Even If You're On A Major Label, Connecting With Fans Is Important

from the the-industry-has-changed dept

There's no reason why bands who are signed to a major label can't take many of the lessons and business models we've talked about here and make good use of them as well. In the past, for example, we've been impressed by what the band Chester French has done, where it had celebrated a fan who was burning copies of their music and giving it out to people (and had created a video showing others how to do it too). In fact, we came close to having Chester French be a part of our Techdirt Music Club, but there were some logistical issues that were too tricky to work out in the time available. The NY Times now has an article on what the band has been doing to connect with fans as well, and it shows a band that is doing everything it can to better connect with fans in any way possible. They're using all sorts of online tools, and the two band members actively communicate with all sorts of fans. They also know that "free" is a part of the business model:

"We gave away an album for free," Wallach said, "and that was the single largest driver of new fans that we've done." They honestly believe giving away copies of their CDs gets them heard by others who'll go out and buy a copy.

But here's the thing that's not mentioned in the article. Chester French is signed to a major record label. In this case, Interscope, a subsidiary of Universal Music which has started going down a smarter path lately -- and that's definitely seen here. For some reason, people seem to think that we "hate" the major record labels, but that's not true at all. We just wish they'd stop fighting fans and making life worse for musicians. That's why it's great to see a major label like Universal supporting Chester French, and allowing them to do stuff like giving away free music and cheering on fans who burn copies of their CD.

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Band Celebrates 'Super Fan' Who Burns Their CD And Gives It Out To Everyone

from the treating-fans-right dept

While we still have various old media execs insisting that piracy is destroying content creators, every day we're seeing new examples of content creators who have learned to embrace sharing, recognizing that it's actually free promotion and free distribution. Via Ian Rogers, we find out about how the band Chester French isn't just encouraging people to share their music, they're actively promoting fans who are burning copies of their CD and handing them out to friends and strangers. In fact, they just put up a silly video of the guy showing others how to burn copies of the CD to hand out as well. The band gets it: these are "super fans." They're not "thieves" or "freeriders" or "leeches." They love the band and are helping to promote the band for free. Old school entertainment execs insist that bands won't have the incentive to produce if people are sharing this way, but this band seems energized in knowing they have such great fans.

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