Most people attribute the collapse of the music industry to the mp3 format, Napster or even the introduction of the iPod.
Actually, some experts believe that it was John Cougar Mellencamp who brought about this change when he recorded a song titled ‘Our Country’ for Chevy.
This was back in 2006. While people considered him to be a ‘sell out’, he knew ahead of time that the traditional way of reaching out to consumers and making money through his music was all but done.
It’s no different with what happens today as traditional forms of advertising is starting to fade away.
Much like musicians like Mellencamp, it’s important for businesses to stay ahead of the curve too. Here are 3 things businesses can learn from musicians today:
1: Use Social-Media Influencers
Musicians are promoting their own music by developing a sizeable social media following. This also helps them to promote certain products to a large extent. Best part: they’re not considered as sell outs either.
2: Product placement
Product placement in television shows as well as the movies has been around for a number of years now. Musicians continue to use creative ways to get noticed like this – take for instance, Radiohead that released their album, In Rainbows, for free. This is due to the lack of effectiveness that commercials offer and with more and more people moving to the internet. Of course, with ad blockers introduced recently, it can be difficult to do this but it’s still possible in niche and smaller markets.
3: Think About Using The Medium of Podcasts
Musicians are taking complete control of their product by using the channels available to them over the internet. Spotify and Pandora comes to mind and this is despite them making almost nothing. Yet what it does for little-known artists is that it introduces to millions of people around the world. They’re able to hold the attention of potential consumers – something that wasn’t possible only a decade ago.