Human Brain Connections by ethanhein on flickr

Science

In his above TED talk, Daniel Pink makes a strong case relating the science of motivation to creativity and business. The verdict is that money is not a primary motivator for people doing creative work. Sure, it does play a factor today as people need enough money to meet their essential needs. Once those needs are met, money is out of the picture. I look forward to reading his upcoming book, Drive.

Spotify

I felt compelled to deliver the point—money is not an artist’s true motivation—in response to the exorbitant editorial negativity surrounding yesterday’s news of Lady Gaga getting paid $167 for 1+ million Spotify streams. Where I live—in the US—Spotify is not yet available so I have not been able to try the platform. Spotify is a new service and its revenue model is understandably in a shakedown period where they are still determining what works, what data they have, and how they can best leverage that data to generate revenue.

Mr. Ek [Spotify CEO and Founder] revealed how the company has been working on making its advertising as personally tailored to an individual’s tastes as possible. “We have a lot of information about people. We know our users’ age, gender, location and even mood – which figure out by through BPMs [beats per minute],” he explained. Depending on whether a person has listened to lots of fast or slow music, Spotify is trying to make its mood analysis as accurate as possible – so it can serve highly targeted adverts for users to properly engage with—which should in turn, increase the amount it can charge brands to advertise on the platform. Mr. Ek said Spotify was “beginning to figure this stuff out”. (Spotify chief, Daniel Ek, rules out 2009 US launch | Telegraph)

It sounds like Spotify is on track to me. I like the ad-based model and there are many variations to explore. I brainstormed launching an ad-based free music service back in 2007, and I think Spotify is the closest service to what I would have done, but they’ll need to continue to evolve, as do musicians.

Whether it is really relevant to measure the success of Spotify in this way remains to be seen as it is still a service in it’s infancy. Much like Twitter, it is phenomenally successful in terms of usability but is still finding its feet in terms of making money. As it continues to attract users its appeal to advertisers will grow and so too will the financial returns. How this filters down to the individual artist is then probably more of an issue with the labels than with Spotify. (A Ga Ga approach to marketing? | The Naked Pheasant)

Industry

It’s smart business to think years down the road by expanding your fan base even if it doesn’t pay off immediately. I think Lady Gaga and many other artists see that. The long-term benefit of those 1+ million streams is immense, and I think many people are blinded to that fact—such a level of exposure leads to sellout shows and non-music revenue streams. The one thing I dislike about the situation is that the major labels still have major pull and they can afford huge production and marketing investments. But the need for heavy financing is down—thank you, Internet. In today’s connected, music-abundant world why does any one artist get so popular? Is it hard work, affinity, or talent? To me, talent is relative—it’s not what you can build, but rather it’s what you can build with what you have. It’s the Internet Age—indie musicians have the power to take the industry back but they must embrace change and creativity to do it—they must creatively leverage the internet and mobile apps.

The connection from the fan to the band, financially, has been broken. The fan knows that their purchase will hardly help the band, or more precisely that the marginal benefit from their purchase to the band is near zero, so why do it? The cost to the fan is much higher than the marginal benefit to the band, so the fan just torrents the damn song. (Why Music Is Broken – The Artist To Consumer Connection)

P2P rocks—it turned the industry up-side-down letting the label-lords know they had lost control. I see P2P as a massive benefit for musicians. Do they have P2P streaming yet? They will. With all that said, I believe that many music fans are as-motivated-as-ever to pay for music when they know their money is going directly to the artist. Maybe subscription services like Spotify can find a way to work this, or endorsement deals that fans would want to support, into their business model. I think that fans—and people in general—need to feel like they are part of something and they want to feel empowered.

Artwork: jahdakinebrah/flickr.

The fan artwork you see above is a creative visualization of Pink Floyd’s Money. The image squares depict the story of the song lyrics. What motivates you? What do you think motivates music fans?

Carey is pioneering a new business model for music. She’s cutting deals with the kind of partners musicians have traditionally shunned, pushing herself into new areas such as publishing, tourism and food and drink. … “A lot of big powerful music-industry executives made a giant mistake,” she says. “They gave the music business away on the internet. If they had just sat back and said, ‘Maybe let’s figure this internet thing out, it could be something cool,’ we could have found a way to distribute music online on our own terms, not somebody else’s. … Musicians have long promoted non-music products. The Rolling Stones marketed Windows 95 with Start Me Up. Michael Jackson did endless Pepsi promos. And rappers such as P Diddy and Jay-Z have moved on from name-checking other people’s fashion and luxury-goods brands in their songs to create their own brands, usually in partnership with their record labels, and promote them instead. But Carey is breaking new ground in three areas. Mariah Carey: The gloves are off | Times Online

