Letting punters know when bands are about to start on various stages, where to find great food and merch offers, free stuff, meet and greets and even traffic conditions and weather reports in relation to the event can all be part of the Tweets hitting punters phones during the day. Also great for updating those who didn’t make the festival but might want to follow from home. Maybe next year they’ll be lining up for tickets?

This service also has a much more pivotal role to play in letting people know about stuff that wasn’t in the festival organisers plans. The recent reports in the Age about the ‘fury’ of punters at Pyramid Rock due to cancellations of the last four acts on NYE because of a massive storm are certainly out of anyone’s control. However perhaps if a percentage of people were following on a social site some of this frustration could have been alleviated or at least a controllable dialogue entered into.

From an article by THOMAS HUNTER in The Age, January 4, 2010

“The greatest outrage to the Pyramid rockers was from the disgusting lack of communication regarding the organisers,” one music fan said. “Not only did they have no back-up plan in case of the forecasted storms, but they sadly failed to provide a simple announcement, apology or even a traditional countdown into the New Year. “Thousands of punters were left without a clue, stranded in the rain for hours with nothing to celebrate. A great way to start the new year, especially after paying over $300 for a ticket.”

Can’t help the weather but with onsite social media director you can reach people directly with the issues at hand. This could have even greater implications in the event of a worse natural disaster or crowd control issue.

On a lighter note great news about Myspace in a recent Music Network where it was revealed that it is now the nation’s leading music site with
 2.38 million unique browsers visiting MySpace Music during the month of December (Nielsen)

Much has been made of the rise and rise of Facebook over the last 18 months (the leading social media site in the world) and the potential implications for Myspace. However TMN reports that ‘on a daily basis, MySpace Music had approximately 8.5 times the average daily unique browsers compared to the nearest competitor within the music and radio category. (Nielsen Market Intelligence January 5th 2010)

The social media and music discovery portal is home to over 5 million artists worldwide, offering the largest catalogue of music online’

It seems that even non-musical brands such as Toyota and KFC are seizing opportunities to reach this audience through their sponsorship of varying musical enterprises.

Also a favourite here at d.tail is Sia and it was no surprise to us that she has led the way with her use of social media in furthering her presence, as reported on the AIR Charts recently (click here to see the report).

About 2 months ago, just before an extended tour back to her home country (Australia), Sia tweeted the following:

“Here is my verson of “you’ve changed” from the forthcoming album WE ARE BORN.leaking!” 

And then “feel free to share with abandon”

Cyberspace went nuts, 20,000 Twitter followers disseminated the track though blogs and retweets. The song featured in Sia’s live Australian concerts and then hit the radio. ‘You’ve Changed’ has been hovering near the top of our radio charts ever since that tweet and now it’s for sale.

So whilst we feel that some people are still wrestling with the concept of social media and what it’s capable of producing for others it’s become a crucial and relatively inexpensive way of pushing your creativity and establishing your brand.

PG

Let’s go on the road, play loud, play often, get drunk, meet girls/boys (your call) eat bad food and most importantly stay up very late.

I lived it, loved it and ultimately got sick from it but even today still enjoy wearing those scars of a truly surreal experience few humans get to have.

So how do you do it, when do you start planning, who is the first person you call, the car rental company, the accommodation, the PA people, the merchandise company or your girlfriend to see if it’s ok to go (?) Relax, it’s never going to be cool to go, not really, not when you forget to call, not when you are having a f@#$%g great time!

But lets go anyway… here are some simple tour administration things to think about.

1. We can’t afford it

You’ll rarely be able to afford it. The question should be; can we afford not too? You need to be stretching your canvas, playing to new rooms in far off places, making new fans, increasing the bands’ experience for the sake of both attracting new audiences and also to give you all something more to think about. Songs of the road, gigs of our lives, the solidarity that only comes with night after night of playing gigs together. So go…

2. We’re not good enough yet

No you’re probably not. So rehearse like hell, put together the best set you can and go and improve it on the road. No one ever won a tennis match practising! You need the experience of continuous gigging, set autopsy during the car ride the following day, recognition of your band mates strengths and weaknesses both on and off the stage and facing your own personal playing demons – e.g. I keep losing my voice, my hands are blistered from hitting too hard, my amp sounds crap out of the rehearsal room. So go…

3. Our single is only getting played in Melbourne

Well what a great reason to go to Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane. Service it to the local public radio stations, street press, bloggers and reviewers, record stores and anyone else who’ll take a copy. Tell them you’ll be coming through touring, it gives them more reason to take a listen and stamps a great big ‘we’re serious’ stamp on your collective foreheads. Offer to come in and play on their radio shows, in their stores, at their house parties, run comps to get them down early to meet you at sound check, give tix and CDs/downloads away in street press. Even iTunes gives us all a free download every week! So go…

4. Where do I start planning

With your agent or by approaching the booking managers of the gigs you want to play at. Look at what rooms bands like yours played at during a similar stage of their careers. Speak to your mates bands, check out the venues websites, local street press online in other cities and the travel blogs of other Australian acts. Look at your own social network management – where do your Myspace / Facebook / Twitter fans live? Ask them about touring in their town. Heaps of people have heaps of local knowledge and if they are fans they’ll want to share. Use them…

5. Got my gigs what next

Let’s get on Google maps and work out the first logistic. Is it too far too drive in the time I’ve got to get between gigs or going to cost too much too fly? Adelaide to Brisbane overnight wont work but cheap flights might however it’s going to cost a fortune to fly all our amps and drums. In fact in many cases they need to be cargo listed and go on a completely different flight.

