PLAYING THE PUBLICITY GAME Music Promotion to the Finnish Media Diana Hartmann Bachelor’s thesis November 2010 Degree Programme in International Business Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu Tampere University of Applied Sciences Author: Diana Hartmann Study Programme: Degree Programme in International Business Title of Thesis Playing the Publicity Game – Music Promotion to the Finnish Media Year of Completion: 2010 Supervisor: Kai Hintsanen Number of Pages: 102 ABSTRACT Music promotion is all about getting the word out about an artist and respectively getting a good song heard. In its essence it is no different from promotion in general, but the specialty lies in that music is connected to emotions, thus it is heavily dependent on individual tastes. With declining promotion budgets, especially at smaller independent record labels, artists depend more and more on publicity as a form of ‘free’ promotion. The current oversupply of music has resulted in fierce competition for media attention and consequently publicity can often be very hard to obtain. This thesis aimed to take a closer look at the media’s role in music promotion with the focus on the concept of publicity, determine the stimuli for media’s interest in an artist and define directions for a mutually beneficial cooperation between music companies and key media. The study focused on the Finnish market and firstly analyzed the two main industries concerned, music and media. It built on the theoretical concept of the marketing mix, which needs to be applied to the mass media in order to obtain the publicity that forms a vital part of the promotion mix that is targeted at the general public. The empirical research incorporated both qualitative and quantitative elements in the form of interviews with key industry professionals and a media survey. The findings of the research showed that the views of industry professionals matched by and large and it was agreed that there is room for improvement. The factors of biggest impact could be defined as the quality of the music, the quality of the promotional material, accurate targeting, professionalism, understanding of the other side’s needs, wants and resources and most importantly building and utilizing a strong professional network. Suggested further research could concern the correlation of media visibility and album sales. Key words: Promotion Publicity Marketing Communications Music Industry Mass Media ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to thank a number of people for their contribution to my thesis. First and foremost I would like to thank everyone who participated in the survey as well as my interviewees, Heta Hyttinen, Jani Kortti, Jussi Mäntysaari, Milla Palovaara, Mark Fry and Ramona Forsström. This thesis would not have been possible without their willingness to dedicate time to the cause and share their knowledge. I would also like to thank Karri Suksia and the Supersounds crew for giving me the opportunity to do my internship there, for making the experience valuable and fun, and for giving information and feedback on the topic of this thesis as well. Big thanks go to all the lovely Finnish girls for helping with translations of the survey material (Anna, Marika, Marja, Merja, Riikka and Tanja), to Kate for proofreading the final document and to all friends and family, who motivated me to get this done. Last but not least I would like to thank my supervisor, Kai Hintsanen at TAMK, for getting me on track and providing guidance and motivation along the way. 3 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Topic Overview ...................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Research Objectives ............................................................................................... 7 1.3 Research Methods, Structure and Limitations........................................................ 8 2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ....................................................................................... 10 2.1 The Music Industry............................................................................................... 10 2.1.1 Overview of the Music Industry.................................................................... 10 2.1.1 The Music Industry in Finland: Market Overview........................................ 12 2.1.3 Music Industry in Finland: SWOT Analysis ................................................. 15 2.2 Media.................................................................................................................... 16 2.2.1 Media Sectors and Outlets............................................................................. 16 2.2.2 Media Environment in Finland...................................................................... 18 2.2.3 The Role of Media in the Promotion Process................................................ 21 3 MUSIC MARKETING AND PROMOTION.......................................................................... 24 3.1 The Marketing Mix............................................................................................... 24 3.1.2 The 4 Ps and Cs for the Product Music ......................................................... 27 3.2 The Promotional Message .................................................................................... 32 3.3 Promotional Components of Music Marketing .................................................... 34 3.4 Promoting to the Media ........................................................................................ 41 3.4.1 The Promotion People ................................................................................... 42 3.4.2 The Promotion Tools..................................................................................... 43 3.4.3 The Promotion Process.................................................................................. 46 3.4.4 Media Relations and Networking.................................................................. 49 4 DISCUSSION OF SURVEY AND INTERVIEWS ................................................................... 52 4.1 Analysis and Discussion of the Media Survey ..................................................... 52 4.1.1 The Media Survey ......................................................................................... 52 4.2.2 Survey Demographics ................................................................................... 54 4.2.3 Survey Results ............................................................................................... 56 4.2.4 Survey Comments ......................................................................................... 60 4.3 Discussion of Interviews with Key Industry People ............................................ 72 4.3.1 Interview Backgrounds.................................................................................. 72 4.3.2 Interviews with Media Representatives......................................................... 73 4.3.3 Interviews with Marketing and Promotion Professionals ............................. 78 4.3.4 Case Study: The Baseballs ............................................................................ 81 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................... 86 REFERENCES.................................................................................................................... 91 APPENDIXES .................................................................................................................... 97 Appendix A: Interviewee CVs ............................................................................... 97 Appendix B: Interview Structures .......................................................................... 99 Appendix C: Survey Questions ............................................................................ 100 4 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Global Recorded Music Sales (in bn US Dollars)............................................ 11 Table 2: The 4 Ps and Cs of Marketing.......................................................................... 26 Figure 1: Finland - Recorded Music Sales Trend........................................................... 12 Figure 3: Finland - Record Company Market Shares 2009............................................ 13 Figure 2: Finland - Recorded Music Sales by Sector ..................................................... 13 Figure 4: Interdependence of the Mass Media and the Recording Industry................... 23 Figure 5: Marketing Mix Strategy.................................................................................. 25 Figure 6: Ordering Options for Nine Inch Nail’s ‘Ghosts I-IV’ Release ....................... 30 Figure 7: The Elements of the Communication Process ................................................ 34 Figure 8: Announcement about the Video Shoot on Uniklubi's Website....................... 38 Figure 9: Networking ..................................................................................................... 50 Figure 10: Respondents by Media Sector....................................................................... 54 Figure 11: Respondents by Media Outlet....................................................................... 55 Figure 12: Genres Covered by Respondents' Media ...................................................... 55 Figure 13: Decision Factors