The internet has leveled the playing field. It has proven that content is king, and that those who work hard at delivering content can build a following. Artists have channels with live streaming video content and direct connection with their fans through mobile applications. The same opportunities exist for everyone, and they’re almost all free. You may think that endorsements and partnerships are only for megastars—but I don’t. I believe that indie musicians with smaller niche fan bases can make the same types of product endorsement deals and partnerships with brands or services that the megastars can. The trick is finding the right brands and companies to match up with. But if you have—for example—a Ustream or YouTube channel that’s getting hundreds of views on a daily basis then I don’t think it would be hard to pitch to a company that relates to your audience. Ideally your audience would be a target market for the endorsed product or service. Think big but also think local.

flickr.com/photos/eyesofrc/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

There is no single exact solution for indie artists, but the best solutions revolve around leveraging social media and video streaming to maximize fan engagement. Visual content is a must. Video content is supreme. YouTube serves well over 1 billion views per day. Live videos are easy to stream with ustream.tv, stickam.com, or justin.tv and a decent webcam. For recording non-live videos I recommend HD pocket cameras like the Zi6 or Zi8, or smartphones that enable mobile uploads like the iPhone. Video is becoming more interactive by the second and mobility is always important. Each musician has their own unique style and identifying that will help you see opportunities. Keep an open mind and be willing to adapt.

It seems that we truly are at the dawn of a new era. Opportunities abound at every corner. Music is more alive than ever, consumers listen to more music in more ways than ever thought possible, artists interact and build connections with fans in new and unique ways, music and other entertainment content can be delivered via multiple platforms for a fraction of the cost of traditional methods, and artists can form business relationships with many different partners—including consumer brands. (Music Branding Gets All Grown Up | Talent Zoo)

A lot of businesses still don’t get the internet, but a lot of them do—these are the ones that you can work with. Realize that a band’s physical merchandise is a product line, and there’s nothing stopping bands from partnering with companies to sell their own non-music products. Smart companies would likely jump at the chance to sponsor bands that have built active communities around the internet and are accessible via mobile phones. They see the meaning in social media—for business.

The types of products that will work for indie musician endorsements will vary greatly and be determined by each musician’s personal style or brand. A middle-man service that helps musicians match up with consumer brands and vice-versa might be viable—don’t you think? It would probably be pretty easy for Google, Facebook, or MySpace to implement such a service. However I’m a fan of DIY and I usually like to cut out middle-men. I think the best approach would be to directly contact companies that you’d like to partner with. Don’t be afraid to fail. You can’t get anywhere without trying things. Remember to focus on the dopeness—see Part 1: Music Dopeness and Bands as Brands.

“Know what your problem is, Shapiro? It’s that you just have this really shitty way of looking at things, ya know? I don’t have that problem. I just look at the dopeness. But you, it’s like you just look at the wackness, ya know?” (The Wackness)

So you consider music as your profession? Then whether you like it or not, your band is your brand. You may think you are defined by your style and sound, but nowadays your are ultimately defined by your fans and their perception of you. When you look in the social-media mirror your public face should be a reflection of your private face [see discussion]. If you cannot handle being true to your fans by putting yourself out there genuinely then your fans will see right through you. And if you’re not providing some form of free content, then you will be invisible. Music fans have lots of choices.

Now more than ever the essential component of your business is you. Use the tools that are available to go where your fans are—social media—and deliver true customer service (the most important aspect in business) by responding to all comments and messages from your fan base. In doing these actions you’ll be building all the promotional material that you’ll need, and you’ll be forming a community around your brand. Remember to focus on the dopeness that most of your costs as a musician have evaporated and you have your fans at your fingertips. Your true fans will support your shows and purchase from you as a thank you. Gary Vaynerchuk describes the thank you economy:

[homepage thumbnail photo: Flickr/DistortedSmile]

Part 2: Musicians, Brands, Endorsements, and Partnerships

Did I mention that these services handle the submission process to the Apple iTunes Store for you? Please share how you’re using these for your band etc. Plus, what other platforms am I missing? Update: we were informed about a new 4th platform via the comment section below. Here’s the 411:

Update 2: More app services for musicians have hit the scene—see app services.

