NEW MUSIC AND MEDIA MARKETING BLUEPRINT

AN INTEGRATED MARKETING, PUBLICITY, VIRAL, RETAIL & DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION PLAN

by Oliver Wright, Esq.

Note: I wrote this for a release about 1.5 years ago. But its just as relevant today, assuming more emphasis on Twitter and FaceBook.

a brilliant and incredibly moving album JIVE Magazine Rating--4 out of 5 stars

SALES & MARKETING ~ overview & key points

ATTACK PLAN
TERRAIN:
As the record industry grows more rigid and less relevant everyday, the limber entertainment industry stretches comfortably into cyberspace. The majority of artists wont be impacted either way: the Old Guard never did right by them to begin with, and of those artists poking around the new digital universe, most seem to favor the Field of Dreams career strategy. But they wont come. In this way the artist must understand both the old system and the newly emerging one in order to chart a course through the chaos. The winners will be those who understand the new environment and nd a way to connect the audience with the artist. We think we know how, and its not rocket science. Whats good for the consumer, after all, is good for business. Give them something they like, and theyll pay you. For talented musicians with forward-thoughts, each day promises more, as the Digital Revolution has facilitated giving like never before.

STRATEGY:

Combining elements of the old and the new, ours is an Integrated Marketing Campaign of internet and onair promotions, print ads, direct to consumer, and parallel in-house and outsourced New Media viral marketing campaigns targeting social networking and bookmarking sites, among others. Our marketing strategy is timed to optimize our resources, deploying them judiciously toward a sustainable increase in awareness and sales, culminating when...

TACTICS:

Arianos art is his music is his most valuable asset. How that asset is best deployed and monetized in todays egalitarian, bottom-up digital world is a very different proposition than it was yesterday. The name of the game isnt releasing an album a year; its about rolling out media, entertainment, knowledge, anything ENGAGING--music, video (better still, compressed video optimized for mobile viewing), ash games, ring tones, etc. etc. and often for free--over an extended period of time. Every media asset released into the stream of commerce carries with it the potential to pop, putting Arianos genius on display for a worldwide audience. Thus: our pre-street giveaways of 1000s of the Kev Brown produced prequel CDs; the pressing and street level distribution of 3000 free copies of the sequel to the prequel, or, put otherwise, a prequel to the forthcoming single; our 25% promotional set-aside from the pressing of the single itself; the inclusion on that single of a bonus track that is itself a bona de hit; promotional giveaways of i-Tunes gift cards customized to the albums unique cover art; and numerous other promo campaigns in the works.

THE BATTLE FOR ATTENTION IS FOUGHT ON MANY FRONTS

multimedia website social media pages and extend out into far reaches of cyberspace. As noted above, our marketing strategy plan integrates internet and on-air promotions, full page print advertising parallel in-house and outsourced New Media marketing campaigns targeting social networking and bookmarking sites IM song swapping, MP3 blogs, genre relevant music websites, and viral video.
But wed be remiss to eschew the traditional, top-down promotional model, which is why we are:

servicing commercial and noncommercial radio and hired an independent radio promoter to work the album and the singles into heavy rotation and up the charts; we are taking out full page print ads in pubs serving the key action-sports-music demographic; and we are shooting videos for both singles, which well push to cable (despite its decreasing relevance), post to video sharing sites (Google Video, You Tube, MySpace), and use on our own video blog (Blip) and website to attract and retain visitors.

KEY SELLING POINTS

PAST SUCCESS AND DEEP INDUSTRY CONNECTS: LD and Arianos last album, A Thin Line, shipped over 10,000 units on the open, and is already considered a classic, both underground and above. This was without the benet of a promotion or marketing budget, a support team, nor even LD & Ariano, who were touring during much of the time after the album dropped. In fact, it is because of, not despite, their touring that A Thin Line did what it did. It didnt hurt that their respect and standing within the rap community landed the a host of guest spots from critically acclaimed artists such as: Chali 2NA and Akil of Jurassic 5, Kev Brown, RBX (Dogg Pound) 2Mex, DJ Rhetmattic, and Key Kool of the Visionaries. That said, now that Ariano has some money and manpower behind him, the prospects for the stellar album are sky high. The initial buzz conrms this.

