Live Music Blog

Music promotion isn’t such an easy task to master. In fact it’s one of the biggest barrier present for an indie performer. There are literally tons of nice performers out there, but what’s stopping them from success and fame? It’s their promotion. Do not think for a second just because you’re signed to a big record label, you’ll be next Justin Timberlake. Even big record labels can once in a while struggle to encourage certain performers and there have been many cases where performers voluntarily choose to go independent so they can solely encourage their music and be free of any contract.

Stop dreaming about getting “signed” – it is time to put the power in your hands. Independent music distribution is the wave of the future. And here is the wonderful news, you’re in total control. Don’t think for one second that have to have 100’s of thousands of dollars to drop your CD if you’re independent? Think again. There are lots of companies that will get you started for next to virtually nothing. You only pay for what you sell and they do all the leg work for you.

There are websites that you could visit now that takes your music Web – turns it into a professional CD – and even takes your orders. They likewise ship, they print, they process orders … – heck, everything but making your song and cooking your breakfast. There are places Web which let’s you upload your song once and gets you listed in the top digital distribution websites in seconds. The point is Web music promotion and distribution is much easier than you think. And iTunes is far from the only game out there – there are dozens of places to list your music that you have probably never heard of.

Social networking is another a Club you might use to establish amazing results. Armed with a little knowledge, you might propel your Internet presence within a matter of days and get tons of free publicity and traffic coming through to your website. Not only has the Web begun to dominate the promotion of music, it has furthermore begun to dominate its distribution as well. iTunes, by 2006, reportedly have more than a million song downloads per DAY. That was back in 2006. (Hint: It’s 2008 now).

Online downloads are projected to surpass compact disc sales some time in 2010. This is just brilliant news for independent performers. For you all aspiring performers out there, jump Online, ride this 100-ton marketing guerrilla and take use of the amazing chance Internet presents to everybody.

A year ago, I wrote a passionate article on the merits of charging $15 when you sell your compact disc s. Some of my reasonings included: It’s tough for indie artists and you have a nice music, so don’t short- change yourself; you could always discount the compact disc for special reasons (2-for-1 special); and, the “high” sales prices furthermore includes your many costs. I made several addendums, but that is the gist of it.

But now, if you head over to http://mp3.com/thebards and check out the Brobdingnagian Bards page at MP3.com, you’ll notice something kinda hypocritical…none of our compact discs are priced at $15! What gives??

Well 1st let me say, yes, I do still believe in a $15.00 sales price for many artists. Certainly, it works optimum for folk artists, and singer/songwriter types. But my reason is not hypocrisy it is a dramatic differ in our marketing plan.

You see, when all of us started out, I knew that the only “real” income available to indie artists comes from CD sales and merchandising since royalties from ASCAP and BMI are a joke. So our plan was to record every six months or less and put out new material. By then end of final summer the indie process was leaving us drained, and all of us were thinking all of us overextended. Then along comes MP3.com.

One of the things I have been raving about for the past few months is that MP3.com provides a new marketing model by provide ing “royalties” for listens to your music. And if you’re getting paid from people listening to your music. Then it needs to be quickly available right?

Well, we have followed the footsteps of many of the top MP3.com musicians and have about 40-50 tracks available on our web site and more are coming every week. In doing so, all of us make a solid $20 a day from our web site.

Now with each listen, the songs are tracked on MP3.com on their music charts. You sell a CD, the songs on that CD will rocket up the charts. So you want the CDs to sell, because higher charting equals higher payback. As a result, our low price on MP3.com.

Now think for a second. If you’ve 40 songs on your web site like the Hillbilly Hellcats, you are the majority like ly going to make your 15 unique listens because your songs are located all over the charts. There are plenty of songs to pick from. Accordingly the new marketing model no longer relies on CD sales of $15.00, but listens. When you realize that you open yourself up to a whole slew of, in my opinion, simple marketing tactics that will make you more money from listens than selling CDs from your web site.

I know this all seems simplistic, but the vast reality is most performers on MP3.com are still running their performer with an older marketing model that does not yield the highest payback. So think about that for a bit, and next week, I have a guest writer who will give you an interesting promotional idea that might send your listens over the top. Then the week following that, I am going to betray my secret that has my song “Tolkien” at #35 on all MP3.com…

Stay tuned. Same bard time. Same bard channel!

