Less WHAT, but a lot more WHY please!

Over the last ten years, the amount of data sources that we’ve gained in the music business is staggering. We’re drowning in data - streams, likes, views, follows, CTR’s, shares, even purchases.

So that's great then? Well, not quite.

At Sound Effects, we refer to this type of data as WHAT data, because, you guessed it, it’s data that records ‘what’ happened, in the past. Broadly speaking WHAT data informs us about:

1. A fan/consumer, action or transaction made, in the past

2. The consequence of choices or actions a music biz professional made…in the past.

WHAT data has its value, but it has its limitations and more importantly, its risks.

The most obvious problem with WHAT data, if you hadn’t already guessed, is that it reflects…the past. All manner of things - culture, the economy, the competitive landscape etc – could have changed since that original ‘action’. So, WHAT data has its limitations to informing true strategic planning or innovation. The risk and the actuality are it results in a safe, but ultimately diminishing cycle of returns. In addition, WHAT data is often siloed only revealing a small part of a fan’s engagement with an artist and is disconnected from other points of contact or consumption. However, that’s not the biggest problem with WHAT data.

The biggest problem with WHAT data within music is that it doesn’t explain or unpick the human emotion that influenced that fan action or transaction that happened in the past. A big problem, because music is one of the most emotive and personal artforms, sound-tracking the very highs and lows of individual human experience.

Here lies the challenge that anyone faces in developing products or services to appeal to different superfans. No amount of transactional data can explain the psychological, emotional or irrational reasons for a fan's connection with an artist. Furthermore, from within the music business, we have a very distorted view of the real lives of real fans.

The answer is to include WHY data, that's data that reveals the motivation or attitudinal reason why a choice was made, or an action happened. WHY data is about the future, about possibility, about opportunity. WHY is about sparking creativity and empowering ‘informed’ decisions.

WHY data is captured via qualitative research methodology and can be in the form of single, focused projects or by establishing on going infrastructure that keeps delivering ongoing insight.

It's WHY data that allows you to comprehend the unique structure of the fan/artist relationship. To unpick and define the expectations, values, beliefs and behaviours that will inspiring what you should, and perhaps more importantly, what you shouldn’t do within the Fan/Artist Eco-System.

WHY data is fascinating and more empowering and creative than the flood of WHAT data that you are drowning under. Over the coming weeks, we’ll aim to reveal more about WHY and its effects. But if your impatient and eager to learn more now, then get in contact.

Next time, we'll discuss why catalogue is...bollocks!

The Problem With Superfandom...

One of the Music Industry’s leading buzzwords for 2024 is ‘Superfan’. The great excitement around this term as many of you already know, stems from a report written and published by Goldman Sachs. I suspect the phrase that got many in the industry all flustered and weak in the knees was ‘…a potential addressable market opportunity of $4.5bn for superfan monetisation’.

That buzzword(s) was quickly followed by a phrase, ‘Super Serving’ and has been bandied about in the industry now like some sort of definitive noun, as if representing some easily qualifiable thing.

The problem is, fandom and so called ‘Super fandom’ is anything but definitive. The inconvenient truth is that, as much as many would like to say otherwise, fandom is not a constant in definition, from one artist to another.

It’s caused many in the industry to proclaim the ‘Superfan’ as core to future strategy, triggering key acquisitions, the commissioning of ‘Apps’ and lots and lots and lots of talk. And yet, throughout all this talk the fundamentals of fandom are never discussed.

Fandom is based on a deep emotional and psychological connection, one that is complex, shaping attitudes, cultural codes, values and dictating behaviours. It's a unique relationship because from one artist to another, or one country to the next, these unique dynamics of Artist-Fan connection will differ. Sometimes, greatly.

The challenge to understanding this differing dynamic is that from within the music business, we have a distorted view of the real lives of fans. And no amount of transactional data can reveal or explain the psychological, emotional or irrational reasons for a fan's connection with an artist.

Artists work extremely hard, over a long period of time to build the unique relationship that they have with their fans. Critically, this unique, emotive fan dynamic is worth so much more to the artists ongoing career, than clumsily squeezing a few more dollars out of them today to hit some quarterly target.

