Just how prevalent is music piracy in the age of streaming?
Here at Haulix we are in the business of fighting piracy. Our company was founded to reduce promotional costs for labels and artists while also ensuring unreleased music does not leak online. This was long before streaming came into existence (2008), but with each passing year since streaming came of age with services like Spotify and Apple Music people continue to ask if piracy is really still an issue.
The answer, as you can see above, is a definitive yes.
A new chart from Statista compiles data gathered across 13 countries over the last six months. As you can see, more than a quarter of all people surveyed admitted to accessing pirated music, including more than half of those aged 16-24. This is the same group considered to be the ‘core demographic’ or most alternative and pop music.
Streaming may have simplified access, but it still comes with a cost. Furthermore, streaming exclusives – like those offered by Apple Music – has lead some to seek alternate means of access the music so as not to pay for access. If a consumer is already using Spotify, for example, they are more likely to seek a pirated version of an Apple Music exclusive than they are two maintain two accounts (or switch altogether).
It is unclear at this time if we will ever find ourselves in an age where piracy does not exist. That said, at Haulix we are always working to strengthen our security. We have stopped and identified nearly 100 pirates in 2017 alone, and the year is not yet half over. You can try Haulix for free for a full month. Click here to find out more.
This post originally appeared on PropertyOfZack. That site has since gone under, so we decided to run the post here for posterity’s sake. Enjoy.
Confession: I work for a company that specializes in fighting music piracy, but I have definitely illegally downloaded my fair share of music from torrents and file-sharing sites over the last decade. I’ve never been busted by the police, nor have I ever had my internet service cancelled, but I will admit to my parents having received one or twelve letters from Comcast threatening to throttle our connection speed if said piracy should persist. Thankfully, things never came to that, but looking back now, they easily could have, and I would have almost certainly been at fault. Something changed, however, and it wasn’t my income or my parents’ willingness to support my addiction to new music. It was my understanding of entertainment not only as an art form, but also as a business, and it was at that moment I understood the true impact piracy has on the industry at large.
The first album I remember downloading illegally is Hit The Lights’ Triple Crown Records debut, This Is A Stick Up, Don’t Make It A Murder. There are probably hundreds of songs or records I’ve downloaded over the years without having much excuse for doing so — aside from lack of money — but this album I specifically remember because it leaked well over a month in advance of the official street date. At that time, I was just reaching the end of my time in high school, and Hit The Lights had been the pop-punk soundtrack that fueled my last few years. The town I lived in had a venue, and it was through interning there I was first exposed to working in the industry. I would book shows and promote them throughout the county, including more than half a dozen performances featuring a then-unsigned Hit The Lights. They were some of the first traveling musicians I felt were like family, and whenever they came through town, they were free to sleep on my parents’ living room floor. When they played thirty or forty miles away, calls and texts would be exchanged so that we could spend time together while they were in the area. We were, for lack of a better description, as close as people could be in this business without being contractually tied to each other.
I can still clearly remember the rush of excitement that swept over me when a friend informed me between classes that they had heard the Hit The Lights album leaked online. I ran home as quickly as possible and began downloading every track, one at a time, through our family’s 56k dial-up connection. I think it took over two hours for every song to complete, but when they were finished, I quickly burned two copies – one for home and one for my car – then sped off to find empty country roads to roam while blasting the record as loud as my speakers would allow. It was an incredible album, and even though several of the songs were updated versions of tracks I already knew, the entire experience felt like a first time encounter. I was head over heels from the first spin, and nearly a decade later I can still recall the way that love initially felt.
Thinking back now, I don’t recall anyone in my circle of friends saying anything negative about the fact I downloaded that Hit The Lights record. To be fair, most the people I knew had no idea who Hit The Lights were, and even if they did they certainly did not care enough to go to bat for them in a discussion over the legality of file-sharing services like Napster or Kazaa. We all knew piracy was a hot button topic — the news made that clear on a near weekly basis — but being from a small town that was at least thirty minutes from anything even beginning to resemble a city it was easy to feel like those issues had no real impact on our lives. After all, none of us were professional musicians, and those who did have a band would have given their left arm to have thousands downloading their material. They already weren’t making money, so what did it matter if a few thousand people downloaded a record no one was buying? To them, it was just free exposure.
When I entered college, I left my small town behind and moved to a slightly larger town with a school that helped to triple the area’s population nine months out of the year. Again, it was far enough from creative areas to feel disconnected from the entertainment world, which meant essentially no one gave a second thought to the idea of downloading media illegally. At this point, however, the crimes became slightly worse. As internet connections grew quicker, the demand for media on file-sharing services ballooned as well, leading to a boom in piracy across music, television, film, video games, books, and even computer applications. No form of creativity seemed safe outside of fine art, and even those images and sculptures were easily found through reference material widely available on torrent services. I didn’t care though, I just wanted to watch the latest episode of Scrubs without having to be in front of my TV at 8 p.m. every Thursday. Playback services like TiVo were still new at the time, so it wasn’t the type of tech the average college student could afford. We could, however, afford an internet connection strong enough to download whatever media we wanted to enjoy in only a matter of minutes. So, without any concern for the legality of everything, that’s exactly what we did.
I’m not trying to make an excuse for myself, but I do want to get across the point that few, if any, of the streaming services that simplify our lives today were active at this point in time. Though the digital age had no doubt arrived, bringing with it the rise of social media, access to streaming content online was severely limited. Even Netflix, who we now look to as a cornerstone of digital content, was still making the bulk of its money from DVD rentals. It sounds like ancient history, I know, but this was less than a decade ago.
Anyways, school continued and I slowly began to piece together the reality of life in the music business. Not just for professionals, mind you, but for artists as well. My entire life I had been under the assumption that creative people who made art for the purpose of generating income were somehow missing the point of being a creative person. I thought people like this were somehow ‘sellouts,’ or at the very least frauds because everything they did – every emotion shared – was done with dollar signs in the back of their mind. My inexperienced mind likened this outlook as one only corporate scum could possess and, for whatever reason, piracy felt like a reasonable way to strike back against the so-called man and his obsession with bottom line.
Looking back now, I was an asshole. Truth be told, I probably still am, but hopefully for different reasons. I thought musicians who created new works with money in mind were fools, but in reality they are often the most sane people in the industry. They understand that every band is essentially a small business. Their products are music and merchandise, their consumers are their fans, and the target market is anyone who listens to the type of music that particular act aspire to create. They don’t have a headquarters, but instead travel from town to town peddling their creations like traveling salesman hocking vacuums in the mid-1950s. They live and die based on the funding that keeps them active, and without keeping the flow of money in mind it can be very easy for your career to fall apart. Likewise, businesses that do not focus on improving their return on investment year over year are doomed to eventually collapse.
