The Music Gardener – Artist Manager, Music Marketer

As an artist manager who specializes in marketing, I really enjoy working with creative artists. Last week, The OBB (Oswald Brothers Band) designed a super creative way to present a sneak peek of their new music. As we were brainstorming ideas for their upcoming EP, we discussed creating a Youtube video of a phonograph playing a vinyl album while snippets of their new EP are played. Needless to say, the guys took that idea to a much higher level on the scale of creativity!

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Postage Stamp

As delivery methods for selling & consuming music changed drastically with the launch of iTunes & the iPod, so have methods for marketing & branding music. Record company marketing departments are now forced to think in 1″ square due to the space that iTunes uses to feature album artwork. With the decline of music sales, Target, Best Buy and Walmart began shrinking their advertising space in the weekly circulars to match that 1″ square. Facebook, Twitter and other social networks have driven the world even deeper into 1″ square with the tiny space dedicated for profile pictures. The inevitable 1″ square, which is roughly the size of a postage stamp, is now the world that marketing & branding must operate in. How we maximize that space is more important than ever! I call it Postage Stamp Marketing.

Five Key Rules For Postage Stamp Marketing

- Every pixel matters. Determine your primary message & use every pixel at your disposal for that message

- Use color & design that pops making your cover stand out amongst other 1″ squares

- Use as few words as possible to deliver your message

- Developing artist – your name is the most important thing on the cover!

- Compare your 1″ square side by side with other covers on the current iTunes front page

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Much of 2011 was spent in artist development which includes consulting, mentoring, and listening to new artists. Some artists we work with expect success to fall in their lap with little effort while others work diligently to be good stewards of the talent they have been blessed with. I am inspired by a few artists who listen, act on advice, work hard and strive to be incredible stewards of the talent God blessed them with. Those diligent artists will see great things happen as a result. To begin 2012, I would like to share a proverb for all artists who desire to find an audience for their art.

The Music Gardener’s Proverb

• One who has a field but doesn’t secure the tools necessary to work the field will not grow a garden
• One who has a field & tools but sleeps through the planting will not grow a garden
• One who has a field & tools, plants the garden but doesn’t water it will not grow a garden
• One who has a field & tools, plants & waters the garden will grow a garden that yields a fruitful crop

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Christmas

 Christmas is a season full of music. A few artists have successfully released Christmas music that helped define their careers giving them an added boost to new heights in popularity. Amy Grant, Kenny G, Mannheim Steamroller, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Harry Connick Jr, Sara McLachlan, Jaci Velasquez and Michael W Smith all created huge milestones with Christmas music. Each record was incredibly produced and marketed with precision. Christmas records that continue to sell year after year.

What amazes me though, are the artists who fail to properly plan a Christmas release earlier in the year but then rush in a state of panic, during October & November, to record anything Christmas. Standards are lowered in an effort to release anything quickly. Recording music in haste rarely results in an artist’s best effort. I have often heard from artists and others in the industry “the production doesn’t matter as much on Christmas music”  Really? And why not? Does the public want to listen to lesser quality music just because its Christmas time?

A true artist releases nothing but the highest quality representation of their art to the public. January would be a great time to begin planning for that incredible Christmas 2012 release!

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Below is a collection of videos from the “hands down” funniest music marketing campaign of the year!

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Amazon.com

As a music marketing professional, I find it interesting to watch the new & old marketing techniques unleashed by retailers during the biggest selling season of the year. For the last few years, media & analysts have been proselytizing the end of the physical newspaper. Many newspapers have closed their doors while others are finding their digital niche. Personally, I prefer to read national papers like USA Today on-line because they do such a fabulous presentation for the iPad. However, I still subscribe to the physical version of our local Sunday paper, The Tennessean. My main reason for subscribing, is to see, touch & feel the sale circulars. A few years back, I developed the habit of watching the Best Buy, Target and Wal-mart ads religiously. I couldn’t wait to see the ads that I had booked for new music releases along with competitors’ ads each week. The circulars served as a barometer for the level of marketing support behind select music titles and the level of support the retailers were giving the releases. Those tiny little pictures of CDs in the Target, Best Buy and Wal-mart Sunday circulars cost record companies $25K-60K each with that price doubling during November/December. I would feel like a king on Sunday as I viewed my ads in the circulars knowing my artists were viewing the same ads and getting their egos stroked! Then I would pray that Wednesday’s Soundscan numbers would justify the ad spend, which it very rarely did.

One of my favorite sales circular weekends is Thanksgiving. I never venture out to shop on Black Friday but I do get a rush viewing the ads. This year, one ad in particular caught my attention. Low and behold… there was an Amazon.com circular advertising Cyber Monday in the physical newspaper. Really? I had to slap myself a few times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Exactly one week later, there was another Amazon.com circular in the physical version of The Tennessean. The biggest on-line retailer in the world now running physical ads. Could what once appeared as the runaway digital revolution now be back peddling? Has the digital age found consumers’ threshold for letting go of physical? Did Digital & Physical finally collide to make the perfect storm?

What unusual marketing are you noticing this holiday season?

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Dallas

While our family was celebrating Thanksgiving weekend, we experienced an extremely sad loss as our little dog Dallas passed away on Saturday. We knew his time was coming, as he had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure a few months back, but yet it still seemed so sudden. Dallas had been with us fourteen years and was loved as much as any other family member.