When it comes to locating new music, the Web is a virtual treasure trove, with a ostensibly limitless supply of new and established performers, hidden gems and struggling and fledgling performers that are on the cusp of stardom. Here are some excellent legal resources to advocate you find more music to add to your collection:

Pandora.com – Technically, Pandora is a free Internet radio website, but look a little deeper and you will find much more than that. From the central page, you will be asked to type in your favorite music artist. Then a radio playlist is generated that includes your favorite artist as well as similar artists that Pandora believes you would prefer. They choose similar artists by matching up the rhythm, lyrics, harmonies, melodies and just about every other aspect of your favorite musician’s songs and then selects more artists and songs based on that analysis. The result is a eminently customized playlist that prefer ly includes many artists that you have not heard of, yet will eminently prefer ly be of interest to you. Pandora continues to refine the playlist even as you are listening to your customized radio station, by letting you give a thumbs up or thumbs down to each song. If you are looking for new music, Pandora is a wonderful place to start.

Last.fm – Last.fm is like a social version of Pandora. You start by downloading the player, it will then scan your computer for music you already have, then produce a individual ized radio playlist from that. You might furthermore discover new performers through your friends and get even more music recommendations.

MySpace.com – MySpace.com is excellent for discovering indie musicians. A lot of indie musicians start out by promoting themselves on a customized music MySpace.com page. musicians are allowed to add up to 4 songs for visitors of their profile to listen to and can additionally add additional links to songs or embed videos right into the profile. You can find new music and musicians by surfing from profile to profile clicking on exciting companions of the musicians. A lot of musicians on MySpace.com are networked to stimulate encourage each other, so this works excellent for them and for you.

MusicMatch.com – MusicMatch offers a incredibly good music player for your computer, but they likewise offer something called the MMGuide. Where you simply type in the name of your preferred performer and MusicMatch will give you recommendations based on the listening habits of their entire music community.

RadioBlogClub.com – RadioBlogClub is a service that allows bloggers and webmasters to add a customized radio playlist to their web site s. Simply type in the name of an performer or a song title and you’ll get a list of playlists that include those tunes. The trick here is that these playlists rarely just include one artist, but once you’re done listening to the particular song or performer you requested, more music from that blog will play, and it’s frequently quite similar in taste. It is a wonderful way to hear new performers, only foreign performers including Asian and Indian.

There you have some of the optimum ways to discover new music Web, in a completely free and legal way. Enjoy!

The term, “oldies,” refers to both popular music from the 1950s-1970s and the radio format that specializes in this type of music. “Golden oldies” generally refers to oldies music exclusively from the 1950s-early 1960s. Oldies songs are typically from the Rythm & Blues (R&B), pop and rock music genres but could also include country, movie soundtrack, novelty, and other types of popular music played on the radio from around 1950-on. Pop music genres that had their heyday before the 1950s (e.g., ragtime, ample band) are generally considered “too old” to be included in the oldies radio format. Oldies music radio stations, which typically feature bands and performers such as (to name a few ) Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, Little Richard, Pat Boone, Sam Cooke, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, the Rascals, the Association, the Temptations, the Who, Elton John, and Fleetwood Mac, cover a expansive variety of styles including early rock and roll, rockabilly, doo-wop, surf rock, girl groups, the British Invasion, folk rock, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, soul music, Motown, and bubblegum pop. Oldies music also overlaps with classic rock which focuses on the rock music of the late 1960s and 1970s as well as newer music in a similar style.

The phrase, “oldies but wonderful ies,” has been first coined in 1957 by renowned disc jockey Art Laboe who, at around that time, used to get frequent requests from his listeners for songs from the early 1950s. A central figure in L.A. radio for over half a century, Laboe has been the first disc jockey to play rock and roll on the West Coast and one of the first to play black and white performers on the same show. In 1959, he put together the first LP to feature (mostly older) songs by varying performers. This immensely popular compilation album, entitled “Oldies But Goodies,” stayed on Billboard’s Top 100 LP’s chart for over three years and has, to date, spawned some 14 sequels. (Click here for a recent interview with Art Laboe.)

