Artist Website Review: Matt & Kim

Their music is a good time and their live show is one big party...but their website? Bore-city. For two kids from Brooklyn who sold out their 2011 Sidewalks tour, Matt and Kim sure are missing the mark on what a good website looks like. I was completely shocked to find such a lack of excitement online considering the energy that seeps through the lines of their music.

Greetings! from ugly website land

Home Page
The beach ball of death finally stops spinning and visitors are greeted with content galore! (this explains why it took so long for the page to load). An embedded YouTube video, with no border or banner to make it blend with the page, is the first item seen by visitors. Below the video is their Twitter, News, and Voicemail (I'll come back this later) feed. Lining the right-hand side of the page is their social media buttons, a mini-photo stream, upcoming show dates, toolbars to receive access codes for digital downloads, and an archive hub. Phew! Could they cram anymore stuff on there? Answer: NO.

Overall Layout
The layout of the site is nothing fancy. It consists of their banner at the top with ten tabs underneath to access all the different pages: Home, News, Tour, Releases, Music, Videos, Photos, Stores, Links, and Contact.  Each tab lights up when the mouse drags over it which, would be a neat feature if there wasn't all this other STUFF to look at...sensory overload! Every page has a different layout in order to tailor to the content being featured but again, the pages are so busy I have zero desire to sift through all the information. The best layout award goes to the Music page because it features clean cut media players where visitors can listen to their singles. The blue and white color scheme highlights the album art perfectly while the orange text compliments the blue tones. The entire layout has a great deal of potential but it's simplistic approach doesn't support the mass amounts of content the band wants to share.

Content
One thing I have to praise Matt & Kim for is keeping their site FULL of up-to-date and brand appropriate stuff for fans to sift through...even though there is crap ton of it. The best part about having too much is that it would be easy to scale everything back as opposed to having to create content in order to fill in the gaps. I think the website would benefit from a professional de-cluttering...TLC's Hoarders style. If they eliminated the side-bar, condensed some of the pages (such as "Music" and "Releases"), and maybe even created a blog to post about live videos and interviews, the site would feel SO much more organized...and I could breathe when I look at it.


Voicemail Feature
This has seriously got to be one of the funniest/craziest/awesomist ideas I've ever seen. I attended Matt & Kim's show at Terminal 5 back in early July and at the end of the show, they gave the audience a cell phone number and encouraged everyone to text/call whenever they'd like. I still have the number in my phone but I never actually took advantage of it because it appeared to me they were just trying to be "cool" and the number was actually just a gimmick. I was very wrong. On their website, under Home and News tabs, is a stream of text message conversations and voicemail recordings to the band from the fans. They even include the area code from the number that contacted them. It's like Texts From Last Night but minus all the stories about throwing up in strange places. The messages are also divided up into sections: Hate Mail, Kim's Favorites, and Random. With Matt & Kim's career on the rise, I really hope they continue the Voicemail campaign in order to connect with their current and future fans in an innovative way.



Aesthetic

Forrest Gump once said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." Well whoever designed this site was in the Forrest State of Mind because the background is a huge surprise every time a page re-loads. The band's roots are in New York City so all the images are blown up shots of everyday NYC stuff...subways, streets, buildings etc. This is conceptually an interesting idea but wasn't carried out well enough by the designer. Some of the photos used for the background are not only pixilated but clash completely with the blue/white theme on the stationary pages.  The New York State of Mind that Matt & Kim love to preach is displayed quite well just by their banner with the graffiti-ed buildings. They really just need to cut the flare and go with a basic, black background aka: the triple B.

We get it Matt & Kim, you're fun. You like have a good time and run naked through New York streets but that doesn't me your website has to be as loud as Kim's kick drum.


KGC

Tech Review: The Power of the "Like"

based on the article, "To Spread Your Brand On Facebook, Don't Target Your Fans--Target Their Friends" 

A new study has been released by start up company Social Essentials, a team project powered by Facebook and comScore, that says bands shouldn’t focus on their Facebook fans, but rather their Facebook fan’s friends. Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, and Microsoft Bing have all used the service to power their brand’s popularity on Facebook and measure their social standings. After comScore’s extensive study using volunteers to track their Facebook usage and news feeds they found a very shocking statistic: 16% of companies messages are actually being received by fans who “like” their page.

