Written By: Jim Markunas Photo Credit: Brand X Pictures Selling records, or any product for that matter, is a lot like picking up women. Women are smart. A lot smarter than us guys. They notice everything, and judge instantly based on how they’re approached. Consumers are the same way, once you anger one of them, or one of their close … Continue reading
Written By: Jim Markunas Why did our parents listen to radio? Back in the day when radio was worth a damn it offered portability, and more importantly, integration. When our parents (and also most label execs) were young, you only had records; big, hard, non-portable vinyl discs that required a giant machine called a “hi-fi.” (See picture.) This of course … Continue reading
**Readers!!! Today’s post is interactive. I’m going to teach you how to manage multiple social media profiles for labels and artists. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to follow my links and instructions…. I promise there’s a pay-off! I can tell you for a fact that one can and should effectively have and manage as many social … Continue reading
Photo Credit: Dave Bradley Every once in a great while a being comes along with a revolutionary idea. The idea itself is ahead of its time, but still exceptionally valid. The messenger of this idea is usually persecuted; 2,000 years ago, it was Jesus, 50 Years ago, it was Martin Luther King, and today… it’s internet radio. Internet radio may … Continue reading
Photo Credit: James Worrell Not To Beat A Dead Horse, But… They did a scientific study, and it turns out that prosecuting illegal P2P file swappers is bad for the music business as a whole. Check out the article. To further buttress my point, let’s do a rough crunch of the numbers: The Cost of Litigating P2P * Staff Attorneys (Studio/Label) – … Continue reading
Photo Credit: Thomas Northcut The revolution has come and gone, now it’s time to talk about money. In this multi-part series, I’ll be focusing on positive solutions to the music industry dilemma. My first discussion is how to maximize DIGITAL touring income. “What’s digital touring income?” you ask. Good question! We’re all familiar with traditional touring income, yes? (Band goes … Continue reading
Photo Credit: Ryan McVay In the olden days, A&R was king in the music industry. Young, hip guys in street clothes found the latest “big thing” in music. The A&R rep romanced said band, persuaded them to sign an exclusive contract (which still exists today), hand-picked tracks for placement on albums released by said band, and more importantly selected which … Continue reading
”So let me get this straight. The Pirate Bay shuts down and suddenly all its users go legit, stop trading and start buying the wares of the entertainment companies.” – Bob Lefsetz The music industry is the only industry in the world that is willing to take civil and legal action against its own consumers. Think about that for a … Continue reading
I’m not a fan of Michael Jackson… for several reasons (sorry). However… I LOVE Mr. Jackson’s sales record for “Thriller.” This landmark release sold 40 million copies worldwide, and is hailed as the best-selling album of all time. I assume the album after “Thriller” didn’t do as well because I’m not sure what the follow-up album was called. This phenomenon … Continue reading
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, the music industry had a successful business model. A band would sign a contract with a major label, the label would press an album of songs; they controlled the distribution of said album – Consumers could only purchase the album in a store. The label also paid radio for airplay, thereby driving … Continue reading
The browser may be the new iPod, but what’s the new browser? Ready??? It’s simple. The mobile phone. * Just as we had to bow and scrape for Microsoft in the mid-to-late 1990s, we must now take our hats off to Apple – The iPod revolutionized the way most music fans listen to their personal catalogs of sound, the iPod … Continue reading
I sat down with the director of New Media at Walt Disney Records today to talk about my multi-pronged new media plan. My presentation was called “Income in the New Media Age,” or simply, the “New Media Plan.” The New Media Plan lays out in detail how to monetize intellectual property (especially music videos) on an online forum in addition … Continue reading