Soon after the release of Laboe’s first “Oldies But Goodies” album, the phrase, “oldies but nice ies,” became commonplace and by around 1960, people were waxing nostalgic for 1950s doo-wop which has been already starting to be classified as “oldies.” Little Caesar And The Romans’ 1961 hit, “Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me of You)” and its sequel, “Memories of Those Oldies But Goodies,” both pay homage to early doo-wop and doo-wop performers. This wave of nostalgia brought about a doo-wop revival in the early 1960s which has been the first of a lot of nostalgia movements in pop music since the term, “oldies,” has been first applied to older pop music.

While “golden oldies” has remained a constant over the years, the larger body of pop music that we still call “oldies” now – which is made up of core golden oldies songs plus more modern material – isn’t fixed but has been gradually expanding forward in time to keep up with changing demographics. Nowadays, oldies music is generally considered to include all of the 1970s, even disco, and the same is expected to be true someday for the music of the 1980s, now a lot of the time described as “retro.” Oldies music is also expanding in breadth as thousands of long-forgotten tunes from the 1950s and 1960s that never made the Top 40 in their day are being re found and resurrected. Whether because of nostalgia, curiosity, or a genuine love for wonderful music, the oldies format has maintained a very large following and will might continue to do so for many years to come.

Different people have different thoughts on what makes music beautiful to them. In fact what they think about music vary; what it means to them and what they get from it. Today’s music business generally refers to producing, recording and marketing recorded music. With the unremitting evolvement of technology, music production keeps abreast with it. In order to make the the majority out of this promising tandem, talent ed artists work best with equally talent ed music businessmen.

Attaining a music business degree doesn’t have to mean leaving the house and attending classroom lessons. If you meet the minimum requisites and pass the entrance examination, then you can apply for an Online degree in music business from a few learning institutions. Every transaction that has to be made in earning that music business degree you aspire is done through the convenience offer d by the Internet.

There are basic ally two types of music companies that you have to know. The first one is the indoor music business. In the first category, after the performers recorded their works, your job in the indoor or studio music business is to properly edit and mix the recordings.

This is truly important because the end result of the songs practically rely on your hands. In the second category, your job involves live stage gigs or concert s. You’ve to make sure that the gig of the artists will be enjoyed by the fans by providing them with the right sound mixing and using the right audio amplifiers.

Terry College and Ferris State University are just some of the institutions offer ing business degree in music Internet.

MySpace is one of the most popular and optimum web sites in the world offer ing a number of services ranging from wiring on blogs to creating your own profiles to uploading your pictures to sending and receiving mail. MySpace has so many valuable services under one roof. likewise one of the most popular services on MySpace is MySpace Music. The MySpace Music is one of the most visited sections on the MySpace web site.

MySpace.com Music consists of a immense database of music and music videos. It has one of the biggest collections of music on the Internet. All you’ve to do to join MySpace.com Music is to register on the web site. Once you’re registered you’ve access to thousands of music tunes and music videos. The web site furthermore has an advanced search feature wherein you can type the name of the song you’re looking for and the solutions are displayed instantly. It cannot get easier than this. Looking for a music performer and want to read about him? The musicians section let’s you’ve a peek at details of all the past and the current music musicians. In the musicians section you can furthermore search for musicians by entering information on their country of birth and what kind of music they play.

Then there is the shows section on the web site where you could have a peek at the present and the future music shows taking place all over the world. In case you would like to find details about a music show then MySpace.com Music is the best place to be. Next section is the music forums section. This section is also popular amongst the people as they discuss a lot about music on these forums and share many tips. All the members could keep their knowledge on music update by unending ly being in touch with each other through MySpace.com Music forums.

In case you’re a musician yourself and would prefer to upload your tunes for anybody at all to hear, then you may visit the musician sign up page. The musician sign up page has an importance notice that you have to upload the tunes that you have composed and you cannot upload tunes of other musicians. Uploading of tunes of other musicians is a evident violation of law. So what are you waiting for? Join one of the largest music Online communities in the world right now. we are sure you’ll prefer every bit of the experience.

Over a period of time and on numerous different projects I’ve tried all manner of promotional devices for music on the Internet. By far the most consistent method I’ve found to bring listeners to music is blogging.

There are a number of reasons for this:

1. Because you are generating a number of new pages with each new post you are never ending ly making new content for search engines.

