This might actually be the question I get asked most often. At the end of a seminar, a lecture or a guest talk at some event, somebody will raise their hand, and ask the question. I kind of dread it, because I can only really disappoint every time I answer it, but almost every time I speak, it comes up again.
“Hi, that was interesting and I can see that I’m going to have to pay more attention to the web / put an RSS feed on my site / get my own URL / use innovative strategies to promote my music, etc. I’ve read your 20 Things e-book, and I want to implement all that stuff…
“But can you please point me to an example of someone who is doing all of the things you suggest really well, so I can model my site after theirs?”
The answer, happily, is “no”
Of course, it would be great if there was a perfect example. An archetype of online music success. The poster child for New Music Strategies. But it would also mean that I’m wrong about pretty much everything.
Because although there’s no shortage of artists, labels, independent retailers, collectives and other music enterprises doing interesting things online, I struggle to think of an instance of someone who has everything spot-on and can stop trying now.
But in a way, that’s kind of cool. We should strive for constant improvement. There’s a reason this site is called New Music Strategies rather than New Music Solutions. For a start, I don’t think there ARE solutions. At least not ones that can be universally applied.
If you’ve missed it so far, part of my whole thing is that you have to customise. You need to play to your own unique strengths and innovate, rather than looking for ‘The New Model‘.
Strategies are simply things to try. Approaches to take. Ways in which to connect the dots that capitalise on what’s unique about your own situation.
Mapping someone else’s model onto what you do is, to my mind, almost a guarantee that you’re doing it wrong – because it forgets the most important ingredients: what you do, who your audience is, and what tools you have at your disposal to connect with that specific audience in the way that will be most meaningful and useful to them.
Instances of good practice
But, yeah – that’s a bit of a cop-out, because there are people doing really brilliant stuff. Some of it can be repurposed, and some of it serves as inspiration to go out and do something comparable, even if it isn’t directly applicable to your own site.
My preferences are the ones that aren’t simply cookie-cutter websites with an ‘About Us’ page, a ‘Listen’ page and a ‘Contact’ page. And nor is it those ones that rely utterly on Flash to look cool, but break all of the rules of simple, usable design.
But I’m not going to tell you which they are. I want you to tell me.
Which are the artist or music business websites that you would nominate for an award, if such a thing existed? What record label’s site keeps you coming back? Which band has a site that makes you more of a fan than ever? What’s the “perfect” music industry website?
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Definately Nine Inch Nails. Already so with the old website, but even more now.
Personally I would suggest the XL website. Thy have essentially turned their website into a blog. This, I believe, shows a radical shift in what the user wants from a record label’s with constant updates being made throughout the day, although I do believe it could be made far more user interactive.
Sorry – should have said: Can you please include the links, in order to make it easier for other NMS readers to go check these sites out?
So far:
http://www.nin.com/
http://www.xlrecordings.com/
Thanks.
(First time poster, long time reader. Canada loves the Dubber)
I’ve been following singer/songwriter David Usher since the day I first picked up a guitar.
Now is the most exciting time to be a fan of David’s music due to the sheer immediacy of the content. A feeling of personal accessibility has been deliberately cultivated between fan/artist, and is well executed.
Acoustic versions of new songs are shared with fans well before they make their way to album form. The studio process is tastefully documented, rehearsals footage is available, and special moments in live gigs filmed by fans are often featured in the blog.
The main page features a content steady blog, twitter updates, a “David Usher TV” station, instant access to online album purchase, and a fan updated flickr slide show.
Not a perfect website, but it really incentivizes curiosity and participation in a way that makes me feel like I’m part of the music. Consider me engaged.
http://www.davidusher.com/
Here’s a few guys who seem to be doing pretty well online:
Jonathan Coulton – http://www.jonathancoulton.com
Jody Whitesides – http://www.jodywhitesides.com
Scott Andrew – http://www.scottandrew.com
(I have, of course, shamelessly stolen some of their best ideas for my own website…)
Possibly, the question could be rephrased into: who’s doing this stuff successfully? I don’t know whether and what kind of data is available, but it would certainly help if we could see some case studies of these principles at work in a given context.
Any suggestions, Andrew? Or maybe the readers have stories of their own they’d like to share?
It is quite funny that after my first finding this site maybe 1 or 2 years ago, I purposefully designed a “brochure” site for my upcoming album which served as a listening station for the journalists and bloggers.
