Symphony X vs Dragonforce
Purity, Profitability, and Peripherals
This essay goes under the "Practical" category because it's about doing business. I've owned my own business for many years so I mull over these sorts of things. This essay is about making more money in business, especially in an artistic endeavor. Just saying that upfront to save you time if that doesn't apply to you.
I went to a metal concert put on by Symphony X last weekend. They do massive songs about classical topics (Paradise Lost, the Odyssey)1 and once, a sci-fi rendition of the Book of Revelation.2 There's guitar solos, keyboards, great singing, the works. I'm *exactly* their target market, so it goes without saying I was very ready to fanboy it up at the show.
The economics of making money with a band aren't great. Like writing, or most artistic endeavors, there's not a lot of money for most, and a ton of money for a few. Practical careers offer more money for less work. I can be a mediocre IT guy and make more money than a master writer or musician. It's sad but it's what it is.
In business there's a concept called Lifetime Value of the Customer, which is simply, how much money a company will make off a customer in their lifetime. Repeat business is king here. A crappy company may get your money once, but a good company will get it over and over.
I'm a big fan of Symphony X and own three of their albums, so they've made a lot of money off of me, right?
Not exactly. Before the concert, my patronage had netted them roughly.... $6.50. That's three albums purchased, with the band netting (Gross profit is the total cost of the album, $15, and net profit is the actual money made after expenses) roughly 10% off each album. I've never sold an album myself but 10% seems to be a rough general number for the band's take.
So they've been in operation for 25 years, have spent thousands of hours honing their craft, I'm a huge fan, and they've made... $6.50.
But all is not lost! Bands have two delivery methods for their product: In album form (Mass release, independent of labor) and live performance (Limited release, dependent on labor). For bands the live show is where the money is made. The concert cost me $100 for me and my wife, the house gets roughly half, so with the concert they made another $50. With one show they've boosted my LVC 10x.
Albums and concerts are a Core Product for musicians. That's their bread and butter. If the music is bad, no albums will sell, and no bodies will be at the concert. So the music has got to be good. The Core Product can be delivered two different ways, via album or live. Symphony X's albums are fantastic. Their live show?
Not great.
The mix was horrible, the drums were ear-splittingly loud while the singer and guitarist were barely audible. I love drums, I used to be a drummer, but I'm not at Symphony X to hear drums, I'm there to hear Sir Russell Allen sing and Michael Romeo play guitar. This isn't going to be a live review, so sufficeth to say that though we enjoyed the concert, we won't be going to another one. Lifetime value, stuck at $56.50.
But there's another way bands can make money - Merch and T-Shirts. That's where the money is at. For whatever reason, we love band t-shirts. No one buys a t-shirt representing their favorite loaf of bread. But our favorite band? Oh yeah! I think it's because music represents us in a way, it's a part of who we are. Like the car we drive. And, for the smaller bands, it's almost like a secret society, a club, where you can see another fan in their t-shirt and nod at eachother, and know someone else knows the secret. It's fun.
I'm going to call T-shirts a Peripheral Product. Meaning, it's not the point. A band that only sold t-shirts wouldn't be a band. But, Peripheral Products aren't necessarily less lucrative; in fact, usually the margin is higher. An example: The Core Product for a gas station is gas, the Peripheral Product is the soda fountain. They make no money on gas, but they make good money on soda. But if there was no gas, no one would stop there.
I didn't buy a Symphony X shirt. I wanted to, but I didn't like any of them. They were all just the various album covers screen printed on to the front. Lame. I wanted a cool shirt, a shirt that's cool despite the band logo, not because of it. Also, all the shirts were available online for the same price. T-Shirts are $40 now, insane, and it costs something like $2 to make a shirt, so the margin is really high. Let's say $35. Think about that for a minute - Had they sold me a single T-Shirt, they would have made five times more money than they ever did selling me albums. But they didn't, so LVC still = $56.50.
The had vinyl there to buy, but no signed vinyl. SIGN THE VINYL.
Symphony X is a band of artists.3 They have mastered their craft, they're good at it, but the little details of making coin they aren't concerned with. Which unfortunately means they don't make enough coin. Their drummer runs a food truck when they aren't doing shows. The band is not, and can't be, a full time gig.
Does it have to be that way for artists? Or can an artist be an artist AND run a profitable business? Have our cake and sell signed slices of it for $5 also?
Enter band #2: Dragonforce. I like Dragonforce, but it's rare I actually sit down and listen to an album. Good in small doses. Unlike Symphony X, I would not call myself a big fan.
