The Monday Mix - Finding The Game Changers In The Indie Niche

U2 gave away a ton of free music this week. Well over two million downloads.

If you were wondering how much it cost Apple to give away a copy of U2’s Songs of Innocence album to every customer, the answer, according the the New York Times, is more than $100M.

According to the New York Times: "To release U2’s album free, Apple paid the band and Universal an unspecified fee as a blanket royalty and committed to a marketing campaign for the band worth up to $100 million, according to several people briefed on the deal. That marketing will include a global television campaign, the first piece of which was a commercial that was shown during the event."

In layman's terms, Songs of Innocence cost Apple whatever the royalty fee is for half a billion downloaded songs plus a further $100M to market the album and the band.

More than a few customers complained about getting it for free. #FirstWorldProblems, right?

So my iCloud is so full that Apple keeps telling me to buy increased storage, and yet there’s room for a U2 album I didn’t want. Asshats.
— Will Buxton (@willbuxton) September 15, 2014

Fact of the matter is that the album was delivered via cloud, and only hit the hard drive storage facilities of the iCloud customers that actually downloaded it. If you aren't subscribed to iCloud, you didn't get the album.

I am of the opinion that the marketing campaign should have been used to promote a band that needed the promotion. Let's face it, neither U2 nor Apple really needed the marketing boost that came with this campaign. I am sure Apple would have sold the same number of the iPhone 6 with or without U2.

I also believe U2 could have sold two million copies of Songs of Innocence as well. The conventional wisdom states that in today's retail-less economy, nobody buys music any more.  But U2's previous album release, No Line On The Horizon, has sold five million copies since it's release in 2009.

Perhaps the celebrity hipness of outsell-everybody Apple stopped Thinking Different a long time ago. This is the same old self-infatuation of the ruling elite. There are the haves, and there are fewer and fewer of them, and the have-nots. Raise your hand if you are a member of U2. Everybody else, welcome to the have-nots.

That ultimately begs the question - what are the game changers for the indie niche?

We've stated in previous articles that music festivals are no longer the hallowed grounds of new music discovery. The bigger bands and major labels have eliminated all but a few opportunities.

Social media? Consumers are dropping off of social media every day, finally realizing that a lot of noise really doesn't mean very much substance. You can't grow your brand on social media, not unless you pay to do so, and if you pay to do so you are ultimately chastised within your peer group for selling out or for narcissistic behavior.

But narcissism sells, if marketed correctly. Ask Bono.

Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Radio and all the growing list of copycat music delivery services? All cater to the upper echelon of the industry hierarchy as well. Think about this -- in a model that allows consumers to choose what they want to listen to, the majority listen to the same stuff that is delivered non-stop on terrestrial radio.

The bottom line is, unless you have somebody bankrolling your personal marketing machine, you are nothing but a needle in a very large haystack. Perhaps that is why U2 jumped at the chance to take Apple's lucrative deal and give away their music.

Spelling it out, the industry is continuing their trend toward greater concentration. Fewer choices for the consumer. Fewer opportunities for the performers. Radio is still the one constant game-changer, but bands that reside in the indie niche have the odds for terrestrial radio airplay in major markets astronomically stacked against them.

What does that leave for indie bands? You will hate this. But simply put, growing and maintaining interpersonal relationships. It's a slow, gut-wrenching process, not for the weak of spirit and certainly not for anybody with illusions of grandeur. You have to grind it out, taking little victories as they come and building on each small success. The key is to keep your audience focused.

I lamented on Twitter yesterday about the lack of interpersonal posts by so many bands and performers.

I wish that bands on Twitter would show more personality instead of just regurgitating links and event notices. Sigh.
— Michael Canter (@JivewiredCEO) September 14, 2014

Use your e-mail list to post your touring schedule. Use social media to build relationships. People are tuning out, as I said, because a lot of noise doesn't equate to a lot of substance. Dial it down. Use filters. Communicate. Grow your audience.

Imagine if you got up on stage, and instead of performing, you simply read your event schedule for thirty days out.

Engage. Connect. Focus. Capture. Build. Maintain.

Bottom line, and a lesson to all indies -- with HUGE marketing dollars at stake you are being further squeezed by the majors. It isn't that your music isn't good, in fact, I can think of 100 songs released in the last two years that I like much better than any song on the U2 freebie, but, familiarity sells, and that is where music is killing itself. The majors garner all of the airplay, marketing and promotion because the advertising costs and the promotional stakes are far too high to give even a passing thought to anybody that hasn't sold a million records.

As far as seizing opportunities for multi-layered national exposure, always remember that when it comes to new technology, the risk for the major labels is similar. It is more cost-productive for the labels to remain fully vested in a dying technology than it is for them to risk even a few cents on something new, so the labels lag technology in almost every instance. Like the bands they promote, labels wait for new delivery systems to prove themselves first.

Remember, the mice move much more quickly than the elephants, but eventually the elephants cover more ground. Take advantage while you can.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK

How About Now by Halden Vang





Stream:Soundcloud

STAFF SIX PACK

Six singles we are digging on by Jivewired artists.

