Tweeting a Buzz, “Rehab” Style

Hip-hop artist Eminem’s new album “Relapse” was released May 19th, but far before that there was a tweetabuzz going on at marketing headquarters.

In the hip-hop world, being away from the scene for five years is a near deal-breaker, so Eminem’s marketing team at Aftermath/Interscope Records had a unique challenge ahead of them: bringing back the dead. Using Twitter as a means to convey a story, something Eminem is very good at conveying musically, they were able to tell a tale in a series of disturbing and intriguing “tweets” that blurred the lines between real and fiction creating the type of viral buzz that is slated to carry the album to platinum status.

There were basically two types of tweets going on simultaneously. One type was directly related to the release of the album with its accompanying iPhone/iTouch game and interactive website. While the other revolved around a haunting thought or something that would link Eminem to a mental institution/rehab facility called Pompsomp Hills.

By using this method of anticipation via intrigue, this musician was able to pre-engage his fans to talk about the experience and ultimately push them to hurry out to buy the product; a recipe for success!

Eminem is not the first artist to use new media marketing in order to engage a fan-crazed rage as you can see in the case of the “Twilight” book series , but it does take an imaginative artist to realize the power of a story and how incredible this power is for sales. This type of characteristic campaigning proves that you don’t need to be extra talented in order to bring yesterday’s news out of the closet.

A compelling story and some clever marketing plotted out over a period of time will create a chattering frenzy; ultimately boosting a band or even a product like the Beanie Baby back, even if it was proven dead and gone.

-Jodi

Tweeting a Buzz, “Rehab” Style

The Evolution of Tribal Curiosity

*As featured on Hypebot*

Yesterday on Hypebot, Bruce raised the question, “What fans should artists listen and pay attention to?” My answer is: all of them, but there's a big difference between listening and truly caring. Be approachable, start doing something, and answer those emails. If you are leading a tribe of followers, you have to pay attention to all of them, but the key is to empower the curious.

There are many types of followers, but it's the curious fans that count. Not because there are a lot of them, but because they are the ones who talk to the fans that are stuck. They're stuck on your last album, stuck on what everyone else is listing to, and stuck somewhere in the mid-1990's. Whereas the curious fans are trying to find out when the album is going to be out and when your going on tour next. The curious fans are the mavens who are driven by the desire to discover and champion new music.

The Evolution of Tribal Curiosity

Anthropologist Elman Service defined four classifications of the stages of social evolution: hunter-gatherer, tribe, chiefdom, and state. It is my belief that these four categories also provide insight into The Evolution of Tribal Curiosity in music fans and the power of influence they acquire over time.

1. Hunter-gatherer: Fans who are generally egalitarian or characterized by their belief in the equality of all bands. They relentlessly search for music in all territories and don't discriminate against anything. Up to almost 80% of their music is obtained by gathering, but they have very little social influence.

2. Tribe: Communities of fans in which there are some limited instances of social rank and prestige. For instance, some of the members become more established opinion leaders, and emphasis is placed on who was first to discover a new artist. They gave a broader reach then the hunter-gather.

3. Chiefdom: Stratified tribal societies with...

established opinion leaders or chiefs. Think about music blogs (pitchfork, stereogum & brooklynvegan), where new artists are brought forward by a single source, and echoed down through different ranks and layers. Embraced by certain tribes, but not by all. Their reach differentiates, but wider spread.

4. State: Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments. Examples: MySpace, Billboard Charts, Rolling Stone, and Top Radio. High rates of discrimination of what makes “good music.” They are influencing and reaching the masses far and wide.

In a world where people now have way more choices and far less time, the obvious thing happens, people start ignoring you. But, no artist should ignore any fans, because they are more connected than ever. You have to be constantly empowering curiosity and amplifying faith of your followers, because that is the only way you will rise above the the ranks and gain their acceptance.

The Evolution of Tribal Curiosity

The Rihanna Challenge

*As featured on Hypebot*

It's easy to say, “No one will care about Rihanna in five years." But it's important to note that this isn't about Rihanna's career, it's about the careers of many.

It's the difference between the support of crowds and tribes. It's the difference between blind faith and something to believe in. Do you truly believe that if piracy ended and your CD had an end-cap display that your career would magically be different? Or do you believe if you keep making remarkable music, engaging your audience, and building your tribe that over time you can make a change?

