Category: Blog

CEO of All Access Group Invited to be in Alan’s Gang

Kelli Richards August 22, 2011

Expert in Music, Technology and Digital Distribution and CEO of All Access Group Invited to be in Alan’s Gang

 

Kelli Richards, a thought leader in digital music and entertainment, and one of only a few select members of Alan Weiss’ Master Mentor Program and Thought Leadership Summit, has recently been invited to participate both Weiss’ new Summit Global Network and also in the collaborative “Alan & the Gang.”

Alan & the Gang is an online destination where both aspiring and veteran entrepreneurs and business people can access thought leaders from around the globe. Kelli Richards joins a limited group of elite international experts in both process and content who contribute their intellectual property and expertise. Gang members are a unique group of consultants and industry thought leaders who offer forward-thinking content to one another and to the world at large, including 320 videos, 426 audios and over 60 articles. These experts are recognized leaders and experts in their fields, offering impressive track records of success to their clients. The Summit Global Network is a network of top boutique consulting and advisory firms. Members are invited only after careful criteria have been met and existing members become familiar with the quality of the candidate firm’s work and client base.  Members share resources, best practices, personnel, and expertise. It’s not unusual for a firm in Australia to provide expertise to a firm in Canada, or one in Maine to one in the United Kingdom. The current membership resides in seven countries and four continents. The combined intellectual property of the member firms comprises over 70 commercially published books, a thousand published articles, and thousands of audio, video, and public speaking appearances.

Alan Weiss is an Inductee in the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame®, a Recipient of the American Press Institute Lifetime Achievement Award and the New England Institute of Management Consultants Lifetime Contribution Award, and is one of the most highly respected independent consultants in the country, according to The New York Post.

Kelli Richards is a true trailblazer in the digital music, entertainment and technology worlds with more than twenty years of senior-level leadership experience.  With a unique talent for connecting innovators in technology with creative leaders in entertainment, Richards is a highly sought-after consultant, mentor, speaker, producer, coach and author, As the CEO of The All Access Group, Richards and her team facilitate powerful strategic business opportunities in digital distribution between technology companies, established artists and celebrities, film studios, record labels, and consumer brand companies to foster new revenue streams and deliver compelling consumer experiences.

Prior to founding The All Access Group, Kelli served in senior roles at Fortune 100 entertainment and technology companies, including Apple Inc., where she launched Apple’s earliest focus on music and drove all music initiatives during her 10 years with the market leader. She also served in senior-level leadership capacities at EMI Music as an A&R exec, and at Silicon Graphics (SGI) where she helped launch Silicon Studio, the company’s entertainment division. She developed PatroNet, the first Internet-based artist subscription service with rocker partner Todd Rundgren in the mid-90s – and helped to launch the entire digital music revolution.

A frequent speaker and panel moderator at digital music and entertainment industry conferences globally, Kelli has also been an acclaimed talent producer of a wide range of award shows, epic concerts, and celebrity fundraiser events for over 25 years.  She co-produced a celebrity fundraiser event to support the UN’s “Adopt-A-Minefield” initiative featuring Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Stephen Stills and hosted by Jay Leno. Additionally, she was a 20-year talent producer behind the BAMMIES, and remains a long-time talent executive and co-producer of the annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards.

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Kelli Richards has co-authored two books, including the critically acclaimed “The Art of Digital Music:  56 Artists, Visionaries & Insiders Reveal Their Creative Secrets.”  And her next book, “You Say You Want a Revolution – An Artist’s Manifesto for Success in the Digital Age,” is due out 11-11-11. A true renaissance woman, Kelli is also a Certified Integrative Life Coach trained under best-selling authors and coaches Debbie Ford and Alan Cohen.  She lives in Cupertino, CA in the heart of the Silicon Valley.

