We are just a few days away from the launch of the Music for the Head and Heart evening and I’ve been once again reflecting on the whole issue of music promotion. I confess to having a problem solving brain and in my non musical life I teach problem solving internationally to groups.
It occurs to me that artist/music promotion follows many of the same rules as promoting any service or product.
Get attention
The first rule of any marketing or promotion is to get customer attention. “The good news” is that there have never been so many free mediums to connect with a wider public. “The bad news” is that there have never been so many free mediums to connect with a wider public! The advent of social media and YouTube are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand these new mediums mean great opportunities, but the downside is that the promotion noise level is at an all time high.
Great video and photos are essential in getting the public’s attention. Increasingly people have very short attention spans, so “good” is not enough, visual mediums need to be great! I appreciate that artists will have financial budgets but its IMO better to have a few great videos and or photos than dozens of average ones. As I have always said
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
The importance of continuity and diversity
In my other life I have worked with many successful longstanding musicians. One of them had severe anxiety about live performances and was about to go on a major tour. I floated the idea of taking a break and he commented
“The music industry is very unforgiving. Once you are off the radar, that’s it”
The noise level in music promotion means that its easy to be forgotten very quickly if you don’t maintain a regular stream of creative musical output. The challenge of course is to maintain both quality and quantity. Artists can get known for just one classic track which can then define your entire career. Below is a wonderful spoof from Ralph McTell illustrating this with his classic track “Streets of London” Who reading this blog could name another of his songs?
Time and money investments
The most successful artists I see, have spent years developing their craft. In the era of talent shows there can be a belief that a person can achieve a level of fame really quickly, but that is often a myth. Many artists start off with great intentions with a musical college education, but only a few earn a living as a professional artist. Like any profession success depends on many factors including luck, but always a significant investment of time and money.
The money investment would often historically come from a record company, but the music industry has changed and those opportunities are less frequent. Many artists now self fund or will use some form of crowdfunding. This can work, but again this has become so common that it doesn’t have the same unique appeal as it once had. Pledge music was one of the biggest crowdfunding platforms, which ran into serious trouble, recently putting out this statement
“PledgeMusic entered liquidation with $9.57 million in debt and assets worth just $20,000,” it reported. “With an ‘estimated deficiency’ of $7,405.502.48 and secured creditor Sword Row, LLC first in line, there is ‘little prospect’ that artists and other creditors will be paid, according to the court-appointed receiver.”
So, what’s the good news?
If all this sounds somewhat depressing, then in my view there is also a wealth of good news to report. Its entirely possible to record and promote music to a wider audience in an effective manner, if you take into account many of the points raised here. I increasingly come across many superb artists and its my firm belief that the future is through artist cooperation. This is the thinking behind Music for The Head and Heart which follows the spirit of Robert Fripp’s DGM initiative, where the artist is front and centre.
