What Unsigned Bands Can Learn From Disney

Last weekend, I was speaking to a music manager who was bemoaning his band’s lack of new music. “We have no new story” he said. The band in question have 19 tracks on Spotify and a host of video content. If got me thinking, what can we learn from Disney?

Disney understands that a good story is always a good story. They also understand that once they have a good story, they have an endless new audience for that story. Disney marketeers ensure each new generation is exposed to the story by allowing them to see it in the format of the day.

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Why Unsigned Bands Should Stop Wasting Money On Radio Pluggers

When you think about it, your music is an advertisement that you are trying to get on the radio. With this in mind, I recently explained how radio plugging worked to a planner and buyer within a big London media agency. Planners are the people who decide where advertisements are placed, and buyers secure the space. They do this for some of the world’s biggest brands. This is how I explained radio plugging.

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Fans Not Fame. A New Way To Promote Independent Music

When I started managing The Daydream Club in 2012, the band and I had a clear idea of what success meant. We needed a record label, radio play, a ton of live shows, glowing press reviews, these things combined would deliver critical acclaim, fame, album sales and income.

We were not naive, and had our eyes open from the start. We knew major label revenues had always been built around popular music for the masses. There was a clear template that worked and that wasn’t going to change. We were fine with this, while we quickly realised One Direction fame would allude us, we still believed there was enough room as a mid-tier artist to forge a sustainable living from music. 

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The Evolving Role of Social Media For Bands & Brands

Social media has changed the music marketing landscape forever. While it’s easy to be impressed by the scale of an artist’s social media footprint, both marketeers and musicians need to continue to look behind the numbers to understand the value of social media and how it can be further enhanced.

With last week’s Social Media Week in London, and having just held MEC’s second Music Week looking at the changing role of social, data and brand partnerships, I took the opportunity to speak with three emerging bands – MALKA, The Daydream Club and The Microdance – to find out their perceptions of social media and the future role for brands.

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Apple Music Lacks A Core

I’ve always been a firm believer that when it comes to music consumption people broadly fall into three groups. 1. Listeners 2. Active Listeners 3. Discoverers

The first group is the most passive in their consumption habits, the music played on the radio and TV is the music they like. I specifically choose the word ‘like’ because for this group interest in music rarely peaks above a ‘like’ They enjoy music, but ‘passion’ is way too strong a word. Music comes to them, fed by major labels and mass communication channels. When they discover, they do so with millions of others simultaneously. Few of these people use Spotify because their musical needs are served by traditional radio.

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Promoters Promote & Musicians Invite.

Sometimes it’s important to take a step back and remind ourselves what we want from live music. Mark Knight is the founder of Right Chord Music, a company set up to bring the discipline of brand marketing to band marketing. In this article Mark critically examines the way grassroots live music is promoted. Mark identifies the roles of the key stakeholders and suggests how they could work together more effectively in the future.

Let’s start by reminding ourselves what is important.

What musicians and managers want from live music:

• An opportunity to grow their fanbase

• A chance to showcase their new material

• At atmosphere conducive to great live music; sound, lighting and staging

• An appreciative and respective audience who want to listen to their music

• Fair compensation for the entertainment they provide and / or opportunities to sell their music

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“Pay For It, Or Lose Us – The Challenge Facing Independent Musicians

“Pay For It Or Lose Us” The Microdance’s Alex Keevill highlights the challenge facing independent artists.

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The Challenges Facing Musicians In 2013. Free Research Report.

Back in June Right Chord Music launched The Big Survey in association with Farida Guitars.  Our aim was to better understand the realities of being a musician in 2013. The online survey was completed by 200 musicians, of which three-quarters were unsigned or independent. Two-thirds of the respondents reported they had released at least one single.  The vast majority of respondents came from three countries: UK, Australia, and the USA.

Results highlight the increasing number of sites and services used by artists to promote their music. It’s no surprise that Facebook dominates, but it’s interesting to see the growing importance of Soundcloud and Bandcamp and the much heralded fall from grace of Myspace.

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The Music Marketing Manifesto. Ten Principles For Success

1. Write, record and play high quality music

It seems like an obvious thing to say, but everything starts & ends with the music. If the songs are poor, the recording is bad, and the live show is dull don’t expect to make a living from music.

2. Continue to only deal in high quality

Some of the best new bands and artists are let down by terrible videos, bad photography and shocking design. Yes it is fickle, but judging a book by it’s cover is a reality. When you are choosing which artist to review, book, or even sign you are invariably drawn to the most attractive presentation. So why not increase your chances of being heard? Remember, you can have the best music in the world but if nobody listens ,you get nowhere.

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Hit Songs Deconstructed - The Right Chord Music Interview

Mark Knight is the founder of Right Chord Music, a management and consultancy business. In this article Mark interviews David Penn, the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of Hit Songs Deconstructed a website dedicated to analysing the structure and composition of hit songs. The insight from this analysis is used to help mentor new song-writing talent.

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What’s The Story? The Value Of Storytelling In Music Promotion

Mark Knight is the founder of Right Chord Music, a management and consultancy business. The company was created with the aim of helping independent artists like The Daydream Club promote their music using insights gained from the wider marketing world. In this article Mark introduces the concept of story telling in brand advertising and shows how creating a story can help independent artists promote their music more effectively.

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Where Is Everyone? Why Albums Make Little Sense For New Artists

Mark Knight the founder of Right Chord Music explores the perils of taking time out to make a new album for unsigned bands.

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Can You Recover From Free Music?

I’ve lost count of the number of articles I’ve read that insist bands and artists should give their music away for free.  Personally I believe, unless you have the benefit of on-going PR support or are reaching mass audiences through radio airplay, giving away your core product might just be a mistake you’ll never recover from. Here’s why…

Giving away your music might be a prudent strategy for artists like Prince that have successfully established, genuine, alternative income streams (EG tours) to sustain a living. However, for the average DIY, or unsigned musician who barely covers costs when they play live, is it really a smart strategy to remove your most obvious and immediate income stream?

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First Impressions Count. The Importance Of Brand For Your Band

Without doubt, the biggest challenge any new band or artist faces is getting their music heard. So it’s important you give yourself the very best chance of cutting through. Sadly, just having great music is not enough. Bands frequently spend months writing and recording new material and then rush it out before considering the importance of presentation or brand.

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