 

 


 

 

 

Chatting with Brenden Mulligan, Founder of OneSheet, the One Stop Solution for Artists

Kelli Richards August 17, 2011


A few weeks ago, I was very fortunate to interview creative disruptor, Brenden Mulligan, the CEO of OneSheet. For those of you who don’t know, OneSheet is a completely free website which allows musicians to connect their existing social networks and services, creating a basic and graphically exciting site that includes music, videos, photos, concert dates, social streams, mailing list signups and online stores.  Although it literally JUST moved out of beta, Onesheet already has more than 10,000 recording artists signed up, including major label artists like Paramore , Mat Kearny and Owl City.

OneSheet has the added feature of working with many of the most-used musician’s online services, including Tunes, Beatport, Topspin, Bandcamp, YouTube, Tumblr, Songkick, FanBridge and SoundCloud.  It’s also compatible with ArtistData, a popular syndication tool for musicians to post information across the web, which was also started by founder Brenden Mulligan.

Brenden Mulligan:  For a long time now, artists have been asked to create profiles on all of these different services, and one problem I felt was there was that there wasn’t necessarily an easy way to weave these together.  What I wanted to do was make it incredibly easy for an artist to create a maintenance free web presence, something that would take them only a few minutes to do and be totally affordable. 

OneSheet isn’t only a one-stop-shop solution for artists, it’s also been very collaborative. Founder Brenden Mulligan has made many adjustments based on the feedback of artists.  For instance, users can remove the Onesheet header, customize the navigation bar and rename concerts to tour, live, appearances, events or shows, etc. Most importantly, Onesheets can be assigned a custom domain name, which is a great asset in today’s world of uber branding.

Brenden Mulligan plans to add a premium paid service will add additional features and customization. “Mobile optimization is another feature we may charge for. What kind of artists use Onesheet and how they use it, will drive what we do next.”

To hear my entire interview with entrepreneur and CEO, Brenden Mulligan, go to https://bit.ly/BrendenMulligan  

Legacy and Celebrity Wrangling

Kelli Richards August 14, 2011

One of the most important aspects of my career has been creating high impact collaborations between artists, celebrities and corporations, and sometimes between artists and charities. I call this celebrity wrangling.

There’s no shortage of passion in the world surrounding celebrities and musicians; in fact, it’s rare to find one that doesn’t crave the opportunity to create lasting change and global/societal impact. Connecting the right artist for the right purpose – or simply being part of event production as a talent producer for award shows & charity events involving great artist/celeb talent, well, those are definitely career high points. Whether for corporations who want to have a celebrity appear in an ad campaign or established artists perform at employee events or at corporate industry conferences & special events. I’ve had the chance to work on some pretty amazing projects over the years, including great global causes with a broad range of artists, celebrities, and big companies. To learn more about celebrity wrangling, please visit my website: https://allaccessgroup.com/services/celebrity-wrangling

One of my favorite charity event projects was the “Open Hearts – Clear Mines: Adopt-a-Minefield” benefit concert hosted by the United Nations featuring performances by Sir Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson, where they joined together and sang, “God Only Knows“ & “Let it Be”. The concert and the song definitely live in my mind as one of the most moving and inspiring events that I ever participated in. Unfortunately only the attendees in that room got to experience the magic of that union. Though there isn’t any video from the event to really speak of, there is a snippet of it in an Access Hollywood interview, speaking with Sir Paul and host, Jay Leno, about the event. (See below.)

Another example is when I was asked by John Chambers & his team to bring Jerry Seinfeld to Cisco to participate in a 25th anniversary employee thank-you event.

As a veteran Talent Producer and Celebrity Wrangler, it’s events like these that become knots in the thread of one’s life. I’m proud to have been a part of creating these special events and experiences that if executed well tend to leave a lasting impact.

Kelli Richards, CEO, The All Access Group, LLC

Kelli Richards Hosts a VIP Breakfast at the Bandwidth Music | Technology Conference

Kelli Richards August 10, 2011

On Tuesday, August 16th, at 8am, industry thought-leaders, Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, will host an intimate breakfast and discussion to kick off day two of the annual Bandwidth Music | Technology Conference.  The focus of this “breakfast club” will be Kelli Richards’ newest eBook “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry.” VIP Breakfast and a printed copy of the eBook (valued at $37) will be available to the first 20 people who respond. Please RVSP to reserve your VIP seat at the event.  sandy@allaccessgroup.com

The Bandwidth Music | Technology Conference is for music and technology professionals and focuses on the evolving musical experience. Topics focus on marketing, fan behavior, trends and future forecasts, and an examination of the ways people discover, purchase, interact with, and are exposed to music.


