Seth Godin just blogged about what’s off the table when forming strategies. I interpret is as thinking outside the box taken one step further. To the point where it’s beyond original thinking, and becomes something others are afraid to try. In his own words:
“No project is conceived in a vacuum, no decision in isolation and no negotiation with a clean sheet of paper. But do you know what you’re not willing to consider? If a newspaper company is planning its future, is shutting down the printing presses an option even being considered? Or is it off the table?…I’m not asking if it’s going to work or not, I’m just wondering if the possibility is even on the table. If you’re not willing to consider it, you can bet you’re going to sabotage the thinking that goes into evaluating the choice. Big marketing breakthroughs always come from doing something that everyone else says is off the table.” (more)
How can we apply this to the music industry? Three things that, until recently, were ‘off the table’ for everyone, and probably still are for many companies:
Giving Away Your Product For Free VS Charging For Everything
- Giving away free music has been a key marketing strategy specifically in the Hip Hop industry where it’s easier and less costly to generate large amounts of new music quickly. This is in part due to the accepted process of re-using other artists music to rap over.
- At Family Records we have been giving away Casey Shea‘s music for the last 5 months as part of an early adopter give away.
- Several recent watershed moments in music marketing have included giving away music for free, including: Prince gives away free album with newspaper, Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’, Coldplay’s latest live album, and others.
- To the technologically savvy all music is now free already. The competitive advantage of this marketing strategy is dwindling as it becomes more common place. However, it’s still a great way to create buzz for developing artists or those in need of a kickstart.
Focusing On Individuals And Tight Knit Communities VS Mass Marketing
- Traditionally the major labels have always been about reaching as many people at once as possible. Saturating the market with messages, being all over late night TV (like U2′s recent Letterman run), working every radio station, buying ads and billboards, being covered in every magazine, on every cover, etc. The equivalent of carpet bombing an area to get the handful of bad elements destroyed.
- These days the nature of the internet and individuals behavior online enable us to precision bomb and use our resources in a more scaleable, appropriate and efficient manner. It can also avoid over-saturation.
- Seth (on scalejacking): “The internet is about who, not how many. The internet lets you take really good care of 100 people instead of harassing 2,000.”
Focusing On Fan-Oriented Communication VS Catering To Press/Radio/TV
- Labels have long catered to the channels of mass media, tailoring their message and product. Buying ads in magazines to get a feature or cover, payola to ensure heavy rotation on all the biggest radio stations, kick backs to TV bookers, etc.
- In the new world of music where people look to connect on a more personal level, they rely on word of mouth again. There’s a plethora of music blogs out there, many of which writing from a personal voice. Internet radio stations, Pandora, podcasts, exchanging iPod libraries, file sharing, etc., as well as the declining reader/viewership of the mainstream media, indicate that we can cater to the fans directly more than ever.
Any more we can think of?