kidmercury

Well folks, I've had a good bit of fun playing bedroom rock star, singing you all songs of Love & Truth from the comfort of my tiny (but by the beach!) apartment. In the year or so since I've launched my career as a bedroom rock star, here are the conclusions I've come to:

1. Bedroom rock stars are here to stay. I posit that bedroom rock stars will in fact be how the rock stars of tomorrow are created. Gone are the days of driving for hours in the cold, getting lost, spending more money than you anticipated, all so you can play a handful of songs in front of a bar full of people too drunk to remember you and too poor to pay you (And that's if you're lucky. A more common scenario is that the bar will simply be empty). Marie Digby, who was signed by a record label but did not gain popularity until her homemade videos rose to popularity on YouTube, is a prime example.

2. Customer co-creation will continue and accelerate. From here on out, it's about community -- a close relationship with the fans, sharing as much as possible with them. Weezer collaborating with the crowd on YouTube is just one of many, many examples.

3. ROI = return on influence. Because rock stars now have much closer relationships with their fans, they have greater social influence. And as revenue from album sales declines, we will see a rise in revenue derived from influence -- i.e. endorsements. Dr. Dre's forthcoming alchoholic beverage, Aftermath Cognac, is an example. Return on influence will prove to be more lucrative than record sales, in my opinion, and will be the engine that drives the creation and distribution of quality free music.

4. Bedroom rock stars are not just rock stars. Because monetization is now coming from something besides music, rock stars will have to grow beyond just music. They need to sell a lifestyle, so that they can endorse the products/services that are a part of that lifestyle. This will become the basis of their brand -- i.e. how they are perceived, what people think of them, what they are associated with, etc. Mainstream hip-hop is currently all about selling the bling, the money, the cars, the women. It's working great for them. Let's see how well it works as it becomes more understood that this is a depression, not a recession, that we're headed towards.

5. Because it's all about community, bedroom rock stars will also be able to help launch other artists. We already see lots of cross-promotion; i.e. "if you like XYZ, you'll also like...." Just as MySpace and YouTube are talent filters, so too will be the niche social networks that musicians have for their fans. Musicans can then invest in the fans they want to promote by investing their influence in promoting them, and in receiving revenue in exchange.

Kid Mercury: Rock Star in a Box

This site is largely an experiment in creating what rock stars of the future might look like. There are, of course, plenty of flaws, as this is still a rough sketch. Here's a recap of how Kid Mercury is an attempt at postulating what the rock stars of tomorrow might look like:

1. Obviously recording these videos from my apartment is a key component of bedroom rock stardom.

2. Well, even though I have gone to great lengths to get you people to sing along, it seems like no one wants to play along with good ol' Kid Mercury. But you're supposed to sing to my friends, and you're supposed to sing about Love & Truth as well. After all, being a bedroom rock star isn't just about ME being a rock star -- it's about US being rock stars! So make sure you play along.

3. Like any bedroom rock star, I'm not just a rock star. I'm a cultural revolutionary! I'm here to sell you a culture -- not the culture of bling, but rather the culture of Love & Truth. Turn off the propaganda from television designed to weaken your mind and spirit. Tune into the Truth. And so we've got love store, truth store (see the navigation at the top on KidMercuryBlog.com), my guitar endorsements, my gold endorsements....I'm selling the Truther lifestyle.

If I had the time/incentive/opportunity, I'd put more work into traffic building, community building, and eventually finding new talent if I could create a participatory community. I'd also do video blogging, which I think is a great traffic source. And of course, I do plan on bringing back my fashion line (MessageWear), which I created through Zazzle, place where I make all my merchandise. As for touring....well, Eventful is here to put an end to unprofitable live performances.

When these concepts are fully deployed unison, the impact will be truly revolutionary -- which is why bedroom rock stars could end up changing the world.