|
Liner Notes
| |
MusicBizAdvice.com
Case Study: Why Bon Jovi is Music Business 101
by Randi Reed
Research Assistance: Bon Jovi fans at Backstage with Jon Bon Jovi
In 2006, Jon
Bon Jovi appeared on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch and gave
his 5 Keys to Success. In Jon's own words, they are: "Be true." 2. "Don't be
afraid." 3. "Share." 4. "Diversification...It's a great teaching tool." 5.
"Think really long term." Originally published in 2005, following is MusicBizAdvice.com's take on some of the business and marketing decisions
that helped make the band one of the top selling acts of the modern music
industry.
PART ONE
"Bon Jovi isn't Music Business 101, Bon Jovi is Music Business 505!"
--MusicBizAdvice.com staff writer / Ask Darcie Founder Darcie Wicknick, upon
hearing the title for this article
Agreed. Good songwriting and musicianship aside (which Bon Jovi has in
spades), when it comes to the business end of the music industry, few
artists' business and marketing plans can come close to what Bon Jovi have
accomplished over their 23 year history: Over 100 million albums sold, 2500
concerts (many of which were sold out), and over 32 million fans in over 50
different countries. Oh, and while they were at it, Bon Jovi and their team implemented
marketing and business strategies that become standard business practices in
the music industry and are still used today. Whatever your career
aspirations, applying some of the Bon Jovi business philosophy can
help you get there.
A few of the ways Bon Jovi changed the music industry:
-
When their first album
 came out, Bon Jovi's music was still categorized as "metal"
(albeit pop metal) As such, Bon Jovi was one of the first metal bands to
be marketed to a largely female audience and in doing so, widely
increased the female audience for rock music.
-
Bon Jovi was one of
the first artists to offer special fan club tickets for some of the best
seats in the house at their shows. Now it's a standard perk offered by
many artists' fan clubs.
-
At the 1989 MTV Video
Music Awards, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora pared down "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Living on a Prayer" to just two acoustic guitars and
themselves. Their performance inspired MTV's "Unplugged" series and
sparked a resurgence in unplugged rock music that hadn't been seen since
Dylan wannabes played coffee houses.
-
In 1989, Bon Jovi
were the first band officially sanctioned by the Russian government to
perform in Russia. Their New Jersey album was the first album ever
released on the state-owned record label, Melodiya, by a Western artist.
(As further evidence of the band's business acumen, due to the
instability of the Rouble at the time, the band were paid in wood, which
they then sold to a guitar manufacturer.)
-
In the early '90's, Jon Bon Jovi
became one of the first artists to successfully self-manage his career
when he fired longtime manager Doc McGhee and started the band's own
management company, Bon Jovi Management (BJM). Bon Jovi was one of the
first major rock artists to include women on its management team, paving
the way for other artists to do the same.
Part
2
|
| |
Suicide Hotlines
|
