Click here to view the embedded video.

With that in mind, I reached out in December to Stephanie Brown about an interview. She’s a Digital Marketing Manager for a major label in Canada. I wanted to know more about what exactly her job entailed- and what bets the people with the money and infrastructure are making on how to sell content. #realtalk bizness

T: As a Digital Marketing Manager for a major Label in Canada, what exactly are you responsible for?

S: I direct strategy for marketing our artists online in Canada. When we have an album coming out, marketing managers will meet with me to discuss what sort of promotional support we can give the release online, and where to best spend their ad dollars. The idea is to create awareness and hype about the artist by placing content on the entertainment and music sites that will get the greatest visibility in Canada. So, when the album finally drops, audiences will recognize the artist and hopefully be inclined to buy the album. I manage relationships with a number of partner sites who use our content from our artists (electronic press kits, interviews, etc) to support their editorial coverage, which is really a win-win situation. Additionally, I plan social media promos & contests, aid with online ad buys, and oversee our direct-to-consumer marketing channels.

T: Social media seems to be most powerful when an artist is directly communicating with fans- but obviously most big label social media is not being generated directly by the artist – who actually is sitting on the computer updating each artists facebook, myspace, etc- do you guys have back end access that streamlines all of this stuff?

S: We monitor our artist’s social media platforms in terms of numbers, just to see who’s gaining momentum. But aside from that, artist management is typically responsible for updating those properties. We offer suggestions, but the decision lies ultimately in the hands of management. For some of our domestic artists, we’ll post news and happenings on their Facebook and Twitter pages if we’re requested to do so. We’re always transparent about it, so we sign off on our posts as “Team” whoever. Many artists actually do post themselves, or work closely with their managers to establish their digital identity.

T: How is the balance understood between digital and more traditional marketing? Are marketing plans all done holistically or is digital and traditional really heavily divided?

S: The digital element of marketing plans is undoubtedly an important facet, but it is typically independent from television, print and radio. It’s always a point of reference, because we want to ensure that the messaging is cohesive across all mediums, but it’s still its own world. However, if we wanted to run an online promo on a large scale, we’d be sure to support it with traditional marketing. Those promos are typically those with a big budget and a kickass prize-like a meet and greet with an A-list artist in Australia, for example. The submissions would be collected and shared online, but we’d use print, radio, and TV to direct people to the contest website. Otherwise, a portion of the total marketing budget will simply be allotted to online, and then it’s up to me and the digital team to direct where to best spend it.


T:Where do you see digital marketing moving in the next few years?

S: We’re going to have to come up with more creative ways of engaging audiences and inviting them to interact with ads and promotions online. QR codes, for example, will continue to grow in popularity, because they allow the public to access further related content simply by scanning the code with their smart phones. Lately, we’ve been placing QR codes on posters and having them link to music videos. You may see a billion banner ads a day, but will only click on them if the ad itself is compelling or offers you some sort of experience for doing so. We need all of our ads to be click-worthy. Social media will continue to be of gargantuan importance, and I think you’ll see more apps and promos inviting people to share their experiences in the moment, rather than as an afterthought. I was at a DJ Shadow show a few months back, and the US team had created an app for iPhone where you could upload pics and talk to other people in the crowd right then and there. Mobile marketing is an ever growing industry, so it’s really about honing on the new technologies available and marketing music directly into people’s pockets.

T: How do you measure success in digital marketing?

S: Success, as in all areas of marketing, is best measured by sales. Advertisements, promos, radio play, video spins, interviews, etc. are essential in establishing recognition in the marketplace, but if that recognition doesn’t generate income, then we haven’t done our job right. However, success in developing that recognition can be measured in a variety of ways. To me, effective digital marketing is best measured by how many people are talking about a particular album, artist, or promo online. Word of mouth is undoubtedly the world’s most powerful marketing too. Tweets, blog posts, comments, status updates, and ‘likes’ are good indicators of how much interest is being generated, and we can then analyze that info to determine what worked and what didn’t. But the bottom line is, if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense

T: How exactly do you analyze this sort of activity?

S: There’s a wide range of software tools available for organizations that wish to monitor social buzz. There are free web services that anyone can use, such as Twazzup which make it easy to search for a particular word or hashtag being used on Twitter. You can then view insights related to that search, which will show you things like link popularity and who your users are. If you’re looking for a more robust analysis of the social media realm, there are all-encompassing programs, like Radian 6, which can track online discussions across all platforms. I’d assume is probably quite costly, but for organizations who want to understand more about their consumers, it’s an extremely valuable tool. It shows you what people really think about your brand and business, so you can address the areas of weakness and can hone in on strengths. Conversations are being had online and influencing purchase decisions every day, and never before have we been able to access these conversations in their most honest form.

