Music Marketing

10 Major Milestones In Modern Music Marketing

In no particular order:

Seth_Godin1. Seth Godin writes "Permission Marketing" way back in 1999 pointing the way towards a new era of artist and fan relationships.

2. CD Baby offers indie and d.i.y. artists a home to reach a wider audience on the net.

3. The Arctic Monkeys parlay internet pre-release buzz into the fastest selling debut album in UK history.

4. OK GO proves the power of YouTube with an ultra-low budget "treadmill" video "Here We Go Again"

Tunecore 5. TuneCore tears down the last barriers to distribution offering low flat fee no strings attached access to the worlds top digital stores.

6. Radiohead releases "In Rainbows" asking fans to pay want they want for the download.

7. Trent Reznor grosses $1.6 million in first week sales by offering fans options from  $5 to a $300 limited edition package of  his latest Nine Inch Nails release "Ghosts".

8. Jill Sobule ask fans for help recording her new album raises more than $80,000.

9. David Byrne & Brian Eno release a new collaboration via Topspin While more evoluionary than revoltutionary, this was one of the first well planned and executed releases that took full advantage of modern music marketing techniques with impressive results.

Amanda Palmer standing 10. Amanda Palmer made $19,000 in 10 Hours on Twitter proving music marketing potantial of micro-blogging platform.

What would you add or subract from this list?  Share your thoughts and in a few days we'll do a poll to find Hypebot readers Top Milesstones In Modern Music Marketing.

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20 Comments

  1. A few others…
    MySpace – gives artist-centric profiles and free streaming of new music to fans and interactive way to communicate directly with fan base; centralized location for musical discovery for music fans after MTV essentially abandons that function for original programming
    Napster – original launch changes the way labels have to market and sell music forever – exacerbates the change from recorded music as a physical product to digital product; also had political implications in how labels were viewed amongst music fans – labels (and some artists) became enemies because of their tight-fisted and aggressive legal defense of copyrighted works.

  2. I started off the model created by the painting-a-day crowd, Edward B. Gordon. Building up to a song-per-week. Then discovered Jonathan Coulton and his success with creative commons. I believe Plague will spread to a wider audience, but I find it amazing that the techno “geek” crowd (I also am one) are learning how to zoom past the traditional record industry and make fools of their business model. Another thing I’ve noticed is how many musical acts are coming out with limited timed releases of their CD’s as $5.00 downloads.

  3. What about the iTunes Music Store? There are those who don’t like it for various reasons, but it changed music marketing forever.

  4. Guitar Center + ProTools + MySpace = practically anyone anywhere can record, mix, and master music, as well as find a home to have it heard and reach an audience. Content is no longer the hard part – creating awareness and steering it into a viable community that spends money became the challenge.
    Underground talent suddenly finds avenues outside the label system – a great thing. However this comes at the cost of massively fueling the already burgeoning devaluation of music. Now that anyone with electricity can have their music on the same platform(s) as established artists who have worked for years (or decades) on their careers, it becomes simultaneously easier and harder to make a living in music.

  5. If you are going to toss in MySpace, you might want to go back to the original mp3.com website.
    It was notable for (1) creating a music community, (2) teaching artists how to game the system to help themselves rise to the top of the charts, and (3) how quickly a site you’ve invested a ton of effort into can disappear. Almost overnight.
    I found this as a reference to that last point.
    http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=853
    By Chris Burnett
    Well, it is official: “THE destination for digital music”, and the very first Online Music Distribution site in the world will cease to exist on Tuesday, December 2, 2003 at 12:00 PM PST. Members were officially informed by direct email correspondence, and also via a post to the moderator section of its message board, that the MP3.com, Incorporated website will no longer be accessible in its current form.

  6. Leicht, you interviewed Armstrong in 1979?
    Here’s a “jazz insight” for you — Satchmo passed away in 1971.
    Also, your blog is full of mistakes (I’m being nice when I say mistakes) and is better for a laugh than for “insights”.
    HC Dorrscheidt

  7. I agree with Steve C’s point – the iTunes Music Store replaced the previously-coveted record store shelf space with its home page. Artists who appear on the home page gain far more of an advantage than their record store counterparts ever did, in terms of instant visibility and market penetration.

  8. I would add the first digital music promotions for brands to the list . Brands offering free music downloads to consumers as a reward for purchase is building brand loyalty and changing the music industry. Bands are even considering signing with brands instead of record labels as a better way to distribute music for free but still profit from it. Check it out http://www.vervelife.com

  9. Esmee Denters – a girl next door who made it to Oprah Winfrey and Justin Timberlake through Youtube, without record company. Or was it Youtube pushing her?

  10. thank you!!! at least someone acknowledges how much napster pissed off rock stars (ie metallica) and made stars outta nobodies (ie dispatch)

  11. Definitely one of the most underrated and lesser known moments. The English band Marillion asked their fans to fund their 2001 Anoraknophobia album by pre-ordering the album before one note was recorded. Over 10,000 pre-ordered.

  12. ArtistShare – 2004 – Composer Maria Schneider’s fan-funded release is the first recording in history to win a Grammy without being available in stores. The CD is completely funded by her fans through ArtistShare

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