"Choruss Keynote at Digital Music Forum East"
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Choruss is definitely a great idea. Making those who download music pay fees for the music would obviously be a great leap forward for musicians of all levels of fame in addition to the music industry as a whole. The fees collected from the ideas presented by Choruss could rekindle the music industry, put money in the pockets of artists and labels who are desperately needing it, and also help independent bands break. As Jim Griffin, Choruss’ founder pointed out “According to their industry associations – and indie music has proven especially
supportive of Choruss – independent artists fare better on digital networks, and Choruss is committed to fairness.” If his experiment proves to be successful I do see some issues with the Choruss implementation on campuses. While all of Griffin’s ideas are sound he has clearly forgotten some facts about college students that are very pertinent in regards to today’s music downloading community. Even if students are required to have the Choruss software on their computers it does not mean that they will use, even if the software has to be purchased by them. College students, who likely have monthly allowances given to them by their parents, in addition to the possibility that they probably are unemployed or do not make much money at their day job, are very unlikely to be willing to pay for P2P downloads: especially if they are charged by the file size or by the song. Students at universities are well aware of the software available to them on the Internet that can get them all the music in the world for free, asking them to pay for it will not go over well when they have other things they could spend their money on. I see the only way for something like Choruss to be successful on the college campus level is to have some sort of access restrictions to using the Internet on campus. Something like If the server on campus detects illegal file sharing software on an individual’s computer then they cannot use the internet on campus until it is deleted would be an effective measure to ensure the Choruss software is used by students, even if it is only while they are at school. I really like the ideas presented by Jim Griffin, I hope Choruss gets launched soon."Keeping Every Fan Happy Through Communication"
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Hey Greg, this post really hit home for me. I am one of those musicians that you are talking about who has to juggle time between school, a day job, recording sessions, and gigs for multiple bands. Your assessment that fans must be kept happy since in this day and age “there is no excuse, no communication gaps or barriers stopping you from developing relationships
with every fan that wants one” could not be more accurate. There is no doubt that only the most successful bands open lines of communication with their fans. Interaction is a key factor in getting crowds to shows as well as enticing people to listen to your music constantly. As you said, “If you can listen to your fans, you are well on your way to keeping them happy.” If people do not feel like they know about a bands members and their personalities they can only care about buying your music and showing up to gigs so much. Personally, it has not been my responsibility to promote the bands that I play for (I am a sideman), but from my experience responding to fans MySpace messages or e-mails is the absolute least you can do. The Canned Response feature from G-Mail is something I am going to tell my current gigs and all my future ones about. The fact that fans feel attended to after they send you without you, the time crunched indie-musician, having to spend the time to write them a personal message is awesome. Also, your point about directing your fans to interact with you in specific ways like meeting from 7-9 on Twitter is an excellent way to grab attention. Then combining your automated response from Canned Responses or messages you have saved to guide fans to interact with you tells the fans that as an artist you care about them. This way even though they may know that the response is automated, at least fans are informed of ways they can get in touch with you in a more intimate environment. This is a great post to help bands begin to learn the art of promotion and keep fans interested in the music you are creating.
Hey Josh - thanks for highlighting the article I wrote over on Buzzsonic. I love that you are going out of your way to actually take action on some exciting things that can help your career and those around you. If you ever need anything, please let me know. Also for a ton of other tools and tips, we offer some great free resources for musicians here: http://www.genyrockstars.com/rock-star-resources
ReplyDeleteHave a great week
As a fan of music, and an even greater fan of the law, I want to thank you for taking the time to bring these two interesting topics to light. As we become even more entrenched in the digital age, it seems that it is getting harder to maintain the status quo of business and communication. I am glad that you included a link to your MySpace page as away to connect yourself as the author to the reader much in the same way you say bands should do with their fans. You continue this throughout both responses, emphasizing the personal connection between you and the topic as well as the author of the blog posts. I appreciated your ability to bring another unique voice to the table as a college student when you write “he has clearly forgotten some facts about college students that are very pertinent.” This is a great example of how you are able to expand on what the other author states, creating a stronger and wider reaching argument. In your response to the second blog post you take a slightly different tact, which I think works equally well. You demonstrate the real world viability of the proposed communication solutions, and take care to emphasize that you were able to expand your knowledge base with the help of the author and reinforce the value of utilizing these techniques. Your choice of graphics was also excellent, especially the second image which wonderfully reflected the mystique or aura surrounding bands that their fan bases love.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think this was a very strong post, I would also like to offer you some constructive criticism to help you in future musings. In your first blog response you mention the possibility of “access restrictions to using the Internet on campus.” I am not sure if you are aware, but many campuses have already taken steps to block peer-to-peer connections on their networks with mixed results. Some schools also promote peer-to-peer connections to help students share “ideas and knowledge,” so it would be even more difficult or impossible to stop illegal file sharing in those instances. While I feel like you are on the right track with this response, I think you have raised a number of other issues that are topically relevant and would have provided you with a larger fact base to use in your argument. In your second response I feel like you agree with the author’s point of view, but do not really seek to expand on their ideas. Perhaps it would have been wise to research more ways that bands connect with their fans, or bring in some quotes or examples from other groups (other than your own experience). Overall I think you did a great job looking at both the benefits and the failures of the internet in helping bands and the music industry accomplish their goals.