Way Behind The Music

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Backup Player Coran Capshaw rarely steps from behind the curtain. He built his company to help artists like John Legend supercharge their brands and businesses.

Unsung Masses Just some of Musictoday's 200 employees. Many are musicians themselves, including Nathan Hubbard (at lower right), who runs day-to-day operations. All of them are rabid fans.

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That sort of empathy is another key ingredient in the Musictoday formula. Employees are focused on being "artist friendly" and "fan friendly," the bedrock of Capshaw's philosophy. They're expected to be kindred spirits as well as music experts. Each band, after all, has its own subculture, with certain rules and tastes. ("Incense, rolling papers, and shot glasses won't work with Christina Aguilera," says Dave Kostelnik in client services, "but they will for the Black Crowes.") Dozens of employees play in bands of their own, including Hubbard, who's half of the acoustic duo Rockwell Church and a Musictoday client (its CDs, alas, don't qualify for "knees to nose"). They even get two "concert days" apiece every year. And they, like their boss, are discreet, refusing to dish on clients. "We're an invisible service provider," says Hubbard.

Although the music business traditionally revolves around product cycles, Musictoday takes a longer view, developing what Donohue calls "a fan for life." Staying on the radar. Creating products in between CDs and tours. Vinci follows her clients and their fans like a dogged reporter. She checks in with artist management, sometimes several times a day, to learn what the talent is up to. She reviews dozens of Google alerts on her clients. Most nights and weekends, she pores through magazines online and off (the usual suspects, plus Filter, Relix, and Paste), industry trade journals (Billboard, Pollstar), message boards, and a couple of dozen blogs (An Aquarium Drunkard, Coolfer, Stereogum). "That's why they're partners with us," she says. "They know I'll find out what's going on and call."

With the right touch, says Hubbard, this sort of micromanaged online presence can prolong a musician's career. And he's not kidding: Frank Zappa--dead since 1993--is a client. The challenge, then, is not to taint the relationship by coming on too strong. So Musictoday tries to be more like a church that happens to sell communion wafers. "It sounds schlocky," says Kingdon in corporate strategy, "but we're trying to maximize that fan relationship, not maximize sales. If you do the first part, the rest will take care of itself. But if it smacks of commerce, you risk diluting the brand."

To fend off the competition spawned by its own success, Musictoday is always looking for ways to deepen its relationship with artists. The latest is by being a "strategic consultant," says Hubbard. The company's data mining could provide customer insight to drive decisions beyond ticketing or merchandise. "There's always been a real shoot-from-the-hip mentality in this business," he says. "Gut, not data." By mapping merch or ticket sales by geography, for instance, Musictoday can identify where marketing dollars are needed or where an artist should tour. "If you know you're drawing fans from Utah to drive to shows out of state," says Hubbard, "you need to add that 43rd tour date in Salt Lake City."

The Live Nation acquisition should crank up Musictoday's volume even further, like plugging an acoustic guitar into an amp. Live Nation gives it "a broader reach," says Capshaw. Yeah, broader by about 30 million potential customers. According to Live Nation, more than half of its fans visited an artist's Web site last year. "What was it five years ago, zero?" says Rapino. "This channel is as big as you can make it."

That's music to John Legend's ears. His Musictoday paid membership site, Johnlegendnetwork.com, was slated to launch in December. In November, he posted a preview. Riding his tour bus through a snowstorm in Wisconsin, he filmed a video clip, singing a few bars of a Christmas carol and signing off: "God bless y'all, I love y'all, I appreciate y'all--Peace." Musictoday allows him to add messages himself--immediate, unfiltered access to his supporters. The idea, he says, "is to let them get to know me better."

And vice versa. Get Lifted may have sold 3 million copies, but Legend didn't own those sales data, so he had no way of contacting those fans. When people join his new club, they provide demographic information, which he hopes to build a business around. "You need to know who those people are, where they're from," Legend says. "What if you could find out what other products they like to buy? You might use that information to approach other brands--clothing and car companies that want to cater to the same market."

Legend pauses, reins in his inner consultant. "But if I don't make good music, none of this stuff is going to work. I never forget that."