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Music Pioneers are Changing the Way Albums are Promoted

While everyone is heralding the end of the music industry as we know it, it's fascinating to watch how the groundbreaking artists are using new media to their advantage.

Most recently, Radiohead released their new album on their website and asked fans to pay what they wanted for it. I'm not sure how it worked out for them financially, but I do know the effect it had from a PR point of view.

Borderline brilliant.

That album was the talk of the web for weeks leading up to its release, and for weeks after. They didn't have to release a single (good news for a band that hasn't had a single in 10 years) and fight it out for radio airtime. They didn't have to go on a long tour or wrestle with record labels.

They just announced their controversial payment plan and their fans went ape. So the media went ape. No matter how many free digital albums they ended up giving away, or critics they created, or whatever, Radiohead came out on top with this promotion.

And tonight I was just over at the Quicktime site and noticed that Tori Amos is having a promotional contest to see who can create her next music video.

Check out how brilliant this is...

Videos are expensive and they aren't even played on TV anymore, having been relegated to tiny boxes on computer screens (which I often watch, so I'm not knocking them). So instead of hiring a huge production team to create her next video, Tori is asking her fans to make it for her.

You can download five clips of her playing in front of a green screen, and then it's up to the fans to use those digital assets to create the video for her. The best one will end up being "the video" and it will be displayed on her site.

So what is she doing here? She's using an alternative method to promote her new album by holding a contest. As marketers, we're told all the time to hold contests. Looks like the recording artists are catching on.

Word gets out about the contest, she ends up on blogs and in the news, and on Apple's site. Lo and behold, an album is being promoted without traditional airplay.

What's more, Dan Kennedy talks about the time-honored tradition of shopping for an ad agency. He explains how the big accounts put the word out to the agencies that they're looking for a new agency and then they ask them to pitch ideas.

The agencies, desperate for the accounts, put their best minds together for weeks to come up with something good to pitch. The company watches a series of pitches, shoots them all down, and then takes the best ideas and keeps them for themselves to use with the agency they finally choose.

Basically, they got a bunch of free ideas for their campaign. Which is exactly what Tori is doing here with her music video.

Why pay expensive professionals, when semi-professionals and hobbyists are willing to do an equal or better job for free? Today's technology makes it all possible.

So while the record industry is scrambling to get back on its feet after misjudging the popularity of digital downloads, some of our most popular artists are embracing technology and marketing themselves in groundbreaking new ways.

It's fun to watch. And even more fun to apply to your own business.

My iPhone Review (hint: oh my gosh it rocks!!!)

I’ll be the first to admit that I am one of the bigger Mac geeks out there. And I should also mention that they are a client of mine. But I was a fan 20 years before I was a vendor, so I write this completely as the former.

So here’s the deal.

I had my guard up with the iPhone. I knew it would be awesome, but I told everyone I knew that I would wait until the second generation came out. You know, give them the chance to iron out the bugs. See what they come up with for improvements.

That kind of thing.

And I was doing pretty well at keeping to my word. I had gone 2 weeks since the June 29 launch, in fact.

But then I got my hands on one. And 2 hours later I was at the Apple Store in Valley Fair buying an 8GB iPhone. To be honest, there was no way I could have slept otherwise. And I mean that quite literally.

To make a long story short, I love my iPhone. I love the way it looks. I love the way it works. I love how I have all my music, photos, and videos right there when I need them. But I’ve had them all with me before on a cell phone and iPod. So what’s the big difference?

It’s all about the experience of using the iPhone. I have never had one like it before. And that is what sets it apart from every other product out there.

When I use my iPhone, I just feel really, really good. It makes me smile. It makes me happy. I have an emotional connection to this product in a way that I just don’t (and perhaps, shouldn’t) have with any other electronic device. (Except for maybe my Canon Digital Rebel camera - a year later I still get a giant rush whenever I use it.)

Now this emotional connection has nothing to do with being on the cutting edge of technology. Sure, it’s fun to be an early adaptor and see the looks on people’s faces when I show them new gadgets. But I find myself there all the time. In fact, I’m trying to be a little discreet about using the iPhone in public. Don’t want to seem like I’m trying to draw attention to myself.

What I’m talking about is a much deeper connection. This thing allows me to take the most important “things” in my life (photos and music - and everything they represent to me) with me wherever I go. This means I can share them with anyone I want when I am away -- much easier than carrying around loose photos and the such—or I can just sit back and enjoy the experience myself. And what a user experience it is.

It’s only been a few days and I can’t imagine life without it. So much for having my guard up. This thing rocks.

Which begs the question: what kind of experience are you giving your customers?