My friend Adam sent me a link to a Wall Street Journal story today that I’m really glad I read. It is one that is encouraging for me personally and reminded me that the little guy still can win the music business. You know the story…because it’s essentially the long-held dream story for millions of artists and musicians around the world.
It’s the story of a young, mildly talented musician in small town USA who was sorta down on his luck. He broke up with his girlfriend…and broke-up with his long-time band. Feeling lost and discouraged, he retreated to his parents’ hunting cabin, somewhere out in BFE, and recorded a few songs he’d been working on, using only an old desktop computer, a three-piece drum set, and a guitar.
A few months later, he decided to put the songs up on his MySpace page, merely hoping to get a little interest and feedback from friends and family. He also printed 500 copies of a CD with those songs to sell to friends and fans and send out to some music bloggers for reviews…
That was the spark that lit the fire. Over the span of about one year, the artist would go on to sign to a record label, sell nearly 100,000 copies of his CD, tour the world…the whole nine yards…David Letterman too. Now he’s well on his way and can pretty confidently say he’s “made it.”
This is the story of Bon Iver. By now, if you’re up on all of the hottest indie artists, you probably know who he is. And for the record, his CD is most definitely making the Pet Marmoset Year End list that will be published tomorrow. And while all of this makes for a great, heartfelt story – a story that should encourage all of us in the music biz… the encouragement alone is not my point.
If you dig deeper – and read the Wall Street Journal story – you’ll see that one of the biggest catalysts to Bon Iver‘s success is how he utilized and leveraged Communication 2.0. I’m talking about blogging, social networking, email, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc.
As I like to say, music is like trees. Yes, it’s true. We all know that when a tree falls in the woods, but no one is around to hear it, it essentially makes no sound at all. Just like falling trees, if music is made, but isn’t evangelized, shared and communicated out to the world, it too essentially makes no sound at all.
With virtually no marketing budget, no label supporting him and no team of managers, publicists and promoters helping him, Bon Iver sounded the alarm and found a way to get his music out to the masses. His “Do It Yourself” exposure on blogs, YouTube, social-networking, online marketing and similar methods helped him build a following quickly and cheaply.
Simply put – if you are a musician, band or artist and you don’t have a blog, aren’t using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube… If you aren’t growing your email list and sending regular emails to your fans – not just “show announcement” emails, but real, sincere emails that build a dialogue and cultivate a relationship with your fans… If you aren’t AT LEAST doing these basic things, then you might as well give up and resign to only playing in your garage for yourself.
You see, the world is moving on without you. Communication has changed. It’s all about dialogue today and interactive, two-way relationships. And while technology in and of itself is not the answer…it plays an important role. The smart kids, like Bon Iver, have figured it out and are running circles around you. Seriously. If you aren’t up on technology, social networking and online communication – you haven’t got a chance.
It’s time to do something about it.
You can start by reading this article on Bon Iver:
WSJ: Musician Finds a Following Online
[Article courtesy of The Wall Street Journal]
Here is Bon Iver’s hit, Skinny Love: Bon Iver – Skinny Love
Here is a sweet little videos piece, documenting Bon Iver’s rise through new media strategies:
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