Do We Really Need A Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?

The ballots have been counted and it’s been announced that this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees will be Nirvana, KISS, Hall & Oats, Peter Gabriel, Linda Ronstadt and Cat Stevens. While it’s hard to argue with the quality of work of these fine artists (they’re all well deserving of recognition), I still keep coming back to the same question - Do we really need a rock and roll hall of fame?

For one thing, the merits of the arts are nearly impossible to quantify. Many a movie, television show, album or piece of artwork that does big sales numbers may not have what’s widely believed to be much in the way of artistic merit, but then again, who’s to say? As the proverb goes, “One man’s treasure is another man’s trash.” What I might see as art might have you shouting it down as crass hackmanship, or vice versa. And when it comes to affecting the art of others, what influences you might have absolutely no effect on me.

So if you can’t quantify it or judge it by the moving target of influence, how about longevity? Here again, just because you’ve managed to survive in the business for 25 years (as is the requirement of all Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees) doesn’t necessarily mean that you were great, only good enough to survive. You may wind up being an influence based on a volume of work and the fact that you’ve grown or maintained your visibility over time, but does that qualify someone for any kind of hall of fame?

Actually hall of fames in general are fraught with problems and all are filled with controversy. Perhaps sports is best equipped to handle a hall of fame since induction can be based on performance statistics. In baseball, for instance, if a pitcher has 300 wins or a batter has 500 home runs in his career, his entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame used to be automatic before the steroid era skewed the numbers. Can you do the same with music? Not as easily. Read more on Forbes.

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

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Big Music Stars Have A New Label

You won't be seeing artists like Coldplay, Pink Floyd and Radiohead on the Parlophone label anymore as its acquisition by Warner Music Group has now been finalized. Parlophone was one of the world's oldest record labels, having been founded in 1896, but had been part of EMI since 1926. It was also the British home of The Beatles during their 1960's heyday.

Just to show you what an interesting ride it can be for an artist, EMI was purchased was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2012, but in order for the sale to go through, UMG was forced to divest Parlophone to appease European regulators. In February of 2013, Parlophone was then purchased by Warner Music Group, which then had to gain approval of both European and American regulators, hence the delay before they could release titles by Parlophone artists.

Now that the ride through the major label roller coaster is over, Warner Bros Records will distribute new releases from artists like Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, and Eliza Doolittle, and catalog titles by Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Blur, Gorillaz, Radiohead, Kraftwerk, Supergrass and Sinead O'Connor. Atlantic Records (a subsidiary of WMG) will distribute new releases from Coldplay, Tinie Tempah and David Guetta (although through his own imprint called Big Beat).

This story just goes to show that once an artist is signed to a label, he or she has little control over their fate down the line. If artists like Coldplay and Pink Floyd don't have the control over their own destinies, than what hope does an artist of lessor stature have? That said, the above artists do appear to be landing in a good place, as WMG is noted for having some great digital chops, and that's where the business is going.

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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 and Facebook 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.

Beyonce Attempts To Bring Back The Album

We live in a new music world. While some will tell you it’s entirely different from the past, it’s really a throwback to the 50s and beginning of the 60s when singles dominated. As artists and bands of the 60s became more successful, more attention was placed on the album, which while more expensive to make, also carried a higher profit margin as well, which pushed the industry to financial heights not previously dreamed of. This sales paradigm carried on until 2003 when the introduction of iTunes made monetization of digital music a viable part of the industry, and since then, the single song sale has dominated while album sales have steadily decreased to the point where many question whether the album is even needed in music today.

But Beyonce seems to have temporarily turned that concept on its head with the stealth release of her fifth album, entitled simply Beyonce, last week. The album had no promo run up to its release, no single released for sale before or with the album, and had 17 videos dropped simultaneously, but you can only view them if you bought the digital album first. Clearly, Beyonce’s album is meant to stand on its own (at least for a short time until the singles are released), defying the logic of how the new music business is run.

