Hammer Please Don't Hurt Em

After being persuaded by a coworker to follow MC Hammer on twitter I broke down and did just that. Now at the time my memories of MC Hammer consisted of the dancing clown with parachute pants from the early 90s that would later go broke and make a bunch of questionable career moves such as a low budget commercial where he appeared in a man's toolbox because he was the hammer and the surreal life, a reality TV show that placed a bunch of washed up stars in a house and forced them to live together. I really did not want to follow Hammer on twitter but I did it anyway.

To my surprise Hammer was not the man I remembered from television, he was a refined business savvy marketing guru (I still wouldn't hire him as an accountant). Some of the things he would have to say were very insightful and as a business major interested in marketing it was a real world model of my education from a man that lived it.

Here are some of the words of Hammer:

remixes...too many guest.. and Summerjams killed the business for Rap Artist... no other genre would give you 10 Stars for $25

once you turn everyone into a "critic"... they no longer "listen" to enjoy but to "analyze" which is a totally different perspective

Converting a "critic" to a "buyer" is a tough proposition... the behavior is "give me the product" and I'll "give you my opinion".

"Current Marketing" creates the "perception" of "hot" in the music biz.. then comes the sales report and the rate of "conversion"...reality

Did the marketing campaign convert to sales? Now you question the "art" of the artist... I question the "skills" of your marketing plan

Perhaps "sales" is no longer the "measuring stick"... then "profits" decline and in that model there is no longer an attractive business

Sales have to be a significant factor if "music" is the product.. there must be profits in order to sustain the business