saving country music's 2018 artist of the year

Tyler Childers

Saving Country Music’s 2018 Artist of the Year https://t.co/N931SeUW93

— Saving Country Music (@KyleCoroneos) December 21, 2018

Standing up for the integrity of country music is not easy, especially these days when speech is increasingly stifled. Tyler stands up for his roots.

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

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.

be engaging

Tell a story. Paint a verbal picture. This brings your audience into the story. Marketers have created engaging ways to "talk" to potential customers. Infographics, videos, and even webinars allow curators to break down relevant statistics. Creative visuals encourage audience engagement.

Audiences embrace content that is the most relevant to them. This establishes a community of like-minded followers.

A good marketer will use content to tell engaging stories. 

 

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 press

Working with the press can be very beneficial to you business. Have the "press friendly" attitude. Keep in mind that one day in the future you'll need the press for earned media, generally in the form of press releases.

Relationships

Working with the press will give you opportunities to create relationships that will help promote your business and brand. Reach out when you can help members of the press. Relationships with the press are two-way.

Resource

Be one where a press reporter can go to to get information. A resource. You'll be valuable. Keep up your reading on a variety of subjects. Write about them. Do your homework. Reach out to members of the press when you see a story that's on a topic you know about. The reporter may need another source for a follow-up article. If they received help from you, they'll turn to you when they need your help.

When you're there for the press, they'll be there for you. Working with the press is smart business.

a post on website-design.com was the source for this post

what to do

I came across a website on LinkedIn that gave 10 items to do to become a millionaire. I liked it because there is one item on it that I feel is important and I wished to pass it on.

Rule of 500

Simply put, if you wish to become a millionaire, make contact and reach out to 500 people a month. I post this mainly for a reminder to myself, to reach out to "the 500". This makes sense if we're wanting to make money. But I'm not looking at the money angle so much. I want to make contact with a lot of people. But wait..... "the 500" a month does not mean a different set of 500 people per month. It can be the same people.

Now.... the article states to reach out by phone or email. I originally thought of social media when I saw the heading. I'm spinning my head to begin an email campaign. I'm going to have to glean my social media contacts to get a list of 500. I'll do that. I'm starting tomorrow morning. If you're interested to hear from me on a regular basis, email me to follow this blog. The submit area is at the bottom of the right-hand column of this blog.

I'll most likely send them blog post info and other items of interest. That's where my work comes in, to find the right "500".  I'm not going to be a pest. I wish to be of help. That's more for me to do.

I urge you to do the same thing. Remember...... email or phone. I suggest email first.

The article tells us that to expect at first a 5% conversion rate when reaching out. That's OK. Remember to concentrate on building relationships. That's where to start.

I tend to think email as a social media channel. To me, Facebook Messenger is glorified email. Same with Twitter. That's me though...... to make email a bit more social.

value and engagement

You might be wondering what the difference is between value and engagement.

Engagement is visible social media reactions. Comments and "likes" on Facebook are examples.

Value can be entertainment and information. 
News is a subset of information and stops to be informative after a limited time.  

High level social media advice given by consultants can be summarized to:

• Provide value.
• Get and grow engagement.
• Grow your audience and increase return on investment (ROI).

We don't get to decide what value is.
Our social media plan is about the value we provide to our audience. 
But what audience? The TARGET AUDIENCE. The target audience really is the key to unlocking social media success. Value is a goal and our job is to provide a lot of value.

What is target audience and value exactly?
The target audience is who you want to reach. Say males from 25 to 34 years of age. Value is information that is useful to your target audience.

Let's say you sell diapers. You could blog how to best use your products. Or perhaps about children's toys or toy safety. Another subjects is tips on handling a busy life with a child. Let's assume that your audience already knows you sell diapers. Your not blogging about your product to give value to the audience. Blog about items that are related to your product or to the people who use your products.

What is exactly the right item to blog about?
Well, that's a challenge. We really don't know for sure. It's up to trial and error. If your blogging to a niche market, initial data helps. 

We can only measure.
But what? 
Engagement is an indicator for value.
Engagement. Traffic. Sales.    

Look for engagement within the context. 

Relate to your audience. Personalize your blogging. Try to anchor your audience with the initial information they receive. 
 

 

sonic highways

Rock musicians, as a rule, have a terrible time explaining why certain bands or artists influenced them and why they wrote a particular song. It's not their fault because so much trial and error goes into their creativity. Inspiration comes from both without and within.

Dave Grohl is, at least, somewhat of an exception. He explains the process of why he recorded a particular song, and where his lyrics came from. When I mention "where" in this post, I mean "where", as in location.

Grohl's new HBO series Sonic Highways is partly an extension of Sound City, a tribute to where he recorded Nevermind with Nirvana.

He wanted to make a new Foo Fighters album in a new way. So much so, he forced himself to find the "new" way. Each episode of Sonic Highways follows the progress of a new song. Unique for sure.

Grohl put it this way, "You have to know your past in order to know your future." Sonic Highways gets personal and that is what makes it special.

The series begins in Chicago and episode #2 is in Washington, D.C., an integration of Dave and his growing up in suburban Virginia.

Sonic Highways debuts Friday, October 17th at 11 PM Eastern on HBO.

coldplay's a sky full of stars

A Sky Full Of Stars was released today and has already reached #1 on @iTunesMusic in 73 countries! Thanks everyone. A pic.twitter.com/gxgOOXvDIx
— Coldplay (@coldplay) May 2, 2014

 Coldplay is using Twitter to get the word out!

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