Last Friday I got into a discussion with James Marshall (@infinitestylez) about issues facing musicians in the current state of the industry. I had tweeted two links and James replied stating, “The internet is destroyin’ industries we all love.” It sparked a bit of a debate at first—my stance is that the internet is changing the music business for the better—but we found some common ground along the way. We talked about promotion, talent, middle-men, costs, and the viability of alternate revenue sources like subscriptions and endorsements. We decided to post the discussion here where it can benefit the community, and we want to hear your opinions in the comment section. Have a read below of the entire conversation, which went from tweets to DM’s to emails.

About James Marshall: I’m a hip-hop artist local to Detroit, 25 years old, and with 7 years experience in hip-hop. “I don’t care if you don’t love me, I don’t care if you don’t date me. Fear me, whatever, respect me…hate me as long as you pay me.”

About Ryan Van Etten: I’m a 30 y.o. writer/editor on virtualmusic.tv, an engineer, DIY multimedia producer, and the indie eclectic-rock artist from The Spin Arounds and Crimson Road. “I try to reinvent myself each day like the turn of a kaleidoscope.”

Simply put, it rocks.

The past few years have proven that music and videogames were destined for each other. But until now, the music in games was restricted to mainstream artists and tunes specifically licensed for the games. Rock Band Network is the first opportunity that allows anyone to get their music in the game.

Screenshot: Rock Band Network is located at creators.rockband.com.

This summer’s press about Rock Band Network hinted that it would become available by November. Currently the site introduces the steps involved in submitting tracks to the game—it provides detailed mix specifications and links to the free audio software necessary for producing tracks. Creators must sign up for the XNA Creators Club–Gold Membership to Xbox Live [currently $8/month or $50/year].

The influx of new music into Rock Band will help to further popularize the game, and I think Harmonix will see increasing domination in the music-gaming market. The artists whose songs are featured in the game will gain exposure and revenue from sales through the Network—according to Wikipedia artists will receive a 30% revenue share. In the interview below, Matthew Nordhaus, a senior producer at Harmonix, mentions that song pricing will vary from $1–$3. I would love to hear more pricing details if anyone can provide them. What is your take on the pricing and revenue share? Even without the revenue share I think Rock Band Network is a massive opportunity for independent musicians.

Once Rock Band Network is through its current, private beta phase, I’m going to attempt to produce a track for the game, and I’ll keep you informed as I learn more about the process. In the meantime, what do you think about Rock Band Network? How do you think it will affect our music culture? Do you think that gaming platforms will be the major outlet for digital music sales in the near future?

Listeners: There is music that you can download for free—legally or illegally—and there is music that you can stream for free. The trend is towards streaming. I support bands that are giving their tracks away for free. I’ll even admit it—I’m offended when bands expect me to pay for an mp3 download. Am I completely off base here, or do you agree?

Unlike these records, mp3′s can be easily duplicated and shared for free. We are in a new time and we need new rules. Welcome to the digital revolution.

Bands: Giving downloads away for free is an excellent promotional move. It puts out the message that you care about your fans, and that you want them to hear your music. It is a leader into other revenue streams. I recommend collecting fans’ email addresses in exchange for free downloads. This can be achieved nicely by Bandcamp, which, in my opinion is a super-slick service. Bandcamp enables downloads in multiple hi-res formats, and the platform encourages sharing on social networks. They even offer pay-what-you-want pricing options—the only drawback is that PayPal takes a percentage. [Demo: My Bandcamp Page]

I hope paid download services shift their business models to make the music more “free” for listeners. I think services could generate ad revenue that the artists could share in—in such a way that bands could choose the ads on their pages as to match the right advertisements with the music. I recently commented about Amie Street implementing this idea, but imagine if a mega-service like iTunes could work magic like that.

As a club-goer in the game’s easy mode, you would be 21+ or 18+ depending on the country or venue rules. With your politeness and your ID, you would pass through the bouncer and get inside to have more interactions inside the venue or on the dance floor. In the advanced mode, you would be underage, and you would have to try to pass a fake ID, or invent a way in without one—a lie, another entrance, etc. Once inside you would be able to see, hear, move around, and interact just as you would in a real, live venue. You would get to witness an actual, or virtualized, video stream from the venue. The setting choices for the game might be bars, clubs, concerts, festivals, or any other type of music venue. They could be real or fictitious, and who’s to say what’s real? Level 1 could start on the city street outside a dive bar, and in the subsequent levels the player would work up to larger and larger venues.

As a bouncer in the game’s easy mode, you would have to be polite as you worked the door, checked ID’s, spotted fake ones, and greeted incoming club-goers. Bouncers would lose points for being rude, or for mishandling the crowds. In more advanced bouncer modes, you would have to responsibly prevent violent behavior, by pacifying out-of-control partiers without causing them any physical harm. As for the game levels, the bouncers could start out working for a dive bar, and work up to nicer and nicer jobs at different venues. Even job interview interactions could be simulated in the game.