I was well aware of the advice Mr Dubber and the rest of the gang were offering in this web 2.0 atmosphere, but as usual, didn’t want to follow the trend until I knew exactly what we were going to do, nothing more frustrating than having a great idea and executing it badly, and on hindsight I am glad we held out, as those ideas can now be used fresh!
this is the “brochure” site: http://www.yeticave.co.uk
I am now in the process of building a permanent “artist” site for my tracks, as well as a new site for the label and a music retail store with premium content as well as unsigned bands.
These latter sites WILL use the information I have gleamed from this site (and others..) and I will find it fascinating to see what people have created when compiled into a “best of” list on this site….
Jay
I think those that do this come in all shapes and sizes and make whatever they can work for them.
Here’s my list:
Jonathan Coulton – http://www.jonathancoulton.com (Jim noted)
Scott Andrew – http://www.scottandrew.com (Jim noted)
Jill Sobule – http://www.jillsnewrecord.com/
Gavin Mikhail – http://www.gavinmikhail.com/
I Hate Mornings – http://www.ihatemornings.com/
Brad Sucks – http://www.bradsucks.net/
Nice Peter – http://www.nicepeter.com/
The Brobdingnagian Bards – http://www.thebards.net/
Beatnik Turtle – http://www.thesongoftheday.com/
I think all of these are all independent artists though I think Jill was on a label (like NIN, Radiohead).
Some I pulled from the Beatnik Turtle’s guys book “The Indie Band Survival Guide” which is very practical and talks new music solutions (at Amazon.com but I got mine at Borders, but also their older free guide from 2006 is still free at http://www.indiebandsurvivalguide.com to download). Krzysztof – if your looking for case studies, the book version is your best bet.
Also, the book makes a good point that successfully means different things to everyone. Some like Jonathan Coulton are doing music for a living, some aren’t and do it anyway. It would be good to know who’s doing what.
When we ask that question – “who’s doing this stuff well?” – we’re not asking for a model to follow. Like the rest of your site we appreciate the strategies offered, and some case studies from your own experience and point of view would take the theoretical and make it practical.
So yes, while I agree there is no perfect archetype and no ‘example new model site’, certainly you’ve come across (of have worked with) artists who are attempting to perfect the ideas communicated in New Music Strategies. I would still love to hear what those are.
But for my part, in response to the post, I came across an independent artist from Canada last week who I was quite impressed with: Anna Vandas (http://www.annavandas.com).
She’s doing a number of things right
- She communicates regularly through her blog
- She offers full song streams of all songs on her record
- She offers free downloads of videos for your iPod
But what struck me the most was the way she strives to blend her talents and make them into a collective whole (music, painting, and dance). All these art forms are integrated on her site, and they complement each other extremely well.
I think Brad from http://www.bradsucks.net is one person who’s doing it right.
I drew inspiration from him and almost everyone trying new models when putting together my website.com
JIM OFFERMAN,
Those are some good ones…. I’m going to incorporate a few of those ideas into my site as well… lol…
thanx…
I would like put forward my own personal website, if I may be so bold.
I’ve used a lot of your advice Andrew, and have had considerable success since.
A large part of my project is that all my music, files and music tutorial videos are free, and the word of mouth has been traveling very quickly, especially over the last 3 or 4 months with my online membership approaching 5000 and increasing exponentially each day.
I make a significant amount of money (well, enough to live as just a musician) by living off donations.
Please take a look, and feel free to rip it to bits.
http://www.TomCosm.com
Cheers
-Tom
There are many new models emerging and exciting times ahead for both consumers and music. At We7 we believe that the best way to reduce piracy and make sure artists and labels get paid is to give them what they already have, but better. So, create a service that is free (ad-funded), easier and safer to use, with all the music you want to listen to.
Steve Purdham
CEO – We7
http://www.we7.com
I think musicians who do this stuff well come in all shapes and sizes. They take the ideas that work for them. Here’s my list of musicians:
Jonathan Coulton – http://www.jonathancoulton.com/ (Jim noted)
Scott Andrew – http://www.scottandrew.com/ (Jim noted)
Jill Sobule – http://www.jillsnextrecord.com
Gavin Mikhail – http://www.gavinmikhail.com/
I Hate Mornings – http://www.ihatemornings.com/
Brad Sucks – http://www.bradsucks.net/ (also mentioned above)
The Brobdingnagian Bards – http://thebards.net/
Nice Peter – http://www.nicepeter.com/
Beatnik Turtle – http://thesongoftheday.com/
This list is all independent musicians I think, though I know Jill was on a label at one point (like NIN, Radiohead, etc.).