Facebook’s news feed is formatted to only display the most popular posts within a network therefore, if a fan’s friends has not “liked” a particular page then it’s updates will not appear in the fan’s news feed. This is why it is crucial to encourage the clicking of the “like” button and market to friends of fans. For example, Starbucks currently has 23 million fans on Facebook making for 670 million friends of fans that have untapped marketing potential. Tapping into these markets is easier than one might think because the gateway to fan-land is sitting right in front of us: the current fans.

Rewarding top users and encouraging them to spread the name of your company via their personal Facebook page is a perfect way to boost one’s brand without the message relaying directly from your company (no one wants that corporate ramble to intrude their news feed anyway). It’s taking the “refer-a-friend” card to a whole new sphere…an online sphere. The goal is to create posts which, promote interactions that expand beyond the company page and into fan’s personal networks. A company can easily focus too much on pleasing the market they’ve already conquered in hopes of building customer loyalty however, ignoring the bigger picture can hinder a their ability to gain opportunity for growth in the future.

Taking this concept and applying it to music seems very sensible. But where to begin? Personally, I think a great way to get the ball rolling would be to seek out a university that has always shown your artists great support and is home to a number of fans. Contact the most devoted fans from that campus and give them an incentive to encourage page “likes” or to create posts that relate back to the artist. The beauty of college networks is that if someone “likes” a page it shows up in their collegiate network AND their hometown network. BONUS.

I’ve noticed in my fan chatter research that often times Brett Dennen fans convert their non-fan friends to his music and seriously enjoy gloating about it. This “refer-a-friend” method might work great for artists like Brett who already have fans that are willing to share his music for absolutely nothing in return. In a previous fan chatter report, I suggested a campaign called, “Friends make friends listen to Brett Dennen,” this seems more appropriate now that I've read this article. Overall, I think this a really simple marketing tactice that can be easily implemented by administrators but create BIG time results.




KGC

Tech Review: Intasgram

 based on Mashable.com's article "10 Tips for Bands, by Bands"

The 1970s called...they want their photo filters back!

No but seriously, the iPhone app, Instagram, has made quite a name for itself in the music industry since its launch at the end of 2010 with popular users such as The National, Shiny Toy Guns, and Deftones…just to name a few. Who knew that a photo filter powered by our dad’s side burns and our mom’s wide-leg jeans could produce such a powerful marketing tool? A great aspect of Instagram is that it creates a stream of all the photos posted through the application from Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Unfortunately, users must have an Instagram account and therefore an iPhone to access the feed, shutting out many fans interested in viewing these wild photo collections.

Mashable.com reported on the different ways Instagram has enhanced artist’s online brand from gaining new fans due through viral photos to taking advantage of API and pulling band/fan made content into one central location. Our very own Walk the Moon was even interviewed for this write up saying that posting what might seem “mundane” to the band often times becomes extraordinary to the fans...hence why Instagram has become so successful within the music community. 

So streaming your band’s photos in an ultra-hip way….that’s cool, but it seems to me there is more potential in Instagram-ing for bands than just filtered photos of their every day lives. Enter short-term, ambient, media advertising.

This is what I’m thinking: take the Instagram concept, customize it (I’m talking X-to-the-Z-Xzibit style), and use it to promote a record release or headlining tour. 
 

Record Release: 

Create a photo frame and/or filter inspired by the album art and apply it to all of the artist’s photos that are released online. Then make it available as an app for smartphone users to use on their phone cameras post under a designated hashtag. Next, create a microsite where all of the photos are streamed, fan and band, by using API to pull them from theRec hashtag. At this mircosite will also be information on the release as well as a page where non-smartphone users can upload their photos, apply the frame/filter, and post it to the social network of their choice.


Tour Promotion: 
Take the method from above (microsite, smartphone apps, hashtag) but make the frame/filter branded with the tour name. The band can post photos from the road while fans can post photos from the shows. Everything would again be posted to the microsite where anyone could browse through it.

Although this is a short-term effort resting heavily on buzz-worthy content, it could in fact create long-term results by allowing fans to feel part of something bigger than themselves (which is essentially what we’re seeking when listening to music, right?)….and this does not come with a price tag. 


iphone: $300
Instagram App: $0
Cool Lifestyle to take photos of: prices vary
Content that make fans love your band more: Priceless

KGC

(Week of 8/1 In Music)

MONDAY
Who: The Ravonettes
Supporting Act: Eternal Summers

Where: Maxwell's

Why: I first fell in love with The Ravonettes at our local record store when they were playing one of their older records to prepare for the release of "Raven in the Grave". My shoe-gaze/lo-fi/indiepop obsessed friend always RAVED about the Ravonettes (nark, nark, nark) but I tended to brush her obsession to the side until that one day at Luna Records....damn it she was right, they're good. Pitchfork was not a fan of their latest album calling it too "dark" but I quite enjoy their darker side because I don't listen to an artists for the same album over and over. This show should be really solid but be prepared for their cult-army to be in attendance doing strange hipster dance-like rituals (these are things I've only heard about). See ya there! 

