Band vs Noise - Music Marketing MythBusting: Recent Episodes

JCALdigital.org | @joshuacliston

Join guitarist, Podcaster and former DIY Music Movement host Josh Liston as we go deep into what exactly makes for a "successful" second-act music career.

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What does knowing what the average salary of a Spotify employee really tell you?

  1. Most music blogs no matter how great the writing and editorial content, seem to struggle with statistical data, and
  2. When a company has several highly paid executives who's salaries are several orders of magnitude greater than every other employee in the company, Average-Salary becomes a mostly meaningless figure.

Is spending your time reading, researching and commenting on such things actually helping your music career? The Answer = NO IT ISN'T!

Proposed Thought Technology: "Worry less about the salaries of music tech employees (and the publications that surround them) and more about spending your energies on song writing, recording, touring and getting to know your fans."

Band vs Noise Podcast RSS Feed: http://bandvsnoise.libsyn.com

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
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Today Josh replays (R) a small portion of an interview from 2014 with Josh T and George from The Buskers Guide - professional buskers, musicians and documentary film makers. The Buskers Guide (Josh and George) are two guys who have made their way around Australia and many parts of S/E Asia using their music as the vehicle, and we're hoping to bring their brand of hard-won knowledge to Band vs Noise.

This is just an introduction to two hard working and down-to-earth musicians who are out there really doing it, and they're not responsibility free 18 years old dudes, they're adults who aim to find a balance between ambition and embracing the moment. Good blokes both.

Band vs Noise Podcast RSS Feed: http://bandvsnoise.libsyn.com

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
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In this episode Josh L talks about his own failings in keeping song writing and performing at the centre of his musical world as opposed to music marketing. He introduces what he sees as the "marketing-your-marketing problem" and then goes on to explain how a musician or band might be able to spot if their focus has shifted away from what's really important - the completion of the best music and lyrics possible.

Proposed Thought Technology: "Avoid focussing all your time and effort on marketing content that in turn needs its own heavy investment of marketing energy (marketing-your-marketing) - focus instead on creating the very best core-art (in this case music and lyrics) that you can."

Band vs Noise Podcast RSS Feed: http://bandvsnoise.libsyn.com

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
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In this episode Josh discusses his thoughts about Doing One Thing every day, and how it has impacted his song writing and love of playing guitar of late.

Stuff mentioned in this Episode:

  • "Ne Obliviscaris" Patreon Bio
  • Austin Kleon's Books
  • How a simple re-string and neck adjustment to Josh's treasured Taylor acoustic over the period of two days lead to some new music, and oh yeah, "that sweet sweet Taylor new-string sound."

Proposed Thought Technology - "The accumulation of small yet focussed efforts every day can lead to massive results.."

Band vs Noise Podcast RSS Feed: http://bandvsnoise.libsyn.com

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In this episode Josh reads and discusses the first segment of Ne Obliviscaris' powerful Patreon bio - this is part 1 of a multiple part podcast series.

All writing credits to 'Ne Obliviscaris' for the following piece:

"..Let's Empower the People.

The music industry is changing and we need to change with it.

We have inherited a broken system that is no longer what it once was, yet has not found a definitive new way forward. A system where only the biggest of the big bands are able to make a living and the rest of us sacrifice our whole lives and risk financial ruin every step of the way.

So where to from here? Well, we want to create an interactive fan experience unlike any band that has come before us.

We want to help create a path, not just for Ne Obliviscaris, but for the countless bands across the world that are working incredibly hard, touring the world to perform for their fans and losing money every step of the way.

And we want to do it by empowering YOU, the fans, so that you get to decide who succeeds and who doesn’t. The old establishment is dying. Let’s show that we can create our own new way forward and put the power back where it should be, with the fans who love and believe in the music that we, and so many great bands out there are creating.

To start with though, we want to give you guys a bit more background on the reality of our situation, and then we’ll explain exactly how you can get involved in our career in an unprecedented new way.."

Band vs Noise Podcast: http://bandvsnoise.libsyn.com

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
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R.I.P Prince.

What do you do when your second or third act music career just won’t get off the ground? This is a tough question we know - but your not suffering alone - your host Josh (@joshuacliston on Instagram) has been asking himself that very same question.

Josh has come to the conclusion that although the broader question is incredibly hard (and maybe even impossible) to cover in a single Podcast episode - or even from a single persons perspective - he does feel that the following three question may provide a good place to start.

  1. Are you really stuck, or are you just being lazy?
  2. Are you trying to make music that doesn’t energise your efforts? And/or are you trying to create music with (or for) people who you don’t have much in common with anymore?
  3. What one, two, or three things (probably tough things) are you prepared to do to make your music creation process and performance work?

