Volume 11 Music News Mix

Songkick Unveils “Tourbox”, Simplifies Tour Date Aggregation [hypebot]

Hisham Dahud — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:51:10 +0000

Live performances have never been more important for a musician than they are today, making up an increasingly significant portion of an artist’s revenue stream. It is absolutely critical then to ensure that shows are posted accurately and in the best places in order to maximize visibility and audience reach. The only problem is, it’s usually a pain to do so. Easily one of the most frustrating aspects of marketing and managing a music career online is posting new tour dates, but Songkick is looking to make things a bit easier for artists with the introduction of “Tourbox.”

Tourbox is a back-end widget that connects to an artist’s Facebook fan page, and then automates the publishing of concert dates across web properties and in places such as YouTube, SoundCloud, Tumblr, Vevo, Spotify, Bandcamp, Foursquare, The Hype Machine, and more. Tourbox can thus help push freshly enthralled ears and eyeballs towards gigs, allowing artists to strike while the iron is hot in hopes of selling more tickets.

A large source of Songkick's data comes from ticketing companies and promoters, and Tourbox allows artists to have more control over their touring information across the various social networks. It can even instantly churn out information on any canceled or rescheduled dates, as well. According to Songkick, those who downloaded their app attended twice as many concerts as they did before a year prior.

The announcement of Tourbox comes as Songkick recently received a $10 million investment from Sequoia Capital.

Hisham Dahud is a Senior Analyst for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is the head of Business Development for Fame House , LLC and is an independent musican himself. Follow him on Twitter: @HishamDahud

How I Earned My Place in the Music Business: 6 Insights For Breaking In [hypebot]

Hisham Dahud — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

After a four-year journey that recently culminated with my college graduation, I write to you now as a full-time music industry professional – Senior Music & Technology Analyst for Hypebot.com, head of Business Development for Fame House LLC, and I remain an independent musician myself building a creative venture of my own. My journey has been anything but straightforward, and there were plenty of lessons I learned along the way that I feel obliged to share with both aspiring and established industry professionals.

For you aspiring industry professionals, I hope that my story and insights can help you get a clearer sense of where you are in your pursuits, as well as provide you with motivation and inspiration to help you advance your own career. For you established professionals, I’m quite proud to call you my constituents, and some of you, my colleagues. For as much as I’ve idolized rock stars on stage, I’ve always admired those industry professionals that make it happen behind the scenes.

With that in mind, here are six insights for breaking into today’s music industry, as sourced and reflected upon through my own path to getting here:

1. Uncover The Source of Your Passion

I grew up the youngest child in a family of music lovers and was exposed to “the good stuff” very early on. I would receive hand-me-down instruments from my siblings, but gravitated and eventually fell in love with the drums at eight years of age. After playing in bands throughout my elementary and high school years, I eventually dropped all musical pursuits to attend college at the University of California, Irvine. Why? Because it was a good school and I got in… that’s it. I never once thought about making a career in or around music because, frankly, that idea was never encouraged. I was following the traditional “pipeline” of going to a good school, getting good grades, and getting a “good” job. However, with an insatiable appetite to play music, I would eventually join a band during my second year of college.

The turning point for me came during a gig in Hollywood, CA in 2008. I realized that I had spent far more time and energy on my music than I did on my studies. Here I was, playing a gig the night before a very important midterm exam (which I later ended up failing). I couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I was spending my family’s hard earned tuition money on my dreams of becoming a rock star, so I left U.C. Irvine and returned home to San Francisco – determined to make a living in the music business.

The Lesson – Find out why music means so much to you in the first place. Try to identify the source(s) of fulfillment that music provides you, and identify the possible areas of the music industry that you might find fulfillment being involved with. It needs to be a “sweet spot” combination of where you can contribute the most value (more on that later), and where you’d find the most fulfillments. List all possible roles because you will likely be doing more than one thing.

2. Study the Whole Industry

When I returned to San Francisco, my initial goal was to become a full-time drummer. I quickly found out, however, that it is tough to make money as solely a musician. Playing the drums alone would not be enough and I eventually realized that I needed to learn more about the industry I was entering into.

I enrolled myself into San Francisco State University’s Music & Recording Industry program, a specialized certification program that focuses students on either Music Business or Recording Arts education (I chose Music Business). At the time, my goal was to merely leave the program with an understanding of how the music industry operates, and apply that to my pursuits of being a drummer. But that all changed after going through what was, by far, the most influential college course I had ever taken.

Music Industry Career Planning was a ten-week intensive course taught by career growth and development expert (and music industry veteran), Gian Fiero. The course helped me uncover key strengths as an individual and incorporate critical career developmental exercises, while providing a broad overview of the current landscape of today’s music industry. Most importantly, it allowed me to pinpoint the specific areas of the music industry that I could provide the most value to. In conjunction with an academic study of the music business, I began reading every music industry blog I could find each day (including this one). My mindset was slowly beginning to shift to that of an industry professional.

The Lesson – Learn all that you can about the whole music business. Look at it from all angles. Whether it is formally in a classroom, or informally through constant and continued self-education and research. Personally, I recommend doing both. More often than not, the people teaching music industry courses are usually potential gatekeepers themselves, and it’s a great place to build relationships with them and your fellow students.

3. Study Yourself

There were no tests in Music Industry Career Planning, only personal essays. Instead of a final exam, the class culminated with a 7-minute thesis presentation about how you were going to “plan, prepare, and position yourself for a sustainable career in the music industry.” Half my grade came from Professor Fiero, and the other half came from a panel of industry professionals who were in attendance ready to offer jobs and/or internships to standout students. Needless to say, the pressure was on.

My thesis presentation required me to think introspectively – what did I really want to do? What were the steps that I needed to get there? I was forced to really study all of my strengths and weaknesses, and how I can apply them towards creating a sustainable career in the music business. I would receive high marks on my essays and be complimented on my writing skills, so I had took that as part of my value proposition. I also had a good (but not great) understanding of digital technologies and marketing at the time, so I had that to bring to the table, as well. I also had passion for music that could only stem from the heart of a musician.

By the end of the course, I wasn’t just trying to be a drummer anymore – although I did make a promise to myself that I would continue as a musician, and thankfully I’ve been able to uphold that promise. My goal now shifted to working within the music business.

The Lesson – While studying the industry, be sure to study yourself along the way. What is it that you really want to do? What’s the dream? What value do you bring to the table for potential gatekeepers? Understanding your value proposition is critical, especially when it comes to your networking. You’ve got to have something to bring to the table beyond your enthusiasm and your passion (although those are absolutely required).

4. Internships Are Invaluable

I cannot stress enough the value of interning. Internships have been, by far, the most instrumental factors in earning my place in the music business. In fact, my current positions with Hypebot and Fame House each stemmed from my time as an intern. One of the industry panelists during my final thesis presentation was Michael Fiebach – the Product, Marketing, and Merchandise Manager for the legendary DJ Shadow. Michael apparently liked what he saw and offered me my first internship, which became my first “in” to the music industry.

I was working with Michael on the day-to-day marketing efforts of DJ Shadow’s online and merchandise operations. It was a 90-minute commute each way, and I was balancing two part-time jobs plus being a full-time student, but I was determined to make the absolute most of this internship. I needed to leave a lasting impression on Michael, so I found myself working far over the required amount of hours, did independent research, and even volunteered to take on a project to single-handedly revamp a portion of the online store – all unpaid (I did receive college credit). By the end of that experience, I walked away with music industry-specific transferable skills, not to mention one hell of a name to affiliate myself with.

Proof that internships can lead to good things, Michael would eventually go on to found Fame House in 2011, and brought me on as his first employee. We’ve been building the company ever since.

The Lesson – It's difficult to work your way in among the gatekeepers when you have no skills, experience, or connections to offer them. Demonstrating an eager desire to learn by working for free will prove that you’re passionate and serious enough to sacrifice in order to earn your spot. Just make sure it’s an internship that’s legit, conducive to your growth, and that you’re gaining real skills. While you’re going to have to sacrifice time and pay, you’ll be earning invaluable experiences and aligning yourself with key allies.

5. Embrace Change and Connect the Dots Later

After my internship with DJ Shadow had ended, Michael connected me with Bruce Houghton (publisher of Hypebot) to do some event coverage for The SF MusicTech Summit. After writing a few conference coverage pieces for Hypebot, Bruce felt comfortable enough to bring me on as an intern, contributing pieces under the guidance of then editor Kyle Bylin (now at Live Nation Labs). I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to leverage this opportunity. I had no interest in music technologies at the time, and didn’t plan on entering the space at all. I just knew I could write and this was an opportunity in the music industry that I could somehow utilize. How exactly? I had no idea.

My first article as an intern was entitled, “HOW TO: Engage Fans on Twitter Like Snoop Dogg.” Sure enough, Snoop got word of that piece and tweeted it out to his (at the time) 2.1 million followers. Needless to say, Bruce and Kyle were excited about that. Hypebot then granted me creative liberty to write about topics that interested me, and I had found myself wearing a new hat – one that seemingly found me – and one that fit me just right.

I continued as a contributing writer for Hypebot until I finished my college education. And on May 21st, 2012, the very next Monday after I had earned my degree, I moved up to the position of Senior Music and Technology Analyst.

The Lesson – While it’s tremendously important to plan, be sure to leave room for sudden and unexpected opportunities. Try to remain open to any and all opportunities that are conducive to your growth. Just because you cannot connect the dots now, does not mean you shouldn’t begin aligning them today.

6. To Be Successful, You Must Live & Breathe This

I don't consider what I do a “job,” nor would I sell it short by calling it a "career," either. What I do is very much a lifestyle choice, and it has engulfed my entire existence (for better or for worse). To this day, I still attend as many live concerts as possible, I still play music as enthusiastically as I did when I was a child, and I wake up every morning excited to see what my inbox looks like. The vast majority of my friends are still musicians or music fanatics (yes, fanatics), and I care more than ever about where the music industry is headed because music is the lifeblood of who I am, and of those closest to me. I’ve chosen to surround myself with people and environments that keep my passion alive, and I never take for granted the opportunities that have been bestowed upon me.

The Lesson – There is no “on” or “off” switch when it comes to pursuing your goal. You must be “on” all the time. This is your passion, your life, and how you plan on making a living for yourself - don’t take it lightly.

I am incredibly thankful to be here, among you. This is only the beginning...

How Well Does Social Media Marketing Work? [INFOGRAPHIC] [hypebot]

Bruce Houghton — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:28:00 +0000

Facebook. Twitter. Pineterest. YouTube. Google+. Every day we share stats, tools and tricks on how to make social media work for you. Does it make a difference? Is the ROI of all your efforts amplification of your message or actual monetary gain? Amanda Palmer is proving with her $1M Kickstarter campaign that, at least for her, it can be both. But your not Palmer. You're running your own small business. Pagemodo asked business people: Does social media marketing work?

Click On Image To Enlarge

Two Big Announcements For Hypebot [hypebot]

Bruce Houghton — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:56:00 +0000

(UPDATED) It's a big day at Hypebot, with two big announcements to share. First, Hisham Dahud, who has been a regular contributor here, is joining us as a Senior Music and Technology Analyst. Hisham has just graduated from college, and will now have a daily presence on Hypebot, and split his time between writing, a bit of consulting for our sister company Skyline Music and his work in business development at Fame House.

I also want to acknowledge the increasing role that Clyde is playing on Hypebot with the addition of Senior to his title. Senior Contributor Clyde Smith will continue to post daily on topics across the spectrum of topics we cover here.

Please join me in congratulating Hisham and Clyde! As always, our goal is CANI - constant and never ending improvement of our coverage of music, technology and the new music industry.

The Crowdfunding Bible On Campaigns That Succeeded & Those That Failed [Free Ebook] [hypebot]

Clyde Smith — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:28:00 +0000

Scott Steinberg's new book, The Crowdfunding Bible: How To Raise Money For Any Startup, Video Game, or Project, is now available as a free download or a hard copy purchase.

If you're thinking about crowdfunding anything, it's worth a look for its detailed discussion of what to consider from start to finish. It includes a number of interviews with folks who ran successful campaigns but it's also quite useful for its discussion of campaigns that failed.

The Crowdfunding Bible is available as a free download, no email or other info required. It can also be purchased at Lulu in a paperback edition.

Steinberg's created a thorough introduction to crowdfunding that goes far beyond anything else I've seen to date. Given that we're now at the point where a musician like Amanda Palmer can raise a milli via Kickstarter, there's a lot of data available and The Crowdfunding Bible is a good first step towards considering what folks have learned to date.

Steinberg advocates researching campaigns that succeeded but also campaigns that failed. He includes a section of research questions (pp. 14-17) to ask about each element of a project that offers a thorough approach to dissecting a campaign. Honestly it's the kind of thing that would make most people's eyes glaze over and makes me think that forming a discussion or work group to analyze campaigns would be a smart place to start.

Steingberg identifies key attributes of successful campaigns (p. 20):

A solid idea and sellable vision for the product or service
Careful pre-planning and preparation
A strong presentation, ideally coupled with high production values
A reward structure that appeals to the project's audience
Ongoing outreach to backers
Effective social media, marketing and PR strategies
The presence of a popular pre-existing brand or personality that's attached to the project, or an existing audience for the property

Whatever you think of Amanda Palmer, you should be able to see that her campaign had all these elements.

Steinberg also shares characteristics of campaigns that failed (p. 30-32):

Lack of a trusted brand, brand identity, well-known personality, and/ or lack of a compelling vision.
Failure to clearly explain and illustrate projects' core value proposition and/or benefits.
Lack of differentiation and the inability to define and communicate unique sales points.
Failure to generate awareness or engage potential backers.
Setting campaign funding goals too high.

The Crowdfunding Bible includes a series of interviews with people who ran successful campaigns (pp. 60-78). This section will be especially useful for learning through storytelling. It's a great balance to the rigorous approach advocated by Steinberg and gives one a chance to see different forms of success.

If you're ready to move beyond a handful of tips and a hunch, then you should definitely check out The Crowdfunding Bible.

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

The Four P’s of Playing Live Shows: Post-Show [Music Think Tank]

Wed, 30 May 2012 10:00:48 +0000

Dave Cool is the Director of Artist Relations for musician website and marketing platform Bandzoogle. Twitter: @Bandzoogle | @dave_cool

The “Four P’s” is a term used to describe the traditional Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. I’m borrowing from that expression to talk about the Four P’s of Playing Live Shows: Preparation, Promotion, Performance, and Post-Show. This series of blog posts will cover the things that you can be doing as a live performer to maximize each show. In the final part of this series, we’ll go over what to do after your show is finished:

The Four P’s of Playing Live Shows: Post-Show

It would be tempting to start this blog post talking about the things you can do starting the day after your show, but the truth is that the real work begins the minute you step off stage. Once your show is over, it is arguably the most important time to solidify relationships with your fans, with the bands you’ve played with, and with the venue. Here are 5 things to do right after your show that will help you do just that:

1. Go to the merch table and greet fans

Right after you finish performing, whatever you do, don’t go hide backstage. The days of elusive rock stars is over, and the new music industry is all about connecting directly with your fans. Yes, you can do that on social media, but nothing beats meeting your fans in person, where you can really strengthen those connections.

So even though you might be tired, and you have to work early the next day, instead of having a drink backstage and then heading home, go straight to the merch table to hang out, and stay there until every fan has left.

2. Thank the staff

Before leaving your show, be sure to personally thank the soundman, bartenders, wait staff, and booker (if they’re at the show). Shake their hands and thank them for the opportunity to perform at their venue. This goes a long way in developing a strong relationship with the venue.

3. Thank other bands that performed

One commenter named Greg over at Music Think Tank suggested this, and I completely agree. Don’t forget to thank the other bands that performed that night. Creating a strong sense of community with other bands is never a bad thing, and acknowledging their performance goes a long way to developing and strengthening those relationships.

4. Load-up and leave on time

Don’t overstay your welcome at the venue. If they close at a certain time, make sure you’re out the door at that time. After a long night, it can be demoralizing for staff to stay later, especially if people aren’t buying drinks or food anymore, but simply hanging out and chatting. Which leads to the next point…

5. After party

You can take the direct-to-fan relationship even further and organize an after party. Invite fans to go out for drinks or a bite to eat after your show and get to know them even better.

Post-Show Marketing

It might sound strange to continue marketing after your show, but to complete the full promotional cycle for a live show, there are a few things you can do in the days following to get the most impact for your show:

Thank fans on Twitter & Facebook

The night of or day after your show, post a short thank you note on Facebook & Twitter. Photos tend to get more likes, shares, and re-tweets, so include a nice photo of your band performing along with the note.

Send a thank you note to everyone who signed up to your mailing list

As noted artist manager Emily White has said, an email list is “an artist’s retirement plan”. A mailing list is still the best way to stay in touch with your fans, so treat those email addresses like gold. In the days following your show, send a personal thank you note to everyone who signs up to your list.

Post a photo gallery on your website

Create a photo gallery on your website of the best photos from your show, which will help drive people to your website, and also give people a taste of how fun your live show is.

Write a blog post about the show

In other posts, we’ve stressed how important blogging is in strengthening the connection with your fans and driving people to your website so writing a review/wrap-up of your live shows is an easy to create a blog post that will accomplish both of those things. Fans who were at the show will get to know what your perspective of the show was, and if you include some photos of the fans who were there, even better.

Record a video for your fans

Even if you’re on the road touring, taking a few minutes to record a quick video thank you for your fans from the tour van/hotel room/train station is a great gesture that fans will appreciate. You get to show off your personality, maybe tell an interesting story from the show/tour, and express your gratitude to your fans.

Post-Show Evaluation

OK, you’re almost done. As we mentioned in the blog post about “Performance”, you should try to record your show on video. It’s really important for you to be able to evaluate your performance so you can make improvements that will make your live show better. Here are some things to look out for:

Performance (technical)

Did you make any mistakes from a technical standpoint? i.e. Did you screw up any songs? Do some songs need more practice? Were the transitions between songs smooth? Did any equipment malfunction?

Stage Presence

How was your stage presence? How did the band look on stage? Nervous? Bored? Comfortable? Confident? Did you show passion during your performance?

Set List

How did the set list go over with the crowd? Did the songs do well in that order? Could a different song order or different songs improve the flow of the show?

Fan Interaction

How was your interaction with the audience? Did you thank them? Ask them questions? Did you make sure to mention your mailing list and merch from the stage?

And you’re done… sort of

Now all you have to do is repeat all “4 P’s” for your next show! I know this all sounded like a lot of work, maybe even too much work, but to get the most out of your live shows, you really have to go the extra mile.

The wonderful thing about the new music industry is that every artist out there can record, distribute and promote their music for next to nothing. However, this has created an environment where you’re now competing with thousands (and thousands) of other artists, which in turn has brought on new challenges for artists, most importantly standing out from the crowd and fan retention.

Great music will always need to be the base of your promotional strategy, and a great live performance is close behind. But those two things alone aren’t enough anymore, and you need to work just as hard, or harder, than every other artist out there if you want to forge a sustainable career in the music industry.