TUESDAY

Who: Sufjan Stevens

Supporting Act: N/A

Where: Prospect Park

Why:  I would be going to this show... IF I could afford it ($42 with service charges is a bit steep for me these days) but I had the chance to see Sufjan last fall after his album Age of Adz killed digital sales. Sufjan is near and dear to me because his music was my first step into the world of indie rock when I was a mere fourteen-years-old. He has continued to deliver over the years re-defining his whispering melodies and heavy instrumentation. His live show is a seriously religious experience filled with costume changes, dance moves, and a sing-a-long of his classics at the end of the performance. Fans will walk away with an even bigger appreciation for the man  that no one knows how exactly how to pronounce his name correctly. Suff Jan? 

WEDNESDAY
Who: Big Audio Dynamite
Supporting Act: HR, Andy Rourke of the Smiths
Where: Brooklyn Bowl 
Why: Brooklyn Bowl pulls out the stops per usual. Just because it's Wednesday doesn't mean you can't jam your face off! Big Audio Dynamite was founded by The Clash's ex-guitarist and and vocalist Mick Jones in 1984. They've supported U2 and describe themselves as fusing punk-rock, reggae, hip-hop, and electronica all into one giant sound. Did I mention Andy Rourke, not the cousin of Mickey (I wish), of the Smith's is opening for B.A.D by spinning a DJ set? One word: SICK. 

THURSDAY
Who: The Empires

Supporting Act: N/A

Where: Don Pedro 

Why: They don't have any sort website. They formed in 2002 out of childhood friendship. They all grew up listening to 70s Prog-Rock and Jazz Fusion. Yes meets Frank Zappa. I'm intrigued....aren't you?

FRIDAY
Who: Ra Ra Riot 

Main Act: Delicate Steve, Buke & Glass
Where: Prospect Park 

Why: I only own a few of Ra Ra Riot's tunes but I like every single one of them...a lot. They've passed through my hometown quite a bit and I've heard through the grape vine that they put on quite the passionate performance. I have a bad feeling that this is going to be one of those shows where I could have prepared better by familiarizing myself with the artist more. But instead of experiencing feelings of regret, I will just have to open myself up to the idea of falling in love. 

SATURDAY
Who: The Beets
Supporting Act: Darlings 

Where: Shea Stadium

Why: The truth? I clicked on this link because it said "The Beets" and my eight-year-old self was hoping for information on a live show featuring the cartoon band from the Nickelodeon show Doug. Alas, it wasn't the Beets that I've grown to love but an improv band that actually seems pretty neat. "Improv" typically turns me off in the indie-rock world because most times it turns out to be pretentious musicians who play weird shit until someone drops the curtain on them...woof. The Beets however, seem to have a substance or general formula for their sound which I can appreciate. I think this show will be pure fun and a great chance to really cut a rug. 

SUNDAY
Who: Friendly Fires

Supporting Act: Naked and the Famous, Cults

Where: Central Park Summer Stage

Why: 2 Buzz Bandz + 1 Indie Staple + FREE admission = one glorious Sunday afternoon. The Cults, hailing from here in New York, have caused quite a stir after their SXSW appearance and Pitchfork approved stamp on their latest single that reads "Best New Music". The Naked and the Famous have hit high fashion shopping stores near you with their hit song "Young Blood" as well as made New Zealand history being the fist NZ band to debut at number one in three years! Finally, I have NO doubt the Friendly Fires will bring it on Sunday...skinny jeans included. No need to bring your picnic blankets to this one folks, it'll be time to get up off your feet! 

KGC

Artist Website Review: YACHT

Welcome to TeamYacht.com, the home of the YACHT Trust and your full guide to Utopia. 

