Japanese Band Sells Hawaiian Vacation With The Band
from the people-will-pay-for-access dept
Perhaps other bands have done this in the past, but I just found out about a band from Japan (who, believe it or not, I've seen perform live), The Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (better known as Skapara), that is offering its fans a one-week Hawaiian trip with the band, including a plane ticket from Tokyo, a week with the band in Hawaii, including a private acoustic show on a cruise. The whole thing runs about $2,200, which doesn't seem too crazy if you're a huge fan of the band and want a trip to Hawaii (from Japan). And this is a band with a pretty big following (i.e., has sold out stadiums in Japan).We've pointed out before that selling "access" to musicians is an excellent scarcity to sell, and with one recent study having 19% of respondents agree to the hyperbolic statement that they would pay anything to meet their favorite music stars, this seems like a business model that could be explored more. And, before people start claiming that we're now saying "the business model is to take vacations with your fans," just like we keep getting people falsely accuse us of saying the business model is to play mini-golf with fans, that's not what we're saying at all. We're just suggesting that bands explore ways in which access can work as a scarcity. It might not work for all acts, but it is an area that some might want to explore.
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Filed Under: japan, tokyo ska paradise orchestra
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Sounds like a great idea... for elite music fans and musicians who want to be pimped out to the highest bidder
Maybe I don't need to go into this much detail, but I thought this because, as we duplicate and share files, the less valuable those files become, but what will increase in value is whatever remains that is scarce: The genuine experiences of being part of a live concert, meeting your rock idol (or whoever you are a fan of) and all the sex, drugs and other experiences that go along with it. For this, I thought people would be willing to pay a premium and we would continue to have a music industry, but one that was elitist because it would generate more revenues from private performances for rich people than from data files that would be freely supplied to the public.
However, the past 15 or 20 years have not unfolded quite as I predicted. I am still waiting for the celestial jukebox and, despite unprecedented consolidation of concert promoters and 360-deals in which labels have a greater interest in supporting artist tours, the live concert industry outlook has never looked worse in my life.
Further, when I hear of news items like this, I know it can't work. I know this because I know brilliant musicians and few brilliant musicians can be expected to do more than be brilliant and musical.
Sending brilliant artists on a path without a record label to support them results in almost zero chance of breaking through, and sending them to spend intimate time with their fans for 1 week, as in this case, is like asking them to become a prostitute as well as a musician.
Maybe there are a few brilliant musicians who can do it all, but I think we need to recognize the value of brilliant music and pay our brilliant musicians to make brilliant music and not pimp them out to the highest bidding Hawaiian vacationer.
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Fantasy Football Licensing Rights..?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ALmgArYW8Y
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Re: Sounds like a great idea... for elite music fans and musicians who want to be pimped out to the highest bidder
This is blatantly false.
http://www.jonathancoulton.com/
http://www.joshwoodward.com/
http://tryad.org/
Tr yad's music was even used by CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/living/2010/08/06/snake.river.surfing.cnn.html
Others could provide plenty more examples.
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Re: Re: Sounds like a great idea... for elite music fans and musicians who want to be pimped out to the highest bidder
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Re: Re: Re: Sounds like a great idea... for elite music fans and musicians who want to be pimped out to the highest bidder
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Seeing as how good business models are never tied to the spotlighted product (McDonalds sells Coke, not hamburgers; Xerox sells toner, not copy machines; theaters sell popcorn, not movie tickets; etc), you actually have grounds to not just call those accusations false, but actively disingenuous.
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Ships and Dip
http://barenakedladies.com/bnlyoutube/archive/201005/25-barenaked-ladies-announce-ships- and-dip-4
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Now if Shiina Ringo is going to be there too, I think I'd fly out to Japan to fly to Hawaii.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBm8_sxflMc
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Re: Sounds like a great idea... for elite music fans and musicians who want to be pimped out to the highest bidder
It reminds me of a saying:
Whether you say "I can" or "I can't", either way your are right.
Being successful in whatever you do starts with telling yourself, you can do this, and it will work!!!
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Re: Sounds like a great idea... for elite music fans and musicians who want to be pimped out to the highest bidder
Actually there are a couple ways to make it without record label support. The problem is they cost lots of money, require sponsorship from a big name star, require you to get on that silly (Simon) game show, etc. Promotion is the last thing the labels have going for them. As the record labels fail, with EMI being next, you will see less and less support from them for new artists. This will lead to a power vacumm that will be filled from below. New support structures will form for artists, unencumbered by lawsuits from the soon to be defunct record labels.
One thing you will see is alot of people doing mikes cwf-rtb and more music being put out an CC-nc (non commercial?? don't have time to check). Which will destroy the collection societies long term. The trends are all there.
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Re: Sounds like a great idea... for elite music fans and musicians who want to be pimped out to the highest bidder
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A number of bands have done this
Sixthman specializes in producing them. They currently have 11 cruises listed. They are essentially floating music festivals.
String Cheese Incident had enough fans following them around to various events that that the band and its management company formed a travel agency to help their fans made travel arrangements.
Roger Clyne and his band have two annual parties in at a location in Mexico. Thousands of fans go for the weekend.
I've looked into doing something like this with an artist I've worked with. We think it would be fun, but one of the things I've pondered is whether it is a good idea to have an event which is much more expensive than a show and where a good chunk of the money will go to airlines and hotels rather than the artist. Is it a good idea for a fan to spend $500 on this event and the artist doesn't get most of it? Or does it make more sense to offer shows and merchandise that don't tap out the fans and give a bigger margin to the artist?
On a smaller scale, I know bands that either own a bus or rent a bus to provide transportation to and from a show. A traveling party. Of course, there is the liability issue. The band I knew that owned its own bus didn't bother with insurance, and for that matter, didn't bother with a lot of stuff. It was pretty much a free-for-all. Ride at your own risk.
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