Thank You

Thanks for reading, I really hope you enjoyed the “Four P’s of Playing Live” Blog Series. After spending several years booking venues in Montreal, I wanted to share some of the best practices I had seen over the course of programming 500+ events. I hope there was some information in these blog posts that will bring your live show to the next level, help you get more gigs, and help you make a stronger connection to your fans.

Cheers,

Dave Cool
Director of Artist Relations
Bandzoogle

The Four P’s of Playing Live

1. Preparation

2. Promotion

3. Performance

4. Post-Show

Special thanks to Elida Arrizza for the image concept for the blog series.

Dave Cool is the Director of Artist Relations for musician website and marketing platform Bandzoogle. Twitter: @Bandzoogle | @dave_cool

"Perhaps your anxiety is specific to magicians" [Seth Godin]

Seth Godin — Wed, 30 May 2012 09:53:00 +0000

I found that quote in a strangely-translated instruction manual for an obscure but beautiful trick.

But it has wide applicability.

Perhaps your anxiety is specific to artists or musicians or to anyone who has to stand up and stand out and stand for something.

It turns out that your anxiety isn't specific at all. Perhaps it is due to the fact that you're trying to control things that you can't possibly control.

Your anxiety might merely be a sign that you care deeply about your work.

Anxiety is almost never a useful emotion to carry around. Even for magicians.

Now that you've been reminded that you care, it pays to let the anxiety go. Good riddance.

Marketing Plan Tactics For Independent Musicians – Part 3 of 3: Content Is King [Music Think Tank]

Tue, 29 May 2012 10:00:12 +0000

Here’s the final post in my 3 part series discussing some basic marketing plan elements for independent musicians. So far we’ve gotten Everything In Order (Website is up-and-running, Newsletter plan is in place and Touring and Merchandise steps have been taken) and we’ve also had a successful Album Launch.

What now?

To build off of all this progress that has been made, you will now have to keep supplying content to strengthen your relationship and stay relevant with your current fans while at the same time this content will also help increase your fanbase. Additional merchandise is one idea: you can make vinyl for the last album or announce new T-shirt designs. You can also create more videos for songs off the last album or videos of you performing covers…..yes the latter of which is copyright infringement. Here’s a tip: Set up a second YouTube channel for all your cover videos to protect your official artist YouTube channel from being shut down (but this hardly ever happens).

Below I’ve gone into detail for three important content streams: Music, Social Media, and Live Shows.

MUSIC

Gone are the days of releasing an album once every couple of years and leaving it at that. Today’s artists need to be constantly feeding their fanbase new music. Here are some great ways this can be accomplished:

Alternate versions of your album tracks: Have a DJ remix one of your songs. And I’m not saying this has to be a famous DJ, just someone who knows the technology and is creative. If you’re interested in holding a remix contest, you should contact the folks over at Indaba Music. They put together some great remix campaigns for artists. For louder more rockin’ acts, take a page from Nirvana and release an album of stripped down acoustic versions of your studio tracks. Last idea here is to release a live album, preferably from the CD release show, but any show will work as long as the audio is of top quality.

Covers: We all know the benefits of covering songs by popular artists and how they can help independent artists gain a wider audience. Instead of simply covering a song from some famous band though, put out a collection of cover songs and come up with a unique theme that ties all the songs together, such as artist tribute albums. Here’s an idea, cover all the songs that you have loved and that have influenced you over the years, from being a kid until the present day.

*Please note, anyone can legally cover a song (if just audio, not video). The only clearance you need is to obtain and pay for a mechanical license for the song(s). Harry Fox Agency is the foremost mechanical licensing agency in the US. Or work with Limelight who will get the license for you at a cost of $15 per song on top of the mechanical license fee.

Singles/EPs: Great tools for new music releases in between album cycles to keep you fresh in people’s minds. I prefer releasing EPs over singles if possible. It’s more of a press story when you release a few songs verses just one and more for the fans too.

LIVE SHOWS

Continue to tour, hitting the same markets that you played while supporting the new album to build on the momentum that has been made. There’s financial limitations though on how often you can tour and you more than likely won’t be able to tour to every market where you have some fans. Live streaming is a great solution to these limitations. Using a company like Ustream or Livestream, broadcast a weekly or monthly show from your home or rehearsal space. Make a Facebook invite with all the details and send to your fans, post on twitter, and let everyone on your mailing list know.

Now you’ll want to keep the shows fresh and different to aid in increasing viewership from week to week; here are some ways to do that. How about playing a game at the end of the performance or midway through using the chat feature? It would be a fun way to interact with the viewers each week/month. Trivia would be a very easy game to pull off, where people could win merch or any other prizes that you can get your hands on. Play new cover songs each week; better yet, ask people what covers you should play for the next week. Post the question to Facebook and the song suggestion that get the most likes will be the one(s) you cover. Also, have guest performers join you: a great way to add a new element to the live stream while cross promoting to each others’ fans at the same time.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Real simple here: keep doing it. Just because you may not have a big ticket item like a new album, that doesn’t mean you should stop communicating with your fans on a regular basis. Newsletters should still be going out once a month, with blog posts being posted several times a month and twitter/facebook you should be updating daily. In addition to all the content I’ve gone over in this blog post thus far that you can share, post about things happening in your personal life, such as a vacation you just went on or a great movie you recently saw. Repost interesting articles you’ve just read or a post song from a band you recently discovered that you love. News, Politics, Celebrity gossip, parenting, fashion, art, and sports all make good topics for people to engage and connect around.

Now that you have continued to connect with fans, you’ll have a stronger and larger audience when you’re ready to release the next album. When you do start gearing up for the next album, serialize your posts, so people can follow along and feel like they are in the studio with you and in on the album making process. Include all your followers on the process as much as you can, such as asking their opinion on album title ideas.

I hope that you have found these blog posts helpful, and for more information on our Cyber PR® Marketing Plans For Musicians, please visit here.

-Chris Hacker

A hierarchy of business to business needs [Seth Godin]

Seth Godin — Tue, 29 May 2012 09:55:00 +0000

If you're selling a product or service to a business--to a non-owner--consider this hierarchy, from primary needs on down:

Avoiding risk
Avoiding hassle
Gaining praise
Gaining power
Having fun
Making a profit

In most large organizations, nothing happens unless at least one of these needs are met, and in just about every organization big enough and profitable enough to buy from you, the order of needs starts with the first one and works its way down the list.

That means that a sales pitch that begins with how much money the organization will make is pretty unlikely to work. Instead, the amount of profit has to be tied in to one of the other more primary needs of the person sitting across the table from you (as well as the committee or boss she reports to).

B2B selling is just like regular sales, except the customer (who might not be the person you're meeting with) is spending someone else's money (and wants to please the boss).

Patti Smith Drops Some Music Wisdom [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Mon, 28 May 2012 22:28:42 +0000

Patti Smith has the sort of career and cultural impact that I’d think most artists aspire too have. She makes honest work and understands art and music in its true sense, or at least searches for that truth. Spin magazine got a chance to talk to her and she offered some classic words of inspiration. I’ve highlighted some of the dopest quotes but the whole interview is worth your time.

It’s important that an artist asks himself if the things he’s offering the world have merit. Are they of worth? Are they worth the paper they’re on, the amount of materials that went into making them?

Creating art is supposed to come from the highest part of one’s self, so naturally you’re going to have questions. …As an artist, one thinks, “What is the purpose of art? Can we make a difference? Is art just more pollution in an already polluted world?” There are a million questions one asks oneself….a lot of questions that I’m constantly asking myself as an artist about the process of art.

…My major concern was to do good work. That’s my main rule: The work has to be worthy. Everything else falls away after that. The important thing is really to do good work and to be able to step back from it and say, “I believe this is good work. I believe that it has worth in the world.”

I write every single day, even if it’s just a little. (More at SPIN)

Music Consciousness
Voyno

Creating Global Music Collaborations #Soma [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:23:13 +0000

I’ve been hearing about global music collaborations since the dawn of the web. Similarly minded artists meet on the net, send each other tracks, and then boom, international mixtape…. but EXACTLY how do you do this?

I tracked down electronic artist Soma, who was recently featured on a global collaboration, Cosmic Core Volume 1 (22 tracks, 19 countries), to find out how he did it.

How did you meet your collaborators?

Around Christmas I started this new project (Soma). Bought a legitimate copy of Ableton Live (music production/performance software), and started working with it. I’m new to this program so I spent a lot of time cruising YouTube for tutorials.…a lot of the best videos are coming from this guy Tom Cosm from New Zealand. He’s really down-to-earth, excited about what he’s doing, knowledgable, and shares tonnes of information for free. I joined the forum on his website (a community of something like 12,000 members sharing information and resources for making electronic music), and started getting involved a little bit. I’ve never really been active on a web forum and people from all over the world listening to each other’s music, giving feedback, advice, etc.

How did your music end up on the compilation?

Shortly after I joined the forum, someone floated the idea of putting out a mix-tape of user’s material. I was just finishing up the first track that I had done on Ableton (RainSong), so I submitted it in time and it got thrown into the mix.A tonne of work went into the album behind the scenes, a lot of guys wrote tracks specifically for it (including Tom Cosm himself), and most of the tracks needed mastering work which was done by a fellow on the forum on a volunteer basis.It was pretty frantic for the couple of days leading up to the release, I’m pretty sure a few all-nighters were pulled to get it ready in time. I’m really lucky to have been able to just post a track and have all these super committed people haul ass to make it happen.

What’s been the benefit to you ?

In my experience, making progress in a career as an artist is all about demonstrating legitimacy. Just being able to say that I’ve released material on an international compilation album is a really interesting step, especially when the project is so new. It’s really cool to see what can be accomplished by people who aren’t motivated by money. A committed group of people, doing something for the simple pleasure of doing it, can be a surprisingly powerful thing.

So long story short, you get to work with international artists, once you start making friends with them. Cosmic Volume 1 was made in the electronic world with engaged forum users, but the lessons can be applied to any genre –> As long as you find a community like Soma did, or create a community like Tom Cosm, international collaborations can be achieved. Just do it.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

10 Reasons You Shouldn't Wish For Overnight Success [Music Think Tank]

Mon, 28 May 2012 10:00:06 +0000

1. You won’t be mentally prepared to deal with all of the fame, fortune, and international attention. You will crash and burn. Remember what happened to Susan Boyle?

2. You won’t be well-rehearsed or experienced enough and your performance won’t be ready for overnight global attention. Remember what happened to Ashlee Simpson on Saturday Night Live?

3. Critics and fans will eat you alive for every little misstep you do, crushing your soul and spirit in the process. Whether it be a misconstrued comment to reporter, a silly tweet, a questionable photo, or even what you’re eating or wearing… you will have a target firmly painted on your forehead for all to take aim at.

4. You will have a very short career. Overnight successes do not create life-long fans. They create flash-in-the-pan, one-hit wonders.

5. You will spend most of your money while being consumed in the excitement and frenzy of your new-found celebrity… only to find yourself broke when your fame suddenly dries up overnight.

6. Substance abuse and addiction is virtually imminent. Your handlers will push you beyond the brink of what your body is able to physically endure in order to squeeze every last dollar out of your celebrity before it fades away. You will be forced to medicate in order to deal with and maintain your frantic schedule.

7. You won’t have the wisdom of past experiences to guide you through the confusing and often deceitful industry. You will be taken advantage of; personally, professionally and financially.

8. You won’t be able to repeat the same level of success ever again. Having your life hit its peak overnight and then fade away as quickly as it appeared is a soul-crushing event and a recipe for severe mental depression, stress and anguish.

9. True success is all about the continuous journey of improvement and the satisfaction you get from enduring the tough times and accomplishing your dreams and visions through persistence and hard work. If you skip the process and the journey itself, your enjoyment will be short-lived, regardless of your riches.

10. Your values and ideals will be compromised. You will lose control of the very thing you believe in the most… your art. You will have to sign lengthy and confusing contracts with labels and agents and managers and publishers and promoters and attorneys… all of whom will steer your life and career in a direction which benefits their own needs, not yours.

by Brian Thompson

Visit Brian online:

Thorny Bleeder - Music Marketing, Branding & Motivation

The DIY Daily - Newsletter and Podcast

MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: How Vinyl and iPods Ganged Up to Kill the CD & more [Music Think Tank]

Sat, 26 May 2012 10:00:05 +0000

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

Ariel Hyatt: M arketing Plan Tactics For Independent Musicians - Part 2 of 3: Album Launch
Tom Dennehy: How Vinyl and iPods Ganged Up to Kill the Audio CD
Mark Knight: Can You Recover From Free Music?
Simon Tam: How to Get Gigs on Sonicbids

How to Get Gigs on Sonicbids [Music Think Tank]

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:00:13 +0000

A while ago, I wrote this article about How to Get Better Results From Your Sonicbids Submissions. Since then, there have been a few changes to the site (both for promoters as well as performers). All of the advice from the first article still applies so if you haven’t read it, take a look at it first.

Here’s some practical advice for those of you who would like to use Sonicbids to get gigs and what my thoughts are on it (both as an artist as well as a promoter):

Make Your EPK Stand Out: There’s nothing worse than submitting an incomplete EPK. This includes tour dates. Contrary to what you might think, the EPK is the first thing that the promoter sees, not the submission questions that you’re sometimes required to complete. If you plan on using Sonicbids often (let’s face it, it’s one of the few ways to submit to SXSW, CMJ, or some other opportunities), then splurge a little and pay for the premium account, at least for the months that you’re using it often. Get your elevator pitch down. Grab their attention immediately. Listing the band members in your bio (unless you have a celebrity in the lineup) is a waste of time, same with spending an entire paragraph talking about what you sound like. Instead, focus on what sets you apart from every other artist, how you will make them money, and a deep understanding of your target audience. Use bullet points when possible: if it easier to read and you make every sentence count, promoters are more likely to read it thoroughly. If you are not as active, simply downgrade your account later.
When Submitting to Gigs, Use the Sort Function: If you want more time and attention spent on your EPK, then get in line first. When you log into your profile, click on “Find Gigs” and then sort the listings by “Date Added.” Check this often. Artists that get in the door first show initiative and have a better chance of getting in (as opposed to those who submit last, after most of the decisions have already been made). Make it a weekly habit to check your status/messages from promoters and follow up. If you want to try being the last one in, you can always sort for submissions based on their deadline.
Link Your Account to All Other Social Media Sites: As soon as a promoter opens your EPK in a submission window, your social media stats are featured. In fact, they are shown more prominently than your bio or anything else. Right of the bat, a promoter will see how many fans you have on Myspace, what your Jango score is, and how many fans you have. Leave no stone unturned: even as irreverent Myspace is, a higher number of fans on your profile still looks more impressive than an empty space. To add sites, click on “Edit My EPK” and enter the field in “Other Sites.” Drag the most prominent and active sites to the top. While you’re there. customized your URL. It looks much better to be sonicbids.com/BANDNAME than a collection of numbers/letters.
See What Others Are Doing: Check out the EPK’s of artists getting the most gigs each week (Track Buzz) so you can see what they’re doing right. Getting gigs helps you get more gigs (believe it or not, the little icons you get for “Booking your first 25, 50, or 100 gigs does stand out and is highlighted to the promoter).
Keep Up With Your Stats: If you have a premium account, you get access to your profile stats (Manage EPK>My Stats) so you can see how many views/plays you’re receiving, what parts of your profile are being looked at, etc. However, one of the greatest features is the oft-ignored “Plugins” section on the right hand side. The social media stats/buzz that you see here are the ones that are shared with promoters. If the Twitter Buzz results are pulling up results that are not relevant, make adjustments to the search query so that your music is being talked about (and not something else with a similar name).
Keep the Gig Calendar Full: I know, it’s a pain. Shows to enter on your own site, Reverb Nation, Myspace, Facebook Events, etc. It can get overwhelming with the amount of data entry. However, Murphy’s Law suggests that wherever you forget to include your tour dates, that will probably be the area that the promoter looks at. Promoters don’t have the time to following up with each of your sites to see how busy your band is. You might have an extensive tour booked all over the world on your website, but if someone looks at your EPK’s empty gig list, you’re going to look pretty pathetic. If it’s easier, delegate calendar updates in the band to different members – just make sure that the same basic information (show time, entry fee, etc.) is the same across the board.

Whether you like it or not, Sonicbids is a tool that is being used by many, many promoters, especially larger music festivals. If you are going to use the site, then do it properly so that you can maximize the results. If not, then focus on your own sites that you do well (most of the basic principles remain the same).

Simon Tam is owner of Last Stop Booking and author of How to Get Sponsorships and Endorsements. Simon’s writing on music and marketing can be found at www.laststopbooking.com

5 Steps for Musicians to Dominate Facebook (or ANY Social Media) [Music Marketing]

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:34:13 +0000

1. Be Approachable Being successful on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media outlet is a lot like being successful in a bar—If you want people to talk to you, you need to be approachable. Showing your "human side" will...

Karmin and a DTF Approach to Building Up Leverage [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Tue, 22 May 2012 13:23:14 +0000

Karmin was signed by LA Reid last year to be the flagship artist of the revived Sony imprint, Epic. Over the past 12 months, they’ve played Saturday Night Live, Leno, and Ellen. Their single “Brokenhearted” peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was certified a Gold Single (500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA.

I’ve known Amy and Nick from back in the day (Amy took some courses with me), and I think they are a good example of artists working really hard to gain visibility, build leverage, and then use this leverage to forward their career. In their case, this meant working with a major label.

I interviewed Karmin a few weeks back about their path to success, which included a lot of DTF best practices. Check out the interview here:

Bandsoup Helps You Spread Your Music [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:29:45 +0000

Here at the New Rockstar Philosophy we’re always looking for new tools and resources that musicians can add to their arsenal and connect with more fans. Recently I saw that one of my friends bands had connected with a new service called Bandsoup. I got in touch with Ryan from Bandsoup to find out a little bit more about their service.

What makes Bandsoup different from other music services?

First and foremost– we’re faster. Our music player is quick to load and plays instantly.
We focus on emerging unsigned artists and their newer releases.
The other differences are in the simplicity of the site: navigation, registration, and playing for the listeners and registration, uploading, and maintenance for the artists.
We are also in Beta mode and will be continuously adding features for both listeners and artists.

What are your plans with the site?

We plan to continually develop new features to empower artists and listeners and make the uploading, listening, and sharing of music as fast, easy, and fun as possible. We also hope to continuously build our blog (http://blog.bandsoup.com/) and break new artists that share their music on our site, as well as continue to have fun with all the bands and listeners that have become like a mini-family to us.

What’s the benefit for artists?

BandSoup is a fast, simple, and free way for artists to get their music in front of new audiences. Every song that is uploaded goes directly to the homepage (as opposed to being buried in the depths of Pandora, iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, etc). We want to facilitate new musical connections and, ideally, form long lasting musical relationships. Once connected, artists and listeners directly engage in a variety of commerce as they see fit. Artists have complete control of how they use BandSoup and can delete their songs at anytime.

