Meet Me in NYC, Nova Scotia, St Louis

Would you like me to come to your city and speak? Maybe I will. Read on ...

It looks like I'll be in New York City the weekend of December 9 & 10 for the Global Entertainment & Media Summit. It'll be held at the Laugh Factory in Times Square. My panel is scheduled for Dec. 10 at 2 PM. Go here for more details: www.globalentertainmentnetwork.com


While I'm in the Big Apple, I'd love to organize another speaking event and meet some of my longtime readers -- like you, if you're in the area. And that's where I can use your help ...

Do you know of an association, school, store, or studio in the NYC area that would like to host a marketing workshop by yours truly? Ideally, the event would draw at least 50 people. The evening of Dec 10 or 11 would probably be best. If you have an idea, send an email to Bob AT TheBuzzFactor.com and let me know.

Or if you simply would like to attend such an event in the area, let me know and I'll put you on a special email list and let you know where I'll be.

In New York I plan to talk about social networking and "The New Rules of Internet Music Marketing." I'm taking that same workshop this weekend (Nov. 11-12) to Nova Scotia, Canada, where I'll speak at White Point Beach Resort during Nova Scotia Music Week. Visit www.musicnovascotia.ca/default2.asp for details.

And on Monday, Nov. 20, I will present the same workshop in my hometown of St. Louis, MO. It'll be held at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar, 63112, 7 to 9 PM. To register, just visit www.vlaa.org/workshops.asp and scroll down to "The New Rules of Internet Music Marketing." Or call 314-863-6930.

In 2007, I plan to take my message on the road a bit more. So let me know about speaking opportunities in your city. Especially places like Chicago, Nashville, Memphis or Kansas City. You never know, maybe I'll come to your town and get to meet you in person.

-Bob

John Legend: Success Without Radio

John Legend sold more than 1.7 million copies of his last album, Get Lifted, in the U.S., but he has yet to put out a single that gets major radio play.


So says the Wall Street Journal, by way of an item on Kurt Hanson's "Radio And Internet Newsletter." Legend's new album, Once Again, was just released to rave reviews -- but still no significant airplay. Turning again to the WSJ article ...

"A growing number of musicians are marketing singles and sometimes turning them into hits without the support of radio, at least initially. Radio still matters -- a recent report by Mercury Radio Research, a company that studies the industry, found that the medium is still the primary way people discover new music. But other methods are making inroads ... Panic! At the Disco, a Nevada rock band, got an early push from Purevolume, a music fan site, and the social networking site MySpace."

Here's the interesting thing:

"The online attention spurred radio stations to play Panic! At the Disco's music and fans to buy their albums and attend their shows."

Lesson: In the old days, radio was the main thing that spread new music and created hits. Today, radio is much less important than it once was, but it can still help a great deal. The key to getting radio airplay these days is to first make a splash in another medium: online, live shows, print media or TV exposure.

Grant Robertson at the Digital Music Weblog reported on this story as well. He pointed out John Legend's previous stint as a consultant for a Boston consulting group, then remarked ...

"This is so important for any up and coming musician to understand. You may be bright, hot and talented but today's music business requires you to be a sharp business person as well. Certainly, those with business or marketing skills are at an advantage but, increasingly, those without face greater hurdles to expansion."

Take heed!

-Bob

Music Business Radio: The Dave & Bob Show

This past summer I took a drive to Nashville and spent some time in the studio as a guest on David Hooper's Music Business Radio show. It aired a week ago Sunday in Nashville and is now available as a podcast.

On the show we talk about what music marketing really is, how to double (and even triple) your music income, and the biggest mistakes artists make with their press kits. You can download an MP3 of the show using this link or subscribe to the podcast with iTunes using this link.

Hats off to whomever edited this show. I remember not being particularly articulate that day in the studio (see this picture). Perhaps it was engineer Dan Buckley who painstakingly removed all my mumbles and stumbles and made me sound like a silver-tongued expert.

In any event, enjoy the show. We had fun doing it.

-Bob

Knocking Music Fans Off the Fence

When it comes to generating music income from your web site, you must start thinking of the fans who visit your site as falling into one of three categories:

1. People who will buy from you no matter what

2. People who have no intention of spending any money on you

3. People who are on the fence about making a purchase

People in that first category are often your hard-core fans who just found out about a new recording or piece of merchandise you have available. And they want it now. These people have already made up their minds to buy from you, and they go to your web site with the direct intent to make a purchase. These are quite likely some of your favorite fans.

People in the second category are the musical version of tire-kickers. They're looking for freebies or are simply nosing around the Internet checking out new music -- with no intention of parting with their money. And that's fine. You shouldn't curse these people. While they won't buy your music or merch, they may very well talk about you to people who will. And that's a good thing.

It's the people in that fickle third category -- the fence-sitters -- that I suggest you spend more time thinking about. They have money to spend, and are actually considering spending it on you. Some of them actually end up clicking the "Buy Now" button. But some of them -- perhaps a lot of them -- end up clicking away from your site. An opportunity for both of you lost.

So, what can you do to persuade those people on the fence?