THRIVES ON STAGE: Though the industry is in a state of ux, one thing that has not changed--indeed, will never change because it cannot

be replicated no matter how small Intel makes its chips--is the signicance of live performance, which happens to be Arianos forte. Any serious release, whether by an indie or major artist, is predicated upon live shows and touring. For this, we hired Sleep as a booking agent. Sleep is himself a hip hop artist on the Up Above label who has earned himself a stellar booking reputation. Sleep has arranged a formidable One Night Stand Tour that puts Ariano in cities where hes a rock star, and in states hes never stepped foot in. Hell be watering old seeds, planting new ones, and growing his fan base the old fashioned way. Just ahead of Arianos One Night Stand home coming and grand nale with Talib Kweli at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, our marketing strategy kicks into high gear when we (Technicali Sound) release RBX of the Dogg Pounds highly-anticipated album, Broken Silence. With tracks produced by Snoop Dogg, and six tracks featuring Ariano prominently (some of which he opens), the album will springboard Arianos prole, particularly within a rap demographic outside his core fan base. Moreover, he and RBX-close friends and frequent collaborators--will be cross-promoting their albums, with Ariano accompanying RBX on all radio and TV appearances.

CO-MARKETING W/ OTHER ARTISTS:

OTHER INDIE LABEL SUPPORT. Besides Technicali, Arianos enviable working relationships with the best in the business, including

numerous Stones Throw and Up Above recording artists, grants him unique, direct (and free) access--via mailing lists and other coveted direct marketing resources--to a large and loyal base of underground hip hop fans who are proven and reliable consumers of Arianos brand of music. Likewise for RBX, LMNO and other top acts we are releasing through Technicali Sound.

SPORTS of both the huge action sports industry and the alternative/ ACTION hip-hop meetsDEMOGRAPHIC: Orange County is the global epicenter Quicksilver, No Doubt, Hurley & Sublime; and the core fan base underground alt rock music scenes; the birthplace of bands and brands such as
of its newest star--Ariano, Arianos team is focusing on part of this fan base, which has huge growth potential. We are running a full page, four color glossy ad in Skinny Magazines Rock the Bells issue, whose core readership is the surf, skate and and urban music crowd. Likewise, negotiations are underway with the hottest up-and-coming clothing lines for co-branding and sponsorship deals. Same for the energy drink and alcoholic beverage markets.

KEY RETAIL

SuperD pre-shipped 3000 units to key retail accounts across the country, including: FYE, Borders (nationally), Transworld, and select Best Buy locations.

The album artwork is visually arresting and quite beautiful and

truly makes the CD stand out from the rest.

SuperD is in the process of placing a second, similarly-sized batch The initial 1000 unit press of the rst single, Dont Let Me Down,
and its B Side, Always on My Mind, both of which are generating overwhelmingly positive responses, will focus consumers attention on two commercial tracks, which will in turn raise awareness and drive sales of the LP.

The albums decidedly non-gangster theme and the absence of

cursing make it ideal for in-store play.

with new accounts, including the grandaddy of them all--WalMart.

To carry momentum from the 4th quarter 07 into 2008, and to

capitalize on the huge potential synergy between Valentines Day sentiment and Arianos relationship-themed album, a remix tentatively-titled music2makeup2, will be released in the 1st quarter 08. To that end, Ariano has slipped acapellas to a select group of the countrys top DJs and Producers. We will also be looking to release or co-brand a chiming Valentines Day Card.

music2breakup2 will be featured on i-Tunes, and mp3.com has

agreed to host a listening party

The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) is a

nationwide coalition of 59 community button pushers. Though SuperD distributes to several CIMS stores, we are seeking to have music2breakup2 accepted into CIMSs centralized marketing program--a cohesive national marketing campaign for select brands. Like the on-line taste makers our internet team is targeting, a CIMS stores' ability to steer consumer sentiment and purchasing is a powerful weapon as we push Ariano's awareness from the regional to the national level--a critical threshold that we must cross.

Ariano will be a featured artist on Myspace, the mother of all

music and social networking sites.

Awareness of the album is growing everyday as Ariano continues

to impress with his radio appearances. But it is poised to truly explode with the impending release of the rst single, the addition of Spectre as our radio promoter, and our crack team of professional viral marketers.

PRESS CAMPAIGN

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FREE MEDIA
(Publicity-P.R.)

TRADITIONAL & ON-LINE PRINT CONFIRMED

Urb.com: review to post. Naming Ariano to top 1000 list. Skinny Magazine: review set for September issue. Jivemagazine.com: review and feature posted. Mp3.com: to host on-line listening party. Crunk: review for September. Vapors: review for September + Saturday night special. Musicplustv.com: booking for organics tbs. Remix: review posted. Southcoast247.com: review to post. Impose: review for September.

