My take on the status of the music business as it relates to independent artists is simple. We are going through this period of growing pains. Everyone has their own opinion of what to do with their music. It is, as I have been saying for sometime, a new paradigm. And with this new paradigm comes painful growth. The real issue is this: Will musicians embrace a new paradigm and work to make it their own, or will they continue to just tweek the existing one and think that they have achieved something of value?
The existing paradigm was created by the big companies. We all know that. However, we all bought into that paradigm. The world at large, and a lot of your fans, are still buying into that paradigm. They do this when they expect you to offer your product for free. But the reason they feel that way is because of the old paradigm. They might love you but they feel you owe them for being a fan. They were willing to pay to be a fan in the old paradigm and if you do not quite fit the bill as a huge performer, then you should offer this to them. I do not believe that their thought process is that way, but their actions are. So how do you make some money?
It is really not as hard as all that if you have a few things in place. This process involves changing the way you think. Period. I mean you can not have a new paradigm unless you change the way you think. That is the start. Then you have to change the way the public, and future fans, think about you. Then you can offer the music. The process of putting your music on the internet and hoping the public will beat a path to your door and pay a lot of cash for your sound is a painful wait. May or may not happen.
The way I start is helping a band put together a website, a real website with a real domain. Next you have to have an auto-responder set up on your site. See. This already is not the first thing a musician thinks about. But whatever, I am trying to change the paradigm one musician at a time. The whole goal of the website is to collect an email address. This is your fan base. The whole goal of playing gigs is to collect an email address. What? Honestly. You are not going to make enough playing gigs to make a consistent living. I am not trying to sound like I know everything. But you take a little band on fire and then you look at the gig options. The money is the same a night as it has been for thirty years. So you have to have what I call CAMPAIGNS. Each campaign has an auto-responder program set up. So what is a campaign?
I start with the dog shelter. Every town has one. Here is what you do. So the little band has a website, a good cd, and an auto-responder set up. They go to the dog shelter and they tell them they are concerned with all the animals that need to be adopted. They ask the shelter if they would take a digital photo of a half dozen animals a week and email them to their attention. Heck, give them the camera. When the little band gets the photos they post them on a single page of their website which is dedicated to this campaign, mainly animal adoption. They try to get these animals adopted. They ask for people to sign up for an email list, and be honest and tell them up front that by doing so they will receive notices from the band about other campaigns, and use this list to give away something worthwhile. It could be an ipod, or even a guitar, or whatever. But tell them you are raising awareness. When an animal is adopted by one of your new fans, then get a photo with the band and the dog and it's new owners. Call the newspaper, call the radio station. You are trying to change the way people think about bands. Think of the people that will say, "Now here is a band that has a mission. They are different." Keep up this campaign by going on forums that are forums for animal lovers. Tell them what you are doing and ask them to visit your website. Now here's the deal. These people will visit your site and will buy your music if you have a certain amount that is going to the shelter. And it should be a good deal for you, for them and for the shelter. They must sign up with an email address to do anything. This is your fan base. These people will fall in love with your music because of the credibility you have created, and they will return and support you more.
This is just a start. The difference is this. Instead of putting your music out there and sayin, "Hey look at me. I am good. You need to buy my music. Love me." You are building credibility, you are making a difference, you are building relationships, you are looking at you music for the long run with an ever expanding fan base. It is endless how much you can do this with thousands upon thousands of organizations that need your help. And that is just where I start with a band.
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