YouTube marketing by Pixar - masterclass

I'm writing up loads of guides whenever I have the time, including one on YouTube for Musicians.

So, I dig around for tips and ideas and I came across this from a few months ago.

How Pixar leaked stuff on to YouTube before the release of Toy Story 3.

Maybe you don't have their endless budget or film-making skills but there's a lesson here for all musicians. The fan channel, with playlisted videos that fit with the one they leaked, the comments added (by Pixar folk for sure). You can use these ideas.

Online video is becoming an increasingly important aspect of marketing. With 24 hours of video being uploaded to the YouTube every minute, it’s more important than ever to create powerful and distinctive content. And what’s even more important is to first think, then act; in other words: create a strategy around your viral campaign. That is exactly what Disney did when they created the YouTube account MrCrazycommercials.

Read about it here.

Get the 'like' button on your band website pages ASAP!

What does having the facebook 'like' button on the pages of your band website do for your online music promotion?

It seems that since the introduction in April of the open graph 'like' button on external websites people have seen large increases in traffic and have gathered some very interesting data on the facebook users hitting that button on their own site.

Given that a click on the 'like' button on your site shows up in the likers facebook wall, and given that it seesm these people have wider social networks, why wouldn't you add the button to all your pages?

The button, which launched in April at f8, Facebook’s developer conference, is now present on roughly 2 million sites around the web, from sports sites to news organizations and many other kinds of publishers.

A media analytics lead on Facebook’s Developer Network Insights team crunched some numbers and found that Facebook Likes not only generate interesting data about the “likers” (a.k.a. Facebook users who are also active on your website) themselves; this data also speaks volumes about clickthrough rates, time on-site and other engagement metrics.

Read the Mashable article here.

How to get a Number One album on itunes

OK, so this particular story has a twist. It's a charity record and the guy who made it probably found it easier to enlist the online help he needed because of that......but, you should read the whole article and file away what he did in your head.

It's still a killer lesson in online music marketing.

This is the key passage:

Then I turned to the blogging community. From the years of working in the music industry (the last record I helped release was “Ossiner” by the band Bloom), I knew that all of the traditional ways of promoting a record were dead ends. Plus, I had no money, no physical product, no bands touring and promoting the music nightly, no publicist, no marketing campaign, and no label backing me. I did have the power of thousands of voices in the blogging community. And let's face it, bloggers have replaced old Pat Boone singing about Chevrolet. For some of the most influential of the lot, a mere mention of liking a book, camera, or movie can move thousands of units. Old marketing is seeing a flyer on a bar. Online influence is like having a trusted friend sit down next to you at that bar and tell you about something cool you should definitely check out.

And the lesson really is that bloggers carry real weight.

Now, if you can't get all the bloggers that We Are Hunted (see yesterdays's post) will reveal to you, to talk about your record, go and find an angle. If it's hard to get featured on music blogs, but your singer is a mountain biker - go and get on very mountain bike blog.

Read the article here.

 

How does a music publicity campaign work?

The internet has opened up a myriad of additional possibilities for music publicity that we often look at on our blog.

But, the music publicist is still a key figure in the way that record labels reach mass media. This article covers the basics of what that campaign covers and what they cost!

Music publicity is a misunderstood area of the music industry. Whereas marketing campaigns will spend an allotted budget on advertising, retail promotions through record store listening stations, and other relatively controllable aspects of exposure, publicity campaigns will get records into the hands of the media (print, television, and radio). Provided they support an album, the media can potentially generate more excitement for a release than any marketing campaign, mainly because they tend to act as a forum of educated opinions, and is thereby considered more credible by music audiences. If you find yourself discovering an artist’s music by reading an album review, a band profile, or an interview, chances are a music publicist worked hard to set that up.

Read the whole article here.

 

How to have a pop hit

Looking at Cee Lo's new single, 'Fuck You', as an indicator of how to use all the tools that the internet age affords in order to master your music marketing is a little narrow minded.

This article has a lot of pertinent thoughts that won't be a mystery to our readers, and it does manage to acknowledge that the attention that Cee-Lo got when his track was first put on YouTube was down to it being both really bloody good and massively profane. A great combination and one that lit the internet up with chat.

