Tag: Music

Streaming and Beyond: Apple Will Lead the Way to the Next Music Experience

Kelli Richards April 9, 2015

If you wanted to listen to a certain song just 30 years ago, you had two options: You could buy the physical album, or you could spend an afternoon waiting for the song to come on the radio so you could record it on a cassette tape in your boom box.

Now, almost any song is just a click away. First, there were on-demand services such as Napster, then came the iPod and other portable MP3 players. Today, millions of people sign up for streaming services such as Pandora, Spotify, and Google Play Music for a nearly unlimited supply of music.

Listeners now control the entire experience. We can listen to our favorite artists or songs at any time and on any device. Streaming has even made the listening experience social. Services such as Spotify are integrated with Facebook, allowing listeners to see what their friends are listening to in real time, making it easy to discover new music.

But what’s next for the listening experience? For now, streaming music services are going strong, but the future of music — streaming and beyond — will likely be heavily influenced by the company that has already remade the music industry: Apple.

Apple’s New Streaming Service Will Start With a Lead

During my 10-plus years leading music and entertainment initiatives at Apple, I helped set the company on a course to become an innovator in the way artists create, market, and distribute music. Back then, the effort revolved around the Macintosh and Pro Tools, leading into the digital revolution. Then, Apple created the iPod and iTunes to move the music industry beyond the analog era, and the rest is (well-documented) history.

Apple has retained its focus on music to this day, so it’s no surprise that it will continue to play a key role in determining the future of the listening experience. Its latest effort began last year when the company bought Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. At the time, I predicted the acquisition might be the company’s smartest move yet, and if recent reports can be trusted, it appears this will prove correct.

The first fruits of the Apple-Beats collaboration are likely to arrive this year, according to 9to5Mac, which reported in February that Apple was working on a new paid streaming music service based on Beats’ technologies and music content integrated into the iTunes service.

The service reportedly will cost $7.99 per month — which is $2 cheaper than rivals such as Spotify and Google Play Music — and will be integrated into iTunes and the default Music app on iOS.

The lower price tag is a clear advantage, but beyond that, the service would launch with a huge potential customer base. By integrating the new service into iOS, iTunes, and Apple TV, Apple will reach all of its hundreds of millions of customers in addition to existing subscribers to the Beats Music streaming service.

Apple is also reportedly revamping the Beats Music Android application, so it, too, will attract customers who use the mobile operating system with the largest global market share.

Combine Apple’s price advantage, its marketing prowess, and its unsurpassed market penetration with its history as a music innovator, and you have a solid foundation for streaming success.

Music Innovation Won’t Stop at Streaming

Although Apple is set to launch a streaming service that could quickly become an industry leader, the company isn’t content to stop there. Apple knows that customers crave a unique experience that combines the best of streaming and physical CDs, and it’s working on a product to meet that demand.

Apple and U2 have been collaborating on a secret interactive digital music experience— something so unique and engaging that it could tempt music fans into buying whole albums again. According to Bono, this new audiovisual format can’t be pirated and will bring back album artwork while giving fans a behind-the-songs experience.

Fans always want to be closer to their favorite artists. During my time at Apple, my friend Ty Roberts of Gracenote created the technology behind the enhanced CD, which offered an immersive listening experience and helped to usher in the digital music revolution.

Today, Apple and U2 appear poised to bring a next-generation version of that concept to the digital world, while helping artists protect their rights and income.

Streaming music as it exists today probably isn’t the final destination for music because we crave something more — a richer experience that combines what we miss with what’s still to come. Just as it did with the iPod and iTunes, Apple will create the next listening experience that will help us delve deeper into our favorite tracks and get closer to our favorite artists.

This article was first published on www.huffingtonpost.com/tech/.

To your best success,

Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

Can Apple’s Interactive Digital Music Solution Refresh the Music Industry?

Kelli Richards April 2, 2015

When U2 released its album “Songs of Innocence” with an exclusive iTunes partnership, the band was trying to figure out something a bit more complex than simply reaching as many fans as possible. It was grappling with which side of music history it wanted to fall into: the “stream or die” path of slowly decreasing record sales and pirated downloads or the path to reviving the music industry.

While automatically downloading the album to all iTunes users’ libraries felt a little too “Big Brother” for some consumers, it’s a great example of revenue-generating experiments on the horizon. As piracy and streaming continue to cut into artists’ revenues, bands and record labels are actively upping their game to encourage fans to purchase more music, goods, and experiences.

