in the background. They all stop what they’re doing and say “did he just say what I think he just said?!” That’s the kind of reaction you need to get from people he says. You need to slice right through the apathetic inertia of the world and stand out.
- Derek also used the Beatles as an example of why it’s not always a good thing to get maximum exposure from the very beginning. They used to play two sets a night seven nights a week to tough crowds in strip clubs for a long time before they ever appeared on the Ed Sullivan show. They seemed to come out of nowhere, but they had already written over 100 songs and really honed their craft.
“Get involved,” says Corey Denis. “If you don’t want to play an active role in what you’re doing then you might be in the wrong business.”
- FYI – you need to have a physical CD sold on Amazon before you can submit your music to Pandora.
- Don’t waste your time and money with fancy packaging for music submissions. Sivers and Patsavas suggest that fancy packaging is unnecessary and often inversely proportional to substance and quality. Spend your time and money on your music.
- Be ready when your moment comes. Corey Denis mentioned Yael Naim, who’s website was under construction when her song blew up due to being used in a popular Mac Air ad. Don’t let that happen to you! (as a side note – I build websites, so if you should ever find yourself in that kind of situation then hit me up).
Derek Sivers recommends the book Life Is a Contact Sport: Ten Great Career Strategies That Work
by Ken Kragen
- Sivers recalled reading Ken Kragen (Manager- Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers) tell about how he would always try to maximize exposure for an artist by aligning three newsworthy events to happen at around the same time. Artists careers generally consist of a series of plateaus and this strategy, if done right, can create enough momentum to break through to the next level plateau.
- Sivers also had a good example of outside-the-box marketing from one of the artists at CD Baby. She was a sailor who spent 11 months out of the year sailing the world. During the other month she would record songs about sailing. instead of marketing her music where music was marketed, she marketed her music to sailors. She had her music featured and reviewed in boating magazines. She was one of the top selling artists on CD Baby because she went after a precise niche and was able to reach them through a way that was totally unsaturated with music.
“Marketing is now about creativity, not budget” – Derek Sivers
(To be continued….) Click HERE for part 3
Also:
Follow on Twitter:
L.A. Weekly = @laweekly
Derek Sivers = @sivers
Corey Denis = @coreythrace
Chop Shop = @chopshopmusic
Greg Estes = @gregestes5
Independentrockstar = @independentrock
Man I wanted to be there for this but I had work!