The article then sweeps through a number of things that you probably already know about - twitter, fan-funding, special fan packages etc. But it's a well put together run through. Just don't expect overnight worldwide recognition by following these tips. Your music had better be exceptional too.

You can't buy it, watch it on television or even hear it on the radio but Cee Lo Green has a monster hit on his hands.

The R&B singer's song F*** You! is a blend of pure funk-soul uplift and extensive swearing so catchy that I find myself singing it in the most inappropriate places. And I am not alone; people who have heard it on the internet adore it — in their millions.

It is a prime example of the prevalence of music on the web and how it has taken the guesswork out of hitmaking. Record companies no longer need to send a grovelling plugger to Radio 1 and pray to every god going for a spot on the A-list.

It's worth reading as a solid overview of the way pop is using the interent to have hits.

AIM website has wealth of high qulaity training and information for Indie artists

We have been members of UK agency, AIM (the Association of Independent Music) for years. One of our many hats has been as a small group of independent record labels over the years. AIM is the UK trade body that gives such labels a voice, so membership is de rigeur.

But they just relaunched their website yesterday. It is full of awesome musician resources. Yes, you have to join or buy their information piecemeal (and I don't get paid for recommending it!) but it is put together by very serious knowledgeable people and I recommend it 100%. Much, much better than most eBooks or musician training (other than ours!) that you'll find on the web.

For example, their 600 page -The AIM Guide to Survival and Success in the Music Business - is probably the best £11.75 you could ever spend.

They also cover music news and run training events. If you're in the UK you'd be mad not to check them out and if you're anywhere esle then 90% of their info is just as useful.

Visit the AIM site here.

 

How to build your 'tribe' of fans

Older article on MTT that I came across yesterday - but a real corker.

If you're looking at all the ways that you can use for your music promotion, then you'll want an army of raving fans spreading the word.

You may well have heard of Seth Godin and his seminal book on marketing called simply 'Tribes'. Whether you have or not, some of it's finest principles are re-targetted in this article to apply specifically to music.

Fans of groups such as the Insane Clown Posse (the Juggalo), the Grateful Dead (the Deadhead), and Jimmy Buffet (the Parrothead), are all apart of communities that exists beyond the band. The music is what brought these groups of people together, and the loyalty to the music acts as the glue bonding them together, but the artists themselves have no responsibility to control the group - the community acts as it’s own separate entity, with its own leaders and followers.

These fans belong to a tribe.

Well worth investing five minutes to read in full here.

We Are Hunted has masses of data that you can use to target publicity

If you don't know about We Are Hunted, you need to get a grip.

It's a site where you can explore and discover new music all based on what they know people are listening to, tweeting about and blogging.

But in their research section they compile reports on specific artist data - so you can find out who writes about that band that you sound like and then target the same sites or magazines. These are golden music promotion opportunities.

My friend Greg Rollett at his GenY Rockstars site has talked about this in detail.

I’ve written about We Are Hunted before and I spent an entire video  in the NME Blueprint dedicated on how to use the information given to create a killer background of research for your online outreach.

Well they are back with the 1st half of 2010′s data. They have the top 100 artists listed on their site and you can gain information on any artist that charted with We Are Hunted.

I’ve been talking to Stephen from We Are Hunted and I am really excited for what they have going on and the amount of data and information they are able to process with their technology (plus they have great charts and a sweet integrated music player that you need to check out).

Read his two in depth posts on how to use We Are Hunted -

Using We are Hunted Data; and

2010 We Are Hunted Social data

Streaming music is the only way for the future

I saw this article on streaming yesterday and realised that it must be right about our future consumption of music. Will it affect how you promote your music?

Probably! If the majority of fans end up not buying digital or standard physical copies of your music then you're going to need to monetise your career in other ways. That will include special editions and deluxe sets of physical prodcut with music on them that isn't available in the cloud plus the obvious routes of more live work and hence income together with merchandise.

Start thinking about that now as streaming is coming fast!