As Ryan said, Bandsoup is still in its Beta mode and they’ll be adding new features. But even in its present state Bandsoup could be a great way to share your music. The service definitely focuses on the music first with no annoying ads and I found myself exploring the site checking out random bands and enjoining what I heard. So if you’re looking for new music or looking to share your own sign up to Bandsoup.com here.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

SNL Recap: Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, and Jeff Beck Join Mick Jagger For Rolling Stones Classics [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Sun, 20 May 2012 17:34:16 +0000

Being from Canada I find that it’s often difficult to judge just how big home-grown talent has become. I know the Arcade Fire headline festivals and win awards around the world but still…

Well last night gave me a new perspective as I saw the Arcade Fire back Mick Jagger for a version of The Stones classic Last Time, plus Ruby Tuesday and She’s Like A Rainbow. So I guess Arcade Fire are true superstars.

Then Mick played with the Foo Fighters which was pretty epic as well. Mick and Jeff Beck also jammed on a strange political blues song, but Jeff Beck can def wail. Bonus points for the peeps who can spot yet another legendary artist in the mix.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

Post of the Month: How to turn a YouTube hit into Dollars and Fans [Volume 11]

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:14:49 +0000

This month, I chose “How to turn a YouTube hit into Dollars and Fans” from the Topspin Media Blog to highlight for V11′s blog post of the month.

The blog is a case study of how the band Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers converted YouTube sucess into an increase in fans and sales.

What I like about the article is that it includes so many ideas for improving your YouTube presense, from how to maximize the fan experience through video descriptions, to tracking views, licensing and copyright issues related to using cover songs, and becoming a youtube partner. A very detailed, educational and interesting read for the business focused independent artist.

So whether you are already experiencing sucess on YouTube, or you are just hoping to in the future, check out “How to turn a YouTube hit into Dollars and Fans” and maximize your YouTube efforts.

New Productivity Tool - Your Got-Done List! [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Bob Baker — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:05:00 +0000

You make them. I make them. Just about everybody uses or has used a To-Do List to get things done.

Of course. How else would we know what to focus our energy and attention on every day?

No doubt, To-Do Lists serve an important purpose. But if you're anything like me, seeing all the things on your list that don't get done can be frustrating.

Create a Facebook event page for the next show ... Finish editing the new video ... Sign up and start a profile on the hot new Social Buzz site ... Post a link to the new blog post on Twitter ... Take the car in for a state inspection ... Make time to write songs and practice ... oh yeah, find time to eat and sleep ...

No matter how diligent and effective you may be, there's always a growing list of things you just can't get to during any given day, week or month.

That's why I suggest you start a new list: Your Got-Done List.

Yes! You need to acknowledge and celebrate what you've already accomplished to truly feel good about all this list-making activity.

At the end of a busy day, has anyone ever asked you what you did that day? Most likely you hemmed and hawed and could only remember a couple of things. That's sad.

Not long ago I created my own Got-Done List sheet. For a couple of days, as I completed various tasks (whether they were on my To-Do List or not) I wrote them down on the sheet.

And guess what?

At the end of each day I was amazed at how much I had accomplished over the course of several hours. As I looked over each day's long list of completed tasks, I felt satisfied and productive.

But that rarely happens when you focus only on your To-Do List -- which really should be renamed the "Bunch of Stuff I'm Too Lame to Get Done List"!

How empowered do you feel when you focus only on the unfinished tasks you still have yet to do?

The best way to get things done is to create both lists: One to record the important stuff you want or need to get done, and another to log the (hopefully) many things you actually do.

At the end of the day, you deserve to feel good about how you spent your time and the progress you made ...

Of course, if the items on your Got-Done List consist only of "Took a nap" and "Watched Seinfeld reruns," you have another issue that needs to be dealt with :)

But my view of you is more optimistic. I know you proactively pursue your passions and take steps every day to make a difference with your music and your message. And to you I say, "Make a daily Got-Done List to celebrate all of your many accomplishments."

What do you think? Have you ever used this idea? Did I miss something? I welcome your comments.

-Bob

Is Your Music Ego Costing You Money? #album [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:36:33 +0000

Look, I know you’re sick of your latest release. I know that the songs are old news to you and that you’ve written a dozen new ones already. I know that you’re changing your musical direction and you’ve grown older and wiser since your last release. I know you’re selling material that you feels old, but listen, before you spend another $10,000 to record your next album, ask yourself this: Has your last album been fully exploited? Have done everything in your power to get your last release heard by as many people as possible?

I’m willing to bet that most people reading this will answer “No” (including me).

Most folks haven’t made a video for every single song on their last album. Most folks haven’t spent the appropriate time pushing each song, making each song an event, strategically releasing content to their fans over an extended period of time. Most people haven’t exploited their own content fully.

So if you haven’t, then why are you thinking about recording a new album? Beware of that sort of ego. It can become very expensive. That sort of musician ego can end up putting you in an endless loop of spending money to record, putting out a record, losing interest in it, going back in and recording another record. If you have endless funds and need not market your music, then by all means feed your ego. But for most artists there has to be a part where you share your music and really get your value from those recordings. Value in the sense that each song that you once were in love is shown to the world, and maybe, just maybe, it actually will make you some money allowing you to keep recording.

Music Consciousness
Voyno

Reel Stuff Entertainment, a growing video…

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:15:04 +0000

Reel Stuff Entertainment, a growing video production company with Hollywood ties (clients include ESPN, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, Groupon & More) is joining forces with a seasoned veteran in web marketing & optimization firm Evolvor Media to offer high-quality video production to area businesses at a price that many will find to be unavailable anywhere else.

“This is the one component to my business that I’ve been looking to have for a long time” said Senior Web Strategist Eric Hebert. “The key to everything these days is conversion. I can drive traffic to your website all day long (Hebert has over 8+ years in Search Engine Marketing & Viral Marketing experience), but if your website isn’t converting, then what’s the point? Adding the video element drives conversion rates through the roof, we’ve proven it in the short time we’ve worked together. The problem is most small businesses think they can’t afford quality video production. The guys at Reel Stuff provide just that, so it was a no-brainer that we join forces and offer our clients the full package, at rates they can afford”.

Reel Stuff Entertainment has produced more than 600 videos for broadcast and New Media applications since being established in 2003. Among these have been original series for The Discovery Channel and The Travel Channel, and original content for a roster of clients that includes Simon & Schuster, Harvard University Press, Lexis Nexis, AT&T and others.

Steve Jesper & Jesper Olsson, the duo behind Reel Stuff, specializes in travel and reality programming. In 2007, Reel Stuff produced the 15-episode original series “Living Tomorrow” for The Discovery Channel, and in 2009 delivered a 20-part series of travel videos about the city of Philadelphia to The Travel Channel for distribution on Mobile, Video-on-Demand and Internet platforms. The Company continues to work with both The Discovery Channel and The Travel Channel on new projects.

Eric Hebert formed Evolvor Media in January 2007. Since 2004 Hebert has been actively involved in the online marketing sector, spending thousands of hours understanding the constantly evolving Web and learning the various techniques on how to promote and brand yourself using them. After offering B2B consulting in areas such as SEO, Social Media, Web Analytics, and other marketing techniques, he decided to move his business to Philadelphia in late 2011 to build a local team of creative & tech savvy individuals to offer a full suite of services to his clients.

“Eric is a marketing rockstar” says Janas. “We’re just an affordable video production crew and that’s what we want to focus on. Eric has proven he knows what he’s talking about and we can’t wait to see where our business is going to be in a few months. With our video work and his web strategies, clients are going to fall in love with what we do for their business and bottom-line”

The two companies will continue to operate as separate entities while working out the ownership details of their new venture, which in addition to client work includes several joint-ventures with local companies and a television show the duo produced that is being shopped to various advertisers. The group are also currently waiting to close an initial round of investing from a private investment group to fund further growth.

Welcome to the Music Business... You're Fucked. [Music Marketing]

Sat, 12 May 2012 18:14:11 +0000

Martin Atkins is best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He is also the founder of Invisible Records. Two things you should know... 1. Martin is getting ready...

Your Email Marketing (and How to Improve It) [Music Marketing]

Wed, 09 May 2012 01:45:14 +0000

This is a guest video/post from Chris Rockett at Music Marketing Classroom. Notes from the video... Email Marketing in a Nutshell Get fans on the email list, entertain them on a regular basis, and then link to something they can...

You Are Not Selling Music [Music Marketing]

Sat, 05 May 2012 18:20:19 +0000

What people buy and what they say they buy are, almost always, two different things. For example, nobody just buys a new car. When somebody gets a new car, he is buying: Status Ease Sex Appeal An Ego Boost A...

I don’t need a website or a mailing list [Make It In Music]

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:15:31 +0000

Actually, yes you do!

And it is the single most annoying issue that I have to deal with time and time again with every musician, apart from perhaps those who refuse to listen to constructive criticism about their material.

I think it stems from the misplaced belief that when you believe that what you’re doing is great, you think that every opportunity will come to you. Sure, you must be great, but you still have to work to build a fanbase that will help you get to your goal.

Endlessly I have musicians sit in front of me and explain that they haven’t got a website because they have a Facebook page and they don’t have an email list as people won’t give up their real email, or because they don’t want to spam their fans.

Two facts

1. You have no choice. Owning and controlling your own website with your own domain means that you are no longer at the mercy of Facebook or MySpace (see what happened there?).

CD Baby's reasons why you NEED a website

Facebook really messed up your plans when they introduced Timeline the other day I’m sure. We’ll tell you more about how to combat that soon, but there’s the rub – if you don’t own your own real estate on the web, somebody else can change the game on you.

You absolutely should have a presence for your band and music on Facebook but having your own site means that you dictate how it looks, what the content is and what you want a fan or someone dropping by gets to see and hear. Your ability to design and make this space feel how you want it to and put across your image is unmatched by any social network.

Then there’s the fact that because you own it you get to use it that way….forever. No-one can take that traffic away from you and no matter what game gets changed, you’ll still have a place that your fans will want to come to. And that’s where you build the core of your relationship.

Of course, put all your videos on YouTube. But when you email your fans or tweet a link make it to the video that you have embedded in a post on your site, not to YouTube. That’s to the post on your site where they can also sign up to your mailing list, buy music and merchandise or listen to a stream of your new EP – all the way you want them to.

2. A mailing list means that you can interact with more of your fans more of the time – asking them to do whatever you want – come to a gig, buy a single, listen to a song. Whatever….you want.

People always moan to me about how people won’t sign up to a mailing lust. That’s because you’re doing it wrong. If you’re good and they like your music and you make the offer to sign up to your mailing list a good one, guess what, they’ll sign up. And they’ll stay signed up and they’ll open your emails.

If that’s not happening either your music isn’t up to snuff or you’re doing something else wrong.

And, when they want to hear from you, your emails aren’t spam.

Here’s why

I was inspired to write this post because of two things I read today. One was an old post from Ariel Hyatt on how to write an effective newsletter and this post from CD Baby about why your website is better than Facebook, from which we borrowed the image above.

Then there was this very lengthy business post about the future of the web in general and blogs in particular that completely debunked the myth that email is dying out to be replaced by messaging on Facebook and similar services. Utter rubbish.

If that’s your reason for not building a mailing list of fans, I’d urge you to read the whole thing. It’ll take half an hour, but about half way through it explains why building an email list is now more important than ever.

So, hopefully, that rant will inspire you to take on both these tasks. Every musician needs both.

Just imagine, if you have a mailing list and your own site, life can be really simple. You post something that you want your fans to see to your site and then you email them asking them to take a look. They open your email, click a link and go to your site. They like what they read, take the action you want them to and maybe buy your music or a ticket to a gig. If you’re really smart they might share it on Facebook or tweet it and spread the message further.

Rocket science apparently to most musicians. But not to you – just simple marketing.

Here’s how

We’ve written about this lots before – most recently in ’7 steps to break your band in 2012′. See steps 2 and 3 for everything you need to know about building your own website and setting up a mailing list for about $20 per month. Really.

I don’t really care whether you use the services that we recommend for web hosting and mailing lists. As long as you buy your own domain and build a website and use something to build a mailing list, that’s a massive step forward.

Check that post for all the ‘how to’ info and we keep adding stuff to our section on ‘Fan mailing lists’ here.

But, more than anything else I can tell you, do these two things as soon as you have some music that you are convinced the world will want to hear. You’ll be astonished at what you can achieve.

Playing Music on a Bike: 1963 vs 2012 [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:24:09 +0000

A friend of mine turned me onto a company called Cogoo which has created a way to turn a BMX bike into a fully functioning music mixer. Check it out here:

I love this juxtaposition with the original bicycle musician, Frank Zappa, in 1963:

As usual, Frank Zappa ahead of his time.

Your Music in Film and TV Shows [Music Marketing]

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:27:18 +0000

A few months ago, I put out a request for people to submit music for a documentary film about the Nashville Rollergirls. Within days, we had received over 1700 submissions. The "test" was successful. People are interested in direct opportunities...

Meet Me in Santa Monica This Sunday, April 29, 5 to 7 PM [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Bob Baker — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:09:00 +0000

I'll be in Los Angeles this week. While I'm there I will hold a casual "meetup" in Santa Monica, and YOU are invited.

Here are the details, if you're in the LA area:

Sunday, April 29
5:00 to 7:00 PM

Makai Lounge
101 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 434-1511
www.makailounge.com

Please RSVP on this Facebook event page.

Makai is at the corner of Ocean and Broadway -- just one block from the Santa Monica Pier. You'll find no-cost three-hour parking at the Promenade garage off of Broadway and 2nd St.

No workshop, no teaching. Just a casual get-together with cool, creative friends in the area. It's Happy Hour at Makai from 4 to 7 that day.

It's free to attend. You just need to cover your own food and drink. Anyone is welcome.

I'd love to meet you and hang out if you're in the area!

-Bob

Dick Clark: Tribute to an Icon & Legend [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Bob Baker — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:47:00 +0000

I'm old enough to remember Dick Clark's American Bandstand. Sure, it was safe and squeaky clean. But there's no denying that Dick Clark and his iconic TV show were trailblazers.

He introduced an entire generation of music fans to pop stars of the day. He was a prolific host, performer, and entrepreneur.

My biggest Dick Clark memory, though, was a double album called 20 Years of Rock N' Roll. My mom owned it and, along with her many Elvis records, this album was part of my early introduction to pop music of the '50s and '60s.

I salute Dick Clark for his immense contribution to American music history and culture.

If you want to learn more about the man and his legacy, here are some of the best news stories that were posted today:

USA Today

Huffington Post

ABC News

Pitchfork

New York Times

Wikipedia

Use This iPad App to Create Original Graphics [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Bob Baker — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:25:00 +0000

I'm really enjoying the new Paper app on the iPad. It's free to get the ink pen tool, and $7.99 for the full kit.

I sprang for the full version. Here's a quick doodle I made last night using it:

I plan to create my own graphics and use them in upcoming photos and videos, etc.

Here are links to learn more about it
itunes.apple.com/us/app/paper-by-fiftythree/id506003812
www.fiftythree.com

What about you?

How could you use Paper (or any other image creation app or software) to create original graphics to go with your original music?

-Bob

A few weeks ago I shot out an email about a good…

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 21:17:55 +0000

A few weeks ago I shot out an email about a good friend’s recent article that got published on a VERY well known blog. The article started a great conversation and did well. So well, in fact, that last week she got another one published, which got a lot of people talking on Twitter.

After the first article was published, a well known celebrity/gossip/lifestyle blog picked up the post and it since has gotten almost 40,000 views, over 700 facebook likes, plus hundreds of Tweets. That’s one hell of a pop to get people talking about her and her new book.

And yes, book sales are up quite a bit, but that’s not why I’m talking about this. What I AM here to talk about is how content rules in the online marketing world. Once you embrace this concept you can use it to drive eyeballs to your content and ultimately your product. I’ve been preaching this for years to musicians and most of you didn’t want to listen to me. While it’s taken my client lots of time and energy to network with the right people, you can see how this is finally paying off.

Oh, I forgot to mention that with every e-book purchase, you get a free download of the album. So not only is she using content as a way to gain exposure for herself and her book, but she’s using the book as a way to get exposure for the band. Content used to expose more content.

THIS IS HOW YOU MARKET YOURSELF KIDS!

Yeah that’s right, I used the big ole’caps. I cannot drive this technique home to you guys more than I’ve tried to for the past oh 5 or so years now. In order to really build a fan base who is interested in your product, you have to create content on a constant basis. Articles, audio, blogs, video, the works. You have to constantly share this content. And you have to find opportunities to leverage other people’s audiences to help get you more exposure.

Think about it this way. How many bands dream of playing The Late Show With David Letterman? What an awesome opportunity to reach a huge audience, huh? The same concept applies online, except your opportunities are more realistic. Instead of trying to get featured on a late night TV show that you have a one and a million chance of actually getting on, find 10 big name blogs to get featured on and bust your balls networking until you get your feet in the door. Once you do, you create killer content that gets people talking about you. THAT’S HOW THINGS GO VIRAL!

But hold on – if you think one little pop on a blog is going to take your career to some new heights and sell a ton of product, you need to get your head out of your ass. Nope, it needs to continue to happen on a regular basis. In time, if you keep engaging the audience with kick ass content, they’ll eventually want more. But you have to create that demand through constant exposure.

It’s just like advertising. How many times to you see an advertisement ONCE and then run to the store to buy a product. NEVER! Marketing music is all about EXPOSURE – the more you get, the more of an opportunity you have to get in front of people more often. I’d say it usually takes about 5-10 instances of exposure before someone officially checks you out.

Here’s another way to think about it. Let’s say you see a cute girl or boy walking down the street. 9 times out of 10 you’re not going to stop and ask him or her out on a date (there are those of you who will when you’re extremely intoxicated so we’ll forget about you for the time being). But then you see her at the coffee shop a few days later. Or catch him at the supermarket. Then again at the bar – that’s where you finally make an approach. It’s even more powerful when you have a friend who introduces you.

The same applies to making new fans. They’re not going to get into bed with you right off the bat, and they sure as hell aren’t going to do it because you have a fancy website or Facebook page. They need to get to know you first, and the only way you’re going to make that happen is by….wait for it….creating engaging content.

So what are the next steps, you ask? Well that’s what I’ve been trying to teach people for years now, and it’s not something I can just layout for you here in a blog post. It takes time, and there are lot of factors you need to consider in order to make it work for you.

Most of you won’t do it. You’ll cling to the dream that one day your CD will fall into the hands of the right person, you’ll be handed a big fat check and your career will just take off.

A select few of you get it, and after reading this you’re waking up to the fact that you need to do something about it. It’s you that I want to talk to, one on one, over the phone. It’s you who, after our initial phone call, will be pumped up about getting started in the content marketing game.

But it’s gonna cost ya.

I’m not trying to sound like this all-important dude who’s too good to have a conversation or something. If you can catch me at the bar or coffee shop, I’ll be more than willing to chat with you and talk your ear off. So if you live in Philly, hit me up and we’ll grab a cold one.