Thanks so much for reading, and if these ideas interest you please subscribe to podcast, or just give this a share somewhere that matters to you, with people who matter to you. ~ Josh

Band vs Noise Podcast: http://bandvsnoise.libsyn.com

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
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See the written post here: http://www.jcaldigital.org/bandvsnoise/2016/4/2/ep-10-audioblog-ala-carte-vs-all-in-one-music-marketing-services

Or read the entire list below - Josh compares why a band would go with either a potentially more powerful and flexible à la carte music marketing service mix, or simplify and go with a potentially more stable and less complicated ALL-in-One music marketing platform.

Follow Josh on Instagram here: @joshuacliston on Instagram.

À La Carte vs All-in-one Music Marketing Services.

"In a world full of music marketing services and platforms, music marketing consultants and coaches with their own favourite tools, and advice coming from every direction (incl. from your "well read" non-musical uncle who has never created a song in his life) how are we the creators meant to decide what tools to choose and use to take our music towards our artistic goals?

This question has plagued both myself and my band mates in the past, so in an attempt to clarify my own thinking around the idea of "music marketing service platforms" I decided to break the mindset around music tools into two distinct categories: All-in-One platforms and À la carte services.

What was I looking for?

  1. A solid reputation for online-support; as I'm based in Australia I want to know that I don't have to make an angry international phone call just to get some help when things go wrong (and they always ALWAYS go wrong!)
  2. I know I'm going to need stable yet flexible website hosting with high-up-time and modern features.
  3. A domain name (a .com .net .etc) for my new site.
  4. (Ideally) The ability to host and serve high quality audio and high quality images (plus the ability to easily embed high quality videos from a range of sources).
  5. An email service that allows for good growth without dramatic increases in cost.
  6. Social integration on the website/email tools/music players etc without slowing down those primary technologies.
  7. An understanding of the effects of exchange rates on artists in countries like Australia where the purchasing power of our $AUS has ranged dramatically over the past 5-6 years (so if a company has a history of large and/or regular price hikes, they're OUT!).

The All-in-One platform (the Pro's and Con's)

  1. Pro - Single point of contact when you need to ask a question or push for new features
  2. Pro - Fully featured product-set where the user experience (UE) should be similar enough to feel both familiar and comfortable.
  3. Pro - All-in-One services in the music marketing world seem to provided by established companies, where their longevity and customer loyalty is easier to quantify, and hopefully the company itself is more financially stable.
  4. Pro - A single music upload process can allow you access to everything from iTunes to Spotify, to music sync and to music publishing, all being visible within a single user interface (UI) and revenue centre.
  5. Pro - a paid All-in-One service encourages payers to actually use and engage with the product to avoid paying real money for no reason - this is less often the case with free or trial-period based products from Start-Ups and less established companies.
  6. Pro - over time your All-in-One provider may establish partnerships with other premium providers or even purchase entire companies and integrate them into your existing service (so longterm you might not actually miss out on as much of the specialisation that a'la carte provides as you might imagine).
  7. Con: All-in-One projects might be charging you for feature-sets that aren't yet available in all regions of the world (think paying for premium music publishing services that can't yet collect publishing from all the regions where your band is getting plays).
  8. Con: Single Point Of Failure!!! Imagine some disgruntled user with the skills to take down or at the very least interrupt your All-in-One service decides to direct their energies at doing just that - you might see your website, music hosting, image hosting, email service provider and more taken down in one fell swoop. Not good!
  9. Con: As all features are included in the nominal-cost of the All-in-One service it is much harder to correctly identify what you're actually paying for each feature within the set. This may worry some bands and musicians that would like to know if their service provider is charging them premium dollars for functions such as email which is something that is both easy and affordable to obtain from specialised email service providers.

The À La Carte platform (Pro's and Con's)

  1. Pro: The flexibility to mix-and-match platforms and services that offer advanced and/or specialised technical knowledge and deploy that advantage within specific areas of your music marketing toll box. This flexibility also allows bands and musicians to drop and replace a single tool if it's not what your chasing or a better a'la carte option comes onto the market.
  2. Pro: The clarity offered by paying for premium features, and not paying for free or freemium tools, makes it much easier to clearly identify the nominal-cost of specific tools when they're broken up from the whole.
  3. Pro: the impact of a negative exchange rate movements can be mitigated somewhat buy substituting some of the less essential paid-services in your tool box for free of freemium (think going with Mail Chimp instead of aWeber for email).
  4. Con: Multiple passwords and log-ins, differing levels and quality of online security and fraud protection. Bands will also expose themselves to much wider range or customer service principles, business motivations and financial positions (as many a'la carte music marketing services are venture funded Start-Ups).
  5. Con: Multiple points of contact around album launch time, single release time, tour marketing time, etc - this might become both laborious and even tiresome for a band or musician with a lot on their minds already.

