Music 2.0: Entreprenurial Exposure

In exploring the blogosphre within the realm of the music industry, I faced several challenges. Most notably, several blogs became gossip discussion boards, or marketing propaganda for bands. Being an entrepreneurial business student and always concerned with the bottom line, this spurred the idea of exploring the relationship between intimacy that bands have with their fans and the exposure effect it has on income streams for artists. Potentially pursuing a managerial or agency position among the music industry, I began to explore what was out there.

The first blog I found was HypeBot. This site chronicles music, technology and the merging new music industry. It was named to cNet News.com's top Blog 100. I began to explore the vast site and landed upon a tag named “Music 2.0 Posts”. This tag had several posts related to the frontier of digital music and the direction of the industry as a whole. I stumbled across an incredible, set of posts titled, “A Guide to the Music Industry in China”. Comprised of three separate sections, author Ed Peto shares his insights as a resident of Beijing and as a local promoter/music consultant. Here I engaged in the potential revenue that can be drawn in the 90% pirated industry suggesting a few different income stream potentials.

The second blog I chose was named Not Evil Music, by Nico Ramon. This Finish site, according to BlogCatalog.com, is a free resource for all musicians, who want to learn about online music marketing, music business and the future of music industry. They also offer online music marketing services for bands and musicians, who don’t have the know-how or the time to create their own website/blog, create profiles on social networking websites or market their music on the Internet. They have the know-how and time, and can maximize the musician’s visibility on the Internet. I chose to engage a recent post, “Facebook Marketing Tactics” touching on increasing such visibility by using the social networking tool Facebook. Here I offered recommendations as well as a reference to my fellow college’s recent marketing post in her blog.

“A Guide to the Music Industry in China”

Comment:

First I would like to thank you for such an insightful post. Your first hand experience in the Chinese music market is invaluable which is reflected within your writing. Your three part series, “A Guide to the Music Industry in China”, was incredibly insightful. I enjoyed the format in which you set up your guide although I would like to share some comments.

First, it sure sounds like physical product in China is pretty much dead. I strongly agree with that statement. Here in the United States, we are under a seven year, ongoing decline in CD sales. With media mediums such as iTunes and Napster successfully emerging in distributing digital entertainment, it seems that it is only a matter of time before physical product essentially becomes obsolete.

Furthermore, I believe one of the stronger points you brought up was the problem with the state-run radio programming. Radio, one of the fundamental marketing tools for music, is necessary for the outreach of new artists and the continued success of superstar artists. If governments continue to monitor the airwaves with such clout, it seems to erect an impossible barrier to entry for any prospective, music-related business attempting to successfully market its products.

So if we can’t sell physical product, digital distribution seems almost just as pirated if not more than the physical product, and we have little to no influence over the FM waves, where is the money in such a lucrative and flourishing business economy such as China? Well, if a new show such as SuperGirl airs in front of 400 million people, who not only watch the programming but also interact through mobile voting, I feel as if the industry may succeed and be able to capitalize on such appeal. Similar to the Superbowl, which according to CNN.com charged an average of $2.7 million dollars for a thirty-second television advertisement spot, China’s music industry could benefit from such advertising revenues. Alongside advertising revenues, such interaction from viewers creates even more steams of revenue. According to a press release made by Cingular Wireless regarding American Idol voting, “If Fox would have offered this service as a premium SMS service, charging a voter 50 cents per vote, the gross revenue could have been $38 million, or $3.2 million per episode, which would probably taken care of the entire production budget for the show.”

All in all, I thoroughly appreciate your expertise and knowledge and look forward to reading more posts from you looking into the future of music.

“Facebook Marketing Tactics”

Comment:

First I would like to thank you for putting together such an interesting, and attractive blog. I must commend you on the simplicity of the layout design; it was very easy to find an article to engage in. With that said, I found your post about using Facebook as an online marketing tool for a musician very insightful. You not only laid out the foundations and basics of what makes an attractive Facebook display, but more importantly, displayed how it can be directly applied to today’s current marketing tactics for up and coming musicians.

Personally, the only online social network that I actively engage in is Facebook. Facebook to me, the collegiate business student from the University of Southern California, has been and continues to be the most efficient way to keep in touch with people I frequently interact with along with past acquaintances. I find it very simple to directly interact, either publicly or privately, among several people in the most efficient manner.

This intimacy among users I believe is the next cornerstone towards marketing musical talent to the mass market. As you stated, the news feed function provides real-time feed to what the band or artist is doing, where they are performing, or even personal pictures being posted up. Contacts may see the artist’s “status”, they may read personal interests, look into posts from other contacts, and post themselves on the bands site. This type of exposure and interaction provides unique marketing strengths with little-to-none overhead spent against the artist’s recoupable marketing budget.

