kidmercury

As we have discussed many times before, the media industry is in the midst of a massive, massive change. In this post, we'll compare the production, marketing, and monetization of Chinese Democracy -- the latest Guns n' Roses album, a classic example of old media -- with Loose Change, the revolutionary 9/11 Truth film that has become the quintessential example of new media success.

Chinese Democracy

First, the album itself is great. Previously I said it was good, but after listening to it a bit more, I have to say it's great. People really should check it out, especially if you're a fan of the Use Your Illusions albums. It doesn't have the liveliness or spontaneity of Appetite for Destruction, but then again, WTF does. In the final analysis, it has all the key elements: (1) honest lyrics; (2) great vocals; (3) great pop melodies; (4) songs that can work in stripped down format, like just a piano and vocals, but can also work when all souped up with string sections and everything. Anytime you get all four you've hit one out of the park. Guns n' Roses always hits all four, which is what makes their music so consistently special.

Also, before I forget, here is a link to our song for Axl. I don't really like it too much, though I'm glad I wrote a truther song for Axl, and encourage all to sing it to him (or better yet, improve it and sing it to him).

Anyway. Let's get down to our analysis:

Production. As great as the album is, it took 14 years and 13 million dollars to make. From this perspective, it is doomed to be a failure. As we'll see with Loose Change, the trend is just the opposite: release early, often, and with a low budget -- then get your feedback and revise accordingly.

Marketing. The album is being distributed exclusively through Best Buy, under the rationale that exclusivity will help maxmize sales and revenue earned per sale. There may be some truth to this, although trying to control distribution is a doomed strategy. The album has been available via P2P networks and even on YouTube since before it was released.

More detrimental is that Axl Rose is still a recluse -- or at least that is the way he comes off, since he has done virtually no promotion or interviews for the album aside from commenting on a few Guns n' Roses message boards. The issue is probably more involved than any non-insider would know, though I think the larger issue is that whereas previously being a recluse could create an air of rock star mystique and thus be advantageous in a way, the current trends are just the opposite: creating amateur YouTube videos, twittering about what you ate for breakfast, blogging regularly. Personally I'm a very introverted person and aside from blogging I don't really like a lot of this social media stuff (even with blogging I like the writing part more than the social part), but I have no doubt whatsoever that it's the future.

Monetization. Monetization is about selling music and merchandise. Obviously this is what most people do. There is a problem, though, and the problem is simple and unavoidable: if you sell music, you have to work against piracy. It's that simple. So the real question: can piracy be stopped? And even if it can, is it worth the cost of doing so? I'd argue the answer will increasingly become NO.

Loose Change

As revolutionary as Loose Change is from a new media perspective, it pales in comparison to what the film has done for society in general. I am not exaggerating when I say it is probably the most important film ever made. (I would also say Endgame by Alex Jones is hugely important, but unfortunately it has not received the viewership that it deserves and that is needed....please consider watching it if you have not already).

And of course, for those who have yet to see Loose Change, wait no further: watch it here, for free. It is, quite literally, the Truth that sets you free.

Now, let us proceed with our analysis:

Production. The film was made for a few thousand bucks by Dylan Avery, a young director with no formal filmmaking education, on his laptop. In many ways, this started as an amateur production, and is evidence of the idea that "amateur is the new profesional." This does NOT mean that making crappy stuff is somehow acceptable; instead, it means that previous artistic standards, the "rules" of making films and art, are now being thrown out the window.

More interesting is the iterative process used in making and distributing the film. An initial version was made cheaply and quickly, and put on the web for free. This helped build a fan base, and also helped the filmmakers get critical feedback. This critical feedback was then used to create a new version, which was again released for free. This feedback loop was a marketing tool, a way to build a loyal fan base, and a way to ensure that a product that satisfied customers was being created at the lowest possible production price.

But it gets better. Not only did fans offer quality feedback, but many offered to help in the production and distribution of the film. It spread virally, and as the film grew, the filmmakers found more and more people willing to contribute their talents -- be it visual effects skills, music for the song's unique and popular soundtrack, etc. The end result is a product that reflects the collective intelligence of the Loose Change community. As a result, it is a very unique production that combines a wide array of talents. By using the community as a filmmaking crew, the director of the film was able to create a film of superior quality at an even lower price.

This type of production, often referred to as crowdsourcing, is here to stay. I would argue it is the most important feature of Internet business and how the Internet changes everything. All value stems from the crowd, and thus any venture should make building a powerful crowd its primary purpose.

Marketing. While Chinese Democracy has pursued a controlled distribution strategy, Loose Change went in the opposite direction, explicitly encouraging fans to make duplicate copies, to create their own edits of the film and upload them to YouTube, and spread it however folks wanted. Again, we see serving the crowd as being the guiding force behind the strategy. While much of this was done not so much out of a desire to try some fancy new marketing strategy but rather to spread the Truth, the result was that the film became an international sensation in spite of having an extremely low marketing budget.

Monetization. As a person who is very interested in seeing Truthers make a lot of money (both because they deserve to and also because engines of profitability are essential to creating real change), I wish the folks behind Loose Change were more interested in making money. They do sell DVDs and merchandise. A lot more could be done on this front, especially because the movie is no longer just a movie; it's a symbol, a brand. This makes it great for selling merchandise like t-shrts, which has been done. But advertising and having the filmmakers leverage the influence their film has provided them with to sell products they recommend could be key sources of revenue. Alex Jones (see our song for Alex) does a good job of this, as even cheapskates like me buy stuff Alex recommends out a sincere trust in Alex as well as a desire to see him succeed financially.

The key to this monetization model is to let the community and other specialized businesses do all the work so that costs are kept low, while leveraging one's influence to generate maximum revenue while building a viable brand that means something to the community.

The bad news is that there is a lot of work that needs to be done on this front before we really see the next new media empires. The good news is that the media empires of the future will be far more free-spirited and creative, because they'll be built on the collective sum of each individual community member's uniqueness that will allow for the most awesome and successful new media ventures.