These days the Independent Musician has a whole new friend at his disposal: The Internet. And thanks to a few Internet Dynamos -- every artist with an inkling of talent has the opportunity to spread themselves across the entire planet. But to do that there are a few things required: A) A place for Fans to mingle and throw praises/insults at you whenever their little heart desires. B) Fans that refer you to all their friends or one Fan with a thousand Friends, (Insert Perez Hilton into this group) and C) Have something that someone else Needs. You set yourself up with these three grand statements of the alphabet and you’ll get what my grandfather used say, “Boy you’re in the Gravy!” But how much Gravy is too much? When is it time to say, “I’ve drowned my mashed potatoes, I can’t see my green beans and it seems to be seeping over the plate– perhaps it’s time to take a break from the Gravy Train.”
Rather than consult my grandfather from the grave – he was an interesting man – but when he got to talking, let’s just say even the chair I was sitting on wanted to leave the room – I’d like to share a little story about a Current Internet Music Star: Jonathon Coulton – Independent singer/songwriter extraordinaire with a talent for writing songs off the cuff that bring a smile to your face.
With the approval of his wife, Jonathon quit his day-job last year and decided to pursue a professional songwriting career. To do this, he did what most songwriters would do: Write a boatload of songs. The truth is Jonathon decided a boat wasn’t big enough – so he decided to take on a year’s worth of material – writing one song every week for the next 365 days of his professional songwriting career! Cool huh? I would frankly put this in the category of awesome opossum because Jonathon wrapped his fingers around the keys to success, stuck them in the ignition and blew the top off the corvette he was driving. He found a niche market – grabbed onto rule C mentioned above and took a drive down the information highway at 100 mph.
With a few tools at his disposal, aka: computer, musical instrument, recording program – Coulton recorded his songs and found himself a thousand plus fan-base while doing it. As a matter of fact, thanks to his rendition of “Baby got Back.” John went from Obscurity to Mr. Popularity in the blink of an eye. Fans wanted his name, number and address – e-mail and personal. His fans loved his music so much – they began to purchase his songs online and when he compiled a list of songs to put on his album – his sales skyrocketed. Sure he wasn’t playing stadiums, but he was the talk-of-the-town in small communities all over the United States. So where does this story go awry you’re probably wondering?
Well – let’s just say Coulton represents the New Internet Music Star. Unlike Major Labels who have a Giant Marketing Machine behind them, artists like Coulton have to do it all themselves. And while this is great for some things, insert: “I have 100% control over everything I do. I don’t have to be a slave to the system any longer!” It has its drawbacks too. You’re no longer an indentured servant to the system, but you are to your fans. J
For Coulton – because he didn’t have Timberlake’s Stardom and the power of a Major Label at his whim – he developed his fans one at a time – and as you know this takes a certain amount of personal touch – and heck of a lot of e-mails – as Jonathon found out -
“ I know since I’m a singer/songwriter people think my work is writing songs, but it’s not. My work is waking up and sitting on my computer for 4-5 hours a day and responding to e-mails – and making sure every one is satisfied.”
This is where I say Fan becomes a Fran – a term I’ve coined that defines someone who strives to be a fan and friend at the same time. While the Internet provides a thousand marketing tools for the Independent Musician, it doesn’t tell you how to cope with the Online Tornado of Frans that land on your doorstep when all goes according to plan. And most of all it doesn’t sit down with you and say – “Look maybe you don’t need to tell them that.” Because as we all know Mr. Internet is the new “All Knowing God.” And thanks to our knowledgeable friend, a lot of us are being consumed with the “If you tell me, I’ll tell you all” bonanza that’s creeping its way into the living rooms of every household in America. One example is what could be considered Slimer’s best friend on Ghostbusters – Blog. Thanks to the Internet’s wife, Mrs. Blog – everyone is getting to know everyone a lot more intimately and for the Musician this comes with a price. As one of my Musician friends put it, “To much of anything is never a good thing, you have to have some allure in this business, some mystery otherwise you become boring..” Funny that the word Blog is about as interesting as one of my grandfather’s stories – but I regress.
The fact remains that to be a successful IndependentSinger/Songwriter/Band on the Internet, it is necessary to have constant communication with fans. While at the same time having boundaries and knowing when to say NO! Remember, while Marketing is very important – most of us came into this business to play/write music While blogging and e-mailing is a required part of cultivating a personal relationship with a Fan – it’s just as imperative to take care of yourself and look both ways before crossing the Information Highway. Jonathon Coulton summed it up quite nicely when he said, “While I know my fans want a lot from me, I try to stay away from my personal life – frankly it’s not that interesting.”
Let’s try to keep it that way.