2/19

Information found on Techno+Marketer : Inside/ /Out: QR codes

Dickman, M. (2009, January 14). Inside/ /out QR codes. Retrieved February 19, 2015, from 

Techno+Marketer website: http://technomarketer.typepad.com/technomarketer/2009/01/ 

insideout-qr-codes.html 

Techno+Marketer is a website that is somewhat like a blog as well. In the case of this article Matt Dickman speaks about the QR codes and the ways they can be used.

Important Quotes:

"QR (or quick response) codes are, quite simply two dimensional bar codes. The codes were designed in Japan for the auto industry and they remain popular today." 

**Although this article was published in 2009, QR codes are used for many more purposes today including advertising musicians music and websites.

“The entire system works by taking a picture of the code with a cell phone camera, decoding the symbol on the device and taking an action. That action can be directing someone to a URL, passing them a phone number, giving them marketing copy or sending them a text message."

**Makes tasks much easier. Now instead of having to remember things to navigate to somewhere online, the QR code can be scanned, and will take you right there.

These days especially, people have become much more reliant on technology than ever before. Paper has become less used, and technology has taken over. The QR code, which is a two-dimensional bar code, is scanned by an app that is easily downloaded onto any smart phone. The QR code itself is easily created using a free website online. Therefore, it is a great, free way, for an artist to create an up-to-date advertising method.

QR codes can be created by anyone. They have created a convergence between printed advertisement and technology. Now, within the music industry, artists can connect much quicker with their fans using methods that are up to date with what the majority of the population today.

2/12

Information Found on The New York Times : Young Innocence? Been There, Done That

Caramanica, J. (2013, July 24). Young innocence? Been there, done that. Retrieved February12, 2015, from The New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/arts/music/the-diverging-musical-paths-of-selena-gomez-and-miley-cyrus.html?_r=0

The New York Times is “ An internationally recognized daily newspaper founded in 1851 and distributed throughout the United States. The paper is owned by The New York Times Company and is published in New York City, NY.” (BusinessDictionary.com)

Important Quotes:

“Teen stardom is about being special: one kid’s talent and dreams standing in for millions.”

**This is a very general description of "teen stardom". Yes the young adults that become famous is due to talent partially, but there are many other aspects in teen talent.

“It’s a statement of young-woman independence from someone choked in her own youth not only by Disney fame, but also by being the child of a celebrity.”

**This is a bold statement, kind of alluding to the fact that all young Disney stars have trouble transferring into an older demographic. Coming from the Disney channel and trying to transfer into a performer that now attracts an older demographic while keeping the younger fans is something that I can imagine is really hard to do. Many decisions are made, along with many sacrifices. In the article written in The New York Times, Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez are compared during their transformation into adulthood stardom. On one hand, you have Miley Cyrus who has become an extremist. She broke out of her Disney shell directly following the end of her contract with the Disney Channel. Instead of creating uplifting music, like in her younger years, Miley went for a much more extreme approach, singing about drugs, and alcohol, and partying. The problem with her transition was that all it did was show the general public that she was not as mature as she wanted people to believe.

On the other hand, you have Selena Gomez. She chose a different path while becoming an artist for an older demographic. In my opinion, she did it well. She chose to gradually make her music and music videos more mature, writing about real world experiences rather than partying her days away. Selena's approach proved to audiences around the world that she was mature enough to make a proper decision in her transition.

Although both artists chose different paths of transformation, it is all based on opinion of who did it better. And, only time will be able to tell....

01/09

Information found on The New York Times : Is Streaming Good For Musicians? : Today the Road Is a Musician’s Best Friend

Vega, S. (2014, November 6). Is streaming good for musician's? : today the road is a musician's best

   friend. Retrieved January 9, 2015, from The New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/

   roomfordebate/2014/11/06/is-streaming-good-for-musicians/today-the-road-is-a-musicians-best-friend

The New York Times is “ An internationally recognized daily newspaper founded in 1851 and distributed throughout the United States. The paper is owned by The New York Times Company and is published in New York City, NY.” (BusinessDictionary.com)

Important Quotes:

“As listeners begin to move from CDs and downloads to streaming, is the trend good for music and musicians?”

**This raises the main debate of the article: Is streaming good for exposure, or does it eliminate too much profit?

Suzanne Vega argues, “To earn a living and connect with fans, bands, young and old, are going on tour.”