Some of these musicians I pulled from the Beatnik Turtle guy’s book “The Indie Band Survival Guide” which is very practical and talks new music solutions. (I got mine at Borders, it’s up at Amazon, but they still have their old 2006 guide you can download for free at indiebandsurvivalguide.com). Krzysztof, for case studies of principles at work, I think the book is the best bet as it goes into this stuff and is way more in depth.
The book makes a point that I agree with in that what means “success” means different things to different people. I know some musicians like Jonathan Coulton are making a living off of doing music, but otehrs just do it anyway. It would be good to know who’s making a living I think.
For examples of record label or music industry sites, I just don’t really care in that it’s really about following the musician.
My first comment didn’t take so here’s take two. I figured out it’s too many hyperlinks, so I cut them all so the comment can post…
I think musicians who do this stuff well come in all shapes and sizes. They take the ideas that work for them. Here’s my list of musicians:
Jonathan Coulton – (Jim noted above)
Scott Andrew – (Jim noted above)
Jill Sobule
Gavin Mikhail
I Hate Mornings
Brad Sucks (noted above)
The Brobdingnagian Bards
Nice Peter
Beatnik Turtle
This list is all independent musicians I think, though I know Jill was on a label at one point (like NIN, Radiohead, etc.).
Some of these musicians I pulled from the Beatnik Turtle guy’s book “The Indie Band Survival Guide” which is very practical and talks new music solutions (www.indiebandsurvivalguide.com). That book makes a point that I agree with in that what means “success” means different things to different people. I know some musicians like Jonathan Coulton are making a living off of doing music, but others just do it anyway. It would be good to know who’s making a living I think.
For examples of record label or music industry sites, I just don’t really care in that it’s really about following the musician.
I’ve been working on a British rock band 51/50s’ online presence for some months and I’ve got to say that it is a process, which needs continuous refinement. There’s always something that you had not thought about and then you have to re-think how to implement the new ideas to the already existing online presence smoothly.
Personally I’m quite happy with 51/50s’ online presence at the moment, but at the same time I already have 10 new ideas, which I’m planning to implement very soon. You can check out the current status of the band’s online presence at http://5150smusic.com
My apologies – the Akismet spam filter has been over-enthusiastic over the past couple of days and has been mis-filing perfectly good comments.
If comments have more than two links in them, they are generally held for approval before they make it to the site – because a lot of links is usually a good indicator of spam. But of course, when you actually ask people to leave links…
Man, I love this post. I’ve recently adjusted my site so that it’s as WEB 2.0. as it can possibly be… lol
Things I’ve implemented:
1. Currently most of the music are free downloads. Right now I’m interested more in building a fan base than actually trying to sell the music. (Right now… that is).
2. I’ve included donation links near each download asking fans that if they enjoyed the music, feel free to pay whatever they think it’s worth. I also have a Karmafan widget where people can donate as well.
3. Along with the free version of the album, I’m also offering an ENHANCED version that includes some acapellas and goes for about $5. Those who purchase the enhanced version of the album can enter the remix contest in which i’ll give the winner $200. You can only enter if you’ve purchased the enhanced version of the album though.
4. I’ve created a blogging tools section where blogs/websites can grab widgets that stream whole albums and YouTube samplers of every song on the album if they want to post individual songs.
5. As a result of the links posted by JIM, I’ve just implemented a “demo club” where I’ll post unreleased music and instrumentals in an effort to get fans to become members of the site.
6. Of course I have the blog that’s updated on a weekly basis and the forums in which i’m trying to inspire posting.
7. Since I also have a production company in which I do tracks for other artists, I’ve decided to forego having a dedicated production site and start selling instrumentals from my record site. The logic is, any artists that’s listening to the album might actually want to get a few tracks from me. I’ve only put up 3 tracks out of the 80 that I have… as a test.
8. The usual links to my MySpace and Jamendo pages. (Have to get around to setting up a Facebook page)
As I get more ideas from this site, I’ll definitely be sure to implement the ones that make sense for my genre. This is really an exciting time to be an indie….
You can see the stuff I’ve implemented at:
http://www.universalindie.com
Its gotta be bleep.com for there excellent website design. So many people are doing something not quite as good.
I echo the sentiments about NIN and XL Recordings too.
And AKIRA the DON dot com. Super dope.
Thanks for being there.
Andrew Potterton.
P.S. I’m an example of what not to do,m usually. But I’m learning.
How I Became the Bomb just re-tooled their website, and I think it’s perfect for them. And like Dubber said, the “for them” is the most important part of the equation.
How I Became the Bomb.com
Quite a few examples of sites ‘doing it well’ above, thanks to all.
