The Muzic Scene

Not surprisingly, free content is most likely to get more exposure rather than a fee-based product, especially when it comes to music.  It's in a human nature that we are more attracted to "FREE" stuff. For new and upcoming artists, this human nature concept can be very difficult to overcome and make any output from their music.  In the process of music economy crises, when ownership is being replaced by free and immediate access through Youtube, Spotify, Soundcloud and other websites, less people want to spend their money on music records.

If you are an unknown band, trying to get your foot in the door of music industry, you probably won't sell enough records to sustain your career. Unfortunately, not many people will be willing to pay any money to see your show. As for well-known artist, touring is the essential stream of income, new artists have to find other ways to proliferate with their music and bring it to the next level to compete with mainstream artists.

As an artist, you have to reach more people with your music and make people aware of who you are.

It has never been easier than today to make a song. With emerging technologies, you can make records through your phone, and if you want something more advanced, ProTools, Logic, Reason or even GarageBand can be a source to you. Internet and social media websites offer unlimited opportunities for artists to promote their music and make music available for the worldwide audience. Yet, many musicians still struggle with acquainting a bigger listener of their music.

We hear music everywhere. It is an essential component of daily life for many people. Yet, there are many great artists we are not familiar with. So, what are the tools we can use to discover more artists? What do artists need to focus on?

 Social media role in discovering artists.

Conduct US!

From Virgin Disruptors debate

As Virgin Records started to explore a topic on music and technology during a panel with Will.i.am, Amanda Palmer and Scooter Braun, I thought it would be beneficial to write why technology didn’t kill music but made it possible for music to survive.

Back in the history. In 1764, the first collection of religious music, printed on paper was compiled. In less than a century, publishing becomes a business enterprise in the United States. Music lead sheets had increased in value and gained popularity from masses. Playing musical instruments and ability to read music was very prestigious in society. During the 1880s and 1890s, the numerous publishing houses and music stores in lower Manhattan established Tin Pan Alley.

Technology in the history of music publishing in the United States played a vital role.

The competition of cylinder and disc, Edison’s phonograph, radio and many other inventions made it possible for music to expand and grow rapidly. Technology has played a vital role in success of music industry. Copyright law, legal protection against unauthorized reproduction of creative works became necessary because technology played a vital role in music distribution. There would be no publishing, without introduction of mass production and promotion of American popular songs in 1885. The most important contribution to the economic development of song publishing was the hit-making machine.

Technology has played a vital role in economic success of music industry.

Music printing, distribution and even music consumption involves technology. There are so many parallels between music and technology that it is very clear, music would not survive without technology.

Music&Tech today. MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, Youtube are only a few websites that allow to share music and let new artists get exposure. CD Baby, iTunes are examples of new business models and new channels of music distribution. Online state of music space brings enormous assets to artists and listeners. Why wouldn’t music industry benefit than?

Future of muz&tech. Music will proliferate and be alive only with engagement and interaction of music and technology in a fast-paced environment. It has always been the same, technological advances increase the value of music. One of the main roles of music and popular song was to entertain.Technology has helped to make it portable and available for bigger audience. The business of popular song has grown tremendously with technology involvement. With technology, the demand for music has achieved its highest point. Today, music is available for everyone. The concept of copyright grounded with emerging of music and technology. Music instruments are the most technologically advanced successes of collaboration between music and technology.

I don't see how tech killed or would kill the industry instead I would ask if record labels were not sustainable enough to keep up with technology.

Rober Kraft is a songwriter, pianist and former executive at 20th Century Fox. Last week, Robert Kraft came to Berklee College of Music in Valencia to speak about business decisions he had to make and even played a song for students. From a two hours session he gave, I took some notes.

About the future.

"Everyone worries about what's going to happen next. What I gotta do is to get through today."

How to learn about business.

"Everything I learned about business I knew from starting a band. Every single aspect of starting a band can be applied to business, personal and financial relationship."

How to make right decisions.

"Decisions are funny. I live by rules I've made for myself."

"Wrong emotions are better than no emotions.That's how you make the right decision."

"The universe responds to clear intentions."

"If I love playing a piano, I figured out,  there will be someone to pay for it".

"Titanic was a big failure until it became a big success."

Relationship.

"I do not remember all the movies I worked on, but I remember the people I worked with. "

Time-management.

