I love Neil Young, mostly because I grew up listening to it while at my childhood friend's house - his dad was a big fan. Since then, I have been to several Neil Young concerts and CSNY concerts. In any event, I also am a big fan of SEO and some marketing. One blog I skim (but not read too deeply) is the popular Seth Godin.
He wrote a blog post named Lessons from Neil Young where Live at Massey Hall by Neil Young. He made two observations that lead to a marketing concept. The two observations were:
(1) Listeners like to hear what they heard before. Seth adds that even if a song, at the time was not popular but became popular later, the audience back then was not as enthusiastic with the song, as they were with songs they have heard before.
(2) Songs that did not work so well in front of his listeners, Neil Young tried to play better but it still didn't work. Why? Because they were not common songs.
Seth concludes that "It's what you say, most of the time, not how you say it."
Interesting thought. If you think about it, does this work the same with search engine optimization?
There are many ways to think of it:
(1) It is what you link to most, not what you say in the content (link vs. content debate).
(2) It is quantity over quality (very debatable).
(3) It is the link anchor text, and not the content (kinda stretching it there).
Honestly, not sure if you can apply it to SEO here. Seems like it doesn't work too well.


Comments
Thanks for reading, Barry. My second point, actually, was that he didn't try to play better, he tried to play louder and with more passion.
The SEO relevance is that if your site is lousy, all the clever tricks in the world aren't as smart as making your site not-lousy.
Posted by: seth godin | March 15, 2007 9:42 AM
Hi Seth,
But as you said. Some of those songs were not lousy, they were just not common. They became common later and also very popular.
Thanks for your comment.
Barry
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | March 15, 2007 9:45 AM
Barry, how did you know I watched this DVD last night?
Seriously, if you have a chance to see Neil play solo (which I did in late 90's), you definitely should go...it's a real treat.
Posted by: Todd Mintz | March 15, 2007 1:29 PM
Good to know there are other young fans here.
Posted by: Barry Schwartz | March 15, 2007 4:43 PM
As a die-hard Neil Young fanatic who came of age in the 70's, his appeal was his compassion and curiosity for people and history. He chose different ways to express his feelings, and kept trying new things. He made films, experimented in concert, tried different musical genres, went soft, and then returned with gusto with wailing guitars...and all the while his voice sounded like a sick whale out at sea. I've been madly in love with him my whole life, because he is real.
When Neil Young got into country, he lost me as he went into a musical phase that didn't do anything for me. He seemed lost and I felt dropped off the cliff. But, I waited for him, to see what he'd do next. Because Neil Young cares deeply about things and I know this about him.
This goes past marketing, to me. There's something else going on here. It's as Seth is saying, about the message or the intent, that creates the hook.
Posted by: Kim Krause Berg | March 16, 2007 11:08 AM