For the rest of you, I have to ask for a payment. I’m working 12 hour days running a start-up marketing agency and have a lot to do, and work is my life. But money does indeed talk, and in order to get me to talk, it’s gonna cost you a cool $100. I offered this a few weeks ago at half the price and no one took me up on the offer – time is up and let’s just say the $100 offer won’t stand for too long either.

The first call will be to assess your currently web strategy, and figure out what you need to do to fix what’s wrong and what direction you should take. After a few weeks, we’ll schedule and additional call to answer any questions you’re bound to have and give you a roadmap to follow.

Whattya waiting for? Time slots are limited so get me on the phone today! The longer you wait the harder it gets to play in the marketing game.

*In case you were wondering, those numbers I gave you are real – I did not want to include any links or name drop anyone to not ruin the efforts we have put forth. But if you do some simple snooping, you’ll find out what I’m talking about.

Post of the Month: ReverbNation’s “Get Venues to Ask You Back: 8 Tips” [Volume 11]

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 21:07:15 +0000

This month, I chose “Get Venues to Ask You Back: 8 Tips You Can Use For Your Next Show” from Darren Gallop on the ReverbNation blog for our V11 blog post of the month.

While the focus of this blog is getting asked back to venues, the theme of building relationships and maintaining a good reputation is one that you can apply to all aspects of your career.

So check out “Get Venues to Ask You Back: 8 Tips You Can Use For Your Next Show,” and get to work on building lasting relationships with venues.

Always On! [Make It In Music]

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:39:46 +0000

My return to the front line of music management and major label artists has given me a number of insights into how things have changed over the last five years.

Some of the changes are the same for every artist, from the DIY musician to the global superstar – digital downloads, social media and increased ‘fan engagement’, and a hitherto unknown reliance on brand partnerships are all good examples.

But, perhaps the biggest change of all is to what we used to call the ‘album cycle’, wherein an artist would disappear from view for 12 months or so following the last single from an album and reappear that year later with new singles leading up to an album and a tour to sell that record.

That’s now been flipped on it’s head for many artists, especially those from the pop mainstream.

Singles as marketing tools

Singles are now marketing tools, both for the artist themselves and for the live tour. The music now sells the tickets rather than the old paradigm that was the other way round.

The fear of your fanbase evaporating in the ‘off cycle’ between albums means that more artists than ever are staying continually in the public eye with marketing driven by regular single releases. In many cases the albums that result from this activity are merely collections of the singles that went before. And, the gap between albums and the first single from a notional new record may be non-existent.

There are obviously other factors at play. Global radio seems to have become homogeneous in support of pop derived from dance music, with pure R&B and Hip Hop suffering something of a decline. New mainstream artists in Rock and Indie have almost completely failed to materialise and although there is still a level of support for established acts in those genres from mainstream media, that isn’t guaranteed if the act has been out of the spotlight for some time.

There’s plenty of heritage rock acts still making great money playing to their ageing audience on US tours, but those more recently successful acts are finding it harder to keep their audience with them between album releases.

The worst thing is not being in the marketplace

So, in order to keep the career momentum going many artists are now ‘Always on’.

The perfect example is Rihanna. Six albums in six years and thirty singles. And that’s not including appearances on other artist’s tracks!

It clearly works on a host of levels. There’s always a new track at radio which fuels press and media coverage. Although tours are scheduled there is always an opportunity to do a small run of shows outside of a full touring schedule where demand presents itself. A dip in chart success of a particular single is steamrollered by the arrival of the next record.

In this article, her manager Jay Brown notes that, “Kids want new material all the time” and that “I think you become disposable when you put out an album every three years”.

It’s also very important to recognise that he believes albums had become ‘bloated’ as record companies sought to get the most from the available running time of CD’s and that in the digital download world, an album needs ‘no filler’. Having too much music on the album dilutes what an artist is aiming to do. He says that he wanted her latest album to be ‘all hits’! Interestingly Adele’s ’21′ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ have similarly short running times.

Of course, if you’re going to move on to the next album quickly, you can keep this one short and make another too.

In this Billboard article this attitude is summed up in another quote from Brown – “The worst thing is to not be in the marketplace”.

You can see this paradigm working for The Black Eyed Peas (and Will.I.Am), Katy Perry, David Guetta, Jay-Z, Kanye West and many many more.

Always on for the DIY musician

So where does this leave the DIY musician, who doesn’t have the endless opportunities to promote a new single on a global scale or tour the world in style?

Well, follow that lead and be constantly making and releasing music. It doesn’t have to be reaching everyone but it can reach your fanbase and build them into an army.

I have sent so many of my readers to this presentation by Ian Rogers of Topspin. It’s not quite saying that every musician should be alway’s on, but approaches the same idea from a different direction.

Ian is talking about building a fanbase and having 2000 fans before you try to sell them anything. His presentation is a brilliant roadmap to do exactly that and I’d urge you to read it all.

But, the key concept is that every artist should do ‘one small thing every week and one large thing every month’. Small things might be a blog post or a video to YouTube and a large thing might be a big show or a release of some music, but the concept is clear – be ‘always on’ for your fanbase…..and it will grow.

Going forward as an independent musician you can have the same type of opportunity that major label artists are given. The internet and scoial media are great levellers. Sure, they may have way larger budgets and an army of people to help them, but you can compete by constantly and consistently giving your fans something that stems from your creativity that keeps you and your music ‘front of mind’ – another saying I’ve heard a lot recently in label meetings!

It is a tragedy that so many DIY musicians sit at home perfecting and honing their work in the belief that they will be able to release it with no fanbase and no prior awareness. This doesn’t work. You must make great art but you can do it with your fans and comtemporaries watching on.

Growing and developing in public is one of the great changes that the interent has brought for artists. Early adopters will find you when you’re still raw and others will join later as you become the finished article. But do document that journey in public. Make more music, put it out however you can. Build a tribe and lead them in other ways that your art inspires.

The winners will outwork the competition and they’ll do that by being always on.

Don't Make THIS Mistake with Your CD Artwork [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Bob Baker — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:08:00 +0000

A friend of mine, who happens to be a great singer and songwriter, recently released his first EP. He was very excited about getting this debut recording out to the public.

He was doing all the right things: Getting digital distribution through CD Baby, setting up a Facebook fan page and a YouTube channel, hiring a graphic designer, and even manufacturing a short run of physical CDs.

I was so happy for him and eagerly bought a copy of the EP when it was available. The packaging looked great ... but I quickly noticed that an important detail was missing.

I examined the album artwork two or three times to make sure I wasn't overlooking it. Alas, one crucial detail was nowhere to be found.

On the album artwork, this talented artist had neglected to include a web address of any kind. No artist website, no Facebook address, no Twitter URL ... nothing!

Of course, you can say that many of the people who buy the album will already know where to find the artist. Or that anyone can simply "Google" his name to find him online. But WHY make fans work that hard to connect with you?

Your physical recordings are more than just pretty packages to deliver your music in. They also act as marketing tools. Therefore, you should use them (and every other piece of physical promotional material you create) to connect with fans.

Do This to Make a Real Impact

In fact, I encourage you to take it a step further on your album artwork. Don't just list your website. Create an attention-getting incentive to visit the site and ... drum roll, please ... get on your mailing list!

That's right. Think about it. Is everyone who purchases your album, or everyone who sees your album at a friend's house or in their car, on your mailing list? In most cases, the answer is absolutely NO! Which means there's a huge disconnect between you and your fan base.

Consider all the people who purchase or hear your new album and love it. How will they know when you have something new for sale? How will they know when your next live show is? How will they get to know and appreciate you more?

The short answer: They WON'T if you aren't able to connect with them directly!

That's why building a mailing list is so important. And that's why creating an obvious "call to action" on your album artwork to visit your website and get on your list is important to your growth as an artist.

Note of clarification: I'm suggesting you place your websites and calls to action on the inside of the CD booklet/insert or on the back cover - NOT on the front cover of the album. Some digital retailers, such as iTunes, will not sell music in their catalog if the album cover contains a web address.

What do YOU think? I welcome your comments.

-Bob

P.S. The image above is by Chris Griffith.

Music Marketing Clinic [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:13:19 +0000

I did a quick 30 minute open house in the Berkleemusic studios a couple of weeks back. We talked about free music, radio, distribution and retail, setting up your website, and some other things. Take a look here:

The marketing courses that I teach, as well as all the other online music courses at Berkleemusic, start this Monday, April 2.

Volume 11 Interview: LA’s Steven Winogradsky on Common Legal and Business Issues for Indie Musicians [Volume 11]

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 01:30:25 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Steven Winogradsky of Winogradsky/Sobel about common legal and business issues artists face, and what artists can do to successfully navigate these issues.

These issues are paramount to an artist success because according to Mr. Winogradsky, “Indie artists, and artists in general, need to understand that as much as they think it’s about making the music, in some ways it’s really about making money and understanding the business, because if they can’t make the money, they don’t get the chance to make the music.”

What are the top things independent artists should be doing from a business standpoint that they aren’t doing?

Most of the time, they are not getting agreements upfront as to what their business arrangements are.

With people who are songwriters, if they co-write, they need to make sure they get agreements with their co-writers as to what everybody’s shares are, what everybody’s ownership interest is, and who administers the copyright.

There is something called a split sheet which is a fairly short document that all the parties should be signing to say what each party controls and owns, because as soon as something is successful, everyone thinks they wrote more than what they wrote. So you end up with more than 100% of a song, which means nobody gets paid.

For indie artists, one of the big issues is dealing with producers and recording studios, trying to figure out what those services are, and who owns the finished product. If you are working with a producer, you need to know what the producer’s deal is, what he or she is expecting in terms of compensation. Is it just a flat fee and the artist walks out with the master recording? Does the producer expect some kind of participation on the back end? Some points in the record or some revenue share? In certain genres of music- dance, hip hop, rap, sometimes the producers think they are co-writers which gets back to the first issue of split sheets.

So in most cases artists don’t pay attention to those details and that’s where all the problems begin.

What are some of the biggest business/legal misconceptions that independent artists have?

The biggest wives’ tale, if you will, is mailing the copy of a song to yourself, then thinking it’s protected by copyright. It’s called a”poor man’s copyright”. Copyright protection begins as soon as something is put in a tangible medium of expression – as soon as it’s on paper or on tape. In order to get full protection, they do need to register with the copyright office. Just sending a copy to themselves with a postmark doesn’t help. That’s a huge issue for indie artists.

The copyright office has made it fairly easy to register songs online. It’s cheaper if you register them online than if you send hard copies to the copyright office. Artists and songwriters can use what’s called a compilation copyright – in other words, they can register the equivalent of an album all under one copyright and save themselves some money and then they’d have full protection. Most people don’t do that.

What are the most important steps for an artist to take early in their career to set themselves up for success from a business/legal perspective?

Most artists don’t have the business and legal background that professionals do to handle their career. It’s important for them to try to get a team of people around them that can handle some of these things for them. Getting a music attorney, and make sure it’s a music attorney not just some attorney who does real property or car accidents. This is a very specialized business so you need someone who knows the landscape and does that, same thing with accounting people.

The music industry is pretty unique in some ways, so if you are in a position where money is going to start to come in an artist needs to know about the tax implications – what they can deduct, what they can’t deduct, how monies get paid out. If they are indie artists with a band and they are paying their band members, there are tax implications. Things like filing with the IRS, sending out 1099s so that these expenses are deductible to the artists. But they have to be documented, and so an accountant and an attorney are crucial.

Managers are also crucial. Managers perform an overall function in helping the artist guide their career. All of these people usually work on commission. Attorneys usually work on an hourly basis, but some work on commission. So the artist needs to be very clear about what sources of income are commissionable. A manager will usually commission every aspect of an artist’s career. So it’s important to know what’s commissionable and what’s not, and what deductions there might be from artist income that might not be in the commission.

What are the most common types of contracts an artist will encounter over the course of their career?

There are 3 main contracts: the management contract (contract with a manager), a publishing company contract if you get signed to a publishing company, and then a recording contract if they are lucky enough to get signed to a label. These are complex documents.

Recording contracts can be anywhere from 20 to 100 pages. They’re very detailed, very complex, with lots of legal mumbo jumbo in them, so it’s important for an artist to have representation to review it.

Publishing contracts are a little bit simpler, but they’re still complex. They talk about issues that a lot of artists don’t understand. That’s the real key, having an understanding of the business that you’re in, because it is a business. It’s not just about making the music. It’s about making money from your music and having solid contracts and having a solid team working around you can really help an artist.

It won’t propel them to success, but it will keep them from getting screwed

At what point in their career would you recommend an independent artist start seeking advice from a lawyer?

The first time they are presented with a contract of any kind.

These are very, very complex documents. Artists don’t understand them in many cases. There are rights being granted having to do with the artist’s work that the artist needs to understand or have explained to them. There are too many artists who have signed away their copyrights to somebody else for no money thinking it’s a good opportunity, not understanding that the artist has certain rights, the writer has certain rights that they may not be aware of.

Same thing with recordings. Usually there is a participation in the income stream in these contracts so if that income participation is not spelled out clearly, the artist won’t get the income they are probably entitled to.

Do you have any advice on how an artist can find the right attorney?

Word of mouth – artists know other artists. If you have a friend who’s an artist who has an attorney that they’re happy with, that’s a good recommendation. There’s an organization called California Lawyers for the Arts, I think they’re based in Santa Monica, who has some attorneys that they recommend.

Belonging to music industry organizations where attorneys hang out, the California Copyright Conference, the Association of Independent Music Publishers, these are regularly attended by attorneys in the music industry and it’s easy to talk to people there, find out who they are, talk to them over dinner or over a drink, and find out a little bit about them. Then if you’re interested most attorneys are happy to set up a meeting and have a conversation to see if it’s the right fit, the right mix.

What are some common legal issues that arise with bands, and how can bands prepare for them?

In a band context everyone likes to think it’s a democracy, that everyone has an equal voice, but that’s not always the case.

If you have a band, there need to be agreements drafted so that the band and each member of the band understands their responsibilities to the band, and more importantly what happens if somebody leaves or if the band breaks up.

Who keeps the name of the band? If a member leaves are they entitled to royalties? If 2 members of the band are strong songwriters and the other 2 band members are not strong songwriters how does the publishing for the band get split up?

Some bands take a very democratic approach and say that everybody wrote everything, so all the band members will be listed, and the band’s publishing is handled as an entity. Sometimes each band member will have a separate publishing company. Sometimes only the writers – the actual writers of the songs – will get credit and will own the publishing on the songs. So it’s a very complex situation.

What legal issues should artists be aware of when posting content on their websites?

If they are posting it to their own website, the key thing they need to be aware of is that all the songs are original to them.

If they do a cover song, if they do a recording of a George Harrison composition, or a Police composition, or a Who composition, they don’t own the rights to that composition. They may own the recording, but they don’t have any rights to the composition. They don’t have any rights to use other people’s material without those parties consent, getting a license. That’s huge.

If the band owns content 100%, they can almost do anything they want with it. They can post it online, they can offer it on iTunes, they can create YouTube videos – as long as they are the owners they can do that.

What frequently happens is that are 3rd parties that have some rights in the project – the drummer’s cousin wrote some lyrics and is not a member of the band. They don’t own his share unless there’s an agreement that says they own his share. So it’s important the band owns and controls everything they have.

And then once they put it up, it’s the usual protections – is their website coded so it can be streamed not downloaded? If somebody can hack it, and admittedly 12 year olds in Sweden are hacking things every day and there’s no way to stop it, but you take whatever precautions you have for security, so if you offer downloads people can do it for free that’s great, but if all you want is streaming, make sure that people can’t download it accidentally because then you’re losing sales and losing money.

What changes in technology have created new legal issues for artists?

Well one of the things technology changes, is it had made it much, much easier to sample things.

Taking an old James Brown recording, or an old Earth Wind and Fire recording, and putting it in a new recording is much easier than it used to be, but those have legal consequences. In order to sample those songs you have to get the rights to those songs, and a lot of artists don’t understand that. They think that they’re only using a little bit, no one will catch them, it’s fair use which is a legal concept where under certain conditions people can use other people’s material.

Sampling is not fair use. It’s been clearly shown in the courts time and time again. So there are rights that have to be obtained that a lot of artists are unaware of and think they can just do without any consequences. That’s a huge problem.

Other technological issues have to do with the ability to transfer files back and forth, making sure the websites are secure. Some bands, some companies have ftp sites which are password protected so only some people can listen to the music and download it in a business context.

If you are going to put music up online, you want to protect it in some way so that everyone can’t get access to it and take it.

What resources can you recommend to an artist who wants to educate themselves about the legal/business aspects of the music industry?

The Bible is a book by Donald Passman called All You Need to Know About The Music Business. Don Passman is a very well respected attorney and he’s represented people like the Eagles and Janet Jackson. His book has been out for about 25 years. It’s constantly being updated. It’s written on a couple levels, a basic level for musicians, and a little higher level at some points for people who want to know more about the business. That’s one of the bibles.

There’s a book called The Business of Music by Bill Krasilovsky, Music Money and Success by Jeff Brabec and Todd Brabec. These are all sources that people in the industry use, and artists who want to learn about this type of thing should do so.

At least here in Los Angeles, UCLA Extension has an entertainment studies program where you can learn about contracts, learn about music publishing. There are other programs around the country that have similar types of classes and it’s to the artists’ interest to try to learn about their business. They don’t need to become an attorney to draft contract but they need to understand what’s in the contract and that’s what these classes and that’s what these resources offer.

What types of services and solutions does Winogradsky/Sobel provide for artists?

We do a lot of different things – publishing contracts, recording contracts if they’re with 3rd parties. We do a lot of licensing for TV and film, so if an artist has an opportunity to get their music into TV and film we know that landscape. Also for some of our independent clients, we pitch music for TV and film. So we’re their representative to try to get them placements and we handle all the legal work and handle the collection. We take a commission, and we take a fee for that.

We’ve had some success in getting indie artists into network television shows where the money can be somewhat significant on the front end in terms of upfront license fees, but once they get on network TV the money you can receive from the performance rights organizations, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, can be far, far more than the license fee they get. And so it’s a long term play and it’s what we in the business like to call “mailbox money”. It just shows up at your door 3 years later, when the show that you’re in airs in the UK.

We assist our artists in getting their music placed. We do publishing admin if we have a successful client who already has a deal, or already has some music out there, we can help them collect their royalties, handle licensing for them, register their copyrights, register with PROs. We’re kind of a full service firm in that sense, not everything we do is lawyer based.

There are a lot of things we do that don’t require a lawyer to do, we have staff who are very well versed in this area and know the business and can assist our clients at less than lawyer rates, because they aren’t performing legal services, so the rates we charge are cheaper.

You’ve highlighted your success at getting music placements for artists on winogradskysobel.com, can you offer any advice to artists who are working on getting songs placed themselves?

It’s very difficult. It’s become a very crowded landscape. People have begun to realize that record sales are down, radio airplay is down. Getting music on a television show is not only good money but great exposure.

The trick for indie artists, as well as for us, is getting the right music to the right people. So you have to start off with having the right music.

