Solveig Whittle: Shades of Solveig

Interviews, Music, Social Media, Thoughts

Walking The Dog Episode 19: Interview With Musicpreneur Aaron Bethune

August 1, 2014 No Comments

In today’s 35 minute episode I talk with my friend, music business consultant, newly published music marketing author, and just a lovely, genuine, and interesting human being, Aaron Bethune (@PlayItLoudMusic).

Aaron and I talk mostly about his new book, Musicpreneur: The Creative Approach To Making Money In Music (you can get a few chapters for free by signing up on the book website).

Eric Alper, Director of Media Relations for eOne Music Canada, has said, “This book might just be all you’ll ever need to read.”

Aaron and I discuss what makes his book different from most of the other music marketing books I’ve read, including:

Why Aaron started the book with a personal story about the time he came within 200 meters of one of the world’s seven summits, Cerro Aconcagua, and what that has to do with a career in music
Fan profiling, storytelling, being authentic and how to connect with fans
The reason 99% of musicians don’t manage to make a living in the music business, and how to be one of the 1% who do
The biggest obstacle to success for most indie musicians
Real life examples of how Aaron approached marketing two very different musicians whose music is in the same genre or format
How to identify possible sponsorship opportunities

[Tweet “Who cares if you have a million followers if you’re not reaching your fans”]

I think you will enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Let me know in the comments!

Marketing, Music, Social Media, Thoughts

Walking The Dog Episode 18: #Songwriting, @Slideshare And What Makes You Unique

July 25, 2014 No Comments

In this week’s 12 1/2 minute episode, I talk about a local resource, Songwriters In Seattle, a group that organizes open mics and songwriting workshops for musicians via Meetup, an often overlooked social media resource. I also discuss a Slideshare presentation by Stan Smith (link below) with helpful tips for musicians trying to get their music and their message out in an online world crowded with competitors.

[If you listen all the way to the end, you’ll also hear my simple trick for figuring out what makes you unique. This is a critical element in defining your story and marketing your music.]

[Tweet “Co-writing can help you develop as a songwriter”]

Tomorrow I’ll be attending a Songwriters In Seattle songwriting group. Workshops and songwriting circles are a great way to

hone your songwriting skills
network with other musicians, and
find co-writers.

Co-writing music is a hot subject these days, and very common in music-centric cities like Nashville and LA. This article, Tips For Finding & Creating Successful Co-writes, from the Nashville Songwriters Association website has some good tips about songwriting. I also follow Brent Baxter (@razorbaxter), who has a lot of good songwriting tips and ideas on his blog, Man vs. Row.

[Tweet “Business people know that persistence is the key to success”]

Finding your unique story is an important part of your music marketing. The online marketing presentation I reference in this week’s podcast is called 25 Ways To Get Noticed by Stan Smith of Pushing Social. Stan poses some great questions to think about when you are crafting your personal brand as a musician, such as what makes you unique? and what challenges have you overcome?

The three key parts of Stan’s presentation are:

Defining what makes your story unique
Delivering your message in a unique way (content and process)
Being consistently persistent in getting your message out

Listen to the end, and you’ll hear my simple advice for defining what makes your story and your music unique.

[Tweet “Do you know what makes your story unique?”]

Please feel free to leave your feedback on this podcast below, or suggest other resources my readers may find helpful.

Conferences, Marketing, Music, Thoughts

Walking The Dog Episode 17: #WDS2014 and Lauren Kinney’s Art

July 18, 2014 No Comments

In this 17 minute episode, I discuss Lauren Kinney and finding a higher theme in your music marketing, licensing a cover song for your CD when it isn’t part of the Harry Fox Songfile library, and the World Domination Summit 2014.

I am fascinated by the idea of finding a theme for your music marketing that transcends the music itself and brings meaning to your life as a whole. This could be a non-profit cause you feel strongly about, a social, political or environmental issue, or a lifestyle choice such as diet or healthy living. Finding ways to connect your music to something else you feel passionately about is a great way to attract people to your music.

LA singer-songwriter Lauren Kinney had a lovely article written about her in the New York Observer called Merging Art: Songstress Finds Her Literary Voice which talks about her new YouTube video series (correction to my calling it an album in the podcast), “Songs About Books.”