I know it feels like betraying everything punk has taught us by viewing things this way, but in order to fully grasp the realities of attempting to be a professional musician, you must first learn to see every musical project as a small business in need of consumer support. Piracy, on any level, is akin to walking in the door of your favorite store and walking out with any amount of products without paying a dime. It’s stealing, and whether you do it because you think labels are stealing from bands or because you believe it’s the only way to discover new music in 2015, you’re wrong. I know you think your intentions are good, but any artist will tell you good intentions rarely pay the bills.
My favorite excuse to hear from people today is the one that more or less argues the idea that going to shows somehow makes stealing music okay. As fans see it, bands are getting their money either way, and for whatever reason they believe the live setting will allow them to support the artist without ‘the man’ getting involved. Here’s the thing: If the artist in question is signed to a label or in any way working with a manager, booking agent, or other industry professional, the entity you call ‘the man’ is always involved. Someone else is always going to get a cut. If it’s a label, the artist you love was given money by people who believed in them to create a new album, tour, and so on. In order to continue being able to do these things, the artist is first expected to pay off that initial investment. If that doesn’t happen, it’s very likely the artist will get dropped, or at the very least neglected moving forward. As I said before, every band is a business, and labels are bigger corporations who essentially enter partnerships with those businesses. When deals go well, they continue to work together. When things go bad, deals are broken.
Furthermore, the majority of bands you see on tour are not making enough money to support themselves full-time. They may be able to pay off their road expenses, including buying merchandise in bulk, but when their time on the road ends, so does the flow of money. Headline acts are a different story, especially if you can fill venues with capacity over 500 people, but most artists never reach that point. Most achieve mid-level success at best, and there is very little money for people in that position. Eric Morgan of the band Bornstellar once called this ‘The $200 Hump.’ He said it’s very easy to climb through the ranks of road success with steady dedication, but until you have a reasonable hit to help with promotion it’s hard to rise above the title of direct support on any bill. As a result, seasoned bands are forced to rely on things like merch sales, and even that income must sometimes be split with management, merch guys, and/or drivers.
Let’s do a quick example: A band with five members performing a direct support slot on a three-band bill is guaranteed $200 a night, every night of a three-week tour. This is enough money to get them from city to city, and it allows each of them to receive a few bucks each day with which to feed themselves. In order to make additional money, they must first make merch, which comes with an investment. If they print 50 shirts on quality fabric they’re looking at around $7.50 a shirt. That’s $375 someone has to put on a credit card until money comes in. If they want physical copies of their music to sell, those cost money as well. They can find deals online though, so let’s say they make 500 copies for $500. Now the band has shirts and CDs, but they’re also $875 in the hole before even playing a show. If they’re lucky, they will sell everything they purchased while on the road. If CDs are $5 and shirts are $15, that’s $3,250 in gross profit ($2,500 from CDs + $750 from shirts). Subtract the $875 investment and the band is left with $2,375. If the band saves nothing and has no other expenses whatsoever, which is highly unlikely, they could each walk away with $475 to show for their work. If they played every night for three weeks, that’s an average of $22.62 per person per show. I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t know any adult who can live on those wages, especially not those with any kind of family to support.
The truth is that there is really no excuse for pirating music in 2015. I’m not arguing that a good excuse ever existed, but even the shadiest of reasoning needs to be extinguished from our collective thoughts in the months to come. There are simply too many ways to access free music on legal terms, be it for discovery purposes or general enjoyment, for there to be any question over whether or not such actions can continue to be justified. We can all name the companies that make this technology available as well, like Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Rdio, Shuffler, and so on. The word is out about these services and those unwilling to buy entire albums can, at the very least, use these services to ensure the creators of the art they enjoy see some return for their effort. If you’re still downloading music you’re an asshole, plain and simple. You can preach on every mountaintop about the need to create out of a sheer drive to share your vision with the world and how money should never play a factor, but the harsh light of reality reveals that living with such beliefs will ultimately lead to ruin. You have to create with money in mind, at least to some extent, because your very livelihood depends on your continued success as a musician.
In 2015, I am going to do my absolute best to resist downloading any leaked music. If something leaks online through a streaming platform and sites begin embedding it at large, all bets are off, but when it comes to acquiring media for my personal collection without in some way contributing to the continued success of its creators, I am determined to make a change. You should too, and not just because I did all the math necessary for the example a few paragraphs above. You should stop downloading music because you respect the people creating it enough to access it by fair and legal means. If you want to try before you commit to purchasing an album there are plenty of platforms that allow for that kind of engagement with music, and if you simply don’t want to wait for the big record to hit stores that leaked last night, maybe it’s time to disconnect and do something else.
I get it. You just want to experience everything the artists you love can create, and you want it as soon as possible. Our culture is transitioning to meet those demands more and more, but as it stands, there are people working incredibly hard to plan release dates so the artists you love can gain maximum exposure, which increases the likelihood of them finding some semblance of longterm support in this often crazy industry. I beg of you to respect that system, and I would hope that as diehard music fans you can appreciate how much your actions set the tone for culture at large. You are the tastemakers. You are the trendsetters. You have the power to curb this rampant acceptance of digital piracy and I would give anything in my possession to have you use that power for good. Stop downloading, stop seeking leaks, and start truly supporting the creative minds you claim to love.
This is going to seem a bit callous, but it’s something you should ask yourself later this week: What is the value of a fan who does not support the artist they claim to love by financial means? Word of mouth is good, but only to an extent. If you’re still claiming your ‘word of mouth’ promotion is helping a band like Fall Out Boy, you’re lying to yourself and everyone you contact. You’re stealing music because it’s easy and you like not having to pay for every album you want to hear. That’s easy to understand, and even easier to implement, but I urge you – think about the consequences of your actions. Think about the bands we all knew were capable of big things, but due to a lack of proper support they faded long before they reached the heights of success they deserved. As a pirate, you are partially responsible for the deaths of those bands, and I would hope you wouldn’t want to cause such hardship on another artist again.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
We spend a lot of our time discussing and working to prevent leaks. When I say leaks, I am referring to the sharing of copyrighted materials without the consent of the content creator. Eradicating that threat to artists and labels has been our one of our main goals since the very beginning, and we like to believe we have made major strides towards accomplishing that task. Today however, at least for a few minutes, we want to change our focus to another kind of leak and the response artists have when such problems arise.
