I am a disciple of the Lefsetz Letter. Bob Lefsetz, the author of these daily letters for those that do not know him, is an American music industry figure and author of the email newsletter and blog, the Lefsetz Letter. Based in Santa Monica, California, Lefsetz worked previously as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music’s American division, and as a consultant to major record labels. Lefsetz deals with issues at the core of the music industry. One of the ongoing themes in his daily letters is the diminishing role of the major record labels in current recorded music and the corresponding increasing influence and importance of grassroots artist activities such as live performances and direct online relationships with fans.

Besides my love and passion for music, what I love about Bob’s letters is his insight and knowledge in the marketing world. The letter I am going to post is from a few days ago and it is a great example of how an old world (Bon Jovi) and a new world artist (John Mayer) are using social media to connect to their fans. We all know that this connection helps to keep those record sales alive.

I love both artists and I want to give a shout out to Bon Jovi for their continued and wonderful work giving back to the community via their Soul Foundation. I think this letter clearly demonstrates the differences between leveraging new world marketing and social media and the old world—showing how a commitment and dedication to leveraging social media, and its abilty to reach and connect, could make what is old, new again! Bob’s marketng insight and parallels are brilliant!

Happy Thanksgiving to our American readers!

Best Nicole

If older folk still buy music and younger people steal it, why did John Mayer sell almost twice as many albums the first week out as Bon Jovi? http://m.twitter.com/backstagejbj a page that doesn’t exist. The second result is http://twitter.com/bonjovimerch

Yes, according to hitsdailydouble.com, John Mayer sold 301,204 copies of his new album, “Battle Studies”, this week. Whereas last week, Bon Jovi moved 165,871 copies of “The Circle”.

Ready for some truly horrifying news? This week “The Circle” fell all the way to number 19, selling 50,153 copies, a whopping drop of 70%. Whew!

What’s the difference between John and Jon?

One is living in 2009 and the other is living in the last century.

Jon Bon Jovi was positively old media, tying in with NBC.

John Mayer was new media, appearing in concert on Fuse and tweeting up a storm.

It doesn’t matter the total reach, it matters who actually watches and what the perception is.

Fuse would be canceled, the entire channel, if its programming was on NBC. To say the ratings are anemic would be charitable. But Fuse airs music, unlike MTV. And most people watching the shows featuring Bon Jovi on NBC don’t give a shit about the man’s music. In other words, Jon’s shoving it down the wrong people’s throats.

Jon Bon Jovi has a fawning documentary on Showtime.

John Mayer is all over Twitter.

Did you watch any of the Bon Jovi doc? Shot like it was footage for “America’s Next Top Model”, everyone looked beautiful and spouted humble platitudes, like we were still living in the eighties and rock stars were established on MTV and made a fucking fortune. Whereas the truth is everybody’s scrambling, giving concert tickets away in some instances. Bon Jovi reflecting is like Lloyd Blankfein saying Goldman Sachs is doing “God’s work”. Huh?

Laughable.

If you Google “Bon Jovi Twitter”, the first result is:

Wow, someone in JBJ’s camp doesn’t understand Twitter. It’s not for selling, its for CONNECTING! http://twitter.com/jOhnCmAYer

Meanwhile, the Bon Jovi merch page has 1,540 followers.

Google “John Mayer Twitter” and you get the following page:

John Mayer has 2,657,425 Twitter followers. Furthermore, he’s following 72 people, so you get an idea of what he’s into. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZwVjys2bQI

Bon Jovi’s old school, playing behind a wall, just like Doug Morris and Jimmy Iovine, rarely coming out to play and only in circumstances they can control.

John Mayer is new school. Putting it all out there unfiltered, getting into arguments with Perez Hilton, never backing down, not afraid to look like a tool.

It’s the honesty that grabs you. That’s why people are following John Mayer, that’s why they care about him. Furthermore, in an era where album sales represent only a fraction of your fan base, you want to get attention where you can. Not by batting people over the head, telling them they must endure you, but being so provocative, so interesting that they want to tune in.

Nobody plays the new media game better than Mr. Mayer.

He makes a deal with BlackBerry and it looks cool. Kind of like a rapper, ripping off the man, because you know he uses a BlackBerry anyway! Whereas U2 makes a deal with BlackBerry and you see dollar signs, you see promotion, you see a deal. If you endorse a product you truly use is it a sell-out?

The classic rock acts would probably say yes, you don’t want to tarnish your image.

But Mr. Mayer is at the bleeding edge of a new paradigm, where the rules are being made up as we go. He’s so overexposed that he’s establishing a new way of doing it, you almost feel like he’s a guy at your high school, that you know him. Does anybody really know Jon Bon Jovi? Who never has a bad word to say about anyone?

Old school: You’re afraid of pissing anybody off, you’re Justin Timberlake at the Super Bowl, apologizing.

New school: Dixie Chicks. Fuck with me and I’ll give you the middle finger.

In other words, it’s been a long strange trip, but we’re suddenly back in the sixties. It’s about artistry, it’s about music, it’s about honesty. You don’t triangulate, construct a phony identity for public consumption. You’re better off being your real self. Hell, the Internet will tease out your flaws anyway, why not admit them?

Jon Bon Jovi utters irrelevant platitudes and John Mayer sings “Who says I can’t get stoned?”

Politicians have to lie about doing dope. But artists are supposed to speak the truth, and the public has to deal with it. Which is why we love our artists more than any political figure.

“Who says I can’t get stoned

Call up a girl that I used to know

Fake love for an hour or so

Who says I can’t get stoned?”

A weird variation on drunk-dialing. Maybe her number is still in your cell. Maybe you’ve got to IM her, maybe you’ve got to pull up her Facebook page. But you’re sitting at home, thinking about what used to be. Can you act on it?

That’s a question confronting everyone online. Do you make contact or let the sleeping dogs of the past lie?

Bon Jovi, Mimi, all the stars of the MTV era are still living in it, oblivious to the fact that the nineties were ten years ago, and that in Internet time, a decade is equivalent to a century. It’s not a three year cycle, you’re on a day to day regimen.

“Any tweet that takes more than 90 seconds to write is not a tweet worth sending.”

John Mayer

Yes, we used to make records in an afternoon and get them on the radio in a week. Now, TV and movies are more topical than music. Let it out, go knee-jerk, don’t massage, don’t focus on the marketing plan, focus on the music.

And stay in touch with your audience CONSTANTLY!

“Who Says”:

Ford is leading the pack when it comes to finding ways to engage their consumer. They have just created a campaign where they are selecting customers to be given a Ford Fiesta car and in return, have them blog about their experiences with the car. It is this kind of creativity, brand building and viral marketing plan that allows the customers to not only engage—but actually become the brand evangelist and brand ambassador for the company. They now have the opportunity to direct the messaging in a way that empowers them.

We all have infuencers in our lives, the MAVENS that we go to when we need information. We segment these “tailor made” influencers in our lives according to category. These MAVENS are the people who tell us about the best products to use, great restuarants and cultural events to try, and they share information about what they’re doing and how they’re doing it to live better lives.

Ford gets it—do you?

Best Nicole