Product Management Advice Applied to Song Production

      Art of Audio Productions (AOAP) currently only offers songwriting and vocal arrangement services for music geared towards youth. However, in the future I plan to have a “Song Production” department, which will handle the creation and production of all aspects of music products for young people. As such, it is important to consider the viability of the songs the company will sell, in terms of their marketability and ability to be sold successfully. Although AOAP will not be handing the product management of the songs produced, it is definitely something to consider as I enter the creative process. If AOAP will not be able to consistently create phenomenal songs, that are both marketable and appealing to its target market, then the company will have failed to meet this objective. Therefore, to help avoid disappointing both AOAP customers and young music consumers, it would be sensible to research aspects of product management, to include examining those who professionally manage music products on a day-to-day basis.

      In my research, I found not only information on product management, but also an interesting article on

Hypebot from a professional in this field. The article is about managing the product of music subscription streaming, written by Jon Maples, who is the VP of Product and Content for Rhapsody. In his article, he offers advice to two of his competitors concerning their strategy to obtain more subscribers. Maples points out to both Spotify and Rdio that they are making expensive mistakes with their recent advertising campaigns for television, which was a mistake that Rhapsody already made years ago with its Droga-5 bubbles ad. He basically states that by creating these types of ad campaigns, the selling of the service itself gets lost in the end, and consumers do not end up actually signing up for the service as a result. Specifically, to be successful, Maples asserts that the focus needs to be switched from the creative visuals and music itself, to actually explaining the services these music-streaming companies offer. As a veteran in his field, with over ten years of experience, it is logical to assume that he might be able to provide good advice based upon firsthand experience. Additionally, he also gives specific statistics about plays and follows for Rdio that seem to further prove his point. In a Geekwire article, Taylor Soper discusses Maples’ advice, and provides Rhapsody financial statistics from recent years that could also support Maples’ position as well.

      Now, how can this advice about product management be applied to the production of songs? I believe that the basic idea to take away from what Maples is advising, is that product management is successful when you stick to the basics of selling and promoting the product itself. For example, if AOAP intends to create a drum and bass song, then it should be evident that the song is actually a product that belongs in that category, and that it is appealing to the consumers who listen to that genre of music. With clear authenticity; great lyrics; phenomenal music; and quality, artistic production of songs; hopefully it should be relatively easy for a product manager to be successful and for numerous units to sell as a result, as long as focus remains on the appealing aspects of the songs and the artists singing them. It is easy to manage a product when it is obvious that it is more than just good!