Social Media isn't that different than Hip Hop.

Disclaimer: This post has been rolling around in my head for more than a month now and after reading if you feel let down because you figured after all that thinking it should have been better I need to explain that I have an enormous amount of pressure regarding this post because I told my friend Julia L. (who is a Hip Hop know it all) I was writing it and she spooked me by saying that I was all wrong. I am not sure I hit my points very well but hopefully I will make her proud with my viewpoint :)

Social Media is one of my passions. I talk about it a lot and love to gather other peoples opinions on where it is going and how they use SM. One of the most interesting recent conversations I had about this was with my friend Howard Greenstein and his viewpoint that companies need Social Media translators and tour guides. There is no way I could do his idea any real justice here so I urge you to find him and let him explain it to you...and while I totally agree with Howard, in my head I formed a different way of looking at it that doesn't quite explain it as well but it seems to make sense to me. <--- this is called setting expectations.

I think Social Media is not that different than Hip Hop.

Ya see when I say Social Media most people immediately think of FaceBook...and when I say Hip Hop most people think of Rappers.

To people not living or working in the Social Media space they assume that the entire Social Media experience revolves around Facebook because FB has the most broad reach but in fact Social Media is a movement...you could even go as far as to say it is a culture because it is many different things to many people. Social Media is a tool, and people have to remember it is a powerful one that allows you to speak, listen, learn, teach and engage people you could never reach 15 years ago. There are great ways to use SM and poor ways and there are some really good people doing some really interesting things.

So how does this fit into Hip Hop?

Well following the same logic...to people not living or working in the Hip Hop space they assume that the entire Hip Hop experience revolves around Rap Music because that has the most broad reach but in fact Hip Hop is a movement...and a culture because it is many different things to many people. Hip Hop is about the Music (MC's and DJ's) but it is also about the people and the art and of course the dancing. Hip Hop (the culture) is more than any one of the aspects that make the whole.

I could go on and one about how both were started by young people looking for a way to communicate and spread messages...and how both have introduced a lot of noise into the world but if you cut through it there is some real gold there...and don't get me started on the egos and feuds.

Like Social Media, there is more to Hip Hop than meets the eye.

So what does it all mean?

Music makes the people come together

They tried to give me advice
Down at the record shop
I said sit down boys
This may come as a shock
What's all I listen to
It's all freedom rock -Frank Black

Music is one of not only my favorite things but also something I draw a lot of inspiration from. I devour music and absorb music and let it sweep over me but at the same time I have a certain tunnel vision towards what I like and tend to listen to the same stuff over and over because I don't really follow what is new out there and decent.

This is why I am pretty jazzed about the new Allan Cross project called ExploreMusic.com

Basically ExporeMusic.com is this

ExploreMusic is a new web and radio service dedicated exclusively to music discovery. Hosted by Alan Cross, Canada's pre-eminent new rock expert and longtime host of The Ongoing History of New Music, ExploreMusic offers a resource for context, recommendation and artist/music exploration.

By leveraging the success of Canada's top two music documentary radio features - The Ongoing History of New Music and The Legends of Classic Rock - ExploreMusic features the latest music news and opinion, interviews with established and emerging artists, behind-the-scenes information, technology and a host of other music-related topics. We combine the power and reach of radio with the unlimited potential of the internet, connecting rock fans with music and each other.

HOW WE'RE DIFFERENT

While there are a number of online music services that provide users with a selection of music to meet varying tastes, almost all use "predictive algorithms" computer programs or artificial intelligence. At ExploreMusic we believe music should not be recommended by robots, instead, when you tune-in or logon you can be sure real people with real passion and real opinions about music will be there to guide you on your musical journey.

Now if you excuse me I am going to explore!

I am rocking the boardroom!

In about an hour I will be making a presentation to a bunch of folks from Network Solutions in Herndon, VA. I am currently in their swanky boardroom setting up and and testing the setup by music videos up on the screen. As I type this I am playing this video.



All I need is a disco ball and some pretty girls and I will have successfully converted their boardroom into a nightclub!

This makes me want to go to the TED conference even more!

Elvis Costello, The Clash and Duran Duran play private concerts just for you!

I love live music....it is one of my favorite things. I used to go to a slew of concerts and purchase every live bootleg I could find (I miss cdnow so much)so I got all tingly when I got an email today from my friend Josh Fialkov introducing me to the "Concert Vault"

The full name of the place is Wolfgangs Vault and it features free streams of full concerts of some pretty amazing shows. The quality is great and I am sure this will keep me busy for a few days!

Now if you excuse me I am going back to listening to a 1984 Duran Duran concert from Madison Square Garden!

-saul

If I was in charge of marketing for the CBS show "Cold Case" I would........

Get people to buy music!

Marketing plan over.

Thanks for coming..............er......you look confused.

OK I should explain. Cold Case is a detective show featuring a bunch of foxy police solving "unsolved cases" from years past. It is a good show and one thing that they do so well, maybe better then any other show, is work music in each episode and the songs featured in each episode is specifically from whatever time period that the "case" took place.

Music is another character in this show since it sets the time and mood of the episode. CBS understands the important role it plays since it has a whole section of the Cold Case website listing the songs featured in each episode.

So this got me thinking........(and here is where I tell you what I would do if I worked for them etc etc).....instead of just listing the music used on the show........why are they not offering the songs for sale?

