The Future of Music Careers (pt 2)
http://www.called2music.com/articles/6/1/The-Future-of-Music-Careers-pt-2/Page1.html
Peter Spellman
Peter Spellman is director of career development at Berklee College of Music, Boston, and founder of Music Business Solutions, a training resource for music entrepreneurs. He is the author of "The Self-Promoting Musician," "Indie Power," and several other music career guides.
By Peter Spellman
Published on 01/6/2007
FROM THE "MUSIC BUSINESS" TO THE "MUSICIAN BUSINESS" In a sense musicians may be in a better place today than they've ever been before.
Musician Business
Taking a cue from the cyber-bard John Perry Barlow, I believe we could be seeing a paradigm shift from the domination of the "music business" to that of the "musician business."
The same forces that are undoing the larger music companies are empowering individual musicians. And as a result, the idea of a 'music career' is sprouting new wings as artists and industry careerists begin discarding intoxicating myths and tapping into some new-found powers.
Powers deriving from desktop computers and digital recording gear, from a hyperabundance of entrepreneurial and self-development resources, a segmenting (and reachable) music marketplace, and most importantly, from the Internet - the first tool that puts a global communication and distribution "channel" into the musician's hands.
As venture-funded dotcoms rose, crashed and burned, a quiet revolution has been slowly but surely mounting; one that threatens to turn the music industry on its head. In a peculiar way, the computer sets the music industry back 300 years.
Consider: Musicians of the past performed songs for royal and religious "patrons" and received support (patronage) in return. It was a direct connection between musician and audience, as small as it was.
Today, with the Net, musicians are capable of galvanizing global audiences, nurturing them through generous communications, and building support models to help them earn a sufficient living. In other words, the Net allows the patron model to re-emerge only this time, rather than having one exclusive patron, a musician may have thousands.
It's a slow-growth strategy but with a pace and quality entirely in the hands of artists and their teams. "Patrons" subscribe for a reasonable price ($30-40/year?) for access to the artist, first call for all new tracks, and extra values like discounted tickets, fully- packaged recordings, posters and exposure to any other works of the artist.
Musicians and bands like Jonatha Brooks, Scooter Scudieri, Maktub, Christine Lavin and Aimee Mann are all using the digital channel (alongside recordings and performances) to grow and nurture supportive fan bases in this way. Again, slow but sure. If you're putting out awesome music, then build it and they will come.
The same forces that are undoing the larger music companies are empowering individual musicians. And as a result, the idea of a 'music career' is sprouting new wings as artists and industry careerists begin discarding intoxicating myths and tapping into some new-found powers.
Powers deriving from desktop computers and digital recording gear, from a hyperabundance of entrepreneurial and self-development resources, a segmenting (and reachable) music marketplace, and most importantly, from the Internet - the first tool that puts a global communication and distribution "channel" into the musician's hands.
As venture-funded dotcoms rose, crashed and burned, a quiet revolution has been slowly but surely mounting; one that threatens to turn the music industry on its head. In a peculiar way, the computer sets the music industry back 300 years.
Consider: Musicians of the past performed songs for royal and religious "patrons" and received support (patronage) in return. It was a direct connection between musician and audience, as small as it was.
Today, with the Net, musicians are capable of galvanizing global audiences, nurturing them through generous communications, and building support models to help them earn a sufficient living. In other words, the Net allows the patron model to re-emerge only this time, rather than having one exclusive patron, a musician may have thousands.
It's a slow-growth strategy but with a pace and quality entirely in the hands of artists and their teams. "Patrons" subscribe for a reasonable price ($30-40/year?) for access to the artist, first call for all new tracks, and extra values like discounted tickets, fully- packaged recordings, posters and exposure to any other works of the artist.
Musicians and bands like Jonatha Brooks, Scooter Scudieri, Maktub, Christine Lavin and Aimee Mann are all using the digital channel (alongside recordings and performances) to grow and nurture supportive fan bases in this way. Again, slow but sure. If you're putting out awesome music, then build it and they will come.
The Lessons
Accept your new power.
See yourself as an entrepreneur - one who creates forms to hold and deliver creative works.
Befriend technology and rigorously apply yourself to understanding it.
Throw out the "quick fame" idea and commit yourself to long-term career success.
EVERY BUSINESS IS A MUSIC BUSINESS
Every business is becoming a "music business" or, more accurately, an entertainment business. Management guru Tom Peters claims that "it's barely an exaggeration to say that everyone is getting into the entertainment business." Peters counsels his corporate clients that "the bottom line in commercial life is the sum total of conjured-up dramas created by our customers." The new operative words, says Peters, are myth, fantasy, and illusion.
It's no mere coincidence that other industries try to model the way the entertainment industry is organized. What do the cultural industries - including the recording industry, the arts, television, and radio - do? They commodify, package, and market experiences as opposed to physical products or services. Their stock and trade is selling short-term access to simulated worlds and altered states of consciousness. The fact is, they are an ideal organizational model for a global economy that is metamorphosing from commodifying goods and services to commodifying cultural experience itself.
Companies way outside the orbit of the traditional music business are waking up to this all around the planet. As a result, you are no longer beholden to traditional "music industry companies" to achieve music success.
