Here’s the money quote:<\/p>\n
\n"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.’"<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nEverybody thinks if they just get on TV, if a talking head in late night can mention your gig, you’re gonna be successful.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s old wave thinking, that a scattershot approach, that’s what’s got traditional media in a tailspin.\u00c2\u00a0 Newspapers now want the government to save them.\u00c2\u00a0 Bad plan, they would have saved the music industry first.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, do legislators and bureaucrats really listen to music?\u00c2\u00a0 But the point is if you’re looking to save your old model, you’re spiraling down the drain.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, there were three television networks.\u00c2\u00a0 In some markets, they didn’t even get ABC.\u00c2\u00a0 So whatever was featured had a huge impact.\u00c2\u00a0 Crack a joke on "Laugh In" and everybody repeats it the next day in high school.\u00c2\u00a0 Last Thursday night friends were discussing medical problems at dinner and referenced "Grey’s Anatomy" to make a point.\u00c2\u00a0 My response?\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve never seen it.\u00c2\u00a0 In the sixties we all knew who was on "Bonanza".\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
I’m not saying podcasting the future.\u00c2\u00a0 But read this article.\u00c2\u00a0 Carolla knows the old time radio paradigm is dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Why keep mentioning the time, doesn’t everybody have a clock?\u00c2\u00a0 As for the patter…it’s so far from real that the public’s moved on.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
So:<\/p>\n
1. Focus on building your audience.<\/p>\n
2. Fans are key.\u00c2\u00a0 An opening slot for the big name, a random appearance at a show for a different demographic, is close to a waste of time.<\/p>\n
3. Don’t keep hawking your CD.\u00c2\u00a0 Sell your music!\u00c2\u00a0 Acts think if they deliver a CD, they’ve made a dent.\u00c2\u00a0 No you haven’t, the gatekeepers in media just throw them away, they certainly don’t listen to them.\u00c2\u00a0 How do you get someone to really check out your music?\u00c2\u00a0 By making it readily available online!<\/p>\n
4. Criticism is irrelevant, only sales figures count.\u00c2\u00a0 It does not matter what the media says about your music, only the fans.<\/p>\n
5. Reviews only matter if they’re in a place your fans read them.\u00c2\u00a0 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?\u00c2\u00a0 That’s just a mash note from your publicist, justifying his fee, no music fan gets turned on to music by the newspaper.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s like advertising drag racing in a sailing magazine, birth control in "Highlights"…huh?\u00c2\u00a0 As for live concert reviews…they never send a fan to give his take, so why should the review matter?\u00c2\u00a0 (And if you want to reach the aged audience that still reads the newspaper, you might as well advertise in "AARP".)<\/p>\n
6. Marketing is secondary to music.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s an old media circle jerk.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 This is just the dying gasp of an old system.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, there will always be Justin Biebers, teen phenoms, but beneath a very thin veneer of ubiquitous stars there’s a vast wasteland.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re better off building from the ground up, brick by brick, your goal is to get to the middle, to sustain a career.<\/p>\n
7. Publicity makes you happy, makes you think you’re accomplishing something, but unless you reach the core audience, it’s worthless.\u00c2\u00a0 Believe me, this "Fast Company" piece is not for Carolla’s audience, it’s for his advertisers, potential ones, at best.\u00c2\u00a0 If you get off on seeing your name in print, if you want to do interviews, go for it.\u00c2\u00a0 But the odds of dividends are frightening low.\u00c2\u00a0 Because most people don’t care.\u00c2\u00a0 And if they do, its not for long.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t forget, reality TV is about making fun of those featured.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what television is now.\u00c2\u00a0 Credible acts stay off!\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, who wants to go on Letterman, be pre-interviewed, tell a funny story from growing up and look like an idiot?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about him, not you!<\/p>\n
Which brings us back to the beginning.\u00c2\u00a0 A television appearance just ain’t worth much.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe your fans will watch it online the next day, but as far as garnering new fans?\u00c2\u00a0 Essentially irrelevant.<\/p>\n
Adam Carolla’s been doing his shtick for decades at this point.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
And isn’t it funny that there’s a podcast every day.\u00c2\u00a0 When acts on major labels release an album every couple of years and keep trying to convert fans.\u00c2\u00a0 Keep pleasing the fans you’ve got, they want more music, more experimentation.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re a new act, keep making music.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Is podcasting the answer?\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s be clear, Adam’s show isn’t about podcasting, but his act.\u00c2\u00a0 The medium is irrelevant, just like it doesn’t matter if you listen to music on CD, on YouTube or your iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the music that matters, not the medium.<\/p>\n
But it all comes down to the computer, to technology:<\/p>\n
\n\n"’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?’"<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nIf 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Face it.\u00c2\u00a0 People consume their media online, whether it be via the computer, phone or iPad.\u00c2\u00a0 Deliver for these media.\u00c2\u00a0 Which present challenges, but opportunities.<\/p>\n
You’ll hit a million roadblocks.\u00c2\u00a0 Just like success forced Adam Carolla to deal with exorbitant bandwidth charges.<\/p>\n
But you’ll succeed by your own wits, on your talent.\u00c2\u00a0 It hasn’t been that way for eons in the mainstream.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s that way online.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you don’t think we live in an online, connected world…you’re probably not even reading this!<\/p>\n
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