“I’m like the one up there representing the Bonham family. that’s kind of how I should look at it,” Jason Bonham told Spinner backstage at L.A.’s Wiltern, where he would later honor his iconic father, John Bonham, as part of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off last weekend. The event is a competition for aspiring stickmen and showcases some of the world’s greatest drummers, including Tommy Lee, Tool’s Danny Carey and Billy Cobham, among others.

There’s no question, Led Zeppelin is part of his family and legacy, an inheritance he proved worthy of when he so successfully filled in for his father at the band’s O2 reunion show in December of 2007. But he says, breaking the hearts of millions of fans, that part of his life is indeed over. “As far as the big question, the big one, I think that one’s come and gone now. But it was a lot of fun while it lasted,” he says, echoing Jimmy Page’s sentiments in recent interviews that the Zep reunion is not going to happen.

And like his bandmates that night, Bonham is moving on to new music. “I just literally went into the studio last week for two days with one person I’d done an album with before, very quickly, and then the other was a friend of my father’s I got to meet later on, Joe Bonamassa and Glenn Hughes, and we’re working on a new project with a working title of Black Country,” Bonham says. “We just went in with [producer] Kevin Shirley and played riffs and just jammed for two days. And that’s really exciting.”

Bonham says the new group, which takes its name from the industrial area in England that he and Hughes — best known for his work with both Deep Purple and Black Sabbath) come from — is in fact a band. “We’re actually recording an album, literally in that process of jamming it out and editing and putting together and going, ‘Yeah, that’s really cool,’” he says. ” Joe just wanted to play guitar so with Glenn on bass and vocals, it’s a power trio.”(Photo by Robert M. Knight)

Not Joe McElderry apparently

Let’s get the musical issue out of the way first off because this is clouding the real business involved here. For what it’s worth, I am delighted Rage Against the Machine got to the Christmas No.1  because no one individual, whether answering to the name of Rupert or Simon, should control our tastes and opinions.

Incidentally, I wonder if there will be an X Factor version with a radio edit. Lyrically,  “by jove I am not going to buy your tat,thanks all the same” doesn’t sound quite as powerful as “fuck you, we won’t buy what you sell us.”

So what, in a business was actually achieved here? And what lessons can be learned for small businesses?

1) Social media is a viable method of marketing if a strong social message is conveyed skilfully. Regardless of whether Cowell has a financial interest in the Sony artists, RAM the real issue is that social media beat massive TV, radio and press exposure into second place. Incredible!

2) Small businesses, and artists in particular, should be encouraged to use social media as a method of persuasion. This is nothing new. As I pointed out in an earlier post about Glenn Hughes, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead have all had some success creating desire through skilful use of social media.

Phil Jones whom I recommend you follow in Twitter is Sales and Marketing Director for Brother. At a recent M Power conference run by Profile Communications, he gave some examples of small businesses who were actually selling direct from Twitter. NicolaTheFiat, a trader in hand made shirts, was one. Phil himself was another. Oh and while you are at it, why not clue me in too.

Cadburys Wispa was launched as a result of a social media campaign by “fans” of Wispa. Cadburys didn’t dance at the school disco. They simply provided the keys to the hall.

Relevance is the key word here. Imagine that you enter a room full of people at an office party and shout “anyone need a web designer?” Security! People tweet according to how relevance you are to them. Facebook is used by most as a showcase for what important people we we are. Yet if you can harness why people want to know you online and then build on that, you have relationship marketing to its nth degree.

So before wasting energy barking at Simon Cowell’s frequent red herrings, stop and think about the issue you could promote. Remember, this is about selling the sizzle not the steak. What I bought was a download of a song I have heard a thousand times before. What I cherished was the right to challenge the dictatorship of a  multi millionaire together with the message RAM eloquently conveyed.

So in 2010 what buzz can you create?

At the height of commercial success, Glenn Hughes at the record breaking California Jam in in 1974. But how do you follow that?

My good friend Glenn Hughes (left) has now written THE rock n’ roll story which is being sold initially as a Deluxe edition for £550 (approx $800). Sounds expensive but then again, there is sound commercial justfication for the price.

It’s certainly going to make a good read. Linda Blair, Richard Burton, John Wayne, David Bowie, Keith Moon are all featured in a roller coaster of story which nearly led to the near death of the former Deep Purple star who, by his own admission, spent a million on drugs and survived.

I guess as one of his “people” I am biased and bound to PR it all, but today I am going to talk about the context in which artists operate.

In days gone by, the music press either gave you the thumbs up or down. Either way, you went out and bought the record anyway. Then along came the tape decks and we began to tape our friends’ albums. T’internet led to downloads and Napster’s famous battle with Metallica. That seemed like the end for file sharing. But sites like UTorrent, Bear Share and The Pirate Bay persist.

It is becoming increasingly the case that bands are accepting the dodgy download scenario (even if their record companies don’t). The radio show I co present with Kev Mc gives us evidence of bands saying “I don’t give a **** who downloads our songs as long as you do the courtesy of coming to see us.” Chris Robertson of Black Stone Cherry was one such respondent.

But, aside from live shows, which you can’t download, artist of all genres are now using social media as a way of rewarding their fanbase for loyalty. Think Tesco Clubcard simply gets you back in the shop after having given you some sort of special “club” discount. The principle is similar.