Have you noticed that you’re streaming more audio and video? That your purchase of CDs and DVDs has dramatically decreased? That your DVD cabinet and CD racks have a layer of dust on them (literally, or otherwise)? That your digital CD/DVD cabinet (i.e. iTunes) is being opened less frequently? (Apple knows this, by the way, it’s why the new AppleTV has no hard-drive; it’s all streaming…really think they’re not going to do the same for music?)

Read the article here.

 

Is the latest big thing damaging long term career success

In the quest to find ways to promote your music, you may well believe that all press is good press but what happens when the hype fades? Is that early flurry of activity harming your chances of a long term career.

This is a great article that looks at what happens when the glare of attention swings on to your band and the way that the internet is throwing up new bands ever quicker to compete for that moment in the spotlight.

No sooner has the ceasesless hype machine of the music industry served up 'the hottest new acts' than it has another half-dozen to replace them. Can anyone hope to keep up? Larry Ryan crawls out from beneath a pile of CDs to find out...

Read the whole article on the Independent here.

 

 

 

 

 

Billboard's 100 tips for maximum exposure

This week's Billboard has its annual list of 100 ways that a band can get 'maximum exposure'. Their reference guide to music promotion.

Of course, it is very US-centric and, disappointingly, it is also horribly backward looking. All of the 25 tips that you can read on their site without a subscription (come on - paywalls? Really?) are most suited to a signed act that already has a national level of success.

That's not to say that it isn't worth reading though.

I just wish that America's biggest industry weekly could delve a little deeper into what works for exposure for the aspiring artists on the rise.

There are more tools than ever to promote a new single or album. But which ones work best? To find out, Billboard presents its third annual Maximum Exposure list, which tabulates the 100 best ways to generate sales and buzz. We asked label and publishing executives, publicists, managers and branding experts to rank the most effective means to promote music.

Read the top 25 exposure tips on Billboard.

And NPR's blog take on it - similar to ours!

Vinyl releases growing in popularity - offer them to your fans

When you're making a special package for your fans on your next release it seems that you aren't forgetting to offer the tactile analogue pleasure of vinyl. It's one of those music marketing tips that has the happiness of the fan as it's aim.

Although a lot of the growth in vinyl sales is from established artists creating a premium package for diehard fans the trend is even more obvious among new acts wanting to embrace the coolest of all formats.

Offer a digital download immediately and send the vinyl in the post. Instant gratification and long term pleasure for your fan.

Seventy-two years ago last week, the 33-1/3 long-playing vinyl record was invented. And while most music fans have moved on to streaming Bluetooth audio, MP3s and other digital music formats, LP sales are higher today than at any time in recent history.

According to Nielsen Entertainment, vinyl record sales have been booming over the past four years. In 2009, 2.5 million albums were sold in the U.S., up from 1.88 million in 2008.

Read the stats on vinyl here.

Record labels and traditional media still matter

Whilst we advocate the direct to fan approach for artists, we aren't in the crowd that herald the death of all mainstream media and all the elements of the old school music busines.

The beauty of building your own fanbase through your own efforts and online is that you still have a choice. Labels, in most cases, want to see that you can have a level of success on your own and that is what social networking, blogging, self-releasing and so on does. But, at the point that they come calling you will have the choice to work with them and take advantage of their traditional global set-up and marketing budget and prowess.....or not.

They do have a role....still. But it may not be right for you. And a key part of that role is to act as the 'filter'/

MP3s killed the CD star, and blogs + iPad is supposed to kill magazines and newspapers. But there’s a reason why record labels and traditional media still matter.

The role of record labels, magazines, and other traditional outlets as a distributor is obsolete, yes. Anyone can deliver digital content now. But their roles as editors is more important than ever. And that’s why record labels and traditional media still matter – to be quality filters in an over-saturated world.

Read about the way that traditional media and labels act as filters here.

What Lady Gaga can teach you about social media

We talk a lot about social networking for musicians and come down firmly in favour of the pro camp.

It's certainly done no harm to Lady Gaga!

We know, we know. Your opinion of Lady Gaga might be one of love, hate or ambivalence. But no matter what … we all can learn a thing or two about maximizing social media potential from her.

