Hey folks...
Kids are back in school, we are getting closer everyday to the arrival of little Ms. Peyton Rowe, my health is grooving, things are pretty flippin' good all around!
This morning I read online that Gene Simmons from Kiss turned 60 years old this week. It hit me as I was a huge Kiss fan as a pre-teen (and off and on since then) and just couldn't imagine him as a 60 year old man. But, he is. He's getting older and so are you and I. Might as well embrace it! :-)
It did get me thinking about my run in with Mr. Simmons in 2003 with my band at the time "London Calling". Gene liked our CD and was interested in us. But due to the "youth trend" in music at the time, he opted to pass on us. But I still have this voicemail that I shared on facebook today:
It started a conversation in "commentland"..some about the unspoken rules of the past music industry and the new opportunities in the viral/internet age.
After working as a viral marketing consultant for the past 5 years I have seen the landscape change...rapidly! I can also see the mistakes some new musicians are making that I made too in my post-Guardian years.
I have a couple thoughts on this that I'll bullet point here..Just some personal observations:
- Fans
You need them. They are priority one! Don't try to put the cart before the horse. Build the audience one person at a time. If you are a new artist, this is going to likely mean giving away your music and playing low (to no) paying shows. The goal is to make fans not money. You have new music but no audience, what's a better way to get them on your team:
a) Putting the music in their hands free of charge as a download with no manufacturing or distribution costs.
or
b) Asking them to pay 7 to 12 bucks to discover your music.
Be smart. Your only reward could be the opportunity to permanently warehouse 5,000 units of your album out of the dealio. If you must sell your music, put it on iTunes..see if it sells, if it doesn't sell in the world's #1 music retailer, then chances are putting it onto a CD isn't going to be the push over the cliff for your career.
I actually hope to release a new collection of songs soon. I'll give away the main track and plan to sell the entire project for $1.00 with a digital booklet included. I bet it'll be easier (and better in the big picture) to have 50,000 people spend a dollar each and have my music than it would be to try to convince 5,000 people to give me 10 bucks. (If anyone steals this idea, just at least give me credit!!!!!)
Playing gigs? MuteMath came out with a new record last week that shot up the iTunes chart. Just 3 years ago, I know for a fact that they toured like maniacs for approx $250.00 a night and roughed it for that first year. But they earned their audience and when it counts, they are now there!
- Lose the hype
While hype was THE tool of choice for promoting in the pre-millennial music business. It's practically useless today. People were so over exposed to "the next big thing" selling point that if it shows up now, it's an instant red flag that something's probably not so great. I made this mistake in London Calling. Working hard to calculate a larger than life atmosphere around the band. It became more of a priority to spend time on fueling perception than it did to create undeniable music. I should have been more focused on making great music that would entice people to want to tell their friends about it. Not being a mouthpiece saying "We are awesome, check us out". I've made this mistake on myspace in the past..finding 30,000+ friends but no one really responding to the music. This has been a scary thought I have heard for years "Let The Music Do The Talking" and I don't know why I couldn't just embrace that because really no matter what I did, it still came down to the music. I LOVED "I want you" by The Ruled (still do actually), but at the end of the day, no matter how much I tried to push it, the audience evidently didn't feel the same way about it. The bottom line is this: If YOU are the only one talking about your music..then YOU are likely the only one interested in it.
- Make it great
People like good, but GREAT causes them to get involved. Thinking about the Guardian years, we did our job of promotion with interviews, radio calls, etc. But so did a lot of bands at the time. However, Guardian had a great album at the time "Fire and Love" and we put in the rehearsal time (3 nights a week 6pm-10pm and later for approximately 9 months) that made us an undeniably tight rock band. We also made engaging the audience a top priority onstage. Participation. None of that costs money, it costs time and commitment. And we were well rewarded- people showed up the shows, brought their friends, and bought merchandise. You know that phrase from the film "Field Of Dreams" : "If you build it, they will come"? There's huge truth in that!