Thanks so much for reading, and if these ideas interest you please subscribe to podcast, or just give this a share somewhere that matters to you, with people who matter to you. ~ Josh

Band vs Noise Podcast: http://bandvsnoise.libsyn.com

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
  • Twitter Josh L: twitter.com/joshuacliston (@joshuacliston )
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Happy Easter to all the musicians and creators out there!

In this mini-episode Josh discusses his feelings on the recent article from MEAA.org (Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance) where they describe a recent situation where students of AIM (Australian Institute of Music) where encouraged by faculty to pursue "exposure" in the form of performing for free on the Warner Bros. produced TV program The Bachelor.

As Josh doesn't go into much detail of the contents of the article itself you can read it for your here (1 minute read) https://www.meaa.org/news/meaa-appalled-by-aim-and-warner-bros-seeking-musicians-to-work-for-free/

Josh's own opinion can be summed up as this:

"Exposure is so subjective and so situationally dependant, that any paying student of an institution that is advocating for artists (incl. their own students) to consider playing/performing for free, should be very worried, and should be questioning the integrity of their educators."

Reach out to Josh and the Band vs Noise crew:

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
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In this episode of the show Josh speaks extemporaneously about his growing belief that the music marketing world is creating a Cult of Planning, and how he thinks it might be a bad-thing for your creative career - as he is finding it is for his own song writing and music career.

These are just Josh's initial thoughts on whether planning every aspect of your indie music will actually help you succeed, or is it possible it could lead you down the wrong creative path? 

Reach out to Band vs Noise:

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
  • Twitter Josh L: twitter.com/joshuacliston (@joshuacliston )
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Josh brings on his musician friend and Android power-user Dan Caulfield to discuss Android Apps that are useful for bands and musicians in 2016.

Many of the Android Apps discussed in this episode were also endorsed by prominent members of Michael Brandvold's Facebook Group "The Music Biz Weekly Music Marketing Mind" - try them out and us know what you think.

Android Apps mentioned:

  • Tuner - g strings
  • Photos - Snapseed
  • Pics for Socials - Pics Art
  • Notes App - Evernote (advanced) / Ink Pad (basic)
  • Recording App - Audio Evolution (premium version)

Dan's Snapchat User Name is - Dumbassman

**To reach out Band vs Noise:

Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
Twitter Josh L: twitter.com/joshuacliston (@joshuacliston)
Instagram: instagram.com/joshuacliston
Facebook: facebook.com/joshuacliston**

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Josh is joined by radio/podcast producer, music composer and former radio technician Jackson Rogers (AUS via the UK) and the guys tackle the following music business articles.

  • http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/daniel-ek-on-youtube-soundcloud-and-why-he-didnt-build-spotify-to-sell-it/
  • http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/band-merch-breaking-away-from-t-shirts-and-cds.html

Jackson's Music (click here)

To reach out the Podcast:

Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
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Instagram: instagram.com/joshuacliston
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In this episode Josh (@joshuacliston on Twitter) shares some thoughts around the idea of advancing shows with nuance and professionalism - the following 5 tips are both from Josh's own experience as an indie musician and a former venue booker.

5 tips for advancing your shows/gigs with nuance and professionalism:

  1. Speak to both the venue booker/manager and the bands themselves when you're looking to borrow gear from another band on a bill.
  2. Don't consider an unanswered email, txt or call as anything but a non-event.
  3. "Ask first what you can do for the venue or scene."
  4. Avoid lumping your views and feelings about the music scene as a whole on to future shows and the people who are organising them.
  5. Re: touring Asia - be patient and remember that when dealing with non-native English speakers that more time and more care is needed when advancing shows.

The following is from http://woodegg.com/

SINGAPORE 2012-04-22 | Researcher: Nidhi Soin

PUNCTUALITY. "In Singapore, people are particular about time. Punctuality is expected and respected."

PROMISES. "People are expected to stick to promises, no matter what."

THAILAND 2012-04-17 | Researcher: Patrick Kivirikko PUNCTUALITY. "In general, many Thais are not punctual, unless strictly advised."

PROMISES. "Depends, for important occasions, it’s a must to keep promises while changing mind can easily be done among friends."