Few artists are likely to follow in U2’s footsteps with the same strategy after the backlash from iTunes users, but when a challenge emerges in the market, we can always look to Apple to lead with the most creative solutions. The “Songs of Innocence” maneuver was Apple showing its hand: The solution to diminishing music sales could be an interactive digital music approach.

How Innovation Shaped the Music Industry’s Path.

Fans crave a sense of being closer to the artist, and even 20 years ago, Apple was involved in making this happen. During my years at Apple, my good friend Ty Roberts of Gracenote had created something called the enhanced CD, which created the same types of immersive artist-to-fan experiences for the CD (years ahead of the digital online music curve).

For more than 25 years, Apple has been a leading innovator in the way bands make, market, and distribute music. During my tenure driving music initiatives at Apple, I spent a fair amount of time encouraging artists to use Macintosh (coupled with software such as Pro Tools) as a partner in liberating their music-creation process from expensive recording studios. For the first time, artists could write, record, and mix their music from their own home studios at their leisure.

The digital landscape subsequently changed the industry forever. The 2001 introduction of the iPod and the launch of iTunes in 2003 were seismic shifts. But when songs first became available in MP3 format, pirating software such as Napster and BitTorrent took over, costing the music industry billions in illegally downloaded songs every year. To be fair, both services attempted to demonstrate to record labels how they could monetize the many millions of users who were accessing songs through these torrents — but those efforts fell on deaf ears back then.

This demand for free media led to the development of streaming music options such as Spotify and Rdio. While access to artists is at an all-time high (a pro for consumers and smaller bands), the sweeping popularity of these applications deprives established artists of fair compensation. Streaming music has its share of detractors, including Taylor Swift and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. These big-name naysayers choose to ride a new wave of marketing and distribution that will protect their hard-earned income: the creation of products desirable enough (and personal enough) to coax fans into paying.

How Interactivity Feeds the Artist and the Fan

Interactive digital music is one attempt at recapturing these lost music dollars. Rather than downloading individual songs (legally or illegally), interactive albums give fans access to a rich, immersive visual and audio experience with add-ons they can’t get from a streaming service, such as photography, interactive lyrics, and fan remixes.

Then, these interactive downloads can be woven into an artist-focused app that organizes each artist’s concerts, brand partnerships, merchandise, and product offerings into one place and sends revenue straight to the artist — instead of to the other players in the music ecosystem.

Interactive digital music is a perfect extension of Apple’s philosophy because it allows musicians to embrace their creativity and recapture some of what made physical albums special. It’s a flashback to a time when artists had the resources to care about the presentation of the artwork, write long-form albums on specific themes, and design a rich and powerful artist-to-fan experience.

Although we can sense hunger from fans for more of this engagement, we don’t yet know how much money they’re willing to pay for these types of experiences or how they’ll actually embrace these opportunities. One of the most important aspects of developing any new product is deciding whether it meets the needs and desires of consumers. But as Apple has proven time and again, consumers often don’t know they want something until it’s presented for them to try.

Like anything in marketing, interactive digital music is an evolving experiment. But as long as companies dabbling in this arena avoid a fiasco like Sony’s ill-fated anti-copy rootkit technology, there aren’t a whole lot of foreseeable downsides. Apple has the perfect opportunity to capitalize on the growing interest of artists, fans, and its own products that can deliver this new immersive experience.

The music industry has always been about more than sounding good and getting a record deal. But today, artists have to give more than ever just to get what they got in the past. Artists who want to recoup lost sales and protect their livelihood from piracy must be willing to try new things — and surprise and delight fans with engaging, cutting-edge, interactive experiences.

This article was first published on Innovation Insights.

To your best success,

Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

Turn Up Your Volume: 5 Big Moves Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Music Moguls

Kelli Richards March 19, 2015

Music moguls and entrepreneurs have a lot to teach each other. But don’t worry; you don’t have to sing like Beyoncé or turn tables like Skrillex to bring the music to your business.

