Few would argue that back in the day, the record companies were the gatekeepers between the artists and their audience. Now it’s very easy and relatively inexpensive for an artist to record and produce a record independently, secure independent distribution channels or distribute their music electronically online. Concept artist is a key field of illustration that is relevant to a wide range of creative industries, including computer animation, games and film.
Before, even if you wanted your CD displayed in Record Stores, you had to have a record company. Sure, the company paid you a big advance. But then they would bill you for production, distribution, and marketing costs along with their sometimes questionable accounting methods. Then after all was said and done sometimes the CDs might not even be stocked in the stores.
But those days are gone, and here we are in 2010 and the Internet and its possibilities are ever expanding. Because of the internet, the distribution channel is closing. Today an independent artist can go direct to the fan to sell their CDs, DVD, T-shirts, and all other merchandise. This enables the Artist to continually market to that consumer, which is the opposite of traditional distribution lines, where the Artist never knew who purchased their music and could never follow up with them in the future.
Today with the right marketing system in place the artist can market directly to their buyers for the lifetime of that fan or the lifetime of that particular artist. So why is that few people have such a system in place. Even those that sell products directly from their website do not have systems set up for follow up and future marketing.
The concept of list building, auto-responders, giveaways, launch campaigns, squeeze pages, and content driven sales is a foreign language to most outside the Internet Marketing scene. But this is the model that has been around for a long time with other businesses, it is the standard for selling information products, and now we are just starting to see it emerge with Real Estate Agents, Writers, Photographers, and now with Musicians.
Providing there is talent and a good product, this is going to create a whole new model for launching a successful music career that is far from the traditions of the industry. Where the independent artist who embraces the internet with an open mind and determination will make a much better living than they could ever hope to make working for someone else, or by using an agent or distributing their music through traditional channels, and this includes iTunes.
So, what about continuing sources of income?
As with the release of any new product, CD sales peak around the release and then start to drop off. Then the artist does promotion and makes money on concerts and the selling of the merchandise at shows. But, what about expanding your business model to include a continual revenue stream, that is not based on CD sales or shows.
Welcome to the Members Area
Membership sites are becoming really popular for their continual income stream and can range from online fitness training, Yoga, instructional, and just about anything you could imagine.
Artists such as Kiss (the Kiss army) Green Day (Idiot club), Mathew Ebel, Terri Clark, and others have tied in “Membership Areas” into their websites, and they have been very successful. Why do they work? Because, the thing that fans want more of is… YOU!
Lets say for example you have 1,000 fans and they each pay only $120 yr. for access to your membership site or “Exclusive Fan Club”, that’s $120,000 yr. (1,000 fans x $120 = $120,000), or 500 fans at $100 yr is $50,000. You can adjust your price point depending on what you’re offering and how many fans you have, potentially making in the hundreds of thousands. You could make enough to fund your next record, pay back investors, or do music full-time so you do not have to work the day job anymore.
Imagine if you have more fans, you could charge less and still make a really good living. With low overhead the artist can really profit. You could also offer your new CD for free to those who purchase a membership; this is the model that Prince used years ago where every concert ticket purchased came with a free CD and they were counted as record sales. This applied the concept of the “giveaway” that I mentioned earlier.
The only catch with a membership site is it’s up to you to provide valuable content to engage the fans and give them something nobody else is getting that makes them feel special. You could have a behind the scenes blog, early access to discount tickets, never seen before footage, unreleased tracks, interviews, special merchandise, etc…you get the idea.
When utilized correctly this direct communication line allows you to: learn what your fans need or want, become more real to them as you give them a glimpse into your life, and develops a stronger more direct communication line, something every die-hard fan desires. And in exchange you make a really good living whether you’re releasing a CD or not. Now, here is where it really gets cool.
If you have other products like a clothing-line, make-up line, photography, guitar lessons, artwork, you can tie this in with the ability to cross-promote those other product lines directly to your fan base. And for those Musicians, who really have it together, they will form JV (Joint Venture) Partnerships and now the possibilities of having a booming sustainable business are endless.
The key to success is setting it up, understanding your fans, and being creative about how you deliver value to them. Another key is the Musician getting out of the mind-set of how things traditionally have been done, embracing the internet, and being able to foresee where we are moving with technology, as a society, and the benefits this will bring to them as an artist.
Established busy Musicians that are not too internet savvy, with a large fan base, will also need to consider having a “fan manager” someone to manage the database, HTML Newsletters, and more. Keeping the fans engaged and that part of your business organized will become an important role as direct marketing to them becomes a powerful income stream.
Now, obviously I have not gone into the details of launching such a site or setting up the proper marketing system successfully, but its really not that difficult if you know what your doing and compared to the benefits its well worth it, but that’s a whole other post.
As marketing methods become more content based and industries continue to tighten, I think were going to see much more of this from musicians who want a real business that is not solely based on them “scoring the big deal” but based more on having a good business.
The future of the music industry is online and it is in the branding. Just having a website is no longer enough, it is now about building a community within your business. The Independent Artist will need to embrace internet marketing or they will struggle to survive. Communication lines are expanding and effective marketing methods are changing. What worked one or two years ago will not work well today.
The Music Industry is changing, our World is changing, and there will be those who watch things happen, those that make things happen, and those who wonder what happened. Which one will you be?
Craig De Borba is a Musician and a Jeff Walker Trained Product Launch Manager. For more Free independent music promotion information.
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