A Conversation with Less Than Jake’s Vinnie Fiorello – HuffPost 6.20.11
Mike Ragogna: Vinnie, I interviewed you guys a few months back, but what are you guys up to lately?
Vinnie Fiorello: Basically, we just got back from co-headlining the Slam Dunk tour in the UK, also played our first Dublin show in a few years. We came back and had a few practices and now we’re heading into a couple months of Warped Tour. We also recorded a five-song EP at our bass player Roger’s house. We actually recorded that right before we did the Slam Dunk tour.
MR: The EP is titled Greetings From Less Than Jake, and you’re marketing it in an original way, right?
VF: Direct-to-fan marketing. Usually, there’s a certain distro channel we would go through, a middle man between the band and the fans. This time, we’re putting it up through our website, www.lessthanjake.com, and also direct-to-fan by selling it on Warped Tour.
I don’t think what we’re doing is necessarily reinventing the wheel, it’s almost like we’ve gone 360 degrees back to where we started as a band. When we started, we encompassed everything related to selling our records where we sold them ourselves. It’s almost like we’re back where we started, and it’s something that bands have been doing for decades. Young bands still do it, and it’s the only way for them to do it. But we’ve been a band for two decades now, and we’re just doing it in a way that we can use the technology to our advantage.
MR: Can you discuss how Less Than Jake’s digital store will work technically?
VF: Technically, when you go to www.lessthanjake.com, you select the record or records you want, put them in the cart and check out. Upon payment, you’ll be sent an email, and in the email will be a link to a download code.
MR: Will fans be able to buy a physical version of the project?
VF: Yes, it’s going to be only on tour at first because we’re trying to get it directly into the hands of the fans that come out to see us live first. After that, it will be on sale at our webstore as well.
MR: What other items will be sold either through the website or in association with the EP?
VF: We’re doing cigarette rolling papers, that when you purchase the papers, you get a download of the EP. Also, there will be a 3D poster that will come with a download code as well. We’re calling it a “totem,” where we couple a physical item with the music. So, whether or not someone monetizes the music, our view is to add this totem that is monetized and couple that with the digital download. We’ll also have the traditional CD version of the EP packaged in a digipak format.
With where we’re at, we’ve noticed throughout the years as a band that people embrace CDs less. People still listen to and are passionate about music, but you have to deliver something and fill the void to help people feel like they’re getting their money’s worth. When CDs first started being made, if you were buying a CD of a popular band, it cost $18, but as technology progressed and the price of manufacturing CDs went down, people realize they aren’t worth that much, so you have to give fans something else. By coupling the music with the physical items that are limited and personal to the band, that’s the little extra push to deliver something physical to the fans. For example, with Paper + Plastick (Note: Fiorello’s Gainesville-based punk label), we do short-run but highly collectible colored vinyl with unique packaging, lithograph posters, vinyl toys and tour CDs.
MR: How does this marketing approach differ from how others market their new projects?
VF: We’re trying to take out the middleman and maximize any monies that we make. Also, doing it the direct-to-fan way, we’re trying to make stronger the relationship that we have with our fans. As the music business pie shrinks and the amount of money that an artist can make shrinks, it’s up to artists to figure out how to increase the revenue to be able to stay stable financially. I think it’s also up to the artist to figure out how to use technology to their advantage and stay relevant in that world.
MR: In your opinion, would you say there’s a monopoly on how one can buy digital downloads?
VF: At the moment, I wouldn’t call it a monopoly, but in the case of Apple, they make the hardware and the content. So, it’s seamless from purchase to listening, if you want to call that a monopoly, you can. If you look at it the other way, there’s really not a monopoly because anyone with 15 minutes of time on their hands can figure out how to download the music for free. Whether it’s getting it from a friend or on a peer-to-peer site, the freedom of being able to trade music so easily makes a monopoly almost impossible.
MR: What advice do you have for new artists?
VF: I’ve said it before in other interviews and I’ll say it again…you can’t build a house on sand. You have to build it through hard work and touring, you have to have a foundation to build a career on. You definitely have to embrace the technology that’s there. If you’re not embracing it and looking at it as a tool, how can you possibly excel in today’s industry? I think personal relationships with websites, with other bands, with journalists, those are important things for a young band. Those are tools as well that you can use to build that foundation and be able to make a stand for a long time.
MR: What advice do you have for anyone wanting to emulate your marketing model?
VF: Just go for it. If you to want to step outside the traditional model with a label and a band, make an educated decision and don’t make your decision from a place of fear.