The Commonality and Connectivity of Music

What if the soul were one massive organism that connected us all?  Then the job of the individual would be to find those connection points to allow us a means of communicating. And, what if music were one such portal? 

20 Feet from Stardom‘s Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville offers a wonderful gem of a film about creatives connecting, inspiring and healing in “The Music of Strangers.” The documentary features the music of Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.  

The film tells the story of the group’s genesis and diverse origins while revealing the backgrounds and life-and-death struggles of the 50+ contributors who offer their remarkable instrumental, vocal and visual gifts including Cristina Pato (Galician bagpiper) and Wu Man (pipa player from China), Kayan Kalhor (kamanchen player from Iran), Kinan Azmeh (Syrian clarinet player), and others. Ma explains, “I’m always trying to figure out, at some level, who I am and how I fit in the world, which I think is something that I share with seven billion other people.” Fueling this common and existential quest, says Ma, is that “the clearest reason for music, for culture is it gives us meaning.”

The film reminds of music’s power to change lives, soothe emotion and start conversations one note at a time. Music offers an elegant rebuttal to the worst of life, remarks composer Osvaldo Golijov, “By trying to kill the human spirit, the answer of the human spirit it to revenge with beauty.”  What a beautiful documentary we can all share.

Creative Differences Still Serve To Motivate

Inspiration is everywhere. 

Most recently, I’ve been re-inspired by two vastly different music documentaries: Lost Songs: The Basement Tapes Continued and Presenting Princess Shaw. These documentaries show a totally cool range of just how music can come to life.  Whether created side-by-side with a note pad, pen, string instruments and painstakingly stacked vocals or culled from YouTube video edits bridging the gaps created by oceans, socio-economic demographics, language, and prior consent.  Music demands life like a long buried seed exposed to sunlight.

Tasked with the gift of uniting the lyrical drafts of Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan with new music, Mumford & Sons’ Marcus Mumford collaborated with fellow Grammy winner producer T-Bone Burnett.  Doing so led to a range of collaborations to make the best music possible from one of the best writers of our time.  To do so, Mumford relied on other geniuses like Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, and Jim James.  The gift created by the documentary is an awesome peek inside the humility, intention to be heard and musicality required to create a song.  Check out the gritty, quietly determined battle to craft “Lost On The River,” waged between the collaborators from which Giddens emerged the victorious and sonorous gladiatrix.

Yet, for all of the instrumentation and intimate collaboration style exhibited in The Basement Tapes, Princess Shaw shows another side of the spectrum.  This is music that is created in mutual vacuums by two people; one a New Orleans nursing assistant and singer-songwriter Samantha Montgomery, the other Israeli musician and cutting edge YouTube producer Kutiman.  These are individuals who need to create because they need to create. Two who believe that when you chop down a musical tree, it always makes a sound even if it is just heard by its creator ... or the creators legion of online fans.

What may be most applicable to why music must come to life, could have been best analogized by Montgomery in a recent Salon.com interview as she talked about the tough motivational forces in her life,  “I don’t want to give up on life. I just keep going.  I don’t want to live like a caged bird. I want to be free. I’ll fly even if my wings are broken.”  But no matter what, states Montgomery, “ Self-love and self-worth are worth more than any check.  If [her success in music] ends tomorrow, I’m OK with my life.”

And so should it be that no matter how and why you create your music, do it because you have to let it soar.  Make music and your art with unencumbered creativity.  Keep creating because you have to.

#SMWFASTCOMPANY: Shareable Content and Tweaking Should Guide Your Social Media Strategy

Image courtesy of lifesoundsgreat

Fast Company’s Anjali Mullany moderated the Most Innovative Social Media Companies of 2013 panel at NYC’s Social Media Week. Included in the discussion were Lee Brown of Tumblr, Jared Cluff of Fab, BuzzFeed’s Jonathan Perelman, and Josh Miller of Branch.  Panelists represented an eclectic mix of relative veterans and new-schoolers who shared their observations about the strategy of connection. Though all reiterated the popular refrain that content is king, what differed was their approach to creating next level media experiences through shareable content and experimentation.

