The Puzzle Piece That Apple Really Bought

Now that the announcement has been made that Apple’s acquisition of Beats Electronics has been completed for $3 billion, and that Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple in yet unspecified executives roles, it’s important to take a step back and examine what has really gone down here. There’s much more than meets the eye.

As I alluded to in a previous post, there were just as many reasons for Apple to avoid the Beats deal as there were to make it. That said, just about everyone (myself included until now) has missed the big picture point of the purchase. The deal really isn’t about Beats music service or its headphone business. It’s all about Iovine.

Apple CEO Tim Cook realized that while he may be a great operations guy, he doesn’t have the market vision of his predecessor Steve Jobs (who could?). Music has been responsible for the resurgence and subsequent market rise and dominance of Apple, not so much from a revenue point of view (although the sales from music are substantial), but as means to an end to sell what really makes the company money - its hardware. Apple needs someone who is capable of looking into the future in a way that no one else at Apple has been able to since Jobs passed nearly three years ago.

While it’s too much to expect Iovine to be another Jobs, he has proved to be quite deft at navigating the minefield that is the entertainment industry - enough so to build a substantial billion dollar company in a mere seven years. This was done by seeing a hole in the market (high-end headphones), then recruiting the well-respected hip hop producer Dr. Dre to provide credibility and marketability to an underserved market. He then granted an exclusive manufacturing and distribution license to Monster Cable, a company perfectly suited to instantly provide widespread availability of the product. The distribution deal we terminated at the beginning of 2012, at which time Beats took the manufacturing and distribution in-house. All the hard work of establishing the brand had already been done. Read more on Forbes.

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Dae Bogan On YouTube Video Optimization

We all want our videos to be seen by the most people, but many times some basic posting mistakes can sabotage all the effort that's put into producing the video in the first place. Luckily it just takes some thought and a little extra time to optimize your videos so that they're more easily found online.

Dae Bogan has considerable experience in both music and social media marketing, starting out in event production for major brands such as Chipotle, Dell, Blackberry, Virgin Mobile and Def Jam, then as vice-president of marketing for Shiekh shoes and their Shiekh music artists program. His current company, Chazbo Music, provides in-store video music entertainment services by programming custom-curated channels for businesses, music and lifestyle. In this excerpt from my new Music 4.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age (the 3rd and latest edition of my Music 3.0 book), Dae explains some basic strategies for making sure that your video is seen by the most people.

"Today you really have to do optimization for search or it’ll be buried with the other 700 million videos on YouTube at the moment. If I had to give some advice, I’d say song choice is number one. Choose songs [if you're doing a cover song] that are relevant today by using the Billboard charts as a guide. Select a song that’s on the top of the charts today, then post a really good cover, then make sure the video title is appropriate by posting the original artist’s name, the song name, then your name. Make sure it’s tagged with the original artist’s name, the song name, as well as the record label name and anything else about it. If it’s a love song or a pop song, put that descriptive tag in. Sometimes people just search for love songs, so they’ll come across your video that way. Finally, make sure the video description is complete. 

Also at the end of the video there should be all the information about your social media, then ask people to subscribe to your channel. Now with annotations you can also embed links in the video as well. Those are ways to optimize the video so that at least some information is carried along with it. What artists forget is that once someone shares that video that a lot of the meta information that you inserted is lost. The description and the tags don’t come with it and the title isn’t visible. The only thing that you can see is what’s inside the video player, so by using annotations there’s a way to make at least some of the information available to the viewer.

Finally, release it at the right time. YouTube shows in their analytics what time of day is best. Look at when you have the most viewers or followers."

To read additional excerpts from Music 4.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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3 Reasons Why Twitter Killed The Soundcloud Deal

Twitter has been trying hard to get into the music business, but keeps on coming up empty. First there was its ill-conceived #Music service which died on the vine about a year after it was launched due to low adoption numbers, and now the company reportedly has nixed a deal to buy the Berlin-based Soundcloud music streaming service. 

