Musicadium Blog

We read this article at NME in the Musicadium office this morning and we were left scratching our heads a little.  Just what is Prince thinking when he makes statements like this?

Just how is the internet dead? With CD sales plummeting and Digital sales rising, as well as the rise of the independent artist and their ability to promote via the internet, it seems to be just the beginning of the ways the internet can help artists.  The partnership between the internet and the music industry is really only just going through the teething phase.  Yes, there are problems, but it is still very much infant age and certainly not aged, senile or dead.

In an interview with The Daily Mirror, the singer said his stance on technology is the main reason why his new album ‘20Ten’  will not be available for download online.

“The internet’s completely over,” he explained. “I don’t see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won’t pay me an advance for it, and then they get angry when they can’t get it.

Ok, Prince. This article does serve to show the divide between the old and new music industry.  The divide seems to sit at about 1999 and 2001, the lost years of pre-iTunes/iPods, post-Napster.  Advances from labels pre-1999 were commonplace and Prince is obviously accustomed to this sort of treatment, but surely he can see those days are over?

So - Prince wants an advance from iTunes on sales.  While of course, iTunes could afford an advance of royalties to Prince, why should they take the risk? In this environment, they don’t really need Prince to continue to turn a profit.  Prince, why not make it available in digital stores for those who want to buy it in that format, sell loads and turn a profit anyway?  The long tail of the majority of artists do not get advances from anywhere and just get on with being an artist - why are you entitled?

The article goes on to say that he will be releasing his new album 20Ten via a redeem code in newspapers (presumably in stores for the CD).  With CD stores in the state that they are in (closures everywhere due to lost revenue) does he expect bricks and mortar retailers to give him an advance? Surely they have less money to give and more to risk?

If the redeem code gives the user a download code where it is redeemed at Prince’s website to claim, then this would be more innovative and clever.  Hopefully, Prince is not completely off the idea of the internet in general and can use it from his own website to capture user data to inform his choices about touring. The redeem code is a great idea, especially being that it will mean that each of those codes will result in a “sale” for Prince, virtually assuring the album will chart highly.   However, it seems that his statement that the “internet is dead” means he’s not overly open to the idea.

Here’s hoping that Prince sees new opportunities using the internet to spread his music in the future, as it will certainly go on living without him.  I am sure the internet will have him back when he chooses to jump back on board.

Last year at Brisbane’s annual Music Conference Big Sound (Check out this year’s plans - the speaker lineup looks epic and it’s being programmed by friend of Musicadium, Graham Ashton), Musicadium partnered with Dr David Carter to produce a look into what promotional activities help to drive online and digital music sales.  The findings were pretty awesome and they were presented to the entire conference.  It was talked about at South by SouthWest and also featured on HypeBot and Billboard.

You can download the PDF file of the report and the findings from here: http://www.musicadium.com/promotions/107-online-marketing-research-paper

Part of those findings was that offline presence and promotion was still and always has been a vitally important part of the mix of publicising a band. Here’s what the report had to say:

Artists ‘Off-Line’ Profile
Artists profile within the Australian music industry was also considered as part of the documentation of their online activities. Each artists profile was assessed qualitatively based on a combination ‘off-line’ factors such as how many years they had been performing for; how regularly and at what venues they were currently performing; frequency and type of press / media coverage; radio and television airplay and; if they were touring nationally or internationally. An artists profile was described as either low (recently formed, infrequent performance, little or no identifiable media coverage and airplay); emerging (generally formed within the last three years, frequent performance in small to medium size venues, some media coverage in street press or national media, some radio airplay, some interstate touring) or; established (generally formed more than three years ago, regular performance in medium to large size venues, regular coverage in national media, prominent radio airplay, interstate and international touring commitments). Those artists with an established profile received proportionally higher royalties, than those with an emerging or low profile.

This morning, I read this article at HypeBot regarding the Portland, US band The Dirty Mittens and their offline promotions idea of having punch cards that they give away when handing out their demo EP.  The card has an attractive design and the premise is that if you attend any 5 live gigs, you are entitled to a special reward (which they have said could be anything from a kiss from an eligible band member to a piece of merch).

