Newsletter

Why you shouldn’t build an app

Posted on January 9, 2017 | by Bas Grasmayer

Apps are not the answer.

With all the choices you can make for engaging people through their mobile phones, apps should be considered a last resort. Why?

Asking people to install an app means friction.

They want to do something;
They see the download app page;
Tap and go to the App Store page;
Wait for the app to install;
Have to login again.

At every step along the way you can lose people. Scratch that. At every step along the way you will lose people. Why?

The reason I hear most often is: so that you have your app on their phone and people can return easily. But do they?

Most people are not like you. Many of the people who read this will be tech early adopters, so it’s likely you use many apps and install them easily. But the typical US smartphone owner downloads ZERO apps per month (other estimates put it at 1.5 per month).

us-smartphone-users-number-of-app-downloads-per-month-of-smartphone-users-new_chartbuilder

Most app use is concentrated on 5 apps. Can you be one of those apps and compete with the likes of Google and Facebook, who together controlled the 10 most popular apps in 2016?

Apps are expensive to develop and maintain, difficult to make quick adjustments due to submission review processes, and not as engaging as other options.

So what other options do you have?

If you think you can get people to install your app, it means you believe you already have their attention. Great.

So you have two things to worry about:

Can the core functionality be achieved through mobile web?
If yes, then the next question is: how do I keep people coming back?

And if your core functionality is “I want to be able to send push notifications” then there may still be better ways. In music, examples of core functionality that may be hard to work around are:

Music listening in background, eg. when the phone is in the pocket and you’re doing other stuff.
Functionality that’s available when the user is offline.

But I digress, because often those functions may be ‘nice to haves’ and may not be essential. Imagine if a venue has a site where you can check upcoming gigs and also listen to some music… Now a marketing manager there may say: “we absolutely need people to be able to listen to music in the background.” But you can achieve this more easily by offering a Spotify playlist.

Back to push notifications. Keep your eye on messaging apps, because they’re steadily becoming the new social networks and they’re notification-based.

In order to hold onto people’s attention, you may not need push notifications. You need habit. This requires consistency from your side and design thinking on how to construct a habit forming product that people don’t forget about.

You may also use reminders. You could collect email addresses or even phone numbers.

Artists’ newsletters have a 20–25% open rate. 90% of SMS messages are read within the first 3 minutes of receiving. Since starting MUSIC x TECH x FUTURE, I’ve had a handful of unsubscriptions, but that’s nothing compared to the number of uninstalls I would have had.

Still think building an app is a good idea?

Write down who your audience is. How do they use the web. Be realistic and don’t project your own tendencies. Call a bunch of your users if you have to.
Write down exactly what you want people to be able to do. Frame it as a user story: “I can find information about my favourite band’s upcoming gigs in my town”.
Rank your user stories. Then mark the ones that are essential.
Small secret: the ones that you didn’t mark as essential, you’ll probably never build.
Think of ways in which you can achieve the same end results, without building an app that users need to install. (I can help you with that)
Now look at whether introducing the friction of an app is actually the best way to do it. Carefully count the number of steps required for the user to complete their user story.

Choose whatever has the least friction and still accomplishes your goal.

Monetizing virtual face time with fans

Posted on December 19, 2016 | by Bas Grasmayer

How the convergence of 2 trends opens up new business model opportunities for artists.

When I landed in Russia to get involved with music streaming service Zvooq, my goal was to look beyond streaming. The streaming layer would be the layer that brings everything together: fans, artists, and data. We started envisioning a layer on top of that, which we never fully got to roll out, in big part due to the challenges of the streaming business.

It was probably too early.

For the last decade, a lot of people have been envisioning ambitious direct-to-fan business models. The problem was that many of these were only viable for niche artists with early adopter audiences, but as technology develops, this is less so the case today.

Let’s have look at a few breakthrough trends in the last year:

Messaging apps are rapidly replacing social networks as the primary way for people to socialize online;
Better data plans & faster internet speeds have led to an increase in live streams, further enabled by product choices by Facebook & YouTube.

