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Online Direct to Fan MarketingFoundation to Execution

Mike King, Course Author & Instructor,Berkleemusic.com (USA)

MIDEMNET ACADEMY 2011 - Marketing Module All courses to be available on: www.midem.com/academy

•Kind of Blue = Best Jazz Recording of All Time.

•One of the first records, and certainly the most popular, to employ the Modal approach to Jazz.

•Modal approach = soloist improvises over scales instead of chords.

•Result: less structured situation for the sessions created a more energetic and innovative recording.

Miles Davis and Building on a Foundation


“Miles conceived the settings for the record only hours before the recording dates, and arrived with sketches which indicated to the group what was to be played.

Therefore you will hear something close to pure spontaneity on these performances.” – Bill Evans, from

liner notes of Kind of Blue

Bill Evans on Kind of Blue


•Building on a Foundation: Bill Evans was a disciple of Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. John Coltrane was heavily influenced by Lester Young. Miles Davis: played with Charlie Parker in the 40s.

•Most important: George Russell & the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (1953) introduced modal improvisation to jazz. Without George Russell, Kind of Blue would not have existed.

Mixing Metaphors: George Russell was Miles Davis’ 5th Beatle


What Does Kind of Blue Have To Do With DTF Online Music Marketing?

•Current seismic shift in music marketing / sales techniques are similar to the shift in jazz in the late 50s. New approach to marketing / sales is developing with proven results, and is providing a path for further exploration.

•Thought leaders and roadmap / best practices exist. You are not starting from scratch.


Overview of Direct to Fan Approach to Marketing

•Direct to Fan marketing and sales approach encourages engagement and monetization between artist and fans. Developing marketing vertical, but the principles also apply to bigger acts / labels.

•Direct to Fan as a concept is not new!•Example: Black Flag & Our Band Could Be Your Life.

•Difference: Internet can amplify your music & message directly to a larger, more targeted group of potential fans.


Overview of Direct to Fan Approach to Marketing

•DTF is not always a replacement for a label deal. DTF can complement a label deal.

•Not a replacement for traditional terrestrial marketing. DTF complements traditional and terrestrial marketing efforts.

•DTF opportunity: monetize outside of what traditional online and physical retail can do. Ability to super serve your fans.

•Higher margin potential: iTunes takes 30%, and distributors can take anywhere from 9-25% or more.


•Seth Godin: Permission Marketing

•Clay Shirky: Pool of Producers

•Hugh MacLeod: Social Objects

“We’ve gone from tens of outlets affecting millions of people to

millions of outlets affecting tens of people.” - James Lamberti

Foundational “Thought Leaders” of the DTF Approach to Marketing

MIDEMNET ACADEMY 2011 – Marketing Module All courses to be available on: www.midem.com/academy

•Permission Marketing (1999) is to marketing as the Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (1953) is to jazz.

•Seth Godin: more claims on consumers attention than ever before.

•How to break through? Marketers must develop a personalized relationship with their prospective consumers (fans), where both the marketer (artist) and the consumer are participating.

Seth Godin: Permission Marketing


New Rules of Marketing from Seth Godin

•Artists can now own the relationship with fans as opposed to “renting” the relationship with fans.

•Results: Higher engagement if you are reaching out to folks that want to hear from you.

•Results: 80 / 20 rule. Increase revenue by selling higher end products to fewer people.


•Lower cost of collaboration brought by the internet brings new kinds of creativity and problem-solving.

•Technology can provide your fans with the tools they need to spread your message themselves. Artist examples: remix contests, make our app, video contests, more.

"The cost and difficulty of publishing absolutely anything, by anyone, into a global medium, just got a whole lot lower. And the effects of that increased pool of potential producers is going to

be vast." - Clay Shirky

Clay Shirky: Pool of Producers


Clay Shirky: Pool of ProducersExample: Johnny Cash Project - Ain’t

No Gravewww.thejohnnycashproject.com

Result: Increase in easy to use tools provides fans with the ability

to become ambassadors for you and your music


Hugh MacLeod: Social Objects

•Social Object: the creation of something around which fans can socialize. Social networks can form around social objects.

•Music examples: Vinyl, limited edition products, high-end offerings.

•Result: Social objects increase organic word of mouth marketing between fans who share a connection around a person, product, or idea.


Mechanics of a DTF Online Marketing CampaignFour Horsemen of a Successful DTF Campaign

•Awareness

•Engagement

•Acquisition

•Monetization


Organizing a DTF Online Marketing Campaign

#1: Identify Your Target Demographic /Psychographic

•The web makes it easy for folks with common interests to connect.

•Identifying your core base means you can make music for your fans, as opposed to finding fans for your music.

•Traditional shotgun marketing approach less effective for most artists (radio, TV, mainstream press).



#2: Create and Optimize Your Own Website

•Why your own site?

•Control: Back to Seth Godin - ownership vs. rental

•Customization: adjustment of content based on how users are interacting with content.

•Ease of set up with services like Wordpress.org and one click install from hosting providers. Many themes available to customize.

•Data: Google Analytics. Available on a site where you control the hosting.


•Traffic generated from a collection of third-party sources to your web site can be significant in aggregate.

•Sales from third party sites is in its infancy - recommendation is to use third party sites for awareness, engagement, and as a funnel to your own site for conversion.

•Best practices change continuously, but combination of visible links to your own site + consistent communication / engagement + call to action is key.

• A lot of opportunity for folks that use these services creatively.

#3:Use Third Party Social Sites and Services




#4: Use Third Party Artist Service Based Sites

•Third party artist-service based sites: Topspin, Bandcamp, Nimbit, Reverbnation, Cash Music.

