Before you know it , festival season will be upon us (Coachella already sold out most of their April dates), and with recent year-end releases of albums by artists like rockers Foo Fighters, blues-rock power duo The Black Keys, and alt-songstress Florence and the Machine, ~ the benchmark has been set for what is going to be a fabulous New Year musically.
Billboard is already talking about 2012 contenders such as Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and Van Halen. But will the release of much anticipated mega-artists titles and subsequent tours make the public re-assess where they spend their music dollars in the tough economy? What will win out, ... the $50 event ticket to a single chart-topping artist mega stadium show ? $12.99 I-Tunes download ? or a weekend music cornucopia (bye bye "benjamins") for event tickets to SXSW or Bamboozle. At the $12-$15.99 range, there are still some of us who love the feel of a physical album or CD in their hands ~ the cover art, the photos, and reading lyrics.
And what about lesser known artists, the underdogs, that are "off the radar"? How can they compete?
With the 2012 maket saturated with an abundance of talent from all genres, it will definitely be a challenge for artists to woo their current fan base, while enticing and cultivating new fans. It's music, but it's still a business folks. With the advent of I-Tunes and other downloadable music formats, the personalization of the music experience is dying. I hate to use the word disposable and music in the same sentence, but at a cost of $1 to $2 per song to download, if your are a "one hit wonder", well, that's what you will stay. Or worse yet, demoted to the recycle bin of someone's I- phone or computer.
Current trends show that now more than ever, bands that work hard at using social networks to stay connected at the street level are thriving. As examples are the Foo Fighter's 2011 "Come and Play at Your Garage" contest. It's grass roots marketing and development with the fans fully engaged. Artists offering a free download here, a meet-and-greet there, as well as getting fans involved with developing album covers, are emerging as winners. The bottom line ~ fans want to feel connected ~ and when they do, they will love you forever ... well, for a long time anyway.
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