It was only last week that a deal between the two looked imminent, but the Twitter looks to have bowed to pressure from stockholders and the investment community alike, both of which took a dim view of the acquisition.

On one hand, Twitter-Soundcloud looked to be synergistic in may ways. Twitter has a large number of influential music celebrities that use the platform and have extremely large followings, so incorporating some sort of a music service seems like an ideal match. Soundcloud has roughly the same number of active users as Twitter, and any added users (there’s some overlap between the two) could possibly provide a needed boost in Twitter’s plateaued user numbers, which in turn could help it’s slowly dwindling stock price. That’s the theory, but as we well know, reality is frequently a different story, especially in this case. Here are three reasons why Twitter might have chosen not to consummate the deal.

Reason #1: User Attrition

While Soundcloud might look attractive because of its 250 million or so users and $700 million estimated valuation, it has it’s own set of problems. Like Twitter, there’s ongoing user attrition, especially with the DJ community, who are leaving for other services like MixCloud, MixCrate and Play.fm. 

One of the reasons is that Soundcloud uses Audible Magic technology to identify unlicensed songs, which then flags Soundcloud, who then issues a take-down notice much like YouTube does in similar cases. Unfortunately Audible Magic, or any other content identification service for that matter, isn’t perfect and many times users are directed to take down their own compositions. No one wants the hassle of having to defend their own material, and the three strikes and your account is cancelled policy forces many users to make the decision to jump to another service. Read more on Forbes.

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Was "Stairway To Heaven" Stolen?

Led Zeppelin is being sued for stealing parts of "Stairway To Heaven" from a song by Spirit called "Taurus" more than 44 years after the song was written. The estate of Spirit guitarist Randy California is preparing an injunction ahead of Zep's upcoming Led Zeppelin IV reissue.

All this stems from the fact that Zep opened for Spirit several times during their first tour of the States during which Spirit performed "Taurus" as part of their set, but why wait 40+ years to sue?

If you listen to the Spirit song below you'll hear some similarities to the intro of the song, but it's of a rather generic guitar pattern and nothing of the song's melody. I'd bet that this suit goes nowhere, but it does serve one purpose in that it got us talking about Spirit again, who were a great and very underrated band from way back when.

It's been estimated that "Stairway" has made the group $540 million over the years, so the 36 year old attorney for the plaintiff (who's younger than the song) is obviously hoping for a reasonable out of court settlement. The problem is that Zep obviously has deep pockets and it might not be as easy for that to happen as he believes.

So songwriters beware, there's nothing new under the sun given the 12 note scale that we use, so you're probably copying a previous song without even knowing it. That's enough to get you sued, but it's another story when it comes to actually winning in court.

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Skype Releases Its Version Of Hangouts

If Google+ has a killer feature, its Hangouts, which allows you to connect with up to 9 other people on a video conference call. Connect YouTube to it and now you have a Hangout On Air that can broadcast the conference to thousands more.

Hangouts are a nice feature, but far more people use Skype for their video calls. The problems was that if you wanted a multi-person call it would cost $8.99 per month for a premium subscription.

Skype has now seen the light and has introduced group video calling as part of the free package with anywhere from 3 to 10 participants (just like Hangouts), although Skype recommends a max of 5 for best results. The new feature is available on Windows, Mac and XBox platforms.

Another new and welcome feature is what's called "deep integration" that allows you to seamlessly transfer a voice call over to video chat. The performance of the platform on mobile devices is also said to be improved

Although Hangouts On Air is tough to beat for an artist, band or musician, Skype is definitely making headway with free group calling. You can't beat it for staying in touch while on the road, no matter where in the world you are.

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How To Use YouTube's New Branding Intro Feature

YouTube has added a new feature that might be interesting to many artists and bands that allows a 3 second intro to be added to the start of any video on your channel.

This is what you do to set it up:

1. Shoot a 3 second video that's consistent with your brand.
2. Upload it to YouTube as an "unlisted" video (this is important).
3. Select "Add a channel branding intro" on your channel's InVideo Programming page.
4. Choose the videos you'd like the intro to appear on.

