Brand Music - Changes in Music Branding / Marketing / Promotion for Artists, Musicians & Music Industry

The major labels have realized that their marketing dollars spent online to promote their music brands and artists do not translate to additional sales. The reality of today's online music market is that real traction does not cost.
Advertising on Billboard or Myspace or MTV does not guarantee music lovers will pay attention. Today's internet is based on a collaborative spirit that posseses a human element to it. The new marketing paradigm is all about engaging, reading, commenting, posting, linking, networking and connecting. Those are all free activities, but they are time consuming.
Have the major labels lost their grip on controlling the masses and feeding them their brands? For big brands and marketers with significant budgets, the internet represents a loss of leverage in regards to power. Spending thousands of dollars does not buy you as much attention and the reality is, the major labels have to work harder and more transparently to gain the exposure they once enjoyed.
For independent artists and bands, the internet represents an increase of leverage in regards to power. An artist with an interactive website and a lot of fans can reach more people, more quickly, than ever before.
The way brands were created in music are colliding. In the 80's and 90's if you were on MTV or terrestrial radio, you were a hit. Nowadays, the landscape has changed given the rise of power of the consumer. Music is easily accessible online and there are thousands of online destinations to discover new music, whether it is the Youtube video sites, the Myspace / Facebook social networks, the Imeem / Last.fm music sites, or the notorious P2P networks.
Big music brands are certainly on the way down, while independent music brands are on the way up in terms of exposure and leverage. The days of the mass marketing are over the way we were accustomed to are over. Music listeners now have more choices. Independent artists now have the opportunity to reach out to these listeners and brand themselves. The balance of power has tilted.


JG