When pushing content, what matters is how it is shared and analyzed – both offer invaluable strategic insights for social media marketers.  The panel reinforced the construct that connections expand and are fortified by pushing more authentic, transparent, engaging, and graphic content in order to enhance the client experience and build stronger relationships.  Give the client what they want or serves their interests and not only will they return but they'll utilize their own networks to influence others with your message.  The most effective social media creates overlapping ripples of shareable content and conversations among influencers and networks. 

How to do that?  Read on.  Below are several other share-worthy discussion points from the panel:

• Create content with the format and end user in mind.  Do not uniformly push repurposed content across formats and devices.  Tailor messages with varying content, tone, media, etc.  Do not overlook email as a viable format for more targeted audience interests. Take a fresh look at your brand to push out additional layers of relevant content.
• Invest in storytelling. Get amazing content from strong creators and be sure to give attribution credit.  Stories should tell of a lifestyle and engage to bring consumers into your story.  Share customer stories.
• Create interesting, shareable content. Be thoughtful as to how you present your product, who will see it, the demographics of fans/followers/friends, etc.
• Make the experience of your brand and business fun and/or interesting.
• Iterate on the idea until it works or can be abandoned for better. Experiment, analyze, and assess strategy to determine success.
• Consider tweaking an official part of your strategy.  Unsure what to do? Test, assess, learn, tweak, retest, repeat.  Social media is dynamic, so should your strategy be.
• Monitor metrics to analyze initiative impact and determine additional strategy needs.
• Deepen consumer relationships.  Consumers provide invaluable information, as do non-consumers.  Mine both for significance of the data and to determine additional strategic objectives or revisions.
• Non-users offer growth opportunities.  Introduce people to what they didn’t know they wanted.  Survey to determine what non-users appreciate about competitive or don’t appreciate about your product.   Consider potential tweaks.  While there may be a disconnect, research to discover potential connection points. Test.
• Adopt and adapt.  Look outside your industry for additional strategy insights from other industries that are doing differently or better. 
• Multi-screening makes it increasingly important to monitor media and delivery innovations regarding TV, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Google Fiber, device capabilities, etc.  Innovatively and uniquely layer content to push across various platforms.
• Integrate branded content across platforms.  Consider alternate distribution methods of your content i.e. House of Cards.

So, what does your content and strategy say about your business?   

Music Industry Makes a Comeback with Women in Pole Position

Music is hitting a high note. Despite other economic downturns, the record industry is making a comeback based on two music industry reports released on Tuesday.  According to the Hollywood Reporter, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry asserts a 0.3% increase in global music industry revenue to $16.5 billion since last year -- that may seem like a modest bump but it’s the first music industry uptick since 1999.

"For the music industry, which has been battling digital piracy for over a decade, last year was a year of progress,” concurs Russ Crupnick, SVP of the NPD Group.

Adding bounce to the ball is digital.  Download, subscription and advertising-supported venture revenues increased 9% to $5.6 billion in 2012, while the number of people subscribing to a service has increased by 44% to represent 20 million worldwide, NPD reports.

Consumer habits are also changing. Though illegal downloads still represent a threat, there has been a significant decline in the estimated volume: -44% for ripped and burned files; -28% for downloads from file-sharing sites; -26% in illegally downloaded music; and -9% for P2P devices since its high in 2006.

As Queen Beyonce self-queries, “Who run the world?  Girls.”  Leading the music industry’s rebound are women like Adele, Taylor Swift, and Carly Rae Jepsen.  Carly Rae leads in 2012 single sales with 12.5 million units moved.  Adele’s 21 was 2012’s biggest seller responsible for more than 8.3 million in unit sales ahead of the 5.2 million units sold of Taylor's Red album.   

According to Forbes, other top-earning female artists in 2012 include Britney Spears ($58m), Taylor ($57), Rihanna ($54m), Lady Gaga ($52m), Katy Perry ($45m), Beyonce ($40m), Adele ($35m), Sade ($33m), Madonna ($30m), and Shakira ($20m).

