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Tuesday, 15 December, 2009 6:54 PM

Engaging The Empowered Fan (CMA)

The mechanics of writing, planning, recording and marketing music have been in place for years. Recently, though, another component has come into the picture and is rapidly making itself an indispensible part of the representation, particularly in the realm of Country Music.

That component is the fan base. Record labels have increasingly been looking toward fans for input into everything from song selection to album cover art.

Reasons for fans' ascension into the creative process are many and complex, but John Gusty, Digital Strategist with the Black River Music Group (BRMG), dates it to one milestone moment. “The traditional drivers have always been radio and retail,” said Gusty, who developed his insights into this phenomenon as VP, Marketing and Artist Relations, at his previous company, echo. “But when iTunes took over from Wal-Mart as the No. 1 retailer in the country, that was a monumental moment because iTunes sells just digital product, and because things can be transported digitally between you and me, without a radio station or a retailer in the middle, fans became absolutely in control.”

A significant change, to be sure, but as Gusty and others in the vanguard of the industry see it, it promises exciting challenges and a potential payoff that’s unique to Country. The key lies in the relationship between the artist and the fan, which is arguably more intimate and enduring than in any other genre. “In pop and rock music, you’re only as good as your last single,” said Shay Boone, who is also a Digital Strategist at BRMG and former Street Marketing Manager at echo. “But a Country Music fan is a fan for life.”

This insight underscores Gusty’s and Boone’s work at echo with Jeff Bates, which continues at BRMG. Established since his RCA Records Nashville debut in 2003 as a gifted artist with a strong traditional bent, he reinforced that impression in 2008 with his first BRMG album, Jeff Bates. One track in particular, “Riverbank,” proved an ideal vehicle for getting fans involved. With its references to fishing as a symbol of lost innocence, this song, written by Bates, Robert Arthur and Kirk Roth, resonated strongly with fans when released as a single in August 2008.

“We got so many letters that we decided to ask Jeff’s street team to send in photos of themselves fishing with their family members,” said Boone. “We got hundreds of them. People sent in videos too. We had already filmed a video of Jeff for this song, but when we decided to incorporate some of those photos as an extra touch, that was a great way to tie in the traditional with the new.”

Before premiering the video on www.JeffBates.net and YouTube in October 2008, BRMG sent an e-mail to fans, alerting them to look for themselves in its photo and video montage. “That caught their attention right away,” Boone said. “The fans were thrilled. And that video has had more than 33,000 views on YouTube as of August 2009.”

Fan input was integral to The Valory Music Co.’s promotion for new artist Justin Moore, whose self-titled album dropped in August 2009. In a 10-week campaign titled “So You Want to Be a Record Label Executive,” fans were encouraged to review two new songs from Moore each week for 10 weeks and vote on their favorites. The Top 10 vote getters made the cut as album tracks.

Fans could listen via a widget placed on social networking sites including Digital Rodeo, Facebook, iLike and MySpace, as well as the label’s site. Radio stations that were early adopters of Moore’s first single also participated via their sites. Listeners could then post the widget on their own social networking pages, which got more voters involved while virally expanding awareness of Moore.

“Fans like to take ownership,” said Kelly Rich, VP of Sales, Marketing and Interactive, The Valory Music Co. “If they feel they are part of the process from the beginning, the long term connection with the artist can be stronger.”

A commitment to abide by the final tally can be challenging for labels, but Moore and the executives at Valory insisted that the voting results either validated their own preferences or yielded pleasant surprises. For instance, the strong response to “Small Town USA,” written by Moore, Brian Maher and Jeremy Stover, confirmed the label’s inclination to release it as the second single. On the other hand, “Hank It,” by the same trio of writers, was considered questionable because of its perceived skew toward male listeners and that it might be too aggressive or too tongue in cheek. But the song drew a strong response, with the unexpected twist that it appealed more strongly to women, and wound up as the album’s closing track.

“The participation was even more than we expected,” said Jon Loba, VP of Promotion and Artist Development, The Valory Music Co. “It was truly a case of letting the consumers have a voice.”

BRMG and Valory are certainly not alone in stepping up efforts to solicit fan involvement. Last year, Big Machine Records invited the first 10,000 Taylor Swift fans who pre-ordered her Fearless album to submit photos of themselves, which then became part of a mosaic picture poster that was included in the packaging and made available on her Web site.

Lyric Street Records, meanwhile, teamed up with the People’s Choice Awards to summon Rascal Flatts fans to submit original cover designs for the group’s Unstoppable album. The top four submissions chosen by the band and the label were made available for fan voting via the People’s Choice Web site.

And Capitol Records Nashville encouraged Dierks Bentley fans to log onto his Web site to help determine what content should be included on his first greatest hits collection. The first 3,000 fans who participated in the promotion were listed as executive producers in the album’s liner notes.
“You’re always trying to get closer in when you’re a fan and there may not be opportunities to do it,” added Moore. “But any time we can include the fans more, it’s our job to do that. Any time they feel like they had a part in something, they’re going to want to buy that album and listen to that album more.”

On the Web: www.JeffBates.net; www.MooreJustinMusic.com

Artwork courtesy of Capitol Records Nashville

Album artwork includes thanks from Dierks Bentley and list of fans as “executive producers” in notes for "Greatest Hits / Every Mile a Memory 2003-2008."

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