In just two days Tappehallerne will be bulging with new media professionals attending New Media Days 08. The blog countdown will consist of inspirational lay-ups to the actual program.
On Wednesday you have the choice of spending the last 20 minutes of your lunch break in the ambient company of the young and talented Mike Sheridan, who will perform from his debut release “I Syv Sind.” Mike will stay on stage for the following panel session that has representatives from the Danish music business debating the role of record companies in a world of digital content.
What are the business models of future entertainment? What strategies should artists pursue to gain the attention of the downloading masses? These issues have been debated for years, but still there seems to be turmoil and only casual succes in the business. I’m looking forward to this panel doing a check-up on the digital music revolution.
The past couple of weeks I’ve stumbled upon some examples of recording artist strategies that I’d like to share with you.
Bløf
7 albums in 10 years. All of which have gone platinum. The statistics of famous, Dutch softrockers, Bløf, are quite impressive. Band member, Bas Kennis, entered the conference stage at PICNIC08 to share the bands experience of making albums more attractive with new media.
Each of Bløfs albums has had a little something special to encourage their listeners to buy: Live CD, SACD-format, music memory card etc. Effects were doubtful. Umoja, the bands 2006 release, was a huge project involving recordings with international artists, a live DVD getting a cinema release, a climate/charity foundation and even an Umoja restaurant in Amsterdam inspired by the philosophy of the music. Result: Sales were twice as good as average album sales.
For their new release, Oktober, Bløf went for an interactive experience. The band has made a virtual rendition of the old villa they used as a recording studio. Fans can enter and interact with the villa on the internet and with a choice of 7 camera angles watch the songs from the Bløf album being recorded.
Carpark North
Danish electro-rockers, Carpark North, seem to have a (record company) flair for promoting themselves on new media. They were the first Danish band to play a live gig in Second Life, they were the first band profiled on the newly launched Bandbase.dk and their clear-cut web presence on the major social networking sites has earned them praise as ‘Band 2.0’.
Both bands are quite succesful in their home countries – at least in terms of fanbase and presence – and I think they are both right in engaging with the fans in more elaborate ways: Bløf in an experiential way, Carpark North through social media focus.
However the strategy of Carpark North is showing most promise, IMO. Bløf seems to be bordering the mistake of offering “just more content” that most listeners won’t pay attention to anyway. Just because the store throws in a free carton of milk, doesn’t mean I’m going to drink twice as much. With their minimalistic web designs, Carpark North almost seems to be offering less content; focusing their own efforts and the attention of their fans.
Bløf’s comprehensive Umoja release on the other hand proves the strategic succes of solid presence across different media platforms. If your name is visible in as many places as possible that your fans visit, you become a common point of reference. You become a social object around which people want to interact.
Social media in itself will probably not save the music/entertainment business, but it’s part of a succesful recipe for sure. Luckily it’s still mostly about the quality of music.
Even if less is more, here’s more!:
Third Eye Blind vocalist: Albums unnecessary in digital age