Try as many artists or labels might to keep big news items a secret for as long as possible there are often leaks that out of the blue and spoil whatever promotional plan had previously been put into motion. Whether you’re planning to release a surprise album in a manner similar to Beyonce, or if you’re on the verge of revealing your biggest tour to date, there is always a pretty good chance someone outside your inner circle will beat you to the punch when it comes to sharing that information online. There are exceptions, of course, but as more and more artists try to hide big reveals until the very last minute we at Haulix have noticed a rise in the efforts made by the music community as a whole to spoil this news, if only so that someone or some site can claim to have an ‘exclusive’ others do not.
Let me be very clear: Leaking major news is not the same as breaking an ‘exclusive’ story. Every journalist or blogger worth your time knows this, even if they choose to ignore it. By choosing to act without the consent of the artist or the people working with them bloggers are making a decision that goes against the idea of cultivating a better scene for future generations, which has long been a cornerstone of alternative music. One might think understanding the problems that arise in a culture where leaks are accepted as normal would be easy for most, but a decade in the music business has taught me otherwise time and time again. There will always be people who are too selfish to fully realize or appreciate the impact their actions have on the community around them, and the best you can hope to do as an artist is to take the appropriate action when those leaks occur.
For most artists, leaks can be viewed as a double-edged sword. While it stinks that someone would ruin your promotional plan and share something without your permission, there is always a little voice in the back of a creative person’s head that says the only reason that material is being shared is because people want it so badly they’re willing to steal it. That may be a compliment to some, but even if it makes you feel those warm fuzzies we all love to host in our stomachs it also throws a wrench in your marketing efforts and, potentially, your future income.
There is a saying you may know about how once a bell has been rung there is no way to undo that action. The same theory applies to leaks, at least for the most part. Once an album, photo, or news item has found its way on the net it’s essentially impossible to stop the continued proliferation of that content online. We offer tools to our clients to help curve the rate album leaks are shared, but in cases where news items leak early there are literally no measure in place (that we are aware of) to help pull that information off the net. Even if it could be done, there would still be an untold number of people who saw the content before it disappeared, and there would be no way to track all of them down to ask them to please keep your secrets safe. Sorry, but that is just not how life in the digital age works.
When something leaks, the first thing you should do as an artist is to find a way to get that same information or content to your fans through means you control as fast as humanly possible. If a single leaks ahead of its premiere, stream the song yourself through Bandcamp or Soundcloud. You won’t be able to make fans stop seeking out the track, nor would you want to, but you can have a say in where they find the content and what kind of messaging surrounds it. The same goes for news. You can’t ask every blog to not post news item that leaks early, but you can post the same news through your social channels and, to some degree, control the conversation.
Conversation is key to promotion in the digital age. If you can control the conversation then you can have some say in the way the world engaged with your art. The best laid plans of mice and men may go awry, but as long as you’re prepared to respond the negative impact of an unplanned reveal will be minimal. Just keep your fans first, and do whatever you can to ensure they’re going through channels you create to access your content. If you can do that, and I promise that you can if you work hard, then you will forever have one less reason to fear the internet.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him onTwitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
Earlier this week I was browsing a forum for online music journalists when I came across a question I knew we had to feature on the blog. I won’t out the person who first posed this inquiry, but I did want to share their original comment in full as I feel it’s probably not far from how other young writers have felt or acted when trying to build their brand. It reads:
“Okay…. I just want to make sure I’m not making some rookie mistake. When I get haulix invites or private links, I forward it to my writer depending on their tastes, yeah? Obviously, you’re not supposed to share the invite, and my writers sign a disclaimer about not sharing music and if they do it’s on them, but surely they don’t mean “do not forward this to a writer?” I just ask because I got Finch’s album from razor and tie and she asked me to please not share it. I would never do that outside of sharing it with ONE writer that is writing the review.”
This is not an uncommon question, and to be honest we are kind of glad someone brought this post to our attention as it provides the perfect opportunity to address this concern on a large scale.
To put it the simplest terms possible: You should never share a Haulix promo. There is messaging included with every promo sent out that informs recipients their promos are not to be shared, but there are many who do not follow this request. By sharing Haulix promos you are not only breaking the trust of the label/publicist who sent you that material, but you are also putting yourself in a position to face severe legal repercussions should that material find its way onto the internet.
Most promos sent from Haulix are injected with numerous watermarks that not only identify the original recipient, but also the geo-locations of every person who accesses the respective promo. You should check each promo you receive to know whether or not that particular advance has a watermark. If you share your watermarked promo with someone, and that person later leaks the material online, our tools will point to you as the person responsible for the piracy. You may not have leaked the album yourself, but because the record was entrusted to you it is your responsibility to ensure it is not made available for public consumption. Should that occur, any legal action taken to recoup lost profits will be made against you and not the friend who you allowed to enjoy your advance.
To better explain what happens when an album leaks, we asked Rey Roldan of Another Reybee Production to share some of his experience with piracy:
“A blogger who is part of this site once sent a download of a band I was working with to two writers. One of his writers leaked the album (it was a very highly coveted advance). When we traced it back, we found his watermark. Label, management, band and I were thisclose to taking this a step further in the legal direction. While the writer was responsible for the leak, said "blogger” was ultimately responsible because he breached the contract (I often tick off the “watermark warning” with writers who I am unsure of, just as an extra warning). We got very close to making it legal but we opted to re-strategize and move forward.
I know some editors pass round links designated for them and it sucks. I usually often tell editors that if they are assigning a writer, give me their email address so I can get them their own watermarked music. To be honest, do YOU trust your writers to NOT leak music? If they did leak it, do you want to be legally and professionally responsible for that because YOUR watermark is on that music? God forbid, you pass your streak or download to a writer who inadvertently leaks it, do you want to become that industry pariah?
The music industry is really pretty tiny… Make the wrong move and it can follow you… Be smart about this… Request a link for anyone who is reviewing it for you. Don’t take the fall for anyone because it can happen a LOT easier than you think.”
Some sites may believe an easy solution to this problem is to have one email dedicated to receiving promos that every contributor can access. This may work at first, but should any member of your staff leave the site it is of the utmost importance you change both your email password, as well as your 4-digit Haulix passcode. That way, if they have a promo link and/or access to a promo, they can’t get to ***all**** promos, because they won’t know the passcode.
