Dear Christian Music Industry, 

Have you been by any of the “heavy hitting” bloggers pages lately?  Oh, come on CMI.  Do you mind if I call you that?  CMI?  I feel like we are friends enough now right?  Anyway, I know you have been visiting a bunch of these “heavy hitting” blogs recently.  You know how I know?  It’s this new little thing that your marketing people are doing called the “Blog CD Giveaway”.  Yep, I know it’s you.  I know that you are the one’s contacting these bloggers with massive amounts of readers and asking them to talk about and give away the new records you are releasing.  They are everywhere.  Autographed copies, pre-release copies, copies with t-shirts, copies with posters.  There’s a number of ways that one lucky reader of these popular blogs can take home something special from either their favorite artist or a brand new artist they have never heard of.  It’s a good move CMI, and I support it.  Well done.

I do have one question about this tactic though.  And I’m not even being as sarcastic as I normally am with you.  Are you ready?  Here it is.  How come you recognize blogging as a valuable form of marketing to the masses yet you still are struggling to get your artists to blog themselves?  There’s an easy way to get your artists to blog well and all you have to do is ask.

I will give you one guess, Christian Music Industry, who would write about your artists new records with more passion and more excitement than any blogger you will ever meet.  Do you want to know who it is?  It’s the artist themselves.  I know, it sounds silly.  Why would an artist talk about something that they have spent the last year and a half giving birth to?  Surely they aren’t going to be able to convey a message more convincing than a popular blogger, right?

Maybe look at it this way.  I could show you pictures of friends kids, and I could talk about them all day and I could even get you to tell me that they are cute and you like their dimples or something, but think of the difference between that and me telling you about my kids.  What if I showed you pictures of my kids?  Told you about how they jumped off the couch and got a concussion?  Showed you their first day of school pictures?  Wouldn’t you be more convinced of my passion for my own kids?  

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all about other people telling the world how cute my kids are, but if I am going to ask people to talk about my kids and tell people how great they are, wouldn’t I be doing that myself as well?  Wouldn’t I create a platform where I could join in the conversation and give people the real inside stuff?  The stuff popular bloggers might not know about?

As always, it’s great to talk to you Christian Music Industry.  Let’s get coffee soon.

Brody

Read Parts 1-7 Here

Dear Christian Music Industry, 

There’s this really cool group of musicians out there, maybe you’ve heard of them.  The “Independent” musician.  Sometimes people like to call them “Indies” when they want to feel cool, and a lot of times it’s awesome to pass on their music to your friends so they think you are cool too.  They call it “hip to the Indie scene” or something like that.  All in all “Indie” musicians are pretty decent.  They typically will tell you that they are ‘in it for the music’ and come across a little more ‘arty’ than other musicians.  And I like that.

You know what else I like about Independent musicians?  I like the fact that they care about their careers.  You know why they care about their careers?  Because if they don’t, they don’t get to eat.  They have no record deals, they have no marketing team, and they have no money backing them, and they realize that it really, truly is up to them to succeed.  They get that fire under them to create music and then they get that fire under them to spread the word.

And you know what happens when they want to spread the word, Christian Music Industry?  They look way down at the bottom of web sites of artists that they feel are doing it right, and they find a logo.  They find a logo of  the company that these popular musicians are using and they email them wanting the same thing.  Because if they get that same thing, they increase their chances of succeeding.  Not only do they feel it increases their chances of succeeding, but in talking to this company they realize that so much of the work load of their marketing is lightened in doing so.

You know how I know all of this, Christian Music Industry?  I know all of this because I have been on the receiving end of several emails from “Indie” artists over the past few weeks.  Emails asking how to do what other artists are doing.  How to get their music out to more people.  And they want our help.  Then we start to talk.

Today SkörInc launched a new site for another Indie guy named Elijah Stephen.  He’s an artist who is starting out on the right foot and wants to do as much as he can to succeed.  So he called, we talked, and now he has the same service that several other signed artists have.  And he’s excited about that.  Make sure to head over there and give a big fat hello to him.

Now, here’s the funny part, Christian Music Industry.  Are you ready?  Elijah paid for it.  Yes! Can you believe it.  This independent musician searching for ways to better his career paid for services that he thinks are valuable.  And he’s getting them.

Now I know there are budgets and flow charts and projections and all that for the labels in the Christian Music Industry.  I know that people are paid well to make decisions based on a company and ‘maximizing profits’ and all that.  And I think that’s awesome.  One thing I’m not too sure about though, Christian Music Industry, and maybe you can clear this up for me.  I’m not to sure how an ‘Indie’ artist playing to thirty people or so a night can come up with the money for something valuable, but these major record labels seem to have a hard time finding the budget and need for something like a silly old blog.  After all doesn’t MySpace have a blog feature?

Now don’t get me wrong.  I know that some of your labels are forward thinking enough to jump on the train, but the majority of your labels refuse to see the need for oh… communicating with your fans… or creating a community or something like that.  For years labels have looked at what Independent musicians are doing to succeed and taken those concepts and drug them into a corporation setting.  And it doesn’t look like this will be any different.  So it’s time to get on the bus Christian Music Industry labels.  The hip “Indies” are doing it so why shouldn’t you?

Your Friend, 
Brody 

Read Parts 1 - 6 Here

Dear Christian Music Industry, 

I have an idea for you.  See those three record covers up there?  Pretty famous record covers right?  Here’s my idea.  I think it would be awesome for one your next record covers to be exactly like something that has been done before.  What do you say?  Go out and find a record cover that you think is awesome, one that really gives off a vibe that you want your record to give off and then copy it.  Copy every detail, except make sure to put your bands name on it, and maybe if you copy the Weezer cover don’t wear that black and blue shirt.  Maybe do a black and purple shirt instead.  Portray yourself publicly as completely unoriginal and unartistic.

