STRATEGY | creative deconstruction

Is Your Release Strategy Driving Fan Engagement – Or Preventing it?

Posted on 28. Sep, 2009 by refe.

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Modern music marketing is about the artist-fan relationship. Along with live performances, new music releases should be considered the backbone of this relationship, not simply a product to drive revenue or attendance.

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To Leak or Not to Leak? 3 Ways Artists Can Respond

Posted on 09. Sep, 2009 by refe.

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The process of releasing new material has never been airtight. These days, however, digital technology has poked so many holes in the recording industry that it’s beginning to look more like a siv. From Radiohead to Jay-Z to Muse, more and more anticipated releases are showing up online days, even weeks before their official drop. [...]

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What Do You Do When You Just Aren’t Good Enough?

Posted on 07. Sep, 2009 by refe.

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What do you do when you find out that you aren’t good enough? Because let’s be honest – there are plenty of fish in the sea. Musicians, songwriters, and performers all but grow on trees. If you’re going to make it you’d better either be great, or have something so compelling to say that listeners are willing stick it out in spite of the rough edges. So, assuming you aren’t there already, how do you get there?

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How a Subscription Model Can Enhance Your Release Strategy

Posted on 27. Jul, 2009 by refe.

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It seems redundant by now to say it, but the new music market that artists face today is a lot different than at any time in the past. The way people enjoy music is different, and the way music is purchased is different. I wrote recently about ways artists can respond to these new market [...]

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The Hidden Risks of Real-Time Buzz

Posted on 14. Jul, 2009 by refe.

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The new real-time media culture has brought with it many incredible opportunities, but when you take a closer look it quickly reveals itself to be a double-edged sword. Platforms like Twitter make it possible to stay frighteningly up-to-date on what’s going on in the world, whether it’s the death of a pop legend or a [...]

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Number One Way to Make Sure Your Band Fails

Posted on 03. Jul, 2009 by refe.

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There’s no secret formula to insure that your band will be successful, but I can tell you one fool-proof way to guarantee its failure: stop gigging. It’s so basic, yet I have been consistently surprised at how many bands come to me looking for help getting their careers off the ground who treat gigging as a chore. [...]

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How to Create a Release Strategy for the New Music Marketplace

Posted on 25. Jun, 2009 by refe.

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If you are an independent artist or record label I want to challenge you to try something different. The normal course of business for most artists is to spend months or years writing and recording an entire album’s worth of material. Once it’s finished, you hype it as best you can for a few more [...]

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How Creative Commons Can Enhance Your Business Model

Posted on 22. Jun, 2009 by refe.

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Recorded music – aside from being a powerful art form – can be an incredible promotional tool. Now that recorded music as a product is declining in value, its role has transitioned even more toward the promotion of other revenue such as live performances, merchandise, licensing, etc. Unfortunately, traditional copyright law has not quite caught [...]

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Why Your Band Needs Booking and PR Before Management

Posted on 21. May, 2009 by refe.

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I am all about the do it yourself approach. Artists who are also jack of all trades will be much more successful in the early stages of their careers than those who wait for others to come along and handle the ‘business side’ for them. With that said, there does come a point where all bands [...]