Adam Carolla Online
Here’s the money quote:
"Carolla cites his experiences as a frequent guest with Jay Leno in both late night and prime time. ‘I’d get a plug: "Adam’s going to be at the Irvine Improv," ‘ he says. ‘Jay Leno probably has 4- to-5 million viewers a night. You check back with the ticket guys. "Yeah, we sold 11 tickets." They could give out your phone number, and it wouldn’t ring once if they’re not your people.’"
Everybody thinks if they just get on TV, if a talking head in late night can mention your gig, you’re gonna be successful. But that’s old wave thinking, that a scattershot approach, that’s what’s got traditional media in a tailspin. Newspapers now want the government to save them. Bad plan, they would have saved the music industry first. Then again, do legislators and bureaucrats really listen to music? But the point is if you’re looking to save your old model, you’re spiraling down the drain.
Once upon a time, there were three television networks. In some markets, they didn’t even get ABC. So whatever was featured had a huge impact. Crack a joke on "Laugh In" and everybody repeats it the next day in high school. Last Thursday night friends were discussing medical problems at dinner and referenced "Grey’s Anatomy" to make a point. My response? I’ve never seen it. In the sixties we all knew who was on "Bonanza". The Net tells me who is on "Grey’s Anatomy", but it’s not enough to make me watch, I don’t want to waste that much time, there’s so much stuff online I’m interested in…and if I want to watch a TV show, I just record it, skipping the commercials, which wreaks havoc with old line advertisers.
I’m not saying podcasting the future. But read this article. Carolla knows the old time radio paradigm is dead. Why keep mentioning the time, doesn’t everybody have a clock? As for the patter…it’s so far from real that the public’s moved on. As for music…come on, everybody e-mails me and bitches that their favorite tunes never make it to the over the air medium, because that’s broadcasting, a purified product, homogenized for consumption in a world of narrowcasting.
So:
1. Focus on building your audience.
2. Fans are key. An opening slot for the big name, a random appearance at a show for a different demographic, is close to a waste of time.
3. Don’t keep hawking your CD. Sell your music! Acts think if they deliver a CD, they’ve made a dent. No you haven’t, the gatekeepers in media just throw them away, they certainly don’t listen to them. How do you get someone to really check out your music? By making it readily available online!
4. Criticism is irrelevant, only sales figures count. It does not matter what the media says about your music, only the fans.
5. Reviews only matter if they’re in a place your fans read them. Jam band aficionados might check you out (online!) after reading about you in "Relix", if you’re an indie act, Pitchfork means something, but the review in the paper…who is that for? That’s just a mash note from your publicist, justifying his fee, no music fan gets turned on to music by the newspaper. That’s like advertising drag racing in a sailing magazine, birth control in "Highlights"…huh? As for live concert reviews…they never send a fan to give his take, so why should the review matter? (And if you want to reach the aged audience that still reads the newspaper, you might as well advertise in "AARP".)
6. Marketing is secondary to music. Old wavers would like to say it’s the reverse, point to Ke$ha and other flavors of the moment, saying they have the power to build stars. That’s an old media circle jerk. Fewer people are paying attention, fewer people are buying the music, almost no one wants to see these acts live and there’s no longevity. This is just the dying gasp of an old system. Yes, there will always be Justin Biebers, teen phenoms, but beneath a very thin veneer of ubiquitous stars there’s a vast wasteland. You’re better off building from the ground up, brick by brick, your goal is to get to the middle, to sustain a career.
7. Publicity makes you happy, makes you think you’re accomplishing something, but unless you reach the core audience, it’s worthless. Believe me, this "Fast Company" piece is not for Carolla’s audience, it’s for his advertisers, potential ones, at best. If you get off on seeing your name in print, if you want to do interviews, go for it. But the odds of dividends are frightening low. Because most people don’t care. And if they do, its not for long. Don’t forget, reality TV is about making fun of those featured. That’s what television is now. Credible acts stay off! Hell, who wants to go on Letterman, be pre-interviewed, tell a funny story from growing up and look like an idiot? It’s about him, not you!
Which brings us back to the beginning. A television appearance just ain’t worth much. Maybe your fans will watch it online the next day, but as far as garnering new fans? Essentially irrelevant.
Adam Carolla’s been doing his shtick for decades at this point. He didn’t have instant success online because he was so damn good, but because he’d spent so much time building his base, which was dedicated to him, which would follow him anywhere.
And isn’t it funny that there’s a podcast every day. When acts on major labels release an album every couple of years and keep trying to convert fans. Keep pleasing the fans you’ve got, they want more music, more experimentation. If you’re a new act, keep making music. If you’re a classic act, you’re like the newspaper, riding the old paradigm to death, people only want your old shit, hopefully they’ll pay for it for a while.
Is podcasting the answer? Let’s be clear, Adam’s show isn’t about podcasting, but his act. The medium is irrelevant, just like it doesn’t matter if you listen to music on CD, on YouTube or your iPod. It’s the music that matters, not the medium.
But it all comes down to the computer, to technology:
"’I said to anyone who would listen, all arrows point to the computer — all music, all entertainment,’ Carolla says. ‘Why aren’t we trying to get in front of that?’"
If you’re on the way up, if you’re not just struggling to save your old perch, throw out the old and focus on the new. Face it. People consume their media online, whether it be via the computer, phone or iPad. Deliver for these media. Which present challenges, but opportunities.
You’ll hit a million roadblocks. Just like success forced Adam Carolla to deal with exorbitant bandwidth charges.
But you’ll succeed by your own wits, on your talent. It hasn’t been that way for eons in the mainstream. But it’s that way online. And if you don’t think we live in an online, connected world…you’re probably not even reading this!
