Originally Posted By: JoanneCooper
I read a Michael Cain biography...

Yes, it's an excellent book: Michael Caine - Acting in Film: An Actor's Take on Movie Making. It made me re-think about him as an actor, and acknowledge that at the end of the day, he - like everyone else - is just trying to make a living.

Graham's point is that you're now required to be self-marketing, and the current market demands that artists keep bored consumers engaged by constantly providing fresh content.

You're no longer a musician first - you're a brand, and the content that you provide is what creates loyalty. This loyalty can be monetized once you've got something that you want to promote, such as an album to sell, or a concert to attend.

What he's suggesting is considering using your unfinished and unpolished material as content to provide in creating your brand.

This means that you can share stuff that's not yet finished, or release partial songs. You can release singles instead of waiting for the album to be completed.

What this gives you is a larger stream of content to provide to your audience. The beauty of this approach is that you turn existing content (rough mixes, incomplete songs) into new content.

Got a video of the band rehearsing? A rough version of your song with temporary lyrics? A rough mix of a song? All of these are brand-building content.

At the end of the day, you can still release a polished, finished product. But in the mean time, you've kept your bored, content-hungry consumers happy, attentive, and engaged. Loyal customers spend money on your products.

He also gives the advice of not spending time making improvements that - sorry to say - no one is going to hear. Obvious benefits include actually getting things done, and moving on to new things so you get better.

Really, I don't see anything provocative here.

-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?