Quote Of The Day
"What they’ve latched onto, what people want, is recognition and to share their accomplishments."Rob Katz, CEO Vail Resorts
He’s talking about FarmVille. That’s the "they" in the quote above. According to this article, FarmVille is making $1 million PER DAY selling virtual goods surrounding their free game.
Free game.
But if you want to play well, you’ve got to purchase virtual goods. Virtual as in they don’t really exist, they’re dots on a screen, as evanescent as the stream of music you just listened to.
What about this does the music business not understand? In constantly decrying free, trying to put the buggy back into the barn, wishing everybody would just embrace whips, um, CDs, once again, the music industry is missing out on a profitable revolution! The public has money, maybe less in this recessionary era, then again, retail sales in the back to school window went up, albeit helped by discounts, and is willing to spend it on a product they desire.
And the best way to get people to spend is to make it about them.
That’s where the music industry has it all screwed up. Make it about the CUSTOMER! Don’t sue the customer, don’t draw a line between the fan and the act, EMBRACE HIM!
Speaking of a line between fan and act, I follow Rob Katz on Twitter. His address? @RickysRidge. I’ve never met him, but I if I tweet him a question online, he answers it, or has the appropriate team member get back to me on it. Meaning, that other CEOs should embrace their role as the face of the organization. Believe me, there’s a lot to hate about Vail Resorts. Like the almost hundred dollar daily lift tickets. Then again, the company has offered a discount season pass, the Epic Pass, the last three years that allows you to break even in six days. And the company even sells discount food cards. Think about this, instead of railing against high prices at Two Elk, the famous lunch spot atop China Bowl, I’m thrilled every time the clerk rings me up, because I got TWENTY PERCENT OFF! By buying $200 worth of food in advance, I got $240 credit. Vail Resorts sat on my money, and I became generous, I bought food for my friends, whereas before I’d bitch every time I checked out. Live Nation could make the same offer in its sheds. Then the overpriced food looks like a deal. And Live Nation gets the money in advance. Staples Center could do this too. But you’ve got to improve the quality of the food and offer a daily special, both of which Vail Resorts did.
And since I’ve now given you Rob Katz’s Twitter address, please tweet to him and make an offer to use your music in his campaign for free. Joel Sill hipped me to the atrocious canned music Vail employs. Hell, maybe they’ll even pay for usage, but even better, maybe they’ll book you at one of their festivals during the season, paying you and exposing you to new fans. Yes, everything’s about the partnership these days, giving a little to make a lot.
But really, the point is about engaging the fans. People no longer want to be anonymous. They build shrines to themselves online. But they’re not walled gardens, they’re all linked together. You need to be linked to your fans, you have to create a network, where information flows both ways, and you have to allow people to demonstrate their fandom, by showing how many gigs they’ve been to, how many times they’ve played your tracks, WHEN THEY FIRST DISCOVERED YOU!
Imagine if I could earn a badge by listening to a new act, stating I was there on that day. If this had existed back in 1992, I could have shown it to all the Phishheads who thought I was a Johnny-come-lately. Yes, the first time I saw Phish was on my birthday, April 22, 1992, at the Variety Arts Center in downtown L.A. If I had a badge, I could PROVE IT!
This is how you get people to listen to new music. They want to be on the ground floor, they want to be able to prove they were there first. Give them this ability.
And needless to say, they’ll pay to play. Maybe you only charge at the concert and merch level. Then again, every act seems to have a fan club, which people pay to join to get good seats, why can’t there be social networking features tied in?
Everything is now topsy-turvy. Companies and acts are in thrall to fans. Fans have infinite choice, how are you going to hook them and keep them stuck? By playing by fan rules, by making it about fans, giving back constantly.
Fans will give you all their money if you build an environment they can play in, if you establish a bond of trust.
FarmVille filled a vacuum. That vacuum still exists in the music sphere. The rights holders refuse to fill it. Come on, it’s 2010. Can you let the concept of overpriced albums and scarcity go and join the new world? The public is ready, right now, even if you’re not.