As the HypeBot article states, this practice is actually so simple, it’s a wonder no-one had done it before (or at least got widespread notoriety from it.)

So what’s the lesson to be learned here?  While digital and online marketing is so incredibly important in this environment, genuine interaction at shows with fans and offline promotions (posters, street press editorial, reviews etc) and also campaigns IRL “in real life” are vital to be a whole package.

Even more important, it’s still all about having great songs to put out into the world.

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/07/dont-forget-the-power-offline-promotion.html is the link to the original article.

Probably one of the most frequent questions we get at Musicadium when chatting about the best/most cost-efficient ways  of promoting a release or a band to drive sales in online stores is “What’s social media and why do I need it?”.  To further that question, once that has been answered, inevitably, the followup to that is:

“What’s the best combination of social media to use for a band?”

Glad you asked. The answer to this question is pretty simple - whatever works for your band.  Truth be told, we’ve probably told this little tale before, but as is the case with social media, this information updates so often, it’s worth re-visiting pretty regularly.  There are merits to putting in the effort and having a number of social media working for you!

Let’s have a look at a few of them and some points about them!

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com)

Facebook has become the staple of band marketing, now that it has the lion’s share of people using it as their primary social media choice.  As most people are there, it means that you need to be conscious of the way you use it.  Certainly, there is a chance to gain a mass market on Facebook, but in my opinion, this is not to be abused.  It was the mistake that drove people away from MySpace in hordes. Take the time to know your fans and REPLY to every interaction/conversation thread on your page. Engagement and activity drive buzz on Facebook. Get to know where they are from.

ADVICE: when inviting people to events, don’t invite people from other regions to gigs that you KNOW they cannot attend.  Think about whether you would like receiving that invite. How does it make you feel to know that the artist either doesn’t know where you live or does not care?

Get your band/act a Page.  By all means, suggest it to your personal page’s friends, but don’t be pushy.  If they haven’t taken up on your suggestion by the next time you go to do another round of suggestions, don’t suggest to them again. Chances are, they don’t like your band and probably won’t connect with you anyway.  Once you are happy with your page and populated with some friends/fans, concentrate on filling it with engaging content - and you know, playing great live shows so people will have no problems finding you and clicking “Like” on your page.

ADVICE: Experiment with Facebook ads and measure their success.  Define a budget and don’t allow the campaign to exceed that amount.  If you deem it successful, up the budget and the scope and experiment further.

ADVICE: Get yourself a vanity url at http://www.facebook.com/username.

Twitter (http://www.twitter.com)

Twitter is the one social media platform that we are regularly asked: WHAT’S THE POINT?

Well, there is an audience waiting for quality engagement and to connect with you there. Twitter users are usually VEHEMENT supporters of Twitter, which means that while they are probably on Facebook too, they will prefer to be engaged with on Twitter - more time and effort, but content is usually spread quicker and more virally on twitter, meaning your good content can spread further and be picked up and Re-Tweeted by more very quickly.

ADVICE: Decide the reason that you are on Twitter.  You are a band/artist, so generally you are there to discuss your band and music in general, whether it’s other good music or the industry as a whole.

Either way, you are there to engage with potential fans and with industry.  This basically determines the type of people you should follow and who you want to follow you.

MySpace (http://www.myspace.com)

Hmmm, MySpace. Are you really a social media anymore?  With hardly any of the useful “social” facilities and integration of the two new giants (or easily accessible, anyway), Facebook and Twitter, it hardly seems fair to compare.  Though it is still the platform that bands use to showcase their music and their gig guide and a last-stop to sales (iTunes and digital sales) etc. Certainly, fans are still making MySpace their first stop to view a band’s music, but are rarely logging in to worry about “Friending” that band anymore.  It is mostly listeners, but hopefully, if they like your music, will connect with you at the point of most convenience to them - probably Facebook.  To wit, it’s basically an EPK for your band.  Check your messages etc on there, but don’t stress about having the millions of “friends” you thought you used to have on there. Everyone knows it doesn’t mean too much.

