Txting

I just got off an endless conference call.

Now I know why there’s gridlock at corporations.Â Burning time, cracking jokes, making sure everybody’s comfortable, productivity would rise if they just unplugged everybody’s phone.Â And charged a nickel every time somebody forwarded an e-mail.

But it gets worse.Â Every time you bring up an idea on a conference call, you’re subject to the instant judgment of the assembled multitude.Â It’s like a school presentation, but worse.Â No wonder nobody offers up a good idea, they’re afraid of being shot down.

But some good ideas did arise.

Jim wanted to bring a rock star who broke all the rules to Aspen.

Marc wondered what we could learn from a rock star.

Then Lisa volunteered we get someone from TicketMaster to come.Â BINGO!Â I volunteered Sean Moriarty.Â He’s an English major. He may work for the devil, but he’s not the devil himself.

I volunteered we get someone from the iTunes Store.Â I was at Rhino last week and I was STUNNED what goes on behind the scenes.Â What you want is an artist page, not just a listing of your albums.Â How do you make that happen?Â Marc said he could ask Alex Luke, but he doubted that Luke would cough up any insider information, Apple being legendarily secretive.Â I was about to talk about the label meetings the Cupertino company has, but I kept my mouth shut, I didn’t want to incur the wrath of someone.

But then Jim said we should get someone from the Obama campaign.Â That no one knows more about the Internet, how to use it effectively, than Obama.

Let the blowback begin!Â Everybody criticized Jim’s idea.Â Jimmy launched into an extended defense.Â Talking about Obama’s use of texting.Â And when the call finally got quiet, I stated that I thought this was a BRILLIANT idea!

I’ll give you an illustration.

Wednesday I received this e-mail:

From: Mike Farrace
Subject: Â Â Â Re: What If We Had Elections In The Music Business?

Every Obama supporter knows this. Do you know how many text messages alone I got from the Obama campaign? Tons — 75 or 100. Thank yous. Come to the office. Get on the phone. Drive to Reno, or better yet, Denver. Write to this, call these guys, send bucks here. All had a purpose, a call for action, cajoling me to step up. And when there was a number to call, someone answered, valued my participation, invited me to the party. It was REAL. That’s the yet-untold story of the campaign.

Maybe there’s a clue there for the record business. The road is paved. All you have to do is drive.

Exactly!

I’m looking for that story I read about how Obama raised money.Â By motivating individuals, to have parties, to lean on their friends. And that rather than shooting solely for the big bucks, the big swinging dicks that need to be courted until they write a check, better to motivate individuals, who collectively rain cash!Â People want to believe, they want to belong, let them in on the party.

It’s just like breaking a band!Â Rather than worrying so much about television and radio, be concerned with your next door neighbor, the kids at school.Â Don’t worry about getting signed, getting one big check.Â Doing it yourself you may never have to take the label’s cash, making so much of your own.

But this texting point in Farrace’s e-mail truly resonated because of this conversation I had with Don Elford.

Don runs the Acer Arena in Sydney.Â We were having lunch last month and Celine Dion’s name came up.Â Don’s face fell.Â Did they hate Celine that much in Australia?Â Had he lost a bunch of money?

No, she’d gotten sick and had to cancel that night’s show at 5 PM!!

Holy fuck.Â That’s a disaster.

Being Celine, Don got the TV news to tell the story, not to come to the arena, which is not located smack dab downtown, but in Olympic Park, a schlep away.

But fewer than fifty people (out of almost 20,000 tickets sold) showed up.Â Why?Â TEXT MESSAGING!

Yup, they ask for your mobile number when you buy tickets!

We’re constantly told how technology is eliminating our privacy.Â Not to cough up any info.Â But you’d be smart to give the ticket purveyor your mobile number…Â What if you’d bought seats for a Janet Jackson show!

We’ve lived in a top down, fuck you music industry for far too long.Â We believe the fans are privileged to see our acts.Â If we fuck them in the ass in the process, well where else can you get this hit?

Those days are through.Â Each fan must be treated as an individual, respected and brought into the group.Â A fan will give you his time and money if you respect him.Â A fan loves to spread the word, IF YOU APPRECIATE THAT HE DOES SO!Â A reward is even better.Â As little as a meet and greet before the show.Â Maybe a pass to the soundcheck.Â Fans don’t require much, just that you appreciate them!

I don’t know if anybody from Obama’s team will show up in Aspen.Â Michael said he did one of Barack’s first fundraisers, and he doubted it.

But you can show up if you want to.

If you love to ski, or just love Aspen.

If you like people.

If you want to make friends.

Registration is free.

I want to hear how you’re motivating your audience, building your act.Â On the bus to Snowmass last year, I met Marty Winsch.Â He manages Corey Smith.Â Who might not be a star in the "People"/TMZ/PerezHilton world, but is a big kahuna in the touring universe. Corey gives his music away for free, plays songs that have never been released on an official album at shows and everybody knows the words!Â That one ride opened my eyes.Â That you don’t have to do it the old-fashioned way.

If you’re interested in going, contact Jim Lewi: jimlewi@theagencygroup.com.

By: bob | 2008/11/07 | Music Business | Trackback | Comments [RSS 2.0]

Txting

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