Industry music bicep tbc

1. Music industry, audience
& new media
Bicep case study

2. How do I engage with KC Industry?
 This KC overlaps with Audience
 Specific examples can also require consideration of M.Lang +
Representation
 Marketing and monetising are key
 Detail trends from fall of CD/sales to the rise of vinyl + other
alternative revenue streams
 Remasters, repacking, rerelease, boxsets, best ofs:
importance of exploiting back catalogue
 Use of website + social media platforms; engaging with
audience
 Evidence of UGC/fan-made video/art
 Presence/success on streaming sites
 Controversy over payment rates from streaming
 Traditional media coverage (eg magazines)
 New media coverage (eg e-zines, blogs, vlogs)
 VR? Crowdfunding (eg Kickstarter)?

3. How do I engage with KC Industry?
 From the handout:

4. Multiple examples
 I have blogged a lot on music industry and social media,
monetising etc on musividz, including a quick case study
of thrash legends Megadeth

5. Lyric video
 Bands are increasingly taking on what were fan (UGC)
formats such as the lyric video – and sometimes these
get more views than the promo video! (BMTH eg)

6. Letting fans take over social media
 Depeche Mode took audience engagement to a new
level with their 2017 tour (which has re-started in
November in Europe)

7. Seasonal
engagement
 Metallica and
Iron Maiden are
continuing a long
tradition of Xmas
specials (Beatles
fan club
members would
receive unique
singles in the
post 50 years
ago!)

8. Unboxing
videos
 Metallica again,
another example of
bands taking on
UGC/fan formats
 Also the importance
of editionalising and
repackaging back
catalogue …
 And of using e-
zines for publicity
 Oh … and vinyl!
 And selling direct
through band
website…

9. Remastering videos
 Depeche Mode showed how important YouTube is to
record labels’ financial strategy by issuing remastered
videos, a new twist on the remastered audio release

10. The streaming payments row
 A key topic I’ll discuss
again later, you must
address this issue
 An infographic would
be handy…
 As would a stat that
vinyl sales bring in
more than streaming,
despite the huge gap
in numbers

11. VEVO the video giant
 Do you know
who/what Vevo is?
 They are a key player
on YouTube, music
industry giants
combining to better
monetise and control
their music videos and
audio content on
YouTube
 … and agreeing to UK
government attempts
to enforce age ratings
on music videos

12. UGC as free publicity + extending
secondary audience appeal
 Its those rock giants Maiden and Metallica again – UGC
like this isn’t directly monetised, but does help promote
the band for free!

13. UGC as marketable content + brand
 Metallica may be Some Kind of Monster, but Lady Gaga
is a Little Monster – or at least her fans are. Her brand is
centred is centred on this sense of direct engagement
with fans, especially outsider types

14. UGC as marketable content + brand
 In some cases,
artists actually
use a fan-made
vid as the
official vid!

15. Case Study: Bicep
 1 of many examples from John Moule’s production
company
 I hope to arrange a Skype interview with JM and possibly Bicep
too
 A dance act that have engaged successfully with a wide
range of social media, streaming services and both new
and traditional media
 Indie (even self-distributing on their own label for a
while), but enjoying considerable success
 We’ll look at how they exemplify the impact of
digitisation on the practices of the music industry

16. lnk.to > Casting a wide web
These are all sites or
platforms you could
investigate. What
presence has your artist
got?
Note the range of
stream, buy, watch
options!
You could provide
more context by
comparing with
another artist, maybe
a contrasting one

17. Starting Point: YouTube
 Look at their subscribers and …
 numbers of views
 branding through their banner + user icon + ‘about’ blurb
 any links they provide
 the channel autoplay featured video
 Playlists – is there an auto YT-generated one; fan-made?
 Are there videos other than main promo clips (lyric
videos, live, unwrapping, teasers, fan/tour greetings
etc?)?
 Are there many comments on videos? Do the band
respond?
 Are there fan-made videos on YT?
 Do they run a channel on Vimeo (smaller rival more
focused on serious or artistic content)? How do the
numbers and branding compare?

18. Vimeo – small but engaged
 Vimeo is seen as a more discerning, quality-controlled,
artist-friendly upload site than corporate giant YouTube
 Numbers can be small, but often include ‘influencers’,
including media professionals
 Just as with YouTube, you might see a video uploaded
by multiple channels, in this case the record label and
director – who selected different thumbnails

19. Vimeo – small but engaged
 Vimeo offers direct, free download options on many
videos (below: I clicked download on the Aura vid)
 It doesn’t pay out per view
 But it does offer a VOD (video-on-demand) option to
charge users to download the video
 It also offers the option to charge subscription for
channels
 The site argues this makes it MUCH easier for an artist
to earn a living than on YouTube

20. Vimeo v YouTube monetising
 There are lots of articles analysing the rates of payout

21. Case Study: Bicep
 1 of many examples from John Moule’s production
company
 I hope to arrange a Skype interview with JM and possibly Bicep
too
 A dance act that have engaged successfully with a wide
range of social media, streaming services and both new
and traditional media
 Indie (even self-distributing on their own label for a
while), but enjoying considerable success
 We’ll look at how they exemplify the impact of
digitisation on the practices of the music industry

22. Case Study: Bicep
 1 of many examples from John Moule’s production
company
 I hope to arrange a Skype interview with JM and possibly Bicep
too
 A dance act that have engaged successfully with a wide
range of social media, streaming services and both new
and traditional media
 Indie (even self-distributing on their own label for a
while), but enjoying considerable success
 We’ll look at how they exemplify the impact of
digitisation on the practices of the music industry

23. Case Study: Bicep
 1 of many examples from John Moule’s production
company
 I hope to arrange a Skype interview with JM and possibly Bicep
too
 A dance act that have engaged successfully with a wide
range of social media, streaming services and both new
and traditional media
 Indie (even self-distributing on their own label for a
while), but enjoying considerable success
 We’ll look at how they exemplify the impact of
digitisation on the practices of the music industry

24. Case Study: Bicep
 1 of many examples from John Moule’s production
company
 I hope to arrange a Skype interview with JM and possibly Bicep
too
 A dance act that have engaged successfully with a wide
range of social media, streaming services and both new
and traditional media
 Indie (even self-distributing on their own label for a
while), but enjoying considerable success
 We’ll look at how they exemplify the impact of
digitisation on the practices of the music industry