Music Business 2-Stroke: KEEP YOUR FANS FOCUSED ON THE BALL NOT THE BUZZING BUMBLE BEE
by Nick Hardy on Jul 22nd, 2011
Music Business 2-Stroke with Nick Hardy
In an age of the dying album, many are still holding on. Artwork aesthetics still remain very important to some music enthusiasts. While it’s fun to look at your iTunes library in cover flow and see all the pretty pictures, it’s just not the same.
A question I had, as an artist manager, is how can a band adapt to the digital age of the industry and still offer up something that is visually appealing, tangible and unique?
On July 8, Parachute Musical, an indie/pop act I manage out of Nashville, Tenn. unveiled the album cover for their upcoming release of Kill It Cut It Down at the End, a small venue in Nashville. The giant album cover was segmented into 25 squares with each square containing a download code of the full album, which has yet to be released. No news of the special pre-release offer was available to fans until mid-set of the bands performance when fans were told if they bought any merchandise from the touring band, Deleted Scenes, they would get a free download of the album and a square of their choice.
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- Nick Hardy is an artist manager out of Nashville, Tenn and Social Media Strategist for Infinity Cat Recordings. Reach him at nickjhardy@gmail.com & www.harrrdy.com
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- Twenty-five individual squares with download codes on the back make the album art for Kill It Cut It Down on the outside of the End.
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- The 25 individual squares were taped together to create the album art for Kill It Cut It Down.
The concept encouraged exclusivity, especially with the combination of having the album months before the general public and owning a small piece of Parachute Musical history though the album cover. It was also a thank you to all the fans in Nashville who continually support the band. What better way to say “thanks” than getting the album before anyone else?
It’s important to associate visuals with your music. Ones and zeros are boring and so are International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC). People’s A.D.D. will keep getting worse, so if you can throw great imagery in front of their face and keep them focused on the ball and not the buzzing bumble bee you’ll keep a fan.