Literature is a passion of Lauren’s, and her new project made for a great unsolicited press piece (the writer found her via Instagram and tracked her down for the interview! How cool is that?) Perhaps one reason this worked is that it might not have been an intentional marketing technique on Lauren’s part – but still, worth thinking about what your larger message is as a musician, your theme as a human being.

I also talk about my experience licensing a cover song from Jimi Hendrix’ estate so I can release it on my upcoming CD, Fire and Other Playthings (due out next month). In order to release a cover song on your CD, you must get a mechanical license from the publisher of the song. Many songs are easily and quickly licensed online via the Songfile tool on the Harry Fox Agency website. The Jimi Hendrix song I want to release on my CD, however, is not available through Harry Fox, I need to get a license directly from the Hendrix estate. The only problem is that their mechanical license application clearly states that it covers only physical CDs, not digital distribution such as download (!) or streaming. So I have to ask them if they will grant those additional licenses, or decide whether to keep the song on the CD or not. [Post-podcast script – I am trying out Limelight to see if they can get me streaming and digital licenses as well as the physical CD licenses.]

On to my review of the World Domination Summit 2014 (#WDS2014), an “un-conference” I attended in Portland, OR, last weekend with the themes: Community, Adventure and Service.

[Tweet “If you have ten or more parked domain names, you are a dreamer – @jadahsellner”]

My #WDS2014 Conference Review Summary

Pros

Love Portland – what a great city
Very well run conference – from registration to the yogurt parfait snacks, an incredible media team
Participatory vibe – not your typical conference
Speakers were great – social entrepreneurs, marketing folks, creativity experts
A good place to “find a tribe” of people like you – if you are interested in social entrepreneurship, writing your first book, or starting a business
The WDS Foundation gives money to some of the participants to help kickstart their dream projects

[Tweet “Any business that compromises your health or relationships is not sustainable – @jadahsellner”]

Cons

The unbounded optimism got to me a little, although Scott Berkun’s (@berkun) talk toward the end tried to focus on the practicalities of entrepreneurship
A lot of cheerleading, not so much on implementation tools – dreams are important, but integrating the dreamer and doer parts of our personalities can often be a challenge for us artists
I’m not sure I will go back next year, but it was worthwhile to go once

A full list of speakers is on the WDS website, but some of my favorite speakers of the weekend were A J Jacobs (@ajjacobs, The Year of Living Biblically), Jadah Sellner (@jadahsellner, 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge website), Dee Williams (tiny house movement), Scott Berkun (@berkun, The Year Without Pants), and Shannon Galpin (@sgalpin), a last-minute stand-in speaker not listed on the webiste who had a moving and thought-provoking talk about the power of raising women’s voices around gender issues.

For a fantastic in-depth series of blog posts on some of the WDS speakers, check out Cyriel Kortleven’s website.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Music, Social Media, Thoughts

Walking The Dog Episode 16: Taylor Swift and World Domination

July 11, 2014 No Comments

In today’s 13 minute podcast, I mention that I will be traveling to Portland, OR this weekend to attend the World Domination Summit 2014, an “unconference” for creative types and internet geeks that was started by Chris Guillebeau, author of a book called The Art of Nonconformity.

The main subject of today’s podcast, however, is women in music. Now, I have written a blog post about the challenges of being a female musician, touring, and having children, but the issue that I wanted to address in this podcast is the intense focus on sex and titillation versus the focus on brains and musical talent that seems to follow female musicians in the press more than male musicians.

[Tweet “Kudos to Taylor Swift for having an opinion on the music industry”]

For those of you who don’t follow the music press much, Taylor Swift wrote an editorial piece this week in the Wall Street Journal about the future of the music business, and was promptly slapped in the industry press about her naivete. I also read a pretty scathing response from industry insider Loren Weisman on his Facebook page (see below).

Now, I am not here to critique the content of Swift’s piece, but rather the manner in which her opinion piece has been trashed. I think it is part of the undue focus the press has on female artists and their relationships, what they wear, and scandal around them instead of on their music and what they have to say.

[Tweet “Artists will get record deals because they have fans—not the other way around.”]

Kudos to Taylor Swift and her team (because let’s all acknowledge that she didn’t get where she is by herself) for having something intelligent to say – whether you agree with her assessment of the industry or not. And kudos to all the other female musicians like Amanda Palmer and Sinead O’Connor and Zoe Keating for trying to articulate points about issues that go beyond how much they are wearing or who they are dataing.

What do you think?

