Have you noticed how hard it is to sell your own music, or give away a free track these days? Do you wonder why it is so difficult—even with your own fans who love your music—to get them to download a free EP? And why are download cards are a complete failure for live merch tables?
I've certainly noticed a change in my ability to give music to my fans in any meaningful way. I actually started pretty heavy in the digital sphere, even pre- CDBABY, so I have some comparisons from my own account, and some good ideas of what has killed this doorway—that of giving, and selling your own digital music—which should be open.
It's easy to think that people do not consume music in the same way and that is why it is so hard to directly sell (or give away for promotional purposes) your music to fans. But if we are talking about the post-CD age, then no, that is not true at all. They consume it digitally. Duh! Streaming has cast a shadow over digital downloads, but that is still digital consumption. So why the hell is it so hard for me to let my fans buy or subscribe directly from me?
The real issue is not being able to send music to mobile listeners (which is everyone I know) in a beneficial way. Yes, you can send an email with an MP3 or post a streaming song on Twitter, but, the listeners can not take action and purchase it unless the album is already released, and in one of the music department stores.
Apple If you can fit me in the schedule today; I'd like to lay out these difficult scenarios us musicians deal with on a regular basis. And, sorry to say, your part of the problem..
(Disclaimer: I actually am not one of those Spotify haters, streaming music haters or iTunes haters. I like Spotify, and iTunes, they have both done good things for me. I'm speaking of these two brands in the context of how insane it is to try to sell your own music directly to fans)
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The illusion that Music Direct Sales Is An Option
Band 'A' Headache
Scenario #1
Band 'A' wants to give away a back catalog EP on a Facebook ad campaign to generate new email subscribers. They build a smoking hot squeeze page that tells the potential fan why they will love this band. The potential fan get's excited when they listen to the music video embed on the page. Band 'A' gives a special offer at the end of the squeeze page that says: 'Download our last award-winning EP free today for a simple email subscribe'.
The new fan Subscribes. The band has an automatic email that sends the free album to the NEW subscriber. But, How did the band send the actual audio EP to them? .. here the problem starts.
Maybe, you say, 'A Dropbox link!' Right you are. That is what Band 'A' did.
First Band 'A' will want to .zip the files together for an easy download right? Well, not right. If the end user is on a mobile device, especially an Apple device; Which most (or more) will be viewing from. They will not be able to download that zip file without some crazy third party app manipulation. So the zip idea is out. What if you sent the dropbox with just the loose mp3s in it? Then for sure the mobile user can click on each one and select 'Download' and even listen to each.
That brings up Problem #2: where does the mp3 download to? Maybe your notes app? Maybe a third party app will let you open it and save it on your phone.
Do you see what I am getting at? Even if the end user finds a way to open a zip, or download your Mp3, it is not going to go into their iTunes app. If they were able to save it on their phone somehow, they will have to go open their notepad or something to listen to your mp3s, which they probably had to spend 20 minutes downloading individually. That's crazy.
At this point Band, 'A' complains and their helpful friend tells them, _'oh, well they just need to go to their computer and transfer the files via iTunes.' They say to the helpful friend, '_you just don't get it.'
tape with code
iTunes: the CD and the Player
Apple has an mp3 player pre-installed on their mobile devices that you cannot save music to while on the mobile device.
When looking at other types of digital files I download, they do seem to have a corresponding pre-installed app that does handle the file (some of them); if that app is in relation to that type of file. For instance, someone sends me a free PDF because I subscribed to their bitcoin news blog. I can tap and open that in my iBooks app... and save it there, where all the other f%$*'n books are... of course.
I think the same is true for some other select text files. I can save pictures to my pre-installed photo app. Videos to my pre-installed video app (actually, I have to check on that.. I think I remember doing that) why for the love of Zeus can I not save music to my iTunes/music app?
I've heard that Android users are just naturally more adept at hacking stuff with apps than Apple users, but that some of the issues are the same.