Likewise, if you allow writers to reach out to publicists on their own and one of your writers decides to leave your site, make sure you inform all publicists the writer has left and is no longer a part of your writing team. If not, that person may continue to receive advances that are linked to your site. Should something happen to those files, it may come back to you.
The best thing you can do to protect yourself and the reputation of your site is to first do a good job vetting your writing staff. Make sure you trust everyone you send releases to not only as writers, but as professionals in the industry. If you would not trust a writer to contact a label directly you might not want them handling advance releases.
Haulix has no say in what happens to individuals caught sharing watermarked materials. We are simply a middle man between journalists and labels. It’s up to our customers to handle the situation how they see fit.
Additionally, you should ALWAYS request additional promos if someone other than you will be reviewing material you have been sent. It may seem like this complicates or otherwise draws out the assignment process, but publicists would rather know who is in possession of their music than have less work to do. For example, let’s say I send you, a blog owner, a copy of my client’s album for your site. You receive the promo, pass it off to a writers, and several days later send me a link to a review of my client’s album written by someone who is not you. Who is this third party? How did they get the watermarked music I sent you? Are they someone I can trust? I have a million questions about this anonymous person. In fact, I may not want to send you another advance if I think you’re going to pass it off to more people I do not know.
It’s easy to understand why forwarding promos seems like a quick solution to the issue of how to get advances from one person to another, but actually taking part in such efforts puts you, your reputation, the livelihood of your site, and possibly even the reputations of your contributors at risk. It takes less than a minute to request additional promos, and doing so keeps you out of trouble.
Don’t risk a leak just to save time. It’s just not worth it.
Copyright theft has been a crime for a very long time, but its enforcement in the digital age is increasingly rare. Services like Haulix exist to not only help artists and labels protect their releases, but also to aide in the battle against piracy. We have many state-of-the-art tools to help our clients in the war against digital thieves, but unfortunately not every artist and label can claim they have Haulix fighting on their side. Some have no measures to battle piracy in place at all, and as a result there are numerous albums that still find their way to public ahead of their scheduled release date. Now, for the first time practically ever, someone is making sure one pirate never gets the itch to leak music again.
Late last year, songs from Madonna’s latest album were unceremoniously leaked before the album itself was even announced. Madonna swore she would find the person responsible, and with a little help from the FBI, as well as Israeli Police forces, she did just that. According to Consequence Of Sound, Ari Lederman of Tel Aviv was arrested for, and found guilty of computer trespassing, copyright infringement, prohibited secret monitoring, and obstructing investigation. Court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter claim Lederman had hacked into the cloud accounts of several associates of Madonna as well as her manager, and had in fact previously stolen a song from Madonna in 2012, which he sold rather than leaking himself.
For all of this, Lederman was sentenced to 14 months in prison. He’s also been fined NIS 15,000 (which equates to $4,000 US).
As far as we know this is the first time in a long while that someone has been sentenced to prison for pirating music. Though this specific instance involves the theft of an unannounced release, it’s not impossible to imagine a world where people who leak albums even a few weeks before its release could face real world penalties for their online crimes. Comment below and let us know your thoughts on this story.
Hello, everyone! Welcome to the latest edition of our long-running Journalism Tips series. We started this column as a way to help aspiring writers get their start in music, but over the couple months we have been evolving into a place writers come to have their questions about life in the business answered. This entry was created in regards to a question we found on a journalism forum earlier this week, and we think the solution could very well keep many young writers from inadvertently becoming the source of a future music leak.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
As we mentioned above, this specific column came to life after a forum post was brought to our attention earlier this week. The message read:
“Okay…. I just want to make sure I’m not making some rookie mistake. When I get haulix invites or private links, I forward it to my writer depending on their tastes, yeah? Obviously, you’re not supposed to share the invite, and my writers sign a disclaimer about not sharing music and if they do it’s on them, but surely they don’t mean "do not forward this to a writer?” I just ask because I got Finch’s album from razor and tie and she asked me to please not share it. I would never do that outside of sharing it with ONE writer that is writing the review.”
This is not an uncommon question, and to be honest we are kind of glad someone brought this post to our attention as it provides the perfect opportunity to address this concern on a large scale.
To put it the simplest terms possible: You should never share a Haulix promo. There is messaging included with every promo sent out that informs recipients their promos are not to be shared, but there are many who do not follow this request. By sharing Haulix promos you are not only breaking the trust of the label/publicist who sent you that material, but you are also putting yourself in a position to face severe legal repercussions should that material find its way onto the internet.
Most promos sent from Haulix are injected with numerous watermarks that not only identify the original recipient, but also the geo-locations of every person who accesses the respective promo. You should check each promo you receive to know whether or not that particular advance has a watermark. If you share your watermarked promo with someone, and that person later leaks the material online, our tools will point to you as the person responsible for the piracy. You may not have leaked the album yourself, but because the record was entrusted to you it is your responsibility to ensure it is not made available for public consumption. Should that occur, any legal action taken to recoup lost profits will be made against you and not the friend who you allowed to enjoy your advance.
To better explain what happens when an album leaks, we asked Rey Roldan of Another Reybee Production to share some of his experience with piracy:
“A blogger who is part of this site once sent a download of a band I was working with to two writers. One of his writers leaked the album (it was a very highly coveted advance). When we traced it back, we found his watermark. Label, management, band and I were thisclose to taking this a step further in the legal direction. While the writer was responsible for the leak, said "blogger” was ultimately responsible because he breached the contract (I often tick off the “watermark warning” with writers who I am unsure of, just as an extra warning). We got very close to making it legal but we opted to re-strategize and move forward.
I know some editors pass round links designated for them and it sucks. I usually often tell editors that if they are assigning a writer, give me their email address so I can get them their own watermarked music. To be honest, do YOU trust your writers to NOT leak music? If they did leak it, do you want to be legally and professionally responsible for that because YOUR watermark is on that music? God forbid, you pass your streak or download to a writer who inadvertently leaks it, do you want to become that industry pariah?
The music industry is really pretty tiny… Make the wrong move and it can follow you… Be smart about this… Request a link for anyone who is reviewing it for you. Don’t take the fall for anyone because it can happen a LOT easier than you think.”
Some sites may believe an easy solution to this problem is to have one email dedicated to receiving promos that every contributor can access. This may work at first, but should any member of your staff leave the site it is of the utmost importance you change both your email password, as well as your 4-digit Haulix passcode. That way, if they have a promo link and/or access to a promo, they can’t get to ***all**** promos, because they won’t know the passcode.