No, seriously. And you don’t have to set a piano on fire or wear an outfit made out of raw meat to do it.

Read the whole piece here.

Planning is the way to avoid f**k ups!

I was out on Saturday night with a bunch of music business people and one of them was moaning about how the label hadn't got their act's video lined up despite the promotion of the single having started. Possible recipe for disaster!

It caused me to admit that every time that I have fucked up a record release it has, in the end, been because I didn't have everything ready before I started the campaign for the record - be it a single or album. You can read more about releasing a record at our site.

We now use a planner for every record. 13 weeks (before release) for an album or single which has a physical release and 6 weeks for a digital only single. And that's just for the things you NEED - masters, art, videos. You will have been preparing and making marketing plans before that.

I would suggest NOT starting the promotion though unless the key elements are in place within those time frames.

I then saw this article this morning which makes a similar point.

If you are reaching the conclusion that there is no right answer, you are right. At least if you are on a major label with resources to coordinate mass exposure platforms. If you are new and unsigned, what this shows you is you should coordinate everything before releasing a single. Don’t just put it up on your Youtube channel to stream and then figure out retail. Take a minute to go thru the following checklist:

Read the whole article here.

How to get an endorsement deal in the music industry - and how to use Youtube!

Two reasons to show this video.

1. Chappers, whose YouTube channel this is from, has some great tips on how to get an endorsement deal from an equipment manufacturer and his facts are spot on. He also points out that, done right, you can manage this before you have been hugely successful; and

2. He talks about using YouTube to build your profile - but just by watching this and seeing what he does and how he uses YouTube, you can learn so much. He has a massive personality and posts very regularly - pretty much every day.

It's a masterclass in both endorsement procuremant and YouTube for musicians.

 

10 ways to find more gigs

Great resource list provided by Indie Music Tech of sites that can help you find all the gigs you need. Gig swaps, listings, scene building - all that kind of thing.

You'll find a great post on our site that covers all the basics of how to get gigs.

And then go and check out the list of 10 Resources to get gigs here.

 

Social networking isn't right for every musician

What if you aren't cut out to be a master of twitter for musicians?

I, obviously, am a firm believer in the use of social networks to bring the experience of any artist closer to the fans, but, I accept that some artists don't want to get this involved or, perhaps, even find it an emotional struggle.

So, maybe it's not for you, but as this article says, if you don't embarce it, don't blame the fans for not being there for you.

My advice - facebook and twitter are essential for 99% of artists today. If you're not going to use them you'd better come up with a strong idea of your own.

An artist I know recently signed to a major. The label wanted him to be active on social networking sites, to blog and so on, because apparently that's how you build a fan base these days. Within weeks, he was a nervous wreck. He spent hours sitting in front of his computer, slowly breaking into a cold sweat at the thought of each word he wrote being dissected, with no chance of revision once it had entered cyberspace, potentially spreading across Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites.

Read the article on the Guardian site.

Music Blogs have changed music reviews forever

As an artist in the modern music business the opinions of mass media still have a massive effect on your chances of success. However, your online music promotion can circumvent mass media and, at least before you reach mass media level, it can build you the core of a long term fanbase.

Your work in social networks is part of this but the step that many artists fail to take on properly is developing relationships with music blogs and making sure that they get reviewed by the bloggers.

This article looks at the wider issue of how blogs have changed the possibilities and type of reviews. Not only are bloggers generally easier to find and get a review from but they are also inherently honest as they owe nothing to the labels.

Finding a bunch of blogs that are in to your music is a key part of any artist's step to success.

The new music review is a mixture of many different things and unlike its predecessor; it lies more within social media and it’s users than a publication’s pages. Unlike the reviews published on the usual music magazine sites like Rolling Stone and Billboard, the new review is a result of many different opinions a general consensus of opinions within a niche community. In the new era of the digital music review, entire music collectives are built around certain genres, not unlike those built in the era of the zine.

Read the article at Hypebot now.

Fans and artists connect to make touring easier

If you're an indie artist trying to put together a tour on no budget you soon realise that a load of your budget gets blown on even the cheapest place to stay whilst on the road.