We don’t yet use social media monitoring software at my office, but I think it’s something important to adopt as we move into the next generation of music marketing. If we have the ability to monitor what’s being said about a particular artist in the social media world, we have the great potential to learn more about who is consuming this music & how they choose to consume it. This information will undoubtedly spawn better informed marketing strategies and initiatives. Check out this quick overview of Radian 6, and just imagine what it could do for record labels and businesses in general.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stephanie has also been kind enough to agree to field interviews from readers- if you have any further questions- just leave a comment and she’ll give you a response.

A botnet is nothing more than thousands and thousands of networked computers following the instructions of a single remote authority. The machines tend to be running Windows and, conventionally, their owners are unaware that they are involved. During a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, each computer in the botnet repeatedly performs a simple task like pinging a web server somewhere else on the net.

Given a sufficiently large botnet, the server is so overwhelmed that no one can access any of the websites that it hosts.

As far as I can tell, botnet participants usually join up accidently while flailing around in search of pr0n (or buying a computer in China.) During today’s DDoS attacks on Visa and Mastercard, however, it looks like a significant number of people voluntarily added their machines to the botnet.

Outrage through outtage? This-what-democracy-looks-like.com?

Barlow says “we’re all footsoldiers in this war” but we should resist war-like metaphors. Anons are not risking their lives when they “get behind the proxy” and join the DDoS attack on Visa. It’s a trap: no one but the U.S. government ever wins a War on Whatever.

This is about the failure of private institutions to steward our popular culture. But what makes us think they would? Will Soundcloud take down Assange’s old dubstep mixes?

We really need an anthem, Dutty Artz! What’s the sound of a volunteer botnet?

We are dropping  a 12 track tropical compilation just in time for when things start to get cold in New York and hot in Rio. Ten unreleased TROPICAL tunes + anthemic FUNKY THAT WE HAD TO COSIGN and A HEAVYWEIGHT NEW MASTER OF NGUZUNGUZU’s EL BEBE AMBIENTE. We feel bad that we have not kept up our LEGENDARY New York Tropical parties- but we just do not have time to promote a crew club night in New York- but maybe again in the future, with some good partners we would get into it again- because NEW YORK TROPICAL WAS A FUCKING BLESSING. The first time I went was before I had really started working with DA and everything about it was perfect. From the German Belgian installation art that slowly dissolved as the dancefloor spread to all surfaces, to the perfect Sangria, the heavy weight dancehall soundsytem that we rented from SoundMan Grimm, a crowd that reflected the diversity of the music…. basically NYT was one of the dopest party series I’ve ever taken part in (although sadly I never got to play caus I was busy learning things in school and hanging out in Europe).

For the comp we hooked up with DA resident internet excavator Seacrest Cheadle  892 u mean computer mean2 computer did u mean competitor a force that has been so next level for so long that it is basically my only internet news source. We have been dreaming of doing projects with him/it/her/zee since before the first .com crash but he’s basically the zeitgeist embodied and besides pretty regular appearances at Korea Town Karaoke Bars and Neurogenetic labs in undisclosed locations- she is damn near impossible to locate. but somewhere in the #based ether we convinced it them 2 make a deadline… and magically, it worked.

Our promo machine is at about cotton gin status at this point… so we just moving FWD looking towards a more cohesive way to reach a larger audience. I dont open or listen to almost any of the promo email I get, and you dont either. But some of it will keep coming but really this whole thing is about relationships. I, for one, am working on my relationship to the ocean and fresh fruit juice in Brazil. I suggest you keep a dream journal while you ask these questions.

There are also tracks on this compilation from important and soon to be important musicians like Lamin Fofana, Kingdom (flipping RITA INDIANA OMFG!), Lido Pimienta, Matt Shadetek, DJ /Rupture, Chief Boima, DJ Orion, Sonora, Salem,  Knight Magic,  La Ola Criminal, Maga Bo.

Tracks will be sold digitally via Hulk Share and on custom GuccixDuttyArtz all-over-print USB sticks

Joyful music for an expensive, shitty city with decaying infrastructure where DUTTY ARTZ lives & loves.

RT:PLZ

Click here to view the embedded video.

DUDES AND GIRLS I JUST WANNA GIVE A QUICK PREVIEW OF THE LAST CHAIN ULL EVER LIKE. IM SHUTTIN IT DOWN.

I told everybody I’m not playing no more anybody wanna try to out do me then we goin at it like next door neighbors. Believe dat

10lbs. 197kts. Very very real I don’t know what fake feel like.$410,000. Hola señor recession proof. - T-Pain

Spotted @ RapRader