Red Roses (Sturgis Bound) by Lovebettie
Can't Believe by Halden Vang
Locked Out by Bring Your Ray Gun
On This Side Of Heaven by Hip Kitty
Be Your Own Machine by The Bourgeois
Who Do You Love by The Heroine

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Fearless Gal by Jeremiah James Korfe



ABOUT THE MONDAY MIX

Programming Note: Monday Mix Playlists now run for two consecutive weeks in an effort to double the exposure for our indie artists, and because we have had a number of requests for people who miss the show. Also, the Monday Mix will re-air at Midnight CST each Monday night.

The Monday Mix airs from Noon to 5:30PM CDT each Monday and is designed to help you get through that brutal after-lunch, energy-sucking span that kicks off every work week. This particular show will be a mix of old, deep album cuts and new indie music with a lot of genre crossover. No Adele. Sorry.

What else does The Monday Mix do? Well, it helps you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround the new stuff with some of your old, familiar friends.

Jivewired supports independent musicians by paying royalties for airplay on Jivewired Radio. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our station and by purchasing indie music. Thank you. The links on the radio player will give you download options if you really dig on the music and some of the songs are offered for free.

To listen, just press play on the following radio widget or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

Launch Jivewired Radio



MONDAY MIX PLAYLIST FOR 15 SEPTEMBER 2014

1. Tokyo Sunrise by LP
2. Steal Your Car by Jeff Campbell
3. Make You Crazy by Brett Dennan
4. San Francisco by Foxygen
5. Cold October by Escondido
6. New Year by Beach House
7. In Sleep by Lissie
8. Another Ride by Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds
9. Chartjunk by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
10. My Silver Lining by First Aid Kit
11. Electric Daisy Violin by Lindsey Stirling
12. Spoon by Cibo Matto
13. Hold Yr Ground by Sleepy Kitty
14. Drugstore by The Can't Tells
15. Too Many by Drowning Clowns
16. Them Tulsa Boys by The Paul Benjaman Band
17. Everything You Took by Lee Bains III & Gloryfires
18. Green by Oldjack
19. Parted Ways by Heartless Bastards
20. The Race by Caroline Pennell
21. Uh Oh by Super Water Sympathy
22. Where Not To Look For Freedom by The Belle Brigade
23. The Kids Were Wrong by Memoryhouse
24. Varsity by Smith Westerns
25. Your Own Ghost by Gold Motel
26. Drinkin' by Holly Williams
27. North Side Gal by JD McPherson
28. Afro-Tonic by Tauk
29. Anchor Drops by Umphrey's McGee
30. Lebanese Blonde by Thievery Corporation
31. Delusional Waste by SPC-ECO
32. Raggamuffin by Selah Sue
33. I'd Rather Die by Fiawna Forte
34. Good Change by The Big O Trio
35. Shine by Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs
36. Bad Man's World by Jenny Lewis
37. 100 Yard Dash by Raphael Saadiq
38. Our Love by Sharon Van Etten
39. Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars
40. The Long Way by Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds
41. Take Your Medicine by The Quick & Easy Boys
42. Compromised Intentions by Massy Ferguson
43. Lightning Bolt by Jake Bugg
44. Wicked Dance by Vandevander
45. Float On by Jennie Arnau
46. Don't Worry 'Bout Us / Is There Room For Me by Julie Massey & The Five Finger Discount
47. Merry Go 'Round by Kacey Musgraves
48. The Woodpile by Frightened Rabbit
49. The Fall by Rhye
50. I'll Never Be Happy Again by Eleanor Friedberger
51. Body & Soul by Goldenboy
52. All I've Ever Known by Bahamas
53. Neon Junkyard by Deerhunter
54. Everything Is Embarrassing by Sky Ferreira
55. I Need Better Friends by Cracker
56. Tulsa Yesterday by The Chris Robinson Brotherhood
57. Yellow Red Sparks by Yellow Red Sparks
58. 27 by PassEnger
59. Fooled Around & Fell In Love by Elvin Bishop
60. And He Slayed Her by Liz Phair
61. Gods & Monsters by Lana Del Rey
62. Just A Ride by Jem
63. Midnight City by M83
64. Sorry About Last Night by Wally Dogger
65. Blood Red Youth by California Wives
66. Some Place by Nick Waterhouse
67. Deed Is Done by Tweed Funk
68. Oh So Blue by Pilgrim
69. 7 Year Disease by The Dustin Pittsley Band
70. Wanna Be On Your Mind by Valerie June
71. How by Regina Spektor
72. I Am by Shani
73. The Happy Birthday by Megan Slankard
74. Wine Lips by Lydia Loveless
75. Old Fashioned Morphine by Jolie Holland
76. Forgiveness by Bob Mould
77. Mean Bitch by Taddy Porter
78. Busted by Low Litas
79. Cat Turned Blue by Rusted Root
80. Silhouettes by Colony House
81. Careening Catalog Immemorial by Frontier Ruckus
82. Friends Of Friends by Hospitality