Whilst we and others like us are always trying to come up with the best tips for musicians, sometimes an idea comes along that is just brilliant and that we couldn't have thought of.

Better than the Van is one of those.

Hooking up fans and artists with floors to crash on and gigs to swap. Simple. Going through a revamp at the moment and US centric, it could do with all the support it can get if it is to become the awesome resource for touring indie bands that it deserves to be.

Having put bands on the road with no money for decades I know that this could make the difference for many bands between touring and getting a break and not being able to afford it. Please sign up if you're in a band or have a floor that a band can crash on!

Read about the updates due here.

 

Twitter followers are more likely to buy your music - fact

"I don't do Twitter" - I've heard that from so many musicians since I started writing about Twitter for Musicians.

They're worried about the interaction that becomes so instant and that they will bore their fans and not have enough to say to keep them interested. Forget it - as an artist, you ought to have lots to say.

And now, a study has just shown that Twitter followers are more likely than fans engaged with you through other networks to buy something from you. So, not being on Twitter as a musician is just financially stupid....right?

As Twitter continues to explode, the music industry is just starting to wrap its head around what this format means.  Woe is the label or band that ignores the tweet, especially given its highly-viral nature.  "The question has moved from 'why' to 'why not,'" explained Twitter executive Matt Graves during a recent presentation at Bandwidth in San Francisco.  

Read why in the article here.

10 tips to sell more music online

Got your music straight?

Once that's done, you need to know all the latest tricks in online music marketing, which we teach at our main site.

Others do too though, so go and check out this post - a list of ten great tips from online digital retail experts Tunecore.

The majority of music now being created, distributed, shared, bought and discovered is happening outside the traditional music industry. Even better, more revenue is being made by artists than ever before.

In 2009 alone, the "unsigned" self-distributing bands via TuneCore sold and got paid from streams from over 65 million songs and albums earning over $32 million dollars from iTunes and other digital download stores.

As an artist and composer, you make and perform music: Here are some easy ways to get discovered and sell more music.

Read the whole article here.

Then follow through to the Tunecore site and download their pdf's - excelllent material.

Topspin training by Berklee

I took the 'Online Music Marketing with Topspin' course with Berklee before beginning my first direct to fan campaigns for my acts.

Mike King is a great tutor and the course is excellent.

I'd go as far as to say that if you are an independent artist wanting to use Topspin you aren't going to get the best out of it unless you do this course.

We’ve been teaching the Topspin course at Berkleemusic.com for just under a year, and personally, it’s been one of the more rewarding things that I’ve been involved in. To get emails like the following from online students really reinforces the fact that we are doing something positive and immediately applicable for musicians and their career:

Subject: Brian Ray Pre-Sale + Topspin Marketing = Success!!

Read Mike's post about it on the Topspin blog.

Hook up with serious music industry professionals

I just got tipped off to this site - Music180.com

I don't know a great deal about it but it looks like a refreshing way of being able to get direct help and connections with serious players in the game.

As we all know, if you want to make it in music, it's not just what you know, it's who you know.

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Being good isn’t enough... you need to be great. But you can’t become great alone. You need help and artist development.

Music180 gives you direct access to hundreds of the world’s top music pros to get help, get heard and get discovered.

Now you can meet and work with the same producers, songwriters, managers and other pros who have built careers for many of your favorite artists.

Go and check it out.

ArtistHQ sets up a site to help musicians - right on MySpace!

I never would have thought of doing this with the flexibility of the new MySpace profile.

We know a fair bit about myspace music marketing ourselves, and are working on updates to our book about MySpace for musicians.

But, it makes total sense to have a site giving tips to musicians right there on MySpace where they all are.

Check it out here

Nimbit release instant band website

So it was only yesterday that we posted about key elements that you need to include on a band website, and then Nimbit go and launch this!

I keep saying that you should build your site in Wordpress and use the Thesis theme - and I think that's the right soultion when you have the time and money.

But, this new option from Nimbit is awesome - and, since it is a Wordpress Theme, you can use it, and if you outgrow it, your site and its links will be there and you can change the theme and not lose any of the work you've done. Brilliant.