When you think about it, there are multiple ways that the music industry reflects what you’re trying to accomplish as an entrepreneur. Music rewards innovation and originality–finding “the next big thing” is a mantra you both share–and you both aim to immerse customers in rich and compelling experiences, right?

electric guitar So don’t be afraid to unleash your inner music mogul once in a while; it could actually do amazing things for your company. Here are five mogul moves you could consider making:

Trust your gut. If everyone in the music and tech industries followed the traditional path to success, we wouldn’t have game-changers like The Beatles, Steve Jobs, and Richard Branson. Trusting your instincts–even if it means veering from the safe path–can lead to your most creative, innovative, and ultimately successful decisions. Only you know where your passions lie and how to tap into them, so trust your gut, and don’t listen to the naysayers.

Take big risks. Music moguls are always willing to try something new–whether it’s a creative approach to a tour, an unlikely collaboration, or a new distribution method. Taking risks is what separates the innovators from the followers. Whether it’s reaching out to that intimidating potential collaborator or launching an experimental project, the only way you’ll see amazing outcomes is by taking risks in the first place. You have everything to gain.

Connect to larger causes. Music moguls are masters at leveraging their brand power to have a positive social impact and expanding their influence at the same time. They’re willing to lend their voices and faces to causes they believe in, take bold action, and make their fans and followers proud advocates. Entrepreneurs need to embrace the power they have to connect to the wider world and start creating the kind of positive legacy they dream of.

Create an A-list posse. Entrepreneurship is often seen as a one-man show, but it’s important to realize that you typically can’t succeed on your own. Just as music moguls surround themselves with a strong team of artists, managers, lawyers, agents, and publicists, entrepreneurs should bring trustworthy, inspiring people into their projects. With a supportive network behind you, your ideas, customer base, and passion for your work will flourish. And be sure to have a trusted advisor by your side to help you develop your posse and collaborative partners. Choosing the right team is the most vital step in any successful venture. As music innovator Pharrell Williams said, “You are only as good as your team.”

Find the next big thing. You can be as tech-savvy and business-minded as you like, but if you can’t create buzz around your next new product or idea, nobody will know or care. The music moguls are experts at creating buzz. Take Spotify, for example. It crafted a powerful launch model by using invite-only access to drum up anticipation and demand for its new product, which subsequently became an industry game-changer.

My own career has been a journey from music publications to a major record label to a tech giant to the crazy, disruptive startup environment of Silicon Valley. It’s definitely grown from there, but what I’ve experienced time and again is that no matter where I am, when powerful tech innovation and the bold music industry engage, it creates an intensely creative atmosphere.

Music moguls and entrepreneurs have a lot to teach each other. But don’t worry; you don’t have to sing like Beyonc or turn tables like Skrillex to bring the music to your business. All you need are these simple tips, a trusted advisor to help you chart your course and create the powerful collaborations you need, and your own entrepreneurial instincts and intuition, and you’ll be on your way to finding your inner music mogul to the delight of all of those you’ll serve

This article was previously published in Inc.com magazine

To your best success,

Kelli Richards, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

Why Apple’s Beats Acquisition May Be Its Smartest Move Yet

Kelli Richards June 16, 2014

The most talked-about “secret” of 2014 was Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats. Although it wasn’t officially announced until May 28, rumors swirled around the Internet for weeks.

Apple now owns Beats Electronics (the makers of the headphones and speakers) and Beats Music, a streaming service similar to Pandora and Spotify. Apple has also added Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine to its executive roster, though their roles have not yet been clarified publicly.

To read the rest of this article on my LinkedIn Influencers Page, please go to: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140609013728-9638-why-apple-s-beats-acquisition-may-be-its-smartest-move-yet?trk=prof-post

How Your Brand Can Rock the Socks Off A Music Festival

Kelli Richards May 26, 2014

Summer music festivals are full of sunshine, fun, and community, but they’re also packed with thousands of potential customers and brand advocates. Advertising at these events is nothing new, but startups that can find a way to become part of the festival can reap significant benefits.

People love music festivals because they feel like they’re getting more value by paying one price to see several great bands. The music and the atmosphere can produce strong feelings of belonging and elation that are memorable and often affect attendees deeply. Having people associate your brand with that feeling is priceless.

We’re not talking about putting up a banner and handing out T-shirts; we’re talking about actually becoming an integrated part of the experience.

Rocking a Unique Approach to Brand Awareness

Music festivals provide unique marketing opportunities for startups — if they can just follow the music.

