1. Marketing Music and Theater Chapter 8.3

2. Today’s Music  The media used for recording and playing back music and the channels of distribution continue to evolve as technology changes.  Methods of applying the marketing functions to the music industry are rapidly changing, and the industry is grappling with the speed of the changes.  The production and distribution functions now include digitally recorded and transmitted music, music networks, and satellite radio.  The consolidation of the distribution channels through the merger of media ownership has also impacted how today’s music is marketed.

3. Digital Music Marketing  Digital music is delivered to TVs through both cable and satellite providers.  Traditional music retailers such as Wherehouse Music and Hastings Entertainment are joining together to effectively compete in the digital music marketplace.  The retailers have formed a partnership called Echo to legally sell digital music online  While the music industry has offered consumers restrictive access to downloadable music, the retailers are offering a more consumer-friendly product.

4. One Tune for All  According to Bear Stearns, a Wall Street investment firm, the radio business is growing fast, second only to the cable TV business.  The growth has occurred at the same time that individual, local ownership of radio stations has become a thing of the past.  Lifting the rules regulating the monopoly ownership of media in a single location has raised concerns about control of content by some people.  When the FCC deregulated media ownership, a few large companies purchased many local stations.

5.  ClearChannel Communications dominates the radio industry with more than 105 million listeners each week on over 1,200 stations in over 190 markets.  The closest competitor has about 260 stations in 50 markets.  Since the nature and quality of democracy depend upon allowing diverse opinions to be heard, many feel that complete deregulation and consolidation of media ownership bring about a lack of diversity in programming, news, and opinions.

6. Distributing Music  Concert bookings and music distribution channels are transforming the ways that music reaches consumers.  Concert booking as well as distribution channels for music are in a state of change.

7. Concerts  Prior to 1994, booking concert tours for rock groups was handled in one of two ways.  In the traditional way, major concerts involved a three- part deal that included the agent, the promoter, and the artist’s manager.  In the nontraditional way, there were “wildcat tours” that cut out the agent and combined the promoter and manager jobs.  Concerts are a major source of revenue for musical artists.  Ticket sales drive the concert revenue stream.

8.  While fans have traditionally stood in line to buy tickets to major concerts, the Internet offers a fast and convenient alternative for purchasing tickets.  Often fans can buy tickets through e-commerce pre-sales.  Pre-sales take place at web sites affiliated with the concert artist, such as fan club web sites, before the tickets are available to the general public.  Pre-sale of tickets can help assure a sold-out show and cover the huge costs of concert production.  Pre-sales are also convenient for the consumer and offer the top choice of concert seats.

9. MP3  Marketing music to paying customers now competes with quality music copied for free – but often illegally – from the Internet.  The $12-billion-a-year music industry is taking a hard line and filing lawsuits against online music swappers.  The packaging of music, whether on a CD or over the Internet, is a changing method of marketing.  Many musicians are bypassing record companies to market directly to their fans through the Internet.  The practice has been for musicians to release CDs every year or so with a group of songs.  On the Internet, musicians can release one song at a time.

10. Promoting Theater  Broadway has long used the traditional promotional strategies of advertising on billboards, radio, and television, and in upscale or theater magazines and other publications.  Two more unusual avenues also are helpful in marketing fine arts:  Word-of-mouth – talking about the event with other people  Course offerings at colleges – encouraging no-fine arts majors to think about the arts.