Heard anybody talk about "Black Ice" recently?\u00c2\u00a0 How about "Long Road Out Of Eden"?<\/p>\n
Those albums were made for the paycheck, not the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Upon delivery, the parties involved got a huge sum from Wal-Mart, a guaranteed payment for a certain number of albums that the retailer gave up the right to return.<\/p>\n
This is not the way it always was.<\/p>\n
Used to be the single was the linchpin of your career.\u00c2\u00a0 You needed a steady stream of product, to remain in the public eye, so you could work live and continue to record.\u00c2\u00a0 Those who only reached the heights a single time were labeled "one hit wonders", and the literature and VH1 are littered with updates about these individuals.\u00c2\u00a0 Working day jobs, no different from you and me.<\/p>\n
Then came the Beatles.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of being a collection of tripe, the album became a statement, and generated a ton of revenue.\u00c2\u00a0 We suddenly had ALBUM ARTISTS whose music was featured on the FM band.\u00c2\u00a0 These acts didn’t need hit singles, their entire oeuvre was a hit.\u00c2\u00a0 Radio stations went tracks deep, sometimes played the entire record. Furthermore, the cycle was brief.\u00c2\u00a0 Compressed into one year.\u00c2\u00a0 You put out an album, radio played a few cuts, you went on tour, and then went back into the studio and cut another album.\u00c2\u00a0 You were absent from the scene for a very brief period of time, you remained in the public consciousness, at least the mind of your fans.\u00c2\u00a0 You had a career arc, your music meant something.<\/p>\n
But then radio slowed the process down.\u00c2\u00a0 Radio research said listeners wanted the familiar, they wanted hits, they wanted no tuneouts.\u00c2\u00a0 And labels realized if they moved slowly, in lockstep with the stations, they could sell the same album to many more people.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than spend all that money to reach the same hard core fans, take the product you paid for to new people, the profitability of each subsequent copy increasing dramatically.<\/p>\n
Then, in the last ten years, radio refused to commit to even the new product of "stars".\u00c2\u00a0 If a new track didn’t hit immediately, the station would drop it.\u00c2\u00a0 Killing the albums dependent upon radio play.\u00c2\u00a0 Radio and record labels were no longer joined at the hip.\u00c2\u00a0 Radio made no apologies about focusing on advertisers and profits, ergo 20 plus minutes of commercials an hour.\u00c2\u00a0 By this point, only Top Forty radio could truly break a record wide.\u00c2\u00a0 But with Top Forty becoming a lowest common denominator wasteland, listeners tuned out in droves.\u00c2\u00a0 About the same time MTV stopped playing videos.\u00c2\u00a0 So you were left with no outlet to expose your wares.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet mainstream acts continue to play the same game, like it’s the last century.<\/p>\n
1.<\/span> Decide on your game plan.\u00c2\u00a0 Is it about reaching your core audience, or the masses?<\/p>\n Widespread Panic shouldn’t play to those not already committed, it’s not about garnering a whole new fan base, but satiating that which already exists.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson has a very limited core audience.\u00c2\u00a0 So, in order to make her numbers, she’s got to have a hit and spread her story far and wide.<\/p>\n 2.<\/span> If you’re satiating the core, you’ve got to maintain the relationship.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only blog updates, but live releases too.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about a steady stream of access.\u00c2\u00a0 Whether you’re on the road or not.\u00c2\u00a0 If you let up, your core becomes disappointed and frustrated and moves on to something else and then you have to convince them all over again.\u00c2\u00a0 Interesting point about U2.\u00c2\u00a0 Supposedly they have another album in the can.\u00c2\u00a0 The core audience is ready for it now.\u00c2\u00a0 Why wait?\u00c2\u00a0 The only reason is to increase the payday, it can’t be about fostering the fan bond.\u00c2\u00a0 If U2 were smart, it would release a single a week, at least one a month, once they start their tour, to maintain the buzz.\u00c2\u00a0 Because believe me, it’s not 1972 anymore, when the Stones barnstormed across America.\u00c2\u00a0 ANY band touring the States is not that big a story anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to continue to make it an interesting story, assuming you want to keep people’s attention.<\/p>\n 3.<\/span> If you’re trying to reach listeners outside your core, not only must you create a hit, you must spread the word far and wide.\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s use Jessica Simpson as an example.