2. Apart from having more pages, all of the major search engine algorithms are aware of the nature of blogs and the constant ly updated material. Once your blog has been indexed and identified as such it will cause the search engine robots to pay more attention and visit more frequently.

3. Pinging is a process where you notify the major search engines and blog directories of any updates to your blog. This may be set up so that it happens automatically every time you make a new posting. The real trick here is set ting up your ping list so that it notifies all the necessary services. (The list is pretty long).

4. Tagging is likewise a particularly vital part of the blogging process. This standard ally means that you “tag” your individual posts with relevant keywords which allow them to be categorized more effortlessly by search engines, blog directories and social bookmarking website s.

5. Internet 2.0 has been a buzz term on the Internet for little while now. Basically, it revolves around web sites where you can search for and identify relevant information in a decidedly similar fashion to the traditional search engines. The major difference is that the results are based on human ratings of the material rather than search engine robot algorithms. Social bookmarking web sites are at the core of this movement. This is decidedly relevant to how you go about promoting your blog as well.

What I’ve outlined above is a very standard outline of some of the reasons why blogging can be such an effective method to bring new visitors to your music. prefer anything, blogging involves a performance of skills and just throwing up a page on blogger or using the provide d service with a MySpace profile will not bring you that a lot of new visitors in isolation.

On the other hand, a properly optimized blog and correct use of pinging, tagging, social bookmarking, relevant commenting and several other devices will bring hundreds if not thousands of new audiences to your music.

As I said, of all the divergent available Web promotion pointers I have found this to be the single most effective technique. I hope you’ve found this article useful and if you really want to grow your fan base start blogging!

For several years now I’ve embraced the differs and the new social media tools that the Internet has provide d to elevate music marketing techniques. Not withstanding the apparent prefer MySpace, YouTube, Imeem, Revver, FaceBook and so on, one of the most important forms of marketing I train is the Internet live performance.

For me, it started with Stickam.com. This is a website where you can open an account and stream live video feeds right from your PC and laptop. Just plus in a Internet cam and have DSL or better connection to the Internet and you’re wonderful to go.

But something I did a few years ago has become a staple in my music marketing teachings. I did a test back in 2004 and just opened a profile on Stickam and started to just randomly play guitar and sing covers. Within a few weeks, I had around 200 friends and audiences. And just to think, I was not even significant about it.

Funny thing is that even though I’ve been preaching this, many are slow to get on it. I am thinking because there can be a fear factor that some don’t sound as good live as they do recorded. Or perhaps they just can be a solo artist and not have tracks to sing to. Either way, it’s a HUGE mistake if you are an artist and don’t do live streaming events.

Still another exceptional thing about the streaming live portals prefer Stickam, Ustream, BlogTV (all dot coms) is that you have the ability to embed the live streaming video player on your own web site ; even other social web sites prefer MySpace.com and the others.

And even as a random act of opening a profile and starting to play, while you are streaming live, individuals click in and out of your show to see what you are all about. This is better than playing at a coffee house or patio Club. Plus, it is in the comfort of your space.

Yet another remarkably cool factor about live streaming shows is that you get to interact with your fan base live in a chat room. I have aid ed a lot of though this process and all have been blown away at the fact that they might chat with their audiences between singing tunes.

This is also an extremely cool way to get new kinds of music exposed to the public. might you imagine that you play upright bass, your friend plays the kazoo and your other friend plays a mandolin? Just by the shear uniqueness, people will avoid by and listen. Hopefully you don’t suck. It’s an open forum of opportunity so take it!

To me that’s the most necessary thing about blowing up and marinating your fan base. Today’s marketing had jumped into hyper relationship building. That fact that you can chat with your audiences means that you get to reach out.

At the end of the day it is sociology before technology. In this case, technology is stimulate ing access sociology. Oh yea, it is all for free too!

Here are some really easy ways to increase your traffic meaningful ly. Do not forget, if you do not market yourself, you’re really doing a disservice to yourself. You’re prefer an performer performing in the middle of a desolate desert! Someone could find you by accident, but what you need to do is build roads to yourself.

