What has long been a theory of the changing music industry is that “jam bands” – bands that adopt an improvisional style that make each show unique – should have a strategic advantage adapting to the new economics of music.

This is because by adding value to the live show experience, fans would be more likely to pay to see multiple live shows and would be more likely to purchase recordings of those shows (since they are all different). With regular studio albums becoming less of an income stream, such live show value has achieved hightened importance.

As many people know, the “original” rock jam band was the Grateful Dead. And although pre-Internet, their experience and new business thinking for the time continues to be studied, and remains highly relevant.

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Guitar Tree

I recently read a Wired interview with industry veteran Tom Silverman about the state of the music business and the plight of independent artists. He points out the difficultly of developing new music and touring while also holding down a real job.

The article is definitely worth a read.

It also remimded me of a past V11 article (see below) that requires revisiting, and highlights how, despite new ideas, new companies, etc., not much has really changed in the past few years…. basically we really are not there yet, and I don’t think anyone knows for sure what “there” is and when or if we will ever get “there”…

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In order to be a successful in this day and age, musicians must not only be great artists but also smart business people.

Mason Reed exemplifies the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of a new generation of independent artists who are able to create their own paths to success.

Reed combines new technologies with traditional ways to make fans and promote his music.

I asked him some questions about his music, his “never ending tour,” his opinions on the music industry, and the record label he’s working to start so that he could share some of the lessons he’s learned with our V11 readers.

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Like many others in the tech/start up world, we get excited when learning about new products, and then when they start to get too popular we sort of want to begin tearing them down.

Not cool anymore…. So-and-so is actually better for that…. They don’t do this… They can do that better….

Well I am going to admit it. Facebook is great!

It frankly solves so many problems for promoting bands that I am beginning to worry about all the other companies that have entered this space.

When we started working with bands in 2006 there were several things I wanted to do with a band’s website: blog pages for fan interaction, easy ways to post photos of recent shows, easier and more convenient ways to promote and brand, etc.

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For March’s post of the month, I chose Media Killed the Radio Star by Eric Beall. The article raises some interesting questions about why the music industry is struggling, and tries to address how musicians and the recording industry can get ahead in today’s world.

According to Beall, the problem is that music industry relies on a business model that leaves the industry at the mercy of gatekeepers, making it “a pawn in a game that it doesn’t control.”

While the music industry is good at finding and developing artists, it lacks the ability “to see that the power lies with those who understand how to use music to attract an audience.”

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You are in a band because you offer something musicially to the group you are playing with. But what else do you bring to the table?

In this day and age, it isn’t enough to just play bass or just play guitar.

Having computer skills, the desire to oversee some online marketing endeavors, the ability to maintain or write code for your website, or simply the ability and desire to personally network in your local music community – these are all important additional traits that are helpful and necessary for young bands.

Every member must have a role. Below is an example based on a five member band:

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November’s Blog Post of the Month comes from Hypebot’s Associate Editor Kyle Bylin. The Elsewhere Musician: Making Connections in a Fragmented World highlights two key points: (1) all musicians (and especially the “successful” ones) must continuously work harder on the business side of things, and (2) the trend of shorter album cycles.

From Bylin:

Leisure time once spent doing creative things — where an artist could take time away from it all — has turned into work that ranges from learning how to market themselves online and off, answering an endless barrage of messages from fans, bloggers, and managers, and trying to keep all of their profiles, blogs, and social media tools relevant and up-to-date.

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Since 2006 people have begun to realize that all social networks are not the same. We’ve at times advised folks not even to bother with a myspace page. This advice is wrong.

As the various social networks diverge and segment their appeal, we all need to be focused on what we can do to get the most out of each segment.

CNN’s technology section recently wrote about this topic and calls this a “class divide.”

MySpace has one population, Facebook has another…. A recent study by market research firm Nielsen Claritas found that people in more affluent demographics are 25 percent more likely to be found friending on Facebook, while the less affluent are 37 percent more likely to connect on MySpace.

More specifically, almost 23 percent of Facebook users earn more than $100,000 a year, compared to slightly more than 16 percent of MySpace users. On the other end of the spectrum, 37 percent of MySpace members earn less than $50,000 annually, compared with about 28 percent of Facebook users.

These differences, however, do not highlight that one network is worth your time while another is not. That the largest social networks are segregating into niches is a positive in that you can now better target your message.

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In addition to my work as a Web designer at Kosmix, I manage a San Francisco band called Seconds on End. We play at places like the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco, the Little Fox in Redwood City, and the Pioneer Saloon in Woodside. We’re known for experimentation, and we have a eclectic but loyal following of passionate fans. In lots of ways, the band is exactly like a startup.

At first glance, the worlds of music and technology are polar opposites. The rock star and the geek seem to come from two very different sides of the social spectrum. One is about sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. The other: Long nights, hard work, and sitting alone in front of computer cranking out code.

But startups and bands have one key thing in common: both have to attract and grow fans. And to get a hit, you need just the right mix of quality, promotion and image. Here are a few things I’ve learned from my experiences with bands and startups:

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MTV recently accounced that they will enable any artist-unsigned emerging act, indie cult fave or major-label superstar-to submit songs for possible inclusion in the Rock Band game.

The plan isn’t as simple as uploading a song to iTunes or anything like that. Rather, artists and labels will submit songs to a community of trained freelance game developers and other interested programmers who will prepare the tracks for Rock Band. Additionally, labels can either hire trained developers or school their existing employees to do the work in-house.

Songs submitted through this process must then be reviewed by other developers to check for playability, inappropriate lyrics, copyright infringement and so on. Then approved tracks will be posted to an in-game download store separate from its existing “Rock Band” store where creators can set their own price (50 cents to $3 per song) and receive 30% of any resulting sales. Gamers will also be able to demo 30-second samples of each track.

If this process works and allows for any musician to have a fair chance of getting their music uploaded for games, it could obviously be a great way to attract new fans, as well as allow fans to add some individuality to their game playing experience.

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