Claire and Jona of YACHT

Main Page


The site opens up with a giant photo of YACHT's founder Jona Bechtolt and his partner in crime, Claire L. Evans, who both appear naked from the shoulders up. Visually, the band focuses on the juxtaposition of black and white (their music explores good vs. evil, ying vs. yang, utopia vs dystopia...theme?). This light versus dark them can be seen in this striking photo that sets a distinct tone for the overall content included in their site. Listed underneath the photo are tour dates, a link titled "How To Book YACHT", and another link documenting every show/festival the band has ever played. This seems very sensible considering most people visiting the site are seeking immediate information on booking or concerts and they make it readily available without having to click around.


Overall Layout


YACHT has procured itself beyond just a band and into a full on business backed by a conscientious belief system. Their website layout reflects the conceptual ideals on which the band was founded and displays a deep commitment to the YACHT brand. The muted color palette (peach, blues, sage green, slate, white) is clean and simple making the black text the visitor's main focus. Each page's tab is aligned horizontally at the very top from left to right and is highlighted by a bold, black underline when the mouse is dragged over it. Contact information can be found in the same format at the very bottom of any page. The entire site is user-friendly and can be navigated using one's basic instinct...kind of like and Apple product.


Content


Since this website is a central hub for everything YACHT there is a great deal of content to sift through. The site is divided into the following tabs:

 
 Along with the Smiangle, the YACHT anchor (there is a strategically placed "heart at the top) is another symbol the band uses to brand themselves. By clicking this anchor a link to a mixtape created by Claire and inspired by science fiction  (sci-fi is a big influence of the band) is free to stream. She writes, " Yes, finally! Science fiction you can dance to!" I think uploading a hand made playlist by the artist that contributes to the overall theme of the band is a brilliant way to connect with fans and further spread the YACHT message they want the world to understand.


WHAT IS YACHT?
This section includes a background of the band's musical and spiritual journey. Visitors can simply look at the visual web (they call this an "Exploded View of YACHT Semiotics") to attempt and understand how YACHT  was formed or scroll down to read further information on YACHT's beginnings, basic principles, and how to become a member of the YACHT Trust. The band does a great job of writing in a voice that is extremely welcoming to new fans even though they are laying down a heavy philosophy that could easily be taken as pretentious and patronizing. A reader can tell that they really care about their fans and want to share their life journey with them.


MUSIC
This tab includes everything music related from their complete discography, which visitors can stream for free, to music videos, lyrics, radio links, and free downloads. 


EVENTS
This is identical to the Main Page minus a change in background color. Personally, I think they should delete this tab since all of the information can be found on the Main Page. 


STORE
Unlike many artist's online "stores", YACHT's site does not redirect you to a third party merch retailer. Their merchandise is modeled by the band members keeping with their transparent relationship they strive to have with fans. Here, fans can also purchase the complete YACHT doctrine explaining their self-empowerment belief system. The merch store is easy to use and focuses on highlighting the product.


BLOG
Instead of having a separate location for the band's blog it's right on their site for a fan's convenience! It includes posts by the band ranging from behind the scenes footage from music video shoots to content they find worthwhile all of course acting as contributing factors to the YACHT message.  


CATALOGUE RAISONNE
This a complete archive of YACHT's past ten years in the making. Users can scroll through the archive like a virtual catalog finding everything they ever wanted to know, see, or hear about the band. This is a great way for the band to show their fans what they find important from their career and to further customize their brand. 


Aesthetic
The main theme of site is the focus on the Smiangle, a triangle with a smiley face in the middle. The triangle represents the teachings of the YACHT Trust and is the band's global symbol. Fan can even download their own custom smiangle (see blow) and are encouged to post it anywhere they can in order to spread the YACHT word.

smiangles

 

Everything produced on this site is clearly rooted from the distinct vision of YACHT's doctrine The Secret Teachings of the Mystery Lights.  I am blown away by their commitment to the message they are working to spread through their music, community of fans aka: YACHT trust, and their verbal teachings. The religious aspect of the group could easily come of as a hoax but their artistic vision and transparent relationship with their fans has created a great tool to cultivate a "cult following" that will keep YACHT making music for years to come.

Tech Review: Spotify

Based on the article, "Top Swedish Music Exec Shares What To Expect As Spotify Launches In U.S." from hypebot.com

Spotify, the Swedish based music-streaming mongrel, announced this week that it’s services will finally be available in the US. Led by former AmazonMP3 executive, Scott Ambrose Reily, the branch’s New York City location is funded by a 9 million dollar expansion from X-5 Music Group.


