In most instances, the answer to this one is a firm YES. In fact, I’m struggling to think of an instance in which the online presence of a musician, band or music enterprise would not be enhanced by the addition of a blog.
The most common counter-argument against musicians blogging is the idea of the ‘aloof artist’ - the notion that the mystique of an inaccessible and ineffable artist adds to the value of the work itself. I’m inclined to disagree, though of course, there are exceptions. Burial is a good example of a musician with that sense of mystery - but that takes real dedication. You pretty much have to go into hiding to make that strategy worthwhile.
And, in fact, I think Burial could blog without giving the game away.
We’ll return to our regularly scheduled series of ‘questions I keep getting asked about music online‘ after the weekend. In the meantime, I just wanted to follow up this thread of video services. I tried all the ones that were suggested to me - and a couple of others too. I’ve ended up at blip.tv.
I like the interface, I’m happy with the video quality, it has some nice podcast-friendly applications - but it’s also very simple and very user-friendly. I’ve grown to like the idea of the 90-second “long photograph” of Flickr - but for my purposes, this will do me. And besides - quite a few readers reported problems with the image embed in RSS readers.
And to those who’ve asked “why not Vimeo?” (the closest contender): It’s the typography. The font they put over the videos themselves is kind of ugly. Until something better comes along (or unless this proves to be a feed-reader unfriendly move to make), I’m hitching my video blogging wagon to blip.tv.
I’m looking forward to putting some whole seminars up there. Next addition is the tripod and a decent mic to attach. Recommendations?
Chris Garrett is one of the better bloggers on the subject of blogging.
Regardless of what business you’re in, the act of being an authority — or, as I’ve put it elsewhere, being thought of as an opinion leader — is a very strong driver of traffic, builder of loyalty and securer of careers. More so than pretty much any other online strategy you might care to name.
As an independent music industry professional, musician or related entrepreneur, ‘what you think’ is hugely important - perhaps an even more important asset than ‘who you know’. As long as a) you tell people; and b) they think you’re right.
Chris is running a competition on his blog. It’s a really great opportunity - and I’d like for you to win it please.
A whole bunch of local blogfriends went off to Austin, Texas this week to attend South By Southwest Interactive - which is kind of the tech end of what is probably the biggest music industry conference and festival on the planet.
I’ve been to some cool places recently, but that didn’t stop me being dead jealous of everyone.
But I like to think that having a bit of distance and perspective on the whole thing stops you from getting carried away with the spirit of the moment - and lets you see the real trends and significant lessons from the whole thing. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.
"Music futurist", "Music thought leader", "Music business innovator". Whatever jargon you might want to use to describe Andrew you'll be using the word 'Music' and wanting to know what he has to say about the subject.
