Best Summer Ever (From Creative Loafing)
Soulfound performs “Occupation” on CL Sessions
This is the final Soulfound performance ever recorded.
President Obama Reviews Ascending to Avalon
The Redlight Stare’s “Hitmachine” Featured in Promo Video
Promo video for local seamstress featuring The Redlight Stare’s “Hitmachine”
My SXSW Trip Videos
Hi all. I was fortunate enough to be able to hang out at this year’s South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. I documented some parts of my trip and have put together a little video playlist for you to check out some cool new bands and meet some cool people.
No Lip Vol 2 Promo Video from Mohawk Bomb Records
No Lip Vol 2 Promo Video from Mohawk Bomb Records
Trent Reznor’s Magic Million Dollar Music Business Formula
Finding a new and profitable business model has eluded major record labels since the decline of recorded music sales began as MP3s took hold. In his presentation at MidemNet — one of the most elite music business event in the World — Techdirt’s Mike Masnick profiled Trent Reznor’s recent successes selling his music without the help of a major record label and condensed it into a simple formula. Masnick ventures to say that Reznor made over $1.6 million from his latest release alone. That notion definitely got my attention.
Although Masnick quickly mentions that this model can work for both big and small bands, there is a big advantage that former major label bands have over indies and unsigned bands: long-time fans and starting capital. Trent and NIN have been famous for almost 20 years (Pretty Hate Machine came out in 1989) and have built a huge and solide worldwide following. The model explains Trent’s process and highlight that the key to his success was a $300 limited edition signed box set of the new album. For an independent band, it’s tough enough to sell a $10 CD at a gig that is sold to you by the band itself. I bet you people would pay $1,000 to buy a CD from Trent at a show.
Despite the “established artist” lean of the potential of this new model, Trent does connect more than not and he has found a way to keep his business rolling. I am sure fans of all bands would rather transact this way. It also worked for Radiohead. Kudos to Trent for making it work and even bigger kudos to his fans for responding.
The formula is:
Connect With Fans (CwF) + Reason To Buy (RtB)
= The Business Model ($$$$)