Kevin Beatty

Musical genius strikes again

A great website that I frequent is called The Trip Wire.  TheTripwire.com provides an internet-based community for exploring the indie/alternative music scene and the lifestyle surrounding it.  What's cool about the site is that they feature great articles about up and coming artists.  One of which is Calvin Harris, a Scottish electronic singer-song writer.  You may have heard his collaboration with British rapper Dizzee Rascal, "Dance Wiv Me".  Anyways, the article I was reading recently talked about how Calvin took a leap of faith on a technological performance that has never been done before.  The ingenious thinking of Calvin starts with him taking music where it's never been before in what he calls "Humanthesizer." 

Calvin become the first person to perform a song entirely on a musical synthesizer made up of humans...and beautiful models to say the least! 15 bikini wearing models to be exact.  The song isn't bad, but the intelligence and creativity to put together such a performance shows a lot about the potential Calvin has to become an incredible artist.  The specifics of it are mind blowing too.  He paints the hands and feet of the models as well as his own with electrically charged paint.  Then with organized clapping and dancing on music pads, the models produce different sounds when the electrical paint charge touch one another.  Collectively they all produce a Tom Hanks in "Big" rendition of his new single “Ready for the Weekend.”  Fantastic when everything is said and done.

I love artists that take their passions in life to the next level.  He could have created the song, spun it some posh European club or two and that would be the last of him...until his next hit song of course.  But instead, he takes it to the next level by introducing something that most people couldn't dream in their wildest far out dreams. Check out the video below to watch it in action. 

If you build it... fans will come! A musician's guide to the Digital World by Kevin Beatty

Being a digital media Rockstar is almost as important as being a social media expert.  In this digital world, musician's are learning like every other industry, on how to capitalize on the social web (sometimes the hard way). As you can tell by now, I'm fascinated by how the social web is changing the way we go about life.  Music being a passionate aspect in my life, I thought I'd compile a list of tricks, tools, articles, and viewpoints on how musicians can leverage the ever changing social web to attract and engage more of a fan following.

The Phenomenon Explained

Can anyone tell me why Reality TV shows became so freakin popular?  It's because the viewers felt connected to the reality tv stars.  There's something about viewing another person's life situations that is sometimes comforting (or addicting - I guess).  This connectivity is exactly what the social web creates for viewers without limitations or boundaries.  Virtually anyone with a computer or internet access can see listen to your music or message, and that's powerful.  So much for handing out flyers to get 50 people to pack a bar on a Wednesday night, right?

A quote I found on Wired.com captured my thought exactly on the importance of the social web for musicians.  "I’m not sure it hurts bands that don’t do it, but there’s no question it can help the ones who do," said TopSpin CEO Ian Rogers. And some networks (Facebook, Friendfeed, Twitter, etc.) reach not only interested fans, but also their potentially interested friends. "The connection to fans … turns a casual listener into a fanatic," added Rogers. "It makes them marketers of your art, in many cases, since those fans are plugged into not just you but networks of other similarly-minded individuals."

A few things to point out here first though.  I completely understand that there are several different levels of musical talent that possibly will read this.  You might be a band just starting out playing at a few local bars - mainly playing cover songs.  You could also be a thriving band with a full interactive marketing agency hired to make critical web decisions for you.  Or you're managing either or both.  What I'll attempt to do today is stay more on the side of the band or musician entering the digital world. I'll leave the digital marketing strategy for Coldplay to my consulting work.