New Rules for the New Year: What is coming in the Music
Industry?
We've seen it coming for several years, but it's here full on
and in our faces now...so what do artists do? The word artist
means: "One whose work shows skill." (The American Heritage
Dictionary)
However, with the arrival of unskilled, but nice "artists" being
signed to contracts and marketed to the public and the public is
hearing the call and purchasing their music, what is the secret?
We all know William Hung of American Idol fame. This gentleman
is sweet and seems kind, but frankly, can't sing a note and is
artistically disturbed and challenged to say the least. So how
did he land a record deal and sell over a 100,000 units right
off the block? How is it that even after what would normally be
a one-hit-wonder scenario, the novelty didn't wear off and he
has a Christmas CD out that also sold quite well?
Then we find a Princess on the show Love in the Heir, who can't
sing, can't write, but I am pretty sure will be getting a deal,
if she hasn't already. The credits read, Asylum Entertainment.
Could this be a resurfacing of Asylum Records?
So how do these obscure people get deals and move product when
talented artists can't get a CD on the shelf?
The answer, it's all about marketing. We have heard it time and
time again and that's what it is. A rock packaged and sold as a
rock, is just a rock. But a rock packaged and marketed as a
friend, becomes a cultural phenomenon.
First these companies find a way to pull at our heart strings.
With William, it was his sweet genuine spirit that seemed to say
"I am the underdog, but I don't know it." Everyone loves an
underdog, especially and unknowing one. With Princess Ann, there
is the royalty novelty, but they play up the unspoiled victim
and everyone roots for the vicitim. They have been marketed as
the person next door, the underdog and our friends. We can
personalize and associate with their lives. That grabs us at our
heart strings, which then grabs us in our bank accounts. We dole
money out to help support ourselves really. We are buying the
product because it reminds us of our dreams unrealized. The
marketing has then worked. You have to reach a common ground.
Let me take the word
Statistics have shown that most buys are done from emotional
buying. Not from a planned excursion.
So how can the average Joe grab the marketing media, without
having access to being on a reality show? It's hard, but
obtainable. Tell a story that captures the hearts of the world.
One that they can relate too. You must communicate to the
general public a story that they can relate too. You must give
them a value a reason for buying your product. Let me give you
an example. A simple word picture presented two different ways.
The growth of such a digital delivery system will result in the
balance of power shifting away from large-scale entertainment
companies in favor of musicians no longer dependent upon large
record companies for manufacturing and distribution of the
musician's work. Under the traditional model of distribution,
artists earn around $1.50 per CD, while digital delivery garners
them about $6 for the same CD.
However, the major labels still win out over the indies in the
minor leagues why? Marketing. It's all about marketing and PR.
YOU MUST DO IT. YOU MUST HAVE IT.