Messaging apps overtaking social networks is a trend that’s been underway for years now. It’s why Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014 for a whopping $19 billion. While 2.5 billion people had a messaging app installed earlier this year, that’s expected to rise to 3.6 billion in coming years. In part, this is driven by people coming online and messaging apps being relatively light weight in terms of data use.

In more developed markets, the trend for messaging apps is beyond text. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Slack have all recently enabled video calling. Other apps, like Instagram, Snapchat, Live.ly, and Tribe are finding new ways to give shape to mobile video experiences, from broadcasting short video stories, to live streaming to friends, to video group chats.

For artists that stay on top of trends, the potential for immediacy and intimacy with their fanbase is expanding.

Messaging apps make it easier to ping fans to get them involved in something, right away. And going live is one of the most engaging ways to do so.

Justin Kan, who founded Justin.tv which later became video game streaming platform Twitch (sold to Amazon for just under $1 billion), launched a new app recently which I think deserves the attention of the music business.

Whale is a Q&A app which lets people pose questions to ‘influencers’. To have your question answered, you have to pay a fee which is supposed to help your question “rise above the noise of social media”. And Whale is not the only app with this proposition.

Yam is another Q&A app which places more emphasis on personalities, who can answer fans’ questions through video, but also self-publish answers to questions they think people may be curious about.

Watching a reply to a question on Yam costs 5 cents, which is evenly split between the person who asked and the person who answered. It’s a good scheme to get people to come together to create content and for the person answering the questions to prioritize questions they think will lead to the most engagement.

What both of these apps do is that they monetize one of the truly scarce things in the digital age.

Any type of digital media is easily made abundant, but attention can only be spent once.

These trends enable creating an effective system for fans to compete for artists’ attention. I strongly believe this is where the most interesting business opportunities lie in the music business at the level of the artist, but also for those looking to create innovative new tools.

Make great music.
Grow your fan base.
Monetize your most limited resource.

This can take so many shapes or forms:

Simply knowing that your idol saw your drawing or letter;
Having your demo reviewed by an artist you look up to;
Getting a special video greeting;
Learning more about an artist through a Q&A;
Being able to tell an artist about a local fan community & “come to our city!”;
Having the top rank as a fan & receiving a perk for that.

Each of these can be a product on their own and all of these products will likely look like messaging apps, video apps, or a mix.

A lot of fan engagement platforms failed, because they were looking for money in a niche behaviour that was difficult to exploit. People had to be taught new behaviours and new interfaces, which is hard when everyone’s competing for your attention.

Now this is becoming easier, because on mobile it can be as simple as a tap on the screen. Tuning into a live stream can be as simple as opening a push notification. Asking a question to an artist can be as simple as messaging a friend.

So, the question for the platforms early to the party is whether they’ll be able to adjust to the current (social) media landscape, or whether they let sunk cost fallacy entrench them in a vision based on how things used to be.

There’s tremendous value in big platforms figuring out new ways for artists and fans to exchange value. They already have the data and the fan connections. Imagine if streaming services were to build a new engagement layer on top of what already exists.

Until then, artists will have to stay lean and use specific tools that do one thing really well. Keep Product Hunt bookmarked.

The value of fan remixes as part of artists’ content strategy

Posted on December 12, 2016 | by Bas Grasmayer

Putting fan remixes in the spotlight is a hundred thousand times more valuable than taking them down.

The scarcest good on the internet is attention. Any savvy artist, manager, or label employee knows this and develops strategies to sustain the attention of fans over long periods of time.

This comes in the form of content strategies, where the social media outlets of artists turn into media with frequent updates. It’s a pretty tiring process and can take a lot of focus away from other important activities.

But it’s necessary.

One way to sustain attention is to connect fans together and have them keep each other’s attention on you. It’s something I wrote about in 2011 and preceding years, and since then, a lot has changed. For the better.

We have powerful connected devices in our pockets at all times. Our web browsers have also grown more powerful, with the Web Audio APIs enabling a lot of new possibilities. And basically everyone is on social media now.

Throughout the last year, I’ve spoken to the founders of apps and platforms like Pacemaker, MetaPop, and 8Stem. All enabling people to take existing music and mix it, or remix it, and then publish it. Legally.

None of these would have been possible 5 years ago, but with current technology and in today’s landscape they make a lot of sense.

