One of the best resources on the net for the DIY band is undoubtedly Andrew Dubber’s New Music Strategies blog. His free e-book, 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online, is essential reading for any unsigned or undiscovered artist looking to make sense of the changing music promotion and distribution landscape. NFAB grabbed him for a chat.

Promotion is the easy bit

NFAB: What would be your advice for new artists in need of a promotional push? Pursue traditional press avenues? Or just concentrate on the online channels?

Andrew: Actually, getting press/promotion for your music is the easiest bit these days. It’s just time consuming, and sometimes it’s worth bringing in a professional just because it’s such a job of work. As you say, there are so many avenues from traditional press to social networks — and a decent PR strategy should include as many of those things as you can muster. Online channels are different to offline ones — but they don’t replace them.

Crisis in the music industry?

NFAB: The media is making much of the crisis in the music industry – what are your thoughts?

Andrew: [They should] consult some of the smartest minds on the planet from organisations like Creative Commons and the EFF to talk about ways to make money from a more open, technology-friendly, Long Tail -ready business model. I reckon it will take around five years for this to work, and you’re going to have to start sooner or later if you want to still be in existence 10 years from now.

80% of the most powerful companies on the planet listed in the Forbes 500 guide 20 years ago simply don’t exist anymore. Their fatal error? Resistance to change.

Let’s not forget here though that I’m not talking about ‘The Music Industry’. I’m talking about the Record Industry, which is a small subset of the Music Industry. And even then, I’m only talking about a minority of organisations who command the lion’s share of the economics of that section of the industry.

“As long as people derive value from an engagement with music, there will be money to be made”

Let’s not make this mistake: the music industry is NOT in any trouble. By and large, the music industries as a whole are doing just great — particularly live music, music education and the community music / social enterprise sector. Mismanagement on a global scale may attract headlines, but as long as people derive value from an engagement with and experience of music, there will be money to be made.

Empowering the amateur

NFAB: Do you think that the internet has empowered the amateur to the point that it’s become almost impossible for the good voices to be heard above the noise? Is it about who shouts loudest or who has the best gimmick (e.g. Sandi Thom)?

Andrew: No. 90% of everything is always crap. The more stuff there is, the greater the 10% pile becomes. All we need are effective filtering systems to sort what we consider to be wheat from what we consider to be chaff.

“90% of everything is always crap”

Advanced internet users are advanced to the extent that they have better filtering systems than everyone else. RSS feeds and social networks with built-in recommendation systems (such as Last.fm) are examples of online filtering processes that bring the good stuff to your attention.

There’s a service industry revolution due in terms of customised and personalised cross-media content delivery. If it comes, and it’s done right, it will be of the same order as the call centre phenomenon.

Sandi Thom was a good story because it was the first time that particular PR stunt was done well. Like the million dollar homepage, everyone who tries to replicate that stunt will fail — because we’ve seen it and we know how it works now. That’s the great thing about the online environment. You have to be clever, and you have to be innovative every time you go to work.

Major vs. independent

NFAB: If an NFAB reader was offered a major label record contract tomorrow, would you advise them to sign – if so/if not, then why?

Andrew: That depends on what you want out of your musicianship.

If you want to be famous, have a number one single in the charts, a music video played worldwide on television and a concert tour where hundreds of thousands of people turn up, buy your merchandise and sing along with your songs — then your chances are still much better with a major label deal than without it. That may not always be true, but it is currently.

“If you want to have all of the decision-making power about what you are, then your chances are better as an independent”

However, if you want to have a sustainable career, manage your own repertoire, have creative control, earn a decent living, not be in debt to a major corporation, have all of the decision-making power about what you are and aren’t prepared to do and — over the course of your career — earn more money and reach more people that care about your music, then your chances are better as an independent.

Statistically speaking, your chances of being generally creatively constrained are much higher in a major record company. However, there are some world class marketing people working in major labels who would be good to have on board if fame is your desired outcome.

Connecting with fans

NFAB: With all this drive to connect with fans, open up access to you and your music, sell relationships etc, do you think something of the mystery has been lost? Could you imagine someone as compellingly aloof and enigmatic as Dylan or Bowie emerging from the Music 2.0 era?

Andrew: There are people who are genuinely aloof and enigmatic — but to answer your question more directly, just look how accessible and folksy Bowie, Dylan and David Byrne have become, given the choice and the access through technology. Music is a form of communication and expression, and they have all made the most of the new music environment to enhance that aspect of what they do.

Most genuinely interesting artists (and I’d definitely include those three) turn out to be genuinely interesting, intelligent, creative and engaging human beings once they have the platform through which to express that side of themselves. I think that makes them more fandom-worthy — not less (and in a much more palatable and sensible way).

While it’s nice to have a privileged position as the artiste, and while for some there may be a degree of frailty of the image that’s been created, which comes under threat from accessibility and close scrutiny, I actually think that directness of expression, connection and communication has been a goal of most songwriters throughout history.

Technology doesn’t make you directly connect with fans, but it does allow you to.

Frankly, the alternative way for audiences to see behind the screen is through the lens of the tabloid. An information vacuum will lead them straight there. With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense to me that most artists are choosing to control their own message and be deliberate about what they reveal about themselves — no matter how famous or mysterious they are.