I know there would be licensing and royalty issues but CBS doesn't have to do this on their own. Why not talk with iTunes and set up a section of the site as "Music from Cold Case" and when they choose the songs from the Cold Case spot (and not from the artist's location on iTunes) the album art would show up with the cols case logo and the words "Sunday at 9pm" or whatever.

Staying "top of mind" with multiple "touches" (and I mean good touches) is so important and marketers need to use every available tool to accomplish this.

If you ask me......it is a good thing I am hear to dispense these free ideas :)

-saul

Stuff I Like - The end of summer edition!

Hi Everyone!

I haven't done one of these "Hey look at me and what I like" posts in a while and I know deep down inside you really want to know what I am into right now so consider this a pubic service announcement of sorts for you to run out and be like me (ya know you want to) so with out further pause I bring you "Stuff I Like - The end of summer edition)....Ok one more pause, because I want to say that this list is far from definitive...I am going off the top of my head so if you want to add anything please feel free to add them in the comments!

Favorite Podcasts of the past little while:

This American Life Two eps this past month really moved me (in very different ways).

The first was called Unconventional Love "Stories of unconditional love between parents and children, and how hard love can be sometimes in daily practice." The first story was about a couple who adopt a child from Romania and the child's unwillingness to bond with his new parents. Being the parent of two adopted children this really spoke to me and made me almost cry.

The second was called Meet the Pros "The story of one man's journey from obscurity to international professional celebrity—aided only by his own hard work, a sneaker commercial, and mad handles." This story didn't touch me the way the first one did but I did think it was cool since it was a profile of "TRIKZ Da Silva" a regular guy who landed a spot in a Nike Basketball commercial that made him an overnight international celebrity.

You can check out the commercial(s) here

and the longer version featuring a bunch of NBA and WBA stars as well


One other Podcast that really stuck out this past few weeks was one by C.C. Chapman (Managing the Grey) about his recent decision to leave his job and work freelance. It also talked a lot about personal happiness and calculated risks. This podcast really got me thinking about stuff and making some plans....nothing to announce right now but stay tuned!

Favorite Books:

I kind of got out of the habit of reading this past month as my family moved into a new house and all my books are still waiting to be unpacked (before the move I was reading a book every 2-3 days on my commute) so I didn't a huge selection to draw from but two books I did read and really dug were Punk Marketing by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons and Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win by William C. Taylor and Polly G. Labarre Both books were great reads and worth your time!

Favorite Movies:

Really didn't see much this past little bit except the Bill Lee documentary Spaceman: A Baseball Odyssey

and Finally (since I am running late for something) Favorite Music:

Elvis Costello : My Aim is True (Deluxe Edition) I know this is probably the 15th reissue of this album (as much as I love Elvis Costello I admit he has to be the most re-issued artist of all time) but this is an awesome version with an entire second disc featuring a live concert!

Black Francis : Bluefinger You can call him Frank Black or Black Francis but the former and current front man for the Pixies has a new album out and while it sounds a lot like the Frank Black solo stuff (and I love that)I have read that he is using the Black Francis persona because these were supposed to be tracks used for a Pixies cd.

Ok...that is all I got for now. Check back later as I am working on a big post about a major retailer that wont take my money. I should have it up tonight!

-saul

I realized this weekend that I love Oral........

I love Oral. It doesn't matter if it is quick or long, sloppy or very polished, involve lots of people or just a couple people bobbing back and forth.

Of course I am talking about books that are written in the "Oral History" format.......what did you think I was referring too?

Part of my weekend was spent setting up my home office and putting away/unpacking my 31 boxes of books. A lot of these have been in storage for a few years so I was pretty jazzed to be re-united with them. The first book that I cracked open was Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests This is such a fascinating read and I highly recommend any one who is even mildly interested in the subject matter to grab it (it is a bargain book at amazon right now).

A newer book that I just heard about this weekend (thanks to the Sound of Young American Podcast) is Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies by Brian Coleman. This book pretty much tracks all the cd's I was listening to in High School (I am very old) and breaks down the stories of the music....not all the other stuff......just the music as told by the people who made it.

I have to admit that my interest is piqued and I will be picking this up soon.

Hope everyone had a great long weekend and I will type at you soon

-saul

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical

If you recognize the quote in the title you will know I am quoting the genius of They Might Be Giants.....OK OK so they are quoting Allen Ginsberg but I am making a TMBG reference for this post.

Riding on the subway home today I pointed my iPod to the They Might Be Giants podcast. I think TMBG put out the best "band generated" podcast on the interweb (but I have heard rumblings of an Elvis Costello 'cast that rocks but that will be a discussion for another time).

TMBG podcast #27 (the most recent one) is a collection of "JOHN HENRY" demos and I was blown away by it. John Henry is my favorite TMBG album and the stripped down versions are worth paying for :) If you are a fan of the band you should really check out their podcast and if you are the impatient type you can fast forward to the 19 minute mark of podcast #27 to hear a demo version of "Self Called No Where" that will give you goosebumps.

Go check it out

saul

Elvis Costello will preform a free show on the Web this Monday

*Mental Note* I really should blog more about music since it is a big part of who I am etc....

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Elvis Costello (one of my faves) will not only be preforming on Late Night With David Letterman this coming Monday but will also preform a "web exclusive" concert right after the Letterman taping. The webcast should start around 8:25 pm and can be found at http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow.

Can't Wait!

-saul