I’m writing this post en route to Los Angeles. On a plane. On a Virgin America plane for that matter.

I’ve been a Virgin fan for years and I always take Virgin Atlantic when I travel to Europe. I love their ethos, their irreverence to status quo, their customer-focused attitude. So when I heard that Virgin America was starting flights out of Boston to LAX, I jumped on it.

Like Apple, Virgin introduces simple innovations that make you as a customer feel “wow, I was kind of abused before and I didn’t know it”. Apple did that with visual voice mail on the iPhone. Virgin is doing it with Wi-Fi on planes along with (oh, the luxury…) plugs to power up your laptop. Innovation is about simple conveniences, not just whiz-bang gadgetry.

Admittedly, a part of me liked being disconnected while I’m airborne. I use the time to catch up with reading, rest my brain, heck, chat for a change with the person next to me.

But as a consumer, I love it. Why? Because I feel respected and I feel that I am given a choice. Like “What Would Google Do?” says: Give customers control and they will give you their loyalty.

This makes me think of the good old record business. The only business in the world that decided to sue its own customers. Similar to all those other domestic carriers that treat you like you owe them something every time you board their dingy planes (not to mention wanting to take a full bath in anti-bacterial soap as soon as you’re done flying).

It’s simple: Listen to your customers (and fans) and you give them more choices and more control. Do that, and you earn their loyalty forever.

Panos

P.S. Now, Virgin: do the right thing and give the darn Wi-Fi free. Airfares are not exactly cheap.

I’m a fan of Jeff Jarvis and his blog Buzzmachine. I find his insights (mostly) spot on and though he rarely applies his pen (or is it keystrokes?) towards the music business, much of what he has to say resonates with all the changes our industry is going through.

I recently finished his book “What Would Google Do” which I loved so much I bought everyone at Sonicbids a copy. I found the first 100 pages or so absolutely mind-blowing and though it got a bit repetitive towards the end, it’s a book I highly recommend.

Here’s a sample of his New Rules. Replace “customers” with “fans” and you’’ get the point:

• Customers are now in charge. They can be heard around the globe and have an impact on huge institutions in an instant.

• People can find each other anywhere — and coalesce around you or against you.

• The mass market is dead. It’s been replaced by a mass of niches.

• Markets are conversations. The key skill today is no longer marketing but conversing.

• Create value through abundance — not scarcity. The control of products or distribution longer guarantees a premium and a profit.

• Enable customers to collaborate with you —in creating, distributing, marketing, and supporting products. It’s what creates a premium in today’s market.

• The most successful enterprises today are networks — and the platforms on which those networks are built.

• Openness is the key to success. Owning pipelines, people, products, or even intellectual property is not.

Think this applies to the music business? Let me know.

Panos

I fell in love at first sight with my iPhone back in June 2007. And I’ve re-fallen for it (kinda like renewing your vows) ever since Apple introduced the App Store.

As a user, I love that I can make my iPhone “mine” – customize it the way I want and access the information that I want whenever I want with a couple of touches.

Today we launched a new plugin at Sonicbids (following plugins for Twitter; Google Blogs; and Last.fm) that enables artist members to sync their Sonicbids accounts with their MySpace accounts.

For right now, this enables Artists and Bands to make visible to Sonicbids Promoters their MySpace friends count — right from the area where a promoter reviews submissions (as well as from Artist account “Dashboards”).

This has been an oft-requested feature by both sides of the Sonicbids community as, along with the other plugins, it gives Promoters a good idea about an artist’s web popularity outside of the Sonicbids universe. And increasingly, one’s web popularity is pretty much the only popularity that matters.

This of course (along with the other plugins) is a small step towards making Sonicbids accounts for both artists and promoters much more useful, convenient and customizable.

Sync your MySpace accounts right now because there is a lot more cool stuff coming up – and more plugins.

Panos

P.S. Check out Lou’s Builder’s Blog post for more info.

I’m a Greek Cypriot and a recent convert to Andrew Bird’s music (thank you Stephen and Tess).

