Innovation, Our New Job As The Music Industry

I released my first music video, “Rocket to the Moon” today. As a new artist with a low starting fanbase I understood I wouldn’t be able to get much press write up for my music video unless I presented something never seen before. So that’s what I did, I created “The World’s First Portrait Music Video”, and the press followed. It is our new job as the Music Industry to lead innovation.

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#1 Reason why you fail as a musician Part 1 of 2.

How do musicians succeed in the music industry? Is it great music, practice, tours, shows, social networking (not social shouting or a numbers game), posting our music in the correct places for people to hear, monitoring our subscriptions, making industry connections, doing yoga, etc etc.? Yes all of these things are important and must be done, however, there is one huge reason why we fail in the music industry, interaction investment, you know it as marketing.

Now I am not just talking about investing in marketing here, which would say we need to get our music to the masses via the inter webs, word of mouth, playing shows etc. etc. What I am talking about is how people enjoy music threw touch, feel, taste, sight, smell, and sound.   

We have to take all these elements into consideration when starting a project. What gear will you buy that allows you to play live, record, and let your fans participate? Maybe an Arduino is in your future? Perhaps you incorporate touch sensitive lights embedded within the cd cases? Or maybe a smart phone app enabling the audience control over the mood of the room at a show?

The amount of money you invest into how people will interact is such a big piece of the puzzle, if you fail to invest the right amount of money the correct way, you will never get anywhere outside of your small market of fans. 

So how much money should we spend on marketing/interaction? The math is extremely simple: half of our budget goes toward marketing/interaction. Half, not 10% or 20%, but a full 50%. If you have a $10,000 budget, half, $5,000 goes towards recording the project, and the other half, $5,000 goes towards pressing up those CD’s, making a video, printing posters, getting placements in magazines, flyers, radio spots, but also ways to interact with the audience within these other methods. 

I have seen it all in my music career working with the up and comers, to some of the most influential people of our time like Pomplamoose, Lauren Mayhew, and OK GO. One thing that always separates the top from the bottom is who treats it like a business and who doesn’t. Up and comers fail to treat it like a business and fail to implement strategies, or make the right investments, for the future. Marketing is always an after thought to them and they say things like “all I have to do is put it up on iTunes, Reverbnation and post it to Facebook and I’m set.” This is so far from the truth that when months go by and they have no substantial sales they question why, or blame someone else. The truth is, people want to connect and interact with the music. Let that soak in for a bit, interact with music. 

After working with groups like these, I have learned a few things. One, make great music, and Two, invest into some interactive marketing tactics. The case can be made for Pomplamoose that they did not really spend much money on marketing/interacting to gain their popularity, and the same could be said about Laruen Mayhew or OK Go, however, for the purpose of their case studies marketing would fall into the category of interaction. Yes, interaction.

Videos are not the same thing as recording an album - the music is the music - they supply a means of interaction with people, or do they? In a sense, yes, videos do supply interaction. Videos allow the audience to see the group while hearing the music, but this is not really interacting by itself. Thinking outside the box, to make it more interactive, is key in the future of videos. Pomplamoose does a great job of this by not only creating unique videos but by engaging their audience through the process. They ask questions to their audience while making the videos and use the input to get to the final stage, thereby interacting with the audience in a refreshing way through their videos. 

Interaction becomes a function of how & where we are going to place those efforts as an expressive method. In the end it comes down to two elements: Playback and Interaction. 

Playback is the creation, recording, and playback capabilities of the project in its entirety including concerts, cds, .mp3s, and vinyl.

Interaction is getting people to interact with the music, band, artist, or art with touch, feel, taste, sight, smell, and sound. 

We can take interaction a step, or many steps, further then I have touched on, and in part 2 I will discuss how to really engage the audience using feel, taste, sight, smell and sound with two case studies and ideas on how to better bring these concepts to your artistry. 

The biggest thing to remember; create a budget that is achievable for yourself and make sure you put enough money aside for marketing/interaction. Remember, its a 50/50 split between music creation/recording and marketing/interaction. If you don’t follow this rule, don’t expect to be a household name.