According to X-5’s CEO, Johan Lagerlöf, Spotify has completely transformed Scandinavia’s music purchasing habits and eliminated music piracy. “Spotify has had the biggest impact on the Scandinavian music market since the launch of the CD. Spotify is currently the biggest single revenue source for the music industry and is estimated to be over 3 times bigger than iTunes in Scandinavia,” says Lagerlöf. On top of it, digital downloads in Scandinavia grew 17% last year compared to the US’s 3% growth. Spotify even shut down the Swedish site, Pirate Bay, convincing most of its users to sign up with Spotify in one of two ways: un-paid subscription with ads or a “premium” subscription commercial free. Interestingly, of Spotify’s 10 million users over 1 million of them are paid subscribers. What is it about Spotify that’s got people paying for music again?


European music executives jumped on board with the project by contributing funds and moral support creating a positive message to consumers that the music CEOs are no longer the “bad guys”. Spotify has made Europeans re-gain their respect for music and as a result, illegal downloading is something of the past; music finally has face value again.


Like the Europeans, I think Americans need an attitude adjustment towards music in order to revitalize music sales in our society. Spotify could be the Netflix of music proving that people still have it in them to pay for entertainment. But as Lagerlöf mentioned, getting American music executives to agree to Spotify’s terms might be difficult. The problem I foresee with Spotify is that it doesn’t initially make the artist profit, which will be seen in a negative light at first glance of the program. However, the long-term effect Spotify has on its users is proven to be beneficial to artists and therefore would increase album sales later down the road (but of course, this is America and we thrive on instant-gratification). Overall, I think Spotify is worth a solid try in the states. At this point, what does the music industry have to loose?






KGC

Tech Review: turntable.fm

Based on the article "Why Turntable.fm is the most exciting social service of the year" from TheNextWeb.

In the past few weeks I’ve noticed a huge surge of a site that can be accessed via facebook called turntable.fm. Even in the Mick office, particularly Lindsay’s desk, the site has been spinning jams non-stop. Over the weekend, I logged onto our office’s “room” to see what the fuss was all about. Although I was the only avatar DJ hanging out at 3:00PM on a Saturday, I could visualize the potential entertainment value that is leading users to obsess over this music-sharing extravaganza.

Quick Facts about turntable.fm:
· In turntable.fm’s first month, it gained 140,000 users
· No press was involved in the promotion of turntable.fm… strictly viral marketing
· turntable.fm is rooted from the New York City startup site, Stickybits
· Coined the new term “social listening”

Turntable.fm is comparable to Pandora or Last.fm but stands out because of its interactive characteristics (even thought it's legally under the name non-interactive radio) and addictive nature. In fact, Last.fm is allowing it’s users to scrobble their libraries onto turntable.fm for more Dj-ing material…even they want a piece of the site!

With only a month under its belt, turntable.fm has infinite possibilities for growth. But how does a viral site build its longevity? With the help of TheNextWeb I’ve explored the following options:

1. It’s a game…avatars gain points as they gain their peers’ approval. Adding a point system brings out a competitive drive in any American (the site is currently only available in the US) thus making them stick around for the “win”… not to mention gaining approval for one’s superior music tastes is quite the ego boost.

2. Branding opportunities could emerge for individual rooms such as retail stores spinning their in-store playlists, or even famous nightclubs featuring in-house DJ mixes. This kind of branding could produce niche markets galore!

3. …and where there are niche markets, there is research to be done. Companies can use the site to better understand their audiences by monitoring/participating in chat conversations to gauge reactions to musical selections. Music preferences can tell a company a great deal about the markets they are targeting because it shows what their consumers value.

4. Celebrity guest appearances have already drawn significant traffic to the site. Who doesn’t want to know what your favorite artist is listening to? This personalizes an artist’s brand and gives them a platform for further engagement with their fans.

Many bloggers, music nerds, and digital analysts are claiming that turntable.fm is going to “save the music”. I personally don’t think that’s true, but I definitely believe it will be a contributing factor to another shift forward in the industry. From an artist’s perspective, the site can not only build awareness but potentially create a link between the site and live shows. By using rooms for virtual after-parties, where set lists are spun, fans can partake in conversation about the show and artists can receive direct feedback.

Obviously, turntable.fm is going to run into licensing laws from the “big guys” once they catch onto the site, but I’m sure an agreement can be met (fingers crossed). For now, let’s enjoy our FREE DJing sessions and head bobbing avatars…GO!

KGC