So many artists, record labels, and management companies are struggling to adapt with the industry online. The ones who have not adapted have collapsed in on themselves, but those adapting are trying to stay afloat in what we can call the new music economy (coined by Greg Rollett of genyrockstars.com).
One of the biggest “issues” that music companies are having in the new music economy is piracy and unauthorized copying. As Andrew Dubber of New Music Strategies bluntly puts it:
The single most effective way to stop people from copying your music is to stop making music. If that’s not an option (and why would it be?) then accepting that this is the world in which we live is a good start towards successfully negotiating the new media environment.
This is the only way selling music works:
Fans will Hear—> Like—> Buy your music
I could explain this in my own words, but instead I’ll paste in this reference from a blog post by Andrew Dubber to explain it. This explains exactly why you need to quit worrying about piracy to survive in the new music economy:
Music is pretty much unique when it comes to media consumption. You don’t buy a movie ticket because you liked the film so much, and while you might buy a book because you enjoyed reading it so much at the library, typically you’ll purchase first, then consume…
But music is different - and radio proves that. By far the most reliable way to promote music is to have people hear it. Repeatedly, if possible - and for free. After a while, if you’re lucky, people get to know and love the music. Sooner or later, they’re going to want to own it…
But either way - whether it’s a pop tune, a heavily political punk album, or an experimental, avant-garde suite - the key is very simple: people have to hear music, then they will grow to like it, and then finally, if you’re lucky, they will engage in an economic relationship in order to consume (not just buy and listen to) that music…
That’s the order it has to happen in. It can’t happen in any other order. There’s no point in hoping that people will buy the music, then hear it, then like it. They just won’t.
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During the summer of 2009, Lenny Kravitz embarked on a huge European Tour in support of his “Let Love Rule 20(09)†re-release. We leveraged some serious social media tactics through the use of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Kyte, iLike and more. One of the most notable social media campaigns that we created used a very powerful Facebook tool: photo-tagging.
