Author: Kelli Richards

Digital Music East, Justin Timberlake, MySpace TV, and Where it’s All Headed

Kelli Richards January 22, 2012

Human beings love music. It’s universally appreciated across all cultures and economic stations, all political and philosophical groups, and all ages. In fact, it threads itself, an incredibly strong communication tool, through generations. The impact of music is something that has never changed – it is as constant and timeless as humanity itself. It is as broad as the bridge from the Beatles to Irving Berlin and from Timberlake to Tchaikovsky.

But that’s about the ONLY thing in the music industry that is constant, everything else has been thrown up in chaos, redefining itself almost daily – often faster than even the most tech-savvy consumer can access – and certainly faster than artists and labels can learn. It’s not just the distribution and technology either; it’s the ever-shifting rights and monetization. Throw in the shape-shifting virtual and social spaces, and we’re looking at a virtual whirlwind of talent, tech and timing.

This is a time when mentors and leaders become uber vital to an artist’s process, and events like Digital Music Forum East (and West) become a beacon that attracts both the futurists and the icons of the industry. This year’s Digital Music East happens in only a few weeks in New York and focuses on the five most vital parts of the industry today: Music-Tech, Rights, Distribution, Monetization and The Future.

Each series includes a number of 15-minute presentations by the top leaders and innovators in the music industry and panel discussions on hot topics, including:

Music and the Social Web
Music, Money & Innovation
New Technologies & the Artist
Rights & Licensing: If I Wanted to Reform Music Copyright Law, I Would…
What’s Next In Digital Distribution Models?
Monetizing the Music Experience: It’s Not Just About Selling Music Anymore
Predictions & Provocations about the Future of Technology & the Music

I will personally be speaking on “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud,” and basic info and tips on social media for indies and legends, the subject of my recent Amazon #1 bestseller on 2/23 at 11am. I was amazed to see how many artists did not know the variety of social spaces available to them, like podcast creators and streaming radio opps, such as BlogTalkRadio, and writing my eBook was a chance to provide a starting point for those new to the social space and Direct-to-Fan distribution.

Because in all fairness, even for the seasoned veteran in social media, this is a space that can raise even the portals to the highest of highs and then dump them when the next great triple E ride comes along, like the death of MySpace and the rise of Facebook. And don’t think it can’t happen again. Or UNhappen. MySpace’s new benefactor, Justin Timberlake himself, is poised and ready to become the darling of real-time web TV – according to him at least. “The future of MySpace is about what you’re going to do. About who you’re going to become,” he said in a brief presentation. “MySpace TV is the first foray into that future.”

MySpace TV will still encompass the site’s library of 42 million songs and 100,000 music videos, and it will enable instant communication and huge search-ability around them between friends.

Who knows where MySpace TV will go from there? “As the plot of your favorite drama unfolds the joke of your favorite SNL character plays or even the last-second shot of your favorite team swishes the net, we’re giving you the opportunity to connect your friends to your moments as they’re actually occurring. This is the evolution of one of our greatest inventions, the television,” said Timberlake. For the millions of artists who had invested their time and music and audiences on MySpace, I hope he’s right.

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

Thousand-Mile View of Life

Kelli Richards January 15, 2012

One of my highlights for 2011 was a thousand-mile-high ride on a Zeppelin. Yes, one of those huge dirigibles that float over concerts and sporting events. Riding in a Zeppelin is a rare opportunity – in fact, there are only two airships in circulation for passengers – one in Germany and one in Silicon Valley. Rumor has it that the reason there was a free seat for me was because Mark Zuckerberg’s sister backed out at the last moment. I literally had only moments to make the decision and clear my calendar (no easy feat).

You can walk around the cabin of an airship, open the windows and actually stick your head outside! A true perspective changer for all of us, believe me. The thousand mile view of the world below can truly open up your vision, and as we passed over Stanford University, I began to think about Steve’s commencement speech and his advice, to stay hungry and stay foolish. A lifetime ago, I was part of the Apple MBA program. Only a handful of Apple employees were privileged to be part of that experience – a fully-accredited MBA program paid for by Apple, run on the Apple campus and offered during work hours. Apple’s commitment to inspiring the best thinking in their leaders was remarkable.

