Category: Music

Karma-Chameleon. The Fast-Changing Metrics of Digital Music

Kelli Richards May 21, 2011

Music Industry Reviews

The changes in the digital music world continue to inspire a lot more than fear – they’re creating connections on every level, minute by minute.

It’s great to see the Billboard Music Awards getting so much attention on traditional media, but the truth is that their rankings simply don’t mean what they used to.  Long recognized as the industry standard, it’s no secret that the on-demand player and purveyor of music (and ranking) is now YouTube, one of the biggest creative disruptors of the digital music age.

Google has literally jumped on that bandwagon this week, releasing the “YouTube 100” – which tracks viewers and usage across “official music videos, user-uploaded videos and viral debuts, and uses this data to provide a holistic view of song popularity.”

Google’s YouTube 100 joins the ranks of many other services judging popularity, views and downloads in the music industry. And believe me, they’re measuring everything right down to your shoe size.  Facebook Fans, Twitter Followers, Vevo views, blogs and soon, mobile messaging lists.  Digital Media Wire quoted, YouTube Product Manager, Chris LaRosa, as saying, “Not only does the YouTube 100 give props when fans make original videos for popular songs, it also captures YouTube’s one-of-a-kind musical diversity. YouTube users get into music as fans and original musicians, and our new chart gives the community a better way to find the most engaging music on YouTube.”

As far as metrics go (and come and go), this is definitely one for our industry to watch closely.

Kelli Richards, CEO, The All Access Group, LLC

 

Personalizing Lyrics – One Amazing, Creative Way to Personally Rock The Fan Base

Kelli Richards May 17, 2011

As a true lover of technology, as well as a coach in both the business world and in the digital music space, when I come across a tech solution that changes the course of a musician’s business and revenue stream, and builds a better fan base – well, let’s just say it’s always a reason to celebrate.  As the music industry has been pummeled over the last decade, hit with punches from outside and inside of itself, creativity has turned out to be the number one solution to surviving – and thriving – the ever changing landscape.

Enter Skip Haynes. Skip was the singer and guitarist for the band Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah.  Like a lot of bands, they worked hard and had one or two semi-hits.  In their case, the hit was a song called “Lake Shore Drive” that got a ton of mileage around it’s subject, Chicago, the home town of the band.  Over time, “Lake Shore Drive,” became a sort of local anthem, belted out at bars and college events and thought of fondly by Chicagoans everywhere.

Haynes, now 63, is one of the true creative disruptors.  He has held onto the rights to that song for the last forty years, and thanks to the digital music revolution, he’s come up with a mind blowingly simple idea and turned it into a very real revenue stream.  Pay attention folks, this is definitely a plan to model if you’ve got the know how, the time (and the rights to a good, recognizable piece of music).

For a fee, Skip Haynes will personalize his much beloved, “Lake Shore Drive,” to you – or your mother, or coach, or kids. Thanks to the portability of digital music, Haynes will sing the name of the subject, digitally splice it into the master of the song, and sell it to you for thirty-five bucks (if you want the CD — if the digital MP3 is good enough, its only $30.  You can then download it your iPod (or whatever), send it to your friends and family, put it in a digital Birthday Card.  Whatever.  It’s yours.  Personalized just for you.

Haynes recently told CNN contributor Bob Greene, that he’s sold hundreds of these customized songs –primarily through word of mouth and a couple of websites (including his own: https://www.lakeshoredrivemusic.com).

In addition to the obvious revenue stream this could mean for aging rockers or new bands, this is also a strong way to create a very real connection to your most ardent fans.  And that, my friends, is the real benefit of the digital music revolution – it makes reaching your fans as easy as click, splice, love affair.  The revenue is great, and seeing the innovation of a solitary creative disruptor at work is inspiring, but the opportunity to create a once-in-a-lifetime connection to the fan base is definitely not to be missed.

I would love to hear what you all think about this topic.  Feel free to comment on my blog at https://allaccessgroup.com/blog or on my Facebook Group Page.

Kelli Richards, CEO, The All Access Group, LLC

 

Duran Duran – All You Need is Now

Kelli Richards March 18, 2011

One of my favorite parts of being on the cutting edge of the music industry is watching the innovators cut through the effluent in life’s tides and rise above the noise. That is precisely what Duran Duran has done with their newest release, “All You Need is Now.” The release date ironically falls on the thirtieth anniversary of the band’s first release, “Planet Earth,” released to enormous fandemonium in 1981. “All You Need is Now” was produced by Grammy Award winner Mark Ronson, who has worked with Amy Winehouse, The Kaiser Chiefs, Lily Allen and others. Ronson himself called this album, “The follow up to Rio that never was.” (A big relief for all of us who rocked our way through Rio and simply waited for the next move.)