The headlines I referred to in the podcast are:

Music, Thoughts

Walking The Dog Episode 15: Timing and Creativity

July 4, 2014 No Comments

In this 30 minute episode I talk about the idea of timing as it relates to the release of music, like a CD or single, and also about the creative journey.

I had a great conversation with Sean Harley “Tucker” this week about creativity and being a musician. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on creator/makers in the industry today, check out his podcast, The Spark and The Art.

[Tweet “Success lies at the intersection of our passions, our talents, and what others are willing to pay us for”]

While some of us discover early in life what our creative calling might be, I think most of us struggle to find that intersection between what we love to do (our passion), what we are good at doing, and what others want to compensate, or pay us, to do. I know I’m still working on it.

Life is definitely better when you enjoy what you are doing every day!

Have a great 4th of July weekend (even if you’re not in the US).

Marketing, Music, Social Media

It’s Your Reputation, Don’t Screw It Up

July 2, 2014 3 Comments

I received an email this week from a fellow musician and music marketer that caused me to unsubscribe from his list. I was so incensed that I didn’t just unsubscribe, I wrote him to tell him why.

The email was a solicitation for me to buy a spot at a conference called the Ultimate Millionaire Summit organized by a woman named Loral Langmeier. I’m not going to link to either his or her website from here, for obvious reasons – I don’t want to give any extra SEO to someone I feel is using dubious marketing techniques. You can Google Loral yourself.

Be Careful Who You Sell Or Give Your Email List To

This musician clearly sells or gives his email list to third parties – in this case, Loral Langmeier. He says in his email that he is performing at this “Millionaire Summit”, and told me all the reasons why I should Act Now! to join Loral (for just $297!) in Florida to “rub elbows” with millionaires and learn their secrets for accumulating my own millions! Yuck.

[Tweet “Who do you give or sell your email list to?”]

The email sounded so scammy that I did some background research on Loral and found that she has been sued for misrepresenting her product and refusing to give refunds to customers who complain. Yet she has also been linked to Dr. Phil and has a great PR team who continues to get her coverage on local television so she can promote her “seminars”. Apparently these TV station interns don’t do much fact checking before inviting Loral on their morning TV shows.

Marketing, Music

Walking The Dog Episode 14: ISRC Codes and SoundExchange

June 27, 2014 2 Comments

This 11 minute episode focuses on the ISRC (International Standard Recording Code): what it is, what does it look like, how do you get one, and why it is important.

Also often called the ISRC code (even thought that is a bit redundant), it is “an international standard code for uniquely identifying sound recordings and music video recordings” (Wikipedia). The ISRC was developed by the recording industry in conjunction with ISO (International Standards Organization) in 1986, and updated in 2001.

But before we talk about ISRC codes, let me first say I am disappointed that SoundCloud removed the direct record/upload feature from its iPhone app this past week. This means it requires more steps for me to produce this podcast (ie. use Garageband or ProTools). It will also make it harder for me to produce Walking The Dog remotely, as I managed to do for the past two weeks while I was out of town, using just my iPhone and iPad. You can read about SoundCloud’s mobile app update on Hypebot.

On to ISRC codes. Deep breath, people.

Each of your songs, if you are a recording artist, should have a unique ISRC code associated with it. That code is embedded in the digital sound file, and included on the CD (not vinyl or cassette tapes). The ISRC code is also registered or kept in various databases by the artist or publisher. The ISRC code is important because it is used to track the physical CD sales, terrestrial radio plays, or digital streaming plays of the song online – for example via Pandora. It’s also used for tracking music charts, as well as combating music piracy.

[Tweet “It’s important the track has an ISRC code so royalties can be paid out to you”]

The non-profit SoundExchange organization has been tasked by the US congress to figure out what royalties you are owed US songwriter from your non-interactive digital internet radio plays – ie. Pandora, IHeartRadio, or other streaming radio stations. They collect those and then send you a check.

To clarify what I said on the podcast, SoundExchange does NOT handle royalties from Spotify, terrestrial radio, live performances, YouTube, covers of your songs, licensing for TV or films. Just streaming radio performances.

As both interactive (Spotify-type) and non-interactive (Pandora-type) streaming music services become an increasingly important way that people consume music, the ISRC code will only become more important for musicians in terms of tracking royalties and charts.

