Editorial: UM Gives Fans Their Walletsworth

According to Pollstar, physical albums sales fell 20% this year alone. On the flip side digital sales are up, but the industry needs to take notice of this sales shift and learn how to adapt to it so they don’t go under like say, the American auto industry or apparently, the porn industry.

Well music industry, I’d like to introduce you to Mantis. Mantis, ladies and gentlemen, is the wave of the future for the music industry. Now, the Mantis formula will not work for all artists; but I believe it will work for artists who have a loyal fan base or potential market that obsesses over their music and their live performances, even beyond that of the ‘jamband’ realm. For examples, please see: Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Ryan Adams, Metallica, Beastie Boys, etc.

The release of Mantis is a huge stepping stone for Chicago’s Umphrey’s McGee. They have several albums under their belt, but this release has been long in the making. Let’s take a look at Umphrey’s McGee as a business model because I believe that what they do and more importantly how they do it offers a look at the future of the music industry and how musicians will have to operate in order to generate income for themselves. Perhaps artists can become completely self-reliant one day and not have to look to labels to supplement payment for their studio time, mastering, marketing, manufacturing, distribution and all other things involved with helping make a band or album successful.

First, let’s take a look at the new album Mantis and how it was marketed. The news of the release hit the internet right before Halloween, with the pre-order starting almost immediately after the press release was issued. But you see — this is no run-of-the-mill album release because it involved the fans and with this pre-order of the album you’re getting way more than your walletsworth.

The four major music labels and the music industry as a whole is at a stand-still, in that people are no longer purchasing albums like they used to. The compact disc is almost a thing of the past. So how should the industry and musicians combat this issue? The answer: They need to involve the fans or more appropriately, their customers. And as bad as it sounds to say, they need to make their music something worth purchasing.  Bands and musicians have to rely more on merchandise and concert ticket sales to supplement their income, rather than album sales. Currently, the industry’s answer to this question is to get in on all income streams that artists have available to them. They are now taking portions of merchandise sales and ticket sales through wide-ranging 360 deals.

So, how exactly did Umphrey’s involve the fans in the Mantis release? The organization decided to launch a pre-order initiative system. The amount of bonus material (demos, unreleased live recordings, outtakes, etc.) fans receive as part of their purchase of Mantis depends on the total number of preorders sold, giving fans incentive to help the band sell more packages.

Pre-release/Pre-order marketing is nothing new to the industry, what’s new to this marketing technique is the community effort behind Umphrey’s pre-order system. In order for the rabid music-loving fans of Umphrey’s to receive all the bonus content, the fans themselves have to help sell the CDs and of course, purchase their own copy. The bonus material gets released on a tiered system, which has a sales benchmark set for each level of content to be released.

Umphrey’s unique marketing initiatives for Mantis have already paid dividends. The band has already sold twice the number of pre-orders compared to their last studio release. An astounding figure considering these troubling economic times coupled with the ease of finding free music on the internet. But that’s just it, I think the organization recognized those factors and did something to make it well worth the fans’ money. Even after the pre-order madness, the band will continue to release bonus material to fans that purchased the physical product by using the album as a “key” to access music via a special site on the internet throughout the remainder of 2009. The band recognizes that they have a powerful product on their hands with this statement:

We believe this is the first time this type of pre-order campaign has been attempted, and we hope as many of you as possible will choose to participate. Remember, the more pre-orders we get, the more content we’ll include. If you have friends who have been curious about our music, or on the fence about getting involved in the Umphrey’s McGee experience, we hope we’ve created a compelling new project to pull them on board. We would appreciate your help, as no force in music business is stronger today than word of mouth.

Besides the $19.99 standard Mantis package, the band also offered fans a unique limited edition box set. In addition to an MP3 download version of Mantis, CD, bonus MP3 content and free digital subscription to Relix magazine, the deluxe purchasers will receive a 180 gram vinyl version of Mantis, a DVD that includes their 10^th Anniversary Retrospective, a poster and a special item chosen by the band all packaged together in an autographed box set. Box set purchasers will receive the actual album in three formats, another wise decision on behalf of the Umphrey’s organization, because even though CD sales are dropping exponentially, vinyl has once again become a hot commodity. Whether you’re a fan of the warm analog sound or just a collector, it’s a good trend to see in the industry.

Another interesting point to mention is that with some small exceptions, none of these tracks have ever been performed live. This is odd for a band known for writing songs on the spot but is far from being a new formula for the industry. However, perhaps not hearing the songs performed live further sparked interest in the release and helped to increase sales.

The release of Mantis has not been without its flaws. I ordered the deluxe limited edition box set the day of the Mantis announcement. I will say that I was a little upset when the limited amount went from 500 to 1,000. At the same time, I can’t blame the band -– they didn’t anticipate selling that many in two days. When the band saw the first batch of box sets sell out immediately they upped the number to 1,000. The band even had to up the sales quota for the tiered content release as preorders were selling much quicker than the band anticipated. If they unlocked all of the content so quickly it would combat the point of the tiered system and also most likely lose the anticipation and chatter about the upcoming release.

The success of Umphrey’s McGee is in large part a result of their fan base. Since its inception, the band has relied heavily on the help of fans with street team and word of mouth promotions. The band offers free tickets to individuals willing to tape their concert in order to offer free material to their fans through etree.org, archive.org and other taper-friendly sites. Fans used to distribute free CDs to potential fans in markets they were about to play. Mantis continues this tradition in a new way.

For this release, the band tapped its fanbase by using Hidden Track as a forum for fans to request possible content to unlock with the pre-order system. They’ve also encouraged fans to install a widget on any social network or website that they belong to. If you put the widget on your MySpace account the band will send you a free video download after the release.

