I guess I’m out of the loop, but somehow Mr. Greg Rollett has managed to evade my radar up until recently. I was doing some research on Clickbank of all places when I discovered The New Music Economy – a digital training product for musicians that Rollett released earlier this year. I took a look at what he was offering and was pleasantly surprised to see how he was borrowing from the internet marketing book and applying his findings over to musicians – brilliant. In many ways I started to think that Greg and I must be related in someway because I’ve been studying internet marketing as well…

Anyway, I dropped Greg an email and asked if I could get a review copy so that I can evaluate whether his product lived up to my standards. I liked what I was reading, but at the same time there are so many scammy products aimed at musicians that I wanted to be sure before I recommended the New Music Economy as a trusted resource for those who stumble onto my corner of the internets.

Before I dive into the review, I just wanted to say that I applaud Greg for having the balls to put a strategy for musicians together and offer it to the world. It seems that for the last decade or so the entire music industry has been waffling back and forth on what to do since the MP3 turned things on its head. Is it just me, or does it seem like many experts keep making suggestions to the powers that be (in the record industry) while  musicians sort of wait around hoping something will be figured out so that they can go back to dreaming about getting a sweet record deal. Greg studied internet marketing and took the fundamentals that are allowing others to make impressive incomes from home with only a laptop and applied it to the music business – giving musicians the chance to learn a model that can allow them to quit the day job and make music full time.

That’s the essence of what the New Music Economy is all about, but Greg doesn’t make any promises that this product will solve all your problems. In a refreshing twist, he stresses that the New Music Economy is only for “action takers” at the bottom of his sales letter. Yes folks, believe it or not you can’t pay $50 and retire as a millionaire rock$tar – the world just doesn’t work that way! That little disclaimer tipped me off that Greg obviously wasn’t out to cash-in on those starry-eyed and impressionable wannabes that are hoping to win the rock star lottery, so that makes Greg Rollett pretty cool in my book.

Even though his main website is called GenYRockstars – this self professed anti-rock star will forgive him for his use of “rock star” because he’s not a snake oil salesman, and he kept “rock star” out of the title of his product.

Anyway – lets get on to the review of the actual product shall we?

What you get

The NME training consists of 4 Modules; each module has a video and a workbook to reinforce the teachings. The modules breakdown as follows:

• Module 1: Your New Marketing Mindset
• Module 2: Creating Products that Sell Like Hot Cakes
• Module 3: Creating Effective Content to Drive Your Fanbase
• Module 4:  The Sales Process of the New Music Economy

The videos range from about 20 minutes long to 40+ minutes, in all you get more than two hours worth of video instruction for probably less than you’d spend for a night at the bar (and without the hangover as Greg states on the sales page!). The videos feature Greg displaying the theory behind the New Music Economy business plan on a white board, as well as some screen capture videos of him making slide presentations and surfing the web to show you specific examples of successful artists that are already using the techniques that he teaches.

The videos have very little fluff and are packed with concepts and held my attention (but I’m interested in all of this stuff), for some people it might be a little dry – but you need to know this stuff if you want to make a career out of music. Grab a coffee, jolt cola or some Red Bull and pay attention because this module alone can have a huge impact on whether you succeed or fail at music.

The quality was good as well, in the last video I experience some sound fluctuations in my headphones, but nothing that distracted from the presentation.

The workbooks range from 5 to 10 pages each and reinforce the material that is presented in the videos. It’s been proven that the more senses that you engage while you learn, the better the odds are that you’ll retain what you’ve learned – so the work books encourage you to write stuff down and plant it firmly in your grey matter.

On top of that, Greg also throws in two bonus MP3s on a topic that I’ll keep quiet on (can’t reveal everything in this review can I?).

The Verdict

So how does the New Music Economy stake up? It does make some pretty bold statements to entice you to buy – like the headline:

“Make More Money, Sell More Music and Have More Fans WITHOUT A Major Label, A Record Deal or Radio Spins”

Does it live up to the hype? I think that it does, Greg dishes out concepts and resources that have taken me close to two years, dozens of lists, e-books, audio training combined with hundreds of hours of “free time” to learn for myself. If I had access to this course prior to all those hours I would be much farther ahead of the game – even better – I wish I had this back when I was 17 (but the internet wasn’t around back then). For $47 – you’re getting a first rate education that is still at the cutting edge of the music business (because the big shots still haven’t figured this shit out yet really).

However, let me temper this glowing endorsement – there are some people who won’t benefit from this training including:

• People who don’t want to work to apply what Greg teaches
• Cover bands/musicians that never intend to create their own music and merch
• People with zero talent and ambition (sorry, but there’s some people that can’t helped)
• People who want to watch the modules on TV instead of computer (the training is digitally downloaded, I watched them on my computer but you could also watch them on an iphone/ipod if you’re on the go).

The other thing is that even though this training is detailed, there are somethings that are touched on briefly that you’ll need to learn more about. I don’t feel that this is a ding against the product because this is a huge subject and with the time allotted Greg does an admirable job. However, some of the technology (like auto responders for instance) require further training than you’ll get here if you don’t already know what they are and how to set them up and use them.

I think it’s unrealistic to think that if you’ll invest $47 you’ll have everything you need. The concept behind the first module can easily pay for this course ten times over if you apply it and pay your dues; however there are recommendations that are made that will cost you more to pursue. These are known as investments for your business, like a domain name, web hosting, an auto responder and more. Once again, if you use the resources that are mentioned in this training, you’ll make back the cost of your investment and be able to build up your own music career.

Parting comments

The New Music Economy is a solid product that does deliver the goods, but isn’t for everyone – which means it is perfect for those ready to embrace it and proactively determine their own fate in the music business. Some will be able to take off and apply all they’ve learned and others will require further guidance, Greg doesn’t leave you high and dry though. The two bonus MP3s explore ways on how to make the entire process easier to do and beyond that he refers students to his GenYRockstars and Label 2.0 sites.

To make the best use of what you’re going to learn – take this to heart – USE the workbooks, apply what you’ve learned. Also – resist the temptation to sit down and watch all the material back to back. Greg makes this suggestion at the start, but I’m the type that loves to dive right into all the content. If you’re like me, you won’t be able to wait a week between videos (as is recommended) and will just plow through them all in one or two days. If so, satisfy your curiosity and then go back and pace yourself – do one module per week and take action on what you’re learning.

Greg – if you’re reading this, maybe you can switch this training to be delivered once a week to help people (like myself) who just can’t help but watch all the videos at once. I’m not sure if Clickbank allows you to do that…so your hands might be tied.

The New Music Economy Guarantee

If you’re still sitting on the fence after reading this lengthy review, you might be happy to know that there is a 60 day guarantee on this product. If for some reason you don’t feel that you got your money’s worth from the New Music Economy, you can contact Clickbank and they’ll refund your money. I’ve never had to deal with a refund from Clickbank, but I hear that they have solid customer service; but I wouldn’t even recommend this product if I thought it didn’t provide massive value for my readers.

New Music Economy Bonus

So there you have it – the anti-rock star’s take on the New Music Economy by Greg Rollett. I’ve included my affiliate link on this page since I stand behind the product and I’ve put together a special bonus for you; buy NME through my link and I’ll give you lifetime access to my DIY Band Website Training modules for free. Plus I’ll share some auto responder resources and tips to help you get started.

To get my bonus:

• Send  your ClickBank receipt to mike[at]indiebandalliance[dot]com with the subject “send me my bonus pleez!”
• Limited to the first 10 bonus request emails I receive

Thanks for reading, and welcome to the new economy!

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