Even browsing through them gave me a little case of ‘interactivity fatigue,’ and made me wonder: At what point does a music fan “burn out” after seeing multiple calls to remix songs, join an Eventful list, watch a rehearsal video, link through Facebook, subscribe to a recording-session-progress feed, etc?
At that point, I suppose, it’ll be up to the music to successfully overcome that fatigue and engage a fan. Either way, all the enabling technology is slowly becoming a “necessary standard” to keep pace.
Fun stuff. :)
Thanks for the mention, Jim and Tim. I would include Josh Woodward and 100 Year Picnic:
http://www.joshwoodward.com
http://www.100yearpicnic.com/
Garagespin has a great point about fan fatigue. I think that the method and frequency with which you engage fans should be relevant to your audience’s needs and habits.
Many artists seem to think that, to do this well, they have to put on a constant Web 2.0-powered puppet show to maintain audience attention. I think this can be bad for artists in the long run.
Do you really have to blog/twitter/youtube constantly? Is your audience SO fickle that they’ll forget all about you unless you provide a perpetual stream of low-value noise?
I think artists are better off focusing on delivering real value to their fans and potential fans, and that might mean (horrors!) less blogging, less twittering, fewer widgets. You should aim to be the artist they WANT to hear from, whose emails are opened immediately and posts are read at once because they’re worth the time and attention.
You certainly DON’T want to qualify for “Mark All Read” in someone’s feed reader.
Who’s using social media in creative ways?
Here’s a perfect example:
http://digg.com/music/The_6_Most_Face_Melting_Guitar_Solos_Ever
I thought I’d better comment on this post as I’ve been looking at and evaluating bands websites for around four years. Not long I know, but I’ve looked at hundreds, if not thousands of bands websites. And do you know what has astonished me the most? About 6 months ago I went through the links I have for “Bands Websites That I Really Like”, I found to my amazement that All the bands had either deceased or given up their websites and moved to MySpace! Yeah, I’ve started a new list.
Of course the word “Perfect” does not really exist when used in conjunction with “website”, even though a website may seem perfect when one visits it on the day. It may be perfect for you, but it’s not perfect for me, or is that the other way round? If a band targets their website towards their audience, they will achieve their greatest success. I totally agree with the thrust of Andrew’s post.
It may seem an obvious thing to say, but, the Internet is an ever evolving, always changing medium. So even if you do “model your site after theirs”, it will soon be old hat. Want to make a stunning website? Design your website for a small group of friends whose opinions you value. Get their feedback and keep acting on it.
Anyway, here’s a couple of imperfect websites I like:
http://www.sandithom.com/
http://www.travisonline.com/
Please forgive some shameless self-promotion. I am one of the founders of http://www.noisetrade.com/. We started our company after my partner, Derek Webb grew his fan email list from 5000 to 85,000 in three months by giving away an album and giving his fans tools to virally tell their friends about the free album. We launched a few months ago and currently have a little more than 100 artists using our widget, which can be embedded anywhere.
Most of our artists are still trying to figure out what their “new model” will look like, but we have a few, like Katie Herzig, The Major Labels, Sandra McCracken and Sixpence None The Richer who are already seeing significant results from building a meaningful relationship with their fans.
Joe
We’ve been trying to adapt ideas from Nettwerk/Music 2.0/social media for the relaunch of Hue And Cry. We leaned heavily on the wonderful Ning platform, and used it as a combination btween YouTube and Friends (Fans) Reunited, to reanimate our 80′s constituency. We call it the Hue and Cry Music Club – http://hueandcry.ning.com. Going to explore all these other great sites on this excellent weblog, to see what else we can pick up.
best pat kane, hue and cry
bespoke new music selections from people who seem to really know their stuff. this site has introduced me to a lot of really interesting new music in a novel way
http://www.14tracks.com
Despite the fact that I’m my nominee’s New Media Marketing Manger, as a 30-year career jazz artist, Kirk Whalum has chosen to return jazz (and in his case the essence of the gospel) back to a place of being innovative and engaging…sound familiar to Web 2.0? Much cooler things (designs and strategies) are being planned for 2009. He is completely establishing real connections and relationships with fans and passersby with his artistry and candor ( openly confessed love for Christ ) Among his jazz contemporaries, he’s by far the most progressive adaptor to this New Media World. It’s time the rest of the world knows. -Ajani
http://www.kirkwhalum.com
http://blog.kirkwhalum.com
http://www.twitter.com/KirkWhalum
http://www.myspace.com/kirkwhalum
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kirk-Whalum/578978377
P.S. Wonderful blog Andrew! One day I hope to start one just as informative.
I want to know exactly what Vera has to say with this!!!
Best regards,
Glenda
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