6.22.13 Adam's in NY doing ????? (we'll find out later)

Hello,

I was not here for last couple of weeks (from hell - don't even ask), but I am slowly catching up and realize you are discussing how to prepare for A3 and music revenue flows, etc.

I have been looking into that question quite a bit recently (prior to last two weeks) and just want to make you aware that things have been changing annually and you really have to look from what year a web based article is. Certain data, when floating around about Spotify and Pandora, etc. that are 5 years old are totally irrelevant today. The good news is, the influence of streaming services is increasing steadily, both in money flowing back to the label - it grew in % allocated starting in 2006 - and  additionally, this all now matters for Billboard rankings, so there it becomes important a second time.

For A3 we have more chance to influence things, because we are not completely at the mercy of Clear Channel and Co. anymore. They still are important, but their influence has been lessened.

Streaming creates money flow to the label long past the initial sales and promotion cycle of the album. It also develops influential paths and information streams determining which music preferences belong with which other ones.

First to the finances: The actual information on how these monies flows is mind-bogglingly complicated.

You really can take two approaches to that. a) I just listen to his music wherever I like and otherwise just hope some of it flows back into the right pockets.

b) I'm getting an 'online doctorate' in this music business accounting stuff and I will make strategic decisions as a fan based on what I think will help.

Obviously, any mix of these two is ok too. But we can certainly use this forum to start informing each other.

For those who want to have more information and want to go a bit more systematical about setting up their own 'fan support platform' at home, here are some resources to get you started that I found immensely informative and helpful. Just careful, some of this is degree-worthy complexity and it sure is a rabbit hole of its own.
But for those that want to start digging, here we go:

A starting article about royalty distribution can be found here:

futureofmusic.org/blog/2013/06/18/music-and-how-money-flows

This article has links to further articles and active worksheets, so feel free to get lost in the gory detail.

Somewhere here there was a biz discussion thread and perhaps we need to take further discussion there, but it's a slow day and there were a few questions about whether we can even make a difference and to those I want to respond - YES we can!

I was more on the pessimistic side for Trespassing once the singles did not get played. I am NOT feeling the same way now. We have options to make this fan base heard and quite frankly, based on what I saw on twitter, there are multiple people at Billboard quite aware of the Glambert power and will observe how we are using the empowerment given to us. So, we better get our act together.

It has long become clear to me that any efforts running via Facebook are not very successful with this fan base. Too many of us, myself included, not handing our life to Zuckerman and his Cohorts. But Twitter, Youtube, etc. we have down pat and we have an influence within the music business that is significantly bigger than our  fan numbers. It is now important to get those digital streaming services lined up, and get ourselves organized, so we increase his streaming numbers, because we can have that same power there too.


It is also important for this fan base to widen our horizons a bit when it comes to current music. Here is what I mean. If we create these Adam music only zones on Pandora etc, it is kind of like inbreeding, we stay in our own circles and our influence diminishes over time.
If we can achieve, i.e. that somebody who likes 'Get Lucky' on one of these streaming services, then gets to hear Trespassing or Kicking In after that, then we are all of a sudden becoming influencers of others. But for that we first need to climb out of our ivory tower musically and we need to do this now, while it does not hurt from a competitive standpoint to get other music played. I believe the best way to do this is organically, which means, while there is method to the madness and I might intentionally listen to some music because it has influential character, I believe in ranking and putting 'likes' and 'dislikes' down the way I really feel. If I like it, I say so and see where it takes me. It's more fun that way and I believe it will come out alright. Others will make similar choices and eventually Adam's music will reach a wider audience.

Once A3 is out, we need to have these trodden paths established and then be able to use them effectively. I am not far enough along to know more yet, but it is pretty clear that this is the level we need to get to. We need to become musical influencers and not only accountants. But of course smartness about numbers is good too.

So, whoever wants to go get themselves a degree in all this, that article up there and its links is at least a 101 course. I am still very much at the beginning, but have a few other articles read that tie into this, that I will need to find again later.

This has become long enough for now....