YouTube (http://www.youtube.com)

YouTube is an endless possiblity for marketing and viral spread of your content. If you have a video camera or even a webcam and basic video-editing software (most operating systems, Windows or Mac, have entry-level editing software) you can create a Youtube show around your band.  Upload into your channel and group all of your videos together.  Give people a reason to watch and spread the word about it on facebook, twitter etc, embed on your myspace.  Watch the views go up!

ADVICE: Start a Youtube Channel and secure your band name as a URL.  Edit it to reflect your look and feel as a band, even include a background pic to customise.

FourSquare (http://www.foursquare.com)

FourSquare is a newer platform designed around “checking in” to venues and places.  It can be linked to Facebook and Twitter to share socially where you are.  This can all serve to add character to your band’s online persona and definitely makes your band more accessible, so make sure that your band members are up for being accessible to more people and that people will know some of your moves as a band.  It is primarily a mobile social media platofrm, but some operations (like setting up your profile) need to be done on a computer.

Others

There are plenty of other social media platforms to explore as a band - check out LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Blog sites such as WordPress, tumblr, blogger and more.

Comment and let us know about any social media platforms that you would like to know more about!

Whyte Zebra’s distinct calling card is a vividly unique sound created in the genre of alternative folk rock. Based in the Central Queensland region of Australia, this five-piece band consists of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Andy Stanhope, drummer Louis Parish, bassist Steve Quinn, violinist Rebecca Romeo and vocalists Jackie Perryer.

Sarah from Musicadium had a chat with Andy and talked about the Central Queensland region and what it’s like for regional artists.

1.    Whyte Zebra have been around for a few years now, and always seem to having something on the go, what’s the secret to your longevity?

Over the last couple of years we’ve released an album and a 4 track single/DVD and both of these releases have been funded by the RADF (Regional Arts Development Fund). Each project as somehow involved other community members or local businesses. I think doing things in conjunction with the local artists and community has helped develop a name and drive more business for Whyte Zebra. We’re all very passionate about music and strive to create even bigger ventures for our regions artists.

2.    You have supported many large Australian act such as, The Living End, Spiderbait, The Butterfly Effect and The Herd. Has there been a stand out favorite, or any interesting stories to tell?

We were lucky enough to perform at the Coconet Classic at Boyne Island last year and it was an awesome feeling to play on the same stage as some of Australia’s best. It would be the biggest festival we’ve played at to date. I think a stand out favourite would be the Yeppoon Village Festival. They get some great artist to perform and it’s a really ‘chilled out’ gig. We all have different stand out favourites however collectively none of us could forget playing after The Fumes and Mammal’s stand out performance at the Classic.

3.    The band is mainly based in Gladstone, did you find this helped or hindered you when you were first starting out? And do you think these regional areas have had any influence on your music?

Starting out it was probably easier to get the standard 4 hour pub/party gigs as there wasn’t too many cover bands in the Gladstone area, but for original music there are limited venues compared to that of the big cities. In the last 24mths our region has seen an explosion of really amazing original artist, many of which have developed further opportunities to play original music, like The Coconet Classic.  In this day and age with social networking sites you could be a “fan” of an artist who plays a world away so the exposure is not limited to just Gladstone. That’s what makes touring all that more exciting.  I think the region has had a large influence on our music evident in our film clip to ‘Double or Nothing’. Without the support from the local community and artists we certainly wouldn’t be having this much fun.

4.    You have mentioned that you are really keen to host a number of workshops throughout Australia in the coming year, what will these involve?

This year we’ve had the pleasure to work with some really cool young and old muso’s at local events, festivals and even remote gigs. We’re looking forward to the festivals later in the year to run some more workshops.  We run a few different workshops including song writing, alternate guitar tuning and a musician establishment workshop to help people get a kick start in their career by providing them the info they need to get an ABN, set up a website and book gigs etc…

5.    To all new listeners out there, where would you say the perfect environment to listen to your music is?

Probably on the back veranda with a quite ale or two on a Sunday afternoon. “Music for fly-swatting back-porch days” as described by Anna Angel, RAVE Magazine March 2010.

Check out WHyte Zebra’s music on or at their MySpace!

