“
Hey Zakk ( Wylde ), it ’ s super nice to meet you .”
“ Hey gorgeous , how are you ?” [ blushing dork alert ]
“ I ’ m awesome , thanks ! Um , I ’ m the social media manager for Megadeth , and I was moderating the online chat you were having in the fan club last week . Thanks for doing that , it meant a lot to the fans .”
“ Oh cool ! Yeah , you ’ re welcome , that was fun .”
“ Um , by the way ? You spelled masturbate wrong every time ...” [ sounded funnier in my head ]
“ Oh , hhaahaa !” * and scene *
Yes - I have laid awake at night replaying that , and many other kind of dorky conversations I ’ ve had with a myriad of rock and metal musicians .
I was fortunate in my 2.5 year stint with Megadeth to be introduced to many musicians , management-types , and record label people . In some conversations I was awkward - because ... me . But in the conversations where I came off as thoughtful , intelligent , creative , and confident - it was because I was talking about a subject I can rattle on about all day long - digital marketing and social media .
Since then , I have chatted with musicians in a few other genres across all levels of fame ( and notoriety ) - and when I start my jam about digital marketing there are 2 kinds of musicians - those that get it and those that don ’ t .
To be clear , this is not necessarily a musician problem - but a music industry problem .
The music industry has struggled for years ( we all know this ) - but before the Napster tipping point , it was also an industry that was known for shitty contracts and screwing over the artist . It ’ s common knowledge now that the money comes from merchandise and ticket sales , not album sales .
There has been a trend in recent years for bands to “ crowdsource ” their albums - meaning getting fans to put in money up front for special content , closer access to the band , exclusive merch , etc .
Some bands have caught a lot of shit for doing this , and some haven ’ t . The bands that don ’ t do it well are the ones who don ’ t provide enough of an incentive ( no one gives a crap about 10 % off merch ) and who come off as whiny about “ we have no choice we don ’ t make any money ”.
The bands who pull it off are those ones who offer a real incentive ( backstage access at shows ) and who have the attitude of “ this is how we ’ re connecting more closely with our fans ”.
More often than not , musicians and their management don ’ t see the connection between social media and marketing , and how closely those are now linked to merch and tickets ( or other sales ). It goes so far beyond posting your show dates on Facebook
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