Remix culture is going mainstream and ‘listeners’ are increasingly being shifted from passenger to driver’s seat.

Instead of creating all of your own content, why not let fans do some?

As a matter of fact, they’re already doing it. Look at the fanbases of the Monstercat and Lapfox Trax labels. It seems exceptional, but it’s just about the culture you create around yourself as an artist or label.

Instead of taking down unauthorized remixes, give them a spotlight.

So what if there’s no immediate way to get those 5 cents of revenue from the 5,000 streams it’s going to garner? It’s a hundred thousand times more valuable having an inclusive culture in your fanbase, and a following of fans that actually participate in what you’re creating.

And when I say a hundred thousand times, I mean it.

Taking a fan remix down over a tiny bit of revenue can alienate a fan and stop them from spending money on you, but the value of a highly engaged fan that actually helps you seed your content strategy… Could it be $5,000? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes even more.

Get a read of how many of your fans also make music.
Figure out how to make it easier for them to make their own edits.
Got a lot of bedroom producers as fans? Release stems.
Don’t? Create a simpler way to remix your music. For inspiration, check out Incredibox or this list: 10 lesser known tools for making music in your browser.
You can make it even easier… Check out how this project layers ambient music with police emergency response radio.
Keep an eye on what fans do with your music & put great work in the spotlight.

Gradually, a participative culture will emerge.

It takes time. There are no shortcuts. You are building.

But you’ll create something that ultimately doesn’t just save you time — you’ll create a fan culture with an output that can inspire you.

The gender problem in the music business — and what you ♂ can do about it

Posted on December 5, 2016 | by Bas Grasmayer

There’s no need to feel powerless in the face of such a big issue. Start by creating change where you can.

It’s no secret that the music business has a gender problem. If you read about the business regularly you’ll find articles about the plight of female DJs, music pros having music mansplained to them, or the excellent pieces on the topic by AIM’s Lara Baker about calling out sexism or being a young woman in music.

A few weeks ago, at the Sørveiv conference in Norway, the accomplished music manager and lecturer Sally-Ann Gross led a panel about gender in music, which led to a great audience discussion.

It was suggested by someone, a man if that matters, that perhaps this just needs time to be worked out and that women need more role models.

Bullshit. This has always been an issue — what good is more time?

It’s true that more role models might help, but then you’re placing pushing the responsibility back to women. It’s like saying “it’s your problem, you solve it,” but in fact it’s a problem that we all keep alive. For instance, it’s the status quo which prevents role models from being more visible.

A young woman in the audience bravely spoke up later and gave a very personal account of her experience as a woman in music. She mentioned that she always feels pressure on her, because she’s the only woman in the room. She has to make her contribution count. She felt like she can’t make mistakes, and has to perform way above average to be taken seriously.

I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want people (♂ ♀ ⚲ ⚦ ⚧) around me to ever feel that they can’t make a mistake. Or to feel that constant pressure and not be able to relax.

It may seem hard to understand what you can really do when you’re in a position of privilege. Especially since you don’t want to disempower the people you’re trying to help. But it’s not that hard.

If you’re in a position of privilege, here’s what you can do

Step one: accept that you’re in a position of privilege. Don’t be scared to use that privilege in order to make the world a better place. In fact, consider it your responsibility.

It starts with being part of the majority. In music, that means being a guy. Then there are positions of respect, built up through past achievements or professional seniority, but those don’t matter that much. Just being part of the majority makes it easier for you to stand up for what’s right, than for someone who doesn’t hold a position of privilege.

Build space so people can actually perform. Don’t gossip. Be someone people can trust. If you have sway in a group, speak out when people treat others unfairly, such as overly skeptical or patronisingly.
Worry people may not be welcoming to someone new? Communicate your belief and trust in them widely. Take extra time to make sure the person gets integrated into the team.
Create a culture of listening. Perhaps the problem in music is that it’s very much a business of egos in which many people just run with their assumptions without listening to each other. This causes people to believe that what’s true for them, is true for others.
When people are dismissive of someone, find out why. If it’s bullshit, challenge them. Don’t let false beliefs go unchecked.
Never take away someone’s chance to stand up for themselves.

