The Music Gardener - Artist Manager, Music Marketer

An excerpt from the Billboard Update last week regarding Apple’s quarterly report and music download sales reads…

“More iPod owners equals more digital download sales, right? That statement by Apple indicates about five million consumers - across all markets - adopted portable digital music for the first time last quarter. Portable devices like the iPod tend to be the entry point. Apple shipped 7.4 million iPhones in its fiscal Q4 - seven times as many as in the same period last year - and sell-through improved 38% year-over-year. It still sells millions of iPods in a quarter. But U.S. download sales are stagnant. In the previous earnings call, Apple’s CFO said iTunes sales growth was being driven by the over-the-air capabilities of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Even then, there was little growth in digital downloads outside of the standard seasonal increase around Christmas. (Seeking Alpha)”

iPhone

I don’t know about you but this information disturbed me a bit. The music industry once thought the iPod was going to save the music business but it appears that may not be the case? My supposition based on this article is that iPhones and iPod Touch are being lumped in with iPods. Just because a person buys an iPhone doesn’t necessarily mean they will purchase music which is much the same as every Wal-mart customer doesn’t visit the cd department. It would be wise for the music industry to concentrate efforts on educating the non-music buying iPhone owners on how easy it is to purchase and listen to music. I would guess there are many iPhone users that don’t even realize they could connect their iPhone to a stereo or TV and enjoy music with a simple cord. Over the years the industry has discussed joining forces to run publicity campaigns similar to the “Got Milk” campaign. How about a 60 second video that is mass marketed on the internet and included with every iPhone or other MP3 Player purchase that demonstrates the simple process of purchasing music and playing it through your stereo? What if Apple included that simple cord with every iPhone purchase?

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I never really thought I would be talking about jewelry and music in the same sentence until this week. This past week was the marketing launch of my wife’s jewelry line 2dangle. We have had a lot of fun creating the launch plan. Of course, I was given the task of creating the website and doing the marketing for 2dangle. My first task was the website. If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you know how adamant I am about using a blogsite instead of a static website and that is exactly what I did for 2dangle using WordPress as the engine.  The first day of the website launch we saw 4 times the views of the biggest day on any of my other blogs. Day two brought almost 1,000 views! That told me something immediately. More people are interested in jewelry than music. We happened to run into fashion designer Jeff Garner who was putting the final touches on his Prophetik fall fashion show. Jeff asked to use 2dangle jewelry in his fashion show. What an amazing opportunity! As we watched the fashion show, something inside me began to stir as music played such a huge role in the Prophetik fashion show. Why not create musical earrings? Only joking… but it did make me start wondering why jewelry creates so much more blog traffic and interest than music. One conclusion that I came to is that jewelry is considered a daily necessity in people’s identity. The watch, the earrings or the necklace one wears projects a personal image/identity.  I can remember back in my high school days when the music one listened to played such an important role in their identity. Music appears to have lost it’s significance as a necessity in people’s daily lives. Can the music industry change that? Figuring that one simple thing out could possibly be the key to reversing the sales decline in music.

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U2 Live Streaming Concert

The Music Gardener is writing this blog post while participating in the huge historical moment of watching the U2 concert streamed live on Youtube. WOW! The way we watch and listen to things has been catapulted into the future. I just read a Tweet from my friend Spence Smith comparing this moment to a time when the world gathered around black & white TVs to watch men walk on the moon. It really is exhilarating to know we are in such a time of transition with technology. While streaming a live concert on the internet has been done before, it hasn’t been done with this magnitude of viewership. I haven’t seen the actual results but I’m sure viewership was in the millions rivaling any live concert on traditional TV.  I’m happy to see such a huge moment in history being driven by a band that contributes so much to humanitarian efforts around the world. Thank you U2 for playing such a big role in bringing change to our world through sharing the message of love and through helping usher in new technology!

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John Deere Tractor - Griggs Farms, Quincy, WA

Artist Garden Entertainment recently met with an artist who offered the opportunity to drive one of her father’s BIG John Deere tractors. I’m told they now have GPS auto drive, air condition and iPod hook ups. WOW! Forget the 3 degrees of separation theory. We’re talking 1 degree from my childhood dream! You see my grandfather was a diesel mechanic and spent his time working on the BIG industrial tractors, dump trucks and motor graders. I would often go to work with him and marvel at those big machines. My grandfather always promised that he would let me drive one of those tractors some day. The only problem was that all of the tractors around his shop were broken and I was never around when he finally got them up and running. My grandfather died when I was young so that dream was never realized. I have spent 40 years dreaming of driving big tractors but never really pursued making that dream happen. About the closest I’ve gotten is riding my neighbor’s riding lawn mower with an aerator in tow. Trust me, that was exciting! What does this have to do with music? An artist who truly thinks they have what it takes must find a way to get on the BIG tractor and drive it. Sitting around dreaming won’t get you there. Do everything in your power to become the best at what you do through training, hard work and persistence. Starting on little tractors is fine but don’t get too comfortable or you will never find the big ones!