I am never far from Apple, even though my work there – which helped launch Apple’s entry into music – was two decades ago. In addition to my MBA, like all Apple Alums, I’ve experienced some of the best collaborations in my life on that campus. Something powerful entrepreneurs and executives try to bring to the table every day – but often fall short. It’s what makes Apple Alums continue to seek one another out. We’ve lived the results of stellar commitment, amazing collaboration and such out-of-the-box thinking that we literally changed the world. That is enough to shift anyone’s perspective, even long after moving on to new adventures and successes. And like the airship, it created a lifelong, thousand-mile perspective.

On December 8th I hosted a breakfast attended exclusively by a small, core group of Apple Alumni. This was an amazing experience, and leads me to the planning stages of my latest coaching program, focused on Apple Alums and what we want to create next in the world and in our lives.

As we are all painfully aware, there’s no other (active) forum like this out there, which enables Apple Alum to interact in a focused, empowering way, to share connections and ideas, and to support one another in achieving powerful goals in work and life. The Apple Alum Coaching Program will engage alums in an alliance of confidential trust and synergy to solve current business challenges as well as take advantage of opportunities for growth with colleagues who share a common DNA. The connection to the Apple community is still key for many, and this program is the first of its kind to offer a forum of networking and synergistic alliances among Apple Alum who are characteristically “A-players”.

Here are just a few of the many Results and Benefits you can expect when this program is launched:

*Clarify purpose, goals, direction and legacyin your work and life.

*Gain powerful and empowering insights and feedback from kindred, like-minded peers that can propel you forward.

*Create a life of more meaning and authenticity that’s in alignment with who you really are and what you want to do in the world at this stage.

*Address whatever obstacles are holding you back from achieving goals.

*Learn to jettison things in your work or life that may no longer serve you.

*Leverage best practices, tools, and resources to your own advantage.

*Develop (or renew) powerful connections in networking who you can team up with to create even more success during this next phase of your life.

I’m not 100% sure what the platform for delivering this program will be – whether it will be a high-end weekend retreat, a series of networking events, or perhaps a virtual platform, but I do know that it is sorely needed, and as an alum AND a coach, I’m excited about creating the space for it.

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

A Fireside Chat with Jack Buser, Director of PlayStation Home

Kelli Richards December 15, 2011

I recently interviewed my good friend Jack Buser on my weekly online radio show. Jack Buser is the Director of PlayStation Home, which is a 3D virtual world and social game platform on the PS3. Home recently underwent a major redesign, and we were eager to hear about the new benefits and features. Jack is also responsible for driving business initiatives and activities for the 3D community-based social gaming platform, overall and was previously the Director of Worldwide Technology Evangelism at Dolby Labs, so he has a keen understanding of the impact of tech on real-world applications, like gaming and entertainment.

PlayStation Home is filled with hundreds of games – everything from pool tables and dart boards to full-on space shooters like Novus Prime: Escalation and massive online racing games like Sodium 2: Project Velocity. With Jack Buser at the helm, Home is leading the virtual world in community based user experiences, and doing an amazing job of it!

Jack started his career as the “Tech Evangelist” for Dolby, a role that launched him as a leading voice in the worlds of tech and entertainment. I asked him about that time in his life and his contributions to Dolby, the industry giant in sound technology.

Kelli: Jack, talk to me a little bit about your work at Dolby – what did you feel your biggest achievement was as a Tech Evangelist there, and how has that work and that role carried over into your work at Sony?

Jack Buser: Sure, well Dolby is a fantastic company. I spent almost ten years there. We did a variety of different things, from deploying Dolby sound for games to the point where now it’s very hard to buy a game that’s not supporting full-on Dolby surround sound… We also worked on online delivery of movie content, making sure that even though you’re just streaming a movie over the internet that you’re still getting that full theater experience. And all three of these experiences are implemented in the best possible way in the PlayStation3. It’s one of the big reasons I was so excited to come work here at Sony Playstation – because we have such a powerful console with the PS3. … You can actually watch movies through Netflix and Hudu and our own movie service in full-on Dolby surround sound. And of course, surround sound in games… I mean, games on PlayStation3 are second to none, full high definition graphics and full on 7.1 surround sound. I mean, we’re talking about the best of the best experience…

Kelli: So you really went from the best company, in its niche and moved on to the best company in its unique niche. You actually became something of a human bridge, unifying those two worlds in a sense…

Kelli: Jack, we’re seeing some amazing collaborations in tech and gaming lately. I don’t know if you know this, but the artist Thomas Dolby literally introduced new music to his fans through a game called “The Floating City” a few months ago. Jack, do you see this marriage between gaming and other content producers – like musicians, for instance, being one of the next big things in gaming?