Be aware that you can't use this intro for an ad, sponsorship or product placement as it will violate YouTube's terms of service agreement. This is to be used to promote your brand and your channel.

If you have a logo, this would be the spot for a short animated (or even a static) version.

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What To Do After The Album Is Finished

In many ways, the actual creation of an album is the easiest part of the job. Many artists and bands can do a great job of that, but then wonder what to do after their masterpiece is finished.

Here's a video from my new Selling Music: MP3s, Streams and CDs course on Lynda.com that shows the 10 steps you can take to take advantage of your latest release.

Check out more videos from this course and my other Lynda.com video courses with a free 7 day subscription.

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The 8 Stages Of The Music Business

If we were to look at the music business from its very beginning, we'd see that there are 8 totally different stages, each one driven by a new technology. Here's an excerpt from my Music 4.0 Internet music guidebook that briefly covers those stages.

Music 0.5: The embryonic stage of the music business predating recorded music, where the product was limited to sheet music and piano rolls, and the song was much more important than the artist.

Music 1.0: The first generation of the music business as we know it today, in which the product was vinyl records, the artist had no direct contact with the record buyer, radio was the primary source of promotion, the record labels were run by record people, and records were bought from retail stores.

Music 1.5: The second generation of the music business, in which the product was primarily CDs, labels were owned and run by large conglomerates, MTV caused the labels to shift from artist development to image development, radio was still the major source of promotion, and CDs were purchased from retail stores.

Music 2.0: The third generation of the music business, which signaled the beginning of digital music and during which piracy ran rampant due to peer-to-peer networks. The industry, however, took little notice, since CD sales were still strong from radio promotion.

Music 2.5: The fourth generation of the music business, in which digital music became monetized thanks to iTunes and, later, others such as Amazon MP3. CD sales plunged, the music industry contracted, and retail stores closed.

Music 3.0: The fifth generation of the music business, in which the artist could communicate, interact, market, and sell directly to the fan. Record labels, radio, and television become somewhat irrelevant, and single songs are purchased more often than albums.

Music 3.5: The sixth generation of the music business where YouTube and other online video platforms become the new radio, and the digital side of the business begins to slowly morph from one of downloads to streaming.

Music 4.0: The generation of the music business that we’re now entering, where streaming becomes the preferred music delivery method for the consumer, which makes it profitable on a wide scale and increases revenue for artists, songwriters, publishers and labels. 

To read additional excerpts from Music 4.0 and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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Would You Wear Your Music?

Apple Thinks Big With The Wearable Tech Market

From all indications it appears that the Apple - Beats Electronics deal will come to pass, and as we move forward from the initial leak a week or so ago, many analysts are focusing on the wearable tech part that Beats may bring to the Apple deal.

As I and other industry observers have written, Beats headphones are as much a fashion accessory as an audio accessory, with the balance clearly leaning towards the fashion side of things. There are plenty of other headphones available from serious audio manufacturers that not only sound better but are also cheaper, but virtually none come close to the sales numbers. Beats excels at marketing (much to the chagrin of the serious audio manufacturers), and as a result its headphones are all the rage, especially in the Urban community thanks to co-founder and uber-producer Dr. Dre (“Beats By Dr. Dre” is the brand name).

This scenario is one that’s actually very near and dear to Apple’s heart. It wasn’t that long ago that the iPod was the go-to music device for anyone that was even remotely into music, and the distinctive white earbuds made exactly the same statement then that Beats makes today, only to a much broader demographic.

The trend continued with the introduction of the iPhone, where you just weren’t hip unless you had one (signified again by the white earbud/microphone), which carried on until the various Android smartphones gained marketshare over the last 12 months or so. As a result, owning an iPhone no longer holds the same status as it once did. Read more on Forbes.