The key elements are that it's free (!!) if you have the basic version and links directly to a Nimbit artist account, so all sorts of cool stuff is linked both ways. For example, updating your band bio in Nimbit will automatically update it in your Nimbit band wordpress site.

You can watch the launch video below:

Instant Band Site from Dave Coffin on Vimeo.

But to get the full scoop, read this outline here.

We love all of the Nimbit artist solutions - read about everything that they offer here.

 

Pomplamoose and building it from the ground up

If you read our main site of musician resources or follow our tweets, you'll know that we often refer to Bob Lefsetz and his insightful meanderings about the music business.

He has pretty much the same view as us about the way the industry is changing and what artists need to do to build a career these days.

Yesterday he looked at Californian duo Pomplamoose and wrote about their incredible reach and growing fanbase built exclusively by YouTube. There are levels of fan engagement that they could be doing on top of this that they aren't, but what they are doing is working for them.

Most importantly, they are very talented and they work hard!

It’s not about top down marketing, working with Dr. Luke to ensure a hit, it’s about fumbling around by yourself, mostly for fun, with only the most dedicated and creative ultimately succeeding.

Stop shooting for the moon.  Worldwide success is an accident.  Build your fanbase from the ground up. Pomplamoose exudes fun.  You’re drawn to them. That’s how you build an act, not by getting a stylist and learning dance steps.

Read the whole of Bob's piece here and note what he says in the later paragraphs about building from the ground up. It's insightful.

Then follow his link to go and watch Pomplamoose videos and see what they do and how they do it.

Essential plug-ins for your band's Wordpress based site

We agree that the only sensible way to build your artist website these days is by using the amazing Wordpress platform.

Points 1 through 5 of this post on our site about how to build your fanbase cover the hosting, use of wordpress and email software that we recommend.

As you'll see from that, we recommend using the Thesis theme, which is the very best way to use Wordporess. Check it out.

However the plug-ins that can tweak that are well covered in this post.

WordPress and its open source community have created some immersive and interactive plugins for small business’s bloggers and photographers. This article will cover some of the band and music orientated plugins that you can install on your bands wordpress website.

Read about the 14 best plug-ins for musician websites in full here.

Radiohead ponder how to release next album

Although they are now free to release their material however they like, Radiohead seem unsure that the internet is the absolute answer.

Colin Greenwood has mused on possibilities in this blog post which deals with his thoughts on their own situation and the future of music as a whole.

It’s been nearly three years since we announced our “pay what you think it’s worth” scheme for the launch of our last record In Rainbows. I remember the excitement of it all, not least because the release date was my wife’s birthday, 10 October. The idea came from a friend of our manager, who proposed an “honesty box”, placing the onus on people to ask themselves how much they valued our music. Last summer, as we finished some more recordings, we started to think and talk about how to release them. So it seemed a good moment to take stock of the technological and cultural changes that have happened in the meantime.

Read Colin's thoughts here.

A musician's website checklist

I am an expert in what you should include in a band website.

I see endless streams of people building sites to promote their music that are awful and don't communicate with potential fans. You can just about get away with something odd and very little content if your band are amazing and you're trying to be different. But it's a risk. And for most bands there are a certain series of elements that you should cover.

It's very easy - and very important - for every band or musician to connect with fans online. But a lot of bands seem to create profiles on social networking sites but never update them, or only use one platform instead of taking advantage of the many different places fans listen to music online. Here are some things you should think about when you're creating your website or social networking profiles:

Alex White's post looks at this in more depth.

 

A 'Reveal' tab on Facebook can dramatically boost fan numbers

How do get someone to 'like' your band on facebook?

It's a problem and a good facebook landing page is one way. But if you use a 'Reveal' tab you can gently force people to 'like' your act before they get the benefit of doing so.

Reveal tabs are a way to get Facebook users over the hump of liking your Page. Not only do you need to tell the user to like your page but you also need to tell them why they should be liking it. The greater the incentive, the greater the conversion.

Read this great AllFacebook article for more.

And this article conatins the all important 'how-to' information.

What are the best places to get more fans on your email list?