A money-back guarantee? A special bonus offer? A discount if they act now? A more appealing description of what your music will do for them? A better song sample?

Take a long look at your music and sales pages. What would it really take to knock a music fan off the fence and into the purchase side of your yard?

-Bob

P.S. A couple of chapters in Guerrilla Music Marketing, Encore Edition go into depth examining how to sell more music and merchandise, both online and off.

Hits and Misses vs Hits and Niches

I've written about Chris Anderson and his Long Tail blog before. I finally got around to reading his new book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More. It's a real eye-opener. Do yourself a favor and go to Amazon or wherever and get a copy, because in it he writes at length about the changing face of the entertainment industries.

Here's the Long Tail concept in a nutshell:

For decades, we lived in a scarcity economy. We got introduced to new music, books and films via retail outlets, radio, TV and print publications. But all of these avenues of exposure had physical limitations. There was only so much shelf space, air time and editorial pages to fill. So, in order to appeal to the widest audience and turn a profit, only those things that were determined to be most popular were stocked or covered.

This lead to a cultural mentality that a band, book or movie was either a big hit or a giant dud. There was little ground in between the two extremes of popularity. You were either part of the system ... or an outsider.

Then came online retailers such as Amazon and Netflix, which were not constrained by the physical space limitations of traditional sellers. For example, the average Borders bookstore carries about 100,000 titles, while Amazon offers nearly 4 million book titles. The average Blockbuster carries about 3,000 DVDs, while Netflix offers close to 60,000.

And guess what? About 25% of the total revenues on Amazon and Netflix come from products not available in retail stores. Yes, from titles outside the "hit list." Anderson's overwhelming research concludes that, when given unlimited choice (along with the ability to filter through the choices), people will stray from the hits and spend a considerable amount of money on non-mainstream products.

Unfortunately, the old scarcity business model is so ingrained in our culture, it has lead to many unfounded beliefs, such as:

• If it isn't a hit, it's a miss
  
  
• The only success is mass success
  
  
• "Independent" = "They couldn't get a deal"
  
  
• "Self-published" = bad
  
  
• Low-selling = low-quality
  
  
• If it were good, it would be popular

Luckily, a growing number of creative entrepreneurs are figuring out ways to make the most of this new "abundance economy" -- where practically everything is available to the public, where the cream rises to the top based on what consumers actually want, and where you can make an impact (and a living) without ever ranking on the Billboard Hot 100.

So, what kind of world do you want to live in? One of scarcity, hits and misses? Or one of abundance, hits and niches?

The choice is ultimately up to you.

-Bob

P.S. To make the most of the abundance economy, you simply must squeeze everything you can out of Internet promotions. I just completely revised and updated my popular special report 50 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Music on the Internet. Take a look at this guide and the free bonuses that come with it.

Online Music Video Promotion: New How-To Guide

Have you seen the treadmill video from Ok Go? It was a simple but creative concept that spread like crazy online and primed music fans for the band's debut CD release.


Or how about the regular video clips published by indie artist Terra Naomi? During a two-month period in 2006, webcam music videos she produced in her apartment were viewed 2.5 million times on YouTube. Because of this exposure, Terra sold 2,000 copies of her new CD in eight days.

No doubt about it ...

Video Is Huge on the Internet

Over the past six months video has exploded online. YouTube alone now delivers about 100 million videos a day to its users. And much of it is music.

Are you making the most of this new online music promotion opportunity?

To help you create, promote and profit from online video, I just published a 22-page, info-packed special report called "How to Use Video to Promote Your Music Online."

To learn more about it (and get a special discount), please visit this special page:
www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-video-promotion.html

Here's just some of what you'll find in this one-of-a-kind report:

• 9 ways to produce music videos on a shoestring budget
  
  
• 4 places to find indie film directors who will produce your music videos at no cost
  
  
• 14 Music Video Themes you can use to create clips your fans will love (many of these will surprise you)
  
  
• 28 places to host and stream your videos online for free

Don't sit on this. Online music video promotion is hot. Get the ideas and tools you need to make the most of it. Visit this web page before you get distracted:

www.bob-baker.com/buzz/music-video-promotion.html

-Bob

Choose Your Words Carefully

Timing is everything. Just yesterday I published a post about learning from failure. Then this morning I open up today's DailyOM, an ezine I subscribe to. Here's part of the message:

The word failure puts forward a very simplistic way of thinking that allows for only two possibilities: failure or success. Few things in the universe are black and white, yet much of our language reads as if they are. The word failure signifies a paradigm in which all subtlety is lost.

When we regard something we have done, or ourselves, as a failure, we lose our ability to see the truth, which is no doubt considerably more complex. In addition, we hurt ourselves. All you have to do is speak or read the word failure and see how it makes you feel ...

When you are consciously aware of the word and its baggage, you will not fall victim to its darkness. In your own use of language, you may choose to stop using the word failure altogether. This might encourage you to articulate more clearly the truth of the situation, opening your mind to subtleties and possibilities the word failure would never have allowed.

Read the entire DailyOM message here.

-Bob