#SMWBLOGINC: Build Your Brand by Blogging

         Blogads sponsored several excellent forums during Social Media Week NYC including Expanding Your Blog Across Multiple Platforms at Manhattan's Helen Mills Theatre. Blogads' Paige Wilcox (far right) moderated the discussion with panelists (l-to-r) David “Rev” Ciancia of Burger Conquest, Ladygunn’s Koko Ntuen, Jenni Radosevich of I Spy DIY, and Gala Darling who offered great insights about how they developed and diversified their blogs into brands to bridge platforms and media. 

          Each panelist has expanded their brand in several very cool ways: Rev has a restaurant, bar and is readying to hip the world to Creature Butcher; Ladygunn is reinvented as an internationally distributed magazine; Gala Darling is responsible for the international Blogcademy; and Jenni’s prepping her next book and hinted at more big plans for TV. 

          So how can you grow your blog possibly translating it into bigger things for your brand?  Here are several sage highlights from the panel:

• As you build your blog, decide what makes your blog different. What does your brand communicate? What makes your blog unique?  What content can you provide to keep your readers intrigued and interested?
• Clarify your voice.  Though you may be interested in Christian Louboutins and goats, not everyone else will be.  Separate your blog interests to find your ideal, most passionate and distinct audiences per focus.  If the passions are related i.e., designer shoes and footwear designers, a unified site could work.  
• Focus on a tangible skill or service that you can provide and build around it in complement of your blog.
• Tweak your tone and concept until you find the right balance of what you want to talk about and what your followers are hungry to consume.  Decide what your persona is. Make sure that voice and personality is evident throughout your opinions, ideas, services, expertise, merch, etc.
• Once you commit to a blog, grab the corresponding name on Twitter, Instagram, etc., to maintain brand consistency across platforms.
• Announce your blog.  If a blog falls in the e-forest and no one knows it’s there… zip.
• Write regularly about your passion, but not excessively.  Write about what you love and keep at it as your audience finds and connects with you in their search for the shared passion.  
• Be positive.  No one wants to read a weekly whine-fest from a biased complainer.  Friends and strangers generally follow what they like and skip what they don’t.
• Experiment with media in your posts.  Include photo, video and audio to uniquely communicate your message to followers across the various available platforms.
• Check out your blog across in various devices.  Does it flow well regardless of whether it’s opened on a desktop, tablet, or mobile?  Ease of access and interactivity is key.
• Tweak, do not merely reformat and repost, your message across social media sites. What works for Facebook is not guaranteed to work for Twitter in the same way, likewise for YouTube, Vimeo, Vine, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.  Iterate different aspects, details and visuals of your stories across your various sites.  Cultivate demand across your sites?
• Include YouTube, Wikipedia, etc., as an official part of your media strategy and presence. 
• Create an editorial schedule for blog posts to avoid rushed and last-minute ideas, and more easily facilitate layout, themes, media needs, etc.
• Grow your brand in ways consistent with your core.  If you’re more couture than trailer park, your own line of trucker hats might not be the ideal joint venture.  Know what makes you unique and makes sense for your brand.  Establish different threads as it makes sense.  Consumer confusion is costly.
•  When you're ready, reach out to other brands for sponsorship and growth opps by pitching the ways you can assist in the promotion of a subject or POV, but don't jump prematurely.  Once outside brands take a look, you’ve got one chance to make an amazeballs first impression.  Get ready.  Be ready.
• Have fun!

Clayton Christensen Channels Dylan: The Times They Are a-Disruptin’

Innovative Disruption is that pivot when an emerging technology and entity permanently revamps or replaces tradition.  In a lecture for entrepreneurs and investors at Wednesday’s Startup Grind conference, Clayton Christensen, the construct originator, proposed that Apple, Tesla Motors, venture capitalism and the university educational system could be similarly challenged and bested by other entities and strategies that provide comparable quality at a lower cost.   Rather than a discussion about finding one’s niche, the spotlight is on survival, reports BizJournals.com.  

