At a music industry conference he recently spoke at, Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, was recently asked how to stop music piracy. Here is what he said:

“More people are killed by pigs than sharks each year, but because shark attacks are more newsworthy, they seem more prevalent. Piracy gets all the attention, but … obscurity is your real enemy. Fight obscurity until you’re a household name, then piracy will be more of a problem than obscurity. Until then, worry about pigs, not sharks.”

The audience, full of record label execs, really didn’t like this answer. That’s too bad, because they are forgetting one very important detail: They are the ones with the problem! While on the other hand, CD Baby is doing better than ever. In fact, their physical CD sales are up 30% over last year, while CD sales in the industry as a whole are going down significantly. So, if you were one of these troubled execs in the audience, would you be paying attention to Derek’s lesson or would you be shouting “I hate your point of view, buddy!” like one woman did? Wow.

Derek concludes, “Putting so much attention and energy into fighting piracy (as if, when solved, you’ll suddenly start selling 10 times more) - is misguided effort, distracting you from what you really need to be improving.” That sounds just like what I told Stefan Herwig, but he didn’t get it either.

Usually when a band describes their music as something new and hard to describe, it’s a load of bullshit. Amnistia is no different, then. The band’s own biography describes their music as being “without a main focus on trends in the clubscene.” And then immediately afterward, it says “kickdrums, hard basslines, snaresounds, discreet but striking placed samples and a charismatic voice are the attributes of their sound.” Is it just me, or did they completely contradict themselves there? I think they did. And a quick sampling of the music on their MySpace page confirms that all of this talk about sounding different and unique is meaningless. There are lots of bands that sound almost exactly like them. Why try to trick people into thinking otherwise?

The saving grace
You’re probably wondering by now if this band is even worth a listen, given my harsh criticism so far. Is it best to simply avoid Amnistia all together? No. Actually, their music is pretty good, and I would suggest having a listen. It may not be anything new, but a band’s sound doesn’t have to be new to be good. It just has to appeal to you, and if you like dark electro-industrial music, you will probably like Amnistia. So go and have a listen. Their new album Blackguard was just released on April 11th and is available at all the typical webshops.

The point
The whole point of my criticism is to show the stupidity of typical marketing campaign that tries to turn a band into something it’s not. Don’t lie (or let others lie for you) about your sound because you will be called out on it every time. You only stand to lose the respect of lots of would-be fans by doing this. You don’t have to be humble, just be genuine. Let people listen to your music and let them decide what genre you fit into or what bands you do or don’t sound like. Because at the end of the day when all is said and done, bands don’t place themselves into genres, fans do.

Amnistia - Blackguard tracklisting:
01. init²
02. emulate
03. anger management
04. blackguard
05. komplex
06. creed
07. fractured
08. zu staub
09. menacing
10. outrage
11. cold
12. our darkest path
13. scars [not just words]

Emil Bulls, the metal crossover band from Bavaria, just released their 6th studio album The Black Path today. Their first single for the album was “The Most Evil Spell” and was released about a month ago on March 7th. You can listen to this song and 2 others on the Emil Bulls MySpace page. Judging by those songs, which is all I’ve heard so far, the music seems pretty good but it really isn’t anything new. You’d never know they were German from the musical style and the English lyrics, they would be very well at home here in America. Still, they are worth checking out if you’re into metal.

The best part
The really cool thing about Emil Bulls is that they have a blog that gets updated every couple of days with news from the band, tourdates, videos, and tons of photos from the studio, videoshoots, and just other random stuff. Traditional websites are great for information, but they lack the interaction that’s so critical online these days. This is the kind of thing bands should be doing to create a more personal connection with their fans. Emil Bulls even has a contest where the band will come to the winner’s house for the day! Now just imagine if your favorite band did things like this. Would you be more willing to tell your friends about them and buy their music and attend their concerts? I bet you would. The only thing I would do differently is make it a part of their actual website where most of the fans already go to, so there would be more interaction and comments.

In search of The Black Path
If you like the album and want to buy it, there are a few options. EMP.de has the album for the lowest price I have found, 12.99 Euros. They also have a special package that has the album and an Emil Bulls cap for 19.99. Also, both AlphaMusic.de and Amazon.de have it for around 15 Euros.

Emil Bulls - The Black Path tracklisting:
01. The Black Path (Intro)
02. To End All Wars
03. The Most Evil Spell
04. All In Tune With The Universe
05. Pledge Allegiance To The Damned (The Unseen One)
06. Wolfsstunde
07. Nothingness
08. Collapsed Memorials
09. Close To The Wind
10. Worlds Apart
11. Pure Anger (The Hex)
12. 10050
13. Cigarette Scars
14. Glad To Be With You Again

This post originally started out as a reminder, but then I realized there is something here that is much more important…

I wanted you to remember two new albums that are being released today. The first is Bastard by Subway To Sally, and the second is Alles Wieder Offen by Einstürzende Neubauten. While the styles of these two albums are very different, both bands have become favorites within their respective genres. Fans of medieval-inspired German metal really love STS and anyone into a bit more experimentation is sure to know EN.

