I am a big fan of Seth Godin. His books on permission marketing and "Idea Viruses" are a couple of the books I go to when I am looking for some marketing inspiration. If you hang paintings on a wall, put your music up on MySpace, print up books of poetry or play a gig at The Lucky Dog, you are involved in marketing, whether you like it or not, and Seth Godin has amazing insight when it comes to this. Rather than re-interpret and dilute what he has to say, I will share with you one of his recent and more music related thoughts from his All Marketers are Liars Blog. Go ahead and click that Read More... link over there on the bottom right of this posting.

This is one of the bestselling albums in the world.



Not since it came out, but LAST YEAR.

How is that this album has been a Billboard 100 for decades?

Because of worldview. Some people (most people) want to buy music they've heard before. It makes them happy to hear familiar music. The best new album in the world isn't going to change that worldview. Instead, what happens is that a great new album appeals to people who LIKE new music. Some of those folks work at radio stations or use Grokster. And they spread the song, playing it over and over (for free) to people who don't like new music. After awhile, it's not new to those people, so they buy it.

The lesson isn't on the dark side, folks. You can't change the way people do things. What you can do is enter a population with your idea via an easier route and let the people who want to spread your idea spread it to those willing to listen to a friend.

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