Record Label Marketing

Book description

Record Label Marketing provides clear, in-depth information on corporate marketing processes, combining marketing theory with the real world "how to" practiced in marketing war rooms. This industry-defining book is clearly illustrated throughout with figures, tables, graphs, and glossaries. Record Label Marketing is essential reading for current and aspiring professionals and students, and also offers a valuable overview of the music industry.

Record Label Marketing...

* Builds your knowledge base by introducing the basics of the marketing mix, market segmentation and consumer behavior
* Gives you the tools necessary to understand and use SoundScan data, and to successfully manage the budget of a recorded music project
* Presents vital information on label publicity, advertising, retail distribution and marketing research
* Introduces you to industry resources like NARM, RIAA, and the IFPI
* Offers essential marketing strategies including grassroots promotion and Internet/new media, as well as highlighting international marketing opportunities
* Reveals how successful labels use video production, promotional touring and special products to build revenue
* Looks to the future of the music business-how online developments, technological diffusion, and convergence and new markets are continually reshaping the industry

This guide is accompanied by a website, www.recordlabelmarketing.com, which offers interactive assignments to strengthen your knowledge as well as updates on the latest news, industry figures and developments.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Halftitle
  3. Title
  4. Copyrights
  5. Contents
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. 1 Marketing Concepts and Definitions
    1. Selling recorded music
    2. What is marketing?
    3. The marketing mix
      1. Product
      2. Price
      3. Promotion
      4. Place
      5. Retail
    4. Marketing strategy
    5. Glossary
  8. 2 Markets, Market Segmentation and Consumer Behavior
    1. Target markets
    2. Market segmentation
    3. Market segments
      1. Geographics
      2. Personal demographics
      3. Psychographics
      4. Behavioristic
    4. Consumer behavior
      1. High and low-involvement decision making
      2. Cognitive vs. emotional decisions
    5. Needs and motives
      1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
    6. Converting browsers to buyers
    7. Glossary
  9. 3 The U.S. Industry Numbers
    1. Sales trends
      1. Annual sales trends
    2. Music genre trends
    3. Demographic trends
      1. Age
      2. Gender
    4. Format – configuration
    5. Outlets
    6. Market share of the majors
      1. Comparison of all and current albums
    7. Catalog sales
    8. Industry concentration
    9. Conclusions
    10. Glossary
  10. 4 Record Label Operations
    1. Label operations
    2. Getting started as an artist
    3. Business affairs
    4. Artist & repertoire
    5. Artist development/relations
    6. Creative services
    7. Publicity
    8. Radio promotion
    9. Sales and marketing
    10. Glossary
  11. 5 The Profit and Loss Statement
    1. Profitability … or the lack thereof!
      1. SRLP – suggested retail list price
      2. Card price
      3. Discount
      4. Gross sales
      5. Distribution fee
      6. Gross sales after fee
      7. Return provision
      8. Net sales after return reserve
      9. Returns reserve opp/(risk)
      10. Total net sales
      11. Cost of sales
      12. Gross margin before recording costs
    2. Recording costs
      1. Gross margin
    3. Marketing costs
      1. Account advertising
      2. Advertising
      3. Video production
      4. Artist promotion
      5. Independent promotion and publicity
      6. Media travel
      7. Album art
      8. No charge records
    4. Contribution to overhead
    5. Ways at looking at project efficiency and effectiveness
      1. Return percentage
    6. SoundScan and sell off
      1. Percentage of marketing costs
    7. As a predictor equation
    8. Break-even point
  12. 6 SoundScan and the Music Business
    1. Technology and the music business
      1. SoundScan
      2. The UPC bar code and registration with SoundScan
    2. A look at the data
      1. The charts
      2. Archives
      3. Marketing reports
      4. Label marketing share report
      5. Marketing report: YTD percent sales by DMA/Genre
      6. National sales summary report
    3. A look at SoundScan title reports
      1. Title lookup
      2. Title report: National sales
      3. Title report: DMA
      4. Title report: Store demos
      5. The index report
      6. Title report: Artist history
      7. Chart History
    4. A deeper look at SoundScan
      1. Seasonality and record sales
      2. Business climate and predictor
      3. Life cycles
      4. DMAs and market efficiencies
      5. Best-Selling markets vs. strongest markets
    5. Glossary
  13. 7 How Radio Works
    1. Radio
    2. The businesses
      1. The radio broadcasting industry
    3. Radio audiences
      1. Radio on the go
    4. Radio formats
      1. Targets of radio formats
    5. The format clock
    6. What is important to programmers
    7. Ratings research
      1. Programming research
    8. Getting airplay
    9. The new radio and new technology
      1. Satellite radio
      2. Internet radio
      3. Podcasting
      4. Portable people meter
    10. Glossary
  14. 8 Charts, Airplay and Promotion
    1. The trade magazines
      1. The importance of the charts
      2. Creating the airplay charts
      3. The charts
      4. What does this mean to label marketers?
    2. Radio promotion
      1. Promotion
      2. Promoting
      3. History
      4. Getting a recording on the radio
    3. Independent promotion
      1. Label record promotion and independent promoters
    4. Satellite radio promotion
    5. Appendix
    6. Glossary
  15. 9 Publicity of Recorded Music
    1. Label publicity
      1. Publicity in the music business—A historical perspective
    2. The label publicity department
      1. Staffing the publicity department
    3. Tools of the label publicity department
      1. The database
      2. The press release
      3. The bio
      4. The press kit
      5. Photos and video
      6. Working with the artist’s image
      7. Evaluation of publicity campaigns
    4. Target marketing through the publicity plan
