Check out these numbers:

• 105,000 new albums were released in the USA in 2008 (that’s four times as many as in the early 2000′s)
• of these 105,000 new albums, only 6,000 reached sales of over 1,000 units in the first year
• 30,000 new albums were released in the U.K. last year (that’s a 30% increase from the year 2000)
• There are more than 10 million bands on MySpace (3 million in 2006, and 600,000 in 2005)

What does this tell us? That with the changes in the industry with CD sales and downloads, this technology also allows artists around the world to write a song, post it live, and record a video for the song, all in the same day. Thus, the proliferation of music online as evidenced by the numbers above.

So, who is going to navigate through all of this music? Who will determine what is cool? Who will the arbiters of taste be?

And, as a band, how will you get heard through all of the noise? Do you need to be with some sort of label for promotional purposes? And what about the band that has all of their music online but cannot afford the up front costs to fund a tour?

It seems that a middleman is still required between the artist and the fans. I don’t think this middleman will be the label. I think it will be entrepreneurs that see financial opportunities in helping bands swim through the competition.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com
Follow me on Twitter

Apparently, The Orchard has noted similar results. The free song drives song awareness and leads to purchases, even while the track is still legally available for free.

This is interesting for artists trying to develop a following. The times have been telling us that songs are no longer the big profit center, but that they should be used for awareness for tours & merchandise sales. This is just a very odd twist in that whole equation.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com
Follow me on Twitter

The obvious implication is that Twitter is hot. If you are an artist and are not on Twitter, get on it now. And give people a reason to follow you. Offer exclusive news through Twitter. Or offer free tickets to the first 10 people that write you back.

Interact.

Keep it personable. Tell the mistakes you have made. Tell the successes. Tell your fears. And respond every now and then to people who return-twit to you.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com
Follow me on Twitter

The thing that I have been most impressed with is the accessibility to musicians. I have chosen to follow John Mayer. The man constantly sends Twitter updates (and his publicist says he is the one doing the updates, not some record company). Some are hilarious (ex. Larry King twits from his Atari Lynx). Others provide sort of an inside scoop (ex. just recorded on the new spinal top record). And others just make you feel that John Mayer is a friend of yours and is sharing his daily life with you.

The Twitter platform is a must for musicians or bands. It is probably the single most direct way to connect with all of your fans with relatively little work on your part. Twitter applications are available on the iPhone and Blackberries, so you can update your status on the go. If you don’t have a smart phone, you can also text message your updates in. Twitter can be connected to Facebook as well so that all Tweets are simultaneously broadcast to your Facebook status.

Twitter has also made news recently in some interesting ways. Dave Matthews used Twitter to release an exclusive, free download from his new album. And Ashton Kutcher has challenged CNN to see who can hit 1,000,000 Twitter followers first. CNN is leading right now with 930k compared to Ashton’s 872k. But think about that. One man has nearly as many Twitter followers as an entire company that broadcasts breaking news.

That is the power of Twitter.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com

Another benefit is that these ads will be available to be used elsewhere, such as in emails or websites, to drive traffic to the band’s MySpace page. There are 1,100 categories from which to choose from for groups to run the ad to. And bands must at least spend $25 as a minimum for the ad campaign. MySpace will also share detailed analytics with the band so they can see how many people visit, where they are from, etc.

For MySpace, this offers an opportunity for “easily an incremental eight-figure opportunity” said Jeff Berman, president of marketing and sales for MySpace. Berman went on to say “I don’t think Mick Jagger is waking up on a Friday morning worrying about driving traffic to a show but The Rolling Stones cover band guy is. This service is for groups well-known in the scene as well as the guys playing in their high school auditorium.”

Yet another tool for upcoming bands to get their names out there.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com