Please RVSP to reserve your VIP seat at the event. sandy@allaccessgroup.com

Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry

Kelli Richards August 2, 2011

After 25+ years in the digital space, it’s hard to ignore that the music industry has turned into a very complicated space — and believe me, marketing was NEVER easy to begin with.

My new eBook, Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry, is an insider’s view on how it all comes together.  It raises the bar and demystifies social media marketing, helping musicians, agents and anyone in our industry THRIVE – it empowers and transforms the marketing mindset.

Featuring TEN top social networks for musicians, this eBook maximizes your social media to build (and keep) your audience. It holds the key to eMail Marketing, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and several hot secrets in Social Media. (It even covers how to port your MySpace contents to Facebook Music.) For $37 this is easily the million dollar choice.

Go to https://allaccessgroup.com/products/taking-the-crowd-to-the-cloud to get your copy and find out more.

To your success!

Kelli Richards,
CEO of All Access Group

Is Mobile Advertising Over Before it Began? One or Two Standouts Still in the Game

Kelli Richards August 1, 2011

Unlike social media marketing, social advertising seems to be taking a big hit from the never-ending recession we find ourselves in as a nation.  I say this because it seems that the newest golden egg in advertising, Mobile, had hit a new low before it ever reached any kind of high.  And if you look deeper, what it’s really indicative of is click based marketing overall.

It’s been interesting to watch mobile marketing come to life.  I worked in this space with Virgin Mobile several years ago; and at that point it was more of an evangelism exercise trying to educate major brands and media companies about what this was all about. Now it’s an evangelism to get them to stay the course and build an audience.

How does this all play out in the new digital age, if audiences and ROI aren’t born overnight? With 56% of Fortune 500 marketers dissatisfied with or simply not using click-based mobile advertising, it’s possible that only a few strong companies will be able to ride the wave, approach smaller marketing businesses, provide a good service at the right price, and hang in there until the economy turns.

One of the few standouts who seem to be weathering the storm and getting it right is Augme Technologies. Augme has created what they call the “AD LIFE™ Ad Network” to help marketers engage with their best consumers. Basically, by using sophisticated targeting options, Augme reaches 100+ million unique visitors (and 9+ billion impressions) each month. It’s the targeting that makes this unique and successful, with options that range from region to behavior to platform and device, as well as a huge array of demographic combinations.

If you follow the old-adage that the best customer is one you already have, then the mobile marketing industry should first be able to count on repeat business from established clients before creating a trajectory of higher profits.  In this case, it doesn’t look like that will happen, not at the present time anyway. But having an example of a company that’s navigating these new waters successfully does give some hope.

With Smartphones taking over the mobile industry at a phenomenal rate, the mobile advertising world should look like a wide open field of opportunity, but right now, the numbers just don’t support this.  A recent survey showed that although 93% of marketers would move further into mobile ad spending – 43% of that group cites a low return on investment as a block to continuing with the platform.

Another statistic worth mentioning is that the most effective mobile ad campaigns were email based, where consumers had signed up and chosen to participate. Just a note, this is something that social media marketers have known for over a decade.

“Signup ads are native to mobile advertising,” said Zephrin Lasker, CEO and co-founder, Pontiflex, one of the largest players in the mobile ad field. “People have a new sense of control and meaningful experiences with brands.”

In the end, this forum also demands a new level of creativity, collaboration and UE, user experience.  If Angry Birds can become a phrase and experience that 78% of mobile phone users know and have participated with, then Angry Birds who drink Dr. Pepper makes perfect sense.  

 

Kelli Richards, CEO of All Access Group

For more information on Social Media Marketing, especially in how it affects the Music Industry, grab a copy of my new eBook: “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry.”

