The Lefsetz Letter. The last word in music analysis, strategy and the inside track to the entertainment world.
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/03/25/rebecca-black-lessons/
Just like us here at Magic Pie Music, Lefsetz understands that the train-wreck that is Rebecca Black was indeed derailed on purpose.
And, just like the drivers on the 401 series highways – the busiest in the World, as it happens – make traffic worse by slowing down to check out car accidents, music fans and interested people will always take time to open their minds – and their wallets – to look-at-me-I-want-to-be-a-celebrity-but-I-can’t-sing-act-or perform music wannabees.
Dissecting four points made by Lefsetz. We have to say that we said it here…first!
1. If you want to make an instant splash, you’re better off starting online instead of hiring a publicity agent and using old wave apparatus to dun old wave media
Rebecca Black and Ark Music were prepared to profit from their online assault. There was no PR stunt, no tour at book stores, venues or coffee houses, no requests for an interview with Good Morning America or The Daily Show.
These media outlets don’t matter – well, that’s not at all fair, because once on-line media gets a hold of something, the old guard is always there to follow suit. Truth is, though, old media plays second fiddle to social media.
Many people – often the execs and suits in charge of money – make the mistake of thinking that social media is only just that – “social”. It is therefore not “mainstream” and not “relevant”. Yes, it is social, but it is social by definition. This type of media experience allows people to share in the stories that interest hem and to share these stories with the people who interest them.
Social media is all about personalization. It’s a “pull” experience, whereas old media is all about “push”. Do not make the mistake of dismissing social media as a fad or as a mainstay tool of “the young”.
It’s all about personalizing the communication of information. Ark Music gets this. Put something out there on-line and allow people to share it for themselves. Don’t push it on them through campaigns of nonsensical, fake advertising shenanigans. The 2011 consumer is smart. She knows the difference (and, yes, she’s a “she”, but that’s for another post).
2. Shelf life online is forever. Like a land mine waiting to be stepped on decades later, if you can Google it, it can always blow up. In other words, a spin on radio evaporates, a YouTube clip is waiting to explode
By putting something on-line, not only do you get it out there, but you make sure it stays out there forever. It’s like a perpetual PR campaign that never really dies, but just goes into hibernation from time to time. If it’s on-line, people can “pull” it from the Net and watch it and love it forever.
3. Music and video production are cheap. Rebecca Black’s mother paid Ark Factory two grand and got not only a song but a video. Not only does this beg why major label productions are so expensive, it reinforces the fact that anybody can play. In other words, if you’re bitching about needing money to make it in the music game, you’re playing by the old rules
This is the DIY era in entertainment. Especially music. And when digital movies become even more popular than they are today, making our own digital movie will be available to you as well. Technology is cheap. The medium’s are there. Use them.
Just because it’s DIY doesn’t mean it’s not also a good idea to have someone help guide you down the path to greatness – and that’s where we come in. But all the tools are out there for you.
4. If you’re twentysomething and have been slugging it out for years trying to make it don’t complain about Rebecca Black. She lives in a different world. To make it and last in music takes longer than it has since the seventies. The MTV era made stars overnight, which faded almost instantly. Now you gain traction slowly, only your fans know you, they spread the word online and you pray that you never gain a Rebecca Black moment, because that means you’ll be ridiculed and be toast.
“To make it and last in music takes longer than it has since the seventies”.
I’ll repeat it again so we all understand.
“To make it and last in music takes longer than it has since the seventies”
Black is a flash in the pan. She’ll be gone in a few months, likely gone forever. Sure, she’s famous because of her terrible video and worse music. She’s famous now, but because she has zero talent, she’ll never have any amount of staying power. There’s no question about it.
Ark Music and Black have maybe 1/3 of the equation figured out. Be connected. Offer it all to your fans on-line, let them share it. Donate your profits to earthquake relief, as she did.
If she had talent, she’d stick around. She’d be the next Gaga and have LiveNation and UMG lining up to meet her. Because she basically did all this for cheap – all this, distribution, recording, marketing – all by herself.
Suddenly, people in the industry pay attention.
….but when they figure out she’s a terrible singer and a horrific dancer, they back away into the shadows from whence they came….
but notice how they came out!
Magic Pie Music 