Just to review, the current strategy is for singles to be released frequently (even as quickly as every month or six weeks), making each one a separate event that can be individually promoted. Having a single available allows current and potential fans to live with the song for a while, giving it a greater chance to catch on. After a number of singles are released, they can be compiled into an EP or album, which is now another new event to be promoted. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work in this new music paradigm we live in.

That construct doesn’t necessarily apply to a superstar like Beyonce though, who can and does defy the rules by virtue of her gigantic celebrity. Most other artists dropping an album without any advance promotion would find their sales suffering. In fact, may stars and superstars have an album sales problem even with a lot of promotion these days, but Beyonce immediately went to number 1 on iTunes, although it helps that the service has a one week exclusive before the physical product and the singles drop. This might be the smartest decision that Team Beyonce could have made, as it immediately put the album on the front page of every entertainment blog as the word of mouth spread. Read more on Forbes.

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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 and Facebook 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.

7 Steps To Developing Your 2014 Music Marketing Plan

We're just about at Christmas, and most of the serious music business for the year is over. That means it's a great time to start planning your 2014 marketing campaign so you can hit the ground running on January 2nd. Here are 7 things to consider.

1. Does your website need an update in its look and feel? Do you have a press page or a easy to find contact page? Do you have a page with info just for promoters and club owners? Does your site have an easy to find mailing list subscription section?

2. Do you have a music release schedule for next year? Do you know when you'll have new music available? Do you have a production schedule? Do you know when you're going on the road? Now's the time to plan.

3. Do you have a video release schedule? Do you know what videos you'll need to create in order to support your music? Do you have a schedule for production? Make sure you plan for lyric videos as well as produced music videos, as they get viewed almost as much.

4. Do you have a mailing list schedule? Do you know when you'll be sending out emails to support your music and video releases? Do you know what you'll be sending out when you don't have products to announce? Now's the time to work up those ideas and create an editorial calendar so you'll always have something useful to send in order to keep in touch with your fans or clients.

5. Do plan on supporting your releases or gigs with paid advertising on Facebook, Twitter, Google Adwords, or bookmarking sites? If not, it's time to look into it as you can get a big return from a relatively small investment.

6. Do you Tweet? If not, nows the time to learn how. If you do, do you have a list of hashtags that you normally use? If not, go to search.twitter.com and create one. Do you know the best times in the day for you to tweet in order to garner the highest engagement?

7. Have you monetized your videos? You do have a YouTube channel, right? If not, create one right now. If you have one, be sure to set it up to monetize your videos. Do you get over a million views a month? Now's the time to look into a Multichannel Network like Omnia or Full Screen for a larger cut of the revenue.

If you're confused by any of the above, you can find out everything you need to know about promoting yourself, your music or your band by reading Social Media Promotion For Musicians. It's a guide that shows you how to use your website, mailing list, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+ and bookmarking sites to your best advantage when it comes to making your music more visible, and growing your audience. It makes a great Christmas gift for yourself or an engineer or musician in your life.

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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 and Facebook 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 Top 10 Most Watched Music Videos Of 2013

Even though we still have 2 weeks to go in the year, it's still pretty easy to confidently put together the top 10 most watched music videos for 2013. Keep in mind that these are the official videos, and the unauthorized covers and lyric videos add to the total (sometimes substantially) but aren't counted.

Probably the most surprising thing about the list is Psy's "Gentleman" at number 1, since it's not a song that got much airplay. It just goes to show how great the hangover from a previous hit can sometimes be.

1. Psy "Gentleman" - 610 million views (check out the great marketing annotations)

2. Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball" - 396 million

3. Miley Cyrus "We Can't Stop" - 304 million

4. Katy Perry "Roar" -  253 million

5. Pink "Just Give Me A Reason" - 237 million

6. Robbin Thicke "Blurred Lines" - 231 million

7. Rhianna "Stay" - 219 million

8. Naughty Boy "La La La" - 202 million

9. Selena Gomez "Come And Get It" - 185 million

10. Avicii "Wake Me Up" - 182 million

It will be interesting to see how many of the names on the list change next year at this time when we check again.

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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 and Facebook 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.