The music industry has turned into a very complicated space, and marketing was NEVER easy to begin with.  Written by industry insider, Kelli Richards, “Taking the Crowd to the Cloud – Social Media for the Music Industry” raises the bar and demystifies social media marketing, helping musicians, agents and anyone in our industry to THRIVE – it empowers and transforms the marketing mindset.  Featuring TEN top social networks for musicians, this eBook maximizes your social media to build (and keep) your audience. It holds the key to eMail Marketing, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and several hot secrets in Social Media. (It even covers how to port your MySpace contents to Facebook Music.) For $37 this is easily the million dollar choice.

 

Tech + Media – The Honeymoon Between GoogleTV and Logitech Ends, but the Marriage Continues

Kelli Richards July 28, 2011

The marriage of tech and media is definitely a rocky one at times, and Web TV is no exception. Despite all promises, like all relationships, things are always evolving – and sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t. The latest tech / media couple in trouble appears to be Logitech and Google. With the rocky start to Google TV, Logitech is also hung up in every way possible. Why? They supply the tech end of GTV with the Revue Google TV set-top box.

Google TV is a pretty cool product – and quite possibly the future of ALL TV – or at least a glimpse of it, providing access to live TV, on-demand programming, recorded shows, pay TV, online video clips and, of course, the web.

Will Web TV replace regular TV any time soon? Probably not. But don’t count Google (or Logitech) out of the running. Someone’s going to nab the real estate on Web TV, and for their part, Logitech is willing to continue the union. In fact, they’re lowering the price to make the hardware accessible to almost anybody.

Losing the market share before one is really created is obviously not an outcome that Logitech will go for. In fact Logitech’s Chairman, Guerrino De Luca, was quoted this week as saying: “There was a significant gap between our price and the value perceived by the consumer.”

Right now, market share is the moral of the story for both the data and the technology side of the equation. Any day now Google TV should be accessible by Android, and with 130 million Androids out there, that is a big deal.  In order to not lose face until then, Logitech has chosen to bite the revenue bullet and get more customers. That means a lower price in order to boost the real estate for Google.

It’s hard to imagine Apple or Sony supporting the digital music industry by lowering the price of hardware to encourage market participation, but if this is an indication of what might work, then Blu-Ray may actually still stand a chance.

Kelli Richards
CEO of The All Access Group

Spotify ….Finally

Kelli Richards July 25, 2011

Well, after all this time, what’s left to be said???   Except let’s give credit to the artist.  Tallulah by Tobias Norberg

 

Social Media Wars – How Wide Do We Open the Kimono? Google+, Facebook, Etc.

Kelli Richards July 21, 2011

By now, you may have heard the name Michael Lee Johnson.  He’s a young web developer who recently tried to promote his presence on Google+ by taking out a Facebook Ad.  What’s wrong with that?  According to Facebook’s terms of service, only everything.  And while I don’t agree with Facebook, simply because of my personal and professional stand on Gerd Leonhard’s Friction vs. Fiction, they are, of course, simply protecting their market share.

It is very easy to see why they don’t want to do battle with megalith Google over anything more than ad sales. One has to wonder, however, where the users come into play.  Although diligently trying to evolve every single day, there’s absolutely NO guarantee that Facebook will not become the MySpace of tomorrow.  (Meaning that they become a great neighborhood that nobody lives in or even visits any more – sort of the Three-Mile Island of Social Networks.)  Simply building walls and creating friction will not protect them.

This isn’t the only example of what I might call “random” censorship either.  Meetup.com is notorious for ripping down local Meetup Groups that don’t fit their user terms (which change at will if you’re of a certain political slant).  The bottom line is that social networks are NOT democracies.  They are autocracies, and your participation is permitted and censored, at will, by the owner of the club.

So where does this leave Google+ ???  Growing. By leaps and bounds in my estimation.  Why?  Because it addresses all of the issues Facebook created – over exposure, brand and personal comingling, general insanity and finally, the issue of demographic. (And right now, it’s a hotbed for techies.)