"You always think you are busier than you think you are."

Limits.

"Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur"

As I was going through the library, the cover of this book popped up and I immediately immersed myself in reading this book since the inside was even more fascinating.This book is a story written by an entrepreneur and founder of CD Baby, Derek Sivers. If you are not familiar with CD Baby, it is one of the first online music stores in the US that allowed independent musicians to sell their CD albums directly to customers without having to go through record stores.  I would call this book "Anything You Need To Know About Music Business 2", if you've read the first book by Donald Passman. It has great advices on starting your own business and making right decisions. 

What is necessary to be successful? How much money do you need? Is it about having loads of money or fame?

This book answers money questions you may have on opening your business in music or other industries.

Derek Sivers is a musician himself, making full-time living just playing music until 1997, when he unintendedly started a business that he would sell for $22 million in 2008.

In 2010, Derek talked on TED about How To Start a Movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V74AxCqOTvg

Derek Sivers in his book.

"Necessity is a great teacher."

"You need to know your personal philosophy of what makes you happy and what's worth of doing."

"A Business plan should never take more than a few hours of work."

"Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently doing what's not working."

"If you're not saying "HELL YEAH!" about something, say no."

"Having no funding was a big advantage for me."

"Make every decision - even decisions about whether to expand the business, raise money, or promote someone - according to what's best for your customers."

During one of my classes here at Berklee Valencia, I asked a question to the class, How do we make people aware of our music and expertise? It doesn't matter if you are a musician or you have your own business. The point is to connect with others and make this connection valuable.  So, what do we do? Many artists today have 10 albums inside of their computers, but there is no discovery channel that exists for them to share what they have. Thanks to technology, there are more and more opportunities at this time. Soundcloud, reverbnation, facebook, all of these social media websites help to connect and deliver the music.  Online world becomes a powerful tool when in comes to promoting or just even sharing something to the world.

The teacher from our class asked if anyone listened to the latest album of Metallica? Have you listened to the latest Madonna hit? And the answer to all these questions was no. Now, the dilemma is why even though the level of the artist is so high, we are still not familiar with their music. How about then artists that are just coming out? Who's gonna listen to those?

The ability to make audience aware about your existence is definitely a marketing job. With extremely high information flow that we face every day, there is so much competition to get someone's interest in listening to your music. Does it mean that it's impossible to get exposure in the high competency market place?

I believe that any product you put online has to be planned. If you do business, it's always helpful to have a business plan. If you release a music album, you need to have a marketing plan on how it will be released.

Today, the opportunities are tremendous in the internet. You have abilities to create, release and market music within apartment space. The online world offers so much for musicians. It creates opportunities that you could never dream of and helps to get connection with other professionals in the industry.

Many times when I listen to new music that I haven't heard before, I feel frustrated because I was not familiar with an artist. I even blame the marketing team for not promoting the artist to the level that I could find out about this artist earlier. So, what do you do to let someone discover your talent? There is definitely someone out there in the market looking for your skills and experiences. What do you do to make connections? Have you planned or thought about self-branding and promotion?

Music is an absolute essential of life for many people. Consuming music becomes a daily routine, similar to consuming water and electricity. Software development and technology make music more ubiquitous and available to use, but even with all variety that is being offered in music today, there are many premiums, just like "premium water" we buy in the store instead of drinking a tap water. This concept is coming from a book I've read this summer on future of music industry.

The authors of the book, David Kusek and Gerd Leonhard talk about a possibility to use the same model for music that is being used right now in selling water. What happens with water? We pay extra for getting premium class water. It should be free of bacteria, even better if it has electrolytes and a nice bottle. The price for water will vary from $1 to $4, depending on the brand. Would it be fair to say that water is about packaging it comes in, probably yes.

Can the same model of flat fee be applied to music industry? If music is acceptable as a part of living, than would it be possible to have flat-fee based approach? What services today use this model?

It's obvious that music has been transformed throughout history from being a product to a service. For many people, Youtube and Spotify are the only ways to listen to music. Rather than owning records, the trend is to have unlimited access to music. Spotify is competing today with many other services in the online space. With a flat fee, you can get unlimited music as you go. Will this model be replaced by something else in the industry? As we pay extra for water, we will pay premium for music.