So I’m listening to the song “Tenuousness” from his new album, “Noble Beast” on Saturday — buy it, really, it’s that good — when I go “wow, did he really say ‘Greek Cypriots’?” I’m not quite the best decipherer of lyrics so I google “Tenuousness & lyrics” and there it is, staring me in the face:

“From Proto-Sanskrit Minoans to Porto-centric Lisboans; Greek Cypriots and harbor-sorts who hang around in ports a lot”.

I then find a rather interesting quote from an interview of his where he’s quoted as saying:

“If something gets under my own skin, and keeps reoccurring, it starts to take on a certain weight and value, and I think, “I have to put this in the song. I have no choice but to mention Greek Cypriots in this song.” It’s a little internal challenge to myself.”

You gotta love the art of songwriting — and master song-smiths like Andrew Bird. I’ve heard songs about Italians and Englishmen and Americans but never one expressly mentioning Greek Cypriots. There’s just not that many of us and we’re not all that interesting (though we do have a rather fascinating history).

If anyone has any insights as to the inspiration for the lyric, let me know.

Panos

At Sonicbids, any excuse will do for a party. This being Easter/Passover and all, we decided to celebrate in style with cupcakes for all. (Being Greek, I was under the impression that cupcakes were an American Easter tradition but I guess that’s not the case. Oh well. Who’ll resist a cake?) Happy Easter.

I grew up in the 80’s so yes, I’m a Pet Shop Boys fan (I love their cover of Elvis’ –fine, Willie Nelson’s — “Always On My Mind”).

The British newspaper The Guardian, reported today that PETA, the organization for the ethical treatment of animals, has asked the group to change it’s name to Rescue Shelter Boys.

No, it’s not a joke. Apparently the organization is targeting pet shops because of the “cruel conditions” they subject animals to (which by the way, may well be the case — I get depressed when I go to pet shops).  Who knew that your 25-year old band name can make you the target of activist groups.

Who’s next? The Psychedelic Furs? Grizzly Bear? Gorillaz?

Panos

I’m an information junkie.

I subscribe to well over 40 magazines; I read three papers a day; I listen to the BBC on the way to work; I download all kinds of podcasts; I monitor dozens of blogs daily; and I occasionally watch CNN. I have one foot in the old world (you pay for your content); and one in the new (everything is free).

Yesterday the headline of the Boston Globe (the local paper) screamed that its owner, The New York Times, threatened to shut it down unless its unions agree to cut costs by $20 million.

If you live in the area, you’d think that’s unimaginable – the Globe’s an institution that’s been around for 130 years. If you’re the New York Times, and you have an asset that you bought for $1.1 billion in 1993 that’s now worth less than $20 million; and it loses you $1 million a week, then I guess shutting it down is not all that out of the realm of possibility.

I’ve subscribed to the Globe since I first came to the States in 1991 but to be frank, I’m not going to be heartbroken if (when) it goes the way of the VCR (as a matter of fact I canceled my subscription as of yesterday). In the world of Google and Twitter and Digg and Huffington Post, regional papers like the Globe — with its news-lite format and emphasis on sound-alike local stories – have become increasingly irrelevant.

(I’ve also taken increasing issue with the Globe’s seeming disdain and willful ignorance of the local music scene in its own backyard. Unless you’re Aerosmith, the J. Geils Band, or James Taylor, you apparently don’t exist for the Globe.)

All this got me thinking that the newspaper industry is finding out exactly what it feels like to be in the record business: in a world where your customers are expecting everything to be free, how can you survive? Newspapers are being Napsterized.

Check out this quote from Time Magazine’s issue on “How To Save Your Newspaper”:

“Newspapers have more readers than ever. Their content, as well as that of newsmagazines and other producers of traditional journalism, is more popular than ever — even (in fact, especially) among young people. The problem is that fewer of these consumers are paying.”

Reminds you of someone?

See, many newspapers forgot that they’re in the information business, not the newsprint business. Much like the record business thought it was in the CD business, not the music discovery business.

I’m not someone who thinks (or expects) everything to be free. Solving the conundrum facing newsprint is beyond the scope of this post.

But if the newspaper industry is expecting to see the next decade, it should take a look at the way that the modern music industry is re-forming and re-framing the way it creates economic value and profit and adapt to the new reality – quickly.

Panos

P.S.  “Citizen Kane” is still my favorite movie of all time.