Likewise, if you allow writers to reach out to publicists on their own and one of your writers decides to leave your site, make sure you inform all publicists the writer has left and is no longer a part of your writing team. If not, that person may continue to receive advances that are linked to your site. Should something happen to those files, it may come back to you.
The best thing you can do to protect yourself and the reputation of your site is to first do a good job vetting your writing staff. Make sure you trust everyone you send releases to not only as writers, but as professionals in the industry. If you would not trust a writer to contact a label directly you might not want them handling advance releases.
Haulix has no say in what happens to individuals caught sharing watermarked materials. We are simply a middle man between journalists and labels. It’s up to our customers to handle the situation how they see fit.
Additionally, you should ALWAYS request additional promos if someone other than you will be reviewing material you have been sent. It may seem like this complicates or otherwise draws out the assignment process, but publicists would rather know who is in possession of their music than have less work to do. For example, let’s say I send you, a blog owner, a copy of my client’s album for your site. You receive the promo, pass it off to a writers, and several days later send me a link to a review of my client’s album written by someone who is not you. Who is this third party? How did they get the watermarked music I sent you? Are they someone I can trust? I have a million questions about this anonymous person. In fact, I may not want to send you another advance if I think you’re going to pass it off to more people I do not know.
It’s easy to understand why forwarding promos seems like a quick solution to the issue of how to get advances from one person to another, but actually taking part in such efforts puts you, your reputation, the livelihood of your site, and possibly even the reputations of your contributors at risk. It takes less than a minute to request additional promos, and doing so keeps you out of trouble.
Don’t risk a leak just to save time. It’s just not worth it.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for taking a some time out of your day to spend with us. We try our hardest not to take too much time away from our educational efforts for self-promotion, but when considering the updates and developments that have taken place in recent months we thought it might be a good time to remind the world why we’re so good at what we do.
This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
The music industry has changed a lot over the last fifteen years, and that evolution has largely been guided by technology. When Napster went live, everything we knew about the business and how it functioned up to that point was no longer relevant. A new age had dawned, and it was on those in power to react – fast. We could go on and on about things that should or should not have happened at that point in time, but the hard truth is that almost fifteen years later we are still trying to find solutions for the problems that plagued us just after Y2K fears began to subside. There is no end to digital piracy in sight, but we wholeheartedly believe that through Haulix record labels and independent artists alike have a fighting chance against music pirates. Here’s why:
SECURITY
First and foremost, Haulix offers one of, if not the most secure platform for digital distribution available today. Through a combination of advanced watermarking technology, permissions, encryption, and secure traffic techniques we are able securely host, distribute, and track your media while you focus on promoting the material itself.
What is a watermark? Good question. Watermarks contain user specific information that allows us to identify which contact specifically downloaded or streamed a file through Haulix. On average, each track will contain 15-20 watermarks which can survive most attacks such as re-encoding and conversion. Additionally, you have fine grained control over how many times they can stream or download a promo. All traffic in and out of Haulix is SSL encrypted (like bank websites). Haulix automatically prepares your tracks for watermarking and when a contact downloads or streams an album, the injection process is performed in seconds.
AUTOMATED PIRACY/LEAK TAKEDOWNS
This feature only launched in the last couple months, but it has quickly become one of our most popular tools in the battle against leaks. Our ‘Piracy Takedown’ tool, when activated, crawls the web seeking unwanted files and links to files featuring watermarked content from Haulix clients. When that content is located, our system automatically distributes takedown notices and tracks the results so clients will know when their content copyrighted has been taken down.
This process does not happen once or twice, but repeatedly for as long as a client is a member of Haulix. For more information on this tool and how it can help your efforts to battle leaks, click here.
CUSTOMIZATION
There are more bands, labels, and pr outlets in existence today than ever before, which means the amount of pitches and messaging being thrown at writers is also at an all-time high. Haulix recognizes this, and through our state of the art messaging system we have created tools that allow our clients to present their upcoming release(s) however they see fit. We love to focus on the backend of things so that publicists, labels, and bands can put their efforts into promotion. We know that in order to do that to the best of their abilities our clients need to be in control of how their content is no only dispersed, but presented. From the “promo” pages where your music securely lives online, to the email you will send when inviting press to experience your material, there are dozens of ways our product can be customized to fit your needs. Want to use a color theme or still image as the background to your “promo” page and/or emails? No problem! Want to limit the number of times an album can be streamed or downloaded by any particular individual? We can do that too.
ORGANIZATION & ANALYTICS
Expanding on an aspect of our service mentioned in the previous points, Haulix also helps distribute content. Through our one-of-a-kind email system our clients are able to create contact lists ( or upload their existing contacts), organize them into groups however they see fit, send personalized messages, and access analytics on their contacts engagement with various promos with ease. You’ll know who read your message, which ones accessed the material, and how they engaged with it once on the promo page. We also track downloads.
JOURNALIST APPROVED
All of these tools would mean nothing if journalists did not like our product. After all, at the end of the day it is the writers who are on Haulix the most, and it is through Haulix that writers engage with unreleased music. If their user experience was bad it could have a negative impact on their view of the record. Worse, it could impact how they view a particular label/pr firm as a whole.