Umphrey’s McGee’s intimate relationship with their fans goes both ways. Fans often discuss the band’s “Jimmy Stewart” improvisations and regularly dwell on certain versions. One particular Stewart made it onto the new album. A portion of the track Spires originated during the sextet’s September 4, 2005 performance at the Skyline Stage in Chicago. Fans have often discussed the “Skyline Stew” as one of their favorite lyrical improvisations. Perhaps the band listened and developed it completely into a song, or perhaps they liked it themselves; but needless to the say it makes the fans feel like they’ve taken an active role in the band’s decisions.

The band has managed this interactive relationship with their fans since they’ve started out at Notre Dame University in 1998. They’ve worked hard to develop this relationship with their fanbase and as a result get criticized for some of their decisions by the same pool of fans. But at the same time, by operating this way they have opened themselves to this type of criticism. It’s a give and take for the band. The saying often goes, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” In a couple of cases, the fans have felt like they have been bitten.

First, the members of the message boards on both PT and Umphreaks.com have clamored for a logo along with new and updated merchandise of said logo. The band has no immediately recognizable brand or logo that sets them apart from other artists. Sure, I know they aren’t famous enough to be recognized by a set of lips and a tongue but they need something.

The band has toyed with several logos or brand marks through the years and has yet to settle on one that is distinct, recognizable and represents both the band and their music. The only one that stuck for any sort of time was their ‘afro-man‘ logo, and to be perfectly honest I’m not much of a fan of it –- I don’t feel it represents anything about the band. They need something that stands out, something that’s easy to read (note: to this day neither my boss nor my parents ever get the band’s name right and for some reason associate the name Umphrey’s McGee with bluegrass), and something that grabs the attention of current and potential fans immediately. Do I have the logo in mind? No, I don’t, but the band will happily take your suggestions into consideration.

Another misstep by the band was letting the fans chose some of the content for the upcoming release. A lot of fans feel they weren’t properly represented when the band released a track called Kimble from their rare out-of-date and out-of-print debut album aptly titled Greatest Hits, Vol. III. Several fans felt they weren’t heard when they requested a track entitled Bob, so was it really giving the fans what they wanted? Maybe so, maybe not -– more content has yet to be released over the next year. This is where the band-to-fan relationship can get tricky; a few fans feel jaded by this decision as well as the decision to increase the sales quota for the tiered content release.

All this being said, I think the band and organization does perhaps one of the best jobs today of making their fans feel a part of their ‘family.’ They’ve realized their success is in large part a result of their obsessive fans and they’ve worked very hard to forge this relationship. I believe it shows through in their music, night after night. They are humans and they are prone to make mistakes -– be it a musical decision or a business one, and I think sometimes the hard core fans tend to forget this concept (myself included). Many times the band has bent over backwards to help out their fans, friends and their community. Here are some examples of how they incorporate fan involvement and engagement outside of the new album’s release:

• Free music: I’ve yet to see a band that offers more free music to their fans than Umphrey’s McGee. Yes, they do sell soundboard versions of their shows night after night. It’s a source of revenue for the band, a big one. But at the same time this satiates those fans who think they need the instant gratification of having the music they just heard, immediately. I’m often a client of this, there’s something to be said about listening to the show you just saw on the way home or to the next stop on the tour. Even though they sell soundboard recordings they still offer free tickets to tapers that will post their audience recordings of the show on the internet or distribute it so their music can be heard at no charge to potential fans.The group’s long running podcast series is also one of the best marketing tools for the band. They already have 20,000 subscribers and they never fail to get them released in a timely manner, month after month. Did I also mention they released a free Holiday EP? I think Pearl Jam’s fan club might be getting a run for it’s money this year.
• Community Service: The Umphrey’s organization realizes that they have the opportunity to help those in need and often go out of their way to do so. They have been longtime supporters of HeadCount and Conscious Alliance among other non-profits out there. The band members also have their own organizations or benefits such as USTORM or the annual Keyboard Concert. They held a show in DeKalb to raise money for the NIU Memorial Fund after the shootings that occured at the school. They’ve also auctioned several tickets and items for the Mimi Fishman Organization. They even support their fans’ endeavors with such things as Team UMphreaks, a group of fans and friends who joined together to raise awareness and money for breast cancer treatment and research.
• Customer Service: Umphrey’s has always gone above and beyond what is expected of them when it comes to serving their fans. For example, last summer the band was supposed to play Atlanta and had to cancel the event due to unforeseen weather conditions. The band issued a statement and returned to the Atlanta market the very next month. I’ve also personally experienced great and almost instantaneous customer service interaction when it comes to their UMLive and merchandise sales. Not many artists or organizations are this in-depth with making their fans or customers happy.
• Fan Engagement: Umphrey’s has done a great job of managing technology as a way to potentially improve and more importantly remain in constant contact with their fan base. They are on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook. They also manage a blog and post to it regularly. They’ve embraced YouTube and a text messaging system. They’ve also adopted Twitter, iLike and last.fm. They do an excellent job utilizing today’s technology to keep constant communication and engagement with their fans through as many outlets as they can find. This is extremely important in the business today because it keeps the fans engaged year round and serves as a reminder that the band is still out there, doing what they do best.

I think the band knows they are onto something with the release of Mantis and their growing fan base and do a great job of addressing it with this statement:

Mantis is an evolution for us as a band and your continued support has allowed the growth to happen. It gives us the opportunity to mature, change, and experiment as musicians and as a band. We are eternally grateful to have your support and are humbled by your relentless dedication and energy. Thank you for making us to do what we do possible.

All this being said, it’ll be interesting where this release takes both the band and its fans. Nevertheless, the industry needs to pay attention…Mantis is coming and if they don’t watch out — it will eat them alive.