Which one do I personally recommend? EN’s Alles Wieder Offen, for sure. Contrary to what you may be thinking, it’s not completely because I like their music better (although I do). Both albums are great and I’m sure they will attract a lot of attention during the next few weeks, but Einstürzende Neubauten really knows how to make their fans happy and gain their loyalty more than any other band I know of. First of all, they have a blog where they have been talking directly to their fans, keeping them up to date about the progress of the album every step of the way. Second, they make it very easy for new and would-be fans to hear their music (both new and old). Next, they also understand how the internet is changing the way music is spread, and have embraced online tools (other than MySpace) like Facebook and iLike instead of using some grandiose yet insincere, traditional marketing strategy. Finally, they know how to build and maintain a paid supporter network by respecting their fans and actually making it worthwhile to join, unlike most bands’ poor version of a fanclub.

How does Subway To Sally compare? (more…)

The 19th annual Popkomm music conference started today in Berlin. This show, which started in 1989 in Düsseldorf, is held as a regular meeting place for the music and entertainment industries. Popkomm’s trade show is the biggest in the music industry, with over 800 exhibitors and over 15,000 visitors from around the world last year. There is also a major discussion forum at the show where different ideas are shared and industry issues are discussed. Economics, politics, and communication are the three “pillars” of discussion at this year’s conference, presented by keynote speakers such as the German Federal Minister for Economics and Technology, Michael Glos, and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Bernd Neumann. Several other notable people within the industry will also be speaking, ranging from musicians and producers to band managers and label representatives.

But Popkomm is not all about business, there’s a lot of fun to be had, too. Their annual festival attracts hundreds of musicians from dozens of countries to perform, essentially turning the entire city of Berlin into a huge concert venue. Last year, 70,000 people watched concerts during Popkomm, and this year the crowds are expected to be even bigger. There is also an awards ceremony where the most creative music industry ideas receive an IMEA, or Innovation in Music and Entertainment Award.

Popkomm will continue for 3 days until the 21st. If you’re fortunate enough to be in or near Berlin the next few days, check out some of the activity. You are bound to find some exhibit or concert you like.

Schools and universities across the country are starting up again for a new year, but they are missing a few students. The heads of the major record labels need to go back to business school for a quick refresher course to help out their ailing companies.

It seems to me that record labels these days are so caught up in the changing dynamics of the industry that they are forgetting the principles of basic sales. The idea of selling something isn’t to harass people about why they shouldn’t do something (like download MP3 files illegally), it’s about overcoming the objections that stop them from doing what you want (like buying a CD or legal music file) in a positive way. Labels should be better explaining why buying music legitmately is better for people. They need to make sure that people understand why their way is better for the customer than what they are doing now, pirating music. And if it isn’t (in the customer’s opinion, not the label’s), they need to develop some new product or process that is.

The key here is “better for the customer”, the music fan, the people. The people who, at the moment, don’t trust the record labels. Everything I’ve seen and read about the big record labels, and even a lot of smaller indie ones, suggests to me that they are way too focused on themselves. They just want to better themselves and their artists and don’t care all that much about the people who pay their salaries, their customers. But guess what. In business, it’s not the company CEO who calls the shots. It’s the market, the customer base. And right now, they are revolting. There is a battle going on, and the labels just keep looking for bigger guns. Instead of finding out what the customers really want, or even nicely explaining to them why things cost money, they blindly defend their ignorance in a futile attempt to survive.

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Marketing guru Seth Godin points out the importance of having a unique concept for promoting music. He stopped by a garage sale recently and found out that the guy was selling thousands of brand new CDs, most still in the wrappers, for just $3 each. What a great deal! Well, he soon discovered that he didn’t really know who most of the bands were, they were all small and unknown to him and they all started to look the same. There were no recommendations or hints about what was similar, no frame of reference for him to judge the bands by. He spent so much time and effort trying to figure out if he might like any particular album that he felt his time was worth more than the $3 it cost to buy one. Essentially, the CDs weren’t even worth it if they were all free, because of the effort he had to spend.

What does this all mean? It means that new and emerging bands are facing huge challenges right now. But more importantly, it means that if a band wants to overcome these challenges, they have to do something different. If you do exactly what everybody else does, doing it more and harder isn’t going to help you more than anyone else.

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