Enter the sexy package. In Glenn’s case it is hand bound in the style of the white satin suit he wore for the record breaking California Jam in 1974.

The classic example in the industry was Nine Inch Nails who used below the line tactics – toilet cubicles included – to attract hits to the website. There you were invited to download the new album for free. £$1.6 m resulted from the follow up deluxe package.

It’s nothing new. New web marketers like the late Corey Rudl were advocating the “back end marketing” method since the late 90’s. And the back end has its roots way before then. Offering tan guard for nu buck boots at the till is the most common example. With advent of Twitter, the back end deal can be secured almost at will once a trust has been established between artist and fan.

And why not?

It’s a classic case of supply and demand. Presumably we’ve all been aware that when we used to spend money on a gig, an LP, a CD a T shirt some of it would go in the artist’s pocket. The problem was of course that the shiny shod money man was taking most of it.

“Businessmen they drink my wine” (All Along the Watchtower, Dylan) “By the way which one is Pink?” (Have a Cigar, Pink Floyd) sum up most succinctly the strained business relationships between artist and contract. The fallouts between Prince and Sony are well documented.

All that’s happening now is that artists are wresting back the business elements of their art so as to regain control. Sometimes they do it themselves and other times they work with the publishers, promoters and also the more enlightened record companies to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Team work is vital.

The press are just as important as they have always been. Quality journalism is complementary to what can be achieved through social media.

Either way, we as consumers just have a choice to make. There’s no right or wrong decision. It’s just that the money has shifted. So hats off to Glenn and yes I am recommending the book as testament to a talented one who survived where others perished. Yes I think I can justify PR ing the £550. No doubt about that!

Stop preaching lads and listen to us

In the light of BBC Question Time tonight where the panel was unanimously against the idea of banks charging what they liked and when they liked, I’d like to offer the British Banking Association 5 Tips for increasing public confidence through good PR practice:-

1)      Employ  or at least promise the development of a fairer system for charging which does not penalise customers for human error. And to acknowledge long standing trustworthy customer relationships when times get hard ( a courtesy not extended to many of us).

2)      Publicly announce that banks will work with customer focus groups and take on board their concerns, publishing resulting reports once completed.

3)      To temper the “school teacher” approach adopted by CE, Angela Knight and suggest that a media training refresher course would be appropriate

4)      Lose the city image adopted by member banks. It’s not impressive and merely enhances the gap in reality between those who grasp and those who don’t have. Free corporate balloons doesn’t mean effective community relations.

5)      Simply be aware that they are losing the PR debate and be less stoic in their defence of the indefensible. This constant insistence on “sweeter than thou” knowledge of the economy is outmoded. The customer bailed out Northern Rock and HBOS, not the other way round.

I know I am living in cloud cuckoo land here and it’s a bit like trying to offer PR advice to the Royal Family. Look, I am not “anti bank.” I am impressed with the way that Natwest are developing their corporate identity and this has transcended to the branches with generally courteous staff just like in those ads.

But this still clouds the real issue that if you slip up, you will be punished. £38 for a rejection of a direct debit which was an admininstrative error and a resulting £28 for the charge on top by this same bank was my “free banking” bill this month. If I charged the BBA for this free advice, they’d be horrified and would swear blind they didn’t ask for this consultancy fee. Neither did I, my banking friends. Neither did I. Enjoy your free tips.

Positive positive positive today. Ok so I got a bit hot under the collar about the banks (see article below) Today then is a new day. Jedward have been fired but still making headlines. David Cameron looks like woodentop. Groundhog Day?

So, in the words of Fred the Weatherman “what have we got today?” Well the spin is that the green shoots of recovery have just been stomped on by a fat man with shiny shoes. Doh! It’s dem pesky banks again.

That Angela Knight really got my goat with that PR bilge about us naughty people not managing our accounts properly. Sorry British Bankers’ Association. You didn’t manage our economy properly and there’s plenty of your primary stakeholders out there who would agree with me. OK yah? You don’t get the final word on this even if the judges reckon it’s game over.

Oh ok I will continue with my rant. 6.59% was the cheapest rate I could get on a mortgage. On 120k that’s £950 a month in new money. There’s people out there with negative equity. Enter the willing punter (me) and any number of keen sellers (you?) and that rate separating us and we have that rather boring 0-0 draw. Hey we don’t even get to argue about the price of the dodgy curtains any more.

You see, to continue the analogy, banks are those fair weather supporters who are quite happy to stay aloof from their major stakeholders when going is heavy. When United are winning, it’s they who crowd us out of the 20/20 club and flash the cash. A bit like that scene in Batman with Jack Nicholson as The Joker where he distributes the dirty dollars to the good people of Gotham…before gassing them.

And I thought I was going to be a cheerful PR man today flower arranging the news so that it looked all rosy. Sorry but there ARE some good vibes on the way. I teach PR which these days means social media and I am running my own case study which might need your help. You see I want to be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Banks don’t come into it. Social media does.

More later. A little bird tells me that links are the way forward. So I will link Hokey Cokey style to you all and back again. Ohhhhh do the hokey cokey oooohhhh do the hokey cokeyyyyyy …told you I would end on a postive note. Praise Angela the all seeing eye.