Something Magical
Hans Hofmann once famously said “Art is magic… But how is it magic? In its metaphysical development? Or does some final transformation culminate in a magic reality? In truth, the latter is impossible without the former. If creation is not magic, the outcome cannot be magic.
The magic of Generation X & Generation Y has been the ability to innovate and invent in one of the harshest economic environments in the last 100 years of industry. Lucius Annaeus Seneca once said, “A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” It seems that these obstacles have forced many creatives to become resourceful and use every available tool to circumnavigate around economic hurdles, inadvertently inventing new ways of doing ‘things’ and creating new industry standards.
One such creative, Abel Tesfaye, also known by his stage name The Weeknd, has co-opted one of the new music business models which is the independent disruption of music using social media platforms. The Weeknd has cultivated an online following through his ‘mixtape’ approach, bypassing the music labels. These ‘mixtapes’ have created critical mass exposure by leveraging attention using social media platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and Blogs. The Weeknd’s steady buzz-creation technique of releasing songs freely and democratically through as many of these platforms as possible has been effective and serves as a case study for successfully using unconventional business practices. The Weeknd has continued to show that the approach of making music passionately first, then giving your music away for free is an effective marketing tool as much as using the established institutionalized method of selling your music first. This ‘chicken or the egg’ approach has been inspiring to say the least.
On August 18, 2011, The Weeknd released his ‘mixtape’ Thursday. The ‘mixtape’ has 9 tracks, & features Drake in one of the tracks. Thursday has had over 180,000+ downloaded in the first day according to wikipedia.
Please listen to this track by The Weeknd Feat. Drake - The Zone, I like (Screwed & Chopped by Slim K) and feel free to share your thoughts.
This Quote helps reinforce my assertions:
“A strategic, real-world, down-in-the-street approach to selling music in today’s music marketplace, that takes advantage of the most effective contemporary tools, while remaining well grounded in the traditional marketing techniques that remain relevant. If you want your music to see the light of day, follow this indispensable step-by-step advice, clearly put forth from the industry trenches by an unusually effective and creative marketing professional.”
-Chris Stone, Founder, Record Plant Studios; co-founder and former executive director of the Music Producers Guild of the Americas (MPGA)
Posted by Jey Van-Sharp of MyUberLife
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