      1. The publicity plan
      2. Budgets for money and time
    5. Television appearances
      1. News shows
      2. Talk-entertainment shows
      3. Award shows
    6. Comparing publicity and record promotion
    7. Glossary
  16. 10 Advertising in the Recording Industry
    1. Basics of advertising
    2. Comparison of media options for advertising
    3. Determining costs and effectiveness
      1. Media planning
      2. How advertising effectiveness is measured
    4. The role of advertising in marketing recorded music
      1. Trade advertising
      2. Consumer advertising: The media buy
      3. Target markets
      4. Media
      5. Timing
      6. Partners
      7. Artist relations
    5. Glossary
  17. 11 Distribution
    1. Music distribution
    2. Vertical integration
    3. Music supply to retailers
    4. Role of distribution
      1. Conglomerate distribution company structure as it relates to national retail accounts
    5. National structure
    6. Timeline
    7. One Sheet
    8. Consolidation and market share
    9. Digital distribution
      1. Revenues from a $0.99 download
    10. Distribution value
    11. Glossary
  18. 12 The Music Retail Environment
    1. Marketing and the music retail environment
    2. NARM
    3. Retail considerations
      1. #1 P—Product
      2. Loss prevention
      3. #2 P—Promotion
      4. #3 P—Pricing
      5. Actual pricing of product
      6. #4 P—Place
    4. Glossary
  19. 13 Grassroots Marketing
    1. Grassroots marketing
      1. The power of word of mouth
      2. Street teams
      3. Guerilla marketing
    2. Glossary
  20. 14 Internet Marketing
    1. The Internet
    2. The website as your home base
      1. The domain name
      2. Web hosting
      3. Website design
      4. E-Commerce: the electronic storefront
    3. Website promotion on the site
      1. Tell-a-friend
      2. Visitor registration
    4. Promoting the website on the internet
      1. Search engines
      2. Meta tags
      3. Music directories
      4. Banner exchange/link exchange reciprocal linking
      5. Webrings
      6. Viral marketing
      7. Newgroups/discussion groups/bulletin board/chat rooms
      8. Fan websites
      9. Email addresses, spam, and e-zines
      10. Directing customers to online retailers
      11. Fan based promotions
    5. Integrating offline and online promotions
      1. Concerts
      2. The press kit
      3. Retail products
    6. Conclusion
    7. Glossary
  21. 15 Music Videos
    1. Video production and promotions
    2. History of the music video
    3. Deciding to produce the music video
    4. Producing the music video
    5. Uses for the music video
      1. Promotion
      2. Sales
    6. Label staffing
    7. Independent video promotion
    8. The video channels
      1. Submitting a video
    9. The future of the video
    10. Glossary
  22. 16 The International Recording Industry
    1. International recording industry
      1. MIDEM Conference
      2. The IFPI
    2. The nature of oligopolies
      1. The consolidation process
      2. Oligopolies
      3. Pricing by oligopolies
      4. The four major labels
    3. Markets
      1. How markets are evaluated
      2. A comparison of emerging markets and mature markets
      3. A comparison of top ten markets and developing markets
      4. The major markets and trends
    4. Issues and challenges to marketing recordings globally
      1. Piracy
      2. Parallel imports
      3. Licensing
      4. Currency exchange rates
      5. Cultural restrictions
      6. Quotes
      7. Censorship
    5. Opportunities
      1. Geographic growth areas
      2. New technologies
      3. Trade agreements
    6. Marketing products overseas
      1. Major labels and affiliates
      2. Marketing through an affiliate
      3. Indie labels and international markets
      4. Licensing
      5. Transshipments/exports
      6. Internet sales and distribution
      7. Marketing strategy
    7. Conclusion
    8. Glossary
  23. 17 Tour Support and Promotional Touring
    1. Tour support
    2. The decision to support a tour
      1. Direct financial support for a tour
      2. Major label tour support
      3. Independent label tour support
      4. Tour sponsors
    3. The payoff for record labels
    4. Promotional touring
    5. Glossary
  24. 18 Special Products and Special Markets
    1. Lifestyle
    2. The benefits
    3. Enhancing careers
    4. Product extensions
    5. Compilations
    6. Products in the music
    7. Retail exclusives
    8. Tour sponsorship and more …
    9. Glossary
  25. 19 Marketing Research
    1. What is marketing research?
      1. Syndicated vs. custom research
      2. The research process
    2. Research validity
    3. Confidence level and margin of error
    4. The application of research principles
      1. When focus groups are appropriate
      2. When surveys are appropriate
    5. Bounceback card for geffen sampler Buy Product
      1. When experiments are appropriate
    6. The use of syndicated research
      1. Research sources for record labels
    7. Conclusion
    8. Glossary
  26. 20 The Recording Industry of the Future
    1. Label partnerships
    2. New media concepts
      1. The development of online services
      2. Online and offline content
    3. Technology diffusion and convergence
      1. Digital rights management
      2. Technology convergence: The universal mobile device
    4. New markets: what does the consumer want?
    5. The new music model
      1. Marketing under the new model
    6. Glossary
  27. 21 The Marketing Plan
    1. The marketing plan
    2. Who gets the plan?
    3. What’s in the plan?
    4. Timing
  28. 22 DeMand De World Over
    1. Malign Records Phase 1 Marketing plan
      1. Project facts
      2. Track listing
      3. Project contacts
      4. Background information/marketing
      5. Marketing objective
      6. Key dates
      7. A&R/Artist development/setup
      8. Publicity
    2. The biography (subject to revision):
      1. Radio
      2. Video
      3. New media
      4. Advertising
      5. Sales
      6. International
      7. Tour
      8. Street team
      9. Lifestyle/cross-marketing
      10. Timeline
  29. Index

Product information

  • Title: Record Label Marketing
  • Author(s): Tom Hutchison, Amy Macy, Paul Allen
  • Release date: December 2005
  • Publisher(s): Focal Press
  • ISBN: 9781136124532