Live Music Blog

If you’re a artist who has released your own album or is getting ready to release an album some time in the future then developing a strategy to successfully market your music Web is absolutely essential.

The music business is changing rapidly and there is good news and there is bad news for the Indie musician.

The Bad News: The bad news is that the music business is becoming more competitive than ever. Music retail chains are closing left right and center and major labels are signing less and less un discovered performers. This leaves less opportunities for performers to find a label to give out their music and for those few who are the lucky ones there are even less opportunities to sell it.

The Good News: The wonderful news is that the changing major label environment is opportunity up new opportunities for the independent musicians to carve out niche of their own. While this may mean that there are less and less million dollar record deals out there, it furthermore means that there are more and more ways to generate five, even six figures a year recording and releasing music on your own.

Still, despite what you can have heard, marketing your music successfully On-line is not as easy as creating a MySpace profile, throwing up several tunes and watching the sales roll in. No, instead you need to develop a smart strategy to successfully market your music On-line. Music marketing is an art form in its own right but with a little research and a bit of hard work you can just be the next artist to quit their day job and to realize your dream of being a full time artist.

The CD – the artists dream.

I’ve always wondered about this one. If I take out a CD, took away its plastic packaging, took away the paper and actually took away the CD  what do I have?

If a person said just music, wonderful you would be right.

If you look at things wisely and just sell the music rather than the compact disc, you would reduce the amount of time spent to reproduce the thing, reduce the hours and wages that take to create one, reduce the amount of resources on shipping/ storage/ marketing/ selling to shops.

So the biggest wonder of my time at present is this:

Why do we charge $12 for an album download?

As a side note- my own little gripe Why do all of us buy electronic books that are double the cost of print books and take less time and endeavor to create and procure?

So with all what we know, is it a wonder then why individuals pirate stuff (especially when CDs degrade/ scratch over time)?

I think the decent folk out there will buy something for what they thought the album is worth. The most famous example is Radiohead who said their fans could buy and download their new album at any price they wish.

It averaged out at $5.

I had respect for Radiohead. They done something different, at least they tried to fix a problem that the music industry isn’t prepared to tackle properly.

Unfortunately they released the album in the shops as well, fleece your audiences…nice style Radiohead…[growl]

But instead of thinking, wow, this is great, we have figured out what people are willing to pay, so lets do something about this. Downloading websites are still offer ing downloads at over $10.

I went over to compact disc Baby, nice basic website... most downloads $12.

And if you want to buy a CD…$12.

However, I believe that the compact disc  is going to die.. It has to.

compact disc Baby also realise that, and have released HostBaby for performers.

But artists have not realised the fact yet.

And neither have record companies. Assuming that they did then all of their music would be up for download at $5 a shot ( CD  presses, performers, shipping- all gone and prices reduce d). It would not put an end to stealing fully, but it would heavily dent it.

likewise add something else to the download- a bonus pdf, a picture performance, a discount for other downloads, a free private members web site ( like the e-book industry does).

Nonetheless it would additionally dent the record shops, and put people out of work in CD  presses. But unfortunately it’s vary. I think people would still buy music CD s, but as time passes- this decrease s.

On the other hand- how cool would it be to go into a record shop with a flash drive and download an album?

However change is needed.

And it’s the record organizations fault that all of us have not done anything about this mess yet. Unfortunately they will panic and fully try downloads in the future, but by then it will be too late. Virtually all performers would have found out about downloading and the record organizations will downsize. Would they be needed in the future? I doubt it, could be to organize large shows and tours…but why else would you need one?

Bleak picture, but true…we live in a “now” society that utilises downloads. Only a few years ago all of us never had any real film footage website s. A few years ago there has been no iTunes. A few years ago there has been no Blogs or Podcasts.

Offer CDs and downloads. But when the time comes, kill the CD  and just offer downloads. You’ll be ahead of that CD  goal by a mile.

Simple determinations to get yourself known for free…

I read an article in a well known magazine the other day and found that they were advising artists to invest out 100’s in advertising expenses to get themselves known. True.