Last week we held our 6th With Digital Love showcase at Barsoma and are pleased to report that it was amazing. We were graced with performances by three awesome bands on the night - My Escapade opening the stage with a performance that turned almost every head in the venue, The Belligerents who had the place dancing up a storm and then Elke bringing it home in style with a stellar show.

We’d like to say a huge thanks to all those who were there to make it such a great night as well as to our guest DJs Tim and Damien. A big shout out also goes to The Last Beatniks who took some awesome photos that you can check out here.

Looking forward to the next one!

Starting this weekend at UnConvention, Musicadium will be fairly upwardly mobile at conferences and events in the coming months - make sure that you come and say hello and have any questions you might have answered!

UnConvention, Brisbane - 12th June, 2010 - http://www.unconventionbrisbane.com/

Sarah and Tim are facilitating a panel at the inaugural Unconvention Oz Conference, to be held from 11th - 13th June, 2010 at SouthBank, Brisbane at the Edge, a state of the art Arts Facility, attached to the State Library.  They will be facilitiating the Music as a product panel, featuring Blair Hughes, Sally McPherson, Jaymis Loveday, Dave Carter and Simon Homer!

Sydney Song Summit, Sydney - 19th- 21st June, 2010 - http://www.songsummit.com.au/speakers/TPrice.html

Tim will be attending Song Summit Sydney from the 19th to the 21st June and speaking on the Digital Distribution 101 Panel on the Monday, 21st June alongside MGM’s Distro guru Sebastian Chase!

APRA Awards, Sydney - 21st June, 2010 - http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards.aspx

Come and socialise and talk digital distribution over a brew at the APRA awards with Tim!

Arts@Work Information Night, Hobart - 22nd June 2010 - http://www.arts.tas.gov.au/

Tim is speaking in Hobart for Arts Tasmania’s Arts@Work information nights Tuesday night 22nd June.  For more information, check the website above!

Emerge Festival, Melbourne - 9th - 11th July, 2010 - http://www.multiculturalarts.com.au/events2010/emerge_main_event.shtml

Sarah and Tim are attending the multicultural arts Victoria event Emerge Festival for workshops all day saturday!  Talking to folks about Digital distribution and marketing!

Amplified 2010 Conference, Hobart - September 3rd - 5th - http://www.arts.tas.gov.au/flash.aspx?id=4583

Tim will be attending the Amplified 2010 Conference in Hobart and speaking on just about every panel there is! Make sure you come and say Hi and get your questions answered!

Big Sound, Brisbane - http://www.qmusic.com.au/bigsound/2010/

Tim and the Musicadium team will be attending Big Sound again this year and we will be networking up a storm!  Say Hi, grab a business card and get amongst the great vibe at Big Sound.

Whew! We’ve been trying to reply to all the responses to our promo!!

We have had an amazing (though not unexpected, due to the great value of the deal!) response to our $100 AUD +GST promotion to distribute your music to all of the new outlets we are bringing on board to Musicadium’s network of stores.

We’ve received quite a few questions and thought it might be best to answer them here for everyone to see!

SO…LET’S GET YOU ON YOUR WAY BY ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS!

• YES…All you need to do is log in to your Musicadium account.  Edit the album you wish to add the outlets to and select Valleyarm as an outlet.  Select your genres and territories and away you go!
  
• YES…included in the outlets are exciting new stores such as Spotify and Guvera
  
• YES…mainstay Telco outlets such as BigPond, Optus, Vodafone and Virgin are included in the deal
  
• YES…niche genre stores such as Beatport and many other new video outlets are included
  
• YES…Musicadium is still non term-based, non-exclusive and we will continue to return 100% of the royalties you earn in every store we distribute to.
  
• YES…the $100AUD+GST fee ensures that you are distributed to the hundreds of stores we have recently brought on board as well as any future outlets that Musicadium signs deals with.
  
• YES…the $100AUD+GST fee is per release. It is not a recurring or yearly fee.
  
• YES…we are sending you, an existing Musicadium customer and family member a special gift that we know you are going to love!
  
• YES…this $100AUD+GST fee will expire at June 25. It will then revert to the standard fee of $179AUD+GST after that date.

