Lady Gaga's Use Of Free Music
from the don't-knock-it dept
While Beyonce and Taylor Swift may have outshone Lady Gaga at the Grammy's, it doesn't change the fact that Gaga has become quite a music industry sensation. But similar to what we saw with Mariah Carey, the details behind Lady Gaga's business model success shows how even today's superstars are embracing more nuanced business models that make use of free music and focus on selling unique scarcities. When it comes to free music, apparently that's been a huge part of Gaga getting attention:In fact, much of Gaga's audience got her music for free, and legally. They have listened to free streams--by the hundreds of millions--on YouTube and the other online services that Gaga currently leads, according to research firm BigChampagne. On MySpace, Gaga has had 321.5 million plays. By contrast, singer Susan Boyle tallied only 133,000 plays, despite scoring the No. 2 selling album of 2009.And while she has been able to sell music, she's also making a ton of money from live gigs and corporate deals, including Polaroid and Estee Lauder -- which are examples of Gaga selling the attention of her fans, as well as some tangible goods (such as makeup, similar to Mariah Carey).
Again, nothing about this is revolutionary at all. But it again shows that even today's megastars are figuring out how that just selling music isn't the only way to make money these days, and, in fact, having the music available for free can often be quite helpful in getting even more attention in ways that aid the other parts of the business model.
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Filed Under: business models, economics, free, lady gaga, music
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unfortunately none of those words (out of the four of them) have anything to do with the subject matter.
We have a simple, straightforward example of success in the new market. You don't have to like ms. Gaga to see that.
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Her luck is that she has a gimmick that is working and connecting, and a record label that has pushed her work all over the world and opened up many markets for her. She's probably near the end of the 15 minutes, but it has been impressive while it has lasted.
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I disagree...
.0001 percent of zero is still zero.
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Maybe this grew from her initial push from Hilton, maybe not. But, it doesn't negate the fact that her MySpace and other new media exposure was a big part of her success, and a total antithesis of what is usually claimed by industry apologists like yourself about the value of free promotion.
As for "a gimmick that is working and connecting", I notice you're not attacking Susan Boyle, who is clearly a gimmicky product of a TV talent show and probably wouldn't have been looked at twice due to her age and looks had she not gotten such a reaction from the audience that night. Talk about successfully connecting with your potential audience, and not a single person who watched the original broadcast, nor those who watched it on YouTube, directly paid a penny before the CD was released.
Why do you attack one "product" and not another? Especially since you apparently choose to listen to Hilton's radio shows.
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Susan Boyle is one incredibly talented singer, the specific proof that a singer can get over on singing talent without her ass hanging out of her pants (and thank god for that). She is an example of a remarkable talent that swept the world because she is a remarkable talent.
Lady Gaga? "Talent" is a relative term here, unless you are talking about the talent to create an image. Having seen some videos of her pre-fame when she was just another lounge singer (in between stints as a stripper) she is average at best, a reasonable singer like about 10,000 others I have seen in my life. Nothing to write home about. However, once she started being the Gaga persona, with her butt hanging out and such, she took off. It's a triumph of image over content.
As an interesting side note, it has been reported that she spends so much money on image that her tour isn't particularly profitable, as much of the money is put towards maintaining the image and trucking around a huge amount of her personal stuff.
Like I said, a triumph of image over content. Between Gaga and Doyle, I know which one can actually sing, and which one is depending on her hot looks to keep people interested.
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How's Ashley Simpson doing with the whole image but lack of talent? See, that's the future of music right there.
Authenticity. Some talents will be purely authentic while other talent will be weirdly authentic.
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Her sister Jessica is a great example of how image and boobs can get you places, for a while. These days, Poor Jess seems to have a hard time getting attention, her move into country music didn't do anything for her career.
Lady Gaga has some talent and a ton of image. Susan Boyle has a ton of talent and some image. Both are within the curve to actually sell.
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It is unattractive.
We have been so conditioned to beautiful female voices issuing forth from beautiful female faces that watching Susan sing is like listening to a cocker spaniel recite Shakespeare.
It's Bloody marvelous.
That my friend is a marketable image.
I'm curious TAM, and I apologize if this has been answered before, but have you obtained permission from the copyright holder to use Mike's image as your avatar?
Colg
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However TAM's history suggests that he would disagree were it not his own use that was in question.
I could be wrong about that, I don't bother reading the comments all that often but from what I have seen he seems to take a hard line in favor of copyright holders with little concession to fair use doctrine.
I can understand the discrepancy if he posts only for the drama. His choice of name goes well with that.
If however he is speaking from personal conviction I would like to hear the explanation for the hypocrisy.
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TAM does not care about having a discussion or a debate. Obvious troll is obvious.
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Next.
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Hundreds of opera house singers are just as good, if not better, than her. The only difference is that they are expected to be good, while she was expected to suck.
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You personal musical taste means absolutely NOTHING in this argument. Your argument that a single promotional avenue, that virtually nobody outside of the US listens to, was solely responsible for GaGa's success, is silly as is your typical ignoring of the fact that Boyle's entire career is based on free exposure and her being a product as much as any other Simon Cowell "discovery".