Is there another way?

Well yes, there is. What we have useful to us all is the Internet. This excellent medium is so underrated it is unbelieveable.

The key to getting yourself known is to spread yourself all over the Internet. Pretend that the Internet is a slice of bread, a bagel….hmm…yum.

Sorry, stay with me, you need to follow this one. If you bought some really good spread, costing $100 and you only spread one quarter of the bagel (this expensive food doesn’t go far). Now you have only one bite, only one and a random one at that, so you randomly bite into the bagel, more than like ly you will have much less opportunity of being found than if you spent less money on a similar spread and used all of it, all over the bagel.

Now this is what happens everytime someone logs onto the Internet. You’ve one shot, you’re being targeted roughly by random and too much resources spent in one area is a substantially bad idea. So what do you do?

Well, the primary thing is not to invest any money if possible. If you’ve music to hand out then do that. Sign up to all the MP3 hosting websites that you could find, there are so a lot of now on the Internet that they’re free and provide some cool incentives ( prefer unlimited bandwidth, hard rive space and such prefer ). The more you apply to, the more prefer ly that you are not going to be missed by anyone.

This technique additionally lowers the possibility of your paid website being shut down, having any failures in the future, or being ranked less in the search engines (with so much competition this is a high possibility).

Phase two, make sure that you have your own website. On each paid website put a link back to your own website, this then increases your PR rate with the search engines and increases your link status (roughly: more links in the higher you rate). additionally you obtain free traffic for a lot of years from these website s.

Make your homepage appealing, offer ing blogs and newsletters, even “guides and DIY articles“. Why? Well once an individual comes to your website and goes away the prefer lihood of them returning is decidedly low, and then you have lost them. This is why the newsletters and blogs are so necessary, they keep the one-time visitor coming back for check-ups to YOUR website, without them trying to find you again (very unlikly).

One thing that I might never understand when I am searching through MP3 hosting websites is “why do individuals give a range of their work on one page?” All fair and well, and much kudos for doing so, but I think that this is a has been te of Internet real-estate. Your website ought to be targeted, your name ought to be targeted. I am into Techno etc, so it’s rare that I will hunt out jazz songs. But this is what I find when I go onto a techno artists website. My tip would be to call yourself something divergent for each type of that you do. For instance : disc jockey Harsh for your electronic music, Earthly for your New Age music, The Fields for your Country and Western music…you get the idea.

Having a separate name for each of your styles will then target 2-3 (or however a lot of genres you do) times more visitors- a possible 100-200  percent increase in visitor downloads. But again, you would link each website to each other just in case. You would even make up separate websites for each genre anyway. Virtually all people in the artist world do this. For instance : Les Rythmes Digitales who made “Jacques your body (make me sweat)”- a cool techno song, and Stuart Price are one of the same. Who’s Stuart Price? Madonnas new producer under his real name. The KLF, The Physicians in the Tardis, and The Justified Acients of MuMu (no joke) are all one of the same.

Diversify yourself to get yourself known, apply to everywhere that you could and keep on adding wonderful music.

Having a lot of individuals that know who you’re is always a worth and not a hindrance.

Just the other day I got a call from an individual who wanted to find out if I was available to performance bass with their band. I declined due to not having the room to take on another project but I gave them the number of an individual else I knew that would fit the bill perfectly.

That day, that performer found a new bass player and so the story goes.

That experience got me thinking that pretty much everything that I do in my dealings with the music industry is based on who I know.

people prefer working with others whom they trust will do the job they want them to do or prefer recommending others for jobs that they can’t tackle themselves for one reason or another. I recognize that when this specific band that was looking for a bassist finally found one through my network I was proud of myself. I was glad to stimulate an individual out.

That is what networkings really all about though is not it? Helping people?

For anyone who’s just starting out my recommenndation is to seek out as a lot of people and go to as a lot of functions and concert as you can.

Immerse yourself in your Regional scene.

The more that people know who you are, the more opportunities that will open up for the taking. Become the squeaky wheel that gets all of the oil. Have that belief in yourself that you are worth knowing and don’t be afraid of knowledge.

