Empower Your Ministry Blog

Don Passman is an entertainment lawyer and author of All You Need to Know About the Music Business. In this video, he discusses how changes in the music industry – especially shrinking album sales and the introduction of new technology – are affecting both artists hoping to make a career in music, and people seeking a career on the business side of the industry, and what people should expect in this changing environment.

Keep in mind that this was filmed in 2006, so we are well into “the future”. FaceBook and Twitter were not even around when he gave this interview.

If you are smart, you have a mailing list so that it’s easy to communicate with the people who have asked you to do so.

But are you using that mailing list to “push” information that you need “pushed” to your fans- selfishly?

You know… here’s some pictures of me.  Here’s where I’m gonna be Here’s what I need for you to do for me.

Or, are you using it to find out what THEY need from YOU.  Maybe something like, “I’d love it if you had wristbands”.. or “coffee mugs” or “a club mix of your songs?  You may be surprised what you’ll find out.

The fact is, If you are selfish with the your mailing list or website content, you may NEVER know what your fans really want from you!

Keep being “pushy” and selfish and they’ll be ON to you and OFF your list.

Some other things you can “update” them may be: Funny Stories, encouragement, maybe find out if they’d like to go grab a bite after a concert.

Bottom line:

Don’t be one of those rude people who only call when they need something.  You know who you are.

What are some things that one of YOUR fans have asked for that surprised you?

thanks in advance for your comments.

I heard a friend say something the other day that sort of bothered me.  He said,

“I don’t know why the ‘industry’ doesn’t support our group any more than they do?!”

Forget the industry, care for YOUR people!

When I hear the term “Gospel Music Industry” (or any “industry for that matter … Country Music industry, print industry, medical industry, housing industry), I have to wonder what he was referring to.

There was a day when a record company could discover someone, take them to a ‘hot’ producer who would make them a hit.  Then they would spend tens of thousands of dollars marketing them, getting their song promoted, and getting the song played on radio. Hopefully,  those plays on the radio would be converted into money that would pay the record company back for their huge investment into their career.

I guess you could call that an industry.

The problem is, that stuff RARELY works at all anymore.  Things are changing EVERYDAY.  Why would you want to cater to an industry anyway?

Here are some things that will never change.  Your people (your peeps).  Your fans.

There are only a handful of PEOPLE that you need to know about:

• people who love what you do. (fans)
• people who are curious what you are doing. (lurkers-possible fans)
• people who don’t like what you do. (dis-likers?–haters?—still possible fans)
• people who have never heard what you do. (unreached–possible fans)
• people who know about you, but haven’t been impressed enough to take action. (casual fan–but still a fan)
• people who don’t care what you do. (indifferent–the opposite of love/hate)

When is the last time an “industry” bought a CD or a book or a track from you?

When is the last time an “industry” came to a concert or bought a painting?

Serving an “industry” can be exhausting because NO ONE has to take responsibility for WHY things are the way they are.  But, serving fans who love what you do can be the most invigorating thing you can undertake!

Bottom line is this:

• Take GOOD care of the people who love you
• convert into fans the people who know you
• market to the people who don’t know you yet
• forget the “industry“
• forget the people who don’t like you.
• forget the people who don’t care about you

When you consistently CARE, CONVERT and CONVERSE WITH the fans you already have, believe me, the “other” people WILL notice.

[I really hope this makes sense!]