If you’re a hardcore rap indie artist, it doesn’t make much sense to pitch your music to a program on Country Music Television. You have to understand the difference; you have to know what your audience is. Finding music supervisors for those shows and making a relationship with them is very difficult. They get bombarded by artists and cds and mp3 files on a regular basis.

We’re lucky in that we’ve been doing this for a while and we have good relationships, so in addition to sending music to the music supervisors, sometimes they’ll actually call us and say we need a certain type of song, I know you guys have a good reputation, you’re easy to deal with, you know what you’re doing and you have a broad catalogue, do you have something that fits this slot that we need?

Indie artists will almost never get that phone call. Because they have a very specific type of music, where we represent a broad range of music so sometime supervisors will call us if we’re lucky, and say: “we need this type of song, what do you got?” So for artists, getting to the music supervisors is difficult, and making sure that you send the right music to the right supervisor for the right show -that’s a real challenge sometimes.

About Steve Winogradsky: With over thirty years experience as an attorney in the music industry, Steven Winogradsky is a partner in Winogradsky/Sobel in Studio City, California, providing global media and music business affairs & legal support for composers, songwriters, music publishers, recording artists and television, film, video and multi-media producers. In addition to an entertainment law practice, the company handles music clearance and licensing in all media for many production companies, worldwide administration of the publishing catalogs for a number of clients and New Media strategies and Revenue Modeling.

Prior to being in solo practice with The Winogradsky Company from 1992 to 2009, Mr. Winogradsky had served as Director of Music Business Affairs for Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., Managing Director of Music, Legal & Business Affairs for MCA Home Entertainment, Director of Music Licensing and Administration for Universal Pictures and Universal Television and Vice President of Business Affairs for The Clearing House, Ltd.

He was twice elected President of the California Copyright Conference, after spending nine years on the Board of Directors, served for four years as President of The Association of Independent Music Publishers and was named as one of the Outstanding Instructors in Entertainment Studies and Performing Arts at UCLA Extension, where has taught since 1997. He has written numerous magazine articles on the subject of music for motion pictures and television and lectured on a variety of music-related topics at various symposia.

V11′s About Page: Has anything changed since 2007? [Volume 11]

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:44:57 +0000

We are skipping a month on the Post of the Month and taking this time to reflect instead.

Below is the About page from Volume 11′s webpage. Written in 2007, has anything really changed?

_____________________

The model for musician development is in shambles. The industry is facing a period of profound change.

Recent developments like Radiohead’s recent efforts to give away its album for whatever someone wants to pay and Columbia Records’ recent proactive efforts to re-evaluate their ability to be profitable in the music business only bring this into sharper focus.

The mighty music business is in free fall — it has lost control of radio; retail outlets like Tower Records have shut down; MTV rarely broadcasts music videos; and the once lucrative album market has been overshadowed by downloaded singles, which mainly benefits Apple…

Only 10 years ago, companies wanted to make records, presumably good records, and see if they sold. But panic has set in, and now it’s no longer about making music, it’s all about how to sell music. And there’s no clear answer about how to fix that problem.

David Geffen September 2007

The record industry no longer knows how to sell music. With its decreasing ability to sell music for their top acts, the record labels lose the ability to take their profits to fund the development of new and up and coming bands.

So where does that leave the independent band or musician? In other words…

Where do we go from here?

Helping Bands Help Themselves

As with any change there are both positives and negatives. For the positive, the Internet has allowed musical distribution to become more democratized. Independent musicians now have the power to get their music out to fans through the web. Bypassing the old models.

However, the record label marketing machine is fading. Bands cannot rely on labels to help thems become known and listened to a by a larger audience. Radio is becoming increasingly less relevant. No longer is it the way people discover new music.

… no one listens to the radio anymore, … they mostly steal music, but they don’t consider it stealing, and … they get most of their music from iTunes on their iPod. … the biggest thing in their life is word of mouth. That’s how they hear about music, bands, everything.

Rick Rubin September 2007

Now what to do? Musicians in the digital age must play a more active and educated role in managing their musical endeavors.

Why Volume 11?

Moving Bands To a Higher Level

This website is dedicated to providing self-managing musicians or managers of one or two bands to quickly and easily keep themselves educated on the changing music industry’s trends.

Everything from the latest news to companies and products that can help independent musicians best self manage in this amazing time of change and opportunity.

With so much change and so many new businesses being created almost daily to attend to the needs of independent artists, there is a real need to provide a place to voice comments and opinions so everyone can learn from each other’s experiences and companies can adapt to user recommendations. With trial and discussion, a new music industry model will eventually be created. An active user of this site should be able to both play a role in scoping the new direction of the music industry and stay ahead of the game by being made a aware of the new companies that exist to help their music get heard.

Dream Big: How To Succeed In Today’s Volatile Music Biz [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:17:07 +0000

I spoke to Adam Gold from American Songwriter recently for a piece he was working on about the changing music business and best practices for success. A couple of my comments made the piece, along with some thoughts from folks at Kickstarter, SoundExchange, and Moontoast. Check out Adam’s interview with all of us, here.

Here’s the rest of what I said, which didn’t make the piece:

American Songwriter: 2011 is over. I just recorded the best song I ever wrote. What’s the new model for getting my music heard? What to do with my demo?
Do I post my music on Facebook, or is there a better place for music?

Mike King: This is a long answer. I think there are really so many paths and so many options for musicians now to get their music heard. That’s both a blessing and a curse. I think the key is to think about this from a consumer, or fan standpoint. For consumers, there has never been a better time to listen to music. It’s everywhere. The floodgates are open, and if I want to check out practically anything I can do so in a matter of seconds.

I think the tricky thing, and something that a lot of folks are trying to figure out, is curation. Although larger gatekeeper-based vehicles still do have an effect at exposing folks to music, like commercial radio exposing folks to pop music, I think that for the most part consumers are moving towards niches, and are finding new music through trusted sources within these niches. For example, there are some rooms on Turntable.fm, and some DJs, that I totally trust to turn me onto new music. In one of the soul/funk rooms I’m part of, one of my favorite DJs is also a musician, and occasionally he “spins” his own music – which I love. So for me, that DJ is a trusted source, and that is where I am finding some of my new music. Same thing for blogs. A site out of LA named Rollo and Grady has the exact same taste in music as I do, and I have been turned on to some great music there. The other way I find new music is by providing my contact info to artists that I love, and I let them deliver new music to me. For example, I found a band Fanfarlo a couple years back, and because I gave them my email address, I am among the first to get new music from that band prior to release, and then can be one of the first to purchase when a new record is out.

All of this should filter into how bands release their music, and their plan for getting heard. I think that everything in a marketing plan should be integrated, and there are a lot of moving pieces that include live events, press, online retail, your own site, PR, and more, but from an overview standpoint, I think that realizing that A) fans are more niche based and look to certain outlets to curate music for them, and B) it’s possible to connect directly with fans to deliver music to them, are both key. I would approach both of these areas separately, using some of the developing marketing / technology tools and best practices. Starting by identifying who you think your core fans are, and then looking at pitching the niche outlets where they hang out is a good first step. I think that acquisition is also extremely important for all artists, and I suggest using email for media widgets from Topspin, Official.fm, SoundCloud or other marketing/technology companies to help retain a permission based contact for future communication and up sell. I also think that optimizing your site for the search engines, and making your site an awareness and conversion engine by providing media in exchange for an email address is a best practice, too.

Finally, I think you have to develop a content plan for your release. This is something that I think Metric did a great job with for their last record, Fantasies. Metric sketched out what type of media (single, acoustic version, live version, demo versions) they were going to release on their site and through widgets on third party sites prior to the release of their full length. This allowed them to acquire email addresses prior to the pre-release of their record. They were then able to reach out to these folks across the full timeline of the record release, and engage with them, make them aware of what they were doing, and also provide them with the opportunity to buy. I think that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Thisismyjam.com, Turntable.fm, YouTube, and more could all fit into your plan, but I think having a plan is key.

American Songwriter: If I do post it for free, will anyone want to buy it?

Mike King: The short answer is that case studies, examples, students experiences, and data I have seen say yes, but I think the long answer is more nuanced. My personal opinion is that artists have to think about sales differently. I think artists have to romance new fans a bit – it’s really kind of like dating. I don’t think going in for the kill immediately makes for the best long-term relationship, you know? I mean, I suppose sometimes that works, but I think a better option for retaining a fan for years, which is much less expensive than finding new fans for every record, is to treat your fans respectfully, offer then what they want, provide them with some free gifts, communicate with them regularly and effectively, and then offer options for monetization. Again, not so different than any other relationship you might have in your personal life. This is the difference – artists now have an option to provide music for free, and engage with their fans in ways that was not quite possible before. I think the new technology / marketing companies that have emerged to foster this relationship have been really helpful.

But to say it simply – I think that providing free music is key to building up your larger community, and I think that in terms of sales, you are going to want to sell a variety of items to your fans from your own site, with the idea that you can sell items that are more personal, and not available in traditional retail. Talk to any of the third party direct to fan companies like Topspin, Nimbit, Pledge Music – they will all tell you that the average revenue per sale is over $20. This is because artists have this relationship that they have built with fans, and they are monetizing much more than a single song on iTunes.

American Songwriter: Should I sell it on iTunes, CDBaby, Spotify? What sort of cut will I get?

Mike King: Yes, absolutely. There are folks that only buy music on iTunes, and are not interested in buying from an artist directly. I think for some larger artists, the volume they see from third party sales on iTunes is much greater than what they will see on their own site, but I think that the margin has the potential to be much greater by selling from your own site. In terms of the cut, every service is different. iTunes takes 30%, and if you use CD Baby as a distributor, they are going to take a 9% fee, too. So for a $.99 cent sale on iTunes, an artist would see about $.63 if they were using CD Baby. TuneCore takes no fee on sales, but has an annual fee for distribution. I consider Spotify now as more of a way for folks to discover music, not unlike radio, and I think that artists have to be there. They certainly don’t pay artists anywhere close to what iTunes pays, but I tend to think that is more because of the deals the labels / distributors made with Spotify than it is an inherent problem with the service itself. I am optimistic that as the service, and other streaming services grow, we’ll see better deals, and larger payments to artists. But I think worse than the lower payments from these streaming services is being anonymous. I have Spotify and Rdio open all day long, and if I hear or read about a new band, I have the option of immediately looking these artists up on a streaming service to check out the whole record. If I fall in love with it, I’ll then check out their site, perhaps download something interesting, and the relationship between the band and me starts. The band now has a direct, permission –based contact with me, and can up sell me on live events or other items. This all starts on Spotify. If I didn’t see the band on a streaming service, I am likely to move on and find some other music to listen to.

American Songwriter: What if only ten people buy it? Will I still get digital royalties? Via Soundchange? How do I protect my recordings?

Mike King: There’s a lot of confusion around how digital royalties work. SoundExchange collects and distributes royalties from statutory licenses, including digital cable and satellite television services, non-interactive webcasters like Pandora, and satellite radio services like Sirius XM. SoundExchange only covers performance rights, and doesn’t collect for downloads, interactive services (like Spotify, Rdio, Mog, Rhapsody), or traditional radio or TV. It really depends on where the “sale” originates to determine how much you will be paid. So, 10 sales on iTunes will pay you much more than 10 listens on Pandora or Spotify, and 10 sales off of your own site has the potential to pay you much more than all of these services. In terms of protection, copyright exists as soon as you have a tangible version of your music, such as sheet music and/or CDs. In the US, you can register the copyright to your music here: www.copyright.gov/eco. I also think that Creative Commons, which sits on top of copyright and reserves some rights, can also be a positive thing for artists who are interested in allowing their fans to participate in their work via remix contests or other forms of “participatory culture,” as Clay Shirky would say.

American Songwriter: Next, how do I get people in the industry to hear it, so I can get a record deal or have it placed in a commercial?

Mike King: You have to build up leverage. I think you can look at some recent success stories to see how other folks have done it, but all paths are different. For the most part, a label is not going to care about you unless you have leverage – unless they see that you have a base of fans that you can leverage to sell your music. Things are much harder for labels now, and while I think some labels can be great for artists, I think that artists should really consider building up their own base, hopefully with a smart in-house team. Once they have some leverage, then can then determine if they want to keep things in-house, or partner with a label. I think Karmin is a good example. Amy, Nick, and their manager Nils focused on creating great content on YouTube for years. They slowly built their base through some really great cover songs, and then did a cover of Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now,” which exploded with over 30 million views on YouTube in a couple months. They got on the Ellen show, they were featured on Ryan Seacrest show, and built up a huge following on Twitter, Facebook, and via email. This is leverage. The labels saw this, and Karmin had deals with all of the majors on the table in the course of a few weeks. They ended up signing to LA Reid’s Epic sub label on Sony. All paths are different, but I think leverage is a component to whatever you do.

American Songwriter: The response has been great but I haven’t been signed or picked up for a commercial — what’s my next move? Tour? Hire PR?

Mike King: It’s different for everyone. Getting in a commercial is great, but if you are having problems with getting folks interested, perhaps you have to look critically at yourself and see what you can change or do better. There are so many data points musicians can analyze these days, supplied by companies like Next Big Sound, Google, Topspin, and many others. If you are not building up a base online through strategic release of content, if you are not generating interest on your site, if you are not seeing an increase of fans at your live show, I think it makes sense to look at what you are doing from a holistic standpoint. Perhaps your music isn’t there yet. Maybe your live show isn’t quite right. Perhaps you’re marketing to the wrong people. Data can help you to see what is working and what isn’t, and I think you can iterate your campaign and your approach. Also, I think that not everyone is going to make music their full time career. Steve Albini has a good quote that I think is accurate: “Not everyone can become a professional artist. Maintain a realistic perspective on your art that allows you to enjoy doing it.”

Music Industry Agreements – free guide [Make It In Music]

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 09:39:33 +0000

Everything you ever wanted to know about music industry agreements, all wrapped up in a free pdf.

I’d always intended to write something along the lines of this guide, but now there’s really no need as this is great piece of work and does the job as well as I could – probably better.

Whether you’re resolutely DIY and never intend to sign a record deal with a major label or an indie or whether that elusive major deal is your first goal and step to global success, you’re going to learn a huge amount by downloading and reading this. Most successful artists will need a manager and do a publishing deal and these are covered in the guide.

It’s written by leading music industry lawyers in the UK, Lee & Thompson, who know their stuff inside out. Obviously it’s written from a UK perspective but the vast majority of the guide is great advice and factual detail that applies in any part of the world. They claim that it is written in a way that is more ‘practical than legalistic’, but you’re going to find it dry!

360º deals

What you’re also going to find is that it’s amazing. The explanations of the various agreements and how they fit into the overall structure of the business is detailed, comprehensive, accurate and up to date. This last point is crucial. The guide was updated for 2010 so it has a few MySpace references to date it a little but, importantly, it was written after it became usual for record companies to offer what is known as ’360º’ deals.

In such a deal the record company will require an artist to share the revenue from the other ways that they make money with the record company – such as from touring, merchandise and songwriting.

The reasoning is that the label provides the platform for the artist’s success and, with dwindling income from the sale of records in the modern download music economy, they need to have a share of the remaining healthy and profit making parts of an artist’s career in order to justify the investment that they make.

Whether a 360º deal is a good idea or not for any particular artist is a massive ongoing debate as many predict the oncoming demise of the old major record companies – but if you’re going to sign a deal with a record company they will be looking for these ‘ancillary rights’. The guide covers this in detail.

Management as a ‘joint venture’

The other area that shows the understanding of the latest trends in the music business is in the section on management agreements.

Traditionally, a management agreement is simple and the artist pays the manager 20%of all revenue (with some exceptions), but, again due to the changing nature of the business, it is becoming more and more common for the manager and artist to enter into a ‘joint venture’ creating a company that owns all of the artist’s rights and receives all their income from all sources (records, publishing, touring, merch, sponsorship etc…everything) and that is then split. These days that split might be greater than 20% for the manager.

Whether those joint venture deals for artists are right for you or not is another ongoing debate. The reason they have become more normal is that many artists now need a lot more financial support for longer before they can earn enough to sustain their career and reach their potential.

This applies in the world of the DIY musician just as much for those artists shooting for the mainstream, perhaps even more so. Understanding that this non-traditional management structure might be right for you will be helped by the guide.

The guide to Music Industry agreements

The guide covers the following agreements:

Management Contracts
Recording Contracts
Producer Contracts
Publishing Contracts

In each section it looks at the commercial and personal reasons behind each deal an artist will do – for example, how to choose a manager, or why you may need a team of people in place to help you get a record deal, and it then looks at the framework of each type of agreement, going through them in detail.

So, regardless of how you plan to build the career you want, DIY or signed to a major, going it alone or with a team to guide you, you’ll be well armed if you read this guide.

You can read the guide to music industry agreements online here.

You can download the music industry agreements guide here.

Chaotic Cohesion @ Midem [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:45:48 +0000

Here’s a video of my presentation from a couple weeks back at Midem. I like the idea of trying to make cohesion out of chaos, and in this presentation I talk about some best practices for musicians and managers with organizing their music marketing campaigns. I focus on three main areas: social marketing, email / widgets, and fan funding.

I also talk about the Wu Tang Clan.

Rock musician Debra Devi’s book The Language of…

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:55:10 +0000

Rock musician Debra Devi’s book The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu is about as far from a dry, boring dictionary as you can get. In fact, the LA Times calls it “one of the wittiest, bawdiest, most fascinating dictionaries ever.”

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Debra for a few years now and she’s one of my biggest supporters, so when I found out the book was being released digitally, I had to pick her brain about it and share it here. We’re currently collaborating on using various SEO and Social Media strategies (check out what she’s doing on Twitter to promote the book), which are kind of interesting when you think about all the phrases that she defines throughout the book.

This book is authentic, raw and raunchy. It opens with “alcorub”–the drink of last resort for desperate alcoholics, explores gender switching in the blues with “cock” and “lemon,” and closes with “zuzu,” which means cookie, and is “perhaps the most wholesome word in the entire book,” according to Reuters.

The lead singer/guitarist for DEVI put down her guitar long enough to interview over 20 blues legends and dig through obscure sources to discover the meanings and origins of terms like “mojo,” “hoodoo” and “killing floor.” Now Guitar International has released a $9.99 eBook version that includes new color photos and a free download of DEVI’s powerful debut album, Get Free.

The Language of the Blues: From Alcorub to Zuzu is blurbed by both Bonnie Raitt and Ministry’s Al Jourgensen–which neatly bookends the incredibly wide influence of the blues on American music.

This book has tons of cool stuff in it, including a sharecropper’s contract, entertaining stories from the author’s interviews with bluesmen (Hubert Sumlin, Little Milton, Bob Margolin and others) and a foreword by Dr. John in which he discusses how he learned to use street language to write songs. Discover the meaning of Robert Johnson’s “stones in my passway”, find out why Willie Dixon wrote “Wang Dang Doodle”, and learn the African-American game of insults called “the dozens.”

Ministry singer Al Jourgensen says “Finally one can understand the mechanics behind the overwhelming viscera of the Blues. Debra Devi’s work is a true guide book to the soul.” Bonnie Raitt adds, “What a great resource…as fascinating as it is informative. Debra’s passion for the blues shines through.”

