The Official Funky Management Blog Based in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, we are an artist management and representation company dedicated to discovering, developing and delivering exceptional talent to the world.
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With The Grammys A Few Short Weeks Away, Billboard.biz Has Everything You Need For Music's Biggest Night
With the Grammys a few short weeks away, Billboard.biz has everything you need for music's biggest night (and week) -- analysis of all the major nominees, a letter from editorial director Bill Werde, behind the scenes with the telecast's longtime producer Ken Ehrlich and much, much more.
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Rock The Bells is the biggest hip-hop music festival on the planet! It will already feature a who's who in hip-hop including the Wu-Tang Clan, Black Hippy, J. Cole, Big Sean, Common, A$AP Mob and, of course, DMV's own Wale and Logic but who's next?
93.9 WKYS wants to give a chance for the DMV's next rap phenomenon to perform at Rock The Bells and take their career to the next level.
Click HERE for submission info.
In an ideal world I would wake up in the morning to a fresh cup of hot coffee. I would enjoy it as I check my e-mail and skim social networks to check up on friends and my favorite bands.
I would immerse myself in an online community of music lovers, songwriters, and musicians sharing, caring, and building with each other… NOT blasting commands to “check out my new hottest thing”.
I see enough billboards on the interstate.
In this world:
Bands would stop acting like rock stars and start acting like leaders
They would build self-sustaining tribes
They would listen to their fans
They would understand that growing organically will always win over view counts
As a music blogger, my inbox would NOT be full of one-liners and YouTube links I only see as distractions. Whatever happened to “connecting” with someone?
Unfortunately, this world does not exist. From where I’m sitting, the average indie band sucks at using social media and its ruining it for everyone else. Most importantly, your potential fans.
What are we doing wrong, you say?
Oh boy…where do I begin?
Me, Me, Me Marketing
You might have been raised in a world of billboards and commercials, but using social media as a one way street is killing your promo game.
It seems too many people are missing the social half of the phrase, social media.
You need to engage with fans and listeners instead of blasting them with links, videos, and nonsense about buying your album.
Sadly, most bands qualify [as what the marketing world refers to] as spammers.
Engaging is easier than you think and should come naturally (assuming you are not a recluse).
Share albums, videos, and news about other music you enjoy or local bands you play with.Ask others what they think.
Share news related to the music industry or issues that reflect the personality of your band and use them to engage in conversation.
Instead of posting links to the same videos and songs repeatedly, post clips of the band working in the studio or upload a demo mix and allow fans to share their opinions so you can take the art to another level. Involve fans in your process(es).
Network with bands in other areas to create an atmosphere for gig swapping and collaboration as well as cross promotion of content.
This list goes on but the takeaway here is engage in a way that results in feedback and interaction.
Build a community.
Focusing on the wrong metrics
Your follower count means nothing unless you see conversions.
Huh?!
More important than a follower, view, or like:
How many fans have signed up for your mailing list?
Do you pass around a mailing list signup sheet at your show?
How many people have you met at shows? (You do hang out with the audience after the show…right?)
How many people have bought a CD or t-shirt?
Stop putting all your energy into increasing numbers on social sites and focus on converting the followers you have into loyal fans.
Use social media to funnel music listeners to your website where you attempt to convert them into a mailing list signup, song download, or merchandise sale.
Would you rather have 1,000 likes or 100 fans spending $1,000 on music, merch, show tickets and crowd funding campaigns?
Show me the money!
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Big cities like New York and Los Angeles have more music industry jobs, but you're more likely to have a neighbor in the biz in Nashville.
In today's DIY music business, people can perform their jobs from just about anywhere. But as economist Richard Florida pointed out in 2009, the trend in music industry jobs has been increased concentration in a small number of cities. From 1970 to 2006, Nashville was the only city in the country with positive growth in music industry jobs using a location quotient, a measure of a particular industry's share of the total employment in a given location. "In effect, it sucked up all the growth in the music industry," Florida wrote.
Nashville's 27,000 music industry jobs are vital to the city. The jobs earn an income of nearly $1.7 billion and contribute $5.5 billion to the local economy. The multiplier effect means one job can help support additional jobs. In all, the local music industry supports 57,000 jobs and creates a total economic output of $9.7 billion.
None of this has gone unnoticed by the City of Nashville. A report by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Music City Music Council, a group of professionals assembled by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, boasts of music's great impact on Nashville and the resources available in the modestly sized metropolitan area of 1.7 million. Using economic data compiled by Economic Modeling Specialty International, the report shows how Nashville stacks up to other music hubs.
In terms of concentration of music industry jobs, Nashville is tops with 7.8 per 1,000 residents, according to EMSI data in the report. Los Angeles is a distant second with 2.8. Austin is third with 2.6. At 2.0, New York actually falls beneath the 2.1 of Charlotte, N.C.
It should come as no surprise that the cities with the three highest concentrations of music industry jobs also have the best-paying ones. Los Angeles tops all markets in average music job earnings with 175% of the country's average salary. Nashville is second at 156%, and New York is third at 147%. Music jobs pay less than the national average in Charlotte (99%), Austin (94%), Atlanta (85%), Memphis (79%) and New Orleans (73%).
Those good salaries go far in Nashville. The city's cost of living is 11.1% lower than the national average, according to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index. New York is 125% of the national average. Los Angeles is 31% above it.