Bruce Warila's Unsprung Wisdom - Comments

Bruce Warila comments on Music startups should consider the Digital Competence / Market Traction Matrix

Bruce Warila — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:02:52 +0000

Hey Justin,

I thought about that, but I don't think it applies to bands in a helpful way. I believe bands/artists should decide which basket to put most of their eggs in. If it's a choice of focusing on song quality or website design (and other things Internet), I would go with song quality (doing whatever it takes to get it right) hands down. I don't believe anything anyone does on the Internet will get them the same traction as creating a great song will. I realize I am echoing myself here, as I say this stuff all of the time... I am going to give it some more thought.

Justin Boland comments on Music startups should consider the Digital Competence / Market Traction Matrix

Justin Boland — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:40:19 +0000

Bruce -- when I read this over, it seems immediately applicable to the other "music startup" -- artists themselves. Do you think this would apply to bands, too, or would you change the system up?

brian comments on Music startups should consider the Digital Competence / Market Traction Matrix

brian — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:21:28 +0000

I agree. Every time I hear of another music-oriented social community, I wonder how many people really want to create yet ANOTHER band profile. Enough already! Sometimes smaller, newer ones do offer greater visibility to different crowds, and novel features. But I wouldn't want to be fighting the uphill battle of convincing people they need another one...

Dubber comments on Music startups should consider the Digital Competence / Market Traction Matrix

Dubber — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 23:32:36 +0000

Ha - I was raised on a remote island in the Pacific... :)

DC Cardwell comments on Why You Must and How to Implement a Free Song Strategy

DC Cardwell — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:09:36 +0000

I like the way you think! A few of these things have occurred to me before, especially the idea of putting a spoken message in your mp3, but I haven't tried that yet, or heard it in anyone els'es mp3s that I have downloaded. Have you heard of anyone who has done that?

I agree wholeheartedly that a lot of people won't become a dedicated fan by streaming music from an internet widget, but of they have a song on their mp3 player and they keep hearing it and get to love it more and more, then they will come back for more.

- DC

Peter Blue comments on What's in your seed song bucket?

Peter Blue — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:43:09 +0000

I love this post; Bruce!
Although I have no idea about the details, the idea of pull instead of push feels natural and right.
The push concept is already getting on people's nerves and they are becoming more and more immune to promotion and advertising.
There are similar ways of thinking and feeling in Zen and other eastern ways of thinking.
Pushing the river won't work in the long run. If it works it is for a short time only at the price of vast effort. It is actually against the forces of life.
So here I am on this rainy morning when suddenly for a second the sun comes through, and I feel inspired and encouraged to trust that my music is finding it's way because there are music lovers all over the world that are looking especially for what I have to give.
Maybe that is the point: Giving versus wanting. The push concept is wanting, and I know how I react when I feel somebody wants something from me - it creates resistance and I step back or turn away.

Bruce Warila comments on You Can’t Slice The Digital Music Revenue Pie

Bruce Warila — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:35:38 +0000

Hi Ry,

If Amazon or Apple (for example) end up with 10,000,000 people on their websites, then they should pay. After all, look at the quantity of other merchandise they sell to these 10,000,000 additional visitors.

The credit card processing fees that Apple and Amazon pay are not the same fees that you or I would have to pay... Look at this as customer acquisition costs.

Amazon did not get into the music business to make money on music (they cut Apple's price).. They got into this business to sell other things to 10,000,000 people..

Hope that helps..

-Bruce

Ry Moran comments on You Can’t Slice The Digital Music Revenue Pie

Ry Moran — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:39:55 +0000

Hi there:

To me, the question of sales really revolves around the cost of doing business.

As an artist I have researched all the different ways to sell my music and there are difficult questions to overcome - most notably credit card charges that work on a per transaction basis. If you sell one song, the credit card charges are still there. Same as if you sell an album.

If .99 cents is the model, and this author suggests that artists need all of that revenue, who is going to pay for the cost of sales?

Brian comments on The celestial funnel will end the ability and the need to promote undiscovered artists and songs.

Brian — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:54:26 +0000

Bruce, thanks for a great topic! I'm a professional musician, but still learning the ropes regarding "making it big" in the music world. Over the last month, this discussion has been loaded with thoughtful insights that have helped me to see what's on the minds of our thought leaders. In the end, I'm sure the future will show a Hybrid of the optimistic and pessimistic sides of this discussion. Four years from now, some good bands will be able to credit their break-through to some version of this celestial funnel, while the market continues to remain oversaturated with bad music that is promoted very well.

Thanks again and let's have a beer soon!
Brian

Bruce Warila comments on SellaBand Continued

Bruce Warila — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:21:23 +0000

Hey Mind Booster,

You say the Math is all wrong, but you give no alternative calculations, yet you readily admit that Sellaband is the biggest winner.

Here's your alternative. It's anything but Sellaband and companies that pretend that investors/believer can earn money (their words not mine) in this game.

Your talking apples versus oranges here. Other alternatives don't use deceptive messages to dupe fans into believing they will earn money from the digital music economy.

If you want better alternatives in the same category, start a lottery where the odds are 10,000,000 to 1; sell swampland in Florida; or rob a convenience store.

A bankrobber said to his father "Dad, you show me an easier way to make a living, and I will stop robbing banks..."