If your brand shares a target audience with a given music festival, you should attend and actively engage festival goers so you are visible and associated with their memories. Not only can your brand gain access to content that can be leveraged on its website, social media, apps, advertising, and marketing campaigns, but — if leveraged correctly — music festivals can provide a brand with:

Awareness. Having your app deployed at a major music festival provides priceless visibility, exposure, and reach a startup could never afford to pay for otherwise. You can build your audience through mobile apps and social media initiatives by implementing social functions into your ads, making it easy for fans to share with their network.
Research. Music festival audiences are typically very receptive (and it’s a captive group in terms of mindshare). The opportunity to deploy your technology to this group gives you access to potential focus groups and case studies.
Networking. Working with a music festival gives you a chance to build relationships with artists, festival organizers, and other brands that can generate referrals and repeat engagements.
Word-of-mouth advertising. This is invaluable because it’s authentic, and consumers are more likely to respond to someone they know and feel good about. If you do a great job and offer value at the festival, attendees can become powerful brand advocates.

Ben & Jerry’s takes advantage of the vibrant atmosphere. The company, which over the years has made ice creams in conjunction with musicians like Jerry Garcia, Phish, and Dave Matthews Band, is a celebrated regular at the Bonnaroo festival and even gives out free scoops of Bonnaroo Buzz ice cream. The company also operates a tent in the festival’s Planet Roo eco-village, where nonprofits and other organizations promote environmental and social activism. These approaches lead to positive and loyal responses from music and ice cream fans alike.

Revenue. If your tech startup is new and unproven and you’re working with an event organizer for the first time, you may choose to reduce or waive the fees completely to gain the invaluable benefits listed above. However, if you’re more established or offering something truly unique and valuable, you can charge the festival organizers, artists, brands, and even the fans if there’s sufficient value.

How to Become Part of the Experience

Forever 21 helped launch the 2014 festival season with an epic “Party in the Sky” at Coachella in Palm Springs, Calif. The party featured performances by artists like Azealia Banks and included two gifting suites, the premiere of Forever 21’s “Summer 2014” fashion film, and a 20-foot party pod suspended above the main event.

If you want to gain brand recognition by becoming part of the music festival experience, it’s time to get creative. The goal is to authentically integrate your startup into the experience beyond just being a sponsor. Provide something tangible that endears your product or service to fans. When leveraging a music festival to enhance brand awareness, there are three approaches you can take:

Deepen and enhance the fan experience.

Use your technology as a tool for making the music festival experience better for attendees. FanFootage, for example, crowdsources fans’ videos and syncs them with high-quality audio of the show from the mixing console at the venue to preserve memories with optimal fidelity. You can also deploy a mobile app or social media campaign that’s contextually relevant and delivers value. Give fans a game to play or a chance to win prizes to make them want to share it with their friends.

Deploy “festival support” technology.

Festival goers aren’t the only people you could target; you can also develop tools geared toward artists, event organizers, and promoters. BeatSwitch is a relatively new event planning platform that helps streamline scheduling in fast-paced concert or festival environments.

Deploy “fan support” technology.

You can use your technology to ensure fans don’t miss a band they want to see or an event they want to attend. Songkick allows you to track your favorite artists to ensure you never miss them when they come to town. You can also achieve this on a smaller scale and allow fans to schedule reminders for specific sets or events during a given music fest.

Another great way to support fans is by appealing to their ancillary needs. What else do they need besides festival tickets and food when they’re at a live event? WaterIn is an app that reminds users to drink water, and Wi-Fi sponsors setting up stations at remote locations become heroes. Pamper festival attendees by giving them something of value, possibly offering special discounts and coupons that are available at the airport or hotel when they arrive in town for the festival.

If you’re on a budget, you don’t have to compete at really big events. Smaller local events still pull in large crowds and can sometimes provide better opportunities to increase brand awareness. Whether you’re headed to Bonnaroo or to the local blues festival, take advantage of these unique opportunities to get your name out there and demonstrate your value to all the parties in the festival ecosystem.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards
CEO of The All Access Group, LLC

PS, The right mentor will also have the right CONNECTIONS to move any effort forward. Be sure to ask who they think they can bring to the table around advisor ship, possible collaboration and even funding.

4 Tech Dinosaurs That Will Finally Die in 2015

Kelli Richards March 17, 2014

In recent years, technology has changed the way we view work, entertainment, media, and even our workout habits. While most people are focused on what’s next for wearables, cloud computing, and syncing gadgets, few have taken the time to consider the tech we’re going to be sending into retirement in the coming years.

