Ideal Routes Towards Success
Ideal routes to a sustainable music career
German artist, DJ and producer Paul van Dyk, head of Paul van Dyk GmbH/VANDIT Records, was on stage with American cellist Zoë Keating to discuss how artists can take advantage of numerous digital opportunities and channels to directly connect and engage with their fans, market their brand and generate new revenue streams. During the panel, Zoe Keating and Paul van Dyk shared their experiences and gave tips for a sustainable musical career and earn a decent living out of it.
Zoe Keating has 1.3 million Twitter followers who have helped the avant cellist build an entirely DIY international recording and touring career. She decided for DIY after the poor feedback she received from the labels she had sent her music to. Thanks to social media, even if her musical niche is very specific her audience is quite broad and her career has followed the Internet."The internet allows niches and subcultures to flourish." she said. She released her first album right when iTunes opened up to independents and signed up early to Myspace and then Twitter. “The internet, social media, Twitter, Facebook etc – that is my projection of myself,” she said.
Van Dyk talked about his career, and how he created a team around him, and didn’t sign to one big label, but worked with individual licensing partners in different territories – “to work with people who really understood the music and liked the music”. Regarding social media, he has learned to love social media: “All this tweeting and Facebook thing, as much as I know this is part of it, I had to learn… But my most important dialogue with my fans is when I play with them.” he said
Both Keating and Van Dyk concluded that Art is really at the core of their careers, rather than constantly fretting about business models and distribution channels.