This is the band’s 13th album and all four original members of Duran Duran – John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon – have joined to recreate the original upbeat sound that made them famous and sold over 80 million records during their three-decade career, With the collaboration with Ronson strongly in place, the band went on to bring in longtime friend, Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters and R&B/neo-soul superstar Kelis, with Owen Pallett of Grammy Award winning “Arcade Fire” to do the album’s string arrangements.

Never one to overlook the visuals, the band engaged up-and-coming British visual artist, Clunie Reid, for the artwork and packaging. Clunie’s work is very well known and has been shown at the Saatchi Gallery and the New Museum in New York.

Highly collaborative and innovative, Duran Duran has spent thirty years fusing pop music with art, fashion and technology, bringing music videos from a marketing tool in the 80’s to one of the music industry’s most valued creative assets.

From a distribution perspective, Duran Duran seems to be one band that really understands how important it is to have an engaged fan base. Their website is as much fan homage to their fans as it is a platform and a staging area for their work. For a mere $35 a year, fans are treated to VIP ticket packages, presale events, and meet & greets, as well as direct communication with band members and exclusive video, photo and written content. Each fan also gets to build their own personal fan site – including fan blogs, journals, photos, etc. They’re also able to participate in fan-to-fan forums and private messaging. Basically, Duran Duran has brilliantly built an army of brand advocates to support their every move. Something all bands should emulate in today’s online world.

The group looks as great as ever, and while they’ve evolved their sound to a more contemporary state, hints of their roots are evident and laced throughout several of the tracks on this new CD. “Blame the Machines” is a fun, uptempo, electro-pop track. “The Man Who Stole a Leopard” is a stunning track that diehard fans will relish. “Leave a Light On” recalls the power of their earlier ballad “Save a Prayer.” And “Girl Panic1” will get fans out on the dance floor celebrating like it’s new year’s eve. Hey, why not?

Kelli Richards, CEO, The All Access Group, LLC

Remembering John Lennon – 30 Years Later

Kelli Richards December 9, 2010

Like much of the world, I’ve spent the last week thinking about John Lennon and the anniversary of his death on December 8th.  It’s honestly hard to believe that thirty years have passed since he was taken from us in a single moment’s insanity.  In fact, most of the time, it’s hard to believe that John’s really gone at all.  His was far more than the voice of a generation – it was often the voice of our hearts and our conscience.

And as unimaginable as it is to hold space for the thirty years of unspoken words and unwritten songs, what I truly cannot get away from this week is the rest of John.  As great a man as he was, and as truly generous a soul – especially to his fellow musicians – for two men out there, John Lennon wasn’t a Beatle – or an icon – he was simply Dad.

I met Julian Lennon for the first time several years ago.  I was struck with how gracious he was and how engaging – how much he reminded me of his father and how strongly he had aligned with his Dad’s passion for peace and conservation.  But I was also captured by the deep sadness he seemed to bear, just under that gracious surface.  I remember sharing with Julian how sorry I was for his loss – and recognizing how he had lost his dad, twice really.  It was a deeply heartfelt conversation and a genuine connection.  In a career filled with world=renowned musicians and many celebrity relationships – it is one that has stayed with me at a core level.

Julian has his own voice of course.  His new album “Everything Changes” should be out by next year, and in October he helped his mom, Cynthia Lennon, publicize the John Lennon Peace Monument in Liverpool. And Sean has found his own path as well, now co-leading a band with his musician / model girlfriend, Charlotte Kemp Muhl (Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger.)

But all successes aside, it’s still Julian I think of often – and Sean.  How the thread of their lives with their dad, John Lennon, was forever cut short by something so senseless and beyond comprehension. I have always been struck by how much Julian looks and sounds like his father – in the way that only fathers and sons can.  In fact, one of my career aspirations has always been to create a benefit concert with Julian and Paul McCartney around John Lennon’s music.  To use the talents I have to honor how much was left unsaid, by one of the people who most deserved to hear it – his son.  Julian embodies his own gifts and talents along with his father’s.

I suppose that is really my attempt to make sense of these things – this loss – to find some deeper meaning.  To find some thread of understanding that will provide some peace – for Julian and for the rest of us. To knit a golden thread through time and space and recapture one of the greatest voices of humanity, and to simply risk listening and hearing what we MIGHT some day achieve – if we would only imagine.  John’s greatest gifts were surely his music and  his wish for peace and love which inspired and sparked a generation.  And we are truly fortunate that his legacy and grace endures and burns most brightly in Sean and Julian.

Kelli Richards, CEO, The All Access Group, LLC
“Connecting the Dots Between Entertainment and Technology”
https://allaccessgroup.com

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