EpicMix Redux
We all want to participate, we all want to play. Life is a game, it’s the essence of social. Something that the music business doesn’t understand. The music business holds its audience in contempt. It’s the fans who are stealing, who are taking money from the artists’ pockets, you’ve got to be wary of fans, they’ll screw you any way they can.
Huh?
Vail is the largest ski resort in the U.S. Put it together with its sister mountains under the umbrella of Vail Resorts and it’s the Live Nation of the ski industry. You’d think people would hate Vail, say it’s too impersonal and all about the money. How did Vail combat this perception?
By playing to its fans. By going social.
First and foremost, Vail dropped the price of entry. By issuing the Epic Pass. You can ride all season for under $700. Talk about brand loyalty, owners of said pass take vacations at Vail resorts, because they’ve already paid. Somehow, saving a few bucks on lift tickets trumps the cost of flying and lodging… People like a deal.
But you don’t have to buy an Epic Pass to play. EpicMix is available to everyone.
Imagine if someone lassoed the entire music world, made everybody feel good, and sold them products they wanted to own..
That’s what Vail is doing.
We all love music. How come there isn’t a music club? Instead, we’re all squabbling, hating each other. When really, what we have in common is the pleasure of sound, that sweet elixir in the air.
So everybody gets a membership card. And when you go to the gig, when you listen to a song, when you do anything related to music, you get points. And pins.
How about a pin for listening to the entire Lou Reed catalog on Spotify? How about a pin for listening to the Lou Reed/Metallica album from start to finish. Mmm…what do we call it, the World War III pin? With a picture of a helmeted soldier with his fingers in his ears?
This is doable. This is not complicated. Instead, the music industry gives power to Facebook, which doesn’t share the same interests.
Think about this. How long would it take for a free music site to take hold?
And here’s the silver lining, you sell members stuff they want to buy.
You earn the virtual pin, if you want to buy a physical version, it costs $3.50 or five bucks for a patch. Maybe we even sell a jacket whereupon you can sew and display all your patch, show what a fan you are.
I want you to go to this page:
This is Rob Katz’s personal dashboard on EpicMix.
Rob Katz is CEO of Vail Resorts. I found this link on Twitter.
The CEOs in the music business are so busy chasing financial titans they don’t realize you make money by being honest and accessible.
EpicMix members can prevent their stats from being public, but in this case, Mr. Katz has not.
Now I want you to click on this link:
These are pics of Rob Katz skiing at Keystone today.
And they’re free! Yup, there are roving photographers on the mountain, they shoot pics and they’re beamed to your account.
And you can see them on your dashboard.
But if you’d like a high quality version… Hi-res for framing, that costs. No pressure, it’s your option.
Imagine high quality photos at the gig! They’re free to see, but if you want a hi-res take, you pay. And it’s all beamed to you automatically, because you’ve got a chip in your pass, you’re registered, we know who you are!
And from there…
Give Vail credit, they don’t overmarket. But I know the music industry can’t hold back. Those who go to a lot of shows can be sent food discounts, and free tickets when the act papers the gig.
It’s about knowing who your customers are and loading them up with so much free stuff that they end up giving you their money.
It’s really simple.
But everybody in the music business is so busy looking to see if his wallet is being stolen that opportunities go wasted.
Vail didn’t make a deal with Foursquare, it decided to do it itself. Which gave it control. And by investing money, Vail is now making money.
That’s how you do it in the modern world.
I wanna see what shows my friends go to, without having to go on Facebook and being subjected to ads and navigating unfathomable privacy controls. I want trust. I wanna play.
And so does everybody else.
P.S. Look at this pic, Rob Katz with Keystone’s mascot:
Every building should have a mascot, a greeter like at Wal-Mart, but hipper. A friendly face that people will want to have their picture taken with. It’s not about tying in with corporations, trying to squeeze hatable brands to fatten your bottom line, it’s about nurturing an honest relationship with your fans. That’s enough. They’ll be glad to give you tons of money. But you must understand, in the modern world, you load them up with free stuff first, and then they buy. The music business has always been the opposite. But it’s gotta change, it’s gotta get with it.
