the mood machine

The tech industry is in the business of quantifying our emotions.

Mining emotional states to give A.I. projects something to go on is big business. Measuring human emotion has given rise to new facial recognition programs. The list goes on to include "emotion AI" to measure human emotion.  

Put this technology in a platform like Spotify to manipulate human emotion and we see a powerful tool for mining data given to advertisers. Apparently Spotify touts itself as a mood-boosting platform. 

Spotify also touts that it is a platform for brands. This means that it is good for business, or we are at least being told that. Spotify tells us that it is a place to feel good. 

So if you need a lift in the morning, you know where to go. Personalization is key. Personalization is how Spotify sells users its product. This is how Spotify gets listening data to sell to corporations. Your listening data. 

As we move forward with newer and newer technologies to track people's habits and predict what they'll do next, we must remain aware of what;s really going on.

This post from The Baffler was the source for this post

toby keith's song

Clint Eastwood said to Toby Keith, "I just get up every morning and go out. And I don’t let the old man in.”

Eastwood

 Toby Keith knew he had to write a song with that line it in. Eastwood and Keith were playing golf at a celebrity golf event at Pebble Beach when Eastwood told Keith this great line. Keith was admiring how Eastwood, at almost 88, stayed active and asked how he does it.

Source for this post from Saving Country Music

is excellent music a ridiculous notion?

Great albums were once routine, especially in the 1970's.

The album, long a mainstay of rock canon, is still with us. But, for how long? Seriously. Does anyone know. Does anyone care? The canon was once defined by albums. Are we at the end of an age?

Debbie Harry

With downloading and live streaming, the industry has changed. Has the product suffered as a result? Well, some artists have been moved out of the way. But really, which artists will stand another test of time? That remains to be seen. Don't be discouraged. We only enjoy and contribute what we experience. Perhaps there will be enough that experience great music to keep some of that music to the forefront. 

I hope albums still will be canon. That'd be something for us to measure, to take hold of. We'll see.

This post from theguardian was the inspiration for this post.

video storytelling

Video is hot. There's not mistaking it. Video is an excellent way to tell a story. Some say it's the only way to tell a story. That's debatable, I know, but video requires everyone's attention. Even you are not into video yet, take a look at a few a day. This will give you a handle on what is going on.

One thing for sure: videos are watched. Another thing: videos are shared. 

Video stimulates the senses in ways written text does not. Research has shown that certain words stimulate our senses. With video, using these "word objects" in the videos really have an impact. Two words are "perfume" and "coffee". Well think of this...... producing a video where the storyteller is drinking a cup of coffee. You get the meaning.

Video done correctly, stimulates many areas of the brain. That's what you want. Stimulation generally garners a response. This is rolled into the field of neuroscience, a very important field. This science helps with understanding why video works so well.

Video is to a point where it can't be ignored. I personally don't use video...... yet. But I watch several and I study them to help with my ideas. The move to video is a process. My process is at the blueprint stage. I am drawing up the plan. 

Video is storytelling that informs and entertains. It also constructs new knowledge and develops critical learning skills. 

So draw up your plan. If you need help, I can aid you. At least study what video is doing in the marketing realm.

Grow Your Business with Social Video Marketing - eClincher https://t.co/2cURhuklhj #SocialMediaMarketing #socialmediatips

— Tal Mikaelovich 😎 (@Mikaelovich) January 6, 2018

the top 25 albums for 2017*

Metacritic * released their top albums for this past year. Metacritic scores selections from the many reviews that come with an artist's release. They distill many critics" voices into the single Metascore. Metacritic's mission is to help consumers make an informed decision about how to spend their time and money on entertainment. They believe user voices are important as critics and need to be used and scored to be made easy to use.

They carefully curate a large group of the world’s most respected critics assign scores to their reviews, and apply a weighted average to summarize the range of their opinions. Here is a rundown on how Metacritic does their scoring: Metacritic explanation.