One thing that you don’t do nonetheless is to get to know individuals for what they might do for you. Get to know them for who they’re as a individual. Others might spot your insincerity a mile away (especially us cynical musos) and that is a real turn-off.

Personally I am chuffed when an individual asks me for recommenndation or just wants to have a chat about how things are going for them, but only If they are genuine about it.

A amazing place to start networking would be at open mic nights.

Get yourself involved in an open mic and just walk up to a person and say “hi”. Everybody is there for the same reason so there is some common ground. You could perhaps ask them If they’re going to be performing on that night and go from there.

Remember, the more you network the more you will be known and the more you are known the more work you will get.

In time your ‘little black book’ of names will become your most important asset.

Creating a loyal fan base on MySpace will advocate your music career in many ways. If you generate enough fan enthusiasm, record labels will check out your page to see what all the buzz is about. Yet another reason listeners are vital is that they’re the ones who pay to see your shows. If you’ve a loyal following, more invites for performances will start rolling in – record labels will definitely take notice then.

While you’ve probably done all of the usual MySpace.com marketing like register your profile page and uploaded music, if you’re not taking advantage of other tools on the web site, then you can not be creating that buzz you’re looking for. Sure, some listeners will find you through their friends, other performers, or from searching for music that resembles your, but to truly create a fan base that will stick with you, you need to connect with people so they’ll be able to share not only your music, but part of your musical life.

There are a lot of ways to create a loyal fan base on MySpace including:

Forums and Blogs – These are places where you may speak directly to listeners. Participating in forums and writing a blog will enable listeners to find your profile page much easier than doing a genre search or other keyword search. Earning the companions hip of listeners will make them loyal to your music.

Cross-marketing – If you’ve other musician companions who are using MySpace to get noticed by audiences and record labels, partner up with them. You may swap profile page links, information about upcoming parties, and mention them in blogs and forums.

This is a amazing way to increase exposure without having to do too much. If a record label visits one of the profile pages, they might want to check out other bands listed.

Fans will also want to see who their preferred artist listens to, which will generate more traffic for the both of you.

Upload Photos and Video – listeners love to see photos, video, and more from their preferred performers because it makes them feel closer to them. Candid photos and video footage of rehearsals, behind the scenes at gatherings, and individual photos of you writing tunes or playing the guitar are what listeners want to see.

Upload Covers of Other tunes – In addition to adding your own tunes, why not cover a few classics? This will demonstrate for you r audiences that you are diverse and willing to take risks. If possible, record a song that is out of your usual type of. Reach new audiences this way and advocate record labels see just how talent ed you really are.

As you could see, creating a loyal fan base is not difficult. The tips above are unusually easy to in corporate into your profile page. Getting the word out there will be your toughest challenge since MySpace.com continues to grow each day. Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to get noticed, but uploading new material, showing fans more of your personal ity, and making connections with others will stimulate you stand out from the rest and stimulate you find even more fans.