On our blog we cover in detail the ins and outs of building a fan mailing list.

But, as well as adding people to your list on your band site, where else can you gather names?

This article asks three experts that question - with a somewhat obvious yet very important thread running through all the answers.

Acquiring new fans is not always easy, especially when time is wasted in approaching people in the wrong places and/or at the wrong time. In order to grow your fan base, it’s extremely important you are able to select WHERE and HOW it is actually productive to try to get new fans. This will allow you to fully exploit your opportunities through the use of appropriate strategies.

Read this article in full on FanBridge's blog.

How to autopost to 30 plus social networks

It is a key skill for modern aspiring artists that they understand how to use social networking for musicians, but it is a challenge to keep up with all the profiles that people think are necessary today.

This great post on the 'Tight Mix' blog covers a method to make all that updating much easier.

Alas, I have finally found some light at the end of the tunnel. In this post, I will talk about two different methods that you can use to syndicate your new blog posts across 30+ social networks at one time. Pretty awesome, right?

Read the whole article here.

Facebook Profile pictures - customise them for impact

This was a link from an article posted yesterday but deserves it's own entry.

We're into anything that improves the use of facebook for musicians.

I wholeheartedly believe that tweaking the elements of your Facebook Fan page is well worth the time and effort so that fans that find you there get a good experience right there on Facebook. Yes, you need to get them to your own site, but the Facebook interaction needs to be good in the first place.

There isn’t a legal way to ‘hack’ Facebook, but there is a method to changing your profile photo to make your profile look subtly different and cooler. It isn’t obvious, but the placement of a profile photo allows you to lightly innovate on Facebook’s sacred profile layout.

So, mess with your profile photo to make an impact and use some of the ideas in this article.

 

Metadata for mp3's and how to send tracks via dropbox

These are two simple yet utterly brilliant articles that explain how to properly tag your mp3 files so that they show up in the recipient's itunes with a title and how best to send people large files.

Loads of musicians don't do this so their tracks end up lost in the itunes folder of the person they sent it to. And, perhaps worse, most musicians try and send massive files to industry folks - which makes them pissed off with big and slow emails before they have even tried to listen to the act's track.

There's a connected post on our blog about sending a demo to record labels.

But, as far as tagging your file and sending it digitally, do it this way - it's the right way.

Part 1 - Get your metadata straight.

Part 2 - Send demos by Dropbox or Soundcloud.

 

Is the long term artist career over?

I like this article that decries the death of artist development and ponders the future of music.

It's about how the once-pop act Hanson have managed to build a long term fanbase and carry on successfully making records and touring.

It's all about the last paragraph and is just food for thought.

A better question to ask, then, may be what it means that Hanson still exists. I’d argue they resonate with their fans as the last of the rock stars, a species that still exists but has been deprived of breeding stock. The music industry is dead, reduced to niches, pop stars, and a long tail. But where music once delivered the fantasy that our lives are dramatic, now acts like Hanson deliver the fantasy that music still matters.

Read the whole thing here.

Freemium is the right model for most artists

I love what Chris Bracco writes about on his 'Tight Mix' blog. He is always bang on. He is covering a lot of the ground that we do in creating great musicians resources.

This post looks at whether you are right to be using the freemium model - some music for free with higher priced paid products as upsells - for your band.

The growing trend these days is to use your music as a marketing tool to help promote the other products, services, and experiences you can offer your fans as an artist (live shows, physical CD's, vinyl, t-shirts, toys, video games, music lessons, bundled packages, etc), since those products and services usually yield higher profit margins. While the "freemium" model seems to be working pretty well for some artists, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will work for you.

Read the post here.

MySpace is still a necessity for musicians

Although a lot of people like to tell us that MySpace is dead, it still has a place for all musicians.

More than that, in fact. It is essential that you have a plan for at least a basic form of MySpace music marketing.

This article gives a thorough reason for why that is so.

Currently no service truly has the same democratic approach for new and unsigned acts that MySpace does. The site has always used its plethora of content well, with weekly Best of MySpace podcasts to help users find new and exciting music. Adding a simpler and more modern user experience to this could boost its popularity.