First off, anytime you see this step in a marketing funnel: 'Then user hacks their device.' OR 'Then user does is asked to do an activity that they find difficult, time-consuming or frustrating' then, you need to burn your marketing plan.
**Basically, this hobbles the musician from using one of the most popular marketing techniques out there today.
The one solution there is for this problem is quite frankly a hassle even for me. If your going to tell the end fan to go to their computer, download the zip, open the zip (if they can find their downloads folder) then drag it into that ancient iTunes desktop app that takes 45 minutes to open, create a playlist, go find the newly downloaded Band 'A' EP, drag it into the playlist. Connect their iPad, and sync their music, which they have not done since they bought the iPad... enough said. That's just stupid hard in this digital ease age.**
Band 'B''s Neck Ache
Scenario #2
In Scenario #2. Band 'B' sees that they are selling a lot of iTunes downloads. After doing the math they realize with the iTunes grabbing around %20 of each sale, and their annual distributor cost, plus the transfer of money to PayPal cost, they are losing a lot of profit!
Band 'B' has a very close-knit fan base. They figure, they are the ones that sent their fans to iTunes; so why not send them to their own download sales site and make all the money. iTunes does no promotion for them anyway. If this were the CD days, iTunes is basically just the music section at a department store. Oh.. wait! That's incomplete: They are the CD player in your car also.
So Band 'B' sells their digital album via their woocommerce store on WordPress. Then all of the problems of Scenario #1 start in, but even more so, because now, the user has paid money, and their pissed because they never realized how hard it was to get loose mp3's onto their mobile device (or they just forgot how hard it was). The fan probably won't want a refund; they wanted to support Band 'B' anyway.. but they are irritated.
The fan paid money and now it's too much trouble to get it to their device. The fan tells themselves they will do it later.. but they don't. now there is a little subconscious knot of guilt behind their ribs.
Irritated or not, if they were in the least bit frustrated with the experience of trying to get their weekly-favorite bands new 'EP' on their mobile device, they probably will not go through the trouble of downloading from band B's woocommerce store again... they will just wait for the billion dollar department stores to carry Band B's EP.
Band 'C''s Heartache
Scenario #3
Band 'C' is a little long in the tooth. But not too old, they can still fit in their leather pants. They get a college tour. The first show goes great. At the end of the show, they say, hey kids! (just kidding) buy a CD of our new album on the merch table. The crowd laughs.. they have seen CD's in the museum of audio but don't even have a player.
It makes Band 'C' feel like grandmas, even though they still fit in their leather pants. So they seek to remedy the situation and find a way to sell their digital product at shows.
They find Bandcamp, 'Oh great! they give you codes to give to your fans.. we could parse these from their excel sheet, hire a printer and designer to make download cards and sell these. Or maybe they think of CD baby's expensive offer and decide to get the $50 set of pre-made CDBABY download cards.
Either way.. at the next show the crowd laughs again when they say, buy a download card for CDBABY! 'What..CD what?'
Band 'C' realizes, CDBABY was a fad to consumers, and completely driven by the artist. Now it's just a service for the artist. They go back to try Bandcamp's 'codes' after seeing how expensive it is for a printer to parse the excel sheet and then print each individual code to a separate card... they throw up their hands in rend their leather pants.. wear sackcloth and beat their chest.. okay.. you get the point.
Or, they send the bass player home to spend hours sequentially printing the Bandcamp codes on to sticker paper, then cut out each code, and stick them on their CDs, a postcard, or something, nurse the blisters on their bloody fingers from cutting out 300 codes by hand ...desperately trying to sell their music in the real world.
I'm being a little dramatic, but the truth is none of these solutions work. If they scenarios sound a little too personalized, it's because they are personal experiences of me or friends.
Scenarios of Proposed Solutions ... Oh, and Mo' problems.
Let's look at some of the solutions that are what most of us actually end up doing.
- Band 'C' ends up just telling the audience to follow them on Spotify 30 times during the set. Hoping, against hope, that maybe a few of the drunk citizens will even remember they were at the club and what the name of the band was.
