Indie Music Tech

ArtistData Founder Brenden Mulligan Announces Consulting Service

Indie Music, Inc. — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:00:08 PST

Are you an artist looking to make sense of digital marketing, and the wide variety of social media and Internet based tools now available for bands and musicians? Then you may want to contact Brenden Mulligan, founder of ArtistData, as he recently started Brenden Mulligan Consulting aimed at providing custom, focused digital marketing advice for artists (he'll also work with labels and management companies too).

Not only is Brenden qualified to assist you, but he's got a no-hassle, easy-to-schedule service with great pricing to boot.

MobBase is Live

Indie Music, Inc. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:00:12 PST

Last week I briefly mentioned MobBase, a web app for creating iPhone apps for your band - today they went live. I'm not going to repeat the excellent coverage from Hypebot or RWW and others, but I would like to share a few screenshots of how easy it is for your band to create an inexpensive, customizable and feature rich iPhone app:

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5 Music Tech Twitter Lists to Follow

Indie Music, Inc. — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:02:57 PST

What lists did I miss? Please comment your suggestions, but this will get you started:

My Audio Bio Launching November 9

Indie Music, Inc. — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:43:06 PST

I know very little about My Audio Bio, other than they describe their app (looks like a web and iPhone app combo) as a place to share the songs that make up the narrative of your life, so I'm simply providing a heads-up for anyone interested in learning more. You can follow them on Twitter or connect on Facebook, and if you're an musician/band looking to expand the reach of your music, they're looking for artists.

Stereomood: Internet Radio for your Mood

Indie Music, Inc. — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:47:53 PDT

Stereomood is a free emotional internet radio that suggests music which may best suit your mood or activities based on the tag you select, allowing you to create playlists for your life that can be shared. Looks like most of their music is streamed from blogs. Here's an example of the mood "groovy."

While they've been around for about a year, there are several sites doing something similar, and the streaming space is crowded with clear leaders, but they are pulling in some great indie music like The Fiery Furnaces, The XX and Vitalic.

Benefits of Twitter Lists for Artists

Indie Music, Inc. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:34:19 PDT

Most everyone now has Lists enabled for their Twitter account, but what does this mean for you, the artist? Well, there are numerous ways to gain value from them. Below are 4 simple ways you could use Twitter Lists as a tool to help you maximize your tour and net the most income while on the road:

Keep track of other bands and musicians by region (e.g. Southeast, Northwest, Central, etc.), so while you're on the road you could see what they're doing and possibly headline swap, invite them to share the stage with you, meetup, etc.
Keep track of venues by region. Similar to above, the difference is that you're looking to see if there are any last minute openings or opportunities you may have not been aware of before hitting the road.
Keep track of your top fans by city (fan segmentation). Building relationships with your fans and superfans is vitally important, especially if you're trying to pack the house each night, and this is a great way to segment them via Twitter (tip: you may want to keep these lists private).
Discover. By doing the above, or creating another type of list for your band, you're going to discover some interesting people, artists, fans and more - nothing but a good thing, and it works equally for people discovering your band as you get added to Lists, which could open up more opportunities for you, so be creative and build some Lists.

There are lots of other ways Twitter Lists can help your band, these are just some examples to get you started. How do you plan to use Lists?

Online Radio Trends

Indie Music, Inc. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:06:20 PDT

Two graphs relative to the number of unique visitors for some of the music industry's leading streaming providers during the past year (not a comprehensive list).

Tier 1:

Spotify is not included as they're not officially in the US market yet.

Tier 2:

Indie Music Map for the iPhone by nuTsie

Indie Music, Inc. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:29:24 PDT

A few days ago, nuTsie released its Indie Music Map iPhone App. It's quite cool - you can select a region of the country and listen to popular songs from indie artists in the North Atlantic, North Central, Pacific Northwest, Mountain, Southwest and Southeast regions:

You can then view more information about the artist, purchase their song directly from iTunes, watch video from the artist on YouTube (if applicable), or learn more about the region an artist is from.

Interestingly, nuTsie selected all of the songs presently available from websites, blogs, festivals and radio stations where the artists were becoming popular like Pitchfork, SXSW, Hype Machine, Coachella, Bonaroo, Idolator, Lollapalooza, Stereogum, and many others. Artists available include Animal Collective, TV On The Radio, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Passion Pit, MGMT, Santigold, No Age, Silversun Pickups, and about 500 more, but I would imagine they'll be adding more songs and artists soon.

The app is only $1.99 and plays tracks in shuffle mode, with unlimited skips, and no advertising - could be a great way to discover new bands while traveling. This app looks promising, but it might be more reflective of what a region is listening to if the app had a user-generated element to it, or allowed artists to upload their music directly - who knows, maybe they're already building-in that functionality.

Blinkx Releases Music Video Search Jukebox

Indie Music, Inc. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:56:20 PDT

Earlier this morning, Blinkx, a video search engine released a music video jukebox that allows users to visually find and watch music videos through a single gateway (read their press release here). While I like their video wall, Google's video search seems more comprehensive with just as relevant results. Anyone using Blinkx, what are your thoughts?

Band Metrics on NPR

Indie Music, Inc. — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:11:20 PDT

If you were listening to NPR this weekend, you may have caught a fantastic segment of On the Media called "Charting the Charts" by Mark Phillips, airing on over 100 U.S. radio stations yesterday and Saturday. It's a must listen for anyone interested in music charts like Billboard's Hot 100, as Mark eloquently explores how the art of ranking artists has evolved, and where the evolution is headed from industry leaders like Robert Levine of Billboard, Chicago Tribune music critic and author Greg Kot, Chris Molanphy of Idolator, Eric Garland and myself. If you missed the show, you can listen to it here or below if you have Flash enabled, and many thanks to Mark for his excellent research and production - it was an honor to be a part of it.