Concert Revenue Isn't What It Used To Be

It used to be that a star or superstar act going out on tour was really going to cash in, but it looks like the good times are over, according to Pollstar magazine, considered by many to be almost the bible when it comes to ticket sales.

How about these for numbers?

  *  The revenue of the 50 biggest grossing tours in the world declined 12% last year from 2009.

  *  It was even worse in North America, as sales were down 15%.

  *  The number of tickets sold declined 7% world-wide and 12% in North America.

  *  Yet ticket prices increased by 4% despite last minute discounting by giant concert promoter Live Nation.

  *  The top 50 acts played 8% fewer shows than the year before.

  * Promoters slashed prices to as low as $10 for the Jonas Brothers, Maroon 5, Stevie Winwood and Santana, Creed, and the American Idol tours, among many others.

So who were the biggest grossing tours?

1) Bon Jovi - $201 million (U2 made $311 mil the year before)

2) AC/DC - $177 mil

3) U2

4) Lady Gaga

5) Metallica

What does this all mean? This was probably a healthy course-correction in the business. As a result, what we'll see next year is more reasonable pricing, fewer tours by acts who were out last year (you can't tour the same places with the same songs every year and expect big sales), and maybe some sanity returning to a business that never had to worry about a recession before.

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The CD As Lunchmeat

I was turned onto this Gizmodo post by reader Scott Culley. It's entitled "I'm Not Buying Any More CDs That Don't Look Like Lunchmeat" and illustrates the interesting graphic design of a CD by Lithuanian musician Shidlas that not only looks like Saliami, but packaged like it as well.

The album is appropriately entitled "Saliami Post Modern" and features the kind of out-of-the-box marketing that can make the difference between being recognized and making money, or being lost in the crowd.

Standing out from the crowd is essential in Music 3.0. Now that almost anyone can record, there's more product than ever available. Unfortunately, most of it is crap, but there's not many ways to separate the really great music from the rest, which makes it pretty difficult to rise above the mediocre.

I don't know if "Saliami Post Modern" is any good or not, but the packaging makes me want to check it out. Sort of reminds you of the days of the album, doesn't it (read my "6 Reasons Why The Album Died" post for more info on this)?

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Ask For The Sale

There was an article on Hypebot a few weeks ago by Peter Tanham of Amp Music Marketing regarding "call to action" buy buttons. Amp Music Marketing decided to test a number of buttons to see which was most effective when it came to selling music. The choices were:

"Get The Music"
"Download The Music"
"Buy The Music"

It turns out that the most effective was the most direct "Buy The Music (album, CD, etc)" while "Get The Music" was the least. It seems that consumers relate "Get The Music" to a bait and switch in which they're lured into clicking only to find that there's something additionally asked of them.

When it comes to sales, sometimes the very best technique is the most direct. Ask plainly for the sale. If your fan or customer really wants to buy from you, you're doing them a favor by making the process streamlined and easy. If your fan or customer is unsure, you're not helping the cause by being ambiguous.

And another thing. Keep the choices to a maximum of 3 (two works best). If given too large a variety of choices, the customer is likely to throw his hands up in the air in frustration and not buy anything!

Read the entire article here.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

The Concept Of "Fuelers"

I read an interesting article by Jed Cohen on the Rockethub blog a while back about Fuelers, a concept that I wasn't familiar with but is worth knowing about, especially if you're interesting in crowdfunding. In case you weren't aware, Rockethub is a leading crowdfunding site, and just like CD Baby, they have a separate site that teaches you how to take advantage of their site.

In Rockethub parlance, Fuelers are contributors to your crowdfunding project. That being said, Jed has broken down Fuelers into three categories.
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The vast majority of your Fuelers will be people you already know. They are your friends, family and fans. These are people who already know and trust you. For most projects, the number of strangers who become Fuelers is fairly low. That being said, all Fuelers will fall into one of the following three categories:
1. The Committed - already committed to supporting you when they arrive
2. The Inspired - become inspired to support you after they arrive
3. The Shoppers - will shop (and tangentially support you)

Category #1, the Committed, will be populated with your First Degree Network of friends and family. These are folks who will support you every time, regardless of the project, or it’s quality. Your parents are likely a good example.

Category #2, the Inspired, will be populated with other friends and family members, your Second Degree Network. These are people whom you invite to the project page. They are not committed to contributing when they arrive, but after watching your video or reading your project description, they decide that you are up to something great! They become inspired to support you. Some strangers may fall into this category, but a friend you see occasionally is likely a better example.

Category #3, the Shoppers, will be populated with everyone else (ie. your Third Degree Network. In order for your project to grab friends-of-friends and strangers, you’ll need to grab the shoppers as well. The best way to do this is by creating rewards that are interesting and/or a good value.
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If you think about it, the Fueler concept also applies an artist or band's audience.

The Committed are your "tribe" (as best selling marketer Seth Godin calls them). These are your most passionate fans that will go to any lengths to attend a show or buy a product.

The Inspired are your "casual" audience; the ones that like you, but don't love you. It may only take a single great song to push the casual fan into the committed category.

The Shoppers are the part of the audience that really likes your genre or even sub-genre of music, but either hasn't been properly exposed to you or just hasn't caught the fever yet.

Your first job as an artist is to take care of your most passionate members (the Committed or your tribe) first, since they frequently bring the Inspired or casual fan into the tribe just with their enthusiasm.

Spending too much time on the Shoppers of the audience can take too much attentional away from the fans that really matter, and you may never win them over anyway. In short, take care of the fans that are already in your corner first. If treated well, they may be your fans forever.

Read Jed's entire post here.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.