Here are the tech trends that are coming to an end in 2015.

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

With cable-cutters everywhere, cable and satellite providers across the country are scrambling to lock consumers into their tiered contracts. Millennials, however, aren’t as attached to their TV sets as older generations. Netflix, Hulu, Apple, and Amazon already provide great streaming options, while cable favorites like HBO and ESPN are moving to mobile devices.

By 2015, content providers will have much more control than cable companies. Cable companies won’t go down without a fight, though — the majority of them also provide digital cable, DVR, and Internet services. However, with lightning-fast Google Fiber expanding into more major cities, it’s only a matter of time before these services will need an upgrade, too.

2. Home Entertainment Is Entering a New Dimension

Your television set won’t end up a nostalgic antique like your grandfather’s eight-track cassette player, but the TV industry is upping the ante in the age of high definition.

While Nintendo focuses on integrating its content into mobile platforms, Sony and Microsoft are pushing forward with ways of integrating their gaming consoles into your entire home, allowing for interactive entertainment options we’ve never seen before.
Glasses-free 3D and curved screens are changing the way studios create and release both theatrical and home content.
Set-top boxes and streaming options by Apple, Google, and Roku even further blur the line between our TVs and computers. By 2015, there will be little (if any) difference between your television set, mobile phone, and computer as cloud computing creates a seamless web experience.

3. Call Somebody Who Cares

Millennials have come of age with cell phones. Gone are the days when you couldn’t get reception unless you were directly underneath a cell tower. These days, landlines are used strictly for emergencies such as Hurricane Sandy, and most are Internet-based VoIP services.

The days of Ma Bell and her Baby Bells are a distant memory, as those former communications giants struggle to maintain the outdated infrastructure of their phone lines. Cell phones are as likely to drop a call as a landline, and less than 10 percent of households in the country have only a landline phone. As current generations age, landline telephones will disappear altogether.

4. Goodbye, Gutenberg

When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, the machine made it possible to put magazines on every shelf, books on every desk, newspapers on every porch, and Bibles in every hotel nightstand.

We all know the newspaper and magazine industries are struggling, but 2014 looks to be the year when we drive the final nail in the coffin and bury these struggling industries for good. After J.K. Rowling authorized the release of the Harry Potter series on Amazon’s Kindle, the publishing industry essentially crumbled. Major magazines and newspapers started shutting down, and the only holdouts seemed to be textbook publishers.

Apple took this market by convincing McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to create iBook textbooks to integrate the iPad into schools, while Dynamic Books allows instructors to create customized textbook content for their SMART Boards.

It’s not just books, either. The whole world has gone paperless. Your tablet and smartphone allow you to travel without a boarding pass, publish your own e-books, attend concerts without a ticket, and even pay without cash, a credit card, or coupons. Gutenberg must be rolling over in his grave.

Much like video killed the radio star, the Internet is demolishing them both. Every innovation we come up with disrupts another. Nobody knows where we’ll be in 2015, but I’m sure we’ll have our smartphones in hand, ready to check in on Foursquare to prove it.

A highly sought-after consultant, mentor, speaker, producer, coach, and author, Kelli Richards is the CEO of The All Access Group. She and her team facilitate strategic business opportunities in digital distribution between technology companies, established artists and celebrities, film studios, record labels, and consumer brand companies in order to foster new revenue streams and deliver compelling consumer experiences. Kelli is also the author of the bestselling e-book, “The Magic & Moxie of Apple — An Insider’s View.”

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

5 Unlikely Music Legends With Great Advice for Entrepreneurs

Kelli Richards March 3, 2014

As an entrepreneur, it’s important to keep your ears open for helpful advice — especially when you’re new to the game.

We usually expect business wisdom to come from the likes of Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffett — not Jimmy Buffett. But there are a few big names in entertainment who would surprise you with their entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen.

1. Jimmy Buffett

The man behind boozy classics such as “Margaritaville” and “Cheeseburger in Paradise” knows a little something about entrepreneurship.

Beyond his successful career in music, Buffett runs a record label, a merchandising company, the Margaritaville brand of chain stores, restaurants, blenders, tequila, and more.

He’s a successful entrepreneur because he hires talented people, can see the potential in important opportunities, and lives by solid values that go back to his roots.

