Trent Reznor & The Formula for Future Music Business Models

Trent Reznor & The Formula for Future Music Business Models

'Reserving your fans'

The key points made by Michael Masnick:  

• His own company is called 'Four Sixty-Four'.
• Company helps to connect new media & different social media.
• 'Techdirt' is the blog of Four Sixty-Four.
• Blog includes information about the music & recording industry. Includes specific information on what Trent Reznor has done. 
• Trent Reznor's secret 'CwF' - 'connect with fans' + 'RtB' - 'reason to buy' = the business model

CwF + RtB = $$$$

• Reznor put together an internet scavenger hunt (like Warner Bros. did with The Dark Knight in 2008) to help him connect with fans. ARG, Alternate reality gaming. Connected with the fans in a way beyond just the music. 
• Upset his own record label by getting USB keys and dropping them on the floor in places where he did gigs. This allowed his fans to find these, which contained his new music, which was another way of connecting with fans, who would then go on and share his music virally and in the real world. 
• RIAA tried to stop the music that he was leaking. This annoyed fans because they could no longer get his music for free, which gave them 'a reason to buy'. 
• Small color changing gimmick on CD, although irrelevant, gave people a reason to buy. 

• After that album he was no longer signed to a label, and went out into 'the vast wasteland that is the music industry'. 
• Ghost I - IV: Giving fans an option of how they're able to interact with his music. Reason to buy - adding lots of addition benefits. 
• First 9 songs of 36 were free to download of his website, however if people decided to buy the whole album then they had the option of sharing it for free with others. 
• You could buy the box set, including a DVD and a Blu-ray disk for $75.
• $300 'Ultra Deluxe Limited Addition Package' - only 2,500 of them and all personally signed by Trent Reznor. It took less than 30 hours for them all to sell out.
• For free music, got $1.6M in the first week. 
• Amazon top selling albums, No.1 'Ghost I-IV'

• Two months later released 'The Slip'. You could download the entire album for free. 
• Put together maps using google earth to show where everyone was downloading from. Media integration. 
• Gave the fans a whole spectacle if they came to see him live visually. Tickets were made available if you downloaded his album online in 2008. 
• Put out vinyl copies of the album in limited editions. RtB.

• Website; what's new, music you can listen to, forums, chat. 
• Any photos of the band that anyone has taken are aggregated onto the sight. CwF.
• Free manipulative wallpapers. 
• Encouraging people to download RAW files and remix them, share them etc. (A bit like YouTube Mash-ups). 
• Giving out free 450G's of free material for his fans to play with. 

A2 Media Studies Advanced Production - Holiday Work

Alternative Music

(Universal Music Group is one of the most 

successful and prestigious in the world.)

A lot of the music that can be found in the 'UK Top 40' today is only there because big labels have shoved the artists name and track right in our faces as the public. Yes, the music is liked, usually by the teenagers of society, but what we hear every day is controlled by the labels and are unoriginal pieces of work as the artists sign away all control over what is done with their original recorded song. 

When we think about the pop music genre, stereotypes of youth in revolt, drugs, disobedience to adults & sexuality spring to mind as the content of the lyrics. So it would seem a bit strange that the young artists who are putting their music out into the world, are having their content controlled by multi-billion dollar companies being run by middle-aged lawyers and CEO's. The reason behind it is that the companies want the maximized profit margin off every one of their 'big money talents'. 

Capitol Records have signed many huge pop artists over the past decade including big names such as Katy Perry:

However, despite the mainstream there has always been and will always be an alternative genre of any type of music. Alternative, in this case is anything that doesn't cooperate with the mainstream. Some of the main ways that the artists tend to differ from the mainstream is through representation, style, lyrical content, form, production, distribution, consumption & fans. 

For my music video that I will produce with my group I believe the most important aspects to focus on are:

Representation - Including Mis-En-Scene & Setting. If trying to create an alternative music video, it shouldn't be set in a huge studio (with flashing lights and confetti) which obviously represents the artist having a substantial amount of money. This would be unlikely unless they happened to be already well off or signed to a big label, deducting the 'alternative'. What the audience sees in the video will coin-side with what they hear in the lyrics and beat. 