Fierce battles are being waged within the music industry over copyright and royalty rates, particularly as things heats up with YouTube/Google’s much-anticipated streaming music service and the indie labels. The ISRC is an important reporting mechanism and transparency tool. If you are really interested, read SoundExchange’s legal counsel’s filing with the US Copyright agency, which actually has a lot of good information about ISRC codes and a very coherent argument about why they are an important standard.

I welcome your comments, corrections, and feedback.

Some more helpful guides to ISRC codes:

Interviews, Marketing, Music, Social Media

Seattle Musician Molly Lewis On Going Viral, Social Media and Patreon

June 25, 2014 No Comments

[Photo by Atom Moore]

A few facts to introduce this interview:

Molly Lewis’ (@molly23) ukulele cover of Britney Spears’ Toxic, which she first played at her high school talent show, went viral on YouTube in 2007. Now Molly writes witty, original ukelele songs and opens for Jonathan Coulton.
Molly Lewis is a YouTube star, but she doesn’t much like YouTube anymore, at least not as a way to earn a living (via advertising). But she likes Patreon a lot.
Patreon, an online arts patronage platform founded by Jack Conte, announced a $15 Series A round of funding this week. They now have over 25,000 creators signed up, 180 more signing up every day, and have grown their revenue 10x in 5 months. On Monday, they held a webcast for their creators and patrons, with hundreds participating and asking questions about new features and product direction.
Molly Lewis makes $2535 (as of this writing) from her 402 patrons on Patreon every time she releases a new original song.

Intrigued? So was I. So I interviewed Molly via email.

Interviews, Marketing, Music, Social Media

Walking The Dog Episode 13: Interview With Tommy Darker

June 20, 2014 2 Comments

In this 15 minute episode I interview Tommy Darker from the (somewhat noisy) Argyll Arms pub in SOHO, London, about his new book, The Indecisive Musicpreneur, and his many other ventures as an event organizer, blogger, public speaker, consultant, musician, and music industry thinker.[Tweet “Be relentless about your art.”]

Tommy talks about how he started documenting his own journey to a place where he is now supporting himself as a full time musician. Although he has no formula that works for everyone, Tommy sets out in the interview the six key things he learned along the way. This includes developing a business model, and Tommy references the website Business Model Generation for helping musicians discover how to create revenue-generating business model for themselves.

[Tweet “Language is a poor alternative to vision.”]

We also talk about the challenge of switching between thinking as an artist and thinking as a business person. Tommy and I both espouse the idea of musicians as entrepreneurs (“musicpreneurs”), and we are also both fans of the Lean Startup Model, also known as Agile Development, which I wrote about in my post “Agile Marketing For DIY Musicians.”

[Tweet “Business is about solving problems, art is about creating questions.”]

If you enjoy his writings and want to support them on an ongoing basis, Tommy has a new Patreon campaign called The Tommy Darker Book Club, and you can also listen to his band, Sidesteps at SideStepsOfficial.com

Music, Thoughts

Walking The Dog Episode 12: Future Revenue Models For Indie Musicans

June 13, 2014 No Comments

In this week’s 7 1/2 minute episode, I am podcasting from lovely London, and the subject is streaming music and the future of indie music revenue streams. (The picture is of some Hare Krishnas we encountered on our walk back to the place we are staying at.)

An article this week in Digital Music News entitled Why Apple’s Acquisition of Beats Is Bad for Indie Labels, Artists, and the Industry… argues that the acquisition of Beats Music by Apple is a bad thing for indie artists and labels. The basic argument is that as download revenue declines, streaming revenue will not increase enough to compensate (essentially due to the unbundling of the single from albums), and that labels will continue to keep a large amount of the revenue from streaming from artists anyway, and so this is not a good model for indie musicians.

I disagree. I think the future viable revenue model for an indie musician will look more like that of indie artist Zoe Keating, who revealed where her revenue comes from earlier this year. Zoe makes much more money from selling her music directly from her website ($68k) than from streaming her music ($6k) – but she is OK with that.

In a March article on Hypebot, she is quoted putting her revenue streams into perspective, saying, “…Aren’t I just an example of “The Long Tail” at work?… For a single artist like me commercial streaming will never be more than promo. I accept that. But I will keep talking about it until streaming companies do more to make that promo more useful (i.e data).”

I believe that the Zoe Keating model is the model of the future for indie artists – one where record labels don’t stand between the services that deliver the music to fans and the artist – and more importantly, where they don’t stand between the payments made by those fans and the artist who created the music.

Please leave your comments below, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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