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Introducing Music 4.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age

I'd like to introduce you to my latest book, Music 4.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age. This is really the 3rd edition of my best-selling Music 3.0 book, but the music landscape has changed so much that it's now become a whole new evolution of the business.

What's changed? We're now firmly planted in the streaming era of music, or Music 4.0. The changes to the industry are significant, and this book outlines them all. Among the other questions that the book answers are:

• Who are your customers and fans and how can you reach them?
• How should music be marketed and distributed in this new world? 
• How to take advantage of all these new choices?
• Who are the new industry players?
• How to make money when listeners stream your music? 
• What's the best way to develop a brand? 
• How are Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube best used as marketing tools? 
• What are the new technologies being introduced that will influence how we sell and market our work? 

The book also covers the differences between streams (there are actually 4 types), and how much each one pays, which is data that you won't find in any other publication or even in any one place on the Internet.

Music 4.0 also features interviews with some of the gurus and behind the scenes movers and shakers of the different facets of the music business, including social media marketing guru Dae Bogen, music publisher Richard Feldman, entertainment analytics expert Larry Gerbrandt, social media PR specialist Ariel Hyatt, search engine marketing expert Gregory Markel, record label digital strategy expert Dan Tsurif, and many more.

Check out the Music 4.0 table of contents and excerpts.

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An Overview Of Email List Services

There's no shortage of posts here about why an email list is so important for an artist or band, but determining which email list provider (ESP) to use can be confusing. Here's an overview taken from my Social Media Promotion for Musicians book that provides a number of ESP alternatives.

"Here’s a list of email service providers to investigate. Each has their pros and cons, so it’s best to check every one out thoroughly before you commit. Since most of them also have free 30 day trials, you can try before you buy to see if a particular service is what you’re looking for.

TIP: Some email list providers are free if you only have a few hundred addresses. Even with a volume that low, it's so much easier to use an ESP than your own email client. Try it. You'll wonder how you ever got along without one.

As stated above, all of them have a nice selection of professional-looking email templates, but how they’re customized is slightly different, so be sure to check that out. Of course, if you already have a web designer that can design a good looking HTML newsletter, the templates won’t matter as much to you as the other features.

Mailchimp.com

Aweber.com

Campaigner.com

Campaignmonitor.com

Feedblitz

MyNewsletterBuilder.com

iContact 

WhatCounts 

Constant Contact

Get Response

Vertical Response

BenchmarkEmail

PinPointe

MyEmma

These are only just a sampling of the popular ESPs available, and you can also find a number of email list review sites that will give you a ranking and allow you to easily compare services. 

TIP: Even if you compare ESP features carefully, the best way to really find out which one will serve your needs is to use it for a bit first with the free trial they all offer."

For what it's worth, I've at least tried most of these on the list. I used Constant Contact for a long time, but recently changed to Aweber, mostly because it tightly integrates with a variety of shopping carts and 3rd party apps, and because each list can have it's own set of autoresponders. That said, sometimes a provider has a single feature that's important to what you're doing, which will make it the obvious choice.

To read additional excerpts from Social Media Promotion for Musicians and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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Check Out The Latest Inner Circle Podcast

The latest Inner Circle Podcast has just been posted, and this time the guest is 16 time Grammy Award-winning engineer Benny Faccone. Benny, who's won most of his Grammy's while working with Latin superstars like Mana and Ricky Marin, talks about the differences between American and Latin music, among other things.

Commentary includes a discuss on the need for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and a look at some of the new recording consoles and why they don't include DAW control.

If you've missed other episodes of the podcast, they include:

• Show #1 - Engineer Dennis Moody, who discusses the difference between mixing in the studio and live.
• Show #2 - Omnia Media COO Thom Kozik, who talks all about making money on YouTube and Multichannel Networks.
• Show #3 - LA session bassist Paul ILL, who discusses about what it takes to be a studio musician.
• Show #4 - Publisher/producer Richard Feldman, who talks about how the world of publishing has changed because of digital music.

You can access the Inner Circle Podcast at either BobbyOInnerCircle.com or on iTunes.

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