Although though she’s a rock artist, you can hear the blues in Debra’s soaring guitar solos on songs like “When It Comes Down” and “Get Free.” I definitely had some questions for her…

Evolvor: What possessed you to write a book about the blues?

Debra: I grew up in Milwaukee and a lot of great Chicago blues artists would come through town. In fact, one of the very first live music shows I ever saw was Koko Taylor, with Son Seals on guitar. I was blown away by the emotional power of both of them and have been a blues fan ever since.

I had a job for awhile as the associate editor of Blues Revue magazine, and the editor-in-chief was Andrew M. Robble, who’d been a very close friend of Chicago blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield. Andy told me some wild stories, like the one in The Language of the Blues about a young Bloomfield being shocked to hear his mentor, Muddy Waters, talk about how much he liked to “suck cock”…until Bloomfield realized Waters was referring to female genitalia!

I became very curious about the meanings and origins of words like “mojo” and “hoodoo.” Since I’m a musician, not a scholar, I thought maybe I could make a contribution by talking to blues musicians directly.

Evolvor: Who are some of the artists you interviewed?

Debra: I interviewed as many legendary blues artists as I could find, including Robert Jr. Lockwood, Henry Gray, Hubert Sumlin, “Little” Milton Campbell Jr., Alvin “Red” Tyler, Mardi Gras Indian Chief Howard “Smiley” Ricks, and Jody Williams. I also interviewed next-generation artists, like Dr. John, Bonnie Raitt, Jimmie Vaughan, Robben Ford and Bob Margolin.

Lockwood was one of my favorites. At age 91, he was still extremely sharp and shed real light on a seminal blues figure, Robert Johnson. Lockwood was Johnson’s common-law stepson—his mother lived with Johnson for seven years.

Lockwood said Robert Johnson was a voracious reader who was always getting ideas for his songs from things he read. That really counteracts the romantic view of country blues musicians as illiterate modern primitives.

Evolvor: How did Dr. John wind up writing the foreword to your book?

Debra: I’d interviewed Dr. John in the past and was struck by how knowledgeable and deep he was. I called him when I was working on the book and he was able to answer questions I’d been tussling with for months. Like, where does the word “gig” come from? He knew that it came from the lottery business – a gig was a three-number (like a musical trio) bet and you didn’t know if it was going to pay off (like a musical gig!). I still can’t believe he wrote the foreword!

You can read his foreword and other excerpts from the book, plus the rest of the blurbs (from Joe Bonamassa, Hal Willner, Jimmy Vivino, Ed Sanders and Bob Margolin) at www.devi-rock.com/thelanguageoftheblues.

Evolvor: The Language of the Blues includes a free download of your band Devi’s album, Get Free. Is Devi a blues band?

Debra: No, we’re a rock power trio with a heavy ‘70s vibe. We’ve been described as “Sheryl Crow meets Queens of the Stone Age.” I think The Language of the Blues readers will dig Get Free, though, because my love for the blues kinda soaks through the whole thing.

Get your copy of The Language of the Blues here (this is not an affiliate link for me, I highly endorse it!)

Jan 2012 Post of the Month: Mobile Marketing for Independent Artists [Volume 11]

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:47:11 +0000

Start out 2012 by considering adding mobile marketing to your business plan, and checking out “Mobile Marketing for Independent Artists: Strategy” by Jem Bahaijoub of Imagine PR.

In this blog Bahaijoub lays out steps to formulate a mobile marketing plan (useful in starting a marketing plan other platforms as well) like determining goals and knowing your target audience.

She also suggests getting to know different types of mobile apps and what types of consumers use them in order to ensure you choose the best one for your fans.

At the end of this introductory article about mobile marketing there is a link to an ongoing series on mobile tools available to independent artists, so you can stay up to date all year.

Just remember to make sure a mobile marketing campaign fits in with the rest of your marketing strategy!

Expansion [Make It In Music]

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:42:11 +0000

I’ll try to keep this short as you might not care at all but I felt the need to let our regular readers know what we’ve been up to!

You might have noticed that since the Christmas break we have posted far less on the Make It In Music Daily and have been tweeting less than usual.

That’s because there have been changes in our day to day business that we have been trying to accommodate and now we have a plan to not only keep it up but to expand what we do and are able to offer.

New beginnings

For years we have been a stand alone management and label company and in the last three years we’ve run this site as an add-on to pass on our knowledge and to try and help aspiring musicians.

However, I have now taken up a full time position with a forward thinking management and label company, Three Six Zero Group, whose clients include Deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia as well as a host of independent labels. It’s an amazing place to work and use my industry experience but I also get to apply the digital marketing knowledge that I have gained over the last 5 years or so.

I’ll do my best to report back on the further lessons I learn in music marketing at that level.

Meet Steve

This site is still very much my passion and will continue much as before, but the changes mean that I have passed some of the running of it to an old friend and very experienced musician, Steve Travell.

Steve has been a working musician, producer and DJ for over 30 years and now also works in digital marketing as well as making music and teaching production for one of the leading physical and online music colleges in London.

Steve will be writing some posts for this site and will be dealing with the majority of the daily tip posts. I will be writing feature posts on this site and will continue digging up and adding tips as I have always done, so this should expand our output and maintain the quality that we know you have come to expect. I’ll still be monitoring our Twitter and Facebook profiles so, generally, it’ll be me your talking to. You’ll just see more photos of me in interesting places!

Amanda has been working remotely for some time and will continue to be on board and using her knowledge in the background.

I’ve also spoken to some other members of the musician blogging community who you’d already know and they will be writing some material for us as well in due course.

DTF-Base

The final piece of the puzzle will be revealed in more detail as and when Steve can build a new site for it – DTF-Base.

We’ve been asked on numerous occasions in the last year to take on specific projects for clients from both the DIY musician world and from indie or major labels. This might be a website build, Topspin integration or a whole digital marketing campaign.

We have just completed the first few of these projects and Steve will be adding to this in the next few months – and building a dedicated website! The services that DTF-Base can offer will not generally be necessary, appropriate or affordable for artists in the earliest stages of their careers (that’s what this site is for in many ways) but we can take on pretty much anything of any scope from basic online music marketing advice to a full digital marketing campaign for a release including building websites and social media presences from scratch. If you’re interested, just contact us.

So, as you were. Lots of helpful and informative posts to come and more options for how we can help you. Just say ‘hello’ to Steve if you are so inclined.

Thanks for your support so far.

It’s been quite a LONG time since I’ve…

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:16:20 +0000

It’s been quite a LONG time since I’ve written a post that wasn’t some diatribe for musicians that would cause headaches and break hearts (and ultimately be looked at as rubbish, even though I was right). Now, with the recent news from Google regarding the inclusion of Google+ sharing as part of their search results, I’ve decided to re-join my SEO family that gave birth to me so many years ago and pick apart the topic. After months of insight boiling in the back of my mind, and seeing the growth of Google+ (and the +1 signal) influence on search in my own projects, I’m here today to say that Google + is going to have a very important impact to your SEO strategy here in 2012, and it’s going to be a lot bigger then you might expect.

Social SEO Has Been Around For Years

To start, I’d like to point out that much of SEO has been very heavily influenced by the “social” aspect of the web for years now. First, us savvy marketers used social bookmarking and news platforms like Delicious, Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon to get our content in front of the “linkerati” as a means of obtaining those ever-so-important links that are the backbone of SEO. If you’re reading this thinking that spamming comment forms, directories, and article submission sites are the answer to your Google ranking woes, jump in a time machine and meet me at a bar circa 2007 so I can buy you a beer and set you on the right path.*

At this point in time, links were all-the-rage in Google land. While the algorithm was very advanced, and not every link was worth the same (remember this little tidbit), the only way to really gauge relevance of a web page was the link algorithm, and it made sense. The pages with the best links, and more of them, deserved to rank high in search results. And just like the techniques that came before them, us SEO soldiers figured out ways to get them. The smarter we got, the smarter Google got, and the game continued to get played with no end in sight.

As Facebook and Twitter rose to heights that nobody saw coming, it become apparent that the way content was being shared on these services was a solid indicator of the quality of said content. Now instead of just Google’s algorithm determining the importance of a web page, people we’re determining this via sharing on these social networks (instead of just linking from their own sites). The better an article or blog post was, the more likely it was going to be shared, “liked”, or tweeted. Google acknowledged this and soon these signals became part of the algorithm.

Google+ Is NOT the Facebook Killer…It’s a Twitter & Linked-In Killer

Google isn’t stupid, and so it began toying with it’s own social network. It screwed up royally with the launch of Buzz a few years back, and “we the people” helped that die a fast death. But low and behold, last summer, Google launched Google+. Everyone went into a frenzy, labeling it as a “Facebook killer”. I quietly laughed at that notion and checked it out. While it had some cool features, I kind of thought it was pretty redundant. I mean, the whole world uses Facebook and we all love it, so much that we complain every time they update the service, yet spend more and more time on it. Why would Google try to compete with that? And the more and more I started playing around with it, I realized what was really happening. Google wasn’t trying to kill off Facebook. No, it was going after Twitter. And now it’s taking that war to the battlefield that it just so happens to own, the beloved search engine results page. And it might prove to be a formidable foe.

How is Google+ more of a threat to Twitter then Facebook? It’s simple really. Facebook, for the most part, is a closed, friends and acquaintance-only social network (forget that “subscriptions” bullshit – anyone who really uses Facebook and is not a celebrity would cringe at the thought of this). Facebook is all about stupid status updates and pictures if you and your friends getting drunk. It’s not something we want shared with strangers.

This mindset goes against the way Google+ was set-up, where people would add you to “circles”. It’s not like a “friend request” – people add you if they want to. Depending on your settings, if your sharing updates publicly, then those who added you get your updates in their news feed. People can be very open with things on Google+. Sound familiar? Yeah, that’s cause it’s pretty much exactly how Twitter operates, just with some added, Facebook-y features. It’s a far superior platform to do the kinds of sharing of information that Twitter allows you to do (which makes the “circles” concept so damn good).

Now, of course Google+ did take the one thing Facebook provides as far as social signals are concerned – the “Like” button, and incorporated THAT into the whole platform as well. The “+1″, Google’s version of the “Like”, is the perfect and final reason why its platform works so damn well. Now Google can take the content sharing/network that works so well on Twitter and combine the “like” aspect of Facebook to completely change the way the algortithm deems content worthy of ranking. And, as stated earlier in this article, it makes total sense. 5 years ago it was links that make content relevant (and early form of what we consider “social”, even though it was always social – links were given by people, right?). Now, as social signals have evolved, Google is just doing what it does best – delivering the best possible results that it can that are relevant to the user.

And why do I call it a Linked-In killer? Because, as you’ll find out below, Google+ will very much become the “professional” social network. I’ll saved the Linked-In rant for another day, but I see it as becoming obsolete.

So here we are with the news this week that Google has introduced the Google+ and +1 signals as an integral part of their algorithm and user experience. Yes, users have the ability to opt-out of the service, but methinks that’s not going to really affect the masses of Google users who login to the service on a daily basis, which makes this integration VERY powerful for those who want to take advantage of it.

Let’s start by talking about your personal Google + profile and how it can affect SEO. Now, it’s really easy to hear all the hype surrounding Google+ and to just start going on a friend-addding frenzy, or to start +1′ing all your content (and begging others to do so). For just a minute, sit back, take a deep breath, and understand the following, otherwise you might screw your future success up with Google+ right from the start.

From my analysis, here is how Google is going to look at you via your Google+ page, and how it affects SEO now that Google + Your World is in full effect.

Connections are key. Every social network to rise up has it’s early adopters who figure out a way to spam their way to lots of friends (I know, I toyed with that myself with Twitter). However, this is king Google we’re talking about here – they’re not stupid. Google is going to look at who you add to your circles, then analyze all the factors of their profile as well. This includes their own connections and the quality of the content they share or +1 on their own Google+ profile. Make sense? Let’s use the following example:

Joe adds everybody and everybody to his Google+ circles, he has 1000 people. He’s never met these people, and about 60% of them are either fake accounts or users who don’t even use the service. The friends who DO use their Google+ account are spammers or affiliate marketers who are just pushing links out to shady products.

Now Jane, on the other hand, only adds people she knows or follows closely to her circles of connections. She only has about 200 of them, but most if not all use Google+ on a regular basis. They all share quality content and conversations and +1 good content on the web.

See the difference here? While Joe has more connections, it’s Jane who has the more valuable Google+ one account. Google’s algorithm is going to favor those who actually use the damn thing to make their search results more valuable for all users.

So that’s the real advantage to using Google+ for SEO & marketing. It’s all about building a valuable community of people and sharing the right kinds of content. YOU have the power to have a very powerful SEO signal if you create a Google+ profile that Google deems authorative, and the +1′s you give to content will have a profund effect on their search rankings.

All sound familiar? That’s because the ecceence of Google+ is the same as it’s link algorithm. The more +1′s you get from highly authuratative Google+ users, the higher you will rank. It’s not just quantity, but quality. Power will come with those who network well just like Digg/Reddit/Social Power Users.

Finally, even with all that has been said regarding Google+’s influence here, at the end of the day, if you’re trying to rank for keywords in search, you have to have quality content. I know it’s been preached about here and everywhere for years, but none of the SEO and social signals you read about mean a damn thing if you don’t have the content first. Create it, and then get it in front of the people who have the power to give you the links and Google +1′s (and Tweets and Likes and so on), and you’ll have a shot to play in the SEO game with the rest of us.

So, if you don’t mind…can you give me a +1 up in the left hand corner?

The Industry Weighs In on Google+

I figured I’d include the following articles from those who have been hiding in a cave to see what the reaction about Google+ has been from some of the sharpest minds in the game.

Real-Life Examples Of How Google’s “Search Plus” Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy

Search & Social – you can’t get the cream out of the coffee by Joost de Valk

Are You Trusted by Google? by Bill Slawski

Google + 1 Votes Checker Tool

Why Google+ is an Inevitable Part of Your Content Marketing Strategy – Brian Clark

*If you’re having success using these “golden-era” methods of getting links (crappy directories & article submissions), good for you. I hear they can still work for some of those non-competitive niches, but that isn’t going to last much longer. Social is taking, or already has taken, over. If you want to do your clients/projects a disservice, then continue building links this way. I’ll see you at the top of the search results, or at the bar wooing your clients away.

7 steps to break your band in 2012 [Make It In Music]

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:28:01 +0000

Another year over and what have you done?

That imperfect Lennon quote is the question that every musician will be asking themselves as this year ends and the next starts.

If you feel or know that you didn’t achieve what you wanted with your music in the previous year, what are you going to do to change that in 2012? What can you do to break your band?

“How do I make it” is the question that we get asked all the time and the one that we and lots of other bloggers try to spend a lot of time answering.

Reading our blog and the others like it will give you lots of great ideas on methods to market and promote your music and some insight into how to be a better musician.

But, we are asked this question so often that we felt the best thing that we could do on this last day of the year is make the most basic plan possible for every musician.

Step 1. Make sure your music gets a reaction!

This is the starting point and you will only have any chance of success if your music is good enough to attract some kind of audience.

This doesn’t mean that you need to make some commercial mainstream dross that isn’t true to your art. Far from it. Your music can and probably should be targeted to a small niche. It just means that you need to be able to tell whether you’re on the right path. This is VERY difficult and we wrote more about it here – Is my music good enough?

The second step in that process is constantly improving your art until what you do is so good that people can’t help but become fans – some more on that here – Never give up.

Step 2. Build a website!

We get bored telling people this.

Facebook and YouTube are essential to spreading the word about your music (see below) but you need a ‘home base’ – a place that is completely in your control where people can come and discover your music and you can control all the elements.

To begin with it can be simple and can grow with you but as soon as you have material that you know is good enough, build a site.

The other thing we get told all the time by people is that they don’t have the skills or can’t afford to build a site.

We understand – it looks expensive and difficult, but most people can build a website for an initial outlay of $13.94 and an ongoing cost of $3.96 per month. That’s the cost of a domain name and the first month’s hosting for a site.

Although it might seem daunting, pretty much anyone can learn how to launch a website. And learning how will seriously help your online marketing skills and therefore your chances of music success.

There’s loads of info and videos on the web to help you learn how to do this yourself. Give it a go. If you mess up, you can still find people online who will fix it for you for pretty small amounts of cash.

Try first and call for help if it doesn’t work out!

Buy your domain name from Namecheap here. Just use the name of your band if possible and buy the ‘.com’ if you can. If ‘yourband’ domain name is gone, get something like www.yourbandmusic.com or www.yourbandband.com.

Buy your hosting from Hostgator here.

Buy the $3.96 ‘Hatchling’ Plan if you only plan to have a single domain name. A lot of musicians will have a later need for a second domain and therefore buy the ‘Baby’ Plan.

Don’t buy the domain and the hosting both from either Namecheap or Hostgator. There are good reasons for not doing so – trust us!

There are loads of hosting options but Hostgator has a great reputation (we use them) and some of the training links below are about the Hostgator set up.

Once you’ve bought a domain and hosting, the simple choice is to build a site using WordPress. Again, there are loads of reasons why and we’ll look at those in detail another time but it is easy to use, simple to update the design and lots of people are on hand to help.

There’s a video below that shows you how to get your WordPress site live on your Hostgator hosting. In this video Chris Rockett buys the domain at Hostgator as well. As we said above, we’d advise you against that, but the rest of the video shows you how to actually get the site live.

Once it’s live there are a bunch of things you can and need to do. Go and look at the series of posts that follows Chris’s video in his ‘music marketing challenge’ series, where he shows you a lot of the steps you need to take to improve the site you’ve just launched.

Alternatively, there’s a great video from serious music marketers Michael Brandvold and Brian Thompson for $5 that deals with all the steps in launching your own WordPress site. Get that here.

Of course Google or YouTube searches will help you find an answer to almost any issue that you find when setting up a WordPress site for the first time.

Once you’ve launched a site, you’ll want to find an easy way to make it look great to represent you and your music. When you first launch the site it will have a default design – which can then be altered.

The design of a WordPress site is controlled by the ‘Theme’. You can get lots of these for free and there are endless ones available to buy.

Check out these two articles, both of which have a great list of Themes that you can use for your site.

Free WordPress themes for musicians - A great list from Chris Bracco’s great site.
Best WordPress Music Themes. Loads of great themes – all paid rather than free but starting at $20.

You can also find loads of themes by Googling for things like ‘band wordpress theme’ or ‘music wordpress theme’. Have a go and see what’s out there.

Lastly, there is a great WordPress theme designed by music marketer Greg Rollett called Band WP Theme.

This is a custom designed theme that is specifically set up for musicians to build a website using WordPress and is also designed to work with our favourite email software, Aweber.

The training videos for this theme are superb and easy to follow and the sites look great and work well. It costs $47 but if you want to avoid some of the learning issues with building your own site this may well be the right solution for you.

In order to install a theme, go back to YouTube and look for a recent instructional video with a search of ‘install wordpress theme’. Just bear in mind that WordPress is constantly improving their software so if you watch a recent video it will look like your dashboard of the site you’ve just launched – and hopefully won’t therefore confuse you!