We'd mostly agree that the major record companies served their purpose well: they made recorded music available to us on a fairly vast scale for seventy-plus years, instilling an insatiable appetite for music in the process. As a result music "sells".
Music has accompanied just about every product that's come to market since the thirties. In fact, today some of the most interesting music is heard more readily on TV commercials than on the radio. Wherever we go we hear music. Why? Because we love it and we want it.
We want it when we drive, eat breakfast, shower, work, make love, shop for stuff -- it's the aural landscape of our lives. We hear music on recordings, at concerts, on commercials and at the airport; we listen to music over the phone and in our video games, Walkmen, iPods, Rios and cell phones. The global demand for music is chronic and ever- growing.
We're purchasing music just about everywhere too. 25 years ago you bought records at record stores; today you can get them at record stores, grocery stores, drug stores, book stores, consumer electronic stores, department stores, plant stores, tattoo parlors, bars, gyms, museum shops, thru the mail, over the Internet, at kiosks, at the airport, at MacDonalds, at Starbucks, at Victoria's Secret, thru 800#s, and hundreds of other places-- MUSIC IS EVERYWHERE!
Why? Because it's a universally loved value and activity, and companies across the board are looking to associate themselves with music and its fans. The lesson: These trends require a new way of thinking about the "music business" and "industry careers."
It's time to stretch our minds and get outside the box of traditional music business models. The "digital common" brings all kinds of non-music businesses into a space where creative partnerships can develop. Non-music partners are fresh and unjaded and excited about associating with musical and entertainment arts as a way of adding value to what they're offering. We should reflect on where musical skills are used rather than on where music has traditionally been sold. Think of companies you personally resonate with and then focus on those that may have an affinity with the kind of music you produce.
Make an alliance and use that alliance to market your music. Consider Craig Dory and Brian Levine of Dorian Recordings who get their recordings played on all the new hardware at consumer electronics shows. Smart alliances. Remember, the economic structures of the last century are being torn apart. The rules are being rewritten. Anything goes in the business world today. Therein lies your opportunity.
See yourself as an entrepreneur - one who creates forms to hold and deliver creative works.
Befriend technology and rigorously apply yourself to understanding it.
Throw out the "quick fame" idea and commit yourself to long-term career success.
EVERY BUSINESS IS A MUSIC BUSINESS
Every business is becoming a "music business" or, more accurately, an entertainment business. Management guru Tom Peters claims that "it's barely an exaggeration to say that everyone is getting into the entertainment business." Peters counsels his corporate clients that "the bottom line in commercial life is the sum total of conjured-up dramas created by our customers." The new operative words, says Peters, are myth, fantasy, and illusion.
It's no mere coincidence that other industries try to model the way the entertainment industry is organized. What do the cultural industries - including the recording industry, the arts, television, and radio - do? They commodify, package, and market experiences as opposed to physical products or services. Their stock and trade is selling short-term access to simulated worlds and altered states of consciousness. The fact is, they are an ideal organizational model for a global economy that is metamorphosing from commodifying goods and services to commodifying cultural experience itself.
Companies way outside the orbit of the traditional music business are waking up to this all around the planet. As a result, you are no longer beholden to traditional "music industry companies" to achieve music success.
We'd mostly agree that the major record companies served their purpose well: they made recorded music available to us on a fairly vast scale for seventy-plus years, instilling an insatiable appetite for music in the process. As a result music "sells".
Music has accompanied just about every product that's come to market since the thirties. In fact, today some of the most interesting music is heard more readily on TV commercials than on the radio. Wherever we go we hear music. Why? Because we love it and we want it.
We want it when we drive, eat breakfast, shower, work, make love, shop for stuff -- it's the aural landscape of our lives. We hear music on recordings, at concerts, on commercials and at the airport; we listen to music over the phone and in our video games, Walkmen, iPods, Rios and cell phones. The global demand for music is chronic and ever- growing.
We're purchasing music just about everywhere too. 25 years ago you bought records at record stores; today you can get them at record stores, grocery stores, drug stores, book stores, consumer electronic stores, department stores, plant stores, tattoo parlors, bars, gyms, museum shops, thru the mail, over the Internet, at kiosks, at the airport, at MacDonalds, at Starbucks, at Victoria's Secret, thru 800#s, and hundreds of other places-- MUSIC IS EVERYWHERE!
Why? Because it's a universally loved value and activity, and companies across the board are looking to associate themselves with music and its fans. The lesson: These trends require a new way of thinking about the "music business" and "industry careers."
It's time to stretch our minds and get outside the box of traditional music business models. The "digital common" brings all kinds of non-music businesses into a space where creative partnerships can develop. Non-music partners are fresh and unjaded and excited about associating with musical and entertainment arts as a way of adding value to what they're offering. We should reflect on where musical skills are used rather than on where music has traditionally been sold. Think of companies you personally resonate with and then focus on those that may have an affinity with the kind of music you produce.
Make an alliance and use that alliance to market your music. Consider Craig Dory and Brian Levine of Dorian Recordings who get their recordings played on all the new hardware at consumer electronics shows. Smart alliances. Remember, the economic structures of the last century are being torn apart. The rules are being rewritten. Anything goes in the business world today. Therein lies your opportunity.