Music Promo Blog: 2007/04

Do you have some music marketing and promotion business news that you think musicians should know about? If so, submit your music promotion news.

Don't Lose Your Domain Name!

by Marc Gunn

That always shocks me. I was composing the shownotes for my Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, checking URLs. One of the bands in this week's show had a domain that was no longer functional. It expired two months ago and was about to be released to the public. Fortunately, I knew her and gave her a call.

She had no idea the domain was ending, but since her band broke up she didn't think it worthwhile to keep the domain running. As she said, "Well, I have the CDBaby page, and a lot of folks are using myspace URLs."

Tis true, tis true. But for everyone who lived through the heyday of MP3.com, you should know never to trust an external domain for your promotion. Myspace.com is a great site. But will it be around in five years? Who knows?

Personally, I put no faith in that. I promote TheBards.net, MarcGunn.com, BardsCrier.com or whatever website I'm promoting. Myspace, SoundClick, even CDBaby are temporary. They could poof disappear any day, God forbid.

Fortunately, you can get domains these days for just $8.99 through sites like GoDaddy.com. Or if you're in my friend's predicament, you can Backorder the site for just $18.99, which means, once the domain becomes free from its current owner, you can re-take control of its ownership if you lost it.

The important thing is don't let this happen to you. You never know when you will need that URL once again. So register your URL and keep it forever.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000's of musicians save and make money with their musical groups through his monthly newsletter, Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine. Now you can get FREE "how-to" music marketing and promotion advice by visiting www.bardscrier.com. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the Bards Crier Ezine for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

--posted by Marc Gunn at Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.

Challenging the Status Quo

by Peter Spellman

Someone once said, "Remember that the great wise men of the past held no respect for today's conventions, and neither will the great men of the future." If you desire to improve your world - or even your own situation - then creativity will help you do so. The status quo and creativity are incompatible. Creativity and innovation always walk hand in hand.

When singer Elvis Presley died, he left everything in a trust for Lisa Marie, his young daughter. Soon, however his estate was in terrible shape. In 1997, Lisa Marie's mother, Priscilla became a co-executor of the trust and found that if she didn't do something, and quickly, the estate was on the road to ruin.

During his lifetime, Elvis received less then half of what he earned. Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, had a contract that took 50 percent of everything right off the top. That and a lifestyle of free spending, meant that Elvis often found himself strapped for cash. Several years before he died, Elvis sold off the rights to most of his recordings to raise money. Consequently, his estate receives no royalties from his music, even though Elvis recordings earned more revenue for RCA than any other artist even after 25 years after his death. Add to that a huge inheritance tax imposed by the government, and an empty mansion, Graceland gobbling up money through taxes and upkeep, and you can imagine how bleak the situation looked.

Priscilla Presley was not about to allow her daughter inheritance to be eaten away - but how do you earn income from Elvis' estate without Elvis? Whenever he needed money, he would simple perform at another concert, make another album, or appear in another movie. Priscilla started to think creatively. First, she took the little remaining cash from the estate and invested it into Graceland. Rather than selling it, she opened it to the pubic as a tourist attraction. It was a great risk, but it paid off. Just thirty eight days after it opened in 1982, it earned back its investment.

Next, she severed ties with Tom Parker so that 50 percent of the estate's earnings would not continue being funneled to him. Finally, Priscilla began to treat Elvis as a brand, She even promoted legislation in Tennessee to make his likeness intellectual property, which would belong to his estate.

By using creative thinking, Priscilla Presley turned what looked like an impossible situation into a business empire that earns tens of millions of dollars each year. People speculate that Lisa Marie Presley's net worth today exceeds $250 million. Without the creative thinking that shattered the status quo, it likely would have been nothing.

---
Excerpted from the e-letter, "Music Biz Insight: Power Reading for Busy Music Professionals" by Peter Spellman, Music Business Solutions.

Labels: Inspiration, Peter Spellman

--posted by Marc Gunn at Friday, April 13, 2007
Free republishing rights are available to all articles written by Marc Gunn. You can find a complete list of such music marketing articles here. You must contact individual authors to get their permission to republish their articles.