Live Music Blog

Music promotion isn’t such an simple task to master. In fact it is one of the biggest barrier present for an indie musician. There are literally tons of wonderful musicians out there, but what is stopping them from success and fame? It’s their promotion. Don’t think for a second just because you are signed to a ample record label, you will be next Justin Timberlake. Even ample record labels may at times struggle to promote certain musicians and there have been many cases where musicians voluntarily select to go independent so they may solely promote 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 nice news, you are in total control. Do not think for one second that have to have 100’s of thousands of dollars to drop your CD if you are independent? Think again. There are lots of organizations 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 web sites that you might visit today that takes your music Web – turns it into a professional compact disc – 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 web sites 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’ve probably never heard of.

Social networking is another a Club you might use to establish amazing determinations. 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 web site. Not only has the Internet begun to dominate the promotion of music, it has additionally begun to dominate its distribution as well. iTunes, by 2006, reportedly have more than a million song downloads per DAY. That has been back in 2006. (Hint: Its 2008 now).

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

The traditional record labels dominated music market is coming to an end. If you have not noticed the latest MP3 download services on Amazon.com, you are missing the beginning of the end of traditional music distribution era.

The big players now are teaming with social networking web sites such as MySpace.com to find new ways to sell music. Why? They cannot stimulate it. people don’t want to pay for CDs anymore. Plus, there’s no need to buy CDs when you may download them for free somewhere on the Web. After a few years of battling, the big labels finally realized the trend is irreversible.

Still, this isn’t new for the independent/unsigned musicians. Independent musicians have long been promoting their recordings via unconventional channels. The entry of the extensive record labels on the Web music communities will have an impact on the independent musicians. But unsigned musicians still have one apparent advantage over the extensive labels – giving out music for free.

Why should you give away free music on the Internet? One evident reason is that individuals don’t want to pay any more. individuals I mean by teenagers and generation Y and beyond. Those are the fanss who don’t understand life in the absence of the Internet. You probably may find a free copy of any given song on the Internet if you dig far enough.

The latest proof to this is that large record labels are teaming up with the social networking websites to encourage and distribute music. This is the marketing niche where independent artists have had since the beginning of the Internet usage. So how much impact will independent artists feel? Big. The social networking communities have been independent artists’ marketing channel, the entry of large players will certainly push the small artists to the back burners. For independent artists to achieve any form of success on the Internet, they have to take radical steps that large labels will not take such as giving away music for free. At this point we don’t know how the record label/social networking music alliance will work out, but one thing for certain is that the music will not be all for free downloading.

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.

1) Screen savers – these are really cool because people vary their screensavers a lot. And they really spread fast if people like them because they’re effortlessly exposed. You might visit freesaver.com for a range of tools to make them. For Mac users you might try iScreensaver Designer. Screensaver making software doesn’t cost much ( oftentimes about $29). Definitely worth every penny.

2) MySpace layouts – Why don’t you make MySpace layouts for your listeners? This encourages you big time because everybody who visits their profile sees your band! It is as cool as someone wearing your band T-Shirt. You can not be good with CSS( that is what is used to make layouts). You can visit http://www.picgames.com/forum/myspace-layout-editor.php or make-myspace.com to create the layouts and make them downloadable from your website.

3) Phone videos – You know how individuals like watching little videos on their cell phones. You can effortlessly establish little performance videos (or your music video if you have one) and make them available to your audiences. There a lot of incredibly cheap cell phone video converters out there. Just Google the term and you’ll get a lot of choices. Possibly your phone came with a disc that has a converter.

4) Games and widgets – All right, so this one is a bit more complex. You could create a cool game using Flash (or get someone to do it). individuals could embed it on their web sites and profiles. If you upload it to a web site like newgrounds.com you could literally get thousands of visitors to your performer web site in a matter of days!

You can even be the central hero of the game. Imagine how cool that would make you!

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.

Ideally each page of your website should serve a specific purpose. The central purpose of the sales page for your cd is to sell the cd.

If have a page with Google Adsense, the central purpose is to generate resources by to get people to click on the advertisement. If its not an necessary part of the process, do not load up the page with unnecessary things prefer animations or sounds. This will only distract visitors from achieving the task laid out for them, ie. purchasing your product.

Below are some tips to include in your web site and the main purpose of each.

1) Main Page – The main pages is a general landing page to funnel visitors to varying areas of your web site. Create a undeniable and simple navigation process linked to the other pages of your web site. *If you use Javascript for navigation, place text link at the bottom. This ensures that search engines will be able to spider your web site properly. You can furthermore use this page to feature your cd, music samples and other provide s.

2) Order Page(s) – Create a sales letter for each item that your are selling. Tomorrow we’ll go over some copywriting tips to build a successful order page.

3) Press Releases – This section is where visitors could read 3rd get together articles published about you, increasing your credibility and exposure.

4) Contact Information – This is so people may get a hold of you to book shows, ask questions about products, collaborations, interviews or other opportunities (you never know). Include as much contact information as possible, prefer your phone, cell, mailing address, email etc.

