Tag Archive for 'community building'

TuneCorner: Why Every Artist Needs A Blog — Kyra Reed

Published
by
Rob Stefaniak
on March 10, 2008
in Management
. 1 Comment

Blog 101 Book She’s right! With all the technologies and community sites available, Artists need a central online location to syndicate their presence across the web; a single authoritative place fans know they can visit for the latest information, photos, press, tour dates, etc. A website has historically filled that role, but most are outdated and don’t allow for social interaction or easy updating of information (”content management”).

As for MySpace pages, well, when an Artist draws traffic to an ad-supported site like MySpace, they are effectively using their fans to make money for MySpace, and they get no monetary compensation in return. For an Artist, a blog can provide a useful (and CHEAP) format for building out an online presence.

From the TuneCorner blog, here are Kyra Reed’s advantages as to why every Artist needs a blog:

  1. A Free Website
  2. Express Yourself / Evangelize Your Fans
  3. Control Your (digital) Assets
  4. Build Your Fan Base

On a personal note, I met Kyra last summer in Los Angeles through a mutual friend who works for a legendary producer / label head / music industry czar. She was hosting an industry gathering that night at The Roxy which is where I first learned of her very smart strategy for Artists to turn their websites into syndicated blogs. As a manager, I was currently faced with the task of re-building a website for a band I represent and I wasn’t very motivated to create another traditional/static site. Her ideas inspired me to turn their site into a blog, thus empowering them as Artists, to make it be whatever they want and further fuel interaction with their community of fans. Very smart gal, that Kyra Reed!

Ultimately, a blog should become a competitive advantage, a differentiator in the marketplace and promote a sense of community. It should also become the authoritative ‘trusted source’ in terms of ‘what is cool and happening’ for an Artist and their fans.

Go purchase a copy of her new book via TuneCore, or check out the Blog101 website and learn more.

TuneCorner: Why Every Artist Needs A Blog — Kyra Reed

—————-
Now playing: Bon Iver - Skinny Love & The Wolves (Act I and II)
via FoxyTunes

CASH Music: Coalition Of Artists And Stake Holders

Published
by
Rob Stefaniak
on February 14, 2008
in Management
. 0 Comments

CASH MusicCASH Music: stands for Coalition of Artists and Stake Holders. CASH Music is a flexible platform through which creative stake holders — artists and audience — may interact and support one another through community. CASH believes that an engaged, participatory and supportive audience promotes a healthy, vibrant ’scene’ fostered around creative works.

Via CASH Music, the listener/fan is asked to interact with the Artist’s output, assess it, and be inspired by it, thereby enhancing it’s value. When value is realized, the listener/fan is asked to contribute accordingly — money, ideas, effort, or all of the above.

The listener/fan and the CASH artist share the common goal of the continuation of the creative process and artistic output. They describe it as a ‘read-write culture’ where the cumulative parts of the artistic enterprise — money, ideas, effort — enrich the total experience.

CASH supports distribution by torrent as part of a suite of ‘e-anticommerce’ tools — as well as a few other ‘nifty surprises’.

Currently CASH Music has three artists on it’s roster:

Kristin Hersh: kristinhersh.cashmusic.org
Donita Sparks + The Stellar Moments: donitasparks.cashmusic.org
Xiu Xiu: xiuxiu.cashmusic.org

I believe CASH Music is the closest thing we have seen to the ‘intellectual property as stock‘ concept previously mentioned by Terry McBride in WIRED (Wired 14.09: No Suit Required)…Artists offering shares in their enterprises which people will be able to make equity investments.

But probably the most important aspect of this concept is the opportunity for the listener/fan to build a more visceral connection to the Artist by actually having an ownership stake in the creative enterprise.

User-Funded CASH Music Label Triples Artist Roster | Listening Post from Wired.com

—————-
Now playing: Cat Power - I Believe In You
via FoxyTunes

Seth Godin: Tribe Management

Published
by
Rob Stefaniak
on January 30, 2008
in Management
. 0 Comments

This is essentially the fabled “Grateful Dead Business Model” but I love it all the same. Seth Godin coins the phrase “Tribe Management” as a whole different way of looking at the brand management world. From Seth:

It starts with permission, the understanding that the real asset most organizations can build isn’t an amorphous brand but is in fact the privilege of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who want to get them.

It adds to that the fact that what people really want is the ability to connect to each other, not to companies. So the permission is used to build a tribe, to build people who want to hear from the company because it helps them connect, it helps them find each other, it gives them a story to tell and something to talk about.

Instead of looking for customers for your products, you seek out products (and services) for the tribe. Jerry Garcia understood this. Do you?

Simply stated, the “Grateful Dead Business Model” holds that any success comes NOT from a pre-conceived master plan, rather growth is generated from a love and respect for the fans/customers:

  1. Demonstrate love and respect for the fans/customers
  2. Spend quality time face-to-face with the people who matter – the fans/customers
  3. Celebrate uncommon sense - adhere to your unique ideas
  4. Create a community of fans/customers
  5. Stay true to the brand and extend it with integrity

Seth’s Blog: Tribe Management

Gerd Leonhard: The New ‘Sell’

Published
by
Rob Stefaniak
on January 17, 2008
in Management
. 1 Comment

Thanks for this Gerd, I think it sums it all up very nicely…

The New Sell
Conform and do it, or you face extinction!!

MediaFuturist: 3 Hidden Trends in 2008 - eMarketer (Future of Advertising)