There are 4 basic contingencies you need to think about here:

a) Who’s coming – crew would be great but they add beds, flights, Tarago seats and wages to the equation.

b) Are we taking our gear or hiring backline

c) Are we driving everywhere and what vehicle will we need to do this.

d) What is the cheapest accom’ in each city – can I park the car, minivan, truck there safely full of gear?

6. OK we’re doing it, what can possibly go wrong

Nothing, it’s easy, thousands of brave troops have been there before you. But a few things to think about because every decision here has an implication. Make sure you’ve got at least enough money for petrol and make sure you fill the hire car before dropping it back. Car hire companies charge twice as much per litre.

Be sure that your vehicle will fit into the hotels car park – we don’t want to take off the roof of the Tarago on a water main in the basement or have to unload it every night because we’re leaving it on the street.

If you are flying with excess baggage and you know it’s going to be a drama, call them – they’re less pissed off when they know what to expect. Also sometimes it makes more sense to book a more expensive flight on Qantas than Tiger because baggage is less restrictive. The bonus here is you don’t need to hire that piece of backline when you get there, however you do need to make sure that it will fit in the vehicle you’re picking up at the other end.

Think of posters for the venue, merch that might just make up the difference in your tour bottom line, allowing an ample amount of time for getting from A-B.  Don’t be late for cheap flights – they’ll make you pay for another. Maybe appoint a Tour Manager – the loudest, the bossiest, the most organised – girls in the band are ‘generally’ better at this than boys. Think through the process in a linear fashion – I leave here, I’m going there and this is what I need to have when I arrive, After that I’ll need somewhere to sleep. It’s easy, so go….

Now write it all down including the booking numbers and details for flights, cars, hotels, backline, production crew and of course the venue. Add any radio, TV, magazine contacts and interviews you have been lucky enough to get and put it in a book with a nice picture of the band on the front and a cool title – Australian Autumn Tour 2010, Summer Eastern States Run, All My Ex-Wives Hate Me Tour – even the name of your single, EP, album perhaps.

‘Cleveland!’… PG

Coming from an artist management perspective (Paul Gildea Artist Management) and assessing the current situation in the music industry we began to find fantastic stories about unique ways artists had connected with their fans using social media and break through stories a little different to the norm.

One of the stand out stories we came across and is a great example of tactical marketing, was that of the Veronica’s band-brand partnership with Bayer birth control pill brand Yaz.

In a nutshell, Bayer were “looking for a way to connect with young women a little bit better” and wanted to establish a partnership with an artist that would bring the right personality to the table with the aim of building brand equity.

The Veronicas fitted the profile and the advertising and sponsorship deal included 2 TVCs for Yaz using The Veronicas versions of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and Scandal’s “Goodbye To You,” as well as a series of Yaz-sponsored online webisodes about the sisters for Yahoo Music. The third phase of the campaign includes the use of one of the Veronicas own songs “Change.”

Back in 2005 before the campaign was launched, the band were multi-platinum artists in Australia but relatively unknown in the US. Since the campaign, the first single “Untouched,” off their latest album “Hook Me Up” sold more than 1.3 million units and reached No. 17 on the Hot 100. The Veronicas were invited to tour with the Jonas Brothers and toured the US for 2 months.

The partnership has been in place for 3+ years and is considered one of the key factors that broke the Australian electro-pop band in the U.S. market.

One of the strongest insights we took away from this story was a comment by the Veronicas manager William Derella of DAS, “remember, brands will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to launch a product; a label will spend maybe a million to promote an album. If you partner with a brand, maybe they won’t use the song on your album, but you’ll get those millions of impressions for your band.”

Have a look at the full article Keynote Dissects Bayer-Veronicas Partnership, by Evie Nagy, N.Y.

JM

Diafrix were nominees in the Best Homegrown New Artist category, up against other great local acts Lisa Mitchell (nominated for 1 ARIA this year), Tame Impala and more. It was neck and neck for most of the voting period between The Temper Trap (nominated for 4 ARIAs this year) and Diafrix, but towards the end Diafrix held on to solidify first place. This week it was official – Diafrix won the Best Homegrown New Artist award.

