Question of the Day - May 20, 2009

The Holodigm.com

INTERNET MUSIC MARKETING

Michelle Rivera asks:

What are the the most effective forms of Internet marketing?

Hartmann responds:

Welcome to the digital convergence. This is where the winners and losers meet. Which category you end up in will depend on the choices you make. As the postmodern record industry crashes and burns the Phoenix is already rising from the ashes. The Internet is a double-edged sword. It is time to ignore the past and all of its corrupted systems and protocols. The mechanics of record deals and the politics of radio promotion built on various forms of "payola" are a broken system. The arcane practices of the record business have contributed to the public perception of an industry devoid of the principals of integrity and fair play. That perception is correct and has created a negative mind set among the music fan base. For decades personal managers have unsuccessfully battled record companies to create reasonable terms in recording agreements. The stubborn resistance of the Big Four to level the profit table has led to their demise. Now the world wide web is the regenerative mechanism that will invent The Music Renaissance. The business of music will never disappear, but it will always change with the technology. There are hundreds, soon to be thousands, of efforts to capitalize on the changing market place. The best systems will survive and the truly great ones could develop economic business models that are profitable. No one knows which applications are the survivors, but one thing is certain it won't be a hundred yard dash; it is a marathon. There are millions of songwriters, singers, musicians and bands on myspace.com. This is the great common denominator. Anybody with a tune and a video can register there and on youtube.com to throw a song in the ring. They are immediately lost in a haystack of brass needles clouded in the fog of showbiz. How do the golden needles rise above the fog of mediocrity? Only the most passionate artist driven by ambition and an insatiable need to make music will reach for the professional ranks. This will require a sense of direction and a compass. Navigation of the Internet can be like a rodent running in an endless circle. Without a clear sense of direction artists are lost in the cyber-space of an expanding universe with no center and no final destination point. The Holodigm is a sanctuary that provides refuge for the most talented artists and entrepreneurs. The music industry nestled in the prickly, but controlled, environment of the record business for more than a hundred years. Now it must reinvent itself on the track of its historical trajectory. Internet Marketing begins with having a product to sell. There are only two primary activities, recording and performing. Their symbiotic relationship creates the engine that drives any music business enterprise. It is clearly established that the purchase of an album is accomplished out of choice not necessity. All the music created is instantly available on the Internet through peer-to-peer file sharing. Buying it is an act of "love." The music lovers know when they purchase a CD or a t-shirt that they are contributing to the band's survival. In these difficult economic times, why buy when you can "take" it for free? The only reason I can think of is because the fan loves the act. How do they fall in love? Through a personal bonding experience. When, where and how does that happen? Such a connection is most likely to be born out of the live concert arena. This is where the energy exchange is most intense. Get them while they're hot. Sell your t-shirt and Cd at that juncture. The profit at that price-point is very high. One does not need to sell that many items with a ten dollar profit to break even. The same record sold through a record store would net the artist pennies, if he ever got paid. The Internet is the weapon of mass distribution. Get your music produced, create a dynamic live act and a booking mechanism and get to work. Build a web site and collect emails. Nurture your fan base and get set to run a long, hard race. Offer free downloads to create interest in your music. Sell you CDs on your own site and through the many on line outlets including iTuens, CDBaby, Amazon and the myriad of others. Cross pollinate all your daily efforts through Facebook.com, Twitter, LinkedIn, and every possible connection. Create a "Blog" and nurture your fan base. Make them members of your club and your "allies" in your battle to survive. They are the partners of your success. Get the drummer of the couch and on the computer. Talk to these people. Don't ignore them. Make it personal. The first level of success is survival. That means you can make a living with your music without a day job. If you can't make it at home, you can't make it anywhere. If you can make it at home, you can make it everywhere. Stay home and make it where the expenses are low and the profit high. From their you can expand within the cyber-galactic universe and become am international force in the global music industry of The music Renaissance.