Wow! Our game, Daxter PSP, is IGN’s most anticipated PSP game at E3!

http://psp.ign.com/articles/611/611243p1.html

I’m totally flattered and impressed! That’s a lot to live up to, but I assure you that we’re going to the ends of the earth to do our very best. :)

What I find most stunning about this is the fact that we haven’t relased ANY pictures, ANY information, or ANY detail of any kind of the game other than the fact that it features Daxter, is for the PSP, and connects to Jak X to unlock new characters. To my knowledge, we’re not even doing any kind of marketing or advertising yet. All the buzz the game has been getting is completely from outside parties on the promise of the IP it’s being built on and the practically unprecedented agglomeration of old-school, hardcore talent that’s behind it. Unbelievable, and inspiring.

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And in other subjects, I have a friend, David Murphy, that’s an extremely talented indie musician that put out a kick-ass indie rock album all on his own, including all instruments and singing, and he wants me to help him market and sell it. I thought it was an interesting challenge, and given the fact that I’ve never personally understood why I should be compelled to undertake a hobby that isn’t a marketable skill, it seemed like something fun to spend time on.

I bought four books on the subject:

The Songwriter’s Market Guide to Song & Demo Submission Formats

This Business of Music Marketing and Promotion, Revised and Updated Edition

The Self-Promoting Musician

Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians & Bands

Seems like enough to get me started. It should be an interesting challenge to take a flying leap into a brand new industry for fun in my spare time with zero risk. I’m a little concerned at what I’ll find considering what a horrific beast the music industry is, but I think that with some careful study, bold action and guerrilla skillz, I can accomplish something meaningful, have fun and learn a lot.

The reason I post that is because I found a pretty interesting article on the subject of clever music marketing that I wanted to link to. It’s about a country musician named Dierks Bentley and the steps he and his marketing team took to creating ethical artist evangelists that helps spread the word about his music. It’s a pretty interesting read. You can find it at the link below:

How to Turn Entertainment Fans into Active Evangelists (Responsibly)