By Ryan Van Etten on 07/26/2010
10 seconds to engage someone. 10 seconds to impress them. In his research for Futurehit.DNA, Jay Frank discovered an impressive trend: Shorter song intros lead to better sales. “2/3 of bestselling songs have an intro that’s less than 7 seconds.” The average intro length for Top 25 songs is 6.6 seconds. “You really have 10 seconds to engage people.”
Posted in Music, Music Flux, News, Popular | Tagged 7 seconds, Ariel Hyatt, attention, attention span, business, consumption, culture, don't make obstacles, engagement, Eric Garland, first impressions, Futurehit.DNA, Google, Gwen Lipsky, impact, Jay Frank, marketing, Mike Doernberg, monetization, MusicBiz, New Music Seminar, NMS NYC 2010, obscurity, people, Ralph Simon, ReverbNation, SEO, song intros, tips, What I Learned at NMS10
By Ryan Van Etten on 06/22/2010
The story of the new mobile music startup, Sound Around, starts in 2009, in a little place called Raleigh, North Carolina, where brothers Scott and Steve Klein had been brainstorming tech startup ideas. Both were students at NC State, but with opposite majors—nearly yin and yang. Add entrepreneurial DNA, and they’re Pinky and The Brain.
Posted in Apps, Editorial, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, Narrative, News, Popular | Tagged app services, business, development, entrepreneurs, indie, interaction, iPhone, Lauchbox Digital, MobBase, mobile, mobile dev, mobile music, music apps, music startup, musicians, NC State, Pinky and The Brain, platform, resources, service, smartphones, social music, Sound Around, startup story, startups, story-driven, TechStars
By Ryan Van Etten on 06/10/2010
When it comes to problem solving, engineers are fearless because they follow these rules. 1. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple, stupid! Forget the frills and the cheap thrills. Focus on the heart of the matter. 2. Identify. 3. Reduce. 4. Learn. 5. Design. 6. Source. 7. Optimize. 8. Test. 9. Iterate. 10. Amplify.
Posted in Design, Popular, Visual | Tagged adaptation, business, design rules, DIY, engineering, engineering rules, ideas, infographic, list, problem-solving, rules, tips
By Ryan Van Etten on 04/29/2010
Mac computers rock, but I’m no apple addict. When I talk on my iPhone 3G I feel like my head is melting, and even though iTunes launches every time I sync, I’ve never purchased music on iTunes. (I have downloaded apps.) The bottom line of this microwavable disclaimer is that I’m not your average music consumer. Apple continues to create a major dependence on iTunes through their mobile products, and I don’t think that anything is going to “kill” iTunes without a war. iTunes is the 7-Eleven of media—
Posted in Editorial, Music, Music Flux | Tagged 7-11, adaptation, affinity, Apple, behavior, business, change, cloud, consumers, consumption, convenience, generation, Grooveshark, integration, iPad, iPhone, ipod, iTunes, iTunes killer, Lala, last.fm, Mark Mulligan, mobility, Music, music industry, social music, spotify, stats, streaming, youth
By Ryan Van Etten on 04/27/2010
On the road of sound, there are players, and there are consumessengers. Due to the increase in communication mediums, consumers—the fans—are spreading the message now more than ever. Hence, the consumessenger has emerged. These modern fans are still fueled by the music, but what we’ve seen is a shift to an era where musicians are the engine, and their fans are the only fuel that matters. Gassing up your car isn’t free, but hybrid music fuel can be.
Posted in Boundless, Discussion, Editorial, Music, Music Flux | Tagged advertising, business, CDBaby, Chris Anderson, consumessengers, content, DIY Musician Podcast, economics, free, freeconomics, influencers, Kevin Breuner, like button, marketing, music industry, MusicBiz, MySpace, obscurity, photos, podcast, recommendation engine, resources, social media, social music, VW, word of mouth, your friends are your filter
![Music Business Driven by Data [Infographic]](http://img.virtualmusic.tv/thumbs/music-business-driven-by-data-150.png)
By Ryan Van Etten on 04/13/2010
In today’s fluxing music economy of freeconomics, ubiquitousness, and abundance, musicians are leveraging data and metrics tools to drive their careers. What answers can digital data deliver for musicians? Who… What… When… Where… Why… How…
Posted in Music, Music Flux, News, Popular, Visual | Tagged analytics, artist-fan relationship, business, data, data-driven music, digital, direct-to-fan, infographic, marketing, metrics, Music, music industry, MusicBiz, tips
By Ryan Van Etten on 02/01/2010
Terry McBride—CEO of Nettwerk—talks here about imagination. He argues that with music, context trumps content because music creates emotional bookmarks in our mind. Simply, the song is an emotion. These emotional bookmarks are significant because they enable us to travel backwards in our memories to when we experienced the music. Consumers are in control of the music industry, and access rules.
Posted in Music, Music Flux, News, Popular | Tagged access vs. ownership, app stores, Apple, artist-fan relationship, arts, behavior, business, cloud, consumption, content, context, copyright law, crowdsourcing, digital, digital valets, downloads, emotion, emotional attachment, imagination, iPhone, ipod, live music, music industry, music ventures, MusicBiz, Nettwerk, p2p, positivity, psychology, pull, recession, revenue, smartphones, social music, spotify, streaming, TED, TEDxVancouver, Terry McBride, venture capital, video
