Fans & Customers Should Be One and the Same
Lefsetz talks about how bands should embrace fans, which I’ve hounded upon in the past. Afterall, fans are the bands customers and why alienate them? When you’re in the label world, bands are a business. Each individual band has a P&L and budgets. It’s a reality that the label’s spreadsheets and management’s egos are just as/almost as important as the music itself.
I totally gree with the quote below, not just because he outlines the DMB.
One of Bob Lefsetz’s recent postings:
We’re in the business of making people feel good about themselves. And, stunningly, we’ve still got a business after abusing our customers again and again. The biggest bands ARE IN BED with their fans. Like the DMB. It’s an ongoing relationship. Tape the shows, trade ‘em, you want ‘em that much? TAKE THEM! You need a uniform, WE’VE GOT ONE! You want to come to the picnic? We’ll let you in baby. We’ll find a way to get you reasonable seats at a reasonable price, which the DMB does, maybe because they control 50% of the house.
We’re sitting on a goldmine. We enable people’s hopes and dreams. They live for the music. The artists are gods. Guard this golden goose preciously. It will pay dividends forever. If you don’t whore it out, if new acts know it’s about the bond.
Let’s parallel this to traditional business. JetBlue, Apple, Harley Davidson, Cartier, and Ikea all enjoy brand loyalty because they’ve built their brands around their customers; they work with their customers, not against them. Customers are fans and they are sneazers (as Godin would say)… why prevent them from really enjoying your product/show?