PENDING
Alternative Press Anthem Beautiful Decay Billboard Blender BPM Chord Complex Entertainment Weekly Flaunt G4 TV Giant GQ Hustler Paper Paste Pitchfork Popmatters.com Prexmag.com Re:up Resonance Rolling stone Spin Spin.com Stop smiling Stuck The Fader Theowlmag.com Tokion Tom Green Show Trace Transworld skate Vibe Vice Wired Yellow Rat Bastard

RADIO

COMMERCIAL : Though our radio strategy is to percolate up to commercial by getting spins on NPR and college radio--a strategy thats seen early and far reaching success (see below)--our in-house team serviced KROQs staff with 300 personal copies of the Kev Brown produced prequel. Reaction was positive, and well be servicing KROQ and non-commercial radio a second time with copies of the rst single, on top of the full length CD.

SERVICE RADIO SEVERAL TIMES, COORINATING WITH APPEARANCES/TOUR STOPS Overall, we will service radio at least 4 times, with the nal two passes tailored to maximize publicity as Ariano moves from city to city during his national tour, with the ultimate goal being a convergence of (i) radio appearances priming the pump with music2breakup2 before the show, (ii) advertising in concert with local retail (we will also be inviting store owners/buyers to Ariano's gigs), and (iii) street level promotions by our booker, Sleep, who is himself a hip hop artist on the Up Above label, and has earned a strong booking reputation.

NPR AND COLLEGE ARE KEY: Non-commercial radio promotions thus far include: a rst run of 350 full length CDs to Californias top NPR and College stations; pre-publicity to stations servicing cities on Arianos upcoming September-October One Night Stand tour; and several live radio appearances on signicant stations such as KPFK, KXLU, XBIZ.com, and European favorite BASSJUNKEES.COM. Each is known for its hip hop format and they have many millions of native and syndicated listeners. Without exception, music2breakup2 has lit up the boards, whether played off the CD or sung live by Ariano over the air.

RADIO PROMOTERS/SPECTER WORK THE COLLEGE CHARTS Arianos Team is thrilled to be bringing on Jessica Weber from Spectre. She manages Spectres hip hop division and is a highly regarded, very effective college and NPR radio promoter. She will be expanding on much of the radio servicing weve been handling in-house. Shell be an invaluable asset, maximizing CMJ200 airplay and moving music2breakup2 up the charts.

STATIONS SUCH AS KCRW AND PHILADELPHIASGIANT NPR ARE THE NEW A&RS Our radio strategy has been paying some early, signicant dividends, including spins on XBIZ and XPR, Philadelphias giant NPR station thats broken numerous indie artists. Ariano will be appearing on KCRWs morning show, which has broken so much talent that its become the de facto A&R department for the major labels.

DIRECT MARKETING

We printed and distributed 7000 posters and iers for initial pre-street promotional run. Pressed and gave away 9000 prequel CD promos. Our national in-house street team, consisting of 2-4 person groups (loyal fans) in major urban centers across the country, continually promotes music2breakup2. We hired Streetworks Promotions to follow the PAID DUES TOUR across the country this summer to promote music2breakup2 at all 13 tour stops. Their services included (i) snips (posters on poles around the venue); (ii) picketing at the beginning of the show; (iii) handing out promo t-shirts to people on the way in and having them put it on right as they enter; (iv) placing stickers outside of the venue in each town; (v) music backpacks for concert goers to hear our music; and (vi) hand-to-hand at the exit on the outs. For the second promo run ahead of the rst singles release, we have printed and will distribute 5000 posters and iers, updated to reect music2breakup2s glowing reviews. We have pressed and will give away 3000 new promo CDs ahead of the single--sequels to the prequel, if you will. The promo CD, like the single, will feature yet another blazing track from Arianos next album, to be released in mid 08. Streetworks has been kept on to spot promote (i.e., ood with posters, stickers and new promo CDs) in key California coastal cities with high concentrations of Arianos action sports/urban music demographic. Our in-house direct marketing e-mail campaign is discussed below in New Media.

a.jpg 360!1080 pixels

NEW MEDIA
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION VIRTUAL STREET TEAM

VIRTUAL STREET TEAM

~NEW MEDIA LANDSCAPE ~DIRECT TO CONSUMER E-MAIL CAMPAIGN ~ON-LINE PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN TARGETING

Viral
Compose catchy song for pre-release buzz
leading up to street date

Direct accompanying video with viral

components: (funny, sexy, visually interesting, all of the above) and the video (e.g., thematically, visual references/product placement)