I do own a John Deere self-propelled lawn mower with front spinning casters. Why because “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”!

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The Music Gardener at Seattle Seahawks game

My wife and I recently traveled with our daughter to Seattle as she was invited to sing the national anthem for the Seattle Seahawks game. Jaci has been blessed throughout her career and asked to do the same for the Tennessee Titans, the Florida Marlins, the MLS All Star Soccer Game, the Texans, the San Antonio Spurs, the Minnesota Timberwolves and several others. It is amazing how much emphasis the sport franchises put on who they choose to sing the 3 minute song at every game. The Seahawks organization was extremely hospitable to our family. Four adults and two babies is quite the undertaking in regards to travel, hotel etc. They outfitted us with a suite to watch the game, official jerseys, food and travel. It was especially exciting for our grandsons who got to hang out on an NFL field before the age of 2! So that brings forth the question “Why the big hoopla about who sings the 3 minute song?” Well first of all, The Star Spangled Banner is America’s National Anthem which makes the most popular song in the United States of America. The song’s popularity makes it tough  to flawlessly sing it in front of 50k-100k Americans who should know every word. We have all seen instances where singers slaughter the National Anthem with the biggest memory given us by Roseanne Barr. And then there was Carl Lewis who recently started in a key much higher than he should have. (I really did feel for him!) I must say that Jaci Velasquez does the best and most consistent job that I have seen from anyone! Hopefully it will lead to more family trips to great sporting events. We have our fingers crossed for a Superbowl!

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The Music Gardener’s “Pick of The Month” is Brandon Bee. Brandon’s new record “This Is The Revolution” just streeted. Please check out the “Pick of the Month” page to find out more about Brandon and why we like him so much.

Brandon Bee

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As an artist manager, one of the toughest jobs with some artists is keeping them from self imploding. Artists have musical gifts but most don’t have a great business compass which is why there is a need for a manager. As an artist’s career progresses and if they pay attention they will develop a great business sense. However, that business sense in usually missing in the beginning of their career. To make up for their lack of business sense, they listen to anyone in their lives who has ever played a gig or listened to music. Artists also tend to follow their creative intuition when making business decisions. That is the perfect way to end a career before it’s even off the ground. My advice is to find a manager that you can trust who has a successful track record in the music business. Let that manager be the captain of your ship. Listen, learn and shut off all other outside influences who have no vested interest in your career. When your manager gives you advice, act on it and you will be amazed at what happens with your career.

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Artist Garden Entertainment was recently invited to take part in a Rain On Me Productions artist/employee retreat. Not really knowing what to expect, we accepted the invitation as the retreat was taking place at Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast and we have heard such great things about that part of the country. We had also heard great things about the owners of Rain on Me Productions from one of the artist we manage. We were picked up at the airport by Derek and Karen Hoiem, the owners of Rain on Me productions. Our 90 minute ride from Portland to Cannon Beach gave us an opportunity to learn a little bit more about the Hoiems and their vision at Rain on Me  Productions. First of all, Derek and Karen have to be some of the nicest people we have ever had the opportunity to meet. We felt an immediate comfort level as if we have known them for years and they were incredible host. As we arrived at their beach home in Cannon Beach and met their artists, we knew we were in for a special weekend. The weekend gave us an opportunity to hear and see the hearts of their artists. Rain on Me is the home to Brandon Bee, Kevin Thornton (Former member of Color Me Bad), Benjimin and Jamie Bonife . Paul Wright also joined us for part of the time. All of the artist joined together to do a live show on Saturday evening in Seaside, Or and what a treat that was. I must say I am now a HUGE fan of Brandon Bee and Paul Wright. I had never seen these artists live, however, I will now be an ambassador for them. You must see the guys live if you have an opportunity!

I realized how special the weekend was when I realized I didn’t send out one Tweet on Sunday. Not because I didn’t have access to Twitter, but I found my mind so unplugged from my normal everyday. I was more relaxed than I have been in months enjoying spending time getting to know new friends.

Big Foot Sighting

And a one last bonus for the weekend was our Big Foot sighting on the way back to the Portland airport. See the picture below. We now have proof that Big Foot does exist!

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