By xjn threefourteen on 12/3/2008 10:23 AM

Read this article on slashdot... here

 

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In many domains people are tempted to think, after the fact, that an outcome was entirely predictable, and that the success of a musician, an actor, an author, or a politician was inevitable in light of his or her skills and characteristics. Beware of that temptation. Small interventions and even coincidences, at a key stage, can produce large variations in the outcome. Today's hot singer is probably indistinguishable from dozens and even hundreds of equally talented performers whose names you've never heard.

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In short, an experiment was performed with a group of music listening young adults.  The researchers were able to manipulate the outcome, the most popular song, by manipulating the PERCEPTION of popularity of the songs amongst the peer groups.  The songs/artists themselves had very little to do with it...

 

The moral of the story... marketing.  Thats a big loaded word that alot of people don't understand.  It means make yourself look popular, make it appear as though alot of people like and listen to your music, even if they don't.  This will bring you more fans than good music.  I can taste the bile in the back of my throat as I say that, I hate it but it's true.  Cheat if necessary, be totally fake, live a lie. 

Its incontrovertable, experimentally derived, double blind taste tested truth: HYPE MATTERS. 

It is the only thing that matters.

By xjn threefourteen on 3/3/2008 1:04 PM

Everyone on this site... everyone interested in where the music business is headed, needs to read this article, twice:

SETH GODIN - THE LIVE MUSIC TALK

...once you make it digital, all of a sudden the math changes... ...And, one of the side effects of that is that something has fundamentally shifted here. Now, I’m going to give you a little bit of a preview which is, I think the internet is the new radio. And I think we’re needing, in the record business, people in the record business are going to have to think about the fact that, that might be a really good thing, not a really bad thing. "

Read it. 

The game done changed.  You are now on a level playing field with the big boys... You have the same access, the same power in this new multicast radio that they do... the only thing you dont have is the head start on name recognition, but names are brought up from nothing in this game every day.

The future of the music business will be served to fans through the internet... it will be interactive, it will be knowing what fans want before they want it, and it will mean getting very good at involving fans and make them stick around.

Thats what I'm trying to do with this site.  I'm trying to run contests, give away free stuff, get people involved so that they come back, artists, their friends, and their fans.  To do that I'm going to need your help...