The last thing to remember about Themes is that you can always change them in the future.

The key is to get your site up and live!

And, if this part scares you and defeats you, just got to Fiverr and search for ‘wordpress’. You’ll find lots of people who will help you get your site launched. Look for people with at least a few good feedback comments.

The other place to look for help is elance.com. It’ll cost more – $100 or thereabouts – but you’ll get a more specific service.

Step 3. Build a permission marketing list!

Why permission marketing works for spreading your music and making sales!

I would say build an email list, and that is the key, but it’s not the only ‘list’.

Permission marketing is where you send marketing messages to people who have given you their permission to contact them – i.e. it’s the opposite of spam.

These people want to hear from you again and again!

So, as well as an email list, you need to be building real engaged fans on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – these fans, followers and subscribers are another permission marketing list that you can promote and market your music to.

But, the daddy is your own email list.

Despite the claims that email is dying and that messaging over social networks will take over, everyone I know still has an email address and still checks it.

Build the other lists and communities, but don’t ignore a list of fan emails. This should be primarily built by collecting those addresses on your new website by using an opt-in form.

We have written more about this in our Fan List section of this site. All the main email list software systems have lots of ‘how to’ videos to show you how to set up the opt-in form and trade the future fan’s email address for free music.

Our preference is to use Aweber as it is the very best email software that you can get and it will grow with you and your career. The more you learn to use it, the more you realise how powerful it is. Some feel that Aweber is overkill for some musicians though and so we’d gladly recommend FanBridge as the musician focused alternative.

We also love Topspin as a full website solution that builds music players, shop buttons and more on your website. Its email element is, however, its weakest part.

It does the basics required of it but often we use Topspin as the main engine of a website but move all the emails that we collect using Topspin into Aweber. There is a free starter option with Topspin but the basic plan cost is $9.99 per month.

To encourage people to join your fan mailing list when they come to your site you MUST give them something in return. Some music is the default option but don’t give them one poor demo track. Give away a 3 or 4 track EP of some of your best stuff. Why would people want to become a fan and come back if all you want to give them is your cast-offs?

It’s been proven by many DIY music leaders that the more you give away when starting to spread the word about your music the greater the effect.

Have a look at those three options and decide which is best for you. At the outset we’d recommend any of them.

If you’ve used Namecheap and Hostgator and now choose Aweber, their first month costs $1 and is then £19 per month. So, if you’ve managed to do it all yourself with a free WordPress theme (and we think you can with some YouTube help!) you will spend $14.94 in the first month to launch your site with an email list building tool built in and then $22.96 per month as your ongoing hosting and email software costs.

That is a sum that every musician NEEDS to invest in their career!

Step 4. Build a presence and following on social networks.

We just mentioned that you need to build a permission marketing list on the three biggest social networks – Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

But you need to do more than build lists of followers and fans – you need to engage them and create music and videos for them to discover, enjoy and share.

We have for a long time held that you ought to still have a presence on MySpace – there are Google search benefits and it still has a lot of traffic – but 2012 might be the year that we decide it’s no longer worth the effort. It’s definitely not worth a lot of time even now. Current advice is to build a quick simple page with basic info and some music and send people from there back to your new website.

The ‘Big 3’ are a different story – they are now central to all your music promotion and marketing efforts.

Why YouTube is ESSENTIAL for music discovery

This article tells us two core things that ought to inspire you to be an avid YouTube creator!

YouTube is the second biggest search engine and 80% of the searches are music related. Not only that, but people are 3 times more likely to listen to music on an audio & video stream (i.e. YouTube) than they are to buy a download.

Just last week a UK artist, Alex Day, had a number 4 hit, largely propelled by his long term building of a YouTube fanbase. Read more about that here.

Put everything you write, record or perform on YouTube in as many forms as you can!

YouTube isn’t just the best place to have your music discovered – it’s also a social network and you need to learn more about building friends and subscribers. Until we write more tips for YouTube make sure you read their own free guide on how to make the most of all your videos.

We’ve already written the definitive guide to using Twitter as a musician. It’s really good and you can be become a Twitter master if you read the whole thing.

But, it’s Facebook that’s the king for social interaction and the viral spread of your music. We’ve got some great posts on Facebook music promotion here but will be giving some more detailed step by step advice in the near future.

Build a Fan Page, offer some more free music and engage your fans is the basic plot!

Step 5. Play live as much as possible

Hopefully there’s a live element to what you do. If you’re making dance music, this might mean DJ’ing to build a following and to road test your tracks, but in any other genre you ought to be able to have some kind of live performance.

If your music is good enough (see point 1!) and you play locally and promote your shows properly you will get a reaction and the beginnings of a fanbase.

Have a look at this post about getting your first gigs.

And this brand new free eBook from Seth Jackson gives some great advice on how to make sure each show is properly promoted and therefore well attended. Get it here.

For the very best advice on how to get the most out of live shows there’s no better book than Martin Atkins’ ‘Tour : Smart’. I’d recommend it to every artist. Check out his ‘Five pointed inward facing Crush Strategy’ video below to see how this simple touring advice can help you build a following.

I also highly rate Jeri Goldstein’s book, ‘How To Be Your Own Booking Agent: The Musician’s & Performing Artist’s Guide To Successful Touring’ (rightfully considered the ‘how to’ live bible for DIY and indie musicians) and her more recent course on the same subject. You can check that out here with a discount that she offers for our readers.

Lastly (and every time I recommend him I have to point out that all his training is expensive) if you know your live show needs to be improved the acknowledged expert is Tom Jackson. He consults with some of the world’s biggest artists and his experience shows. Have a look at his training here.

Don’t feel that you need to invest in Jeri or Tom’s training – it really isn’t necessary for everyone but if you recognise that you need what they’re selling, we vouch for the fact that you’ll get value from it.

The key is to get out there and play live and build a local following. Expand the area and do the same thing. This is how a live fanbase is built.

Step 6. Spread the word on the internet

Now that you have a website as the hub of your online promotional activity and you have made sure that your material is getting a reaction, you need to do more to spread the word.

That means adding to your network of sites where people can find you. SoundCloud, Bandcamp and Flickr are obvious candidates.

But, the killer promotional outlet that most musicians just don’t spend enough time applying themselves to are blogs!

No need to repeat ourselves on this though as we have already written about Music Blog Promotion. Read that post and think about spending $2.99 to buy Chris Bracco’s eBook – it’s worth it!

Step 7. Have a plan for the year!

I keep meaning to write a detailed post about the need for a plan, but here’s the sketch.

If you get steps 1 to 6 all set and your music is ready to be embraced by a wider audience, you need to devise a plan.

It’s not very artistic and sounds a bit like a job (or being an accountant!) but the last piece of the puzzle to breaking your band is to outline all the steps that you are going to take and make sure that you have all the tools and ‘assets’ ready.

Take a year long diary and schedule the releases you plan to use as promotional and marketing hooks and levers for the year, Not just traditional single releases on iTunes – in fact these should be the final and largely irrelevant aim. More importantly the timed releases of free tracks, YouTube videos, picture sets on Flickr, SoundCloud tracks and remixes etc.

On top of that schedule when you will make videos (lyric videos, rehearsal videos, in the tour bus videos, as well as the more traditional music videos), write posts on the blog of your site (and what they will be about), contact other blogs for reviews, play local shows and shows farther afield, make major Facebook posts and how and when you are planning to make every major step in your band’s year.

Only if you make this kind of detailed plan and work out with your band members who is going to do what can you hope to achieve the success that you, your music and your marketing set up is capable of.

You need endless amounts of music and video to keep your newly acquired fans engaged and to have for them to pass on to build more fans….and it all needs to be made!

If you plan it and share the workload you will have a chance of keeping up with it. If you don’t you are way more likely to fail.

Will these steps work for me?

Yes.

Right at point 1 we made the most important point – if your music makes people sit up and take notice you’re on to a winner.

All the other steps are ways to make sure that your music gets in front of people online and in the real world. Obviously if you make amazing music but it just sits on the hard drive of your computer, you cannot succeed.

The more concerted your promotion and marketing efforts are the greater chance you give yourself of building a fanbase that can support you and spread the word about you further.

Follow these steps and put your own website at the heart of your music and your music promotional efforts and you will give yourself the best chance possible to break your band 2012.

Disclaimer: This is a blatant plug of a band that…

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:36:29 +0000

Disclaimer: This is a blatant plug of a band that I’m a street team member of, and I am doing so because 1. I want to get the attention of their label so someday I can maybe work for the band and 1. ‘Cause they promised a few of us Street Teamer’s some free schwag!

If you’ve been living under a rock for the past 6 month’s you probably missed Fitz and the Tantrums, who have been getting serious press and just got done a long cross country tour. I was a little ticked off that I missed them earlier this month at the TLA because I know the next time I see them, it will be in a much larger venue. This is by far the coolest pop act I’ve seen in years and I love their classic sound.

One of the things they’ve done a good job at is giving away their singles (using my chosen platform Topspin of course!). First it was the tune that really broke them into the main stream, “Moneygrabber”, who’s video hit VH!’s charts a few months back. Now the band is promoting their latest release, Don’t Have to Work it Out.

I’m sure the band is doing pretty well in the album & single sales department, and maybe I can snag an interview to back that up. Yes, you can both give away music and sell music at exactly the same time!

But their main goal in the whole campaign is to get you on that email list. Ten bucks says it has a lot to do with them selling out most of their shows along the tour. Think about it.

Anywho, download “Don’t Gotta Work it Out” and you’ll be hooked on FATT in no time!

The New Masters Of Online Marketing [Gen-Y Rock Stars]

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:01:15 +0000

Very exciting day here. My new book, through Celebrity Press Publishing is now available everywhere. It is called the New Masters Of Online Marketing and features 17 of the best Internet Marketers from around the world, including Nick Nanton, Lindsay Dicks, Brian Horn, Brian Evans and others.

I know this site is primarily focused around the music business, but let’s face it, 99% of what I teach here is Online Marketing that is geared towards you guys (and it works!).

In the book, I wrote a chapter a lot of you will be familiar with, Leveraging OPA. I teach in in the New Music Economy course and extensively go through the process in the NME Blueprint.

What I want you guys to do is help out, support the book and learn some really cool strategies today. When you pick up a copy today I want to hook you up with some super bonuses from myself and my friends in the book.

Check out all of the bonuses here!

This BONUS PACKAGE is ONLY available Thursday, September 8th!

After you buy the book on Amazon.com, forward your receipt to bonus@celebritypresspublishing.com and you will have instant access to all the bonuses.

I hope you guys enjoy the book and if you need anything from me, or want to help promote it, let me know and I can hook you up with some cool stuff.

Talk soon,

Greg

Why Social Media is Actually Ruining Your Ability to Obtain Fans [Gen-Y Rock Stars]

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:52:38 +0000

Today I have a guest post from Eric Hebert from Evolvor.com. Eric is one of my closest compadres in the indie music business and we even created Label 2.0 together a few years back. Below Eric shares his thoughts about the state of social media and indie music and it’s one hell of an opinion! Eric has also just released his Viral Press Release Service that allows your news, your music and your voice to be heard by more people and get more exposure than it would using traditional outlets. Check it out here.

Enjoy the guest post and leave your feedback and comments below.

I know what you’re thinking. “Wait, isn’t Eric one of those music marketing guys who is always talking about social media HELPING musicians and what not?!”

Yes, that’s me. I’ve been yapping about Facebook and Twitter and blogs all and that other crap since they first launched. And they are invaluable tools for anyone trying to market any kind of product or service. That is, they provide value if you’re using them properly, as in sharing relevant messages and providing excellent content, in addition to interacting with your users in a way that makes them fall in love with you.

Otherwise, social media is, well, crap.

Over the past week everyone has has gone nuts-o over Google+, calling it a “Facebook-killer” or possibly a “Twitter replacement”. As a heavy user of Google’s products, I was excited to see what exactly I could do with it, but after all this stupid hype I stepped back and asked myself what the point was. We already have a killer social network in Facebook that is so engrained in the web, why would I want to start over? Then I started seeing articles pop up about “music marketing with Google+” and I started banging my fucking ahead against the wall.

Why so angry, you say? Well because it’s dumb shit like this that has musicians running around in circles. Everyone is a “guru” and wants to write all these articles about how “Google+ is the next big thing you better jump on it” without really teaching anyone what the point of it is. Guess what – it’s just a social network. If you just sign up for it and not use the dam thing, and use it properly, it’s not going to do a damn thing for you.

Why are we using social media in the first place?

Using Google+ as a marketing tool is EXACTLY THE SAME as using Facebook or Twitter; while they’re might be small differences with the interface or how to specifically do something, the actual value in using them only comes from exactly how you use it. Do you post interesting an engaging content? Do you thank fans and respond to them? Do you make being a fan or follower a rewarding experience? Awesome, your doing the right things.

The problem is, most musicians are not doing this. Nope, they sign up for each and every new thing thinking that JUST BECAUSE it’s the new thing, thinking it’s going to help them. So they post songs, spam friends with events, do the whole “wave my hands in the air look at me” typical bullshit, and then sit on the porch and pout because they don’t have any new “fans”.

The rise of Tumblr

Let’s talk about another service that is getting a ton of buzz these days: Tumblr. I had a client recently tell me that Tumblr is “going to be the next Twitter” and had me actually turn off the pretty dope website I had built for him so we could focus on his Tumblog.

I made an effort to speak my mind, but finally gave in (I’m not on the payroll anymore so whatever). His people we’re telling him one thing, and it’s the same thing I see a lot of people talking about. “Tumblr is so cool it let’s you post updates like Twitter but with photos blah blah blah.” And they’re all idiots.

Led Astray by Music Industry Bloggers

This is a perfect example of musicians being led astray by all the stupid social media hype they are getting from their so-called guru news sources and it’s not helping. Now you have bands with a Facebook page, a Twitter account, AND a Tumblog and all are devoid of anything interesting. They just read the hype and think they “need” to have it.

The big reason I don’t like Tumblr is because it’s just redundant. You see, your strategy should work like this: you create a cool blog post on your website (one you control); you then share the link to that on Twitter and Facebook. Fans come and interact with your content and fall in love. Then you maybe convert them into a customer or some other conversion.

What I see people doing now is just using their Tumblog as their website, and sharing crappy content (like random pictures or quotes) and then sharing on Facebook/Twitter. It’s all this micro-blog type content that has no real substance and isn’t doing a damn thing to help anybody. Plus, since none of it is on a website that the artist actually owns, it’s just not being used properly in building residual traffic (via search engine traffic) and none of it is being properly converted (email capture or actual sale of product).

The other really big problem with everyone blabbering about social media is NO ONE, I mean, no one, is talking about the types of things that ACTUALLY drive traffic and create a buzz for you – real social media marketing involves using the social news sites Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon.

Explaining how exactly you can utilize these social news and voting sites is a whole other article in itself, and let’s just say the average Joe isn’t going to sign up today and become successful using them. However, the main thing, if everyone should shut up for a second and think about, is creating the best kinds of content. If you can learn to create the right kind of content, not only will your Facebook and Twitter start to see some traction, but you’d have a shot and going viral on a site like Digg.

So stop listening to all the hype everyone is dishing out everyday, and sit down and think about what the web is about: sharing information. None of these tools will do you any good unless you’re sharing the RIGHT kind of information. Learn how to create this kind of content and the tools around you will start to make a little more sense.

Music Business Lessons From NYC To Bozeman, MT [Gen-Y Rock Stars]

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 12:32:35 +0000

Today I have a guest post from Andrew Hand. Andrew and I have had many conversations on the music business, Internet Marketing and personal development over the years and he is always growing, but more importantly he is always helping people. Below is a great article that talks about transition, life and the music business. If you want to learn more about Andrew, you can check out his new Bozeman, MT Guitar School.

If someone had told me a few years ago that I’d be living in Montana and teaching guitar lessons, I wouldn’t believe it

Teaching guitar lessons on the other side of the US…Indeed I wouldn’t believe it. See, I was living in New York City and trying to make connections there and get my music spread to a larger audience. I didn’t have any plans to leave the Big Apple, but life had some other things in store.

Let me just say that I’m where I am because I made choices, it’s not like life happened to me, I was creating a scenario of events that led me to make other choices…and so here I am in Montana…Long way from NYC.

Though I miss the city, I am enjoying the process of embracing where I am

I think the important point, and the reason that I’m writing this, is to share with my fellow musicians, and perhaps all readers; that there are always more opportunities around us than we recognize.

About six months after landing here in Bozeman, I started thinking that I should see about connecting to the music scene here and perhaps try to teach some of what I’d learned about music, songwriting, recording and such. After a few months of trying a few things, I started teaching guitar at the local music store. The first lesson I gave felt so good.

There was just a positive wave of excitement I felt at passing on what I’d learned to someone else and seeing them learning

I’ve been teaching guitar for about four months now and have really enjoyed every student I’ve had. They have all been different and each has had their unique pace and style of learning, which has made me adapt some of my teaching and past notions about what people needed to learn first about guitar and music.

The reason I tell this brief tale is to share my realization that I am learning more from teaching than I am from when I’d just make teaching videos for my guitar teaching website. Seeing how people actually process this information in person has been enlightening. For some the eyes glaze over when we enter music theory land, and for others, an ah-ha moment happens.

I think the takeaway for me is that although I might be doing something other than 100% focussing on my music, I am able to keep involved with music and actually feel less burdened and stressed out about all I have to do to get myself out there. When a student wants to learn “Ring of Fire” or “Speak Now” by Taylor Swift, it gives me a reason to go and really look at these songs and see what’s making them tick.

Since beginning to teach (and for some time before) I’ve been working on a guitar teaching DVD. Because of my student interaction and getting to test things out, I find the product is becoming better and giving me new ideas. I thought I was done with it last week, but on reflecting, I felt that I had put too much information in and not enough ‘practical’ teaching. So I’m re-shooting the whole thing, and so far it’s getting better and better. Yet another bonus!

Doing things you never expected, or maybe didn’t even want to do, might just help expand you in a direction you hadn’t thought of before

For me, what I’ve gotten done since starting to teach, was cover “All Apologies” by Nirvana, do cover video lessons for “Come Together” by the Beatles, and “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. I’ve created chord charts/scale charts, PDF’s, set up websites and even performed with my students in our recital. It was fun to sing with these kids…

When looking for an answer, they often never come

I have been trying to find an answer for the last year, and have met lots of internal resistance, stress, and a whole host of up and down swings. I’m not one to look at things as obstacles. I haven’t found an answer, other than what I feel to be right. And that is to continue going with the flow and trying to contribute value to others and pass on whatever I can. It’s the same approach that’s guided me in my songwriting and personal/business connections.

There are opportunities, so many in fact, that I have to try and best choose those to pursue, while still reminding myself that music is a part of my purpose here.

My hope is that this little posting has met those who needed to see it and been of service. My thought to you would be this: Listen to the little voice that nudges at you, saying ‘hey, maybe you should try this.’…and then do it. Especially if it’s something that you tell yourself you don’t want to do the next minute.