'Topman' clothing produces a range 

of alternative style fashion which you 

would expect to find in alternative 

music videos because it isn't mainstream 

in a fashion sense, or expensive. 

Lyrical Content & Ideology - The lyrics that are heard in the song directly correlate to the ideologies of the music. These could be the stereotypes of drugs & sex, or they could be something even more alternative such as political. Basehead, was an alternative political rap group from the early 1990's formed in Washington D.C..They as a group integrated many different genres of music including rap, rock & pop. Much more of their discography and background can be found here: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/basehead-mn0000141500 

A problem that many alternative artists face is not being heard by the big labels, (if they want to be). The big institutions fear signing these new artists, because they think that a new and unheard style of music won't sell profitably in the public and therefore won't take the risk of not breaking even. Otherwise, the major problem for alternative artists is getting a big enough fan base to start following them and spreading a good word of mouth either virally or verbally. This can also be hard to get, as the majority of music heard is by teenagers who are less likely to conform to these new and unproven genres & styles as they would stereotypically stick to the mainstream to stay 'sociable'. 

However, for the people that are interested in these new and 'upcoming' artists they are able to find some of them on the internet via sites that the artists upload their new songs to. E.g. soundcloud.com 

Another site that I found today is called unsigned.com & one band that I came across in the pop genre is called 'myfuturelies' from Sydney. On this link you can even see from the way they're dressed in the album cover that they conform to an 'indie' & 'alternative' style. 

http://www.unsigned.com/myfuturelies

50 Cent - Has sold more than 71,600,000 albums worldwide since 2000. Although he is no longer an alternative artist in terms of fame or money or genre of music (although that never was). He started off very alternative in the sense of lyrics (in his early music he rapped 'dissing' his gang bosses after he quit dealing drugs to pursue his music career, his ex-fellow gangsters tried to shut him down in every way). He produced his own albums with his partner and close friends in his bedroom in New York City, burning his own CD's and selling them on the street. He worked with his crew on their own to make it big and finally have a concert in Pelham Hall, New York City after having gotten a little stardom. 

Popular Music & Sexuality

"Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married

Gee, I really love you and we're gonna get married

Goin' to the chapel of love" 

Chapel of Love- Dixie Cups, 1964

"Cause I may be bad but I'm perfectly good at it, 

Sex in the air, I don't care, I love the smell of it.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains excite me."

S&M - Rihanna, 2010

Much of the music that is produced nowadays is powered by sexual relevance and reference. Dancing is one way which people are able to emphasize their sexuality without actually having to remove layers of clothing. Music in this sense is universal and understandable most cultures. Therefore, depending on how many sexual references there are in the song that my group and I end up doing will directly influence how much sexual activity we include in the video. 

Sexuality in our video could be portrayed in a number of ways: 

Intellectually: sharing thoughts and aspects of someone's life. 

Emotionally: The need to give and receive affection. 

Physical: Skin contact, sexual relief. 

Moral: Sex comes with codes and values. 

Social: Sexuality makes us wanted within society if not by one person but several. 

Depending on the artist in question, the representation of sexuality in the lyrics will have a direct affect on the way an audience acts, dresses and the ideologies that they follow. 

Gender also plays a substantial role in the sales of music to an audience and the relationship this creates. Middle class, white teenage boys often (along with other age and sex groups) look to music as a sense of escape and so will often be found listening to gangster music such as 50 Cent. A famous example of someone who has successfully risen to the top is, Eminem. 

In our music video, using the most conflicting ideologies to the lyrics that we hear I believe could be really interesting and captivating to view visually. Like seeing a bunch of white middle class, prep school boys listening to Dizzee Rascal & Lil Wayne. 