"As an interesting side note, it has been reported that she spends so much money on image that her tour isn't particularly profitable, as much of the money is put towards maintaining the image and trucking around a huge amount of her personal stuff."
So what? As I said I don't give a crap about the "celebrity" side of the music but who cares if she decides to waste the money she earns on the tour? That's between her and her business manager.
"Like I said, a triumph of image over content. Between Gaga and Doyle, I know which one can actually sing, and which one is depending on her hot looks to keep people interested."
Please cite the era of pop music where this was not true of a majority of popular artists. (Hint: there isn't one)
Besides, one of these artists has co-written most of their big hits while one of them only records songs written by other people. Boyle is as dependent on other people's songwriting as GaGa is on her image.
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http://perezhilton.com/2010-02-01-the-grammys-all-you-need-to-know
That is his entire summary of the grammy awards. That should tell you all you need to know.
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...and Lady GaGa's fans won't? According to a link from her Wikipedia page, she's sold at least 8 million worldwide. Or are you one of those old fashioned folks who don't think digital sales count?
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Re: Thank You
It's too bad the author doesn't understand basic music marketing.
Regards,
Benjamin Wade Inman
Managing Partner
ZONG Music Partners LLC
Nashville, TN
www.myspace.com/zongmusicpartners.com
www.twitter.com/zongmp
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Mixed messages and the music industry ....
One really major thing you have to do when you raise a child or run a business is be consistent. I see artists like Lady Gaga as sending a mixed message the record labels cant afford. She is a big time artist giving it away music for free to the youth of all nations. Training and conditioning them to expect free. While artists like her give music away for free there is no way for the labels to get the majority of people to pay for music online. As time goes on more and more artists will follow this free download business model and corrupt the youth into expecting free downloads.
It doesnt bode well for the labels ...
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Re: Mixed messages and the music industry ....
There is nothing wrong with that, whatsoever. The "problem" is that the labels have built their business around needing to have every track paid for (which has never actually happened 100% anyway).
Nothing immoral about getting free stuff when the owner gives you permission to do so, even after having had over a decade to adapt.
"corrupt the youth into expecting free downloads."
They already expect that, and have done since Napster became an overground success. The labels only have themselves to blame for not building a business around the clearly stated demands of their customers.
"It doesnt bode well for the labels ..."
Oh well, so what? They were only ever middlemen in an era when physical media was the only way to distribute music. They'll never totally disappear, but the labels who depend 100% on people paying for 1s and 0s on discs and files will definitely not survive. Those who build a business around the current realities of the marketplace will thrive.
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Re: Re: Mixed messages and the music industry ....
Incorrect. They built their business around selling music. What you are saying is that they should give their product away for free, and then sell, well, nothing.
Not very logical, is it?
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Trying to count every track that's downloaded as a "lost sale" is a pointless and doomed exercise. They need to recognise that free, unauthorised promotion has been a part of their industry since the very beginning, and leverage that into more sales be it sales of music or other merchandise.
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Mmmmm...
... yet, I'm not particularly fond of artists having to peddle stuff to make a living. Their choice, but I respect a bit more those artists who actually refuse to have their work used for ads, like Tom Waits.
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Re: Mmmmm...
Nothing wrong with artists peddling stuff if that stuff happens to be an experience. The days of sitting on your artistic ass and waiting for the money to roll in are over. There is a ton of competition and an audiences time is limited. This means that artists have to work, just like everybody else.
As an artist, this can only be a good thing for the arts.
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logic == fail.
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Planetary
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Even the Adult Entertainment Industry has caught on
Taking out a Craigslist ad to offer a fan a chance to take you to a hockey game. That's what you call a valued added marketing approach!
But then she appears to be pretty bright, she uses a Mac.
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I agree
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aww mann
BTW I was willing to pay $350 for the pre show meet/photo op but they were sold out. How many album sales does it take to make that?
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While, I love Taylor Swift and have been listening to her since the "Tim McGraw" days, I think a lot of her popularity is due in part to the Kanye West incident. It is what it is.
That being said -- I think people like Lady GaGa because she's different and makes very likable music for a very vast audience.
Yes, Perez Hilton promotes her like crazy, because they are friends. But I don't think that that's the the only reason she's as popular as she is. I know quite a few people who can't stand Perez Hilton, don't read him at all and could care less what he has to say -- but they are diehard GaGa fans. For different reasons, they like her music, her style or that she's a New Yorker. There are lots of reasons, but that's not a reason to discredit her achievements because someone thinks that her success is due in part to Perez Hilton.
He wasn't blogging about her when "Just Dance" hit the radios in Europe before it hit mainstream US radio. He came into play after the fact, after Z100 in NYC debuted her music etc. etc. etc.
Her business model simply shows how grassroots styled marketing can really work as well as social media. On her own, GaGa's Twitter is very active and she even tweeted from the Grammys where she won two awards from the non-televised part of the show! and I quote to her "little monsters;" a play on her album title 'Fame Monster.'
Her engagement with her target audiences has no boundaries. THAT is a MAJOR part of how she became successful.
In terms of Susan Boyle -- I bet we'll be seeing a lot of her at the next Grammy show in 2011.
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Data in Mashable
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Re: UltimateGuitar.com - Online Guitar tab & chord resource.
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vogue
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