DIY Daze
Moving city-to-city each year, DIY Days is a rad conference that tries to start real dialog about funding, distribution, and strategy in the arts. Up next is Philly on the first of August, where I’ll be speaking on a panel with Mark Schoneveld (yvynyl), Leah Kaufman (Phrequency), and Brian McTear (Weathervane.) We’re covering new models in music during a 45 minute blitzkrieg of the senses. Or a civil chat. Probably the latter.
Given that it’s such a broad topic, I thought I’d put some thoughts down here, share them with the other speakers, and open up a bit to questions, comments, etc. Mark and I actually kicked around some ideas over IM, so a lot of this post stems from that conversation.
There are two primary topics I think are important to cover:
- Finishing Strong (or approaching a release holistically)
- Currency (it’s not just for money anymore)
You hear it all the time: an artist talking about a release in the past tense before its release date. They finished in the studio, they feel great about it, and they can’t wait to see how it’s received. That’s just not enough. You can’t simply wait and see. You’ve got to capture listeners, plan promotion, and set the vision for how your music is released. The whole process should be treated artfully with care and creativity.
It’s not so much about the particular route you take, but rather the execution. Examples? You’ve got Jonathan Coulton building a career giving away CC licensed tracks, Josh Freese doing the ultimate in tiered promotions, the perfect boxed set by NIN, Amanda Palmer twittering a storm, Radiohead, The Breeders hand screening their covers, and Kristin Hersh doing a fan-funded album thanks to her amazing Strange Angel subscribers. (Not to mention Jill Sobule, David Byrne, Fanfarlo’s $1 album, and plenty of great content-for-email promotions.)
Probably too many examples. But what’s amazing in each is the forethought that went into the music and the actual releases. Kristin asked her engineer (the awesome Steve Rizzo) to mix down into remix-friendly stems. Coulton committed to releasing a song a week for a year. NIN documents the entire process and releases a box with photos of the recording, beautiful art shots, and maticulous art direction.
These are full strategies, developed early and delivered well at every turn. Better yet, the artistry is present from the first recording until the package is opened (or downloaded.) That level of care and craftsmanship simply cannot be faked.
All of that just scratches the surface. But strategies are nothing without goals. And those goals have to be far more specific than “we want to sell x copies of y release.” Artists need a specific idea of what they’re trying to do with a release, and a way to measure their success. This is where the idea of alternate currencies come in.
Trying to get noticed? Maybe play counts or social followers are the currency you care about. Need to connect to your core? Collect email for EP downloads in advance of a new album. My point is that the value you measure from a release can be counted in traffic, downloads, and email addresses just as legitimately as in dollars.
Releases are short-term parts of a long-term career. It may make sense to maximize sales for a given release, but it depends on the career. So artists need to look at each release and come up with the plan that’s right for it and right for their career. Set measurable in goals that make sense for the specific situation. Then execute.
And please for the love of whatever: work hard.