Studying Pop Stars

Common Ideologies of Pop Star Lifestyle to Adapt to Music Videos - Year '13 

A lot of Pop music revolves around a historical period in time and therefore after a certain period looses all sense of meaning for the ever growing younger generation of audiences. Certain aspects of the music genre still stand, and I believe many of which would be key to having in our music videos to emphasize and capture the meaning and force driving the same old cultures of pop music. 

1. Youthfulness 

2. Rebellion 

3. Sexual Magnetism 

4. A disregard for social values. (Drug abuse, sex & polite behaviour)

5. Success against the odds. 

Artists' that die young tend to become the perfect pop stars after. Because they're young, they don't loose the musical plot by becoming old or unattractive. Once they have died they instantly become a story with a beginning a middle and an end. Generally the record company that holds the rights to their musical talent will experience a dramatic increase in the amount of sales from that artist. After Michael Jackson's death in 2009, Sony Music Entertainment signed a $250, 000, 000 deal to keep the rights to his music until 2017. Since his death he has made over $1 bn. 

More On Richard Dyer's Theory

The Star Theory Applied To Pop Stars

For the public, whose emotions can often thrive off the messages portrayed by different types of artists through different genres of music, a "pop performer" and a "pop star" have become the same thing. However, in the media world of music they are two very different things. The not-so-famous are quickly turned into stars through their successful management teams. However, the artist that this is done to often has very little or no lasting significance. A 'true' pop star's messages and ideologies will echo of generations and still be as important and true today as it was then. 

An example of one artist's messages that were so clear were Sam Cooke's as me fought and gave the Black African American's hope & inspiration during the segregation of the Southern United States. 

Pop 'stars' are constructed artificial images, although they are being portrayed as real people. Many starts will have a unique selling point. Something for people to copy because they aspire to be like their stars. Perhaps one of the most famous USP's was Elvis Presley's hip-shaking, erotic dancing or his crisply slicked back hair. 

However, modern days stars are constructed for less of a purpose than attempting to get rid of segregation. Large music industry firms now create money. The music firms know what their audiences want to hear and see in modern songs. The majority want to see sex objects of either sex and hear sexual innuendoes in music along with rebellious lyrics and images. 

Flo Rida - Whistle

Stars are successful depending on how well they put across the meanings of their music. The more that an audience is able to relate to what has been created the more the record companies will receive in profits because of what they have created for their audience audibly and visually. However, some new stars may be hugely successful but only around for a couple of years. This is because of two factors. A) that something new and fresh is always being produced so people tend to quickly move on and forget about the other stars. Or B) The 'Golden Oldies' of our parents generation comes into play. 

Dyer states that he sees 'stars' as: "...representations of persons which, reinforce, legitimate, or occasionally alter the prevalent preconceptions of what is to be a human being in this society." 

Here, Dyer is saying that Pop Stars can have such a huge effect on people that it can end up changing every corner of their lives from the way they act socially to the clothes that someone wears every day. 

Textual Analysis of Album Cover

Jay - Z 

The Black Album 

The Black and shades of grey emphasize the predominantly black genre of music (hip-hop/rap) that Jay-Z creates for his audiences. 

The expression on Jay-Z 's shows a powerful, strong black man, which 

mirrors his music as he raps about the 'bling' in his life to inspire other 

young poor back youths. 

The ablum cover suggests that Jay-Z is more about his appearance than the music he makes as their is no sign of what he is about. However, he is a world famous star, and was when this album cover was released so his existing fan bases and the public all around the world already knew who he was. 

In The Charts

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

Track numbers 26, 27, 28 in the United Kingdom 'Top 40'. Analysis of distribution, production & ownership of the tracks. 

26: Avicii - Silhouettes 

Record Label & Distribution Company: Universal Music

Produced by: Swedish House Producer 

27: Tulisa - Young 

Record Label & Distribution Company: All Around The World

Produced by: STL 

28: Trey Songz - Heart Attack 

Record Label & Distribution Company: Songbook and Atlantic 

Produced by: Benny Blanco and Rico Love