To reach out the Podcast:

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In this episode Josh (@joshuacliston on Twitter) shares some thoughts around recent request he received to incl. an independent bands tracks on one of his Podcasts (the band featured one of Josh's mates, so he felt more OK than normal with being honest with this bunch of musicians).

Josh said yes, for sure, he would love to include this particular bands tracks on one of his podcasts but he would need a link to the bands actual website! This is where the conversation came to a screaming halt.

The band offered up every other kind of link/URL before finally asking Josh "Why are you chasing just a website link when we have so much more happening elsewhere online?"

Josh went on to offer the following to the band, and now to you guys and gals:

  • I the "podcast music supervisor" need access to lossless audio files and access to your creative commons all in one place.
  • I the "podcast music supervisor" need some surety that the website you're pointing me to is going to offer me easy access to a high quality download, and easy access to your agreed upon creative commons license.
  • Finally, I the "podcast music supervisor" need some surety that if I was to go back and look into your band weeks or months later that the site you're pointing me to is up-to-date, easy to use, and most importantly, is not downgrading the quality of your assets without you realising.

To reach out the Podcast:

Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
Twitter Josh L: twitter.com/joshuacliston (@joshuacliston)
Instagram: instagram.com/joshuacliston
Facebook: facebook.com/joshuacliston

Thanks heaps for listening all \m/ \m/

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In this episode of Band vs Noise your host Josh (@joshuacliston on Twitter) shares some of the more unique challenges when marketing music and/or touring in Australasia and South East Asia - incl.

  1. The multitude of languages, laws, borders and cultures that make up S/E Asia make any cookie cutter marketing plan, or touring plan a mute point.
  2. The distance between live music centres and the dwindling number of viable live music venues in the region makes it harder for acts to be out on the road for long periods of time without logging unrealistic and costly miles (km's) on the road.
  3. The range of technological adoption is massive in S/E Asia - both from country to country, but also from region to region.
  4. The variance in both bandwidth speeds and bandwidth availability outside of the more developed countries in the region will make it harder for some potential fans to interact with your bands digital assets in the same way as others who have faster or cheaper bandwidth, or both.
  5. The cultural differences in the ways both business and artistic professionals are expected to speak, act and feel in a negotiation and/or contractual setting.

To reach out the Podcast:

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
  • Twitter Josh L: twitter.com/joshuacliston (@joshuacliston)
  • Instagram: instagram.com/joshuacliston
  • Facebook: facebook.com/joshuacliston

Thanks heaps for listening all \m/ \m/

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In this episode your host Josh ( @joshuacliston on Twitter ) shares some essential iOS Apps he has as part of his 2016 "Indie Bands Toolbox."

The following are the iOS Apps that Josh recommends as of January 1st 2016

  • Basic REC App: iTalk Premium App by Griffin (look here)
  • Advanced REC App: Multitrack DAW by Harmonic Dog (look here)
  • Tuner/Metronome App: GuitarTuna by YouSician (look here)
  • Basic Notes App: Drafts by Agile Tortoise (look here)
  • Advanced Notes App: Evernote App (look here)
  • Photo Editing App: WordSwag (look here)
  • Communication/REC interview App: Ringr (look here)
  • Misc. App: SpeedTest by Oakla (look here)

To reach out the Podcast:

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
  • Twitter Josh L: twitter.com/joshuacliston (@joshuacliston)
  • Instagram: instagram.com/joshuacliston
  • Facebook: facebook.com/joshuacliston

Thanks heaps for listening all \m/ \m/

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If you happen to be in an independent band or musical project based in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, Josh might just have something of interest for your musical ear-balls.

  • Josh is long time Prog Rock guitar player, one-time live venue manager, sometimes (aka much of the time) band manager, and former host of the DIY Music Movement, and now he has ideas of launching a new Rock Band in 2016.
  • Josh is hoping to give you insights into Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, as not only does he hope to tour to and share music with, cities and people from AUS, NZ and S/E Asia, but he thinks it's the new frontier of his own musical journey, in particular S/E Asia.
  • Josh has always wanted to be in a band or project that cared more about S/E Asia, and also Japan. And now his goal is to start that band that has just that focus - instead of trying to force his own direction/dreams onto his existing band members - this Podcast is here to chronicle that journey and share those lessons along the way.

Contact Josh and "Band vs Noise" here:

  • Em: joshuacliston@gmail.com
  • Twitter: http://twitter.com/joshuacliston
  • Instagram: http://instagram.com/joshuacliston
  • Facebook: http://facebook.com/joshuacliston

Thanks so much for listening to "Band vs Noise" and all the best with your music career this week \m/ \m/