BigChampagne's Ultimate Chart (a/o February 10th):
1. “What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger),” Kelly Clarkson
2. “Set Fire to the Rain,” Adele
3. “Turn Me On,” David Guetta
4. “Rack City,” TYGA
5. “Good Feeling,” Flo Rida
6. “Smooth Criminal (Glee Cast Version),” Glee Cast
7. “Young, Wild & Free,” Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa
8. “Domino ,” Jessie J
9. “Sexy and I Know It,” LMFAO
10. “Ass Back Home ,” Gym Class Heroes
Okay, we got the memo: touring is facing serious challenges, especially this summer. But as the economics around the traditional gig start to fall apart, a number of companies are slowly piecing together a more strategic and updated method for hitting the road. That includes GigMaven, Nimbit, Next Big Sound, and every band, promoter, and agent looking at this space afresh.
Ideas please? Nimbit CEO Bob Cramer is done with the old way of gigging. Nimbit is trying to win by offering a broader, more comprehensive direct-to-fan utility, and that includes touring. In response to an earlier article in Digital Music News on an API tie-up between GigMaven and Next Big Sound, Cramer noted that targeted touring is best approached as an outgrowth of a broader direct-to-fan approach.
So, anyone who just wants to fire up the tour bus and go deserves to be fired. "Since every interaction with your fans is captured and tracked... you now have the data to know where your fans are, and where your most avid and best (most interaction, bought stuff from you) fans are," Cramer commented (the more detailed response - worth the read - is here).
This is part of a bigger theme, because well-tracked data means that artists, labels, or anyone in-between can identify the most valuable fans and super-serve accordingly. For example, Topspin uses its platform to quickly locate the biggest spenders - or, for that matter, the most influential Twitterers in the fanbase. These VIPs are most likely to spend more, or spread the word to others.
Sounds like Superfan 101, but make no mistake, this is quickly becoming a finicky concertgoer's market. And that means performances need to be tight, entertaining, and totally memorable. "A tight economy has made consumers very selective with their entertainment budgets," commented Brett McCrossen, CEO of music licensing firm Audiosocket, also in the same thread. "It's going to be hard to accept shorter set times, poor sound quality and mediocre performances. Those artists that provide a memorable experience will be the winners."
Comments Closed
PartlyCloudy Friday, July 09, 2010
This is definitely new terrain. I'd also say (and you mentioned eariler) that pricing is critical here. Drop the price and lots of new things start happening, people in the end need stuff to do after all. Yes people are broke, but not so broke that they can't pay for ISP bills, DVDs, gas etc. So it has to get down to reasonable levels, not just one Coachella or whatever a year.
Aaron Marks Friday, July 09, 2010
Without being able to rely on recorded music sales as a solid income stream, touring is shifting from a "Lose money but promote the record" venture to "This is one of our main ways to bring in income." It's no longer an option for artists to, essentially, guess as to where their fans might be located or what sized venues they can play well to. Specific fan information is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity.
The website I founded, Tourbinder, is actually all about helping bands better plan and manage tours by geo-targeting fans and matching bands with properly sized venues. We're planning a Fall 2010 launch, and despite the tone of yesterday's WSJ article on touring, I'm sure the industry can hold out until then!
Aaron Marks
Founder, Tourbinder.com
http://www.tourbinder.com
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