Haulix has been receiving the praise of journalists worldwide since launching in the mid-2000s. We listen to their opinions on everything from our site design to the functionality of our product and work with them to better our efforts over time. We don’t want to pat ourselves on the back too much, so I’ll let the writers who engage with Haulix on a regular basis speak for themselves:
“I’ve been using Haulix for the past three years and most of the websites that I have written for use Haulix too. It is efficient and of course, highly recommended.” – Lav Nandlall, Heavy Metal Duchess
"I always get a little extra excited when I see I have new music through Haulix because I know I can jam it in mere seconds with no hassles.” – Jameson Ketchum, Substream Music Press
“I’ve been using Haulix for the past 3 years and a half and that’s still where I enjoy receiving promo music. Aside from the fact that I can download my music on it, it keeps things organized by expeditor, due dates are visible and it’s all simple and clear.” – Mariam Bouabid(Plug-In)
“Haulix takes all of the hassle out of receiving new music. It simply combines everything on one page and provides you with promo pictures, bios, videos and whatever else. Since most of the publicists we work with tend to use it, it’s nice to be able to quick switch back to your full catalog of promos you’ve received.” – Drew Maroon, MindEqualBlown.net
“I prefer a watermarked (to keep be accountable of course) zip download with high quality mp3s. Now I don’t always get that, so I roll with what I get. Haulix is cool because you can download and stream and it has the capability of supplying high quality stuff if the label/PR people provide it.” – Drew Beringer, Absolutepunk.net
“I want tracks I can stream, and preferably download too — I’m a New Yorker and do a lot of my listening on the subway, where streaming isn’t an option. Haulix is straightforward and intuitive.” – Jesse Richman, PropertyOfZack.com
INDUSTRY APPROVED
Journalists are not the only ones who enjoy Haulix. Many of our clients have been with us for years, and they are not shy about sharing their satisfaction with our product:
“We have always been looking for a great place to allow us to share our music with those that need it early, but in a safe way. Haulix was that answer for us, and we will be lifelong customers of theirs.” – Chris Hansen, No Sleep Records
"I love the security aspect as well as the ability to truly track what people are doing with the promos. It takes the guessing game out of, “…well I spent a bunch of money to send a ton of packages out that I hope made it to their final destination… and I’m hoping these folks answer their emails and phone calls when I reach out to check on the packages.” You can see what’s going on, you can reference whether someone got their email, opened it, even listened to it or downloaded it, etc. And my favorite – the ability to create reports to follow up with people based on what they’ve done with the promo.” – Natalie Cammillo, Adrenaline PR
"Leaks aren’t 100% preventable but there are ways to insuring you stop leaks from coming from you. I’m a big user and supporter of Hauled. 90% of the writing world is familiar with Haulix and how it’s watermarked with each writer’s info. So that’s a good preventative.” – Rey Roldan, Another Reybee Production
Hello, everyone! After a brief absence from the blog it gives me great pleasure to resurrect our Industry Spotlight feature with a little help from our friend Will at Tiny Engines. The work he is doing in music right now is impacting countless lives, and I am thrilled to be able to share his insight on the future of the music business. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
We talk a lot about how much of music is a tight knit community of professionals, but in the grand scheme of things the business as a whole is a large, towering infrastructure made up of countless tiny moving parts (no pun intended) that music work together in order to keep the industry alive. Every person who contributes is, in their own way, a tiny engine working to fuel the continued existence of the music business.
For the better part of the last decade, Will Miller has been contributing to the music industry as a blog owner, label founder, and alternative music publicist. He currently spends his time as the co-owner of Tiny Engine Records and one of the great minds behind Beartrap PR, both of which keep him incredibly busy. I knew from day one that I wanted to work with Will on content for this blog, but given the typical workload he encounters each morning I held off on making any requests of his time until the very end of May. He agree, and now a couple weeks since our initial conversation I am pleased to present what I believe to be one of the best Industry Spotlights we have run in recent memory.
Will and I have worked together since we were both beginning to find out footing in music, but I don’t think either of us realized how inexperienced the other was at the time. From what I can recall Will was extremely professional from day one, and in the years since we have been fortunate enough to work together a number of times on exciting projects. Earlier this year he introduced me to The Hotelier, and not long after a close friend encounter a bout with illness that caused a lot of pain and stress in my life. That record, which I would honestly have never given the time of day without Will’s seal of approval, has since become a beacon of hope and source of comfort. It may even be my favorite album of 2014, and there will no doubt be several other releases on my ‘best of’ list that I know solely because Will and the people he has surrounded himself with made it a point to help those artists get the recognition they deserve. If that’s not the sign of a true industry professional doing their job to the best of their abilities, I don’t know what is.
If you would like to learn more about Will and his efforts in music, please make it a point to follow Tiny Engines on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: Before we dive in, please take a moment and introduce yourself:
W: My name is Will Miller, I do press for Beartrap PR and co-own the Tiny Engines record label.
H: Thanks for joining us, Will. We have been looking forward to this feature for several weeks. When you think about your earliest memories with music, what comes to mind?
W: Hmm, listening to a lot of oldies, motown and beach music growing up with my Mom probably. I still love that stuff too, oldies but goodies.
H: Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?
W: Oh god, I have no idea. I’m sure it was something incredibly embarrassing. Something pop or hair metal I would guess. I was an 80’s kid, for better or worse.
H: How about your first concert experience? Bonus points if you share some memories of the event.
W: I think it was probably the Guns N’ Roses / Metallica / Faith No More stadium tour which I really remember very little about other than Axl Rose changing his outfit twenty times. I do remember buying a tour tee shirt and then discovering it had cigarette burn holes in it when I got home. Maybe that’s how they sold it to me? I have no idea.
H: You’re known these days for being a part of the punk and indie rock community, but was that always the area of music that captivated you the most?
W: I would say I was always drawn to music but it was taken to a whole new level once I started to dig below the mainstream. My story is probably similar to a lot of people my age who got into punk/indie rock. Nirvana was the gateway for me and from there I just went further underground into alternative and punk and indie rock and I’ve lived happily in that realm since.
H: A lot of the people we have spoken can pinpoint a ‘lightbulb moment’ in their lives when they realized that the music business was something that appealed to them. Can you recall when you this realization happened for you?
W: Well, I’m not sure the business side of it has ever really appealed to me, it still doesn’t really. The A&R side of it is what has always captivated me, I’ve just always felt like I had a good ear for things. I’ve always had a thirst for finding new music/bands and wanting to expose that to other people. So, the label thing was always in mind. The publicity side of it was never part of the plan but they are both fairly similar. I also ran a music blog for five years. So, really, it all just goes back to wanting to share my love of music with other like-minded people.
H: Did you attend college? If so, did you study anything related to the music industry?
W: I did, but didn’t study anything music industry specifically, just business in general.
H: Having become a successful member of the music professional community, would you recommend others considering pursuing a career in entertainment make it a point to attend college?
W: I’m not sure I would ever recommend this to anybody as a truly viable career. Or maybe it just takes a different mind-frame than what I bring to the table. But, if you choose it just be passionate about your work. I think at the end of the day, Beartrap and Tiny Engines have made it this far cause we only work with bands and other labels we love and respect. And I think that shines through. But, I probably didn’t realize just how difficult the industry is, in terms of making enough to survive and continue. It’s definitely something you have to be committed to and have passion for in regards to the bands and music.
H: Tiny Engines was founded in 2008. What inspired you to launch your own label, and who was the first artist you decided to work with?
W: Yeah, like I said before, wanting to do a label has always been in my mind. I always thought I could do it and I felt it would be a fulfilling way to spend my days vs. some boring 9-5 job. Tiny Engines was founded in 2008 by myself and Chuck Daley along with our buddy Jeff Meyers. Chuck and I met and worked together at Deep Elm Records and we stayed in contact once I left there. I think TE was just an opportunity for both of us to get further involved in music. But, I don’t think either of us saw it as something that would be going strong six years later and getting close to 40 releases now.