In a decidedly short time, Myspace.com has become the hottest music promotional tool available to anyone. Here are the 7 rules of successful MySpace.com music promotion.
1. Get a myspace.com music page.
Getting a myspace.com music page is free so there is no reason not to have one.
2. Make sure your page is user friendly.
There are many would-be music business professionals who have MySpace.com pages take too long to load. If your MySpace.com page loads too slow, you can be losing potential audiences. Mega bandwidth graphics and images will pr event your page from loading promptly. Your MySpace.com page ought to take no longer than 20 – 30 seconds to load.
many artists on MySpace.com use layouts that emphasize their creativity but are a nightmare to navigate. Refrain from using dancing cursor’s, raining text, and distracting images on your MySpace.com music pages.
Other MySpace.com artists have about me blurbs that go on forever. Keep about me blurbs short (no more than 1000 words), if people want to know more about you, they will ask.
3. Have your music on your MySpace.com page.
Don’t put someone else’s music on your MySpace.com page unless you were involved in the creation of the music. How can you be located if your music isn’t on your page?
4. Reach out for friends.
Networking on MySpace.com is one of the the majority influential tools you can use to build your fan-base. Take advantage of the opportunity to reach people with prefer interests. Never ignore or decline a friend request. You never know who can help your career.
5. Treat your friends prefer friends.
Common courtesy applies on MySpace.com just as in real life. Be willing to thank your friends for adding you as a friend. Respond to friend’s emails (if appropriate). Never post your ad as a comment on someone ’s MySpace.com page in the absence of acknowledging them. Limit the size of your “ad comments”.
6.  promote  yourself in appropriate ways.
Noteworthy career benchmarks, or new music added to your page are nice reasons to  promote  yourself on myspace. List your show dates on your page and use bulletins to let people know where you’re performing. Limit the number of bulletins you post. Posting irrelevant bulletins, or posting bulletins too usually, will force your friends to ignore you.
Let people know about your myspace.com page. Putting your unique myspace.com address on your web site and business cards will make it convenient for you to build your network and fan base faster.
7. provide ways for people to purchase your music from your MySpace.com page.
If you sell your music anywhere Web make sure there is a direct link from your MySpace.com page to the location where people can buy your music.
Follow our rules and you’ll have fun and make many friends on Myspace.

In the days before the Internet, when the major record labels had the music market sewn up tight, it has been all but impossible to break into the music business in the traditional sense in the absence of having a recording contract with one of them. This usually led to artists turning into broke before their album ever actually hit the music store shelves.
The long established “standard recording contract” that has been used by the industry, heavily favored the company, at the expense of the star. Advances had to be recouped, recording and manufacturing and distribution expenses repaid before the performer saw nickel number one.
Now all that has change d, and for the independent recording performer or band these days, it is definitely a blessing in disguise, although some can not see it that way. The “lure” of the big label contract is still a desirable thing for the majority young artist s, just because they have never been exposed to the potential of the Internet as a sales and marketing medium.
More seasoned artists have realized, in the past ten years or so, that the Internet is definitely the way to go if you want to serious ly pursue a career in music. Mainly because it is virtually open to anyone, regardless of budget constraints. many performers and solo artists are, as I write this, creating small empires for themselves solely by means of the electronic information highway.
Web music promotion, while still in it is infancy, is turning into a force to be reckoned with by not only the major record businesses, but other Web artist. The competition, while not yet fierce, is significantly stiff enough to raise the caution flag for many. Add to that the externally incomprehensible way that advertising and marketing works on the web, and it is no wonder that many would-be Internet superstars give up before the fight even starts.
But it doesn’t have to end there. There are resources available for struggling artists to take advantage of when it comes to learning the in’s and out’s of Internet music marketing and promotion. Web courses dealing with web site creation and search engine marketing and optimization are too numerous to count.
If your eyes glazed over as you read that last sentence, don’t feel alone. The vast possibilities that exist for creating a buzz, and establishing a fan base for your music are unlimited. There has actually never been a better time to get started in Web music promotion than right now. And the fact that so many established artists are currently using this means as their primary marketing and distribution system only lends weight to the argument.
Ever hear of a guy called Jimmy Buffett? Well, following numerous successful years of feeding the record companies coffers, Jimmy decided that he’d had enough. Do you blame him? After all is said and done, a major label performer can end up actually being in the hole following everything is paid for on a major CD  release. Don’t believe me? The evidence is everywhere. Do a search on Google for the term ” artists royalties”, what you get back will look prefer some type of horror story. But it is all true.
Jimmy Buffett decided to form his own record company “Mailboat Records”, and he’s doing quite fine now, and actually has been able to steal many skill from the prefers of Island Records to come over to his new label.
When you contemplate that a major recording performer has to sell somewhere around 3 million CDs just to break even, and an independent label can sell about 10,000 and the performer makes just as much, well, the option really is not that much of a option anymore now is it?
Add to all this the newest thing, digital downloads, and you have a brand new market ready to explode for the independent performer out there who has enough get up and go to take a crack at it.
The future is yours independent artist. Let’s make the the majority of it.