Take it from Jimmy: “You’ve got to be able to take money out of the equation in order to enjoy life and make good decisions. Years ago, I went to Warren Buffett for advice about something, and that’s what he told me. He said, ‘Whether you make or don’t make this deal, is it going to affect your life? And if not, then do what you want to do, and be prepared for them to say no.’ I’ve used that quite a bit.”

2. Troy Carter

Troy Carter is the manager who helped build the careers of musical sensations including Lady Gaga and John Legend.

What you might not know is that he’s a tech investor in ventures like Spotify, Uber, and Dropbox, as well as the entrepreneur behind POPwater and several other companies.

Carter’s ability to stay present helps him make clear and logical decisions in the midst of chaos, keep the big picture in mind, and avoid getting flustered when things don’t go as planned.

Take it from Troy: “Money doesn’t make me tick. This definition of success doesn’t make me tick. Managing some of the biggest stars in the world doesn’t make me tick. Making my family proud makes me tick.”

3. Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams is a renowned hip-hop, R&B, and soul musician, but he also designs clothing and chairs, dabbles in sculpture and architecture, invests in tech startups, mentors kids, and is a philanthropist.

Williams is successful because he surrounds himself with people who recognize that they’re different, and he understands the importance of collaboration, learning from others, and taking constructive criticism.

Take it from Pharrell: “You are only as good as your team. When you envisage success, you should see all the people you work with, in addition to yourself…I used to hire 21-year-old monsters with a twinkle in their eye. I saw potential, but it was what I thought they could do, not what they could actually do…When you surround yourself with people with experience…A lot of them are gonna be older than you. When they vet people, they need to see more than twinkles; they need sparks.”

4. Dave Stewart

Dave Stewart is a musician best known for his work with the Eurythmics.

He now serves as an advisor to Visa and Nokia and is the CEO of the massively successful media company Weapons of Mass Entertainment. He’s also the co-founder of First Artist Ventures and the author of the entrepreneurial guidebook “Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide.”

Stewart embraces and rewards creativity, understanding that it’s essential for a business to stand out in a crowded market. He also knows how to ask the right questions and when to seek different perspectives from trustworthy people.

Take it from Dave: “A creative culture is one in which people aren’t just rewarded for successes, but are allowed and actively encouraged to experiment and make mistakes.

“The perfect brainstorm removes the barriers to creativity by letting all ideas come out without the judgment and criticism that might otherwise kill them. It also involves having clear parameters, including a mix of people from different backgrounds, and setting high expectations for performance.”

5. Sammy Hagar

Also known as “The Red Rocker,” Sammy Hagar is a singer/songwriter and the musician best known as a member of Van Halen.

Hagar also owns a popular chain of nightclubs and restaurants called Cabo Wabo, a chain of airport restaurants, a restaurant with celeb chef Tyler Florence, and a tequila company.

While it might seem like a leap for a rocker to run a chain of restaurants, Hagar is successful because he follows his intuition, looks for new opportunities, finds the right people to run his businesses, and has fun.

Take it from Sammy: “Before I made it as a rocker, I had a lot of executives tell me what to do to make it, and I never listened to them. I did it my way…I like owning and operating a business. It’s as creative as stepping on stage or making a record. I’ve never started a business thinking, ‘Oh, I’m gonna make money off of this.’ All my ideas have come from sheer enthusiasm.”

While you probably shouldn’t take all your business advice from music legends, there are some common lessons that transcend industries:

Surround yourself with great people.
Explore potential opportunities that challenge you.
Don’t make money the first priority.
Always trust your gut.

Sometimes, the best advice comes from unexpected sources. Another lesson you can learn from these individuals is that you don’t necessarily have to start in business to build great companies. It’s just a matter of listening to your inner entrepreneur and seizing opportunities that excite you.

Which unlikely individuals have given you the best advice on entrepreneurship? What was their advice?

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionarieshttps://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries (Priceless)

4 Unique Gatherings for Thought Leaders in 2014

Kelli Richards December 30, 2013

We live in a rapidly changing world, and it’s not about to slow down in 2014. Here are four exciting events in the coming year that will keep you on the bleeding edge of innovation.

International CES “It’s a lab. A social hub. A marketplace. And a few things they’ve yet to create words for.”