Four questions illustrate this reality:

* If Rihanna left her major label, could she sustain her career in The Musical Middle Class?
* If radio stations slowly quit playing her singles, how long would it take for you to notice?
* If Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart quit selling her CD's, could she rely on digital distribution?
* If she had to rely solely on the support of her fans, would their relationship be able to last?

When you take away three pillars that a major artist's career is build on, it's hard to imagine...

their place without major label budgets, massive radio play, and big-box retail distribution. The reality is that major labels are in the same economic storm as the rest of us, radio is slowly losing it's audience, and that music floor space is shrinking everyday in favor of more profitable items. If you think about it, five years is a long time in music.

It's hard to destroy the status quo; if that's what you are. If no one cared when you weren't being played on radio, if no one noticed your CD wasn't on display, then it's not clear that you have a tribe. In The Musical Middle Class, it's hard to rely on crowds, because they come and go with passing trends as they get older, but the followers of a tribe grow together. Rihanna is great with the members of music crowds, but with music tribes it's unclear if she resonates.

Two general examples of a much larger segmentation:

The members of music crowds:

* Still consume major label music
* Still hear about new music on the radio
* Still buy music off the end caps at Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart

The members of music tribes:

* Develop complex tastes and has a hard time digesting mainstream
* Hears about new music through friends, recommendations like Amazon, and music blogs
* Buy music from Indie stores, iTunes, Amazon, CD-Baby, or TuneCorner

The crossover members of music crowds who do use iTunes don't know what to do when they can't buy your single. They heard Kid Rock's “All Summer Long” on the radio, went online to buy it, and didn't know what to do. The Hit Masters provided an answer to that demand, overtook the original on The Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at #19. The publicity from refusing to be a part of iTunes and leading a strong music tribe allowed him to take Rock N Roll Jesus 2X Platinum, but it took 19 years and 9 albums to do it. Five years from now, people will still care about Kid Rock because despite his mainstream success, he still connects and leads a music tribe.

The Rihanna Challenge:

*What artists do you think won't be around in five years?
* What artists could survive on their audience without the three pillars ? (larger budgets, radio play, and store distribution)

The Rihanna Challenge

Tribes: Music For a Movement

*Inspired by Seth Godin's new book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us.

There are many artists who attract large crowds when they tour, but only a select few attract large tribes. Fans come and go like passing trends as they grow older, but the followers of a tribe grow together. In his new book Tribes, Seth Godin describes a crowd as a tribe without a leader or communication. The leaders of tribes instill passion into their followers to the point of loyalty beyond reason. These cults of heretics form communities around artists, establish a connection and relationship, and demand music that is real, authentic, and meaningful.

Bill Starkey and Jay Evans were two teenagers from Terre Haute, Indiana who transformed a shared interest into a passionate goal and desire for change in January of 1975. They began contacting their local radio station WVTS in order to get their favorite artist played, but the program director, Rich Dickerson, turned them down. Not to be discouraged, the two kept campaigning the station with letters that were signed: Bill Starkey – President of the KISS Army and Jay Evans – Field Marshall. By July of 1975, Rich caved in and began to play their records, often referring to the KISS Army on air. It wasn't long after that listeners began calling the station asking how they could enlist. Though leveraging the tribe to allow it to grow and gain new members Starkey and Evans started a movement of their own.

When KISS announced it would be touring to the local venue, the Hulman Center, in November, Dickerson saw the marketing potential of the Army. Working with Starkey and Evans to provide advanced promotion...

for the concert, he let the two begin to take phone calls on the air to recruit as many members as possible. As a result of their efforts, the show on the 21st sold out all 10,000 seats, a feat Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd had previously failed to achieve. The KISS Army was an organization that sought out to destroy the status quo and won. Recognizing their efforts, the true leaders of the tribe, Gene and Paul, brought Starkey on stage and presented him with a plague from KISS.