The simple truth is that there is not a ‘one size fits all’ answer to ‘super serving the superfan’ as there is not one singular superfan behaviour. What drives their higher levels of consumption is unique to each individual artist. So be very careful and wary about any service or application that claims to offer a ubiquitous Superfan solution for all.

However, there are ways to gain greater insight and clarity to the dynamic of your artists super fandom. Look, I know that many of you appreciate the importance of this stuff, but across the music business, people are being asked to deliver more with less. Almost all the managers amongst you, are busy dealing with the day-to-day. Many of you tell me that you’re also having to pick-up a lot of the work that the record company used to cover.

The good news, it’s possible to set up and manage infrastructure that gives you an ongoing understanding of what your fanbase thinks, feels and desires. This is so much more than just what they did! Most importantly, with where the music biz finds itself today, there are solutions and partnerships that enable you and your artist to get support that takes the burden away from you. Support that can then turn your understanding of your fans into commercial initiatives. Meaning you can focus on the day-to-day.

We'll review and expand over the coming newsletters, however do contact us if you want to find out more, now.

Till next time.

Philip & Team Sound Effects

A New Superfan Newsletter...

So, as a dyslexic with mild ADHD, I’ve always tried to circumvent the written word in any way I could. So why with that in mind am I starting this Newsletter? I really do question my sanity, but it’s probably the only way I’m going to stop ex-colleagues, artist managers and industry friends from bugging me to get involved again.

Get involved in what?

Well, I suppose the ‘what’ all started with the Goldman Sachs report into the music industry. Within that report the phrase ‘Super-serving the Superfan’ was coined. Or was it Lucian Grainge's letter to the industry? Oh, I can’t remember, but essentially that's the ‘what’ that people wanted me to get involved in.

It's a term that has been bandied about the industry for a while now. As I've travelled for work (and a little fun) in the UK, US and Europe, the term would invariably come up in a variety of statements like “Everyone’s talking about the superfan, but no one knows what it means” or “we have no idea how to respond, or what to do”. Perhaps that's the real catalyst.

Lots of, let’s say ‘well-meaning’ friends started pressuring me to get involved. As one eloquently said “Buddy, you’ve had a career that’s included artists strategy, fan insight, international markets, experiential & immersive theatre, brand strategy, physical product and you were a really, really bad band manager. If anyone knows what 'Super serving the Superfan' is, it’s you”.

Look, despite what’s been said, I don't have the answer, but I suppose my experience does give me a unique alternate view on the opportunity, because it is a huge opportunity. Now that I’m no longer working within a major record company, I’ve got no axe to grind, no shareholders to satisfy, and an objective, personal view.

So, bowing to the pressure or perhaps just believed the hype, I’ve started this little, humble newsletter. In it, I hope to share insights into what fandom is, unpick Superfandom, explore what 'super serving' could actually mean, but also share interesting innovation, new ideas and great work. Together we’ll cover live, content, experiential, web3, commercial partnership, gamification, immersive, product and much, much more.

Just prepare yourself for some truly shocking spelling as I mangle the English language in an attempt to share interesting ideas, innovations and insight. Oh, and not be boring. Trust me, this newsletter will be anything but boring.

Best Philip

RZA - Bobby Digital in Stereo

I’ve been desperate to share this project, since the initial rough sketches.

MNRK Music Group’s brief: a limited edition 25th anniversary vinyl celebration, evoking the Bobby Digital universe throughout its physical construction. A collectable piece of ‘theatre’ that cannot be pushed onto a shelf between other LP’s, but demands to be experienced and then exhibited as a piece of objet d’art .

Starting with a blank piece of paper, our small MNRK+Pozzoli creative team developed the ideas that became the product you see here. Despite being spread across LA, NYC, London and Milan the team met regularly to brainstorm and develop the project. 

“...with Pozzoli, you’re not working with a vinyl pressing or packaging company. You’re working with, a music company and music people who are passionate about the art within and without.”

When it comes to mid-range products, we owe the fan more than just some jazzy coloured vinyl. IFPI 2023 data shows that 43% of vinyl fans buy it to have a physical record to look. To Look At!.  And a staggering percentage don’t even own a turntable. So tactile, displayable deluxe vinyl sleeve are logical. Collectability, exclusivity, and value can lie within the design and construction of the sleeve of mid-range releases. Not just the colour of the vinyl.

