When most of us hear about digital and the music industry it is usually connected with downloads, declining CD sales or itunes. The recent news that all album tracks are now eligible for the singles chart caused a bit of fuss for the Arctic Monkeys last week, and is the latest in a long line of press around the subject.
However, we think there is another side to digital marketing that labels should be paying attention to.
Here in search marketing, we have the consumer telling you *exactly* what they want…in their *own* language. Where else are you blessed with that information? No second guessing what the market wants..or hedging your bets with a scatter gun approach. We think that researching what fans are searching for would give some insights into what bands and or even what album projects, styles or sounds are worth banking on – be it in digital or physical format.
Using this data you might then start using paid search to target those searchers with a timely advertising message – be it the next single release date, or the next gig..or even along the lines of Amazons’ recommendation function - ‘‘if you like this band, then you may like this band..’’ Measuring responses and directing searchers to label homepages to sign up for mailing lists, enter competitions or listen to new tracks would give you a pretty good jump start on building a solid fan base.
And don’t forget to trademark your up and coming acts, as well as those more established, to prevent others bidding on the name. A quick search for Groove Armada shows londonpaper.com bidding on the name…and no-one else. That’s a missed chance to promote their new album for instance.
This is fairly straightforward, but where it gets even more interesting is when you look at the potential of using the tools and methodology we have developed to explore music communities online. These could be used to explore fan forums, blogs and so forth– and begin to analyse sentiment around a potential band signing for instance.
Tell me an A&R man or product manager who wouldn’t want to know what fans think of a developing act! The key here is observing the conversations in those online communities, in their natural state, and using that data to inform your strategy. SonyBMG are already using blogs to hone their A&R process, but this is more about linking with potential signings, than the fan bases.
With niche fan bases being formed within online communities at an increasingly rapid rate, understanding how to engage with them, with the right content, and right message is crucial to marketing success. This type of market research is right where our content and media team heads are at, so we think there are opportunities here for forward thinking labels, willing to engage with social media.
We’d love to know what you think…
May 16th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
These tools and methodology can be applied throughout an artist/products lifespan. Managers and Labels could potentially tailor and adapt to changing needs/sentiments with even greater confidence and effectiveness.
A year after a bands first release, what do people really think about their debut? What are peoples thoughts on the current tour, last nights gig, interviews, podcast or headline in this months NME? With access to this type of information, labels have the ability to increase the lifespan of an artist/product, increase loyalty, increase their product line/merchandise offerings, the power to give music lovers the added value they demand and that consumers are willing to pay a higher price to receive.
This information is also invaluable to Marketing and PR departments as sentiment could affect future marketing spend needed to generate sales, or determine the marketing plan/model to be used on the next single for instance.
It may be worth mentioning ‘Brand Equity’ in some shape or form. Could our tools help determine how powerful, or devalued a brand/artist actually is in the market place, locally, globally. This list goes one really, new markets, countries where there is untapped fanbase etc.