**Instead of worrying about profits from an their music sales, artists are making a profit by going on tour to perform for their fans.

Vega also argues, “The market is over-flooded.”

**Relying on making a profit from touring sales might be a good idea.

Within the distribution of music, there are many different methods as talked about in a previous blog. Most artists will not only place their music on outlets like Amazon Music and iTunes, but will also allow their music to stream for free on outlets like Spotify. Spotify allows listeners to search and stream their favorite music without purchasing it.

Some artists entertain this idea, arguing that Spotify is good exposure and will allow people to get a taste of their music without putting a number on it. However, others argue that by streaming their music for the listeners, they will be losing too great of a profit.

A major idea that has been brought up, that I tend to agree with, is exposure. By allowing your music to stream for free, more people will listen and therefore, more people will learn who you are. The main and mega profit to an artist should come from touring. During a tour an artists connects on a more emotional level. This is their job, but they love doing it. Being compensated for a show rather than a song makes much more sense.

Information found on Artists House Music : Music & Corporate Advertising: New Perspectives

Atkinson, B. T. (2007, June 27). New perspectives. Retrieved December 5, 2014, from Artists House   Music website: http://www.artistshousemusic.org/articles/

music+corporate+advertising+new+perspectives

 

Artists House Music is a website that provides informational media pieces in order to help musicians and music entrepreneurs create sustainable careers.  The website provides various media pieces from short videos to articles that provide information all about music involving advertising, retail/ distribution, touring, etc. In this particular article perspectives of music advertising is shared.

Important Quotes:

“As long as I’m not doing something for a cause that I don’t believe in or expressing a viewpoint that I don’t believe in, I don’t think it’s selling out,” folk-rocker Citizen Cope says.”

** Speaking on the aspects of doing music not only for you and for you to make money, but also with the goal to help others. This is a good advertising and imaging method.

“It’s actually kind of corny to be on radio now.”

** Being an article from 2007, some aspects have changed. Now, having even one song on the radio can make someone world-renowned.

Music advertising focuses on many different aspects of the music industry. This step in the industry brings together the distribution and production process and adds the marketing strategies to it. In order to distribute music, it must first be produced, obviously. Same goes for the relationship between distribution and marketing.

If someone were to just begin to sell a song on iTunes without any advertising, it would be very easy to conclude that the song would not sell too many copies. However, when a song is posted on iTunes with much hype brought up about it before, and the artists uses various forms of advertising leading up to the songs release date, many more copies will sell.

Some things you can do in order to create a larger grouping of people who are willing and able to buy your music are:

1. Build a fan-base of at least 100 people: Building a fan-base all has to do with marketing and advertising yourself. With a larger fan-base more people are waiting for new material and will be excited and willing to jump on the opportunity to get new music of yours.
2. Create a fan page on Facebook and interact with your fans: Many artists create a fan page but don’t do anything with it. The trick is to interact with your fans and share photos from performances, music release dates, and performance videos to keep them constantly interested and interacting.
3. Create promotional material: Also carry business cards or postcards that show who you are and where you can be found on social media so that you can constantly be making new fans.

Information found on HowStuffWorks : Introduction to How Music Distributors Work

Dannenfeldt, D. (n.d.). How music distributors work. Retrieved November 24, 2014, from 

HowStuffWorks

   

website: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/music-distributor2.htm

HowStuffWorks is a website that can explain how, pretty much, everything works. HowStuffWorks compiles collected information from reliable sources and puts it in one place. This site can explain stuff about subjects from adventure all the way to technology. There is a large section focused primarily on technology, and the information provided within this blog comes from the sub-section ‘Music.’ The particular article being focused on is one that goes into the different types of distribution and the process of distribution.

Important Quotes:

“A music distributor links a record label or independent musical group to consumers.”

** Basically, a music distributor is just one step of the line to get the music out to the listeners. It also travels through a record label before getting to the hands of a consumer.

“The goal is to sell recordings and to increase the group's visibility and popularity by convincing stores to stock and promote its recordings.”

** Music is not only produced to entertain, but it is also produced to make money and gain popularity so that again, more money can be made.

“One way to think of a music distributor is as a wholesaler. That's because the distributor buys CDs from a record label or the band itself, either directly with a purchase order or on consignment, and then sells them to retailers, who offer the CDs to consumers.”