- Use Social Networking
BUT DO NOT MAKE IT A ONE WAY CONVERSATION! Otherwise, once again, you're just acting like a megaphone and shouting about yourself. AKA: Hype. If you have a problem hanging out with your audience and don't really enjoy their company, opinions, etc. Then you are likely in the game for the wrong reasons and will be found out quickly!
Those are my thoughts from this evening on the music biz...
What are yours?
jamie
¶ 8/27/2009 0 Comments
Wow folks...I just watched a bit of video from the GB Summit a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, My main takeaway was not the content, but how badly I looked! OUCH! Can you say "Eatasaurus Rex"?
So, it's more motivation to get myself together...which deserves to be more completely explained here...this is really personal stuff, but I've always kinda' wore my life on my sleeve..for better or worse, it's what I do.
Early last summer, I was hospitalized with dehydration. I honestly have not felt good since then and have not been able to lose weight and was actually slowly putting it on..approximately 30lbs since then. I constantly felt worn out, regardless of the hours I slept or lack of activity, I was tired 24/7. I thought "Is this just what getting older feels like?" and was trying to swallow that mind set.
Being self employed, I've typically been treated at the local clinic as needed due to lack of Insurance. $70.00 a visit out of pocket. Not too bad, but while I had great folks treating me. It tended to be a different person each time. Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels created a new Insurance program called "Healthy Indiana Plan" and it is self-employment friendly! It bases the premium on 40% of your self employed income which put me under the $44,000 cutoff - which made it affordable for me! LOVE IT!!!..so all that to say: I am insured and no longer gambling with my health ...praying that nothing major would happen. :-)
So I go to my new Dr. (Dr.Manillo-Ibay) and she's awesome! She made some changes to a couple prescriptions that got rid of some nasty side effects I had been putting up with (Random forehead sweating, dry cough that sometimes gagged me) So I'm instantly feeling better after my initial visit.
I made a list of my "woes", printed it out and handed it to her, she addressed each one and noticed what I had put on the end. It just said "Low Testosterone?" A good friend from church knew someone close who had dealt with similar low energy issues I was having and that turned out to be their problem..so on a whim, I added it...glad I did!
She ran a couple blood tests and my testosterone levels were WAYYYYYY low..STUPID low..like.."now I know why I watched those cake baking shows with Heather" low!
So now I'm getting hormone injections to bring the levels back to normal. A couple days in, I feel 20 years younger. What I accepted as normal was far below the norm. I kinda' feel like shouting "I FEEL FRIGGIN' GREAT!" in public places. In less than a week I have more energy, better concentration and overall mood, my self motivation to get things done has kicked into gear and the sluggish feeling is going.. going.. almost 100% gone!
Truthfully, my endocrine system is jacked..my thyroid gland stopped working in 1995 (or that's when I discovered it) and now the testosterone has gone on strike! But hey, they are both manageable conditions!
My back pain ?- well, I do show early signs of arthritis in my lower lumbar area. No biggie to me at this point. Losing some weight can help that.
So now, I should be able to shed pounds and actually have the energy to be active..so I plan to be just that! I dont' wanna' be that middle aged Midwestern fat guy who gave up along the way. I still think big and wanna' reach for the sky in everything I do...or at least fail trying!;-)
Major props to Heather who got sick of my whining and got the ball rolling to secure my Insurance and Dr. visits. I'd still be putting it off and living in hypochondriac dreamland (aka: webmd.com) trying to diagnose myself.- haha!
For a great video that perfectly describes how I felt and subsequent treatment, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2uDGCMzS30
I hope this blog motivates someone to take better care of themselves and if they have similar symptoms to what I had to check into why it's happening and get help! Like I said, this was really personal but I have to laugh that low-testosterone is actually called "Hypogonadism"...you HAVE to find the humor in that! i also hope publishing this blog keeps me track to drop the poundage and get back into fighting shape..especailly in time for the South American Guardian shows in December! You'll know if I did it!
Much love!
jamie
¶ 8/16/2009 0 Comments
The first 5 minutes of this video is amazing! Puts you in a great place to hear the message of this song! I love it!
-jamie
