????任何一位或多或少了解過基于數(shù)字化的音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)新范式的人都知道，今天已經(jīng)進(jìn)入了后唱片時(shí)代，專輯銷售已經(jīng)不再是音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)昔日的搖錢樹,，歌手或者音樂團(tuán)體完全有可能過上體面的生活,。

????大量的時(shí)髦產(chǎn)品顯示，只需擁有一個(gè)強(qiáng)大的粉絲社交網(wǎng)絡(luò),，一個(gè)殺手級(jí)的營(yíng)銷理念,，同時(shí)在眾籌平臺(tái)Kickstarter上舉辦一場(chǎng)籌款活動(dòng)，就可以成為下一個(gè)阿曼達(dá)?帕爾默,。這位女歌手去年憑借從粉絲手中成功籌集的一百多萬(wàn)美元資金,，制作了一張自我發(fā)行的專輯《邪惡劇場(chǎng)》(Theatre is Evil)。這張唱片最終榮登公告牌200強(qiáng)專輯榜(Billboard 200)的第10位,。

????問題是,，一個(gè)人身上不一定能夠同時(shí)具備卓越的音樂才能和超凡的營(yíng)銷技巧。音樂圈內(nèi)既有大衛(wèi)?鮑伊這樣的營(yíng)銷高手,，也不乏尼爾?楊這樣的“隱士”,。盡管尼爾?楊同樣具備非凡的音樂才華，但他幾乎連一張宣傳照片也不屑于拍攝,?；蛘撸?Shoutabl網(wǎng)站聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人特拉維斯?多諾萬(wàn)所言：“現(xiàn)如今,，如果你組建一支樂隊(duì),，你就會(huì)覺得哪個(gè)山頭都要占領(lǐng)，讓人覺得分身乏術(shù),。這些山頭一盤散沙,，各自為陣。歌手們已經(jīng)不再認(rèn)為自己是一個(gè)有價(jià)值的目標(biāo),，不再認(rèn)為脫離Twitter或者Facebook就能打造一個(gè)以自己為中心的社區(qū),，而Twitter或Facebook并不會(huì)真正把他們的經(jīng)濟(jì)利益放在心上?！?/p>

????“我的榜樣永遠(yuǎn)是Tune-Yards,，”他的合作伙伴特拉維斯?莫里森說(shuō)?！八敲绹?guó)最有趣的音樂人,，她的網(wǎng)站就像是一張與其Facebook和Twitter賬戶相鏈接的圖像。她的首頁(yè)應(yīng)該是美國(guó)音樂界最有意思的網(wǎng)站,。這種情形是不對(duì)的,。”

????多諾萬(wàn)和莫里森試圖在目前處于測(cè)試階段的網(wǎng)站Shoutabl,，應(yīng)用他們?cè)凇逗辗翌D郵報(bào)》( Huffington Post)工作期間學(xué)到的數(shù)字戰(zhàn)略,，幫助音樂界的尼爾?揚(yáng)們解決自我營(yíng)銷問題,。這個(gè)平臺(tái)允許不具備編程技能的用戶搭建可定制網(wǎng)站，而這些網(wǎng)站不僅可以承載來(lái)自音樂人社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)賬戶的內(nèi)容,，而且內(nèi)置了一個(gè)基本的博客設(shè)置,，提供了一個(gè)把內(nèi)容通過這些賬戶推送出去的簡(jiǎn)單方式，還可以充當(dāng)YouTube 和SoundCloud等網(wǎng)站音樂內(nèi)容的媒介,。

????除了擁有為《赫芬頓郵報(bào)》推送內(nèi)容的經(jīng)驗(yàn)外,，多諾萬(wàn)和莫里森還具備宣傳各自樂隊(duì)的實(shí)際經(jīng)驗(yàn)。多諾萬(wàn)是鳳凰城金屬核樂隊(duì) Not Quite Bernadette的成員之一,。早在上世紀(jì)90年代,，莫里森就在一支朋克樂隊(duì)擔(dān)任過主唱。它名叫“肢解計(jì)劃”(Dismemberment Plan),，以舞曲風(fēng)格為主,，在華盛頓特區(qū)頗具影響力。自從“電子郵件剛開始被接受”那時(shí)候起,，他就一直應(yīng)用技術(shù)來(lái)打理這支樂隊(duì)的業(yè)務(wù),。這支樂隊(duì)最近重新團(tuán)聚，還計(jì)劃在10月份發(fā)行12年來(lái)的首張新專輯《Uncanney Valley》,。Shoutabl直接反映出他在全新獨(dú)立音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的經(jīng)驗(yàn),。

