Amplified Records Marketing Plan presentation. Presented on 4.27.07 for Entrepreneurial Revenue course at the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the Univ. of Houston.

1. www.AmplifiedRecords.net

2. “Intelligent control appears as uncontrol or freedom. And for that
reason it is generally intelligent control.
Unintelligent control appears as external domination. And it is for
that reason it is really unintelligent control.
Intelligent control exerts influence without appearing to do so.
Unintelligent control tries to influence by making a show of force.”
-Lao Tzu

3. Translation:
1) Digital music
distribution is out
of control and free
flowing - this
benefits everyone
2) ‘Music Like
Water’ will make
everyone more
money than ‘Music
on Plastic’

4. After you pay off your home loan, would
you let the bank keep ownership of your
home?

5. Problem:
• The traditional model of marketing and
selling music no longer works.
• The major record labels and retail giants
are dependant on huge, platinum hits: only
one out of every ten releases cover costs.
• The airwaves are primarily dominated by
hit-driven acts, watered-down for a mass
audience.
• Independent artists who don’t fit this mold
are left to fend for themselves.

6. Solution:
• We are an artist management firm
specializing in bookings, promotions, and
business advice.
• Our goal is to develop & manage labels for
our clients
• Our fee is 20% of our clients’ gross
revenue
• Our target clients are upstart, talented
musicians in the greater Houston
metropolitan area

7. • Pure digital retailers such as iTunes and
Rhapsody exist without physical goods
and can deliver items with virtually no
marginal cost, allowing any artist to sell
their product to the public at no additional
cost to the retailer.
• ‘The Amp’ is designed to help the artists
understand the changing economics of the
music industry and to help them capitalize
fully on the growing viral marketplace.

8. Creative control, publishing, masters, and any
intellectual property will remain our clients’

10. “We sold more books today that didn't sell at
all yesterday than we sold today of all the
books that did sell yesterday.quot;
-former Amazon employee

11. Many of our assumptions about popular taste
are actually artifacts of poor supply-and-
demand matching – a market response to
inefficient distribution

12. “To find something comparable, you
have to go back 500 years to the birth of
the printing press, the birth of mass
media … Technology is shifting power
away from the editors, the publishers, the
establishment, the media elite. Now it’s
the people who are taking control.”
-Rupert Murdoch, Wired, July 2006

13. “Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what
customers want and how they want to get it.”
–Chris Anderson

14. But, what does this all mean Mr. Peabody?
-The $12 billion industry is
shifting away from the majors
and towards the artists being
in control of their own
destiny.
-Lots of musicians will need business
management, legal, and technological
advice.
-Having a vast network of artists under one
umbrella can be a powerful co-branding
tool for both the firm and client.

15. 18% of all music sales are
independent of the majors

16. New Revenue Model
• Just give the damn music away, or most of
it, to increase brand awareness:
“Hearing is Believing”
• Free sampling not only drives sales – it’s
also a long-term strategy for converting
listeners into loyal customers
• Ubiquity INCREASES value!
• The touring industry has grown from $1.3
billion in ’98 to over $2.1 billion as of ’03

17. Remember:
• Music publishers tried to shut down the
first radio stations
• Television was considered a threat to
the movie theatre industry
• The home cassette player was
considered a threat to the music
industry

18. Anyone see a trend here?

19. Don’t sell copies, sell access
Maximize touring and merchandising

20. “Music Like Water:” The Future of Music
• Music must be open, free-flowing, and
ubiquitous like water
• Business models that empower the end user
will succeed
– Monthly subscription, up-sell premium
access and content
– Take a % of ad revenue (see: YouTube)

21. Music must remain open source: a liquid that
can be morphed, migrated, flexed, and linked.

22. “With digitization, music changes from being
a noun, to a verb, once again.” – Kevin Kelly

23. Amplified Records
“Thinking Innovation, Not Litigation®”

24. Acknowledgements:
Chris Anderson
Wired Magazine editor-in-
chief, author of The Long Tail
Kevin Kelly
author of Out of Control: The
New Biology of Machines,
Social Systems, and the
Economic World
Gerd Leonhard and Dave Kusek
authors of The Future of
Music
Wendy Day
Rap Coalition, label
consultant
Alex Grey, artist