The 25 best albums of 2017, according to critics https://t.co/R1HCaBLTn9 pic.twitter.com/7ptBvNPGZQ

— Business Insider (@businessinsider) December 7, 2017

the lens of transformation

Advertising agencies are changing the scope of their business. They are seeking solutions across commerce, digital content, and media distribution. This shift has been slow. Quite frankly, they've been wrapped too tight in their own traditions. However, to their credit, they've moved with much precision.

The shift has changed the face of marketing. TV marketing is waning, giving way to social media, digital media, user experience or open source. A new wave of innovators is poised to bring their expertise to this new ecosystem.

Accenture, IBM, PwC, and Deloitte are engaged in the acquisition of agencies that have capabilities in user experiences, digital marketing, design, Web, and mobile. These organizations have services traditional agencies can't match.

Digital marketing must fit into the overall business strategy.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in Mad Men

Client-agency relationships will be revolutionized. A new breed of ad agency will be born. This means that agencies will create websites, app, and video games. Digital initiatives for brands will be created. A variety of platforms will be created for content and production.

Newsrooms will bring a bigger power to brands. The customer experience will be transformed to deliver goods and services with the customer's journey in mind.

The customer will be a major part of a brand, acting as the salesman for the product they buy.

Creation and distribution are key. Many elements will be transformed that will give the entire spectrum of media a new meaning, a new way of doing things.

Source: forbes.com (November 2016) My 'Next-Big-Thing' List: Who Will Transform The Post-TV Ad World In 2017

Related topic: B2B and Social Media

twitter content

Social media content marketing is becoming more powerful.

Digital marketing is an ever-expanding field that is constantly becoming more and more rich with traffic and consumer mileage. Because social media is so powerful in this day and age, it’s becoming more and more important to stay extremely relevant on social media.

This means keeping your content current based on feature stories and industry news relevant at the time. When you respond to a trending topic with a source, you increase your chances of being found via Twitter searches. 

This kind of thinking should be applied to all your strategies in marketing, but especially those that deal with Twitter.

 

Twitter moves like lightning. As soon as someone finds out new information, they’ve got to comment on it. This kind of relevance is hard to achieve, but doable as long as you implement a strategy that keeps you on your Twitter toes. 

Look to your content. The content you post and share on Twitter should be focused on topics both relevant to you and your chosen audience. When you find your audience niche, it’s easy to post quality content that they care about.

blogging and influence

Blogging influences customers. Here's how:

• They buy from blogs
• They are inspired by blogs
• They get assurance from buying from blogs
• They discover new products and services
• They get support and answers from blogs
• They refine their choices from blogs

Every time you publish a blog post you get the opportunity to influence your readers.
Blogging is a good benefit.

music and the internet

The music industry's use of the Internet has come a long way. Let's face it, the Internet was killing music. Digital rights were a problem. Device compatibility was too. Streaming services came next. Big Data and analytics have played a big part in the positive evolution.

What's been moving the evolution?

Recommendation engines designed to make the perfect playlist is redefining the dynamics of the music industry. The relationship is creative between listeners and music. This relationship has built a new horizon for the music and the listener.

In the past, the record industry had limited ways to learn who was buying LPs, cassettes, or CDs. Downloading allowed record labels to begin tracking listening habits and making recommendations like Amazon does for books.

The current streaming model opened the floodgates.

All the listening is up for grabs. The industry wants to gain a deeper understanding of its customers and the music.

Raw music is unstructured data because it is easily digitized. It can be quantified and analyzed. Since 1999, the Musical Genome Project has been structurng music data by manual classification as well as automated algorithms. Up to 450 data points are used. 30 million songs are in the database.

The Musical Genome Project was developed by Pandora.

The Internet of Things could be finding its place in music. The streaming model is popular. Look for crowdfunding platforms to spring up. Live streams translate into revenue streams.

Data Analytics is the driving force.

the headline

Headlines get your stories read. They get more clicks. Often, it's the headline that only gets read. Here are some tips I use to get you more exposure.

1. Use powerful words.
2. Personality.
3. Use desire.
4. Content focus.

Every post must be a learning experience for the reader. The use of images means more that ever, especially with social platforms Pinterest and Instagram.

I match content well with what you want your brand to project.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR BRAND