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With over 13 years experience Zaque Eyns innovative ideas, creativity & understanding of the entertainment industry have helped many individuals realize their goals & objectives. From time management to creative execution of audio or that “can’t be done” idea, Zaque Eyn understands how to deliver top tier product calling it, Creative Empowerment. He founded Funksville, U.F.O in 2008; boutique creative empowerment agency, developing and delivering innovative projects while establishing a solid community of business professionals, and most recently became an author of the book Mastering the Music Business. His specialties include: producing, sound engineering, events, marketing, branding and fashion; each project rooted in successful business approach and strategy.

6 Things You Can Do With $100 That Will Change Your Music Career

Money. Let’s face it: most artists aren’t very good with it. Most of us don’t have much to invest into our music career (relatively speaking), and when we do, we tend to throw it at some random opportunities without a larger strategy in mind.

Take, for instance, submission fees to music festivals. Each year, thousands of artists spend over $100 in application fees or subscription costs to EPK sites, in hopes of getting a show at SXSW, CMJ, Bumbershoot, or other large festivals. Personally, I think festivals are overrated in terms of importance for your career, but if you really want to get in, try reading this guide: How to Get Into SXSW.

You can easily spend $100 on strings, picks, or sticks. You could even buy a cheap electric guitar. Or, if you were riding in my tour bus, $100 almost covers the gas from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA.

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Making the most out of touring...

I’ve been touring for almost a decade now and have developed some strategies that have helped…….. When we first started hitting the road, we’d leave town in our ice cream van with a bottle of Jack Daniels, some other accoutrements, and just took off for the first city… our plan was always to see which guy in the band could score a girl to like him that night, then we’d all follow her to her house and crash there. Well, that didn’t always work and when we started getting real girlfriends, you can imagine the drama that THAT caused!
 These days, whether I’ve got label money for tour support or we’re going out on our own I follow a few simple rules that end up saving me a crap load of money.

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Amplify your music career with cover gigs

There is a real uprising of unsigned bands in the UK and the country is full of talent yet to be discovered. Record label development deals are pretty much a thing of the past - and so finding a way to fund your own development costs is a necessity.

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When Running A Record Label, Don’t Forget To Budget For Recoveries

Nothing is more fulfilling than opening your record label, getting your artist in the studio, laying down some tracks and mastering your final project. You’ve gotten investors involved who really believe in your project as much as you do and they’re putting a significant amount of money behind your company for both production and marketing. The only uncomfortable part about the whole process is that they have accountants, business managers and financial gurus working for them behind the scenes and they need you to put together a budget

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The 7 Big Mistakes That Indie Musicians Make In Music Business - Mistake #1

The music business is a tough industry to succeed in. It is a prestige industry and having a position in the music business is highly sought after and positions in all aspects of the music business are few and far between. As an indie musician it is useful to understand what mistakes to avoid. So here are the 7 big mistakes that indie musicians make in music business according to Positively Music.

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How Can I Get A Record Deal?

. There have been more than enough bands and artists that have “made” it by grinding the old-fashion way and that’s ‘hustle’, pure and simple. Don’t overcomplicate this exercise. You don’t need a business plan or a LLC. You don’t even need financing. If you live in a large town play the local clubs for a fee, donations, or a part of the door receipts or whatever you can bargain for. If you live in a small town hold shows in the local bar, park or even in your garage and charge a fee to attend. Once you make enough money, produce your own record

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BANDLOOT.COM - from musicians to musicians an app for band accounting

What started as a talk between co-workers at the company ”Earmaster” is now a free tool made by musicians, for musicians: bandloot.com

After a period of arguing with his band over financial confusion, an employee at Earmaster had an idea. An idea that his band – and everyone elses – could benefit from a tool to help keep the bandeconomy easy to handle. So after a talk during lunchbreak, a few co-workers started to develop an online app to keep tracks of the typical band finances. Who owes who, who payed for what, how much is left, etc.

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Music Without Labels Live Tour 2012

At Music Without Labels & Beat-Play we know you want, and deserve, exclusive coverage of all of the best summer festivals and concerts; which is why MWL Live is embarking on journey across the United States! MWL spokesperson, Katie McVeay, and leading videographer, Shane Suski, are crossing state lines to showcase musical acts at festivals, small town concerts and everywhere in between, providing up-to-date photos, video interviews, and giving you the opportunity to interact with today’s top artists and musicians.

