Music Marketing and Traditional Marketing Go Similar Paths

Posted By Joe Pulizzi on February 16, 2009

If you are at all into music, this is a must-read article by Cory Treffiletti from MediaPost on the Future of the Music Industry.

A couple of key points to bring out:

• The Grammy award for Best Rap Album of 2008 went to Lil Wayne, who launched his career by giving away a large portion of his music to secure a fan base.
• Musicians that understand the art of growing a fan base do not need a label to be successful anymore.

Coming from the publishing industry, it’s amazing the similarity of what’s happening in these two industries. Today, if you are a marketing professional, you don’t need to use traditional media to sell products and services. By giving away educational information that is needed by your customers, you can grow your brand (and you may decide not to advertise). After all, the distribution is either available on the web, or you may already have the database to communicate directly with your customers.

The art is then to engage customers with compelling information that makes a difference in your customers’ lives.

Corey ended his column with five music marketing rules, which I have adjusted to make them relevant for you, the marketing professional:

• Rule 1: Create good content and leave the brochure-ware at home.
• Rule 2: Invite customers into the experience and build a stronger relationship with them.
• Rule 3: Utilize multiple distribution mechanisms to make your content available to your customers, how they want to receive it.
• Rule 4: Did we say focus on creating great content?
• Rule 5: Your employees are part of your brand (whether you like it or not). People want to do business with people. Create an environment where your employees can interact directly with your customers. Don’t let old-world thinking get in the way between you and your customers.