The first artist we worked with was Look Mexico, we put out their Gasp Asp EP on 7" back in late 2008. Chuck had worked press for the band via Beartrap and had become good friends with them. And then I met the band and we all just hit it off and felt like they were the perfect band to start the label off with.
H: While we’re on the topic of the company’s early days, what can you tell us about the story behind the name Tiny Engines?
W: I can never really remember the whole story but Chuck came up with the name. I think it fits. We’re just a tiny cog in the machine. I think the name has always kind of aligned with how we run the label. We’re small and band friendly but we also try to run the label in a professional kind of way without ever being too business-ey about it.
H: What were your goals for Tiny Engines when the label initially launched, and how have they changed in recent years?
W: Definitely changed from the beginning. Originally we were just going to be a 7" label doing one-off releases with bands we loved. But, then the Everyone Everywhere full-length came along and that record was just too good to not put out, so after only two 7" releases (Look Mexico and Tigers Jaw) we changed our plans and did our first LP as release #3.
I’m not sure we have any grand goals for the label. Obviously things have grown for us and the bands. At the end of the day we still just want to put out great records and work with bands we respect. But, we also want to sell enough records to keep doing this and growing and provide our bands with more resources. And it would be nice to be able to take a little for ourselves here and there considering how much blood, sweat and tears we’ve put into the label. I’m not sure people realize the amount of work and hours running a label takes. It’s draining but also incredibly rewarding as well.
H: You are also a part of the Beartrap PR team. When did you join the team?
W: Chuck founded Beartrap in 2006 I believe and then I joined in 2007.
H: What came first – your interest in running a label or your interest in doing PR?
W: Definitely running a label. Doing PR was never in my mind. I’m quiet and reserved for the most part so press was never something I pictured myself doing. But, like I said before, it’s fairly similar to the label in that I’m only working with stuff I genuinely enjoy.
H: Both Beartrap and Tiny Engines have been growing at an alarming rate. Do you ever struggle to balance the demands of both jobs?
W: Yes, most definitely. Especially these days. I would say my workload for Beartrap and Tiny Engines are both at an all-time high right now. Currently I do all the press for Tiny Engines as well as the press for 4-5 other labels so yeah, it’s a ton of work but I enjoy staying busy. I"m a bit of an organization nut as well so that helps. It also helps to be a single dude with no kids and a crazy passion for music.
H: Without going too in-depth, please walk us a through a typical work day:
W: Oh, nothing crazy really. I just moved up to Charlotte late last year so Chuck and I could be in the same city and I’m temporarily living in the TE office (Chuck’s basement…see how much money we make from this?) right now. So, that’s changed the routine a little bit I guess. Beartrap is much easier to set a schedule for, with Tiny Engines you never really know what the workload will be like from week to week, just depends on our current release schedule. I typically get started on replying to email first and foremost, Beartrap and Tiny Engines related. After that it’s typically on to Beartrap work, whatever press releases and/or digital promos need to go out that day. I know what I have for that day / week and I’m one who likes to knock my work out early and try to get ahead for upcoming days /weeks. It’s definitely a lot to keep up with so it helps to be organized for sure. And it’s a ton of email throughout the day, responding and pitching and coordinating. That can certainly be maddening at times but that’s just the job. And I usually end the day with packing up Tiny Engines mailorder. Save the worst for last I guess.
H: Tiny Engines has been using Haulix for a while now, and from what I have been told you are incredibly happy with the service. What is it about our platform that keeps you around?
W: We actually just started using Haulix this year. We have a Beartrap account that hosts Tiny Engines albums as well as all the other records we’re working press for. It really is an amazing service and one we probably should’ve been using a lot sooner. Just having the ability to create a nice digital promo in a matter of minutes is a beautiful thing for someone who makes a living doing press. And then obviously having the ability to send out and track what press contacts are listening to and downloading is so incredibly helpful in regards to follow ups and targeting contacts for premieres, etc. And then of course having the peace of mind to send out a record months in advance and be protected from an early leak, that’s been nice for Tiny Engines as the anticipation has grown for some of our releases this year. It’s certainly been a great tool for the growth of Beartrap and Tiny Engines this year.
H: Looking ahead to the future, what are the biggest challenges facing Beartrap and Tiny Engines?
W: Just trying to continue to survive. It’s always about survival in this business I think. You have to be willing to adapt and look for new ways to spread the word about your bands. I think for TE it’s going to be a challenge to balance our growth while still being able to operate as a small label on our own terms.
H: What advice would you offer aspiring industry professionals hoping to one day find themselves in a position similar to yours?
W: Work hard. Be passionate and selective about the music/labels/bands you work with. And stick with it, put in the time. Too many people give up too easily these days. And that goes for just about everything in life.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
W: I don’t know. It’s a tough industry for sure. For bands and labels. I love it when bigger bands, labels, publications support & spread the word about smaller bands & labels they believe in. That’s something to me that there’s not enough of these days, just mutual support/appreciation for when people are doing cool stuff, big or small.
H: Vinyl has become a big part of Tiny Engines’ business. What is your top-selling release to date, and what color variant are you most proud of having pressed?
W: Tigers Jaw’s Spirit Desire 7" as of right now although The Hotelier LP is going to gain traction on that one sooner rather than later I think.
In regards to color variants, god, we’ve done so many. I would say the starburst variant we did for the new Direct Effect LP might be one of the best for sure.
H: What goals do you have you set for yourself and your career in the year ahead?
W: I don’t have any supreme goals, I just want to be able to live a simple, comfortable life and continue working with bands/labels/music that inspire me. That’s it, I’m happy if I can do that.
H: I think that just about wraps it up. Before I let you go, are there any final thoughts you would like to share with our readers?
W: If you love a band support them. Buy a record or a tee shirt or go to a show. If there’s a label putting out music you love support them. Like I said, this is a tough industry for bands and labels to make ends meet and continue doing what we do. So, I think it’s important to remind people to support what they love in some capacity or it could very well be gone one day.
“A wild and crazy weekend involves sitting on the front porch, smoking a cigar, reading a book.” – Robert M. Gates
You may not agree with Mr. Gates’ decision to smoke, but there is something beautiful about the quote above. The best moments in life are those where you can find yourself at peace through simple joys like porch swings and literature. Bars and wild nights spent roaming the city will always have a place in weekend fun, but the finest moments are those spent with the people who matter most, regardless of the activity.
