June 15, 2010

How do you impress a listener on Jango?





This week we have a great guest blog post from Jay Frank author of 'Future Hit DNA'. Future Hit.DNA provides a road map to the digital landscape, outlining 15 points that must change in a song if the artists, songwriters and producers of tomorrow want a chart topping hit. Check out the book HERE


For the benefit of all the artists we had Jay to run five Jango Airplay artists that had received high PopScores through the Future Hit DNA wringer....this is what he came up with...

How do you impress a listener on Jango?

It's not just as simple as effectively targeting a like-minded fan and purchasing some plays. The song has got to impress. The model that Jango delivers in music exposure is exactly the type that I discuss in my #1 Music Business book Futurehit.DNA. On Jango, the good news is that you're mixed in with top artists which other services don't deliver. The bad news is that you're placed next to these same artists. Make no mistake, the person who came to listen to their radio station wants to hear the hits. HOWEVER, if you follow several of the rules I discuss in my book, you'll find some success.

To show this in action, I asked Jango to send me five artists of varying genres and see if they fit the model I discuss in my book. These artists were not pulled for any other reason other than their Jango success. Yet without fail, I can show that their success can be proven through the Futurehit.DNA model. Take a listen...

This goth-rock band from New York is typically the type of band that feels my theories can't apply to their music. Indie bands with an edgy genre can't possibly benefit from a formula, they say. At first listen, I thought that the Ropes were largely achieving this success outside of my ideas. Their songs mostly had long intros, a variety of forms, and yet still had a significant online following. That was, until I went to MySpace to discover their most popular song. That song, "Be My Gun" had plays that were nearly 4x the second most played song. Lo and behold, that song adhered to much of my formula. It starts with a short intro (not the seven seconds I advocate, but it gets into the vocals in 9 seconds). It plays with a very provocative lyric in the chorus with "I'm the bullet, will you be my gun?" It has an arrangement change-up at the two minute mark when the instrumentation drops out keeping the listener engaged. Then the song ends with no resolve allowing for the listener to more likely hum the tune after it's completed. All said and done, many of the hallmarks of Futurehit.DNA.










As a disclaimer, Jaron and I discussed my theories just before he wrote and recorded the Country hit "I Pray For You". He thanked me by including Futurehit.DNA in a cameo role in the first video for the song. I've discussed this track in a blog entry on my site at length. The short answer is that there's a very short intro, strong repetition with the "I pray your..." line, a change up at about two minutes (horns in a country song?)...all elements used to full effect. No wonder this track got signed and is now at about half a million paid downloads.




A young emo band has to impress quickly. This band does it in spades. At least half of the songs I checked out jumped right into the vocals. No intro needed. Many emo bands have been doing this for awhile, which is why they tend to have solid fanbases and sales without much radio airplay. They are instantly engaging to the audience. The songs use a variety of other elements to varying degrees, but this band mostly relies on the short intros to engage the listener.





This Baltimore rapper also mostly relies on the short intro. The songs themselves have a variety of hip-hop styles. But they all engage in quick trips to the vocals to make sure that the listener is engaged. There's not many other elements in his songs that I discuss in the book, save for some pointed lyrics that one would hope occurs in hip-hop. But for the audience, that's what matters and those quick intros are helpful.





An alt-country artist also begs to be a type that would not subscribe to a formula. Much like The Ropes, I investigated this artist further on Myspace to see which of her tracks were most successful. Not surprisingly, the track "Worth Keeping" stuck out with the most plays. Guess what? A two second intro, an instrumental change up at about a minute and a half in to keep the listener engaged, an ending with no chord resolution, PLUS a song at five minutes plus, which is crucial in owning the listening experience. Her most popular song, according to Myspace, turned out to be the one that followed the formula.

While Futurehit.DNA has fifteen tips on how to be successful in the digital age, no one song could contain all fifteen elements. Indeed, as shown above, all five artists above show different examples of how these tips can be combined to success. The one common element is that short intro that I recommend is seven seconds or less. This is even more crucial for Jango listeners because they can hit that skip button. Remember, they want to hear the name brand artist so you better make it count, you need to impress them, and fast. The best way to do it is with the shorter intros. These five Jango artists have taken the short intros into new fans.

How are you doing?