** The music distributor sells to retailers like F.Y.E and Best Buy on a daily basis.

Music distribution is the process of getting the music from the hands of the distributors to the hands of the consumers. Music is distributed through multiple outlets; retailers, such as F.Y.E and Best Buy, and also through digital sources such as iTunes and Amazon Music Store. A music distributor connects a record label to independent music groups, and furthermore, to consumers. If the record label chooses to sign the group, then they are in charge of overseeing the recording sessions, marketing, promotion, and distribution of the CD’s to retail stores. Essentially, if a music distributor goes through a record label, they are handing off a majority of their work to another party.

Music distributors are also in charge of promotion of the products created by the record labels. Promotion incorporates all, but not limited to, displays within a store to attract consumers, media advertising (such as radio promotion), and creating in-store listening stations to give people a preview of what they would be purchasing. 

The distributors have sales reps who work to build strong relationships with the chains and independent stores selling their products. The stores buy with a purchase order. This means that they only pay the distributors for the CD’s when they are sold. 

 Lastly, Music distributors are characterized in six different ways:

1. Major label vs. independent- Some examples of major record labels are: Sony/BMG Distribution, Capitol/EMI Distribution (Time Warner), and WEA Distribution (Warner Music Group). Independent companies can be national or regional. The largest one is Curb Distribution.
2. Sub-distributors- Between large distributors and retailers are sub-distributors. They are either one-stops who sell from a number of different distributors, or rack-jobbers who actually own and run the department within a larger department or multipurpose store.
3. International, National, and Regional- Major distributors operate on a national basis, while area distributors are not as large and they focus on a specific region of the US. Then, self-explanatory, international distributors handle one or more oversea markets.
4. Online, Internet, or Digital Distributors- These distributors work to supply digital companies such as iTunes, YouTube, Rhapsody, and other web stores. Sometimes, these distributors also offer physical CD’s.
5. Niche- These are distributors that focus and specialize on a specific type of music.
6. Printed or Sheet Music- These type of distributors only account for a small share of the market. However, some distributors are actually publishers to sell musical scores, band music, pop songs, and other “on paper” works.

Stay tuned for my next blog post where I will talk extensively about the marketing aspects of music!

Information found on MusicTech : Beginner’s Guide to Music Production

Beginner's guide to music. (2013, June 26). Retrieved November 24, 2014, from MusicTech

website: http://www.musictech.net/2013/06/beginners-guide/

MusicTech is a magazine/website that brings information about music to individuals who would like to learn more about it without spending hundreds of dollars. In this particular article, published last year, the viewer is introduced to the beginning steps in the production of music. The basics are brought into focus. It also provides trustworthy information on what programs are good to use, and the programs that are not so good to use when trying to put together a musical production without going into an actual studio.

Important Quotes:

“When we talk about ‘recording’ these days what we generally mean is the process of getting external sounds – vocals and instruments – into a computer.”

**This is a very general description of recording. To really get into the definition of recording, the concept needs to be broken into many more parts.

“This virtual instrument technology has opened up different worlds of music making to whole new audiences so even if you can’t play a note on a ‘proper’ instrument, virtual instruments allow you to strum, pick, hit, tap and play, all within the safety of your virtual studio.”

**Virtual instrument technology allows people to play more “perfect” notes, rather than trying to strum, hit, or play every note on the dot.

“Arranging is simply the process of how your song develops over time, usually with an intro followed by verses and choruses.”

**Arranging involves the placement of the sounds or voices you have recorded.

Within the production of music a lot more is involved than a normal individual would guess. Many people would believe that a singer goes to a studio, records their voice, leaves, and the song is done. This is not true. Being a singer myself, I know a little bit more about the production of music. Much more is involved than just recording a singer’s voice and placing it on a track.

Within the production of a song, sounds are first recorded externally (using a real instrument; including a voice) and or internally (using an instrument created on a computer). From there the song is mixed. Within mixing the process, the arranging technique is used. Tracks are placed in order, and sometimes layered on top of each other. Generally, a song is ordered using an intro followed by a few verses and choruses. From here, the song is then mastered. Perhaps the most tedious of processes within the production, the mastering process begins as the mixing process ends. This is the process that takes the mix that was created and delivers the final “master” of the track to the end user. When mastering you should be subtle. You should never master a production just to make it louder.

This is just the basics. Each section of music production can be broken down further. Within my next blog I will delve into the basics of the distribution process and the different means of which a production is distributed.