Remember, it’s as simple as logging in to your already existing Musicadium account before the 25th of June…

…OR if you are a new customer - Create an account!

I want to add 100s of new outlets

for $100 AUD +GST Now

In the past few days there has been a lot of talk about chartfixer.com and their system to (possibly) get your single into the ARIA charts via having people download your song a set number of times.  We feel that it is our responsibility to clear up a few fallacies about this sort of practice and break down a few facts about what your money is really buying.

According to their website, you can be a musician or a downloader.

A musician being an independent artist or label who has their nominated single in iTunes already and wants to have it chart.

A downloader being anyone who registers.  They are then paid to download your song and they profit as well.  They are paid $3 AUD for $1.69 AUD download in iTunes.

Let’s take the Top 20 Package as an example - for $30000, you will receive 5000 downloads of your single at $1.69 AUD = $8450.
5000 downloads at $3.00 (including fees to pay downloaders) = $15000

Which means you are giving chartfixer.org $15000 for nothing (oh yes, they probably have costs too, such as staff verifying the download etc - but $15000?).

Even using Musicadium as your distributer of your single, where you receive 100% of what the outlet returns to us, you will receive $5000 of your money back, but this is basically spending $25000 of your money on “instant fame” as they claim.

BUT every independent artist should know this - there is no such thing as “instant fame” that will last or have any longevity.  A long-lasting career in the music industry requires planning, infrastructure, money, a support team, resources and long-term endurance and ambition.

Even if you choose to (unwisely) spend this money on chartfixer, you have to realise that getting into the charts with a single requires knowledge, common sense, managerial skills, organisation and strategy on how to capitalise on the chart position.  You will need to tour in support of the single.  You will need to have followup singles prepared and ready to go.  You will need a film clip to support the single, being played on Video Hits, Rage etc, you will need promotional materials, you will need money for advertising and marketing for your tour and so people continue to buy the single.  You will need support staff such as a manager and a booking agent.  Thing is, if you spend this money and pop up out of nowhere, chances are, you are going to stay a “small fish” and people like booking agencies will still not want to take your calls.  These are ongoing relationships and networks that need to be grown.

Do not be fooled into thinking that you can buy your way to anything but disappointment with this website and deal.  We at Musicadium are always endeavouring to give you access to knowledge and resources that allow you to have a long-term career in the new music industry.

With Digital Love,

The Musicadium Team

Musicadium has partnered with Valleyarm to add 100s of new outlets for you to distribute to. Have your music sold in heaps of new digital stores including Spotify, Guvera and Bigpond!

• You’re already on iTunes and perhaps, AmazonMP3, eMusic and Nokia
• There’s 100s of digital stores out there selling music to fans like yours every day
• And artists just like you are bringing in extra revenue from these new, exciting stores
• You can be part of that action too and Musicadium is here to help!

Expose and sell your music to massive new audiences throughout Australia, Asia, Pacific, US, UK, Europe etc in heaps of new stores including …

Spotify, BigPond, Optus, Virgin, Vodafone and Guvera!

There’s no need to pay $39 for every new outlet we bring on board. Simply get them all in one hit! For a limited time, have Musicadium place your release in 100s of new stores around the globe for a once off fee of $100 AUD (ex GST).

Note: after June 25 you can still purchase this distribution offer but it will be around twice the price!

Of course you’ll still be covered by our friendly, flexible distribution agreement meaning…

• we pass on all the royalties we receive to you
• no lock in term contracts
• non-exclusive
• you choose what regions, outlets, genres etc you wish to be in.

With the 100s for 100 promo, get…

• Your release added to stores such as Spotify, BigPond, Optus, Virgin, Vodafone and Guvera and hundreds more new outlets over the next couple of months
• Your release placed in all new stores we continue to bring on board (100s more coming)
• 24×7 access to sales royalty reports and royalty collections in the Musicadium members area
• Option to select the territories and genres to distribute to

And until 25 June 2010 receive all this for…

• $179 $100 AUD excluding GST once only distribution fee which covers all deliveries to all new stores and to those stores we keep adding
• Pay on-line with a credit card or using your PayPal account (happy to accept other payment options too)

For every new store we bring on board, your music will be included in those stores. The more stores we bring on board, the more value your $100 buys!

