In a changing music business ecosystem thinking outside the box has never been more important than ever. Social media has made it easy for every and any artist to expose their music to the world all-the-while saturating the market. So how do you grow a fan base, how do you brand yourself and music, how do you separate yourself from everyone else? The answer is as simple as RTB & CWF.
RTB: Reason to Buy. Give your audience a reason to support you by purchasing your product, which is your music.
CWF: Connect With Fans. Sounds simple but in reality it can be difficult to individually connect with each and every fan. With a smart marketing plan you can accomplish this and generate many more fans through a grassroots approach.
Michael Masnich provides a vital insight on how Trent Reznor and the NIN have embraced RTB & CWF. Illustrated is how this business model has successfully paid off by putting the first, second and third as priority in order to keep loyal fans happy, gain new fans and inspire other potential would be fans to convert to the fan column. Also, its obvious that technology is evolving and changing the playing field drastically. Masnich’s case study clearly illustrates that instead of trying to police the Internet, evolving technologies and pressuring confidence-less and support-less fans into purchasing intangible product in form of downloads that marketing, promoting, branding should never stop but most importantly implementing it by giving the fans RTB and emphasizing CWF to inspire economic support.
Since completing his earlier major record label contract, musician Trent Reznor has been experimenting with a variety of new and unique business models for his band, Nine Inch Nails, to reach and connect with fans. This case study explores Reznor’s experiments, examining what has worked and what has not – and why.
Speaker: Michael Masnick (Editor/President & CEO, Techdirt Blog/Floor64)
Real*Industry*Talk