I’ve intentionally removed gender from here, because it can happen to anyone. In building a team, I’ve sometimes made non-obvious choices that I had to defend and make sure that people saw what I saw in someone.

There’s so much you can do. Go have this discussion with women you see speaking out about this. They want to solve a problem, so they’re interested in having this conversation. Email them or have a chat with them after their panel discussions at conferences.

But what we don’t need is more time if that means postponing planting seeds for a better future.

If you see a festival line-up with almost no women, share your disappointment with the organiser and consider not getting a ticket. If you see people unwilling to give someone a chance because of what’s between their legs, address it. If the only way to get rid of their bullshit is to stop working with them, then make a plan and cut them out.

Don’t work with people who aren’t willing to listen to others.

And obviously, if you see anything worse, like sexual harassment, call it out.

I didn’t start working in music to join an old boy’s club. Did you?

Creating vs. Building

Posted on November 28, 2016 | by Bas Grasmayer

Laziness is good. It teaches us to get results with the least effort possible. If you avoid procrastinative behaviour, laziness can even be a great recipe for success, because you’ll be a master at shortcuts and finding the most effective ways to get things done.

I, like everyone, can be pretty lazy at times and it can take a lot of motivation to muster up the motivation for some activities. Over the years, I’ve learned that the strongest motivators for me are either:

Instant gratification, eg. the dopamine triggers created by most time wasting activities and procrastination;
Having a purpose beyond what I’m doing.

This year I set up the MUSIC x TECH x FUTURE newsletter as a way to ‘force’ myself to write something every week. Prior to that, I had ‘created’ (written) articles mostly sporadically, but now I had a weekly deadline. And I had a vision: I knew that MxTxF was something I wanted to grow, to build, and hold to a high standard. All creation happened within that context.

Creation for the sake of creation is great.

But if you’re striving to achieve something, then the path of random creations is one where you’ll depend on luck and pure chance.

So whether you make music, work at a label, or aren’t doing anything creative – ask yourself: what could I be building?

Start from doing what you’re already doing.

Why are you doing it?
What are you learning from it?
Does it all fit together?
Does your work add up?

If the answer to the last question is no, that’s fine. If you make coffee for customers every day, then every day will look more or less the same, and every morning you hit the reset button and do it again. Same day, repeating, with the same results. Whether you fail or succeed in that case depends on consistent performance and random external factors.

The lazy person’s nightmare.

If that sounds like you, think about what you could do that adds up. Then wrap it in purpose.

Back to the coffee example. Let’s say your wrapping in purpose is that you want to become the best coffee place in your town. Now you have a context to fill. You’ll need to talk to your boss and make a plan, you need to figure out what makes a place great, talk to your customers, etc. All of this you can do while doing what you’re already doing.

The lazy person’s dream.

Now let’s look at music.

Stop expecting to get a lucky break. The word luck implies unlikeliness and when you work hard and never get lucky, it can become intensely demotivating.

Create to build.

You’re building a following.
You’re building a fanbase.
You’re building your artist brand.

Every time you release music, it’s a step in building those things.

In that context, you can evaluate your steps.

For instance, 2 times this year, the open rate of my newsletters dropped below 30%. Terrible, because I strive to keep it between 40-50% (higher would be nice, too). In the context of building something, a low open rate is terrible: if you can’t win people’s attention consistently, then you’ll lose it eventually.

So I looked at what I did.

In one case, it was just the subject line that was a bit too pushy and may have caused people to auto-ignore the email, thinking it’s yet another spammy newsletter.

The other case was more difficult, but my hypothesis was that the edition the week before was a bit weaker than usual, so people didn’t open it the week after. I didn’t have a good way to know this for sure, but it gave me a new way to think about what I’m building.

What that means is that by placing my creations in the context of something I’m building, it forced me to zoom out and think more carefully about the greater picture.

You may assume people are not watching your new video, because you posted it on your Facebook at the wrong time of the day, but maybe it’s because your last video sucked. If you’re just pushing out creations without thinking about the greater context you’re building, you’ll miss that information.

The value in creating consistently and feeding it into something you can grow is so much greater than the sum of parts. So don’t just create; build.

Best of all, it’s a great way to justify laziness. Just don’t procrastinate.