The 3mix Blog
In a world where it’s easy to get songs for free, authenticity and connection are the elements that both set you apart from the crowd and help create loyal fans. Fans who feel like they are a valued part of your team are more likely to support you though the years. I’m always on the lookout for artists doing a good job creating those great fan relationships. Two I’ve noticed lately are Trent Reznor and Kina Grannis.
Recently Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails put out a call to fans to complete a survey about how they’ve interacted with the band – going to concerts, downloading music, what kind of merch they’d like to see, etc. The thing that’s cool about the letter is that it comes straight from Trent and it’s easy to relate to him as a real person, a friend just trying to figure things out.
Check Lefsetz Letter or Hypebot for more commentary and to see the full text of Trent’s letter. I love how he acknowledges that fans could just grab the free download he’s offering in return for completing the survey off a torrent site, but appeals to their better nature with a good dose of humor. I have to confess to not knowing much about NIN or listening to their music, but just reading the letter makes me think Trent might be someone I’d like to get to know better, and if I WAS a fan I’d for sure be filling out that survey. I’m curious to know how it goes over with actual fans.
An artist who I DO listen to is Kina Grannis and I think she is doing an excellent job at building up her fanbase by connecting with them as a real person too. Gaining acclaim for winning last year’s “Crash the Superbowl” contest (helped in part by her popular Gotta Digg video making the front page of Digg) hasn’t stopped her from making weekly blogs and video blogs.
She stays in the forefront of her fans minds by by posting about once a week – always providing something new without overwhelming them. She’s very generous to the fans and encourages interaction too, making YouTube tutorials so they can play her songs, listing fan birthdays and shoutouts at the end of each weekly video and answering questions on her blog.
The result is a loyal and generous following – check out this video where she shows all the gifts sent to her PO Box, and this YouTube profile created for fans to send their birthday wishes to Kina on her birthday. I’m not sure how or if this translates to actual cash for Kina, but by creating relationships and building a fanbase online, when she goes on a tour, even if she’s never been to a certain city before, chances are she will already have fans there who are eager to see her play.
Anyone else have ideas for staying connected with fans in an authentic way?
Derek Sivers, founder of CDbaby.com, has a free e-book full of tips for the indie musician on how to call attention to your music. One of my favorite points is when he talks about how telling people that your band sound is “totally unique” doesn’t cut it. Other non-descriptive ‘sounds like’ descriptions I’ve seen on many a band profile around the web include things like “Me!”, “Listen and find out”, “Nothing you’ve ever heard before!” But think about it for a minute, what do any of those phrases really say about you? Not much.
If you can peak someone’s interest with a truly descriptive phrase, your chances of getting them to actually check out your music increase dramatically. It doesn’t have to be a long phrase or cover every type of song you do, it just has get them curious enough to take action. Derek has some great examples like “It’s a cross between James Brown and the Beatles” and “We sound like the Incredible Hulk having sex.” Doesn’t that make you want to at least find out what that music sounds like?
Ok, so you get the concept, but you have no idea how to come up with a phrase. Here are few possible ideas to get you going:
- There’s always the good old “Sounds like the lovechild of __ and ___. ” (Where the blanks are two well-known musicians who influence your music.)
- Ask your mom, dad, brother, sister, best friend, worst enemy how they would describe your band in 10 words or less.
- Have a contest with your fans to come up with a description, and the winner gets a free CD or pair of concert tickets.
Come up with a few different phrases, try them out on people and see what gets the best reactions. No one is saying you have to lock yourself in to just one phrase. But having a good description in your pocket means you’ll never miss out on the opportunity to catch someone’s attention and make a new fan!
So, how would you describe YOUR music?
If you’re reading this it probably means you’ve been invited to join our Alpha and help us test the first release of 3mix. Please excuse the bugs and let us know what you think so far – we’re listening.
Over the next several weeks we’ll be working hard to iron out problems with the site and add a few new features in order to turn this private alpha into a public beta release. Stay tuned to this blog to keep up on the latest features and services we’ll be releasing on 3mix, as well as tips on how to use those features to best promote your music and your brand in the new online economies.
