Bkstg Connects Artists Directly With Fans

There are many direct-to-fan platforms available for artists these days, but that doesn't prevent new ones from launching. Bkstg is a new app that lets artists own the entire experience of connecting with fans in one place. This includes posting videos and photos to selling tickets to selling merch.

In many cases, 5 to 10% of an artist's fan base drives 80% of the revenue, but the artist usually has no direct way to identify and directly connect with those fans, especially when using most social platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

The Bkstg platform allows an artist to see exactly who's buying tickets, engaging with content. and consuming exclusive content so they can be further targeted.

The platform also utilizes geo-fencing so that an artist on tour can send out a message about ticket or merch specials just to those fans attending the show.

Bkstg is starting with some heavyweight artists like Aerosmith, Justin Bieber, Usher and Maroon 5, and the app is free to use for both artists and users.

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Louis CK's Excellent Business Adventure

The comedian Louis CK is the latest artist to discover that not only can he survive, but prosper without the help of a big company. Recently Louie used his own money to shoot his show at the Beacon Theater in New York, then payed for the post-production and the web infrastructure to offer the video for sale.

The production of the video cost him $170k and the website around $32k, but he decided to offer the video for only $5 to his fans as an experiment, since most of his previous DVD releases where about 3 times that amount.. Within 12 hours he had 50,000 purchases and broke even, and after 4 days he made another $250k in pure profit with total sales of over 500,000. He claims he could have initially made more if he sold it to HBO, but if the video keeps on selling as it is, maybe not.

This goes to show that if you have an audience, you don't need a record label/broadcast entity/big company to turn a profit, and even better, retain control over your product. The problem is that you need to have that audience first in order to pull something like this off. How do you get the audience? Most of the time it's from exposure from that big company that we all hate so much.

This is the conundrum of the Music 3.0 artist. You've got to build your market, and the only way to do that is with the same old fashioned work that artists all over the world have done. You gig. Louis CK is just like any musical artist in that he played the small comedy clubs everywhere, but he did it for 25 years before he built his audience and chops to the point where a major entertainment entity took notice. Then when he got his chance, he delivered (even though his HBO show was cancelled after a short run), but in the process was able to build his audience to the critical mass required to break out on his own. Plus, he was willing to take the chance, which not many artists are.

One of the advantages to living in Music 3.0 is that it's easy to respond to your fan base when a situation like Louie's arises. That's why social media, your website and your mailing list is all so important. With all those in place, you can have the online success of Louie, Radiohead and Trent Reznor. If you hang in there, grow your chops and your audience, and stay in touch with them, you'll be able to capitalize at some some point.

Do you have that kind of perseverance? If you do, build that mailing list and social media contacts now. If not, maybe it's time to think hard about that day job.

Read all about Louie's grand experiment on his website statement.

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Top 13 Things Discovered In The New Digital World

If you've never read Paul Resnikoff's Digital Music News, then it's something worth checking out. Paul's a great writer and reporter with some pretty good industry sources, so he always has the latest details on the digital music world's breaking news. He's insightful too, and often offers an extremely cogent insight on the the digital music world's troubling trends as he sees them. Here's a post from the other day that I thought was particularly on the mark.
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The Top 13 Things We've Discovered In the Digital New World...

Here are the top lessons the music industry has 'discovered' in the early days of this 'digital new world'.  

(1) It's really, really hard to sell music to fans online. Whether the iTunes Store or Rdio, getting fans to allocate even modest amounts of their income to music is an extremely difficult challenge. Competing with free has proven a hard game indeed.

(2) But it's not as hard to engage fans, as long as they're not paying. In fact, they love music more than ever! Welcome to the Digital New World riddle.

(3) DRM is an awful idea, at least for downloads. Other platforms like YouTube, subscription services, and streaming radio are still fair game.

(4) Sound quality doesn't matter. At least to most fans. That would explain why few have complaints with MP3s, though Jimmy Iovine and T. Bone Burnett have serious problems with the fidelity freefall.

(5) An official release date means very little. Almost everything is leaked in advance, and even half-baked copies find their way online long before a scheduled drop. 

(6) Licensing content is a great way to squander an investment. VCs are largely out of this game, though others are still slogging through horrific licensing processes and nosebleed costs (ie, Spotify).  Or, running the red light and dealing with the consequences (ie, Grooveshark).

(7) Email addresses are more important than Facebook, Twitter and MySpace connections. Or, at least that's what pros like Ian Rogers (of Topspin) are saying. Sounds a bit counterintuitive, but according to what rulebook?

(8) If you're hot right now, just wait 5 minutes. Attention spans are shorter than ever, and fan relationships with bands can be fickle and short-lived. 

(9) Direct-to-fan distribution is a seriously double-edged sword. Sure, you can create powerful direct-to-fan relationships, but so can millions of other bands. Welcome to the horrific content glut that results from digital democracy.

(10) There's an app for that. Good luck selling ringtones or OTA downloads on a mobile device. But those that understand app culture have done well, including Tapulous, Smule, and T-Pain. 

(11) 360-degree deals can really kill your musical mojo. We're just starting to see some of the problems associated with these label land grabs. Smart artists like Arcade Fire and Metric are rolling their own multi-national deals, though sometimes the 360-degree paycheck is worth the handcuffs.

(12) Digital disruption is not just for record labels. Nearly every other sector - including publishing and touring - are also trudging through tough transitions.

(13) The music is still the most important thing. Artists over-dialed into their Twitter followings and play counts are often missing the most important part of the equation.

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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.