Thanks to an ever growing, loyal and active fan base we were able to engage fans directly via facebook, twitter and myspace and spread the word about the award. We circulated the link to the voting page and the fans just kept passing it on and voting!

Kelly Brigham from Diafrix’s record label Illusive (Melb) had these kind words to say about our social network management…

d.tail have not only helped reinforce the importance of online marketing, but they have proven that with a little noise made via the world-wide-web, awards can be won! – Kelly

Thanks again to all the Diafrix fans for jumping on board and voting!

JM

I told Phil what a pleasure it was during the recent AMBC, hearing from Gerd Leonhard, Jeff Price and a number of others who have embraced or espouse a newer practice of doing things in the music business. I have been following Gerd’s predictions with a mixture of interest, amusement, cynicism and respect in revolving patterns over the last 5 years – ultimately much of what he had to present at the AMBC is indicative of the new reality for many of us.

That is, there is no longer a battle against the forces of illegal downloading; the new reality is that it’s here.

The war is over, it’s how we divide the conquered territories that will indicate where we draw our supplies from moving forward.

I also reflected my great surprise not as to who was at the conference but who wasn’t. Because I did expect a greater contingent of industry folk – particularly from the major record and publishing companies. Especially considering that this was an opportunity to gather ‘intelligence’ from the other side.

I do understand that many of Gerds predictions and assumptions are divisive, that much of the process people are employing to design and develop their new operations are exploitative of the ‘free music’ model and that many in the music business must feel threatened. For the change is so significant that major job losses are already common, it is what the new jobs will look like that we are grappling with.

I also spoke at length to Jeremy Macvean from Austereo. I met Jeremy a few years back when my post production studio – Monkeesee worked on many of their TVC’s. Radio like TV and many in the media and entertainment industry is threatened by the eventual roll out of Kevin’s big broadband. Jeremy explained that their method of fighting back has been to build as strong an online community as possible. I think he mentioned that they now have a staff in excess of 30 just concentrating in this area.

Don’t quote me on that number but what is obvious is that ‘free to the airwaves’ forms only one part of their strike pattern.

Let me say this is not a rant about social media being the new black or the death of the old school. Just because it works for Trent, the Beastie Boys and Radiohead doesn’t spell success for all – indeed who helped them up the ladder of notoriety in the first place?

Also, I’ve been in or associated with too many successful acts signed to major record deals to be happy about that scenario.

However, now more than ever how you deploy your forces and the theatres you choose to fight in are pivotal to your ability to make an impact and break through the lines.

Whilst the majors can still fire the heaviest weapons they take longer to get their flotilla in place. Often by the time their carriers have moved into position much of their firepower goes over the market place, well heard but less infiltrating. Also large movements of troops are too easily spotted and therefore avoided.

However both of these are still vital elements in the campaign. In fact they’re essential when the numbers are running your way.

It’s just that you need to have the ground troops in place first, handing out chocolates and cigarettes. This is where the base for incoming is established. This is where the message can have pinpoint accuracy.

There is no such thing as viral marketing any more. The word is dead, one of the positive casualties of the battle. Social networking is what the V word has become. Identifying your first 1000 troops, organising, equipping and empowering them and ultimately making them part of your crusade.

So the war is over, the troops are on the ground. It’s up to us as to how we choose to mobilise them but ignoring that they’re out there – that just seems foolhardy to me.

PG

The team at d.tail are excited to welcome Melbourne hip-hop outfit Diafrix to the family. We’re looking forward to working with the boys on social network management and giving Diafrix fans the coolest experience on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and beyond!

One of the country’s most explosive and eclectic live acts, Diafrix recently released their highly anticipated debut album, Concrete Jungle, after many years of relentless touring. The album has taken Diafrix’s iconic concoction of African roots, hip-hop and story-telling and developed it into a truly world class product.

We’re glad to be on board to help Diafrix connect with their fans on another level.

Diafrix on Myspace | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

EB

But great is the key word here!

This new approach has to be seen as a stimulus for musicians – an opportunity to express in new ways – blog, pictures, video, art AND music – has there ever been a better time to take control of expressing your creativity – this has the potential to separate the real talent from the also ran’s.

Every artist, band, producer needs this now, very basic omni–presence in social media or you may as well forget it. This is your music, image, art, opinion, tenacity, language and style – if it’s not on display in this forum you aren’t in the business.

At the same time we’d like to help you put the logistics of your tour together – small, medium, large we don’t care. Whether it’s backline in Mudgee or a guitar tech in Nhulunbuy we’re here to help.

We’d also like to take a view of your music from a tactical perspective. What’s working for you, who comes to see you play and where suits you best from here? Who are the potential stakeholders who you should be telling about your plans?

But most importantly this is not just for the DIY band or artist.

Record labels, management companies, independents, publicists and a whole range of new related players and products can benefit from our services.

So welcome, thanks for clicking on – click once more and ask for our help.

PG