The post about music and video

So I’ve been playing with last.fm recently and I think I like it, but I know I’m not getting all the benefits of the service. For starters I’m only recording my work listening which, while significant, isn’t all my iTunes usage. Next step: home iTunes logging. I’m also not repurposing my data with a cool widget on the blog. Hold your breath; it’s coming.

I’ve also been thinking about the new service PodBop (blogged it on the Metroblog) and what it means for music fans. Sharing, the non-Napster kind, is good. Sharing your passion and your joy and your music. Just like last.fm.

And then it struck me. An amazing potential opportunity for someone like Saturday Night Live.

Take the colossal mistake of SNL & NBC as it regards YouTube and the viral popularity of the Lrazy Sunday/Chronicles of Narnia rap. NBC has some lessons to learn about marketing online and viral video apparently. But this doesn’t mean they can’t also be at the forefront of something cool in the meantime.

  1. Actively encourage mashups
  2. Obviously stopping the natural flow of viral video is a boneheaded move. Early adopters and sneezers don’t want to link to you directly.

    Having said that, allow for folks to send you their mashups and feature them beside your content. Cool stuff like Lazy Sunday parodies and others, like this cool video of a fake iPod video.

  3. Podcast musical guests
  4. I’m sure they could set up a feed and professionally record the performances. Plus, the bands and NBC could split profits of albums sold through NBC.com.

    Aside from the money, doesn’t it make good sense for the bands and NBC to promote the show (even as a post script) to prove that they’re still cool/hip/relevant.

    Seems like a slam dunk to me.

  5. Join the community
  6. Don’t like YouTube “pirating” your video (and helping your content become a hit virally – exposure and reach you couldn’t buy otherwise)? Start a YouTube group.

    Bands like Ok Go and TV shows like Vh1’s Best Week Ever are doing it. NBC could start and SNL group and reap benefits and save a little bit of faith in the process.

    I mean, I’d love it if I saw audience-recorded videos of the band or the sketches online. Maybe even a host-cam or performer-cam of all the action that takes place in making the show. Behind the scenes, sausage-making clips are always interesting and popular.

No matter what, the opportunity here is to engage the community by giving it more content, not less. By appearing like an equal actor in the process of online entertainment and not like a monolith preaching a religion that folks must join. They have more choices than you can imagine.

And that’s the reality for a lot of people in any kind of entertainment industry. How to take advantage of the fact that people really are fans of your stuff; they want to love you (if they don’t already) and join your cult of personality. But they’re equally ready to hate you if you don’t let them share their love with others.

Something to think about.

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