Independent Music Distribution - The Next Level
By Will V Johnson
Who knew Thriller would end up being the best selling album of all time. There was no way to prepare for its success because nobody saw what was coming. Yet, Michael has not been able to duplicate studio magic he and Quincy had; the artistic "roll" he was on; the total awe and submission of the media; the overwhelming force of his presence or the mesmerizing control he had over millions of fans worldwide. Therefore, even though more powerful than any other entertainer, he never repeated the success of Thriller.
But he could have. Even without all of the magical ingredients that helped him make musical history, he could have used the momentum created by Thriller to sale another 40 million albums. All he had to do was have knowledge of who he sold those 40 million records to. Get it? If Epic Records were smart, they would have gotten the address and phone number of every person who purchased the Thriller album. Do you understand what that could have meant? That means that they would have had the ability to "pre-market" and "pre-sale" Michael's next few albums to 40 million, already satisfied customers!
Whoa! That means they could have sold 40 million plus albums of the next record. The profits would have been bigger too. Why? Since you are not spending dollars on "mass-marketing", you are able to cut your budget in half! You are direct marketing to people who already want your product. Also, if Epic were smart, and they weren't, they could have sold Michael Jackson Merchandise directly to those already addicted fans.
They really screwed up. But you can learn from this example. You can easily "eat well" off your music by doing what Epic, Michael, and every other label has failed to do. Capture the name and email address of every fan that visits your website/page. I know it sounds too simple. I know some of you are doing this already. But are you doing it correctly? Every artist on Myspace should have a bare minimum of 1000 fans that will buy their music. Not Myspace "friends". I'm talking about straight-up fans, the kind that spend money. If you have been on Myspace for two years, you should have 10,000-20,000 real fans. Once you reach 100,000 fans that are willing, at some point, to give you money you will be set! Your focus will be to make music for your fan base, selling to the same fans over & over. It is backwards to start your marketing efforts over every time you get ready to release a project. Why keep looking for new buyers when you can sell to satisfied customers. As a natural effect, your fan base will grow with little effort on your part.
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