Jack Buser: One of the most exciting things we’ve been doing with music lately is actually releasing music in the form of virtual items inside of virtual Home. This is a whole new way of actually deploying music content. Specifically, PlayStation Home users tend to be the most voracious consumers of media on the PlayStation3 Platform – and trust me, PlayStation3 owners are already a very self-selected group of folks that love their media. And we’ve actually been releasing music specifically in the form of a virtual item – specifically in the form of boom box or a sound system or a radio – and you can actually take these boom boxes or radios and put them in your own personal space and have your own parties. The first one we ever actually released was in collaboration with an artist named 8 Bip Weapon, who is a chip tunes artist. For your listeners who don’t know chip tunes, it’s basically music made with very old gaming consoles. … He became an overnight celebrity on PlayStation Home, as people bought his boom box, in the shape of an old school arcade game with huge speakers on it, just cranking up these awesome chip tunes….

Kelli: I wonder how that translated into the real world in terms of sales.

Jack Buser: I’ll tell you this, when you deploy inside a platform like PlayStation Home, you’re talking about deploying to a global audience of over 20 million users. So there are very few platforms as effective at getting your name out there and getting you exposed to a large number of folks…

Kelli: Of course, no secret here. You and I have talked for years now about integrating music into more of the gaming experience….

Jack Buser: And you’re seeing it in new ways. It’s becoming much more flexible. In the early days of game audio, it was basically licensing your tracks into game soundtracks, but now there are so many different options, due to all these social platforms and all these new delivery mechanisms. You know PlayStation Music Network even has an actual music service built in. I mean the opportunities are numerous on game platforms.

Kelli: The other thing about audio and music that’s changed is that it used to be an afterthought. You know, I was like, “Uh oh, wait, we need some music in there before we ship it.” Now with the example we just used around what Thomas Dolby is doing, building his music AROUND the game, we’re seeing tighter integration and more forethought about it – as a strategy ahead of time.

Jack Buser: Oh absolutely. Music is so critical to the game experience today. So many music tracks have just broke as a part of just being part of a hit game. One of the things we’re also seeing in Home that’s super exciting is live concerts. Where actually artists can perform LIVE, inside of PlayStation Home. You can actually see your favorite artists inside the world, live, playing your favorite song… the possibilities are almost endless.

You can hear the entire interview series on her website at https://AllAccessRadio.com – just go to Resources and choose Podcast.

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

Fankix: The New Wave in Social Entertainment

Kelli Richards December 10, 2011

Fankix delivers music to fans around the world with a unique social experience, deeper interaction with musicians and first-rate authentic content at no cost.

They provide artists with a new promotional platform, increased engagement with fans and a new way to be discovered through social networks. Fankix also provides an innovative and more effective way to engage with consumers than TV commercials, banner ads and Internet video pre-roll. In the ever-changing world of digital, Fankix is the biggest stage in the world.

Most recently, Fankix is bringing Lena Katina, formally form the Russian Duo “t.A.T.u” to their online stage. Fankix is inviting FANS from all around the world to dance, chat, and have the best time of their lives with their friends – all during the LIVE show.

Lena Katina will be performing exclusive, never before heard songs from her upcoming solo album. The show will be December 13th, 2011. For more information, show times and to get free tickets, visit www.FanKix.com.

Don’t forget to “Like” Fankix on their Facebook Fan page for updates and upcoming shows. https://www.facebook.com/FanKix

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

Cool or Not Cool? Bandzoogle and it’s Cool Connection to Direct-to-Fan

Kelli Richards December 5, 2011

I recently interviewed Dave Cool, the “voice” of Bandzoogle. Dave Cool writes the Bandzoogles’ blog, well known for inspiring and supporting Bandzoogle’s #1 mission: To make Direct-to-Fan a very real accomplishment for artists and bands everywhere.

Dave Cool is perhaps best known for having directed and produced the documentary film “What is INDIE? A look into the World of Independent Musicians” which documented the experience of being an independent artist in the music industry. That movie actually became it’s own testament about the power of Direct-to-Fan, creating a huge movement around indie music and the process that independent musicians go through around today’s new tech and the seemingly endless opportunities.

