3:19 p.m. PT: Whenever I feel like blogging (like today), I have a ton of other stuff to do (like today). When I have free time to blog, I don’t feel like blogging. For instance, I feel like blogging some more, but I have to finish a book review (due tomorrow), do some heavy lifting on my book proposal, and I just finished a telephone interview with Essence magazine. I don’t think I can mention what the story’s about yet, and I’m not certain my quotes will make the cut. I’ll let you know!
Anyway, let’s talk about bands and fans.
I like this guy, Bob Lefsetz. He’s somewhat famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) in the music industry commentary/music blogosphere. Lefsetz is a lawyer, I think, who used to be in the music industry. He turned his one-time subscription-based, hard-copy newsletter into an electronic one, which is also published as blog entries. Or something like that.
Back in the day, bands played hard and hoped for a major label to come a-knockin’, with big checks and powerful publicity machines in hand. Radio and print media (and later, MTV) were the pathways to stardom. These days, the digital age has diffused radio and print media’s influence but has driven down the costs of recording and distributing.
What bands should strive for now — in my non-musician, non-music industry insider, layman’s lightly researched opinion — is to make a good living writing, playing, recording, touring, and selling merchandise. I know for a fact bands that receive no radio airplay, no major media coverage (print or otherwise), and no hype whatsoever can and do sell out venues and turn good profits touring and selling stuff.
The golden key to all of this is the fans. Not an indistinguishable mass of faces at concerts, but real people who pay fan club membership fees for exclusive access, buy everything you have to sell, and follow you all around the country while you’re touring. They join street teams and promote and publicize you, and they sing your praises to anyone who’ll listen. It’s about empowering the fans.
But you must be proactive. Lefsetz says:
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“A Website is no longer just a repository of information, it’s the front door to your fan club. You may be a musician, but second to that, you’re running a club. You have to spread the word on your music, you have to create demand for your tour. This is especially true for so called ‘heritage’ artists.
“Elton John laments that he can’t sell a record, that no one’s interested in his new music. That’s not true. He’s just going about marketing his music in the old way…Elton needs to find a track, and give it away for free on his site, for an e-mail address. Sure, said track can ultimately be acquired for free via P2P, but the track isn’t the only thing the fan gets…He gets $5 off a concert ticket. Discount merchandise. Hell, you’re selling direct, the profit margin is huge already! You’ve got your own store, developing your own fan base.
…
“I’m not saying you have to give up the old ways completely. There’s nothing wrong with radio play or record reviews…they just have less impact than ever before…people don’t even write songs about the radio anymore.
“How can you get your fans to feel a connection with you? How can you create a bond? How can you create a base that will always deliver? This is the Marillion model. Getting the fans to pay for the record. Other acts, squeezed out of the system, are attempting the same thing. But, the next wave will be giant artists. The ones who fill arenas and sheds playing their old hits. These acts have to hunker down. They may still think they’re stars, but really, stars today are Heidi and Spencer, and they’re working it!
“Maybe the musician can’t do it himself. Maybe he needs a team. But do not focus on radio and print to help you along. The public, your fans, don’t have time to wade through the clutter. They’ve got to hear from you directly. They’ve got to have a direct investment in your future. They’ve got to feel like they’re INVOLVED!”
***
I like it.
Update: Indie music band helper/promoter dude Bob Baker is making an offer:
“Will you be in the Los Angeles, CA, area on Sunday, June 1?…I’m looking for 15 to 20 people who want to work directly with me to kick their music publicity into high gear. If you attend this intimate workshop — the first I’ve ever done exactly like this — I will help you craft a customized plan to reach more editors, music journalists, bloggers and podcasters.”
I’ll be back in DC on June 1, and I’m not an indie musician (although I played clarinet in junior and senior high), so I guess I can’t go. 
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