What do I do next?

The brilliance of this offer is in its simplicity…

• As a Musicadium customer, simply login to your account, edit the outlets for each of your releases, make the once off distribution payment and we’ll take care of the rest!
• For new Musicadium customers, simply create an account, then add your release, make the once off distribution payment and let Musicadium take care of the rest!

Extra Special Bonus for a limited time…

If you purchase within the next seven days (ie by next Thursday 10 June 2010) you’ll also receive:

• Your chosen track included on our brand new compilation album specific to your genre
• The compilation album exclusively promoted and sold through iTunes starting this July
• Valued at $55 but yours free if you purchase before 10 June 2010!

We look forward to getting your music even further out into the world!

Digitally Yours,

The Musicadium team

PS Every existing Musicadium customer taking up this offer also receives a special gift just for being a valued Musicadium family member. Our team has chosen something especially for you!

PPS Maybe you also want to pick up the gaps in your current distribution beyond the original four Musicadium outlets (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Nokia). Dring this 100s for 100 promo, you can add your release to those selected stores for only $9.75 AUD ex GST for each outlet.

PPPS Not yet a Musicadium customer or perhaps you’re an existing customer and want to add another release, then we also have a special offer of $139 AUD ex GST to distribute to all four original Musicadium outlets ( iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Nokia) PLUS to all the new stores including Spotify, Bigpond etc. Just create an account or login and select those outlet options.

Click here to add 100s of new outlets for $100

In less than two weeks, UnConvention Brisbane will bring together some of independent music’s most innovative thinkers to discuss the future of the music industry and strategies for building up our local scene.

Held 12-13 June 2010 at The Edge in Brisbane’s South Bank precinct, the weekend event will comprise panel discussions and networking events focussed around creating sustainable careers within the music industry.

Over 30 key participants from the local independent music scene will appear as guest speakers, including Andrew Stafford (author of Pig City), Paul Curtis (Regurgitator manager / Valve Records founder), Graham Ashton (BIGSOUND executive programmer) and Kellie Lloyd (Screamfeeder bassist and vocalist / Q Music project officer).

Musicadium will also host a panel called “Music as a Product.”

The event will connect Brisbane to independent music scenes across the globe; recent UnConventions have taken place in India, Netherlands, the UK and Colombia. UnConvention UK co-founder, Jeff Thompson, is thrilled by the calibre of speakers appearing at the Brisbane event and the relevance of the program to independent music makers globally: “We’re really excited at the prospect of an UnConvention in Brisbane, which will be our fourth international event, following India, the Netherlands and Colombia. What’s particularly exciting for me is there seems to be some interesting parallels with the music scene in Brisbane and the one here in Manchester: truly vibrant and independent, with a real grass roots impetus. I think a lot of the ideas that come out of Brisbane could be just as applicable to what we’re doing here, and vice versa – in fact, we’re finding that to be the case in a lot of places, from Belfast to Medellin.

The program and calibre of speakers is fantastic, and there will undoubtedly be some innovative and vital insight for artists and music practitioners looking to further their careers. With future UnConventions coming up in Argentina, Brazil, Germany, China and the US, as well as here in the UK, it’s amazing to have the Brisbane scene as part of this ever-growing international community.”

UnConvention Brisbane is a grassroots-led music conference for independent promoters, labels, entrepreneurs, writers, technologists, innovators and artists. The goal of UnConvention Brisbane is to bring together like-minded individuals to discuss the future of independent music and how it will develop and flourish in the technological age.

Access to both days costs $20, and tickets are available via OzTix. For full program details, visit www.unconventionbrisbane.com. In addition to the conference program, a free, all ages public showcase concert will be held at The Edge on Saturday June 12 from 6.30pm, featuring hip-hop/roots collective Laneous and the Family Yah, folk act Lion Island, electronic pop trio Hunz, and indie rock band The Cairos.

More Info:
W: www.unconventionbrisbane.com
T: www.twitter.com/unconventionoz
F: www.facebook.com/unconventionbrisbane
E: unconventionbrisbane@gmail.com