The film featured several leading experts in the music industry, including Derek Sivers (CD Baby) and Panos Panay (Sonicbids), as well as with 20 independent artists. Without any background in film and funded entirely on his own, Dave Cool took the film from a small do-it-yourself project and turned it into an indie success story in its own right, with the film screening all over the world and being mentioned on CNN.com and in Newsweek Magazine.

A big inspiration in the world of musicians and bands, Dave inspires artists to keep control of their content on as many levels as possible and to maximize their fan outreach and merchandising. If you are a musician breaking out in today’s world, this is a must. In the end, however, one thing Cool makes infinitely clear, is that it’s still about doing great work.

Bandzoogle is a web-based platform for artists and bands, allowing them to create a dot.com website – something bands MUST have, especially in the world of ever-changing social media. If a band puts their energies into MySpace, for instance, well… we all know what happened there. So a Facebook page is great, but a dot.com is still a necessity, and Bandzoogle is the leader in making this accessible and easy – ”Easy enough for even the drummer to do,” jokes Dave Cool during our interview.

He also spoke quite a bit about social media NOT being a one-size-fits-all – and perhaps not being a good fit for some artists at all. (Sacrilege right?)
You can hear this interview in its entirety at https://bit.ly/DaveCool and you can get a complimentary digital copy of “What is INDIE?” when you sign up for Dave’s mailing list at: https://bit.ly/hs4uk6

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

VIP Breakfast for Apple Alumni at the Silicon Valley Capital Club, San Jose, CA

Kelli Richards November 28, 2011

I’m thrilled to invite you to join me for a VIP Breakfast for Apple Alumni at the Silicon Valley Capital Club in San Jose, CA on Thursday, December 8th, from 7-8am. I look forward to hosting an intimate breakfast and discussion exclusively for present and former Apple employees. This 1-hour Power Breakfast is about re-connecting & networking with Apple colleagues. We will explore how to take our businesses and our lives to a whole new level of success in the next year by building on the synergy of Apple alliances. The focus of this breakfast club will be my forthcoming eBook “The Magic & Moxie of Apple: An Insider’s View“. VIP Breakfast and a copy of the eBook (valued at $37) are limited to the first 12 people who respond.

RVSP by Friday, December 2nd to reserve your VIP seat at the event. sandy@allaccessgroup.com

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

A Fantastic Freebie from Fanatic.FM

Kelli Richards November 25, 2011

To celebrate Fanatic.FM and their great contribution to DIY brand building for artists, Fanatic.FM is offering a special bonus for Kelli’s tribe. Click here for a free subscription to The Fanatic and enter to win a 1-hour session with the Fanatic.FM social media tune-up experts. Deadline: December 5.
At Fanatic.fm, musicians, brands and fans unite to create music that changes the world. For musicians, Fanatic.fm is an innovative album publishing platform where brands bid to sponsor new musical projects. Bands take control over choosing sponsors. Every time music is played using the Fanatic.fm player, which can be embedded in any site or social media page, the band is paid a set cost per music play by their sponsor. Learn more at www.fanatic.fm.

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

We did it! #1 on Amazon in Music!!!

Kelli Richards November 20, 2011

A HUGE thank you to everyone who supported the Amazon Launch for “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry” – an eBook that raises the bar and demystifies social media marketing, helping musicians, agents and anyone in our industry to THRIVE. Not only did we spend all of last weekend at #1, as I write this, we’re STILL top ten!

Essentially, Taking the Crowd to the Cloud empowers and transforms the marketing mindset for artists. Featuring a few tips on the most commonly used social networks (like Twitter and Facebook); it also holds the keys to eMail marketing, Streaming Radio, YouTube, and Meetup Groups. (It even covers how to port your MySpace contents to Facebook Music.)

Although we’ve put the price raise into Amazon, it’s STILL at $3.99 while they process it, so grab your copy now if you haven’t already.

If you choose to, you may buy the book from my website for full price ($37) and have access to continually refreshed and updated content on this topic as a BONUS addendum.

