Musicians have a lot to deal with while on the road. One of those things is the organization and sale of CDs, T-Shirts, and other merch. These days, it's the ticket and merch sales that pay for the gas, the new drumsticks and guitar strings, the food and drinks, and every other expense on tour. So musicians have to be smart about making as much money on the road as possible.
Today, an exciting startup exited private beta that I believe every musician who tours should sign up for immediately. It's called Square, and I've been publicly excited about it for a while now. At the helm is the guy who invented Twitter, which turned out to be a pretty good idea. The goal of the company is to make accepting credit cards dead simple.
I wanted to write a quick note explaining why I think this event is so important.
I go to a lot of music conferences. Last fall I spoke at 6 or 7, including larger more widely known conferences like CMJ in New York. None, in my opinion, had the quality of both attendees and conversation, as SF MusicTech. Here's why I think their formula works:
How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online?
Recently, the UK government passed The Digital Economy Act which included many, perhaps draconian, measures to combat online music piracy (including withdrawing broadband access for persistent pirates).
Much was proclaimed about how these new laws would protect musicians and artists revenue and livelihoods.
But how much money do musicians really get paid in this new digital marketplace?
You have to follow through.
As the guy running ArtistData, I hear a lot of new music. About two months ago, I heard a track that stuck out by a band that I won't name. I listened to more on MySpace and was really impressed. They seemed to have a good following, a bunch of upcoming shows, and thoughtful branding (by that I mean it looked like they cared about their CD artwork, site design, etc...).After listening on and off for a few weeks, I decided to do something I rarely do: I emailed friends at labels and agencies recommending the band. It isn't often that I hear an artist that I'd promote to my network, but this band stuck out. So I tried to help.
Before I emailed my network, I asked them for permission to pass along their music, as well as confirm they wanted to build a team. Their email response: "We're actually looking for an agent number one, possibly a manager. Our main goal right now is just playing more shows ... so an agent would really help."
So I sent out the music. I also asked the band to send me MP3s of the album in case anyone was interested in hearing more. They never did. After a few weeks, an agent friend at Creative Artists Agency asked to hear more. Since I didn't have more music, I emailed the band, telling them CAA wanted the album and gave them the address and contact to send it to. I also asked them again to send me MP3s to pass along to the agent (at his request this time).
Silence.