Image courtesy of Money.CNN

Will people maintain brand loyalty and continue to pay top dollar for Apple’s impeccable products, or opt for less expensive models with comparable bells and whistles?  With open source and less expensive knockoffs, is it more impressive to have an iSomething than to have similar functionality with money to spare?  As with Apple, Tesla automakers also produce a product that exceeds consumer expectation.  In this instance, one’s excellence and premium pricing may lead less to obsolescence or relegation to an upper echelon of client incapable of supporting current organizational infrastructure.

Recounting a story related to a missed investment opportunity for Bain Capital, Christensen cautions against venture capitalists solely focused on mammoth investments in exchange for similarly huge returns.  According to Christensen, the flow for such opportunities is but a trickle.  One must also consider the direct-to-source option now offered by crowdsourcing.  Though online opportunities do not routinely reflect the 7-figure range, that is perhaps but a function of time.

The exclusive education offered by top universities is also creating dangerous market conditions.  In a race to be the biggest and best, they have become the most expensive which, ultimately, may be defeatist. When compared to the ease and lesser expense of online access or hybrid university structures that combine real world application with on-campus seminars, Christensen maintains the ability to differentiate must be about more than tradition and reputation as a means of establishing value to consumers.

In all instances, implementation of deft, new strategy and adaptability is at the center of survival.  Organizations must be responsive, market-driven and forward thinking.  While it may be uncomfortable to discuss new technology and consider ways to incorporate or replace existing models, it is a requirement of all organizations aimed at longevity.

As singer-songwriter Bob Dylan wisely cautioned, “Accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone/ If your time, to you, is worth saving/ Then you’d better start swimming or you’ll start sink like a stone/ 'Cause the times they are a-changing.’”  Note to organizations and entrepreneurs: innovate or die.

Lip Service: Beyoncé-gate… really?

Image courtesy of 123rf

All the commotion about Beyoncé’s lip-synching of the “Star Spangled Banner,” at the 2013 inauguration begs the question: what’s the big deal?  Is it that some felt snookered in the assumption that she was singing live and unassisted for such a historic moment?  Or, that her performance was one part diva perfection and another part pantomime?  Or, the belief that Beyoncé can do no wrong and this blurred that line?  But, with such an amazing rendition, do we really care? 

Though I initially questioned the vocals as sounding mixed and not from a raw feed, I’m past my initial surprise and remain enthralled and enamored by her overall performance.  Edited or not, Baddie Bey delivered a beautiful version that will ever be emulated.  As other singers have attested, performing to track is something that is done sometimes.  Is it the end of the world?  Much like the Mayan prophecies, no.  And, in the world of audio techniques and options, any Lance Armstrong parallels are off base. 

Image courtesy of gizmodo.com.au

Truth is, singers depend on guide tracks for any number of reasons -- whether due to inclement weather or mental doubts or physical issues, etc.  -- why they might decide not to sing live for a particular performance.  Exempting certain straight-to-tape recordings, very seldom is "live" live.  Whether Bey was lip-synching, singing live or along to the track, the reality is that singing in such a cold environment on top of any possible nerves at such a mega event can be incredibly tough on human and man-made instruments – even for sheroes. True, the voice is tempermental but is live singing done and possible to do?  Yes, just ask Aretha Franklin, Kelly Clarkson, James Taylor, and countless others. 

However, one might also want to consider the potential downside of going for it and missing in such a moment.  Gasp. What if this historic moment had become the lingering topic of discussion or a viral video sensation because of a flub?  Can you imagine?  Hedging the bet on your performance is a personal decision.  As for how Beyoncé feels about hers, perhaps her “Can I live?” Instagram photo says it all.  

Image courtesy of Beyonce via Instagram

Here’s what we know for sure about Beyoncé: 1) she can sing the back of a cereal box and almost everybody will love it; 2) she’s a consummate, already proven entertainer whether singing live or along with a pre-recorded track or lip-synching; and 3) almost everyone loves her version of the “Star Spangled Banner.”   History will surely reiterate such accolades.

Along with Beyoncé and in addition to Whitney Houston’s pre-recorded and classic rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner,” there’s another version of the National Anthem I love and which was performed 100% live on a cold day.  Thank you, Jackie Michaels.