Direct Connection
I was reading "Relix" and found out that Mudcrutch had a new EP. I immediately fired up my computer and started searching Rapidshare. I needed to steal this yet-to-be-released live recording. I needed to hear the 15 minute take of "Crystal River".
But it didn’t come up immediately. So I decided to do a little research. When was the project going to hit the marketplace? After all, magazines work with a long lead time, labels give editors product long before it’s commercially available.
I found out the EP had been released on Amazon on November 11th. Even worse, I found out it had been available on iTunes since October 17th. How come I didn’t know about it?
I saw Petty and the Heartbreakers do "Breakdown" at the Whisky in ’77. I can quote you every word of "A Woman In Love (It’s Not Me)". The initial solo record is truly classic. And even though I’m not in love with all the Heartbreakers material thereafter, the Mudcrutch album was a revelation.
One that seems to have been completely forgotten in the cultural morass. You’ve got to listen to "Crystal River". It’s a distillation of the San Francisco sound, filtered through the U.K., all the way to Gainesville. Hear it once and you’d desire to see the band live. Of course, you’d want to hear a live take. But could you find out about it?
How do acts establish a direct connection with their fanbase? How do they entice listeners to join their e-mail list, with authentic e-mail addresses? That’s the number one lesson of Radiohead’s "In Rainbows". Give away something desirable and you get the right to make contact with your fans thereafter. At MIDEM the co-manager of Radiohead said the "In Rainbows" release allowed the band to collect 3 million e-mail addresses, and ultimately play to 60,000 in San Francisco as opposed to 25,000 the previous time through. And isn’t live where it’s at?
You’ve got to forget about television. Even radio and mainstream media. There’s too much noise, dedicated music fans have tuned out. Only the casual are paying attention. Which is why most acts with hit records can’t tour, no one truly cares. Petty must see he’s solely in the Tom Petty business now, that it’s about collecting fans around him.
Point being, if I don’t know there’s a new Petty/Mudcrutch EP out, what are the odds people are aware your new record is in the marketplace? Are they reading the reviews in the failing "New York Times"? Or watching the fading MTV, whose viewership just declined by 23%, despite supposed "Hills" mania
And speaking of mania, in this week’s "New Music Tipsheet", Scott Perry reports that Nickel Creek have sold more albums than the Strokes. Assuming this is true, it shows publicity means less than ever before.
How do you get permission to contact people? You’ve got to offer them something. Then you have to guard the relationship, not spamming your audience, continuing to deliver information and goods they desire.
This is more important than radio promo. More important than physical retail. Number one today is your relationship with your fan. Because fans will buy the $100 package. Fans will come to see you live. Fans will support you. Stop playing to the bleachers, play to those right down front. Maybe, if Petty is lucky, his fans will convince those not paying attention to give "Crystal River" a crack. But trying to infiltrate the minds of those on the periphery, it’s almost impossible.
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Re-Relix
I thought it was still Grateful Dead-centric. But it’s a full service magazine these days. More "Rolling Stone" than "Rolling Stone". They’ve got Dave Schools writing about Phil Lesh and Keller Williams going on about Bob Weir. Not briefly! They obviously did it for the love of music, not money. If you’re putting money first, you’re still living in the twentieth century.
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The Audio Quality
Go to: http://www.mudcrutchmusic.com/
Click on: "News"
Scroll down to: "November 8th, 2008, Notes On Extended Play Live"
Scroll down, using the button to the right, to where you can click on "Read More" under the above story headline.
Scroll down and read the explanation as to why there are two versions, the crap compressed one and the audiophile one. Got to give props for the release of the edition with dynamic range, but when a producer explains the main version sounds like crap because it’s got to be loud enough on your iPod, you know not only that the end is near, but we’ve jumped off the cliff.
In other words, everyone’s agreed that music sounds terrible. How can acoustic music survive? How can people desire to listen to music for hours when it hurts their ears?