If you thrive on what’s happening at the frontier of consumer technologies, the International CES is where you want to be. Held in Las Vegas every year, it has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for more than 40 years—the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. Far more than a tradeshow, CES showcases more than 3,200 exhibitors, including manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and more; a conference program with more than 300 sessions; and more than 152,000 attendees from more than 150 countries. In 2014, will you be one of them?

SXSW Music & Interactive Anyone who gives a damn about music has to make it to SXSW Music at least once in their lives. Now in its 28th year, South By Southwest Music is the largest music festival and leading music industry event in the world, with more than 2,200 official performers and bands playing in more than 100 venues in Austin, TX. By day, attendees explore the future of the music industry through panels, talks, the Trade Show, and Music Gear Expo. By night, enjoy an amazing selection of musical performances from over 2,200 regional, national and international acts.

If you’re more of a technophile, check out SXSW Interactive, an incubator of cutting-edge technologies and digital creativity, featuring five days of presentations and panels from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable lineup of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer. From hands-on training to big-picture analysis of the future, SXSW Interactive has become the place to preview the technology of tomorrow today.

SXSW’s Latest Addition, V2V If you march to the beat of an entrepreneurial drum, SXSW has a spanking new offering just for you. V2V is the newest addition to the SXSW family of events, an extension and re-imagining of the legendary SXSW experience with an emphasis on the creative spark that drives entrepreneurial innovation. This 4-day event brings the startup and venture capital communities together with the creative industries that have helped to make SXSW so special. V2V serves innovators and entrepreneurs from across all the industries at the core of the SXSW Family of events – technology, music, film, fashion, health, education, sustainability, and more – as they learn the skills, make the connections, and find the inspiration to take their ideas and talents to the next level.

IGNITION: Future of Digital If you’re an executive in the world of technology, media, entertainment, investing, finance, or the Internet, you want to be at the annual IGNITION event to explore the emerging business models of digital media.

A major land grab is occurring for the digital consumer, and it’s rapidly disrupting longstanding business models. Mobile and social are reconstituting our media experiences. “Media” no longer encompasses just content, but also commerce, payments, mobility, and platforms. Big data, user content, and cord-cutting, always-on: these are key elements defining the emerging web economy.

At IGNITION you can expect a thrilling discussion of the innovation that matters, who will win, and what you can do to keep ahead.

Hope to see you there!

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries

1. International CES – The Global Stage for Innovation

Jan 7-10, 2014 Las Vegas, NV

2. SXSW Music, Film & Interactive

March 4-10 Austin Convention Center Austin, TX

3. SXSW’s Latest Addition, V2V

July 13 – 16, 2014 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV

4. IGNITION: Future of Digital #IGNITION2014

November, 2014 New York City

Learn more: https://www.businessinsider.com/event/ignition-2013

How to Start a Rabbl: Tell Your Favorite Bands Where to Play, and When

Kelli Richards December 9, 2013

With the advent of various personal music-creating and editing programs (from Audacity, to Garage Band, to Logic Pro) it has become increasingly easy, and more popular for individuals to dive into the independent music industry. Success stories of amateur musicians, making it big from small, at-home “studios,” are rolling in daily.

Girl Talk and Pretty Lights are two recent examples of established artists who “sample” their own music through independent editing, but the method extends all the way back to Dr. Dre. Today, the growing number of “independent artists” and the increase in popularity of underground music is creating fiscal problems for hopeful musicians. Due to widespread legal and illegal music downloads, many musicians have opted to release mix tapes and albums free of charge, using these releases as a sort of promotion for live tours.

The trend of releasing free music in the hopes of generating ticket sales raises new concerns for aspiring artists with small but growing fan bases, such as: Where should I perform? How much should tickets cost? Who will come? Will I make money? In essence, these questions boil down to just one: is performing fiscally worth it?

Enter Rabbl, a new service for hopeful musicians that seeks to “Help Bands Play to the Crowd, Long Before the Show.” Rabbl describes its services in 6 steps: create, vote, reach your goal, find a venue, book the show, and perform. These steps allow artists to choose a town or city and set ticket prices, with a specific goal of selling enough tickets to cover expenses. Fans cast their yes-or-no vote by reserving rights to a ticket. If enough fans “purchase” a ticket, everyone is charged; if not, the show is cancelled. If the gig secures enough attendees, the band moves on to locating a venue, booking the show, and performing. Rabbl holds the money obtained from ticket sales until the performance of the show is verified- by fans, again, on Rabbl- at which point the band acquires the ticket sales revenue.