Incorporate social media itself into the track

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

Still no substitute for physical retail distribution, but great way to sell and expose music. Problem is making money. Transaction costs too high--merch accounts and cc transaction costs kill margins and drive consumers to peer-to-peer. Once transaction costs come down, and artists can protably sell at the . 40-.50 cent per track price point, virus and quality weary consumers will break the the artists way and forgo peer-to-peer. But presently, .99/track is too high compete with free le sharing. So GIVE IT AWAY! while at the same time>>> >>>music2breakup2 is available for purchase (alongside enthusiastic reviews) at all the usual digital destinations: iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, mp3.com, rhapsody, etc., etc. INGROOVES is handling our digital distribution (for the time being) and Oliver is handling INGROOVES legal.

NEW MEDIA NAP OF THE EARTH

INFLUENCE THE INFLUENCERS: With the old analog barriers to entry melting away (e.g., easy access to worldwide digital distribution; inexpensive, pro quality production tools), you cant swing a dead cat these days without hitting some bloke with an MPC and a Mac pitching his wares on Web 2.0. Of the 2% of these indie artists who have any talent to speak of, most favor the aforementioned Field of Dreams approach to marketing and promotion. This is not viable in todays chaotic digital marketplace, which is wild and mutable and rife with fraud; one could spend a fortune in money and manpower with nothing to show for itor less. The serious musician must devise and execute a marketing plan that gets his music in front of inuencers (a/k/a taste makers, opinion leaders, community button pushers) and the consumers-fans whose purchasing decisions they impact. Arianos team is doing just that. DEAL WITH THE REAL: As our street teams work major urban centers from Oxnard to N.Y., and as Streetworks Promotions shadows the Paid Dues Tour and papers major coastal cities, our virtual street team is gearing up to win over New Media fans, one heart and mind at a time. Weve charted a course through todays on-line music gauntlet by studying the new (if ephemeral) musical paradigm from basement to roof; by making informed predictions as to how things might unfold over the next two years; and by asking tough follow-up questionsafter all, can every digital music platform be the worlds largest? DO YOUR HOMEWORK: To that end we drilled down and sampled innumerable sites and virtual communities: on-line retailers and their fan/artist message boards (e.g., CD Baby, Amazon.com, plus hundreds more); satellite radio (XM Radio and Sirius); streaming internet radio (e.g., Live365.com; AOL Radio Network); mp3 blogs, social bookmarking sites (e.g., de.li.cio.us), something new called MOG; and many other music and social networking sites, each with membership in the hundreds of thousands (triple that when one counts RSS feeds.) This is not to mention the mobile consumers whose primary audio and video interface is wirelessa group whose numbers are set to explode once the U.S. and the rest of the world follow Japans lead via wide scale adoption of third generation (3-G) cell phone technology like that found in the new I-Phone; the peer-to-peer network junkies; and the diehard broadcast loyalists patiently awaiting terrestrial radios second coming courtesy of High Denition AM/FM radio, such as that found in ClearChannels top 200 stations in High Def. markets). CONVERGED MARKETING WINS: Formulating and executing a strategic marketing, promotion and sales campaign that takes into account all of these variables is what distinguishes those few musicians such as Ariano who are poised to exploit Web 2.0s tremendous opportunities from the vast majority who get swallowed up by them.

In-House E-Mail Outreach Program and Accompanying Newsletter

Diligence pays dividends: work your mailing list and database capture hard.

No, RSS doesnt get you off the hook. Our close working relationship with numerous Up Above and But it sure helps. Got FeedBurner? Stones Throw recording artists affords him access to those labels and/or artists fan e-mail lists. (Beware anti-spam laws) These lists, combined with the clients own mailing lists, amount to a database of current and likely fans tens of thousands deepan invaluable resource. We will send out an informative, bi-weekly newsletter to keep these proven consumers abreast of information as well as broader topics impacting the independent music community, artists and fans alike. The rst issue will go out during the rst half of the One Night Stand Tour. While on tour they will be (or at least I requested) sending back photos and video for posting to the website, and will be updating blogs remotely via cellphone.