\u00c2\u00a0 She hasn’t generated a hit in a long time, nothing a casual listener can hook into and get excited about.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, her core likes her new country album, but she’s got such a tiny core that it won’t sustain her.<\/p>\n So you need the music, and an ongoing story.\u00c2\u00a0 You need to be on "American Idol".\u00c2\u00a0 You need to make friends with Perez Hilton (Did you see all the acts that kissed his ass on his birthday last weekend?\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone from the Jonas Brothers to Christina Aguilera.)\u00c2\u00a0 That’s how low you’ve got to stoop if you want to play the mass game.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re not in control of\u00c2\u00a0 your own destiny.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t write your own material unless it’s a hit…thank you, Kelly Clarkson.<\/p>\n And there’s a cost for playing the game, your credibility.\u00c2\u00a0 And the less credibility you have, the more dependent you are on momentary hits and train-wrecks.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re living from moment to moment.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s tough.<\/p>\n 4.<\/span> Career acts must accurately assess the landscape.\u00c2\u00a0 A check might do something for your pocketbook, but it will do nothing for your career.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like "Long Road Out Of Eden" never came out.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no radio to bang the title track, the way both FM and AM spun "Hotel California" endlessly.\u00c2\u00a0 No track on AC\/DC’s "Black Ice" got enough spins to become a classic, people just want to go to the show and hear "Back In Black".<\/p>\n 5.<\/span> Top Forty acts are beholden to the machine.\u00c2\u00a0 Career acts are beholden to their fans.\u00c2\u00a0 The machine is voracious, it eats up info and spits it out every day.\u00c2\u00a0 Almost nothing lasts.\u00c2\u00a0 But relationships last.\u00c2\u00a0 But relationships take a long time to build.<\/p>\n This is where all those online business tips come into play.<\/p>\n A personalized note from the guitar player.\u00c2\u00a0 A Twitter feed.\u00c2\u00a0 All that stuff that’s meaningless to TMZ and the "New York Times" is gold to a fan.\u00c2\u00a0 Just like getting career acts mainstream press doesn’t pay significant dividends.\u00c2\u00a0 The review in the paper better be for a Top Forty act, because fans of career bands are getting their information elsewhere.<\/p>\n 6.<\/span> So, the system moves slow and society moves fast.\u00c2\u00a0 No wonder we’ve got a problem!\u00c2\u00a0 Radio wants to spoon-feed, labels want to milk albums, and the audience is constantly saying NEXT!\u00c2\u00a0 How can you satisfy those who want more? This is the path to riches.<\/p>\n 7.<\/span> Beware of crossing lines, this is where you get in trouble.<\/p>\n Bruce Springsteen is a career act.\u00c2\u00a0 His fans pay attention, they know his story.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re pissed that he made a deal with Wal-Mart, and his Super Bowl appearance didn’t move the vast majority of viewers, because they just don’t care about Bruce.\u00c2\u00a0 If Bruce wanted to play the mainstream game, he should have thrown the really long ball.\u00c2\u00a0 He should have licensed one of his classics to a corporation for endless banging in a commercial on television.\u00c2\u00a0 Or one of his new numbers, that was good.<\/p>\n Same deal with Mellencamp.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t make a deal with Chevy and then complain about the system.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t have it both ways.\u00c2\u00a0 Either you’ve got to be an old bluesman, married to your instrument, willing to work a day job to get by, or you’ve got to go all in, whoring yourself out to the man, knowing there’s a long term cost.\u00c2\u00a0 Nothing in between works, because there are two audiences, two strategies.<\/p>\n So, almost no one knows the new Eagles and AC\/DC got a lot of ink, but very little airplay.<\/p>\n Both of these bands got a paycheck.<\/p>\n But iTunes doesn’t cut these kinds of advances.\u00c2\u00a0 And Wal-Mart is shrinking CD floorspace every day.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a limited model.<\/p>\n You’ve got to focus on the long term money.\u00c2\u00a0 Or go the opposite way and try to make it all now, like Miley Cyrus.<\/p>\n But don’t lie in between, that’s nowhere.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Heard anybody talk about "Black Ice" recently?\u00c2\u00a0 How about "Long Road Out Of Eden"? Those albums were made for the paycheck, not the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Upon delivery, the parties involved got a huge sum from Wal-Mart, a guaranteed payment for a certain number of albums that the retailer gave up the right to return. 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