BUZZ ABOUT GIMMESOUND.COM

Amidst stumbling major record labels and plummeting music sales, gimmesound.com arises as the new music pipeline for independent artists to release new digital music direct to fans, listeners. The articles and studies below illustrate the changing music business and offer guidance on how to embrace this change for the benefit of us all.

Music is the world's favorite pastime, according to a recently released study, which also found that 72% of Americans consider themselves passionate about music and many are interested in paying for exclusive items such as access to exclusive unreleased MP3s, members-only web content, private gigs, etc. See article here and learn how you can capitalize on this trend.

The State of Music Online: Ten Years After Napster
This report by Pew Internet chronicles the decline of album sales, the rise of MP3, P2P, digital sales etc., and makes predictions for the future. This study makes reference to Pew Internet's Future of the Internet survey, in which our founder, Peter Van Ness, was asked to participate. You can see his remarks on The Evolution of IP Law and Copyright Protection here.

Bob Lefsetz, whom the Washington Post calls "one of the music industry's most influential analysts", envisions the future of new music, rights and distribution

If suddenly the artists control the rights, it’s a whole new ball game ... New acts see value in giving away their music. And if you control it, you’ve got the right.

... And what people want most is exhilarating new music.

... What if new music does not align with the usual suspects? What if new music goes with the entrepreneur? Who is more about protecting the artist and his career than making a quick buck?

... So, it has to be an outsider who leads the charge. Who has to be desirous of putting in the effort. But after Napster and Grokster and KaZaA and the Pirate Bay, no one’s been willing to make the effort. But what if you weren’t stealing? What if you were setting up a better shop across the street? More in tune with what the public desires? Then, you’re on the road to success.

... The lead will be taken by someone ... who first and foremost is a music lover!

Wanamaker’s solution?
In this June 2008 report, Will Page, Chief Economist at PRS For Music considers an ad supported distribution model similar to gimmesound.com and raises good questions to which we have good answers.

Bob Lefsetz on your relationship with your fans and the return of the single
Did you catch Thom Yorke’s statement that Radiohead wasn’t going to make any more albums? Just tracks, that they would release when finished? You could pooh-pooh his ideas, but isn’t this the guy who was ahead of the curve when he left the major label, asked his audience to pay what it wanted and still sold the CD and MP3s and made a fortune? Much more than he would have made if he stayed at EMI?

... We’re switching to files. It’s just a matter of when the transition is complete.

... It’s about an ongoing relationship with fans. Monetizing wherever you can. Fans want a lot of material. If you’re releasing one album every three years, marketing this same project around the world, banging on the door of every potential buyer to get him to take notice, you’re doing it wrong! The future isn’t about mass, the future is about niche.
Most music didn't sell a single copy in 2008
This Guardian article points out that a very small percentage of artists have any luck selling recorded music, thereby challenging the notion of a long tail in music sales. The article cites research showing that while 13 million songs were on sale online in 2008, 10 million never got a single buyer, and 80% of all online revenues came from just 52,000 songs (less than half of one percent). The report also says that 85% of albums never sold a single copy.

music industry’s deathwatch
(July 31, 2009) New York Times Columnist Charles M. Blow says, "According to data from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), since music sales peaked in 1999, the value of those sales, after adjusting for inflation, has dropped by more than half. At that rate, the industry could be decimated before Madonna’s 60th birthday."

The New-Media Crisis of 1949
This Wall Street Journal article (August 22, 2009) draws a parallel between the rise of TV in 1949 and today's new-media revolution, showing how "Network radio's fate has some lessons for today"

And finally ... hope. Beautifully written by Lynn Hirschberg, this New York Times Magazine profile of Rick Rubin paints a stark picture of music business woes, but finds hope for the future in the music itself. In the words of the article's subject, "... too many people make and love music for it to ever die. It will never be over. The music will outlast us all."

Here are two articles on how to fund your music project without being "signed"

Artists find backers as labels wane - New York Times profile of Polyphonic, a company that invests in aspiring artists.

A Few Dollars at a Time, Patrons Support Artists on the Web - another New York Times profile of a new company called Kickstarter that funds artists.

For several years, experts have been advising advertisers to seek out media that can effectively target their brand and engage their desired audience. Advertisers are listening ...

According to Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail and Free: The Future of a Radical Price, "The challenge for big marketers is to figure out how to scale their efforts for small online communities based on shared areas of interest." See him interviewed by Charlie Rose here.

GIMMESOUND.COM is a growing online community with a shared interest: new music discovery. We can customize a campaign to fit budgets for marketers and advertisers of all sizes. Click here for more info.

56% of people are willing to view or listen to advertising for free music downloads, according to a recently released study, which also found that only 25% are willing to share personal data for the same privilege (See article here.)

GIMMESOUND.COM requires no personal data (other than a valid email address) in order to access free music downloads.

May 2009: US Advertising Spending: The New Reality
The Internet’s share of total media ad spending is rising by at least 1 percentage point every year. Two counterbalanced trends are producing those rapid gains: Marketers spend more on Internet ads, while spending less on advertising placed in other media, such as newspapers, radio and magazines. These spending shifts predate the recession, but the current economic forces both reinforce the new advertising models and make them more permanent.

GIMMESOUND.COM offers the newest advertising model specifically targeted to money-spending trendsetterrs who make and love music. Low cost, low risk and no waste. Click here for more info.

An August 20, 2009 Media Week article cites a new study by Dynamic Logic showing that "ads that are integrated into the content of the page ... are the most effective in driving online ad awareness and purchase intent." The study also found that "ad campaigns using Rich Media with Video created the strongest brand impact (across most branding goals, including aided brand awareness, online ad awareness, brand favorability, and purchase intent)."

GIMMESOUND.COM offers custom branding campaigns that can integrate your brand into our content, including videos produced by gimmesound.com (see sponsored videos here). Do you want a custom, integrated branding campaign? Click here.

By working with gimmesound.com, you can avoid what the study calls, "One of the biggest problems in online advertising today is that, unfortunately, strategy and consideration of branding goals is often an after-thought in decisions about creative format." (see study here)

The Simpsons: Worth More on Hulu than Fox
This PC World article explains why online ads on websites like gimmesound.com are more effective than ads on TV, saying "A tectonic shift has taken place for the digital age: ad rates for popular shows like The Simpsons and CSI are higher online than they are on prime-time TV."

The ultimate marketing machine
This report from The Economist shows how targeted advertising on websites like gimmesound.com can avoid the waste (now estimated at over $112 billion in the US alone) made famous by John Wanamaker's proverbial quip, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don't know which half."

On gimmesound.com, every ad impression is tracked and targeted to the audience you select. There is absolutely no waste. Click here for more info.

5 Reasons Your Customer's Age Doesn't Matter
Award winning author and SVP of Digital Strategy at Ogilvy PR, Rohit Bhargava says, "stop blindly thinking about age demographics and refocusing on methods of targeting that actually matter such as interests, affinity groups, location ... you need to think of your audience in terms of action and interest--not artificially created groupings of age" - from his Fast Company blog

GIMMESOUND.COM ads can be targeted by location (geo-targeted), musical taste, musicians vs. fans and more (including age). Click here for more info.