Each and every Friday we like to take a brief break from our regularly scheduled programming to update and reflect on everything happening at Haulix HQ. We are far more than a music blog, as many of you already know, and posts like this give us an opportunity to share more our efforts with all of you.
The big item of the week is, as you can probably guess, the recent launch of our state-of-the-art Piracy Takedown system. For the first time ever, Haulix clients are now able to actively fight the distribution of their copyrighted materials online before and after its scheduled release date without having to make more than a few simple clicks. Once live, our system will crawl the internet in search of your illegally shared content and automatically issue DMCA Takedown Notices to the appropriate service providers. It will also track all recovered links and inform you when those links have been removed.
To access this service, login to your account and click the ‘Tools’ icon at the top of the page. From there, select the ‘Piracy Takedown’ option and input all relevant information. Once submitted, we will crawl the internet looking in all of the popular illegal networks and Google searching for your album and tracks. When the system encounters an illegal link or file, it automatically submits atakedown request to the internet service provider of the suspect site.
Piracy Takedowns is an optional service available to all Haulix clients. As a special introductory offer, you may upload your first release for free. All subsequent releases added to the PiracyTakedown system will incur a one-time nonrefundable charge of $9 per track for the first twelve tracks (additional songs are free). Haulix will continue to perform automatic link and file takedowndowns for each release for as long as you remain a Haulix customer. Click here for more information.
On the blog end of things, the past few days have been incredibly busy. We have rolled out a series of in-depth columns this week, and on top of this we have begun working on the launch of our first-ever podcast. Details on that project are being kept under wraps for now, but by the time July arrives we should be ready to share the first episode with you.
In case you missed anything this week, here is a rundown of every article we have shared over the last seven days:
Next week we will be unveiling plans for our first ‘Ask A Lawyer’ event, which we plan to host in the near future.
That’s all the thoughts and ideas we have to share this afternoon. Please have a great weekend and make it a point to stop back by tomorrow for another great column on life in the modern music industry.
Hello and welcome to the final artist advice column of the week. We have been planning to run this article for a while, but with Warped Tour kicking off this weekend it seemed no time could or would be more perfect than this afternoon. Whether you have a full tour planned this summer or a single show, we believe the information below will improve the likelihood of fan retention while also increasing merch sales. If you have any questions about the content of the blog, or if you would like more information regarding the distributional services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
We are less than two weeks from the official start of summer, but thanks to the crazy weather of 2014 most of the United States has only recently begun to feel the heat of the impending season. The vast majority of our population has spent the better part of the last eight months indoors, keeping themselves company with the glow of their laptop or smartphone screen. If you’re in a band, you probably also spent this time mastering your online marketing skills. If so, bravo! This post is for you.
In the time since summer last gave way to fall you have gained hundreds of digital followers across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr, not to mention having finally found a way to network with the people who run some of your favorite music blogs. People are tweeting about you and posting photos of the merch they ordered from your online store, which you love and gladly reply to because you’re not a heartless artist expecting money from strangers (and it requires next to zero effort on your part). You probably even have a summer tour in the works, or at least a handful of dates with a festival appearance or two. You may even be on Warped Tour. If so, again, bravo! You are well on your way to turning your digital buzz into real world success, but in order to do that you will need to shed the safety net of digital engagement and learn to interact with customers, as well as potential customers, in a real world setting. Be it slinging merch at an upcoming show, or working the line outside a major festival, there are several things to keep in mind if you want to maximize the impact of your time and marketing efforts.
1. Prepare in advance. Be quick and efficient whenever possible
It’s relatively easy to plan for on site marketing and merch sales, but being prepare to act on those plans is another story entirely. Before you ever step foot in a venue or on festival grounds you need to make sure you have everything you need organized in a way that makes accessing it quick and easy. If you’re selling merch, make sure to count stock, organize and arrange you product prior to arriving on site. If you’re working lines or festival grounds with music, make sure your iPod has battery life, additional chargers, and at least two sets of headphones. If you need signs, make them the day before. Time spent setting up or dealing with unorganized merch is time lost with music fans.
2. Remember no ones like a hard sell
When you’re an up and coming artist depending on merch sales to get to the next town, let alone eat, it can be very tempting to try and push your merchandise on music fans. RESIST! You may have the best music in the world that no one has heard, but it’s never going to go anywhere if people feel like they’re being sold something the moment you begin speaking with them. If you come across as friendly, helpful, and knowledgable you will have a far better likelihood of gaining (and retaining) consumer interest. Share with people why you do what you do, and what it is about your music and message that sets you apart. Leverage your authenticity to make yourself more appealing to customers, but be careful to not push too far and come across as cocky or overly confident. People need to know you believe in yourself, but no one wants to support someone who likens themselves to a god.
3. Think of every interaction as a new opportunity to network
It’s great when people buy things and ask for more information about your music, but even if they walk away from their initial encounter with you and your art empty handed they can still aide your longterm marketing efforts. You never know who they may know, and being a generally likable person will go a long way towards leaving a good impression. Also, person-to-person interactions are a great way to learn about your fan base, as well as the regional scene as whole. Do people support unsigned bands in this area? Are there a lot of venues you could play at on future tours, or is this more of a one basement town? These things matter, and the best way to get accurate insight on the climate of any music scene is from the people who help it thrive day in and day out.
4. Try and get feedback, even if it’s not what you want to hear
This bit was written more to those sharing their music with first time listeners than those selling merch, but it can and should be applied to both. Wherever you go, make it a point to listen to people as much, if not more than you speak to them. If you’re sharing your music, ask them what they do and don’t like about it. Ask them who they think you sound like and whether or not they could see themselves catching your live show at some point in the future. Take the wins with the losses, and always do your best to be polite. There may be people who treat you like crap or speak ill of your art, but it is of the utmost importance that you find the power within yourself to rise above and treat that the same way you would a regular fan. Music, like everything creative, is subjective, and they are not wrong or bad simply because they do not like the art you create. By accepting that fact and taking the time to hear their complaints, you open yourself up to the possibility of seeing, hearing, or otherwise understanding your own creation in a whole new light.
5. Smile and be polite
Following the point made above, kindness is next to godliness in this world, and the quickest way to win over the heart of a consumer inundated with advertising is through being a generally decent human being. This probably goes without saying, but people are for more willing to engage with people who seem friendly and inviting than those who look pissed at the world or out to make a buck. There was a time when businesses could succeed through deception, trickery, and wordplay, but in the modern age you need to forge a relationship with consumers they can trust and that is best accomplished through kindness.
