To YouTube or Not to YouTube

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Recently, I spoke with two artists with opposing views. One believes that getting all the web exposure he can possibly get will work to his benefit in the long run. Greater web presence equals greater awareness equals greater fan-base equals more downloads and so on. He’s not the least bit concerned that putting his songs up on youtube or myspace will dilute the market for his music. He cares not one bit about whether his fans infringe his copyrights by downloading his songs, making copies and giving them to all their friends. In fact, that’s just what he wants them to do! The other artist says, man, if he puts these songs out there, even for purchase, no one will buy them because once someone gets one, all the potential buyers will just make illegal copies and pass them around and no matter how big his fan-base is, he won’t be able to make it without traditional CD sales.

I know this discussion isn’t quite this simple. But, still, at its core, we’re talking two different music-sales business models. Which one makes more sense? Which works better in the digital space? And here’s a thought – is the answer different depending on the artist?

Seth Godin writes that “[t]he only way your organization is going to make an impact is to market in the way only you can. Not by following some expert’s rules or following the herd, but by doing it in the way that works. For you.” Wow. Isn’t the way we market as musicians just the opposite? We wait to see what is working, then we plan within that particular business paradigm until it doesn’t work anymore, then wait to see how it changes, and so on. Should artists be following the herd or blazing their own trails?

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