MUSIC CATALOGUE IS BOLLOCKS!

Now I’ve got your attention, let me clarify what I mean by that statement, because clearly, Music Catalogue is not bollocks. In fact, far from it, with almost all record companies now deriving upwards of 75% of their total annual revenue from Catalogue it’s arguably, everything. Just think how that has flipped a long-held paradigm in the industry.

created by Pozzoli S.p.A

So, what exactly is bollocks about Catalogue then? Well, the issue is the word and the way that catalogue has been viewed within the traditional record company structure. But for today, let’s just address that word, or to be more accurate, that ‘label’.

“NO ONE IN THE REAL WORLD THINKS OF MUSIC AS CATALOGUE OR FRONTLINE”

Absolutely no one in the REAL WORLD (in caps, because lest we forget, in the music business we don’t work in the real world), uses the term, or thinks of music as Catalogue or Frontline. ‘Hang on, hang on’ I hear you shout; ‘but some do use the term ‘new music’! Yes, I can’t deny that, but they’re not always using that term to describe what you are talking about, dear music biz professional. Sometimes they’re ‘consciously’ referring to something else and more often ‘subconsciously’ labelling something completely different as ‘new’.

contemporary and relevant to their life at that point of discovery

I first want to take you back dear reader, to past work the team has done with legends like Zeppelin, Floyd, Bowie, Prince et al. Despite a few nuanced project objectives for each artist project, they usually boiled down to two requests:

1. where are the original fans and what are their attitudes, behaviours and values today?

2. can we contemporize the artist for a new audience?

As a quick aside, I’ll also point out that the answer to b) is almost always, YES and we’ve successfully identified multiple ways of doing just that. But hey, if you want to know more about that, you’ll need to come behind the ‘pay-wall’ as they say. Just email us.

created by Pozzoli S.p.A for The Mars Volta

The insight that we discovered working with many artists like these is that new audiences, (meaning those newly discovering the artists music), will consider these ‘Catalogue’ artists as ‘new music’ at the point that they discover them. Consciously labelling or subconsciously perceiving the ‘catalogue’ music as…you guessed it…‘new music’. And this is always the way with younger audiences, those that weren’t there at the time. A 14-year-old discovering Monkey Gone To Heaven or Waterloo Sunset or Policy of Truth for the first time, consider those tracks ‘new music’, that's contemporary and relevant to their life at that point of discovery, in that very moment.

“A 14-year-old discovering Monkey Gone To Heaven or Waterloo Sunset or Policy of Truth for the first time, consider those tracks ‘new music’, contemporary and relevant at the point of discovery.”

So that's great news as it should open up fantastic opportunities for these established artists. Yes, but no amount of transactional (WHAT) data or any ‘silver bullet’ App is going to be able to explain the parameters of that contemporisation.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic moves already being made, some that I’m proud to say we’ve been involved in, but there’s still so much more opportunity which just isn’t being realised.

Historically Catalogue wasn’t sexy enough for senior management. The extraordinarily knowledgeable and talented people that tended, protected and developed these treasures were pushed to the darker recesses of the building, and frankly not supported. Ironically, now Catalogue’s ‘keeping the lights on’, these talented people in Catalogue (those that are left) are being asked to deliver more…but with less.

“there’s more opportunity within the fan eco-system for Catalogue artists, than Frontline.”

Recently, The Superfan Formula (December 6th) introduced the fan eco-system and the opportunities within. Arguably, there’s more opportunity within the fan eco-system for Catalogue artists, than Frontline. However, to realise those opportunities to their fullest means going beyond the traditional record company cycle of reissues, a boxset here, a synch there and requires:

• A collection of additive skills, knowledge, contacts not customary to a record company

• Time and long-term strategic thinking

• Sway beyond recorded rights

• Holistic, connected activation.

Of course, before all that, one needs that thorough understanding of that contemporised relevance we talked about. A relevance wedded in a unique mixture of beliefs, emotions and behaviour. That's never going to be explained by the torrent of WHAT data music companies are drowning in, or some ‘silver bullet’ App. That can only come from WHY data.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll aim to discuss further and highlight great practice in this area. But if you’re impatient and eager to learn more now, then get in contact.

Till next time mon ami

P

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