An "invitation only" MySpace for Folk/Americana musicians and their music, since 1999!
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efolkMusic News, Vol
10, #2- 2.20.2010 An "invitation only" MySpace for Folk/Americana musicians and their music, since 1999! |
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Dead Ahead, Way Ahead!
This is fascinating whether or not you are a "deadhead"; "Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead," in this month's The Atlantic magazine shows how forward-thinking this revolutionary band was. With a business model based on live performance rather than album sales, they practically invented giving away music. Here's some incredibly progressive business acumen:
..... the Dead were visionary geniuses in the way they created “customer value,â€ð promoted social networking, and did strategic business planning.
The band pioneered music-biz concepts that have become standard operating procedure for the "modern musician". This is pretty advanced thinking, here, emphasis mine....
"The connection between the Internet and the Dead’s business model was made 15 years ago by the band’s lyricist, John Perry Barlow, who became an Internet guru. Writing in Wired in 1994, Barlow posited that in the information economy, “the best way to raise demand for your product is to give it away.â€ð As Barlow explained to me: “What people today are beginning to realize is what became obvious to us back then—the important correlation is the one between familiarity and value, not scarcity and value.
Woah- I wish I'd of said that, especially in 1994. That's "listening to the technology" in a big way. efolkMusic wasn't too far behind, though- we started offering free MP3s in 1999. It's gotten easier- at least we don't have to explain what an MP3 is anymore, and most folks have faster connection than they did ten years ago. Digitally delivered music really gets around, 24-7, zipping around in the ethersphere.... -cf
Sivers and Godin, on “Spreading Music“
Totally related to the article above, Seth Godin recently responded to some good questions about one of our favorite topics, the future of music, on Derek Sivers’ blog (CDBaby's daddy- note that its at sivers.org; does that mean he’s an organization or just more organized than the rest of us org-less schmucks?)- I found this bit particularly interesting:
Get over the idea that your success is equated with selling the right to listen, or selling control over when people listen. Relinquish the opportunity to make money by controlling who can listen and when. That’s gone. It’s over. It would be like a bakery selling the right to sniff the fresh bread or a wine maker selling the right to look at the cool label. It’s now a public good, something you see as you walk by.
What you can sell, what you better be able to sell, is intimacy. It’s interactions in public. Souvenirs. Limited things of value. Experiences. Memories. People will pay for those things, IF: your art is actually great and if you make it possible for them to buy them.
So what does it mean? Artists gotta eat, assuming they don’t have a patron, so how does a musician price his art and make a living? What’s the business model? Seth says you can sell ‘intimacy’, which is a pretty good (but maybe not great) word to describe what we do in front of a crowd.
Music is not a lonely art; it may
start that way, but eventually it has to go out into the world, with the people,
with your friends, for your friends. Let’s pick, as we say.
Read more "Folk Music 2.0" at efolkMusic.com
Which is why we've always had free MP3s, no membership required:
Our supporting
members enjoy access to our extensive "Member
MP3" library, but there are still plenty of "free for all" tracks on the
site. We do make you dig a little, but it's worth the effort. The easiest way to
get free tracks and keep up with the latest is to subscribe to one of our free
RSS feeds, like "Song
of the Week" and "Artist
of the Week". You can go to the site and download any of the available
tracks, or subscribe 
and get
tracks automatically delivered to your desktop.
Many more free tracks are available on the artist pages- browse the "Listen & Download" areas of the site, listen to some full length previews, and then use the link to the artist page. Once you are there, look at the media player (pictured left) - if you see the little blue button as pictured in the circle, it means the artist allows the track to be downloaded- click to download the track.
All of our artists don't offer downloads- but maybe some will read this newsletter and realize how important it is to make themselves 'familiar' to their fans and how easy it is- they might log in and add some tracks!
Also, as noted in the picture, below the media player, are tabs for more info about the artists and where you can get their music. If the artist ISN'T offering any free tracks, use the Contact tab to drop them a line!
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Supporting the Arts .... ... now, more than ever, help out your favorite nonprofit- and if it's us, thanks! Supporters of efolkMusic get our 100 song efm MP3/CD Sampler Vol 5 with a supporting donation or subscription. All members get free access to our "member download" library...Tell me more... |
Artist Services
As the music business has
"deconstructed" over the past ten years, artists have had to find new ways to
get heard; here are a couple of promotional services available to our
artists:
"EPK" distribution - We'll send an email invitation to view your "electronic press kit" to over 500 folk radio DJs and folk festival producers. We'll point them to your efolkMusic artist page, website, mySpace page, etc. where they can learn more about you. all for less than 10 cents per contact.
Website Banner Ad - We'll post your full-size (468 x 60) banner ad on the website and guarantee 10,000 impressions for just $25. Do the math, that's cheap!
Folk Radio CD Distribution - We'll send your CD to 50 or 100 stations that feature folk and singer/songwriter shows, along with a letter of recommendation and your "one sheet", for just $200 (the "hot 50" package).
Click here for more informationSponsorships Available for Corporate and Individual Donations
Sponsorship is a great way to support folk music and show off your company's positive community involvement. Please write for more information
efolkMusic is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
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