Bobby Digital is the natural extension of the way we have explored this value proposition for a while now. This fun playful product has little Easter eggs buried within the piece for the fan to discover.

Recorded across three LA studios and released on November 24, 1998, Bobby Digital in Stereo was RZA’s first solo album. As the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan he’d produced most of the albums of the group and solo records of the other members.

Bobby Digital is RZA’s alter-ego, a comic book antihero who drives around in a bulletproof Digimobile, “with an externalized id with little regard for manners, foes or anything resembling consequence”.  Visually, Bobby Digital evokes the US blaxploitation movie posters of the early 1970s in all their vibrantly coloured, sexy, explosive, and intense glory.

“43% of vinyl fans buy it to have a physical record to look. To Look At!”

— IFPI

Unsurprisingly, it’s a producer's album, showcasing RZA's talents in the control room. Instead of the edgy street vibe of Wu-Tang Clan, Bobby Digital showcased an experimental sound utilized different production and vocal styles. Instead of the sample heavy beats that RZA became known for, this album leaned heavy on keyboard-driven sound which RZA named the “Digital Orchestra”.

Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, U-God and Inspectah Deck were the only contributors from the Wu-Tang Clan.

It’s been one of the most fun and rewarding projects to be involved in.

Kate Bush - Hounds of Love - The Baskerville Edition

Over the years, the team at Sound Effects have had the privilege for working with Kate Bush on various projects. Mostly while we were at EMI and Warner Music, but this year, with our amazing friends at Pozzoli in Milan, we got to witness the creation of The Baskerville Edition of The Hounds of Love, Kate’s revolutionary fifth album. This project marks the start of a series of illustrated editions of Kates albums. 

Flashing LED, embedded into artwork.

In that vein, the Baskerville Edition features completely new artwork, created by the Glasgow-based design studio Timorous Beasties. Kate had previously worked with the studio on some of the illustrations for Before The Dawn, her incredible live residency at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2014. 

These projects are all very personal to Kate, being directly involved in every single aspect of the design, development, and production of theses pieces. In constant contact with the Pozzoli + State51 project team, Kate would also attend the weekly project meetings. These pieces are her vision, we simply facilitated that vision, to carry it into physical format.

Belly band

“It’s been great fun putting together these new versions, including coloured vinyl’s for independent record stores. They’ve been designed as a ‘set’. It’s very exciting to see the resurgence of appreciation for the physical presence of albums released on vinyl. It’s how it’s always been for me, especially when I was a teenager. The whole buzz of the record store was part of the experience. Buying an album was an event. There’s a special emotional connection that happens between the possessor of an album, the music and the artwork, when it exists in the real world. It’s something we can treasure in a unique way.”

— Kate Bush, November 2023, UK

The single 180gram vinyl comes in an exceptionally finished gatefold, comprising Timorous Beasties new “hounds” illustration on the cover and presented within a bellyband that features new typography specific to this illustrated edition.

The whole of the inside of the gatefold features Timorous Beasties expansive illustrative interpretation of The Nine Wave suite from the Side 2 of the album. A reinterpretation of the albums original photograph of Kate.

Further attention to design detail is the way the illustration wraps around the edges of the sleeve to great effect. The central figure of the illustration is of course Kate, in lifejacket, cast adrift on an ocean of fantastical sea creatures. Her lifejacket features a red light, brought to life via an embedded LED pulsing slowly and referencing the “the little light shining” lyric from And Dream of Sheep.

The light is powered via a solar panel, incorporated in the back of the sleeve.

The challenges for this piece were creative, structural, and technological. In the case of the latter, the need to source an LED and solar panel that where small enough to be incorporated into what is essential a standard gatefold sleeve. In turn, produce a sleeve design that could structurally support and protect the circuitry and solar panel, seamlessly into the overall design. In the end Pozzoli worked with a partner to develop a bespoke solution for the LED.

The attention to detail on this project even extends to the shipping! An additional unique illustration was created and dedicated specifically for the shipping sticker.

The Baskerville Edition has been accompanied by a beautiful new Cloudbusting-themed video which depicts a young Peter Reich (actor Gus Turner) receiving the record and telling his story.

The Baskerville Edition is available from Kate’s newly designed Fish People website.

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London + Los Angeles