????“歌手們需要一大堆電子產(chǎn)品，”多諾萬(wàn)說(shuō),。多個(gè)產(chǎn)品無(wú)法單獨(dú)地提供一個(gè)全面的音樂營(yíng)銷解決方案,。樂隊(duì)可以把歌曲上傳至SoundCloud,，通過BandCamp銷售,，在Twitter上與粉絲溝通，在 Facebook推廣現(xiàn)場(chǎng)演出,。在多個(gè)站點(diǎn)之間跳來(lái)跳去,，但卻只能解決一部分問題，這是許多音樂人根本不想應(yīng)對(duì)的一件麻煩事,?！拔矣憛掃@樣做，我是一個(gè)高級(jí)用戶,，”莫里森說(shuō),。“那樣做太勞神了,！我的意思是,，如果你真的嘗試著創(chuàng)建一個(gè)WordPress博客，連上帝都看不過去,！”

????Anyone who's read at any length about the new, digitally-based music business paradigm knows that it's entirely possible for an artist or group to make a living in a post-label world where album sales are no longer the industry-sustaining cash cow they once were.

????According to a vast number of trend pieces, all you need is a robust social network of fans, a killer marketing concept, and a Kickstarter campaign to become the next Amanda Palmer, who last year raised over a million dollars from her fans that funded a self-released album,Theatre is Evil, that made it to number 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.

????The problem is that musical ability and a knack for marketing aren't necessarily connected -- for every master salesman like David Bowie there's a reclusive Neil Young who is just as musically gifted but can barely be bothered to take a publicity photo. Or, as Shoutabl co-founder Travis Donovan puts it, "These days when you start a band, you're just inundated with all of these places you feel you need to be. It's so fragmented, it's so disconnected, and artists have moved away from the idea that they're a valuable destination, that they can curate a community around themselves without handing over that community to Twitter or Facebook, who really don't care about your financial interests."

????"My example is always Tune-Yards," says his partner, Travis Morrison. "She's the most interesting American musician working, and her website is like an image with links to her Facebook (FB) and Twitter accounts. Her front page should be the most interesting website in American music. It's not right."

????Shoutabl, currently in beta, is Donovan and Morrison's attempt to apply the digital strategies they learned while working at the Huffington Post toward solving self-marketing for the Neil Youngs of the world. The platform allows users without programming skills to assemble customizable websites that can host content from musicians' social networking accounts and a basic built-in blogging setup, as well as offering a simple way to push content back out through those same accounts, as well as serving media hosted on sites like YouTube (GOOG) and SoundCloud.

????On top of their experience pushing content for HuffPo, Donovan and Morrison both have real-world experience promoting their own bands. Donovan was a member of the Phoenix metalcore band Not Quite Bernadette. Morrison was the frontman for a dancey, punk-influenced Washington, D.C. outfit called the Dismemberment Plan back in the 1990s, and he has been using technology to help manage the band's business since "just as email was becoming legit." The group recently reunited -- they'll release Uncanney Valley, their first new album in 12 years, in October. Shoutabl is a direct reflection of his experience in the new independent music business.

????"There's this huge pile of B-plus products for artists' needs," says Morrison. The multiple products don't individually provide a comprehensive solution for marketing one's music. Bands can host tracks on SoundCloud, sell them through BandCamp, communicate with fans on Twitter, and advertise live appearances on Facebook. Bouncing between sites that solve only part of a problem is a hassle many artistic types just don't want to deal with. "I hate doing it, and I'm a power user," Morrison says. "It's exhausting! I mean God forbid you actually try to set up a WordPress instance!"