As I addressed in my recent Social Media eBook, the problem with ANY network is that you can only reach THAT network’s users.  So while you can break demographics out further, you can only operate within the umbrella of users actually ON Facebook, for example.  Who are THEY?  Mostly, on Facebook at least, they’re people with free time.  Yes, I have a ton of “friends” on my Facebook Page, and I value them!  But I think Google+ and it’s Circles concept will provide a segregation which will eliminate having multiple Pages, Profiles, Groups, etc., etc. that ALL have to be updated.

Another service worth watching which addresses this, on the opposite side of the spectrum (the personal side), is Proust.com.  Proust is a social network designed to connect MORE intimately than Facebook (as if that were possible), by connecting close family members and allowing them to commemorate events and share life stories.  With the boom in genealogy that’s been created by the digital revolution, this is an idea that just might take off.

Final thoughts:  We have seen some extreme reverberations to the social media age (which is a subset in itself of the digital age).  Facebook overtaking MySpace (almost to annihilation) is only one example. There will be a backlash to the autocracy though, you can guarantee it.  Because the internet may be a place of freedom – but social networks are NOT.  A good example of this backlash is hacker group Anonymous. Even THEY are starting a social network (called “the Revolution”).  Their platform?  No censorship.  This might seem to lean toward the shadow side of things we might all like to avoid … but in reality, is it the Michael Lee Johnson’s of the world and a simple Google+ banner ad that we protect?  A question well worth consideration, at least.

Kelli Richards
CEO of The All Access Group

3 Best Practices for Working with a Coach

Kelli Richards July 15, 2011

#1. Find the RIGHT Coach.  

This is an easy task to throw out there and probably one of the toughest decisions we can make at any given time.  The notion that the right teacher will show up at the right time in our lives is only partly true.  We have to actively participate in our search with a clear picture of what we want in order to attract the right people, no matter what role they are to play in our lives – and also to be open to them when they appear.  Having a crystal clear image of what you need in a coach – what their area of expertise is, how they resonate with who you are & your vision, and how they work with their clients are all vital ingredients in your process.  And while it’s important to check references or take referrals from colleagues you trust or leaders in your arena, don’t underestimate your gut when it comes to this one.  If your best instincts are that someone is right – or wrong – for you, that’s a really important part of your personal, internal guidance system and should not to be aside.   The right coaching relationship can be hugely impactful.

#2. Set your Goals about the Coaching Process.

Once you’re working with the right coach, be sure to be as transparent with them about what you WANT from the process as possible.  Here are the ABCs to remember:

*Absolutely define your most important work and inspirations that you’ve created so far, so your coach can know who you are, and what your value system is

*Benchmarks and clear objectives should be defined as early as possible so you both have a clear path toward your goals, and finally

*Create a set of priorities that will clarify and focus your efforts and maximize your coaching time together.

#3. What would it take to become fearless?

Nobody goes into coaching because they want to stand still.  Once you’ve set your goals, ultimately you’ll want to define — and then BECOME fearless about reaching them.  Fearless people not only live amazing lives and achieve great heights; fearless people take on projects that the rest of us would run from. They challenge the status quo and create change. One of the key goals of working with a coach is to define that deepest desire or goal you have and then to outline a plan that either rises above or sidesteps the roadblocks and fears that get in your way.  And once you’ve done all of that, one of the most important questions to ask yourself is, What would it take to become fearless about this project, right now?

Here are my personal coaching manifestations and intentions for each of you.  Feel free to use this as an affirmative dialogue to have with yourself as you set about to find the right coach for your life and work, right now. If you’d like to inquire about working with me, personally, please visit my page on Coaching under Services on my web site at www.allaccessgroup.com or simply reach out to me directly at info@AllAccessGroup.com

You will have balance in your life. You will manage your time and energies so that you run your business, your projects, and your life without selling out or losing your way. You will discover the Power of Affiliation and Collaboration. You will step outside your comfort zone and take on projects that you once considered impossible. You will get past limiting beliefs, states of mind and behaviors that have been holding you back. You will feel true satisfaction and fulfillment that will spill over into all areas of your life. You will create a momentum for your work and life that is unstoppable. You will have more balance and energy.

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