This kinda works for band 'C' a few people follow them after each show. But they are still screwed. Now they have a few followers that they can not communicate with. They 'think' the followers are from that show... How would they know?
The store, of course, shares no contact data with the musician. Or allows them to directly contact their fans in any real way. And with a little luck, the new Spotify followers will listen to their new album 10,000 and they will get the $10 for the album in 0.0009 royalty checks over the next ten years from that one user that might have given them $10 bucks at the show; Ten bucks that would have helped a lot in keeping the band from giving up and getting desk jobs.
- Band 'B' is super savvy and up on the latest options. Thier drummer builds apps during the day, so he creates an app
that they can sell their music though, as a stand-alone app. No one buys it except a few super fans. Who wants to switch apps to listen to music?
Band 'B' also plays live and finds that selling digital music online is not their only problem. They have accepted that material base music delivery systems are things of the past; they accept that they must get their fans to a digital outlet of some sort.
Because they are savvy, they are an early adopter of the Spotify QR-like barcode that can be printed on stuff or even tattoed on your skin. All you have to do is open your Spotify app, go find the search function.. somewhere in there is the ability to take a picture of this barcode, and splash.. there is your band in Spotify. Band 'B' prints the Spotify code on business cards and even tattoos it on their forehead. But while trying to explain to their fans how to open the Spotify camera and take a picture of the barcode on their head.. they realize.. most fans just are not up for this kinda work. It easier just to make a mental note and search for the band later.
- Band 'A' decides to go the way of the Bandcamp ecosystem. They realize after much research that it does solve some of these problems. They can sell their music directly to fans.. the fans do have to work a little for it, but they CAN get the downloads in a single app, and stream the songs on their mobile device. It seems to have a solution, and the % cut, they decide to accept as part of the costs of selling music.
As they implement Bandcamp codes into their marketing, they find a lot of difficulties.
- First, they run into technical difficulties in their marketing squeeze page funnel. They realize how inefficient it is to mail the FREE Bandcamp download codes individually to each subscriber.
The codes are delivered in an excel sheet. Band 'C' has to sit by the computer and every time a new subscriber comes in, write an email, open excel, copy the code, and send it to the new subscriber. They think.. hmm.. there has to be an automatic way to send sequential codes from an excel sheet. They waste three weekends trying to figure out some complex third-party mailing services app, give up and accept the fact that they have to email new subscribers their codes all day. And also deal with (customer service) the emails from the new subscribers saying:
'where is my code? I signed up and it was not sent?'
band 'A': 'well.. I was asleep, I sleep sometimes, sorry, I'll open excel and get you your code. Sleep is for the dead!'
- Looking from the the consumer side of Band 'C' 's Bandcamp campaign; They quickly realize that Bandcamp truly is its own ecosystem. Fans are either Bandcamp people or they are not. And asking fans to download a third-party app to listen to your one album is the same exact problem. Bandcamp is essentially a community like SoundCloud... but can be used by anyone directly to their fans.
They also get complaints from their fans that the download process is insanely stupid. The button to download, after they have inserted the code, is like 10pt font, and does not even say download. Just says 'mp3'.
So they finally settle on just pushing Bandcamp and educating their fans over years to become 'Bandcamp' people. Which I'm sure Bandcamp loves.. but I don't. This is what I chose... because it really is the only semi-doable solution to send free music that can be on my listener's mobile device. I've made some nice profits there.. but I have also invested heavily in making my fans into BANDCAMP people, that understand how it works.
Conclusion
This post could go on for three miles. If I got deeper into the streaming side, it would go on that long. I'll just sum up with some other problems we're facing and leave the rest for another day.
Streaming aside, I think IF the download problem was solved, that being: a fan can easily download your EP form YOUR store or marketing campaign email, and add it to the 'place/app' that they listen to music; For Apple, that is the iTunes store, for Android, I'm not sure—then, bands and musicians could really make REAL campaigns for their fanbase. Right now, they are hacked campaigns, and they are all hobbled from the start... so not very effective.
