Buzz for Music

Here's a community whose mission is to enhance the traditional methods of music distribution and bring it straight to the fans themselves as it is happening.  Buzz-Oven explains -

As commercial radio becomes less diverse, the opportunity for young music fans to get involved in their own music scene has become even harder. Very few young people are exposed to the wealth of talented bands that exist in their hometowns. Most bands that become radio favorites spend up to ten years playing concerts and recording music before their music is heard by a younger audience.

 
My UK-based nephew has been in the music business since he was about 8 years old, and I've served as the home-base for many band tours. He and his co-writing/performing partner just arrived back in the States for an extended working visit.  I pointed the two of them to the complete library of Word-of-Mouth marketing books (which I won at the WOMBAT conference - thanks! again Andy Sernovitz and Michael Rubin) - and told them to start learning about Buzz-Oven and others who have acknowledged that the music distribution model is broken.

For musicians, like advertisers, the first step is to acknowledge that the model we grew up with, DOES NOT WORK. Then from there - there are lots of folks to guide you along the journey of finding a model that will work for your product or service. 

I am working my way through my WOM library - and two books which do a great job of concisely describing WHY you need to acknowledge that the model is broken, are:

• And Now A Few Words from Me - Bob Garfield (ad age critic)

• The Purple Cow - Seth Godin (of 'be remarkable' fame)