Rabbl combines a “crowdsourcing” survey machine with the services of Ticket Master, resulting in a promotional database and management tool for aspiring musicians. By equipping emerging musicians with a promotional platform integrated with business analytics – and enabling fans to cast their votes – Rabbl has provided the perfect way to accelerate the growth of “up and coming” independent artists.

Keep your eyes peeled for their success stories – we just might start seeing more of them.

Until next time,

Kelli Richards, President, CEO of the All Access Group, LLC

PS: Subscribe to my FREE All Access Group Newsletter https://bit.ly/AAGNewletter

PSS: Listen to an entire library of intimate discussions with industry visionaries https://bit.ly/AllAccessPodcastSeries

The Short Lifespan Of Twitter’s Ill-Fated Music App

Kelli Richards November 25, 2013

Music has been the lifeblood of many social media services, but it appears that Twitter will not be one of them. Social media music sites have prospered, with CNET reporting that Spotify recently topped $500 million in revenue. At the same time, however, Twitter has decided to fold its hand in the music business and get out of a hashtag-based sound promotion service. What proved to be the sour note in this social media foray?

In The Beginning

Launched in April of 2013, the Twitter #music platform hoped to connect users to music through hashtag searches. With this app in hand, Twitter allowed users to track Tweets from artists as well as search for popular tracks with hashtag searches of label, record, song, or lyrics. Stating that half of all Twitter users follow at least one musician, Twitter launched the mobile app with the hopes of gaining ground on their social media music competitors like SoundCloud. The app allowed musicians to promote new riffs and tracks with a simple update, while users could directly Tweet songs to followers. Twitter never owned any music itself, drawing its tunes from iTunes, Spotify, or Rdio, but allowed free promotion and distribution.

The High Note

Twitter’s music app enjoyed a brief spell of popularity when some celebrities picked up on the promotion. The New York Times reported that Ryan Seacrest hyped up the app as a means of finding new followers and contacts, going so far as to have a dance party with the streaming music function. Twitter #music peaked at number six on Apple’s downloaded app list, but quickly fell down into the mid-thousands. Competitors like Vine, which allow users to play short videos (including music) within a Tweet, enjoyed steady popularity between the 10th and 20th spot of the Apple app rating.

Lessons Learned

Why did Twitter #music prove to be a bust rather than a boom? Several factors contributed to the downfall. First and foremost, social media users preferred to stay with their established music platforms, and social music sites like Spotify never flinched from the release of #music. Users with slower Internet services can load Twitter easily, since the site has a bare minimum of graphics to slow down the latency, but it takes a stronger Internet service to launch the streaming music function. Some people need satellite Internet to stream videos if their local provider cannot keep up. By comparison, DSL and cable Internet may not reach peak efficiency needed to load Flash programs.

Twitter’s Next Venture

Though Twitter took a blow to the chin, the company is sure to bounce back. Mashable reports that Twitter founder Ev Williams has begun to spend “98%” of his time in development of a new site called Medium, a publishing platform with about 30 employees. Whether this new venture does better than #music remains to be seen, but since Alexa pegs Twitter as the 9th most popular site on the Internet, the social music app’s failure to launch will not keep the company down.

Until next time,

Tim Douglas, Blogger for All Access Group
Tim is a music producer and father of 3 young boys. He runs a studio out of his home (which he also calls his sanctuary).

Search Resources

Topic Areas & Guests

Join our mailing list

For insights on industry trends, and for details on special projects/events. We respect your time and your privacy.

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Tag: Music

Turn Up Your Volume: 5 Big Moves Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Music Moguls

Why Apple’s Beats Acquisition May Be Its Smartest Move Yet

How Your Brand Can Rock the Socks Off A Music Festival

4 Tech Dinosaurs That Will Finally Die in 2015

5 Unlikely Music Legends With Great Advice for Entrepreneurs

4 Unique Gatherings for Thought Leaders in 2014

How to Start a Rabbl: Tell Your Favorite Bands Where to Play, and When

The Short Lifespan Of Twitter’s Ill-Fated Music App

Search Resources

Topic Areas & Guests

Join our mailing list

Join our mailing list

Pages

My Commitment to You

Now is Your Time

Tag: Music

Search Resources

Topic Areas & Guests

Categories

Join our mailing list

Join our mailing list

Pages

My Commitment to You

Now is Your Time