In 2004, twenty nine years later, another tribe went on-line. With 23,678 registered members who've posted 228,063 times, and launched chapters worldwide, The Black Label Society is tribe of passionate followers who are led by Zakk Wylde. Addressed as family members, brothers and sisters, they are grounded in respect and admiration for the leader of the tribe and for the other members as well. Seth goes onto say that “Tribes are about faith–about belief in an idea and a community.” For these family members, the brothers and sisters of The Black Label Society, it's the about lifestyle and the deep seeded beliefs, the love and respect for everyone in the community, and, above all giving a fallen brother or sister a hand if they've fallen in the mosh-pit.

The most notable of tribes are the metal fans themselves. In this culture, not everyone is a leader, but the followers come out through the woodworks when addressed. The metal tribe has a strong belief system, much like the KISS Army and The Black Label Society, but much more complex. Patrick Hanlon's book, Primalbranding: Create Zealots for Your Brand, Your Company, and Your Future goes on to explain that the belief systems of tribes contain seven pieces that work together to make them believable, called the Primal Code.

• The Creation Story – There are many stories that elude to the creation of metal, but the most famous one started when Tony Iommi's industrial accident caused him to lose the tips of his middle and ring fingers of his right hand, which impacted the sound of Black Sabbath because he to detuned his guitar.
• The Creed – Their mission, to destroy the status quo of popular music and as Patrick states, “The image of iconoclastic youth.”
• The Icons – Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Pantera, and Slayer
• The Rituals – The albums, mosh-pit, the black t-shirts, camouflage, tattoos, and the thrusting of the metal horns popularized by Ronnie James Dio.
• The Nonbelievers – Everyone else.
• The Sacred Words – "Generals gathered in their masses." "You've got another thing comin'." "Master of Puppets I'm pulling your strings." "The Number of the Beast." "We're the cowboys from hell." "Angel of death, flying free."

The last and most important piece of all is The Leader. Ozzy Osbourne and James Hetfield, were Agents of Change, who organized massive crowds, provided leadership, and communicated their intent. They gave legions of metal fans everywhere something to believe in. They never attempted to manage their fans, they successfully united and lead their followers. In his closing statements, Seth Godin says. “All I can hope for is that you'll make a choice. Every leader I've ever met has made a choice, and they've been glad that did.”

-Kyle Bylin

Will you make the choice to lead the followers of your band, record label, or new music business idea?

*As featured on Hypebot

Tribes: Music For a Movement

A Brand of Band - Part 1

Throughout my short music career (about 7 years if you include me writing songs and recording artists through a $20 4-track, and $20 radio shack microphone), I had many artists that were a favorite because of their “off camera” lifestyle. They had a brand, an image that has been latched onto them that surpassed their music and sometimes surpassed real life. Their image made them seem larger than life and it made fans spend money to go see their “god comparative” performances. Where did all that go wrong? It seems now because of the internet, we as fans of music know some things about these artists that they probably forgot. Being a fanatic takes a lot of work and those “god comparative” performances became just something else we can see on Youtube now.

Right now there is no God figure because a god would last longer than a year or two. We saw the god in Michael Jackson try to break out and look what happened to him. What happened to the large marketing teams? What happened to the people that made gods out of musicians? To break a god costs money that not many people have any more. We turned to demi-gods of niche’s, or The Long Tale. I finally got to read this book by Chris Anderson and I’m learning that in today’s world there almost can’t be that “hit” anymore. We broke genre’s up to the hundreds and now they are breaking into their own thing. Underground rap is not underground anymore if billions have a chance to listen to it. Same thing with punk rock. You are fighting the “man” yet you are on Rupert Murdoch’s Myspace!
To be continued...

From the mind of
Keveeno Reeverts

A Brand of Band - Part 1

Shinedown lets fans interact and tell their stories...

For those of you who have picked up Shinedown's third album "The Sound of Madness" or listened to select tracks on MySpace, you've already found delight in getting blown away by the new songs. The stand out track called Second Chance tells a story many can relate to. Due to the songs rising popularity the band had a unique chance to connect with fans by letting them post about a time in their life they where they had been given or gave a second chance. With plans underway to use the content in the music video, this should turn out to be a great fan experience.

The post has become the most popular one on their site. Many of these stories are by those who've had hard fought struggles and endured a lifetime of pain in order to rise up above the water they were once drowning in.
"Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can to make them realize
This is my life, I hope they understand
I'm not angry, I'm just saying...
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance"

-Kyle

Shinedown lets fans interact and tell their stories...