This is really not only about musicians selling their own music from their website. Most bands I know actually like a third party handling music digital sales.. we have enough on our hands, we do not need to add digital e-commerce and customer support to the load.
The real issue is not being able to send music to mostly mobile listeners in a beneficial way. Yes, you can send an email with an MP3 or post a streaming song on Twitter, but, the listeners can not take action and purchase, or download into a playlist easily... unless the album is already released and in one of the music department stores.
Maybe Itunes Release specific Artist Discount Gift Cards?
You may say, well, just send them to iTunes. Give them a link. I do, but there are many problems with that. Like I said, I do like the third party to handle this. My issue is that I lose contact with my listener in the process of sending them to a third party. They essentially become customers of the third-party.
Every marketer knows you have to have data. you need to be with your potential customer through the entire funnel to see what is working and what is not. My data stops at, 'well, they clicked the iTunes link' then what? And I have to be pretty savvy to even know that.
Most of them don't buy, and if they are like me, it is because iTunes is a dinosaur. I click on links all the time with an intention to buy the download. I give up about ten-minute in, after Apple routes me through a web page, then takes 10 minutes to start opening iTunes, then blasts me with update dialogue boxes... I'm out! I'm out.. screw the album.
Add to that what I said earlier in this paragraph about marketing processes. What I said above, as the artist, I have no data. I don't know what went wrong if the cart was dropped if they left after hearing that one offensive song on the album... I don't know. Plus, if they do buy, I don't know who they are. I have no good tools to communicate with them and add them to my lifelong career.
Spotify has similar problems I won't go into.
Also, the even bigger problem for gigging musicians.
Okay, maybe they have convinced us that we musicians are now fashion salesmen, making our money off of T-shirt designs. But how do you even take action on an excited listener, and introduce them as a 'fan' into your music ecosystem?
The truth is, we musicians are all reduced to the Nike model, the multibillion-dollar brand-marketing model, where we are branding our-self, hoping that our name sticks in peoples minds when they go to the music store. That model does not work for businesses that don't have a 'branding budget', Direct sales is how small business work and musicians/bands are small businesses.
Do we even have a music product to sell them live? A USB drive? what a joke. Not cool man.
Would be nice if iTunes would let artist buy discounted cards to sell that are direct gift cards for that sole release. Spotify's new QR-like code is something I am excited about and am trying to 'educate' people at shows to use. But there lies the problem 'Educate' is not a word that needs to be at my shows.
Live, there really is no good digital music solution. We all know that the biggest opportunity for a fan to digest a new album's music is on the way home from a concert. Some do search for it in Spotify.. but I'd say half the year, at live shows, I'm promoting an album that I have not released wide yet. I'm trying to get a buzz on an album before it hits the streets. What then? Well, I'll tell you 'what then'.. they may search and find some random B-side song, that I never meant to introduce NEW fans 'to my music'. Maybe they like it, maybe it doesn't represent what they thought they liked about my live show.. either way, the problem is, absolutely no control over what my potential customers will see or hear.
Brand marketing is for Nike, Not for Joe and 'd boys Blues Band
As musicians these days we are given a 'bullhorn' and told that is our marketing tool, and our way of income. The Bullhorn is great.. but it's not the tool for every job. I think what I touched on earlier about 'brand-marketing' is what is expected of musicians/bands. I have studied marketing some, and it's true that 'Brand-Awareness/Marketing' may work for the big artists and brands.. but if any small business is trying to market in that way (brand marketing) opposed to direct sales.. they will be out of business soon. Brand marketing takes huge budgets, and capital to hold on long enough to see results.
I wrote an article the other day about selling CD's and, actually, that combined with Bandcamp has been my solution. To a degree it works, I do pretty well on CD sales and not too bad on Bandcamp sales.. but it could be a much more profitable process for both me and the listener.
I guess I just pointed out the problems with no solutions, maybe you have some solutions.. would love to hear them.
thanks
Thanks for reading. I'm glad to be here on Steemit please follow me
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