I’d love to hear from you, so please reach out and drop me a line.

My Very Best Wishes to You,

Andrew Hand

Is Vibedeck Picking Up Where Bandcamp Left Off? [Gen-Y Rock Stars]

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:21:01 +0000

I had a conversation with Vibedeck CEO Lior Shamir last week about the new music startup and what they are doing for musicians. I am always skeptical of telling musicians to get into the $1 game, because it is very difficult to scale a business selling $1 singles.

Yet, in is the nature of the beast and part of our current music economy and with services like BandCamp and TopSpin taking a cut from the artists these days, which isn’t a bad thing, VibeDeck is coming in again as a company with an artists first approach.

I know Lior from his days at another music industry startup, Audiolife, as I was a writer for them at one point. Anyway, here is what VibeDeck is from Lior’s own words:

VibeDeck is a free direct-to-fan platform for creative artists and discerning fans. With VibeDeck, you can sell or giveaway your tracks, or let your fans name their own price. Best of all, VibeDeck does not take a cut of your sales and the money flows directly into your PayPal account. So, you keep 100% of your sales (after PayPal fees) and have immediate access to your funds. It’s also a great way to seamlessly collect, store and export your fans’ email addresses so you can send them a shout-out when you have a gig near their home turf. It’s easy to use and truly free.

For musicians looking to take advantage of direct-to-fan sales and keep a bigger portion of that $.99 pie, I encourage you to check out Vibedeck. Lior has sent me a link for all the readers here at Gen-Y Rock Stars and this will also help Lior and his team know that you guys are coming in with the marketing and business smarts to use the platform (that means he experts more from you, lol)

Click here to check it out.

On another good note, VibeDeck just raised $2 million in funding, so don’t worry about them disappearing anytime soon.

Let me know what you think about VibeDeck in the comments below.

-Greg

P.S. If you have not watched our new presentation on the 5 Fatal Mistakes Every Indie Musician Makes, click here to register and watch it now!

Indie Musician Summer Reading List [Gen-Y Rock Stars]

Mon, 16 May 2011 16:49:11 +0000

Last summer over on Hypebot, I wrote out my summer reading list and as summer is kicking in full swing here in Florida I thought it was time to share what I have been digging into when I hit the beach.

Over the last 12 months my reading has really kicked up a notch. I am trying my best to knock out 2 books a month ranging on everything from the music industry to business, marketing, nutrition, travel and lifestyle. Some of my choices are obvious and run in the best seller category and some are diamonds in the rough.

I am going to do my best to share 5 titles that I think would be beneficial to musicians and those in the music industry, as that is what this site is all about. Also, just wanted to let everyone know that I have just signed a publishing deal with Celebrity Press to write in 2 of their upcoming compilation books, The New Masters Of Online Marketing and Win!. Both will be out before the year ends.

Top 5 Books To Help Indie Musicians This Summer While Spending Time Tanning

No BS Marketing To The Affluent by Dan Kennedy.

This book is changing my entire game. I have been getting heavy into marketing legend Dan Kennedy over the past few months and this book opened my eyes to a world we all know is out there but feel is too far away from us. The general idea is that by marketing to affluent customers, you can raise your prices, provide extreme value and be handsomely rewarded financially.

For musicians this may mean creating higher priced bundles, creating a market for exclusive private shows, creating music lessons for affluent students or looking for fans in more lavish neighborhoods. Check out the book on Amazon here.

The Pledge by Michael Masterson.

This book is really a look back at n incredible journey and an incredible life from one of the best direct response marketers on the planet. In the book Michael looks at the things in life that made him such a success and lays the blueprint for you to do the same.

I remember reading this book at night and jumping out of bed to find paper and a pen to do some of the exercises. That is powerful writing if it gets my lazy ass out from under the covers. Anyway, if you are looking for insights into an amazing career and more importantly a radically ambitious lifestyle, go pick this one up at Amazon.com here.

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max.

This one just came into my world and it’s a little shocking it took so long. I am usually onto these things. Anyway, the book is offensive as hell and I love it. I came from the college bar scene, spending 2+ years DJ’ing for the frat boys and sorority girls and witnessing first hand what Tucker tells in these stories of his.

The reason I think this book is important, more so than entertaining is to understand the mindset of young people. A lot of you are marking to this demographic and most of you get it wrong. By reading this book you start to see the lifestyles, the priorities and the budgets of the 18-25 year old crowd. Then you learn how to approach them. Picking up girls is very similar to networking, getting gigs and duh, the music industry. Go grab this best seller now at Amazon and laugh your ass of while getting a total education in the college kid psychology.

Work The System by Sam Carpenter

This book was recommended as a sort of prequel to Tim Ferriss’s 4 Hour Work Week. It goes along the same principles of working less and making more and I think musicians are really going to eat this up. The biggest thing holding most musicians back is time, or the fact that they think they don’t have enough time to dedicate to anything but making music.

Books like Sam’s and Tim’s open the mind up to explore what else is out there and what can be done when you create systems and apply them to your music career. It’s a quick read and looks good on the beach as your dream about your ideal musician lifestyle. Grab this one as well as Amazon.com.

Decoded and Empire State Of Mind

This indie musician summer reading list would not be complete without at least 1 music book reference. While I am not high on music industry books, most are outdated by the time they hit the bookshelves, these 2 deal with the bigger picture in an artists’ career, the other stuff beyond the music. That is what has made Jay-Z such a star, created staying power and created a half billion dollar legacy.

I loved Decoded as you get a first hand take on what made Shawn Carter. Empire State Of Mind takes a bigger look at the business man. Both are incredible reads and lay the real blueprint for making a career in the music industry, if you even want to call it that. Maybe it’s more of an entertainment empire. Either way, even if you are not an MC from Marcy, learn from this guy and how he has grown over the last 20 years. Find Decoded here and Empire State Of Mind here.

Just missed the list:

The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss – loved and devoured it. I don’t think of it as exercise and diet, but the lifestyle I want and the way I love to feel.
Assholes Finish First by Tucker Max – I just finished ‘Beer in Hell’ and this in next on the Kindle.
No BS Direct Marketing by Dan Kennedy – Another one of Dan’s books. This is next on the list for me in the marketing category.
The Art of NonConformity by Chris Guillebeau
Never Get A Real Job by Scott Gerber
The Heart and the Fist by Eric Greitens
Brewing Up A Business by Sam Calagione

I hope you liked this list, but really, I want to know about you. What books are you reading (fun or business). Leave your suggestions for others in the comments below.

-Greg

P.S. Just got this killer link from Jon @ MicControl with over 100 books recommended by musicians. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer. The link to all the books above are affiliate links for Amazon.com. If you buy something after clicking on one of those links I make a little commission.

Online Fundraising for Bands [The Music Snob]

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 08:40:46 +0000

There was an interesting article in the NY Times a few days ago about web 2.0 sites that allow bands to raise money for tours, albums, etc. by coordinating donations from their listeners. These websites hit my radar screen a few years back with the advent of Sellaband, which attempts to raise $50,000 for its artists, at which point they are entitled to a pro recording session with a “real” producer, and some other stuff. Along the way, donors are thanked for their level of generosity with special merchandise and access to the musicians.

I never wrote about Sellaband because it wasn’t something I was personally interested in trying. It only works if you have enough fans to generate a ton of donation money, and judging from my sales to date that just wasn’t gonna happen for me. In the meantime, Sellaband has gone bankrupt and gotten new investors.

This article in the NYTimes highlights some depressing facts not only about Sellaband but the difficulty of creating something unique, and inspiring enough to gather the support you may be wanting for your music:

“Four years in, the SellaBand model has not helped many groups. More than 15,000 artists have set up projects at the site, but fewer than 50 have been fully financed”
There are 13 million music profiles on MySpace, and 4,000 artists on the rosters of the major music labels

While these may be discouraging, the MySpace figure at least is deceptive, since I’m guessing many of those profiles are dead carcasses of former music projects that no longer exist. I’m sure that a couple of them are from my own projects…

To sum it all up: More bands => more competition for the pocketbooks and wallets.

Not that there’s anything surprising about this, really. The other site that the article features is called KickStarter, which bills itself as a “A FUNDING PLATFORM FOR ARTISTS, DESIGNERS, FILMMAKERS, MUSICIANS, JOURNALISTS, INVENTORS, EXPLORERS…” Check it out. I like how it’s targeted not just at musicians but anyone that wants to raise money for any sort of project. I can think of several crazy ideas that would be fun to solicit some funds for. I’ll leave that to your imaginations…

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Communication Skills 101 [The Music Snob]

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:55:22 +0000

While this blog is called TheMusicSnob, I’m usually pretty nice to people and things in my posts. At the same time, I do have a degree in English, and so occasionally I find someone’s use of it so offensive that I just gotta mention it.

I’ve got a contact form on this blog and occasionally people write me. Most of the time they are extremely nice and are just looking for the chance at some exposure, a review or something like that. Sometimes I’m a total d-bag and forget to write them back. If that happened to you, I’m sorry, I haven’t forgotten, it’s just that I have like 52,397 jobs and haven’t gotten around to it. Anyway, the people that offend my English sensibilities are those that write me asking for something and can’t be bothered to even write in near-complete sentences, and offer zero explanation of why I should bother spending my time to essentially do free research for you.

Case in point. Today I get an email that states:

“I need some info on getting my artist song s on ring tones to make money for the company”

That’s it. Let’s look at what information we don’t get:

Who is this guy?
What “company” is he talking about?
Who’s this artist, and why should we care about him?
Why was he so incapacitated that he couldn’t write us a proper note?
Why should I care about this guy?

I’m all for helping people. But if you can’t bother to address any of these basic points, then don’t expect too much. I hope this guy isn’t approaching clubs, labels, producers, etc. with this communications strategy.

peace and harmony,

The Snob

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Zimbalam Challenges Tunecore [The Music Snob]

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:19:18 +0000

I was browsing some music blogs when I saw an article on Hypebot about a service called Zimbalam. This company is basically a flat-fee digital music distributor like Tunecore. The key differentiator seem to be cost (Zimbalam) is cheaper than Tunecore, and allegedly won’t charge you the annual fee after year 1 unless your royalties on the albums they’ve distributed are adequate enough to cover the costs.

This is interesting to me because back in 2008 I wrote a post explaining why I was distributing my latest release with Tunecore and not CD Baby. One of the main factors for me was that I didn’t want someone taking a % of my royalties, so I preferred the flat fee. But now I’m wondering, will I have to pay their annual maintenance fee into perpetuity just to keep my music on iTunes? What if my descendants in 2248 want to download my music? Will I have had enough music sales over the previous 240 years to justify keeping my music active on Tunecore? I doubt it…Also, I’m not sure if by not renewing with Tunecore your music is actually taken off of iTunes, etc or just taken off the servers at Tunecore. In either case, I’m not sure how you’d get paid, since Apple isn’t going to start mailing you checks if you stop paying Tunecore’s annual fee.

Anyway. Check out Zimbalam. I’d love to hear from people with experience using it. I’ll try to do some actual reporting on it soon.

Peace.

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Cubase 5 Review: Easy Enough for Amateurs [The Music Snob]

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 10:31:04 +0000

My parameters for evaluating home audio recording software are simple: 1) Can I figure out how to use it without being an audio engineer? 2) Does it have the features I need to get quality results?

These parameters are, of course, totally open to debate by purists, who would say that no, if you don’t understand the finer points of audio mixing / EQ, mastering, etc. then it doesn’t really matter whether the software has them or not, because you’re the problem, not the software.

But I disagree. This blog is all about indie musicians getting stuff done on their own. And so for me, the signs of a quality product are the ease with which I can approach it for the first time and create a quality recording. With
Steinberg Cubase 5 DAW Software Standard, that’s exactly what I’ve done, and I’ve been pleased with my initial experiences.

The Song / Recording Project

Recently tasked with re-recording one of my songs to a video of me playing it, I had to find a new piece of software to use. The song is about my experiences as a helper/translator on a medical mission to the Dominican Republic.

My Initial Impressions

Having spent years using Digital Performer, and then briefly trying a demo version of Cakewalk before it kept crashing my computer, I was a little put off by the Cubase 5 track controls. There are a million different little icons around the recording/editing screens and I usually count on these to be totally intuitive, which in this case they seemed much less so. When trying Cakewalk, it was as easy as 1-2-3 to take a look and figure out how the major functions worked. Also, Cubase 5 didn’t automatically identify my MOTU 828 audio interface and configure itself for it, which I would have liked it to do. Cakewalk did this no problem, and Digital Performer (also made by MOTU) worked with it like a charm. Some of the track editing tools and features were less than intuitive as well, though I was quickly able to find tutorials online to show me the way.

Once I read a few tutorials online, though, I was in business. Here are the highlights of my experiences:

Great Presets for Amateurs

When creating a new project, Cubase 5 lets you pre-select from a couple basic project types if you want. Since I was recording an acoustic guitar and voice, I choice the 2 track acoustic/vocal project. The audio tracks came pre-loaded with a whole setup of EQs and effects that I found extremely useful. While I had to go through them one by one to decide which ones I wanted to keep, the acoustic guitar EQs were far more sophisticated than anything I would have been able to generate myself, resulting in the best sounding recording I’ve ever done of my acoustic guitar. I didn’t use the vocal track presets to the same extent, but I saw that there was some pitch-correction and a few other things that I will definitely explore in the future. In the end I think I chose a vocal plate reverb for the vocals and maybe left the EQ inserts on.

Cubase 5 also has pre-configured mastering project templates, effects and all. So once my recording was done, I loaded the stereo file into the mastering project and started tweaking the presets. The dynamics sounded good to me (though what do I really know about mastering?!), and once I figured out how to add a Limiter to the signal processing chain, I was good to go.

Here’s a link to my final recording if you’re interested in hearing what I came up with. It’s in WAV format so it’s about a 59MB download.

Las Matas by Brian Bourque

By the way, I think the crashes I kept experiencing with the Cakewalk demo were because I didn’t have the proper MOTU PCI card drivers installed, not because of the software. My demo has expired though so I’m going to stick with Cubase 5 for now. Peace.

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15 Percent Off Anything at GuitarCenter.com [The Music Snob]

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:17:47 +0000

Yo yo yo, if you’re anything like me then you never have enough money to buy the recording equipment or instruments you’d like for your projects.

Here’s a little help from one of our “sponsors”, which entitles you to 15% off any single item over $299 this weekend only at Guitar Center when you click on our link.

The offer ends March 21st, 2010.

peace.

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Volume 11 Music News Mix

Songkick Unveils “Tourbox”, Simplifies Tour Date Aggregation [hypebot]

How I Earned My Place in the Music Business: 6 Insights For Breaking In [hypebot]

How Well Does Social Media Marketing Work? [INFOGRAPHIC] [hypebot]

Two Big Announcements For Hypebot [hypebot]

The Crowdfunding Bible On Campaigns That Succeeded & Those That Failed [Free Ebook] [hypebot]

The Four P’s of Playing Live Shows: Post-Show [Music Think Tank]

The Four P’s of Playing Live Shows: Post-Show

Post-Show Marketing

Post-Show Evaluation

And you’re done… sort of

Thank You

The Four P’s of Playing Live

1. Preparation 2. Promotion 3. Performance 4. Post-Show

"Perhaps your anxiety is specific to magicians" [Seth Godin]

Marketing Plan Tactics For Independent Musicians – Part 3 of 3: Content Is King [Music Think Tank]

MUSIC

LIVE SHOWS

SOCIAL MEDIA

A hierarchy of business to business needs [Seth Godin]

Patti Smith Drops Some Music Wisdom [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Creating Global Music Collaborations #Soma [New Rockstar Philosophy]

10 Reasons You Shouldn't Wish For Overnight Success [Music Think Tank]

MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: How Vinyl and iPods Ganged Up to Kill the CD & more [Music Think Tank]

How to Get Gigs on Sonicbids [Music Think Tank]

5 Steps for Musicians to Dominate Facebook (or ANY Social Media) [Music Marketing]

Karmin and a DTF Approach to Building Up Leverage [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Bandsoup Helps You Spread Your Music [New Rockstar Philosophy]

SNL Recap: Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters, and Jeff Beck Join Mick Jagger For Rolling Stones Classics [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Post of the Month: How to turn a YouTube hit into Dollars and Fans [Volume 11]

New Productivity Tool - Your Got-Done List! [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Is Your Music Ego Costing You Money? #album [New Rockstar Philosophy]

Reel Stuff Entertainment, a growing video…

Welcome to the Music Business... You're Fucked. [Music Marketing]

Your Email Marketing (and How to Improve It) [Music Marketing]

You Are Not Selling Music [Music Marketing]

I don’t need a website or a mailing list [Make It In Music]

Two facts

Here’s why

Here’s how

Playing Music on a Bike: 1963 vs 2012 [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Your Music in Film and TV Shows [Music Marketing]

Meet Me in Santa Monica This Sunday, April 29, 5 to 7 PM [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Dick Clark: Tribute to an Icon & Legend [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Use This iPad App to Create Original Graphics [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

A few weeks ago I shot out an email about a good…

Post of the Month: ReverbNation’s “Get Venues to Ask You Back: 8 Tips” [Volume 11]

Always On! [Make It In Music]

Singles as marketing tools

The worst thing is not being in the marketplace

Always on for the DIY musician

Don't Make THIS Mistake with Your CD Artwork [Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion Blog]

Music Marketing Clinic [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Volume 11 Interview: LA’s Steven Winogradsky on Common Legal and Business Issues for Indie Musicians [Volume 11]

What are the top things independent artists should be doing from a business standpoint that they aren’t doing?

What are some of the biggest business/legal misconceptions that independent artists have?

What are the most important steps for an artist to take early in their career to set themselves up for success from a business/legal perspective?

What are the most common types of contracts an artist will encounter over the course of their career?

At what point in their career would you recommend an independent artist start seeking advice from a lawyer?

Do you have any advice on how an artist can find the right attorney?

What are some common legal issues that arise with bands, and how can bands prepare for them?

What legal issues should artists be aware of when posting content on their websites?

What changes in technology have created new legal issues for artists?

What resources can you recommend to an artist who wants to educate themselves about the legal/business aspects of the music industry?

What types of services and solutions does Winogradsky/Sobel provide for artists?

You’ve highlighted your success at getting music placements for artists on winogradskysobel.com, can you offer any advice to artists who are working on getting songs placed themselves?

V11′s About Page: Has anything changed since 2007? [Volume 11]

Where do we go from here?

Helping Bands Help Themselves

Why Volume 11?

Moving Bands To a Higher Level

Dream Big: How To Succeed In Today’s Volatile Music Biz [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Music Industry Agreements – free guide [Make It In Music]

360º deals

Management as a ‘joint venture’

The guide to Music Industry agreements

Chaotic Cohesion @ Midem [Music Business and Trend-Mongering]

Rock musician Debra Devi’s book The Language of…

Jan 2012 Post of the Month: Mobile Marketing for Independent Artists [Volume 11]

Expansion [Make It In Music]

1. Preparation

2. Promotion

3. Performance

4. Post-Show