Music City Networks

Imagine having a marketing staff made up of hundreds of loyal, active and inspired team members. Think about the effectiveness of a campaign that goes virtually door-to-door. Now take a look at the potential sales and revenue such a team could generate. And the best part, you don't have to do a thing.

That's the beauty of MusicCityNetworks- the online marketing company that has taken the terms "street team" and "fan club" to a whole new level. This five-year-old company has become a major player in online marketing. Its principals - Lang Scott, Jon Wright, Kortney Wilson, and Tim Putnam -- understand the challenges faced by marketing departments in today's highly competitive marketplace. Record label mergers, shrinking marketing dollars, downsized staffs...all of these things add up to too few people to do the job effectively and campaigns that speak in broad strokes.

That's where MCN comes into the picture. With a staff of designers, programmers, administrators and merchandise fulfillment experts, MCN becomes an extension of the label's team, and an additional team member working to the benefit of the artist. They fill in the detail of the broad strokes campaign by actively courting the core...the fans. Throughout the history of popular music, the fan core often has been an integral part of pushing an act to the next level. Harnessing that energy and turning it into record, concert ticket and merchandise sales is something MCN has perfected.

Toby Keith knew what he was doing when he brought MCN on board to help launch White Trash With Money, the debut release for his new Show Dog label. MCN designed and implemented an online marketing campaign that utilized Toby's existing fan club members, and created a new "warrior" street team. The result? Among retailers selling White Trash With Money, Toby's own website ranked fifth—a very impressive outcome.

How did they do it?

• Attention to detail. With a staff dedicated to creating and developing online marketing campaigns and managing online fan clubs, MCN has the tools it takes to do the job effectively.


• An active music fan database. MCN has developed a database of individuals proven to be music fans and music buyers. Any campaign developed by MCN on behalf of an artist has the opportunity to cross reference with this database.


• Effectively mobilize the existing database while simultaneously recruiting new, active members.


• The Street Team Member. These are the people you want on your team. Not only are they music fans, they are active music fans. These are the people who contact their local radio stations, place posters and banners in their local retail outlets, staple CD release flyers to telephone poles...and they report back to base with photos and full reports of their activities. WHY...?


• ...Incentives. MCN applies the tried and true policy of developing a hierarchal level of incentives and a point system to mobilize this street team. Prizes range from autographed CDs to back stage passes—and the result is always increased CD sales.

And how does this help you? MCN relieves the record label of the burden of a time intensive project. Weekly reports keep you up to date on the effectiveness of the campaign, and budgets are strictly adhered to.

MCN gets you the bang for your buck. Each campaign is tailored to your act, and the money is carefully positioned and applied in a cost effective manner. And these campaigns aren't reserved for the superstar level act. Baby and developing acts benefit equally from a serious online presence.

The Internet continues to grow. More and more people do their shopping online. Reaching the global market has become as easy as punching "enter." And now, adding a team member that not only understands this concept, but also knows how to reach this market in a cost effective and precise manner is as easy as MCN.

Labels: street team, Toby Keith