I saw them live last year. I won't review the show, but let's just say it was great. The audio mix was PERFECT. Very loud, but also, very audible.
Dragonforce had things *dialed in*. You can tell they've paid attention to the little things, and have paid attention to them long enough to make their artistic efforts pay off. The Core Product was superior, in that the the live show was just better. I took my wife and two daughters to see Dragonforce, because the opening band for Dragonforce was Amaranthe, and the girls love Amaranthe, and they don't hate Dragonforce, so the four of us showed up for the show. Dragonforce chose a supporting act that would broaden their customer base. LVC for Dragonforce = $200.
I think Dragonforce's albums are... ok. But they've put out a ton, one every few years, so I've actually purchased more Dragonforce than Symphony X albums simply due to sheer volume. LVC from albums = $7.50
After the show I checked out the merch. Dragonforce's was way better. They had signed vinyl, signed drumsticks, signed posters, etc. Next to the T-Shirts, there was a little sign that said, "Tour only t-shirts". Genius. You couldn't buy these online, and you could only buy them at THIS tour. They had created collector's items and the necessity to buy NOW. And the tees were cool. No screen prints of album covers. One had a way cool dragon samurai on the front, so I bought it. They also had ladies's tees, which weren't just the guy's tee with the same image, but they had lady-friendly images like cute cats (And of course, somewhere on the tee, DRAGONFORCE). They had nice hoodies too, so my daughter bought one.
LVC + $80.
Let me just pause here and state again I like Symphony X far more than Dragonforce. This enjoyment of the artist's work, however, is not reflected in revenue. LVC Dragonforce = $287.50 vs LVC Symphony X = $56.50. So while Symphony X is a better band artistically speaking (Those may be fighting words for some), and I like their music more, Dragonforce has made FAR MORE coin off of me than Symphony X.
Dragonforce has made five times more money off of me, but they didn't expend five times more effort to get it. They just paid attention to the little details and especially, to their Peripherals. None of the marketing had anything to do with being a master musician. But also, none of the marketing took an enormous amount of time. It doesn't take ten thousand hours of practice to sign the vinyl, or to make a "Tour Exclusive" sign. But what does it take? Attention. Attention to the little things. And a bit of lateral thinking.4
That little bit of attention turns into huge growth over time. Because Dragonforce makes enough money from their artistic work, they can spend time making even more money from their artistic work. One of their guitarists, Herman Li, spends a couple hours a day on Youtube/Slack/Tik Tok, hobnobbing with fans, noodling on guitar, whatever. That's all just getting more fans in the door. And having fun doing it.
You can see the Matthew principle here. Those that have, will have more; those that don't have, will have less. Dragonforce makes money, so they have time to make MORE money. Not only that, they have time to get even better at their Core Product. Their drummer can practice drums full time, should he wish. No hours spent in a food truck making money on the side. It may feel gross, as an aspiring artist, to make most of your money off of some absurd plushmallow doll that represents your brand, but it makes coin. And that means you can spend more time practicing your craft. And now you're a better artist than the purist that can only spend a couple hours in the evening because he can't be bothered with marketing.5
If you're in business, or wanting to be, make sure you know your Core Product. Make sure it's being delivered properly, is great quality, and meets the customer's needs. That's #1. No gas, no gas station. But then make sure your Peripherals are right, especially if you are running a Business to Consumer operation.6
Also look for alternative delivery methods. Mass delivery usually means lower margin due to transmission costs. Is there another means of delivering your product that has higher margin?
If you're BtC, there's a good chance your best margin is in a Peripheral out there, just waiting for you to discover it. If you're an artist running a BtC, then it almost definitely is in a Peripheral. Even if you don't think you're running a business, you are.
Set aside an hour or so to think over your Peripherals each week. You're a creative artist, so lateral thinking is your superpower - Use it! Take a notebook, go on a walk, climb a tree, and give profitability some brain time. One small breakthrough could mean twice, five, or even ten times the Lifetime Value from your customers.
And that could be what makes your part time dream a full time reality.7
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The marketing guys are saying "It DOES take 10k hours to think of that sign.” And they may be right.
Nothing wrong, of course, with doing something for the joy of it. That’s why this Substack exists.
BtC vs BtB: BtC is Business to Consumer (Nike, Kroger, etc) - BtB is Business to Business (Consultants, marketing firms, etc). I'm in BtB so my situation is a bit different, in that my core is IT services to businesses, so selling them a plushmallow, or soda, or a t-shirt is a no go. But I still have Peripherals.
For me, looking at business practice in other fields is helpful, which is why I wrote this essay. Sometimes looking at something sideways is the best way to see it clearly.