1) I was thumbing through the latest Remix magazine and happened upon a five-page fold-out car ad. It was for a Toyota Scion. I paused, then wondered why I paused, and then it hit me: The number of people making music is now so large that it makes sense to run consumer advertising in a music magazine. In particular, the number of people making music with the assistance of tech tools like loop-based composition software or turntables.
2) Later the same day, I happened to be looking something up on the ASCAP web site. I noticed that ASCAP's web pages are now sponsored by Guitar Center. ASCAP collects performing rights money, mostly from radio & TV, for songwriters, composers and music publishers. Guitar Center is a mass-market musical instrument retailer. ASCAP now has so many members that it makes sense for Guitar Center to sponsor their web site.
3) Then, in the latest Electronic Musician, I came across an ad by Mackie, who make very good gear and also have a not-bad sense of humor. The ad was for their new recording software. The headline: "IF YOUR MUSIC SUCKS, IT WILL STILL SUCK. YOU'LL JUST MAKE IT A WHOLE LOT FASTER."
And as the supply approaches infinity, the average price approaches zero...
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Scion Ad: Influence the Influencers
Interesting point from Adam Turoff on the fact that it was a Scion ad in the Remix magazine:
"...I think you're missing a key piece of information here. It was a _Scion_ ad. Scion is Toyota's new make to target the trendy youth market. I saw a piece about them on Motorweek about how they have virtually no ad budget, and how Toyota is
forcing them to make an honest pitch to young, hip trendsetters.
It's part of an overall market plan for Toyota to capture an untapped segment of the automotive market. (Mazda tried and failed miserably, but that's another story.) It's certainly all about the marketing, but less about the increasing size of one niche or another. It's more about advertisers looking for more bang for their marketing dollar (over time), and the increasing importance of one niche over another. (Hint: you won't find Scion advertising in a bass fishing magazine.)
So while it is certainly interesting that a niche magazine like Remix is now big enough for a car ad, there's a larger context to this trend as well.
The readers are the people who make or break trends."
Mackie
Love their stuff, and their sense of humor. That's beautiful.