Maybe you could not attend a real-life Radiohead show in London, but in VirtualVenue you could. Music would be featured throughout the game, and licensing would be paid to those real-life musicians whose songs and live appearances were used in the game. The company that produced this game could generate huge revenues by selling advertising to actual venues, and having them featured as game-setting locations with live, 3D, video feeds of the actual performances. With the game connected to the internet, and the touring artists in the game being real, ticketing companies could pay to have their gig listings in the game, which would increase actual ticket sales and further promote the artists and the venues. A third revenue stream for the game company could be selling subscriptions, of the behavioral data findings, to robotics developers, or to security industry professionals who would want to know all the latest security flaws and use that knowledge to tighten real-life security.

There are myriad ways to expand on all of these ideas. The game could work best in a mashup with social networks, and enable you to play with real people from around the globe.

I think that crowdsourcing videogame technology could lead to the training of real, digital bouncers—an idea that I don’t think is too bizarre. The VirtualVenue network could aggregate data about how players reacted in different situations, and help teach computers human-like behavior. The data crowdsourcing model is already widely used. For example the familiar reCaptcha essentially uses humans to teach computers to read our handwriting for the purpose of digitizing books. Crowdsourcing leads to open innovation, and we may not be far from crowdsourced, robot-teaching technology becoming a mainstream reality. This game, and others like it, could include physical and vocal input from the player, making the game feel more realistic, and opening doors to teaching robots our body language, and our spoken languages. It will be key that we maintain ethics and use this technology in smart ways, because we’ve all seen Terminator and can imagine how this sort of technology might explode. How can we ensure that the relationship between humans and computers remains symbiotic? Computers educated by humans…where might this lead?

Upcoming: We aim to look at this issue in reverse—how videogame technology might enrich our learning through virtual education—see virtualmusic.tv/education/

Gary Vaynerchuk has animatedly vlogged about how the internet itself just hit puberty. Online music collaboration and virtual jamming are even younger. The arena for virtual music is huge. The best music is live music, and this is what comes next: We’re going hear, feel, and see live music live in the virtual realm—a drummer in Sydney, a bassist in New York, a singer in Tokyo—connecting with their fans live through web-based applications. You’re going to virtually bump n’ grind across the globe in virtual clubs with DJ’s pumping sound to the world. There will be video chat so big, real, live, and interactive that it will be like being there. The experience, and the emotion, will be real.

Where changes to anywhere in the virtual realm, and the technology is breeding as fast as we can imagine it. The clubs and venues of today will have to embrace the technology to survive, and they could be some of the best portals for connecting to the virtual space in a hybrid mix between the techology and the old-school dance floor. By the way, these clubs will recycle their electricity from the music. It’s only a matter of time before video chat goes 3D and beyond. Imagine how people will connect from club to club, venue to venue, and party to party in the virtual space.

The video game industry has already tapped the music vein with massive success, and they will continue to play a major role in this dynamic shift to the virtual realm. Mobility is still vital in the virtual realm, but how might its role evolve? Bringing music to the phone was one giant leap for musickind. Berkleemusic started the #bmusic hashtag for musicbiz conversation. Their 2005 book The Future of Music, published by the Berklee Press, discussed how mobility trumps quality. They were so right. But what trumps mobility? I think virtuality is the answer. Virtuality trumps mobility? Virtuality and mobility will likely breed to create new offspring. Mobility is the ability to move, or the ability to be connected wherever you are. In the virtual realm you can be anywhere with anyone. Virtuality is reality. Music is an experience. The quality of the experience could become greater than ever.

Evolution has proven that the most valuable survival feature that any creature can have is adaptability. Those who adapt the fastest to change always thrive. The controversial survival novelist Ragnar Benson advised that those who fail to embrace the latest technology are at a severe disadvantage. Music and musicians will continue to adapt to new technologies. As for the designers and developers: bring it on. Your imagination has no limit. Every technology that you can bring to life will be used. Musicians will continue the shift away from selling tangible products, and will cash in selling experiences—via licensing, sponsored shows, endorsements, subscriptions, etc. Music will be everywhere.

This post might sound a little far out but I think it’s meaningful for us to think about. Thank you for taking the time to read it, and I’d love to spark conversation below in the comment section and via twitter (I’m @ryanve). What will the future bring? How will the ever-expanding music population contribute to our future, and future generations?