I learned a new word this week.  Aesthetics.  Have you heard of it?

Here’s the thing, Christian Music Industry.  Since I’ve been writing you these letters I have noticed several blogs “randomly” popping up.  I even touched on it in my last letter to you when I mentioned that some of you were blogging but still were viewing blogs as something “extra”.  You’ve finally gotten to the point where blogs have become your “desktop wallpaper”, your “behind the scenes look” that you give away to fans.  Congratulations.  The problem with that is it’s simply a wrong type of thinking.  Don’t agree with me?  That’s fine.  At least the Washington Post does.  Blogs are not “extra”.  Blogs have become your voice, your market research, your connection to the folks that want to support you and more importantly your image to the world online.  Let me let you in on a little secret.  They don’t want your buddy icons.  They want you.  

“But Brody, our blog is a representation of us.  We blog almost daily and try to interact as much as we can.  Look at how original we are with our fancy header image.”  Good for you.  Really, I mean it.  I do have one question for you though.  Why are you doing it from a blogger account that is available for the rest of the world to use?  Why are you choosing a blog theme that any blogger can get, and just change the header out without even thinking?  Is that how you want to portray yourself to the world?  Unoriginal and unartistic?  I mean if that’s the case book a ticket to London, take your shoes off and walk across the street for your next record cover.  

Or you could do something custom.  Something that no one has done before, and maybe something no one else can have.  Show people that you care about your online public appearance as much as you care about your record cover’s public appearance.  Just a thought.  If your interested, I might know a guy.

Your friend, 
Brody 

Read Part One
Read Part Two
Read Part Three
Read Part Four
Read Part Five

It was on July 12th that I started sending pictures directly to the sidebar of this blog instantly from my phone.  Did you notice?  It might annoy some of you.  Some of you might think it’s cool.  Basically these are things that I am looking at, the exact moment I send them to the blog. Nothing new, I know.  It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before and it’s certainly not re-inventing any wheels here…. maybe.

To my knowledge, on July 12th nobody in the Christian Music Industry was doing it.  To my knowledge Twitter was (and might be) still the king of the “instant”, but this week I want to try something.  This week SkörInc is getting all of the artists that we work with set up with something similar.  The idea?  Bringing something even more instant to the blog and getting more people involved and ultimately making it more fun.  This means that these artists will take pictures with their phone and instantly send them to their blogs.  Again, not re-inventing the wheel here, but I have a secret mission for you.  Are you ready?  Okay it’s not really that secret.  I want you all to keep an eye out, in the next two or three weeks and see how many of these coincidentally start popping up and let me know.

Now before anyone blasts me with a comment that says “You’re stupid.  David Crowder has been doing this for two weeks”, let me mention.  Yes, I know David Crowder has been doing this on his “band hub” for around two weeks.  And you know why?  Because David Crowder is a smart fellah. 

So there’s your mission.  Let’s, together, see how many of these clever little ideas start gaining ground in The Industry over the next few weeks. You want to?

(WCW)

Dear Christian Music Industry, 

This week my friend Phil did something a little out of the ordinary.  It wasn’t completely unheard of and it’s not like it hasn’t been done before, but Phil decided to record a show, make a record and give it away.  Did you hear about it?

Here’s the thing Christian Music Industry, some of you are listening now.  Some of you are listening and I think I know why.  I think you’re listening because of the simple fact that you are seeing results.  You’re seeing results like the fact that in six days now, over 9,500 people have downloaded Phil’s record.  Results like the fact that Phil’s site has had over 40,000 page views in the past six days.  You’re seeing results like both of Phil’s previous records taking significant jumps up in the Top 100 Christian Albums on iTunes in two days.  You’re seeing an album that is nearly a year old jump from number twenty-five on the chart to number ten, and a record that is over two years old jumping from number ninety-four on the chart to number twenty-five.  You’re paying attention to that because you want those results.

There’s only one problem Christian Music Industry, and here it is.  All of this didn’t happen because Phil has a blog.  Do you know how many people in the world “have blogs”?  See, most of you are still looking at blogs as something that  kids that live in their mom’s basement, and collect action figures have.  They are something that you talk about your cat on and what you had for breakfast.  And if you’ve gotten past that spot, you think blogs are a “fun extra” that bands can have like buddy icons or something.  You’re looking at it as an extra that fans will just feel blessed to have.  You want to hear what I believe?  I believe all of this happened because in the last six months Phil decided to engage his fans, create a community, involve his readers, and the result was something special.  Phil was given the ability to blog well. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not so foolish to say that the only reason Phil’s record has done really well, along with his other records, is because of his six month old blog.  Phil is an unbelievably talented musician, with a progressive label behind him, and it was only a matter of time before this happened, but there’s only so much we can attribute to coincidence, don’t you think?

Not enough of evidence for you?  How’s this?  Two days ago Bart Millard of MercyMe fame, (You’ve heard of him right, Christian Music Industry?) announced on their blog that his solo record called “Hymned Again” was available for pre-sale.  He encouraged his readers to pre-order it and asked for his “blogging community” to help make a dent in the iTunes chart by ordering a record that no one thinks will do well.  Wanna hear something funny, Christian Music Industry?  It’s currently number nineteen on the Top 100 Christian Albums on iTunes.  Not bad for a record that isn’t even out yet.

So there’s a few examples of why I think we should talk.  It’s not that I think that I can do something magical for you and make you end up at the top of charts.  If I could do that don’t you think I would be sitting there myself?  No, I am saying that if you are getting the slight idea to start a blog because you’ve seen these results and want to give it a go, I might suggest blogging well.  Just a thought.

Your Friend, Brody

Read Part Four 
Read Part Three
Read Part Two
Read Part One