1. Youtube.com – Posting samples of your music on Youtube.com could bring many traffic to you. Pick an appropriate title for your video, and make sure you use lots of keywords so that individuals could find you. The individuals who find your videos will already be a part of your target fans, because they searched the words that brought up your video, or were watching similar videos. Always leave your page URL so that they could visit and listen to the rest of your music.

2. Post on Relevant Online Communities – You can get heard eminently freely by posting on music Online communities, or forums. Many forums have sections dedicated to performer submissions and reviews. The reviews are a lot of the time blatantly honest as well, which is a plus because you can learn how to make your music better. Online communities are furthermore a great way to build relationships with your clients and with other artists.

3. Free Giveaways – individuals are magnetized to free provide ings. It may just be human nature – but use to your advantage! By way of example if you make hip hop or rap beats, and you chance ally give some out for free, individuals will come to your page and seize the chance. They may like your music and buy a track, or may just tell their friends to go check you out. You may also have a contest, for free apparel or concert tickets for example. The possibilities are unlimited.

4. Collaborate – Work with Local performers or collaborate with an individual Online ! Make sure they are wonderful, and that they will showcase your work well. You could also extend this idea and play shows with similar performers or performers live (when you do perform, hand out something that has your website on so they could find you after wards). Most meaningful performers are unusually happy to collaborate because of the mutual exposure.

5. Send Friend Requests to the Right individuals – Most applicable to MySpace.com – individuals get lazy, buy a friend blaster, and send requests to everyone!

Blind friend blasting is problematic because you might never find your target audiences. You might also have thousands of bots added, which will spam all over your page! make sure you add wisely and add the right people. When you find your audiences, they will find you. An additional reason to make sure you are adding humans because humans are able to encourage you by word of mouth!

I hope this article advocates you encourage your music pages!

Have you ever pondered music? I do not mean thinking about the notes or the beat or the even the instrumentation. I mean have you pondered it?

To ponder: to weigh carefully in the mind; think about thoughtfully: He pondered his next words thoroughly.

Think about what music is. It is intangible. It is really indefinable. It has no shape, yet it shapes thoughts. It has no function of its own, yet somehow endorses us function

Music has the power to stir feelings…

…And of its own accord cannot fulfill any of them. It isn’t important to perform our daily duties, but how a lot of places of business do you find with no music. I certainly don’t recall a lot of. Music cannot comb your hair, brush your teeth, or tie your shoes, but it can ease you through those mundane tasks and make you forget about the time.

You do not need words to find pleasure in music. You do not need status. You do not even need individuals around. It isn’t poured from a bottle, shaken from a cannister, or even dolloped from a 5 gallon bucket. Still; it may be as refreshing as champagne, spicy as cayenne, and rich and decadent as gold ring homemade vanilla ice cream. (you Texans will really know what I mean by that last reference)

Music appeals to fewer than our five senses, but it also appeals to more than our senses. When you study musical structure, it makes best logical sense. But when you try to explain why it “moved” you, remarkably ofttimes you cannot quite convey it satisfactorily.

It was not because it smelled, tasted, felt, sounded, or looked so wonderful. It was what it did to your cerebral cortex. Or might be it hit you in the “gut”, but it didn’t actually hit you, and it was not actually your “gut”. See what I mean? You can’t put your finger on it. In fact you can’t touch it at all. You just know. You know?

Why in the world am I going on and on about music? Thanks for asking.

Music is a form of creative copy, too. It’s an al the majority perfect way to ingrain an idea into the minds of your target market. Because in the absence of exception there has always been this common chord. ( prefer my musical metaphor?) individuals love music! No surprise… It’s extremely versatile, dependable, believable, and yet inexplicable.

I’m likewise a songwriter. I take the same octave countless other performers use and produce my little piece of semi-immortality to satisfy…what? Me? an listeners? A paycheck? All of the above? None of the above? The answer is yes to all the questions. I’ve written tunes for each of those purposes. And each one was satisfying in its own way because each one involved the intangible little friend of mine. Music. I’m not sure why I’m so moved by this unseen companion, but I do know this:

Music is a gift from God. It, and your thoughts, could never be stolen from you, forced out of you, or driven away from you…as long as you want it; you have got it. How incredible is such a gift. Yeah, we could live in the absence of music, but

It would not be nearly as joyous an existence.

To your musical satisfaction…