Kelli Richards
CEO
The All Access Group, LLC

Hypebot Promotes “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud”

Kelli Richards November 14, 2011

I’ll write a separate blog about how my eBook went all the way to #1 on Amazon this weekend, but I wanted to take a moment and offer a special thanks to Bruce Houghton – a powerful voice in the music industry – who writes for HypeBot. He made an exception to his SOP to review the book, and his observations are spot on and very important to me. Because of the holiday weekend, I made the executive choice to leave the eBook at the launch price just until mid-week, giving all of the artists out there a chance to grab it (and use it!). MANY thanks to Bruce and to everyone who supported our effort to offer a hands-on, simple, DIY look at social media for the music industry.
~ Kelli Richards

Kelli Richards’ Social Media For Music eBook Just $3.99 Today Only – Published 11/11/11

I don’t normally due blattant pitches for book’s seminar’s, etc. But after downloading Kelli Richard‘s eBook Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry to be supportive on her Kindle launch day and spending time with it, I’m going break my rule. I won’t tell you that this is the only rescource on social media for musicians. But Kelli Richards is an industry vet (btw, don’t forget today’s the real Veteran’s Day in the U.S.) who fights the music marketing fight every day; and to grab the most up to date information for $3.99 is a bargain.

Kelli’s guide covers all the usual modern marketing avenues from a musician’s perspective: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogging, email marketing and even MySpace. There are also chapters on less utilized recources like Blog Talk Radio, Linkedin, Meetups and live event networking. Along the way, there are examples and short case studies.

Finally, she takes a look at several of the major players in ditect to fan marketing including ReverbNation, Topspin and Nimbit as monetization tools. It’s all there. But don’t just read about it. Use it.

$3.99 today only:Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry

Written by Bruce Houghton, in DIY for Hypebot

https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/11/kelli-richards-social-media-for-music-ebook-just-399-today-only.html

Kelli Richards,
CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

11/11/11 eBook Launch! Help me hit #1 on Amazon!

Kelli Richards November 11, 2011

Taking the Crowd to the Cloud –
SOCIAL MEDIA for the Music Industry

Kelli Richards’ new eBook, “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – SOCIAL MEDIA for the Music Industry,” teaches you to run your content, your revenue, your merch and your fan base ANY WAY YOU WANT TO. It’s easily the best eBook on Social Media for Musicians, ever. Today is the ONLY day you can get the book on Amazon at $3.99. https://amzn.to/eBook-Crowd

This eBook raises the bar and demystifies the social media process. It will help you THRIVE in this tough economy and transform your online presence and your marketing mindset.

It provides an overview of the top 10 online spaces and gives a brief look at how to maximize your social media presence to build and keep your audience – and turn them into your own personal sales force.

MORE FANS! The ultimate end-game!
BRAND TRANSFORMATION! (Yes, trust me, you are a brand!)
MORE MONEY! That’s an easy one, more fans + more content = more sales.
SIMPLE! Written in easy-to-follow language with easy-to-implement instructions.
FAST! You’ll learn about 8 no cost Resources to build your brand and your fan base!
STOP WORRYING! No more worrying about missing the opp for social media success.
No Cost Online Business Tools and List Building Tools worth 10X’s the cost of the book.
FR EE DOM! How about turning your work into a business that does not depend on a label, a manager or ANYONE. Do what you WHAT you want, WHEN you want, and WHERE you want… You can set your own hours… You can live anywhere… All you need is an internet connection… The sky is the limit.

Kelli Richards’ new eBook, “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – SOCIAL MEDIA for the Music Industry,” teaches you to run your content, your revenue, your merch and your fan base ANY WAY YOU WANT TO. It’s easily the best eBook on Social Media for Musicians, ever.

Today is the ONLY day you can get the book on Amazon at $3.99. https://amzn.to/eBook-Crowd.

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Author: Kelli Richards

Thousand-Mile View of Life

A Fireside Chat with Jack Buser, Director of PlayStation Home

Fankix: The New Wave in Social Entertainment

Cool or Not Cool? Bandzoogle and it’s Cool Connection to Direct-to-Fan

VIP Breakfast for Apple Alumni at the Silicon Valley Capital Club, San Jose, CA

Search Resources

Topic Areas & Guests

Join our mailing list

As Seen In:

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My Commitment to You

Now is Your Time

Author: Kelli Richards

Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – SOCIAL MEDIA for the Music Industry

Search Resources

Topic Areas & Guests

Categories

Join our mailing list

As Seen In:

Join our mailing list

Pages

My Commitment to You

Now is Your Time

Taking the Crowd to the Cloud –
SOCIAL MEDIA for the Music Industry