With heightened, intimate exposure, an artist can capitalize on several income opportunities. For instance, with the iLike function, they provide direct links to iTunes stores where an artist can sell legitimized, non-pirated music encouraging a healthy and booming digital download industry. They also can advertise other endorsement plans from several sponsors i.e. apparel which is often heavily associated among several superstar hip hop artists such as P. Diddy (Sean Jean Clothing) and 50 Cent (G-Unit Apparel).

Facebook among other advertising and exposure mediums such as television, radio, and touring all work together to create a synergy with intention to more heavily influence consumers, in contrast to advertising among one or two mediums. In fact, a colleague, and good friend of mine wrote a very interesting and thoughtful article reflecting the strength of such advertising synergies. This can be found at here. Such theories can be applied to enhance the exposure of artists by utilizing such mediums as the television commercial.

All in all, I look forward to reading more posts in the future and thank you again for your efforts to spreading the word.

Kanye West: Savior of Hip Hop?

Some say hip hop is dead, some say that hip hop is alive. Just recently, I have begun to unravel this phenomenon of a declining hip hop industry. After attending the 50th Annual Grammy Awards last night, my perspective and opinions directly changed. Artist, songwriter, producer, and more importantly, hip hop ambassador, Kanye West has revived this industry through not only his intelligent and political lyrics but through true passion and perseverance. After being nominated eight times in six different categories, Kanye West is here to stay and show us that hip hop was never dead, in fact, it has never been more alive.

According to Kanye's official website, Kanye Omari West was born in Atlanta Georgia and raised throughout his childhood in the suburbs of Chicago. His career took off when he was heavily featured on Jay-Z’s critically-acclaimed Blueprint in 2001. When originally signed as a producer, the label didn’t see him as a performer or an MC because he didn’t portray the “street image”. Ironically however, this “street image” was the very root of what hip hop was, not where it was going. The “Louis Vuitton Don”, with his pitched-up vocal samples and various collaborations among many established artists such as Janet Jackson, Common, and Jay-Z, Kanye West has given hip hop a face lift. Often found wearing fine clothing such as Polo or Burberry, a diamond encrusted pennant hung by a platinum necklace, and a pair of simple white tennis shoes, West has completely flipped the industry norm on its head.

Just a short seven years ago, West was critically injured in a near-fatal car accident. While a very unfortunate event in his life then, this spawned the faith that fills his records today. Despite recording the song while his jaw was sewn shut, his electrifying passion in “Through the Wire” showed us that there was something very special about this artist whether we knew it or not. In later albums, songs such as “Jesus Walks”, “Diamonds from Sierra Lione”, and “Mama”, clearly exemplify West’s unique fervor and drive to become number one.

Having personally seen West perform in Minnesota at the Target Center as well as a very personal performance at the Los Angeles Coliseum, I thought I’d seen it all. On the evening of February 10th, I was opened up to a breath taking spectacle from West that aroused a variety of emotions from the audience. Most of the performers, even pianist Alicia Keys, tended to perform amongst musicians, dancers, and other band members. West however, began his performance with no DJ or backup signers. Dressed in a light-up jacket and electrifying shades, he started performing his 2007 hit “Stronger” which samples French-native, techno duo Daft Punk. To the audience’s surprise, midway through his set, he ran off as the large, glowing pyramid behind him came into the foreground. The top opened, and the world-renowned Daft Punk, appeared with their widely recognized, neon illuminated jump suits. While this may have appeared to be one of Kanye’s many unique collaborations, Daft punk not only is considered to be musically "inactive" but even more shockingly, they have never made a television performance over their fifteen-year career. By the end of the performance, the entire Staples Center was on their feet dancing and grooving to the sounds of the mysterious “human robots”.

Directly after this adrenaline packed performance, the lights cut off and one spot light directed Kanye to the front of the stage where he performed an acapella version of his song “Mama”. “Mama” is a musical tribute to his late mother, Dr. Donda West, who recently passed in an unfortunate plastic surgery tragedy. West performed as if his mother was right next to him, just the two of them in the spotlight. Near tears, Kanye ended his song to a standing ovation from all types of people from every corner of the industry.

If this one-of-a-kind performance didn’t show the audience and music enthusiasts around the world Kanye West’s passion, his acceptance speech did. According to MTV.com news, West made the most of his time on the podium. In accepting the best rap album award, West spoke for nearly two full minutes, touching on the decline of the music industry and the state of hip hop even as the house music threatened to drown him out. With the word Mama shaved in his hair, he promised to make his late mother proud. “I know you wouldn’t want me to stop,” he said, addressing his mom, Donda West, “I know you want me to be the number one artist in the world, and Mama, all I’m gonna do is keep making you proud.”

All in all, after an amazing night of performances from legends such as Aretha Franklin, I left the building filled with excitement and hope thinking to myself, "Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger." It took me seven years of following and appreciating West’s many talents, but it only took one night to show me that there is hope that hip hop is alive.