What the Music Industry Could Learn From Digital Marketing by Jennifer Hanser

The article What The Music Industry Could Learn From Digital Marketing by Jennifer Hanser explores the impacts of the digital revolution on the music industry and the effects of this new distribution system on musicians and their fans. Several key marketing concepts are discussed such as the importance for musicians to connect with fans in meaningful ways that can be used to create lasting relationships. One of the current challenges that stands in the way of musicians easily connecting with their fans is the fragmented marketplace that consumers frequent to purchase or stream new music content. It is increasingly difficult for musicians to track when or where new fans might have heard new music and follow up by outreaching to those fans on the basis of wanting to build a lasting relationship. Digital tracking is starting to become more complex and shift this trend, in the future it wouldn’t be too far fetched to imagine that for a flat fee a musician will be able to better connect with fans across multiple internet outlets and better track the people who support your act.

The ability for an artist to create new content that resonates with a large audience is the challenge for the 21st century musician. Finding ways of connecting with your audience that stretches beyond the just the music you create will ultimately lead your fans to become more loyal followers of anything you may choose to do as a creator. Taking this approach solidifies the current model artist are taking by posting content that adds value to an artist ‘brand name’ as a whole rather than just one album release or what you had for lunch on Facebook. The internet has done a great thing by highlighting the fact that there are just not that many people who are capable of creating content that could be considered of professional quality that consumers demand. This is not to say that there is a limited number of creators (there are more now than ever before) but they are still far outnumbered by the vast majority of internet users who are focused on information consumption rather than creation. 

A hindrance to the current system as Hanser points out is that often times the content that reaches the most people online has been backed up by sponsors and financial investment, making it ever more difficult to break through the ‘noise’ the internet has created in its wake for the typical musician. Today’s aspiring music artist has to earn the respect of a record company in order to sign a deal, this is done by demonstrating their is demand for your talent. The world is shifting to a ‘what can you do for me now’ attitude and advances for artist development are becoming increasing risky and rare for music investors. It may seem more like an uphill battle than ever for the aspiring musician or creator to ‘break’ and become recognized. Armed with knowledge and the willingness to innovate todays artist have the ability to impact more lives than ever with their creative aspirations. Understanding how to utilize new thinking in areas like social media, video websites, personal websites, and personal branding will pave the way for the future of the music industry. Being able to network with your audience and self-promote are extremely important and building lasting personal relationships will ultimately set an artist on a trajectory of success.

Hanser concludes her article with a great analogy that every artists life is like a constant movie and it is up to them to get the ‘sync’ license for their own show. I really think this statement hits the nail on the head for what an innovative artist should keep in mind. New artists, like Hanser suggests, will have to innovate more than ever to satisfy their music fans and create new content that grabs and keeps their attention at least long enough till you can create more new content that also gets attention. A shift has already taken place in the music industry where live performance is a larger business than the record industry. An innovative artist will recognize that it is still their responsibility to entertain fans at live shows and should spend their time accordingly practicing their instrument and building their chops so they can astonish audience members and earn the respect of new music fans. 

The Classical Cloud by Alex Ross

In the article The Classical Cloud by Alex Ross the implications of streaming music are explored. Whether streaming is the new go to way to listen to music or not one thing is for sure, it’s not going away. And the people most affected by this new technology are not the average music listener but the artists creating songs and making them available to stream. As Ross states several times in his article that even along with the wonder of having all the music you could ever consume at your fingertips online, he feels like his massive cd collection and the nostalgia that goes along with owning a bunch of plastic, for him, is something he is not ready to quite let go. I completely agree with Ross on many ideas that he brings up regarding streaming and his now outdated CD collection. First and foremost streaming will never completely replace a music listeners urge to own a song to play on demand whenever they choose, just like setting up a tape recorder next to the radio to have tracks available, music consumers today still either will buy a CD of a new album or purchase that music on the iTunes store. With these purchases music consumers of today are still capable of having an intimate relationship with their musical collections. The amount of content that being created on artists websites grows everyday, this content is new and engaging and also allows for musicians to showcase their music in a way that no record store ever could be able to provide. Interactive pages that include video, images, text, and immersive photography are some of my favorite new ways I can connect with the music I enjoy today while still feeling the connection to an artist provided by owning a physical creation of their music. 
In relation to viewing owning CD’s as ‘hoarding’ I think Ross went a little overboard on his assumption that the new generation wants to consume their media in a baron room with nothing inside and free of all clutter. The nostalgia that surrounds CD’s and Vinyl records today is something unique and should be used as a bridge to cross the generational gap that has grown between those who have chosen to incorporate new technology into their lives and those who are behind the curve at adapting to a new digital age. Although the CD is dead that doesn’t mean something can’t be learned from their existence on this planet. Ross makes a great point about how “browsing the spines” is a relaxing process he enjoys when considering his musical selections. A major difference when you select a CD or a vinyl album over a streamed track you are not simply selecting a single track of music from a list of most popular, you are choosing to listen to a collection of songs that are all part of the same idea, musical statement or time period. Ross mentions one of his favorite albums, a classical album by pianist Leon Fleisher, and explains how the magic on this one CD is unique to the time and place when that CD was created. Fleisher’s challenges of playing when he lost control of his right hand really demonstrate how this one collection of songs is unique simply by his ability to play the songs contained on the album at the time. The counterpoint of searching for Fleisher’s tracks on Spotify would render the typical listener clueless about the progression of an artists career and the change over time that music has undergone, the personal artist to music listener relationship could be at jeopardy in this case. 

The “music-obsessed teen-ager[s] [of] today” is having a great time searching the internet for new music, this is the future of music. As we continue to become more reliant on our digital devices to deliver our content we will become better with time at filtering through staggering amounts of results and finding the best of what is out there for music lovers. One of the major jobs of a record label is to monitor the music that is signed to their label and (hopefully) only sign artist with talent and good music. In the digital world of music we have yet to have an established group of individuals who can act as gatekeepers to our online consumption, instead it is currently up to the user of the internet to determine for themselves how best to access great content. Ross mentions the blog Ionarts created by Charles T. Downey which posts new music every Sunday for followers to check out, this model would not have been possible in the CD era and I believe it will only become increasingly more popular. Those who have the knowledge about what new music is out there will always be recommending music for others to listen and enjoy, we just haven’t quite figured out the new paradigm of the internet and how it can best serve the listener of that music that is posted for all to hear. It is my prediction that as the internet matures and we get better at finding the information we want then the model will stop favoring superstar artists with major record deals and the money available that helps make sure these artists dominate in general exposure. As artists stop complaining that their recorded music makes no money the most entrepreneurial artists will be able to succeed in this new business model. Just as Ross relates to his music near the end of the article by the feelings he experiences when listening to his favorite music we can be encouraged to look forward to connecting with artists in new ways in the future.