Reality Popstar Versus Producer Pay

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that most hit music stars make most of their money from everything but their recorded music. For that reason, this infographic about reality show popstar revenue versus what the show's producers make should be no surprise.

The real fact of the matter is that, expect for a few rare exceptions, the winners of shows like American Idol are reality TV actors, not music celebs. They should consider the fact that they make anything from music a bonus.

Infographic by: clickitticket.com

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Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

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.

What Younger Fans Want

MTV recently asked Millennials (those born between 1980 to 2000 and sometimes known as "Generation Y") just what they expected from their favorite musical artists. The results are decidedly different that what you'd get from other generations.

• They think music should be free, but they might buy it as a gesture of support.

• They really want an inside look at things. Nothing is too personal or mundane.

• They really want to be engaged. The more they're asked to be involved in creation or branding, the better.

• They crave interaction. Using multiple platforms to do so is okay.

• Shuffle-mode is just fine. They're really into musical diversity.

• There's no such thing as selling out. Blatant commercialism by an artist is almost expected.

We live in a new world where the concepts of old no longer apply. Anyone who doesn't evolve will be left behind because the music world, and music consumption, changes with new consumers. All you need to do is ask them.

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

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

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.

Buying Music Stimulates Our Brains

It turns out that there's a little more to buying music that was previously thought. A new study at McGill University has found that buying (or liking/sharing) a song is almost as good as hearing it for the first time, as far as the brain is concerned.

It turns out that the reward center of the brain is stimulated when we purchase music, and the amount of activity there even corresponds to how much we paid for it. In fact, researchers can even predict the likelihood of purchasing by the amount of activity in that part of the brain.

The interesting thing is that this also closely corresponds to other basic needs and rewards in this brain center, like eating and sex.

If we were to look at this another way though, the study confirms a theory that music is something that we need. Some might argue that life would go on perfectly well without it, and perhaps that's true on some level, but the fact of the matter is that our lives are much more pleasurable when we have music available.

That's also one of the reasons that people will continue to purchase music, even as streaming becomes more and more ubiquitous. We'll buy music because it makes us feel good to support an artist we enjoy, or to have a collectable that reminds us of a time or place. We may buy less of it, but we will buy it. Because it feels good.

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

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

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.

The Next Step Beyond Crowdfunding

One of the the things about crowdfunding is that raising the money you think you need is only half the battle. After you've reached your goal, that's the end of the line with the crowdfunding platform, since they're not designed to help beyond that. That's also the point where you need the another round of marketing help.

A new site called Shopstarter wants to be the next step beyond your crowdfunding campaign. The platform is designed to help the project creator manage backers and preorders after the campaign has ended.

The platform makes a lot of sense, since it allows the project's backers to create accounts with all the shipping information for the reward packages (which are updatable if people move), stay in touch with the backers, and even allow them to pledge more if they want.

Shopstarter also can import all the information from your Kickstarter campaign, which includes any videos, images or text.

The individual project "shops" are hosted for free, but are subject to 5% of the transactions plus 30 cents.

I see Shopstarter as only the first to jump into this area. What I'd like to see is a company that actually helps on the fulfillment side as well, since artists (and creators in general) are generally really good at making things and not as good on the operations beyond that. It's a potentially lucrative market, since the clients are already funded.

If anyone decides to use Shopstarter, please report back with your experience.

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

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

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.

Has The Time Come For A New Collection Society?

Performance royalty collection societies like BMI and ASCAP have been around almost a hundred years (in the case of ASCAP), and while they've been essential to the well-being of the songwriter and publisher, some wonder whether they're a product of another time that hasn't quite kept up with our Music 3.0 age.

For one thing, in our new streaming world, some publishers and record labels feel they can do the job better than these companies, and have made their own deals with Internet broadcasters, something that would have been unthinkable even 5 years ago.

Now it seems that a new collection organization in Germany may show the way for other territories.

Currently GEMA is the equivalent of BMI or ASCAP in Germany, but the new Cultural Commons Collecting Society (also known as C3S) began in 2010 especially for musicians and songwriters that did not wish to be represented by GEMA. The company is now in the middle of a crowdfunding campaign to raise the necessary funds to go head to head with the big dog of the marketplace, and already has close to 500 supporters.

I'm not sure that C3S can make a dent in GEMA, given that it doesn't have the deep pockets required to be a player (at least at the moment), but it does exhibit an emotion that many are feeling; that it's time for something new and fresh.

We'll check back from time to time to see if C3S is gaining traction. If it does, you can bet that execs and songwriters in other parts of the world will be watching.

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

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

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.