More Imogen Heap
What is the GOAL of Internet marketing?
It’s cool to have a Facebook presence, tweet ad infinitum and make YouTube clips if you’ve got a burning desire to do so, if you love new media and are thrilled to be in contact with your fans/tribe. In other words, if it’s an end unto itself.
But many expect all these activities to pay off. That’s what bothered me with Ms. Heap’s efforts, not only how much time and mental energy was wasted, but whether she was generating revenue!
It all seems to be a lead-up to an album release on a major label. If only Ms. Heap had been on an independent and had created revenue-generating events along the way! If only she had put tracks on iTunes as she completed them, when the desire was still white hot. Or, like Amanda Palmer, she had auctioned off items like outdated computers or other chozzerai from her studio, or had created special elements just for this purpose. Hell, Britney Spears is selling virtual goods online, that seems much more advanced than generating online content for a traditional commercial event far in the future
There was a cost to all this work. As Ms. Heap tweeted on August 6th:
"About 5% of my time goes to actually making music sadly @MaggieL. The rest is promo, technical, planning, running around, schedules..blah"
This seems out of whack to me. Shouldn’t a musician spend most of his or her time making music? And, in today’s marketplace, is it about polishing ten tracks for release at some date in the future, or, as Thom Yorke stated, is that too much of a burden, too heavy a weight, and the best path is to release material in drips and drabs as one is inspired/creates?
Don’t lose touch. Just like your goal wasn’t having the most MySpace friends, the number of people following you on Twitter or friends with you on Facebook means nothing in the abstract. You don’t get paid for having a six digit Twitter following, Biz Stone doesn’t show up at your house like Ed McMahon with a check. If you like to tweet, as John Mayer seems to (you should follow him, he’s incredibly innovative, oftentimes reading his tweets is like reading song lyrics – http://twitter.com/JOHNcmayer), fine. But if you’re expecting a bonus…you might get a barely quantifiable one down the line, with an increased tribe, but it’s not like selling a track or merch, there’s no clear exchange here.
If you want to be the king or queen of Twitter, be my guest.
Otherwise, see Twitter, all the social networking elements, as tools. It’s great to play, almost necessary, but you reach a point of diminishing returns if you expect all this effort to help your musical career.
If you’re a musician, focus on music. Sure, make it available, get your fans excited about it, but no matter how much you talk about it, it’s not as powerful as actually listening to it. Don’t forget, Led Zeppelin got lousy reviews. But the public spread the word, the public loved Led Zeppelin. If you release music the public loves, the public will spread the word, you don’t even have to.
Of course, this paradigm doesn’t work in a vacuum. You’ve got to have some followers, you’ve got to have an online presence. Just don’t go on overkill unless you LOVE keeping your fans informed on a minute by minute basis.
Most great art is made in a vacuum. Sure, the selling is different, but focus on the art, not the selling.