During Shane’s first year with MWL, he has had the opportunity to photograph over 75 artists including big names like Immortal Technique, GZA, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Young the Giant, and more! Katie McVeay started her MWL work in NYC where she interviewed numerous up-and-coming bands such as Caged Animals, Dustin Wong, The Beets and Canon Logic. In February, Katie relocated to MWL Headquarters in San Diego and has had the chance to interview talented acts such as Puscifer, Lost in the Trees, Rachael Yamagata, Talkdemonic and many more!

MWL Live will be traveling approximately 11,000 miles in 108 days featuring popular musicians at Sasquatch, Free Press, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Lollapalooza, Bumbershoot Music Festival and everywhere in between! We also know that not all of your favorite musicians are located near hub cities where their music can be properly showcased, reviewed or featured. Are you one of these artists? Do you know a great band in your location? We are reaching out to artists and fans! We want to visit you during the MWL Live Tour!

A trip like this takes funding! How much? $10,000! Right now we have $5,749 towards the project, but it’s not enough! Our Kickstarter goal of $6,000 helps cover the (high) price of gas, food, accommodations, tolls, festival fees, equipment and other expenses that we need to make the MWL Live Tour 2012 a reality!

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Record Production is Like Baking a Cake: The Hierarchy of Reaching Full Potential [GRAPHIC]

So what does baking a cake have to do with record production? It’s a helpful analogy that will help you plan how much time, effort, and expenses to devote to the different aspects of record production. Before proceeding to the next step, always be completely happy with the current phase. Continuing the process after the fact will limit your full potential as many issues cannot be corrected at a later stage.

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PCI Compliance Woes on the Road

FRAUD, FINES, AND OTHER COMPLIANCE ISSUES.

The music business long has used show tickets as currency for friends and industry contacts - usually they are some of the best tickets in the house.  Most time these days they aren’t free - “no comp” tours are the norm.  If you are “privileged” enough to be invited from the tour, often you are asked to fill out a form and fax it or email it with your personal and credit card information.  And the good folks from the tour who process these forms have no idea that they are conducting millions of dollars of commerce in probably the most risky and non-compliant method imaginable, putting them, their VIPs, and their credit card processor at great risk for fraud, fines, and other compliance issues. 

But VIP ticketing for tours is not subject to PCI regulations, right?  Not on your life. According to Eric Drago, a Portsmouth-based NitroSecurity, a security information and event management solutions company, tours processing VIP tickets are subject to compliance rules:

“Any entity that stores, processes or transmits payment card data, must be in compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), or risk fines and losing its ability to process credit card transactions. PCI compliance isn’t limited to those businesses conducting sales through an e-commerce Web site. If your business collects credit/debit card data written on paper, or holds credit/debit cards then PCI compliance applies to your business as well.”

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Little Known Tactics for Greater Touring Profits

For many independent artists organizing do-it-yourself tours, a common question  is, “How can we make more money on tour?” One of the simplest methods: by spending less. Here are some ways you can cut your expenses while on tour which leaves room for more profit.

Whether you’re planning a national, international, or regional tour the goals are the same: earn income while promoting yourself in a familiar or new territory. Reaching out to fans and connecting personally at your concerts are the keys to gaining a dedicated fan base and generating buzz around your band. Admittedly, while overall comfort plays a key role in combatting tour fatigue and  maintaining performance levels, sometimes comfort isn’t an option. If tour expenses are outweighing guarantees, try implementing some of these cost-cutting  travel techniques tailored for the DIY, self-booking independent artist. 

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Is Your Band Budgeting Correctly?

I’ve encountered two extremes when it comes to bands and saving money. Some bands save everything, don’t pay themselves a cent. Other bands save nothing, paying out the individual members everything. Then there is the moderate approach, saving some of it, paying out some of it.

For the bands that save nothing, when it comes to a major expense, recording an album for an unsigned band, going on tour or even minor expenses like photoshoots and getting merchandise, how do you pay for it? Does everyone just chip in? Do they pay equal amounts? Does one guy bankroll it all? Surely it would be better to not have to reach into your pocket each time your band wants something?

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