5) Privacy Policy – Complies with privacy laws if your are collecting any of information about your customers/visitors. This furthermore stimulates to build trust and people will give their information more freely. Here is a link to a privacy policy generator. http://www.the-dma.org/privacy/creating.shtml

6) Electronic Press Kit – This is where you refer the media to easily download an information package about you. Here’s some suggestions on what you could include:

*Biography

*Demo tunes

*Pictures

*Reviews/Testimonials

*Sideshow Of Photos

*Video or Film Footage (Windows Media or Quicktime format)

Establish a biography with pictures in .pdf format and make it available for download. You can use the Writer program contained in the free Open Office Suite http://www.openoffice.org to do this. Open then program type (or paste) in your biography and insert pictures. When your done go to File > Export As PDF.

7) Lyrics – Allows audiences to get more familiar with your music. also adds content to your website which will get pick ed up by the search engines if it has an incoming link form your primary page or somewhere else.

Biography – On your bio page sections listeners read about you and see your pictures. A sideshow of your photos once in a while adds a wonderful touch.

9) Concert Listings/News – Keep your audiences and website visitors updated with the latest news about your performance s/shows, interviews, appearances ond other topics of interest.

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.

In light of the digital music revolution, Web music stores are promptly locating themselves irrelevant. Now that customers are able to simply purchase individual songs from I-Tunes and other sellers of digital downloads, customers need a really nice reason to purchase an entire CD. After all, if you only prefer one song, why pay for everything else? The following article will suggest some creative examples that Web music stores can use to ramp up their sales.

1. provide Sample Music Clips: This seems obvious, but it is amazing how few stores actually provide this. Many people want to try it before they buy it, so offering a 30 second sample of songs will greatly increase sales.

2. Search by Song Title: many Web music stores discover that customers usually search by song title when they can’t remember the performer or album name they are looking for. Adding a search by song feature (or better yet, search by lyrics) can dramatically increase the opportunitys that your customer will find what he is looking for.

3. Visitor Reviews & Ratings: A short paragraph written by a professional music reviewer is simply not enough. Customers want to know what other “normal” people contemplate the CD. Let them rate and write their own reviews of a CD. This will empower your visitors and establish a sense of Web community.

4. Show Them What’s New: Don’t make your visitors sort through tons of pages just to find a new release. Show them what’s new from the start. many visitors don’t know exactly what they are looking for, so a suggestion would be much appreciated. For instance, C28’s Christian Music store shows highlights of a CDs of Christian Music on their home page.

5. News Section: Keeping your customers informed about what’s new and upcoming will establish a buzz around your new releases. Having a news section is a amazing way to get your customers excited about upcoming music. prefer it or not, digital music is here to stay. World Wide Web music stores must find a way to evolve or they will promptly find themselves irrelevant. If properly implemented, the pointers above will serve as a nice starting point for starting this evolution and in the end, will hopefully increase sales.

In Web music promotion, word of mouth, or more precisely, viral marketing is an extremely influential tool. Who would not want to be one of the lucky few people to gain notoriety, just by creating something people contemplate cool?
You can additionally establish fun digital gifts for your music marketing campaign.
Whether, the materials you establish go viral or not doesn’t really matter. What matters is that your audiences have something that makes them worth you more. The stuff you’re about to learn contains things they can make part of their everyday lives.
Let’s do this.
1) Mp3s – the obvious option – many performers are decidedly resistant to giving away songs. Still, if you want your music to spread out you need to give your audiences your perfect, all the time!  Don’t forget “garbage in – garbage out”.
If audiences prefer your songs they will put them on their iPods and on their phones. And they will share with their friends.
Plus they will come back for more. That is when you make your sale.
2) Ringtones – Many phones now guide mp3 ring tones. You can simply use the perfect parts of your songs to make cool ring tones. Make clips about 15 to 30 seconds long and you have ring tones ready to go!
You can download Audacity free sound editing software from audacity.sourceforge.net/
3) Wallpapers – These may be made for both your audiences ‘ phones and their Computers. You can make them using free software prefer Gimp. If you can afford Adobe Photoshop, that’s amazing too.
You can additionally visit mytinyphone.com to establish and even upload your wallpaper. Who knows, it can just end up turning into a top download!
This is it for now. Watch out for the second part where I will demonstrate for you more ways to establish viral marketing gifts for your Web music promotion.

1) Screen savers – these are really cool because people change their screensavers a lot. And they really spread fast if people prefer them because they are simply exposed. You can visit freesaver.com for a range of tools to make them. For Mac users you can try iScreensaver Designer. Screensaver making software doesn’t fee much ( usually about $29). Definitely worth every penny.
2) MySpace.com layouts – Why don’t you make MySpace.com layouts for your audiences? This encourages you big time because everyone who visits their profile sees your band! It’s as cool as someone wearing your band T-Shirt. You can not be nice with CSS( that’s what’s used to make layouts). You can visit http://www.picgames.com/forum/myspace-layout-editor.php or make-myspace.com to establish the layouts and make them downloadable from your web site.
3) Phone videos – You know how people prefer watching little videos on their cell phones. You can simply establish little show videos (or your music video if you have one) and make them available to your audiences. There many decidedly cheap cell phone video converters out there. Just Google the term and you’ll get many options. Possibly your phone came with a disc that has a converter.
4) Games and widgets – All right, so this one is a bit more complex. You can establish a cool game using Flash (or get someone to do it). people can embed it on their web sites and profiles. If you upload it to a web site prefer newgrounds.com you can literally get thousands of visitors to your band web site in a matter of days!
You can even be the central hero of the game. Imagine how cool that would make you!