Whether it’s the rising cost of gas prices or a growing sense of responsibility for the environment, bands are looking at lower impact ways of touring these days. I’ve heard of lots of different ideas from bio diesel vans to bikes. But even the bands who tour by bike usually have a support vehicle to carry their instruments and equipment. The California-based Ginger Ninjas decided to take things a few steps further. Not only do they carry all their gear on their bikes, they also power their PA system by audience participation.
Volunteers from the crowd take turns pedaling band bikes hooked up to lightweight generators powerful enough to project to a crowd of 400 people. They recently toured from northern California to southern Mexico, playing over 80 shows powered completely by their bikes! The other advantage the Ginger Ninjas discovered is they could set up and play pretty much anywhere they they wanted since they didn’t have to worry about where to plug in.
4 minute Ginger Ninjas Mexico Tour Vid
Here’s another video that’s a little longer but explains the concept in more detail and talks about a few other bands that are also touring by bike.
I love this great example of a band taking matters into their own hands and turning something that could be potentially crippling (the high financial and environmental costs of touring) into a new and exciting opportunity. I have a feeling it’s the creative thinkers like this who will have longer and more fulfilling careers in music!
Writing code is much like being on the African savannah. I feel you fading out already, but bear with me for just a moment as I walk you through the metaphor.
Coding, for the most part, is like a membership in a herd of gazelle – you’re munching down on the code, pooping out a few refactors here and there, flicking away bugs with your ears (metaphorical ears?). But mostly it just kinda goes along, in a bambi-ish, lush-green-forest way.
Then every so often we have what Marissa Tomei so elegantly summed up in My Cousin Vinny: BLAM! and your head’s blown off! I refer, of course, to the regular milestones that just creep up on you much like Elmer Fudd, except without the cuteness of a stammering idiot who’s sidetracked by a talking duck. Milestones and deliverables, unfortunately, do not have the short attention span of a Mel Blanc character.
This is where Agile development practices come in. The theory is that regular iterations make everything go a lot smoother with less of the surprising BLAM! Now there is a caveat. This requires constant vigilance and ever-present attention to detail and teamwork. A couple of sprockets loose in the system and all hell breaks loose.
Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, since that’s exactly what Agile is designed to avoid. And that’s actually the really cool thing. If you can figure out that things are going off kilter anywhere in the path, the system can be redirected onto the correct rails without all hell breaking loose.
This is where we are right now – things largely working and a couple of gotchas into a rather hefty sprint. At this point, thanks to the power of (mostly) Agile development and a pretty astute and hawk-eyed manager we’re slightly off track, but mostly on course to exceed expectations.
Very soon we’ll be able to release a much awaited initial version of our product, and then we’ll be back on the savannah – waiting for the herd of hyenas to come knocking on our doors :)
It’s my first day at the 3mix offices and already I can tell things are going to be different than any job I’ve had before. For starters, it’s in a cool old building on the town square with super tall ceilings, white walls and wood floors with plenty of natural lighting (no nasty flickering fluorescents). The team is small, adding me brings it to 8 (though I know there are a few more people off-site). Most of the guys are wearing flip-flops, have really fun graphic t-shirts from cool bands or video games and for sure no one is wearing a tie!
The developers’ desks are all pushed together into one big table so they can bounce ideas off each other and problem solve easily. Scattered across the table is a mix of Mac’s and PC’s (And they sit me at a Mac, squee!). Luckily I’m already familiar with the Google applications because they use them for email, documents and spreadsheets, etc. There’s no big phone system with complicated voicemail protocols to learn because everyone just uses their cellphones.
At 3:00 we all get up for something called a Scrum meeting where everyone stands in the next room to give a quick and simple progress report of what they’ve just finished, what’s on their plate at the moment and what they plan to start working on tomorrow. Any problems that come up in the meeting are dealt with afterward. It’s pretty refreshing compared to the hour or more long meetings I’ve been used to in other places I’ve worked.
Overall it seems to be a pretty friendly, open and flexible environment, the kind that fosters creative thinking and productive work. And it’s the project they are working on that excites me. A new way for musicians to promote their music and make money. One that gives the artist control and 100% of the profits. These are the kind of people I want to be around!