FW: <OFF-TOPIC>

["Jonathan El-Bizri" <jbiz@linkexchange.com>]

>> The mp3.com 'give them samples and sell cds' doesn't work. The 'pay for
>> download' doesn't work. The 'make it big on the internet' thing doesn't
>> work...
>
>The above would seem to be the popular opinion of the established
>brick-and-mortar music biz bunch.  I find it difficult to accept ANY
>prediction as to how the future fares for online music promotion/sales,
most
>especially since it's still an industry in its infancy - and for the most
>part developing without the assistance of the established biz.  Therefore 
>I
>can't accept a wholesale dismissal of this process-in-development.

Sure, in the future it will be different. I'm talking about now, tomorrow
and the next year or so. I'm talking about our careers and bread and butter
now, in the meantime - all bets are off in the "^~.,.~^~.FUTURE.~^~.,.~^"

It's not worth thinking about that till it's about to happen.

Even then, I'll wager that the two strategies still won't work without some
radical changes in technology (goodness that's not going to happen, is it?
:>)

>> If you intend to get paid for your music:
>>
>> a. send out demos and try to sign up with an established label who can
>promote you or,
>> b. go out and be a starving musician playing in little clubs to get
>attention
>
>...This would seem to be more of the same.  I'm sure quite a lot of folks
in
>the established music biz would prefer it if we all just went away, or
>signed up with them as if it were the only way to do business.

Errm, maybe they're right?

I'm not in the music bix, I'm in the internet biz. I'm telling you it
doesn't look good from this end either. Sorry, but that's how I see it.

> they can only deliver the product, they can't bring you fans.
>
>This is normal.  Unless one wants to go the road as in the "intend to get
>paid" section, an equally established method of going broke by the way, 
>the
>Artist in Specific (and not just formerly known as...) should take part in
>promotion of his or her work.  The huge difference with respect to the
>Internet as medium is that one doesn't have to have a great set of 
>kneepads
>(for the purpose of begging some cigar-chomper to listen to your work), 
>nor
>is it necessary to pay an agent to get your work heard.

Ermm, exactly how are you going to get your music differentiated from all
the crap out there? How people going to find your music?

Also, people's tastes are changing thanks to the massive amount music
available to them all of a sudden. I'm not talking about their stylistic
habits, but how they treat music. It's becoming more disposable :< there's
so much good stuff out there (as well as the crap), that there's no need to
stick to one thing. Why read the same book every time you go to the 
library,
if there are a kazillion other >good< ones to read? Still, there's been 
more
interesting music around than I'll ever have time to enjoy since before I
was born. The difference now is that niches and styles are exploding -

This reminds me of something that happened in the video gaming industry, on
a smaller scale. When Doom came out, the first set of levels were sent out
free. It was a stroke of genius - video game crack. The first one's free...
But soon every gaming mag came with a cd, of all the first levels of every
game to come out. Suddenly (and there were a lot of other things involved,
such as sudden over-saturation, which is a topic that deserves it's own
thread, related to the music biz and online music) the market took a hit -
so many people bought magazine and played the 50 demos for a couple of
bucks, instead of buying one game for 50.

>
>I think the big questions would be:
>
>* Do artists wish to do business the way the folks we would rather not do
>business with do, or establish a new channel for this altogether, one that
>at least initially promises a freedom from the artificial restraints we've
>come to know and accept?
>
>* Is our intent as artists to make piles of money via huge venues that
>require our "fans" to pay $40 a ticket?  Are most folks aware that Stadium
>Rock as such uses a fairly new, and quite fragile, economic model, one 
>that
>needn't be followed in order to eventually have satisfaction on a
>rent-paying and artistically-fulfilling level?
>

Ermm, I don't think anyone will be paying $40 to see me any time soon :> 
and
I don't want to be presumptuous but I would that the changes for most 
people
on this list can't more than an order of magnitude better than mine. Get
used to loving what you do - I know that it's not going to pay for 
anything.

>I'm sure none of us would prefer to just play coffee houses forever.  But
>given the new aspect that the Internet brings to our own niches, we'd be
>foolish at best to ignore it, and go on as if it will never make a
>difference.
>
>******************
>
>And now a word about LinkExchange.  I've been a banner "partner" for as
long
>as it's been available, and frankly it's not been anything close to an
>assistance to me in getting folks to my site.  It's generally been
discussed
>in the press how little banners work in this regard; I've debated taking
>mine off altogether for some time, since it's probably more of a help to
the
>people who pay LinkExchange than the people who don't.  End run, it comes
up
>tasting like a vampiric process that pretends to benefit the banner
>advertiser, while helping the paying advertisers - and LinkExchange - 
>quite
>a bit more than You, The Little Guy.  It still remains to be seen just how
>much of a help a banner is to folks like us.  As a matter of fact, the 
>idea
>is quite a bit less established as a benefit than online promotion and
sales
>of music, much less MP3 files.

Exactly!! From LinkExchange and music online, you're looking for results
that don't exist. What have I been saying all along? The channels are
saturated. As people get used to clicking on banners, and being sent to a
lame site, their novelty fades and people stop checking them out. The same
goes for music downloads. People just have to get used to the fact that
banner advertising is about as effective as any other form of advertising.

Banner advertising isn't more help to big guys than little guys. The days 
of
50 to 1 click thrus are over. You have to give people a real reason to go 
to
your site.

Contrary to popular opinion, the most effective banners on our network tend
to be ugly and loud; not crappy looking, but a tad garish, so that they 
will
stand out on other people's sites. The say exactly what amazing stuff is
just a click away. The use the f-word a lot :>

Do you have the correct categorization and filtering settings set up on 
your
account? (I'd check, but I can't right now) This makes several orders of
magnitude difference in the number of people interested in what you have to
offer that will see your banner. With banner networks so large, and click
thru's so low, it's absolutely essential that you choose your targeting
categories wisely.


bIz