Hey all. I'm a former YC founder who has been working in the creator economy before that term existed.
Anyways, I wrote a piece in the Beacons.ai blog (S19) about the importance of real-time welcome emails, and how to create one. From our own data, we find that close to 90% of creators who collect subscribers don't have a real-time welcome email set up, which is a damn shame.
I would love some feedback on this, as this post is a working document we use in our user outreach. Thanks!
I used to work at PR Newswire, THE corporate press release distribution service. Ricky demo'ed this product to me a month ago, and in the course of discussion he exposed even more of the marketing bullshit of PR Newsire than even I knew to be true. Never again will I pay for a PR Newswire or Businesswire blast. That budget goes straight to Upbeat.
Hey all, I wrote this thing. And since Svbtle doesn't have a commenting feature, I'll probably be hanging here all day if you have any questions, feedback, or violent disagreements about the post. I could talk about this topic all day, so shoot!
Really enjoyed the article and looking forward to more in the series. Would be interested to hear your thoughts on the Patreon.com model (funding ongoing creative work vs kickstarter where it builds up to a big final product like an album release). Also, are there any other crowdfunding models which you feel have big potential that no one has done well yet?
what's up G! Long time no see. I love Patreon, it turns crowdfunding on it's head. They're more about a subscription model and delivering on an on-going, digitally delivered relationship, as opposed to the big blowout, whale-heavy model of traditional crowdfunding. Flip side of the same coin, I think artists need to basically do both in the future.
I'm not sure what format is next for artists. Honestly I care less about the format as much as I do about the underlying principles, which is finding a way to inject humanity and genuine intimacy into the "sales" process. That's always going to be important in a patronage model. I suppose some sort of CRM element would help with that?
Dude, congrats on the hustle! How did you land your first artist and convince them to crowdfund? Was it a weird experiment for them or totally natural?
Well, as you know, I had relationships in the music industry from my previous gigs at music startups. One in particular, the manager of The Grouch & Eligh, was someone I could truly geek out with regarding these geeky matters. I had just finished doing a bunch of research on successful campaigns at the same time The Grouch & Eligh were looking to put out an album. Took a little convincing (as often is the case with crowdfundig virgins), but the reasons were too compelling.
I can say with authority that the hesitancy I felt from artists just 1-2 years ago regarding crowdfunding has rapidly been deteriorating. Like exponentially. So much so that I don't mind giving away some of my tricks. There's just so much more demand than there are actual "experts" in this space.
Awesome Post Aston. You know, you can most year-to-year sales data directly from RIAA. You're supposed to pay for the data but usually you can find someone posting them.
Regarding that, I'm not quite as optimistic as your projections on digital sales. I don't think it trends up forever. I don't have a crystal ball, but I have a feeling that downloads sales will actually peak in the next 1-3 years. At which point, the record industry will REALLY start freaking out (again).
Thanks for the comment! So I agree that the feedback cycle can be quick, but even the best players go on extended net losing streaks, months at a time. When you're putting in tons of hours and in theory making sound decisions and you add up the bankroll, and those thousands of hours are all for naught... well, that can be devastating.
I know you're probably dealing with 2 different systems, but I'd love it if Crowdhoster campaigns could also be hosted on Crowdtilt.com. I get that Crowdhoster is supposed to enable all types of cool group transactions way beyond the controlled scope of Crowdtilt, but even just generating a secondary Crowdtilt.com landing page for a Crowdhoster campaign would be cool.
I also get how this isn't a big issue for now. But as Crowdtilt grows, I would think it becomes a "brand" that people trust to handle transactions, and would tip a certain % of the market to then give up the CC digits. So for example, as a consumer, I might be more inclined to purchase something on crowdtilt.com, as opposed to xanga.com.
Just like how right now, your average consumer might be more inclined to support a Kickstarter project over a Crowdtilt project, due to inherent trust he feels in Kickstarter as a curator/brand. But since I'm bullish on Crowtilt, I think Crowdtilt eventually develops and trusted brand name.
As an campaign director/organizer, in and ideal world, I want both the flexibility of Crowdhoster and that brand stamp of "Crowdtilt". Just a suggest... otherwise, these updates are actually really cool, love where it's going!
"Is this the cultural equivalent of cleaning out the memetic closet to make room for new stuff?"
To tell you the truth, yes. I make a few rhetorical leaps to get an argument across. I realize Araabmuzik is hardly the first midi controllist ever, he's but a bump in a continuum.
I disagree though with the 2 vectors thing. There's a whole lot of things you can do with tonality with machines. And as for "Glissando, spicatto.." etc, well, I personally think the human voice will be the one instrument that will always be "in".
Point being, I'm most excited to see all the different vectors these machines invent.
And sure, technically we've been able to do this for decades, but it's usually been a hidden process in the studio. It's the crossover to mainstream cultural acceptance and respectibility as a performance instrument. When hardware instrumenalists move tickets, that's what's interesting to me.
I'm not saying the earlier gen synths, controllers and laptops are any less legit than newer gen stuff. I'm thinking strictly from the fan's perspective, the non-musician's perspective, the concert-goer's perspective. That is, how visually obvious is your live performance gifts from the floor? To a digital musician, it might sound reductive. But live performance is it's own beast.
this goes back way before "the earlier gen synths, controllers, and laptops"
see my other comment. it's awesome you have come to this realization, but what i am trying to help you understand is that this is cyclical. it is not a revolution, it is how instruments evolve and has been for ages.
Live performance is easily electronic music's biggest obstacle. A light show/projector is at the very least a needed default. Because a single man behind a controller/lappy is not that interesting.
Anyways, I wrote a piece in the Beacons.ai blog (S19) about the importance of real-time welcome emails, and how to create one. From our own data, we find that close to 90% of creators who collect subscribers don't have a real-time welcome email set up, which is a damn shame.
I would love some feedback on this, as this post is a working document we use in our user outreach. Thanks!