Blog Post 6

Everyone has an opinion. This is the beauty of blogging. For those of you reading this blog, you are trusting that my opinion has some value. At times, I would agree with you, but since you are here, I will talk to you today about something other than my opinion. Instead, let’s look at the opinion of other bloggers, just like me. Well not really just like me, because these bloggers are sponsored, making money, “experts,” etc. But just for pretend…

In order to better understand my topic for my future paper (one dealing with the music industry and marketing to consumers in such), I will use the opinions of other blogs to gain some perspective. The first blog is known as the Digital Music Weblog. This blog actually no longer is active, but the archives are available and great sources of information. After browsing around for a bit, I picked up on a few things. One post discusses the mistakes of labels past. A specific example comes in Paris Hilton. Her record company (Warner) made a huge mistake in promoting Paris Hilton’s record. The label was banking on the celebrity’s name to sell records, and the nightmare that ensued ended up hurting business far more then helping. The celebrity (I would never say artist in talking about Paris) only pushed 13,000 copies of her album over counters. A pathetic attempt at best, this shows the disconnect between labels and fans. Who really wanted to hear if Paris could sing? Not I. And thus, I didn’t buy. Conclusion – don’t waste money on cheap Hollywood celebrity tricks. Wait, did I just say cheap?

Quite the opposite. In fact, because Warner felt so strongly about Paris’ ability to sell records, they gave her very little in terms of restrictions as an agent of Warner. The expense of promoting her record included the label paying for the transportation of her entourage, totaling over $300,000 for a hotel bill. Hmmm, when an artist makes about 9.8 cents per song sold, how does one break even on a deal like this? Can you think of a better place $300,000 might have been spent for Warner? How about investing in marketing real music to consumers; music that people actually want to buy. This is the opinion of one such blog article found on the Digital Music Weblog.

Future of Music is another blog giving opinions on the Music industry. In this blog, the most recent article discusses the past, present, and future of the music industry. Some interesting insights include the cycles of the business, the artists themselves, Elvis, the Beatles, etc, etc, etc. One of the more interesting paragraphs I found was about the new business model. Or rather, the new artist model. They discuss how the music business historically has never given power to the artist. 95% of all artists were never fairly compensated for their work. That is scary, considering consumers direct connection is with the artist, not the labels. Luckily, according to this blog, this is changing. The new business model puts power in hand of the artist. Whereas merchandise was the sure way to make money for artists without help of a label, nowadays the artist sits at the center of possibility in controlling their career. Creative and business control has strengthened the relationship of the artist to the consumer. As we begin to better understand this relationship, we move towards a more efficient marketing plan.

There are far too many music blogs out there to list. The truth is, everyone has an opinion about it, but no one knows who is right. Using blogs as another tool to gain customer insights for the music industry bodes well, as you can never have enough perspectives. I look forward to learning more through others’ eyes.