NOTE! Before we get to Dave’s column, a bit of news: Our esteemed webmaster is without a computer since his has broken down. We expect Rick Cornish, Webmaster, to be up and running on Friday. Thanks for your patience.
I’ve been working lately with some very old friends (read that “old” either way) and music partners on a new business plan for our band. We have been making and releasing music videos. A few of them are originals and are mixed in with some unusual, for us, covers. The process is one of us picks or writes a tune, which gets taken to the woodshed for a while to work out the parts and arrangements. While we are rehearsing them (or is it practicing, I get them confused) our video team begins working on a concept for the video. When we have woodsheded (I think I’ll use that term to avoid my confusion) the tune to death, we move into the studio to record, sometimes live and other times individual tracks. Once we finish the audio, the video process begins. This includes playing the tune again for syncing with the master audio in the video studio.
This is probably a good time to tell you, the woodshed, the audio and the video studio are all the same 10×10 converted bedroom in our producers home. The producer is also very close to the musical director and the videographer, as is the same person. He quadruples on guitar and vocals and does most of the tune picking or writing too! The rest of the band is his sounding board and that can be some very hard work. I forgot to tell you each session includes drinking some tequila while……er woodshedding.
The band, I came to California with over 40 years ago was a 7 piece band. This current project has produced output as a trio, a quartet and a quintet all from the original seven, kinda like the original mercury astronauts.
Outside of playing bass and drinking tequila, I took on the marketing role in this enterprise. When the music videos are completed and posted on YouTube, my job kicks in. Getting them to go viral is the goal; or if not viral at least sneezy enough to get the Grateful Dead lawyers chasing you as everyone knows the own all music.
I’ve been told if you reach a mythical threshold number of views, YouTube throws a few cents, shekels if you will, your way for subsequent views. How many views gets you paid is a mystery to me. Maybe it is in their terms of use agreement but I have nowhere near the attention span or eyesight to read that stuff. What I do know is that the threshold is greater than 350 views which is currently the most sniffly that we have.
Being the tech savvy marketing guy I am, I have been using Facebook to promote the YouTube videos and channels. When I post the link to the video to our band Facebook page, within minutes I get bombarded by Facebook to “Boost my Post”. Once it starts, the shelling doesn’t stop. The boost messages keep coming multiple times a day. I feel like the Russians during election season. Anyway, I bit and boosted the post. To say it was successful would be a gross understatement. How do you think we got to 350 views? $43.45 well spent.
Sarcasm can sometimes be hard to communicate in written form; rest assured the previous statement was sarcasm.
So far in this new music business paradigm, we are just as successful as we were with the old one. I learned, with my colleagues, a long time ago in regards to being in the music ‘bidness; don’t quit your day job. Unfortunately for all of us working on this now, we did quit. Good thing we’re on the dole because we ain’t getting paid otherwise.
Today, I’m going to call the fellas and propose a new plan to increase our YouTube views. The plan is to find a litter of tabby kittens or spaniel puppies, throw them a ball of yarn or a chew toy and let them have at it. That should, as far as I can tell, get us all the views we can handle and in the process solve many other problems like stop paying Facebook for 350 views and getting us out of the woodshed and into the beer joint around the corner for lunch more quickly.
As has been the case for a number of years now, getting paid is not a priority. The process is what it is all about. Playing music together with old friends (again read old either way) is a great way to spend time. Watching the videos come together and of course sipping some Tequila adds to the experience as well. The videos are there for the world to see but that is not the point.
You can find the videos on YouTube looking up J.P. Feldmeyer. Here’s is a link for one of the latest. https://youtu.be/hNRNIZ13tO8
Be warned NBCH.