The overwhelming condolences on Facebook and Twitter remind us of how many lives Dallas touched within the music industry. His early years were spent traveling on planes and tour buses with my wife and daughter as they traveled across the US for concerts. Prior to 911, they would often sneak him into airplanes & hotels in a jacket pocket. He spent many a night backstage or in autograph lines. At one show, his white fur turned grey due to the many fans petting him as they made there way through through Jaci’s meet/greet line. Dallas was mentioned in national magazines and talked about on TV & radio shows shows across the country. He would often sit through marketing brainstorming sessions in hopes that they would lead to food endorsements. Dallas even made a recent Youtube appearance as the Save The City Records Dog resulting in a radio add for Mr Talkbox.

Dallas loved people, music and fine food (chicken, ice cream & bacon flavored Beggin’ Strips)  He was even known to sip a cup of coffee from unsuspecting guests He wouldn’t allow anyone to enter our home without greeting him first.. There was only one person thoughout his life that he didn’t seem to like, a young Scottish lad named Gareth who ran a music distributor in the UK. We never really knew why but assumed there had to be good reason.

Dallas - my incredible friend, confidant, family member and music industry mogul… you will truly be missed!

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Just like everyone else in the US, I find myself in the middle of Thanksgiving week. For me, its a time to reflect on the past year and think about the things I am thankful for. Of course, I am extremely thankful for my wife, family, health, and freedom. I so often take those things for granted so I am glad that I have one week out of the year designated to remember. Looking back at the year, I am also very thankful for music. Music plays such an important role in my life.

Music that I am very thankful for in 2011

1. Switchfoot “Vice Verses” – my absolute favorite album released in 2011!
2. Coldplay’s performance at the iTunes Festival
3. Katy Perry’s “Firework” Go ahead and make fun of me. My wife does. But…I wish I wrote that song. It is the Rocky Theme for the 2OOOs! It gets me so fired up! And it will be around for many years to come.
4. Brandon Bee “Inside These Walls” Brilliant album front to back!
5. Kings of Leon Live Concert on Palladia
6. Roman Holiday – an unnamed unreleased record that I happened to have an advance copy
7. Circleslide “Love Amazing”
8. Holly Starr “Let Go”
9. The OBB “Everything To Me”
10. Mr Talkbox “Everything Works Together”

American Music Awards

My first thoughts from the American Music Awards. The good, the bad & the ugly!

- Nicki Minaj – Nice speakers!

- Can’t wait to go to Old Navy and wear 3d glasses…NOT!

- Justin Bieber performance (was that Brandon Bee on drums?) His voice is changing. Yikes!

- The Band Perry – Great Performance!

- Chris Brown – Every time I see you I have this urge to punch you for hitting a girl.

- Jennifer Hudson – Was that the mic you hit or was it something else? Congrats on loosing the weight & looking great!

- Rhianna. You kicked Chris Brown’s butt. Congrats! Well deserved!

- Jennifer Lopez – We have heard enough. Thanks for playing.

- Sprint – You are freaking me out about my data usage. Still not switching.

- Ryan Tedder (One Republic) – Bad performance but nice Pete Orta guitar toss!

- Taylor Swift – Classy! Congrats!

- Pit Bull – I would rather have seen you duet with Michael Vic

- Katy Perry – That was very pink!

- Maroon 5 – uneventful

- Adele- Congrats!

- Jennifer Lopez – Will-i-am was cool enough to do the glow in the dark dance number but you look a bit old for that one.

- Artist of The Year – Congrats Taylor Swift! My niece really likes you.

- LMFAO – That was the most awesome finale ever!

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As an Artist Manager, I find myself more involved in artist development and the production side of the business than ever before. Something I have learned to value is the art of finding the right producer for an artist. Producers come in all shapes, sizes and flavors but “one size fits all” is definitely a bad formula to follow. Just because a producer has experienced success with another artist doesn’t make him/her the right fit for you. If a producer is more concerned about letting you know their accolades than they are about giving you a recording that you are happy with then I would encourage you to keep looking. I found myself dealing with a “rock star producer” this past year and every conversation started with “I produced the #2 song of the decade.” The sad reality is that decade is over and all I wanted was a great recording for my artist.

Great communication is an extremely valuable characteristic of a producer. I am currently working on a artist project with Chris Stevens, one of the top producers in Nashville (Tobymac, Mandisa, Carrie Underwood, Jamie Grace, Blake Shelton), and his communication is spectacular. Not once has he mentioned his accolades (and he has a lot of them) and he returns emails/phone calls within a couple of hours. The experience has been on a level so much greater than others I have dealt with. His communication plays a big role in his success.

5 key elements for Picking the Right Producer

1) Has the producer recorded music with a similar sound/direction that you are looking for?

2) Is the producer more concerned about his deal points than he is about making great music? If so, keep looking.

3) Is the producer willing to do what it takes to make you happy no matter how much time it takes?

4) Is the producer willing to commit to an “all in” price that fits your budget? This will save you a large surprise bill at the end.

5) Is the producer willing to commit to a deadline?

And lastly, I am a firm believer that producers should get paid a fair price for their work. You may not be able to afford the top producers but there are plenty of young talented producers looking to make their mark and willing to work within your budget. A word of caution though, NEVER pay a producer the full amount until he/her has delivered the final product. Paying them 50% up front and 50% upon delivery is an industry standard. Producers need incentive to deliver so keep the incentive in your favor.

Who are some of the great producers you have worked with?

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