SOCIAL MEDIA TACTICS: TARGET THE ON-LINE BIN LADENS

(TAKE-AWAYS FROM PROR NEW MEDIA MARKETING CAMPAIGNS)

Social Medias High Value Targets: MEGA BLOGS/MP3 BLOGS: One mention on non-music mega-blogs like BoingBoing can send sales (or at least name brand recognition) into the stratosphere; they should be engaged (though they are not our core focus). Quick Before It Melts is a music blog with big pull that we will be targeting. In determining which blogs are more likely to talk about our product, we will utilize two comprehensive on-line lists: The Hype Machine and Monkey Filter.

The Hype Machine: Our search strategy (Though i did much of the searching personally, I wrote up scripts for staff/interns as wella poorly executed social media campaign is worsefar worsethan none at all). (i) Ascertain afnity artists and particular tracks/releases like those on our LP. (ii) Type these afnity artists/songs into The Hype Machine, which will spit out a bunch of blogs that have recently posted about them and, it would stand to reason, might be receptive to our artist and music. (iii) Send (as in, place it in an 8x11 envelope afxed with proper postage) them a promo CD.

Online Forums, Music Communities & Social Networking and Bookmarking Sites 1. MySpace: nuf said 2. MOG: Music sharing through blogging. 3. Last.FM: Maybe the best of them all. A Few More Biggies we will be hitting, per my individual scripts and instructions to you when the time arises: Odeo: Create and share audio; Streampad: Internet audio player; Amie Street: Price per popularity music community; Imeem: Music playlist sharing; Reddit: Popular links shared and commented; Vox: Social networking through blogging; de.li.cio.us; social bookmarking site; Facebook; iLike; Twitter; SecondLife; Tumbler; Yahoo!Groups; Flickr. Mainstresam and Indie Music Websites and P2P Networks iTunes, Amazons Digital Music Network, e-music.com, rhapsody, mp3.com. There are tons. Do a search for other popular sites and if ours is not listed then go ahead and submit it (You need to have all the necessary data encoded on the master you submit to ensure royalty payments. A quick on-line search will tell you what is needed. Usually the site will do this for you though.) Hip Hop Specic Sites Hiphopsite.com is among the leaders. They come and go. Key is to always check the site out, not just trust top 10 lists.

Internet Radio: Live 365.com As the largest Internet radio network, www.live365.com,, with thousands of active narrowcasters and over 2 million unique listeners a month, provides indie artists with unprecedented opportunities for largescale radio exposure. The music library at http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/library.cgi is a virtual record poola secure service that lets all Live365 DJs preview and add our tracks directly to their stations' playlists. Or, we can also allow narrowcasters and listeners to download our entire track(s). Many of these stations have direct links to major music retailers (e.g., Amazon) so listeners can conveniently buy music they are listening to by simply clicking an icon. Live365 is licensed and pays royalties to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Each week, Live365 reports its DJ's playlists to Radio and Records, College Music Journal (CMJ), Billboard Online, New Age Reporter, and other web properties. It can track which Internet stations are playing our music and how many monthly listening-hours we are getting. Assisted by Radiowave.com, Live365 also compiles and reports a run-of-site weekly airplay chart. Submit album or track to Live 365s editorial department for consideration to be listed free of charge at www.live365.com/labelservices.

Message Boards, Forum: In addition to exposing us to a worldwide audience, Live365s message boards and community forums offer additional avenues for promotion and feedback. SomaFM & Groove Saladone example among thousands of Live365s narrowcasting stations. SomaFM has 9 unique channels on the air, with 3 more in the works. It gets over 3 million listener hours a month, which makes it one of the larger internet-only broadcasters. Groove Salad is one of Somas unique channels whose format may t our album. Through SomaFM's partnership with NPR, it is making its programming available over the air (i.e., as an FM broadcast) by providing a special version of Groove Salad for NPR member stations to use on their HD multicast channels. (HD Multicast is a new technology that allows FM HD Radio stations to broadcast multiple channels of programming at the same time.)

THE ONE NIGHT STAND TOUR

September 1: Alb., NM

TENTATIVE TOUR SCHEDULE

September 29: Austin, TX October 1: Dallas, TX October 2: Tuscon, AZ October 3: Flagstaff, AZ October 4: Mesa, AZ October 5: L.V., NV

September 2: Okl., City, OK September 3: Tulsa, OK September 6: Minn., MN September 7: Milwaukee, WI September 8: Chicago, IL September 10: Col., MO September 11: Ind., IN September 13: Detroit, MI September 14: Flint, MI September 15: Balt., MA September 17: Prov., RI September 18: Brooklyn, NY September 20: Ashvelle, NC September 22: Miami, FL September 23: Jacksonville, FL September 26: New Orleans., LO September 28: San Antonio, TX