E-Mail Of The Day
Re: Hits
Hey Bob,
I’m sorta slow keeping up with you most of the time, but reading this post a couple days later made me think about an artist that came across the IODA radar this week that I think illustrates what you are saying in this post. Check this out:
Andy Mckee – Guitar – Drifting
Andy McKee is a genuine Youtube sensation. He’s had over 7 million views on Youtube, placing him in the top 40 most viewed videos of ALL TIME and the top 20 most subscribed of all time. His last release is currently #4 on iTunes folk album charts, and his new album was released this week and should hit iTunes any day now.
On one hand, just another Youtube anomaly, but this guy is an amazing musician on an unknown label that has done INCREDIBLY well without any of the normal industry benefits. Why? Because of Youtube and the "word of mouth" it has created, but fundamentally because he’s genuinely unique and exceptionally talented.
He came to our attention because we constantly track and analyze our sales data and he’s doing strong numbers via iTunes and other outlets. He’s not good looking, but the talent shines through and he found his audience via the new marketing paradigm. AKA word of mouth. Very old/new school.
Check him out.
Nice finally meeting you in Sydney btw.
Kevin Arnold
So we’re having dinner with Richard Griffiths last week and he reveals that he manages Paul Potts. You know Paul Potts, right? The salesman from Carphone Warehouse who won "Britain’s Got Talent" singing opera?
Or maybe you don’t. Check out this link:
Bottom line, MANY people checked out this link. Because Mr. Potts’ album went to number one in a whole host of countries besides the U.K., even though he’s never been to these places, as varied as South Korea, Singapore and Denmark.
We were waiting for the first Internet stars. They’re here.
Oh, Mr. Potts’ career started with a TV show. But not Andy McKee’s. Nor Colbie Caillat’s. Turns out video on the Web is just as powerful as it is on TV. It’s just that it’s different. All that dancing, all those special effects, they don’t translate in a small window at a low resolution. But the ESSENCE! The ESSENCE SHINES THROUGH!
It’s been a long time since the essence, the core, the reality, the truth, has been important. What’s going on at MTV, the race between Kanye and Fitty, that’s the sideshow. The mainstream is for pussies. It’s where those with no clue hang out. And those who start there end up on the scrapheap that much faster.
You don’t need the machine anymore, you need TALENT!
And if you’ve got talent, you can just set up a digicam in your bedroom, post the results online and the world will know.
It’s not about getting a big label involved. Actually, you’re probably stupid if you do. What can they do for you? Get you in the mainstream Kanye/Fitty world on radio stations the fans don’t listen to, whore you out and burn you out? It’s the seventies all over again. It’s ORGANIC!
It’s not about promotion, it’s not about an edge, it’s about how good you are.
If this fat, bald guy can have a career, I don’t want to hear your sour grapes that no one’s paying attention to you. You get it the instant Andy McKee starts to play. And, even if it’s not your cup of tea, you know the guy’s got talent. Does Nicole Pussycat Doll have talent? You might want to bang her, but after that?
Whereas you want to know where Andy McKee came from. How much he practiced. Does he have other fans? You want to be a member of the group. You want to tell all your friends about him. You want to see him.
This is how you grow careers in the twenty first century.
