音乐人开辟另类财源

    关于音乐产业利润螺旋式下降的报道可谓汗牛充栋，这一趋势正在让音乐人竭力探寻新的生财之道。每一位企业主都知道，多个收入来源是财政稳定的关键所在。对于一支以音乐为主要产品的乐队而言，收入来自各个方面，其中包括灌录唱片、作品授权、现场演出，当然还包括乐队的品牌商品，比如T恤衫、手提包和海报等等。

    根据音乐未来组织(Future of Music Organization)的统计，2011年，品牌商品约占一支摇滚乐队收入的6％（于爵士和古典音乐人而言，这个数字骤降至0.6%，因为他们的粉丝不太可能穿一件歌手的T恤衫）。尽管一支乐队不可能凭借T恤衫的销售收入发家致富，但商品有助于实现另一个重要目的：建立品牌。音乐未来组织发布的一份报告声称，商品销售是与一位歌手品牌相关的最常见的收入来源。最好的商品不仅可以提供一份额外收入，还能够树立品牌的知名度。

    事实上，商品越奇异，造成的声势越大，似乎就越有可能受到博客和杂志的关注。理想情况下，这将提升专辑和演出门票的销售收入。

    从极端奇怪（金属乐队Gwar的Gwar BQ调味汁）到用起来非常便利（Metallica乐队的冰袋，有人试过吗？），乐队商品无所不包，几乎涵盖了一切有可能吸引乐迷的东西。超级明星 DJ DeadMau5已经通过他的“Mau5牌耳朵”打造了一个品牌，而且凭借一款为猫设计的 DeadMau5耳机打破了猫捉老鼠大战的平衡。男孩乐队One Direction用1D牌牙刷和牙膏确保了粉丝们在微笑时总能露出一口散发着珍珠白光泽的牙齿。早在所谓的Directioners风靡全球之前，全球各地痴迷于披头士乐队(Beatle)的歌迷就希望理一个这支乐队标志性的拖把头。如果粉丝们无法自然地获得这种发型，他们可以购买一头假发。

    因此，像烈焰红唇(The Flaming Lips)这样的乐队不仅通过前卫艺术摇滚为自己赢得了声誉，而且还创造了一些最令人难以忘怀的商品。烈焰红唇乐队的商品包括一个散发着银色光泽、不停颤抖的胎儿（一款圣诞饰品），一个纪念该乐队为打破24小时内举办最多场音乐会这一世界纪录所做尝试的枕套，以及一个胶状骷髅(Gummy Skull)——表面看是一个糖果，一个包含在其中的USB储藏了这支乐队的四首歌曲。乐迷们必须首先吃完糖果，才能欣赏到新音乐。

    这款不同寻常的商品引发了热议。虽然这种把一个24小时歌曲放在头骨之中的产品有些离经叛道，但这种荒诞的营销方式受到了他们的唱片公司华纳兄弟(Warner Brothers)的全力支持。“烈焰红唇乐队出售的是一种体验，”华纳兄弟唱片公司高级营销总监凯丽•博苏克说。“大家购买这些产品时，其实是在购买一种体验。我并不认为，随随便便哪位粉丝就舍得花费150美元购买一个胶状骷髅。”

    There have been many stories documenting the downward spiral of profits in the music industry, a trend leaving musicians struggling to come up with new ways to make money. As business owners know, multiple revenue streams are the key to financial stability. For a band whose primary product is music, income comes from a variety of sources including sound recordings, licensing compositions, and live performance and, of course, band-branded merchandise, like t-shirts, tote bags and posters.

    According to the Future of Music Organization, merch, as it's known in the industry, accounted for about 6% of a rock band's income in 2011. (That number dips down to .6% for jazz and classical musicians whose fans are less likely to wear an artist T-shirt.) While a band is unlikely to get rich on t-shirt sales, merch serves another important purpose: building a brand. Merchandise sales are the most common source of income related to an artists' brand, says a report from the Future of Music Organization. The best merch builds buzz along with brand recognition while shoring up additional revenue.

    In fact, it seems that the stranger the merch, the bigger the buzz, and the more likely it is to get written about by blogs and magazines. Ideally, this results in bigger album or ticket sales.

    Band merch runs the gamut from the sublimely strange (metal band Gwar's Gwar BQ sauce) to the uniquely apt (Metallica ice pack, anyone?) with everything in between that could possibly appeal to a band's fans. Superstar DJ DeadMau5, who has built a brand out of his trademark Mau5 ears, has found a way to up the game between cat and mouse with his DeadMau5 headphones for cats. Boy band One Direction found a way to make sure their fans always have the pearliest white smiles with their 1D toothbrush and toothpaste. Long before so-called Directioners mobbed the globe, Beatle-mania had fans around the world wishing for the band's signature mop tops. If fans couldn't achieve the style naturally, they could buy it in wig form.

    Thus bands like The Flaming Lips can build a name for themselves not only for avant art rock, but for creating some of the most memorable merch around. The Flaming Lips' merchandise selection includes a silver trembling fetus Christmas ornament, a pillowcase that commemorates the band's attempt to break the world record for most concerts held in a 24-hour period and a Gummy Skull with four Flaming Lips songs stored on a USB inside the candy, requiring fans to eat their way to the new music.

    The merchandise is remarkable and buzzworthy and, while products like a 24-hour song inside of a human skull are far from typical fare, the outré marketing is completely supported by their record label, Warner Brothers. "The Flaming Lips are an experience," said Kerri Borsuk, senior marketing director at Warner Brothers Records. "When you buy these products, you are buying into the experience of the Flaming Lips. I don't think a casual fan is spending $150 on a gummy skull."