•Best service = option that best meets specific needs of artist.

•Widgets: useful for acquisition, awareness, engagement, monetization.

•Data: many services provide extensive analytics on engagement, awareness, acquisition and monetization

MIDEMNET ACADEMY 2011 - MarketingModule All courses to be available on: www.midem.com/academy

•Artist service-based companies useful for analyzing data on external and internal engagement.

•Data analysis for site engagement: Google Analytics.

•Third party data analysis services for engagement / awareness / acquisition throughout the web: Next Big Sound, Rock Dex, Facebook Insights, Twitter Analyzer, more.

#5: Monitor Data and Analytics



•Direct to Fan is not an island.

•Many music consumers tied into favorite online retailers.

•Sales volume at traditional retail likely to exceed sales volume of DTF sales.

•Touring still massively important for most artists.

#6: Incorporation of Traditional Retail / Sales / Marketing Elements



Strategies and Examples of Executing a DTF Online Marketing Campaign

•Acquisition

•Pre-Release Strategy

•Release Strategy

•Post-Release


Acquisition: Susie Suh - Bakman Tapes

•Major label debut record.

•Parted ways with major after first record.

•Label maintained all online visibility - artist had no emails addresses, minimal digital touchpoints.

•Goal: build up permission based communication via acquisition techniques.



Connection and Opportunity

•Music Supervisor of One Tree Hill is a fan of Susie Suh.

•Susie was chosen to record her version of "I Don't Wanna Be," the One Tree Hill theme song, for episode #4 in season 8.



•Visibility on One Tree Hill micro site on CWTV.com with link to www.susiesuh.com. Video of Susie discussing One Tree Hill recording.

•Twitter and Facebook posts by One Tree Hill account with link to www.susiesuh.com.

•Susie adjusted her site into a conversion engine, by providing free music in exchange for an email address to incoming traffic. Highly visible, limited edition offer.

Maximizing Opportunity

http://www.susiesuh.com

http://www.susiesuh.com/


•SONOIO = Alessandro Cortini.

•Synth player, composer, songwriter.

•Touring musician with NIN from 2005 – 2008.

•Solo project SONOIO released September 2010.

Pre-Release Strategy: SONOIO


•Identified core psychographic / demographic

•Range of products offered, from free to $200 - all exclusive to pre-order. Limited edition posters, t-shirts exclusive to pre-order, demos of recording sessions – all came with every pre-order.

•Social Object: created a portable synthesizer (SuOnoio) which contained samples and sound sources used on the album. Laser shot into the interest area of his fans.

Variety of Product Offerings

Pre-Release Strategy: SONOIO


“I would post photos on Facebook and on my blog about the different packages,how they were coming together, how they were getting personalized,photos of me signing it or me packing up the instrument.The more I would spread the word to other people and the more timeI’d spend keeping an open dialogue with fans,the more the email sign-ups would go upand the more people would listen to the music.” - Alessandro Cortini

Results: SONOIO grew their email list from 300 to 8,000 from July 26th to December 5th. Revenue exceeded goal of covering costs of

production within three months.

Pre-Release Strategy: SONOIOPre-Release Messaging and Communication


Release Strategy: Craig Mod / Ashley Rawlings - Art Space Tokyo

•Art Space Tokyo = guide to some of the hidden galleries and museums in the city. Out of print after one year. Authors purchased rights to self-publish.

•Goal: generate seed capital to self publish Art Space Tokyo without relinquishing ownership using Kickstarter.

•Many similarities to effective online music marketing campaign.

•Full campaign details at http://craigmod.com/journal/kickstartup/


Release Strategy: Product Tiers

•The $50 tier dominates, bringing in almost 25% of all earnings. $100 second at 16%.

•Having too many tiers is very likely to put off supporters - paradox of choice!

•Conclusion: people don’t mind paying $50 or more for a project they love.

Analyzed top 30 grossing Kickstarter campaign to determine the most successful tiers of pledges. Goal was to “look for a balance between

number of pledges and overall percentage contribution of funds.”


Release Strategy: Outreach

•Promoted the release to his own permission based email list and social media touchpoints over the course of three weeks.

•Minimal text emails, clear call to action, personalized messaging.

•Also communicated with specific external sites / blogs, with a focus on the quality of the outlets, not quantity.


“A single post from the right blog is 1000% more useful than ten posts from high-traffic but off-topic blogs. You want engaged users, not just eyeballs!” - Craig Mod

Release Strategy: Results

Result: $24,000 in seed capital generated in 30 days.


•Metric released fourth full length, Fantasies, on April 7th 2009.

•Album was released on Last Gang Records in Canada, Arts & Crafts in Mexico, and independently around the rest of the world.

•Excellent example of extending a record’s release cycle through release of serialized content.

Post Release Strategy: Metric Fantasies


•Free content released throughout campaign: streaming preview, acoustic single, viral widget, download releases of live performances.

•Engagement with fans post release: remix Fantasies for via partnership with Indaba; create an iPhone app for Metric, more.

•“Fantasies Flashbacks” message from Emily to fans asking for media related to Fantasties release - photos, videos, messages.



•Results: Metric is continuing to actively market Fantasties while in the studio recording their new release.

•Serialized content key in extending the lifecycle of the release.

•We’ve moved from an “available now” release world to an “always available” world.



Twitter: @atomzooeyBerkleemusic.com: Online Music Marketing, Online Music Marketing with Topspin,

Music Marketing: Press Promotion, Distribution, and Retailmikeking.berkleemusicblogs.com www.musicmarketingbook.com

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