Read the comments as well as the article for a well thought out argument. Bottom line - people still go to MySpace as a reference for new music. You have to have a presence.

Read the article and comments here.

10 Facebook Strategies to attract fans to your page

Facebook for musicians is a topic that we cover all the time on our blog. I'm working on some great video stuff at the moment, in fact.

This article covers ten things that you should be doing to make sure that your fan page is attracting and retaining fans. It's a little old but the content is valid.

Facebook Pages present a massive opportunity for brands to directly engage with their existing and future customers, even the occasional passer-by. This conversation brings with it the power that all other social media tools and platforms provide which is why this latest release of Facebook Pages is so important for brands. Yes, changes will come to the Pages product over the coming months and years but as many early adopters know, it’s often best to wait until the second version of a product arrives. Now that the second version of Facebook Pages has launched, it’s time for you to take your brand to the next level.

Below, I have outlined 10 tips for creating engaging Facebook Pages. These are only the top 10 and there are many other lessons to be learned but this should serve as the ultimate starter guide for any brand/company looking to make their entrance into Facebook.

I particularly like the link off to a post about customising profile pictures. Read the whole thing here.

Fan engagement at it's best

Norman Cook's site that I came across the other day shows an example of fan engagement at it's best.

Bang in the middle of the page is a section called 'Ask Norm'. Fans wander by the site and leave a question and Norman drops by and answers them honestly. OK, it might not be him, but I think it is. It has a real sense of his personality. But, in a way, it doesn't matter if it's a member of staff.

The fact is that his fans are getting a two way relationship from him that confirms their belief that he is a great bloke. Yes, you can do this on Twitter, but doing it on your own site cements it in your own arena that you control.

Plus, the whole site is also a lesson in best practice online for an artist. Full of content, simple to navigate and very sticky. Look and learn.

Norman Cook's site.

How can artists create their own success in the new music business?

The 2nd part of the interview with Kevin Breuner of CD Baby looks more in depth at the specific ways in which the music industry is changing with the death of the old model.

The future of music has many possibilities for musicians but it can often be hard to know which path to follow.

Right now, everything is wide open.  Artists are able to try anything they want to when it comes to the way they connect with their fans and get their music out.  From the artist perspective, I think there may be some issues with motivation.  Like, “What’s the point?”  Being an artist is not an easy road, and in the past, there was always the lofty dreams of “making it” that kept them going.

Well worth reading - whole article is here.

The new Music Business model

Following on from the previous post, UK manager and ex-accountant, Brian Message reveals a lot of his thinking on how investment from companies other than record labels can give artists a different route to success.

So that means that we now have three routes:

Direct to Fan - and do it yourself.

Direct to Fan - done with the backing of someone else's money.

The Old School way - get a record deal with a record label, but now that will be the much vaunted '360' deal.

....or any combination of the three.

“Under the new way of doing things, you’re a chief executive of an artist’s business with multiple revenue streams that go across multiple countries,” he says. The accountancy background used to make him feel awkward, but in today’s volatile music industry it’s proving invaluable.

Message, a dab hand at business plans (“It’s not something I’m proud of”), is pioneering a new model for the music industry. With companies struggling to adjust to a steady decline in their primary source of revenue, sales of recorded music, he argues the industry is suffering an investment crisis. But this crisis is also an opportunity for the likes of Message to enter the game as investors.

Read the whole thing here.

Twitter - everything you need to know

Twitter is fast becoming my favourite method of spreading the word, over and above facebook.

I've said before that I'm writing a definitve training on twitter for musicians, but there is so much great info out there already.

This site - Twitip - has a huge amount of info on how best to use Twitter to spread the word, market stuff and generally build your brand.

Check out their 'Beginners Guide to Twitter' here.

Cautionary tales of the need for health insurance for US musicians

I shuddered in disgust when I read this article.

How can it be right that the most powerful nation on earth can have such a screwed healthcare system that it lets people die because they couldn't afford to look after themselves?

I can't enter that debate, but I do know that the cost of health insurance for many struggling musicians will forever be beyond their means.

Josh Homme has a pertinent piece of advice for any musician hoping for help from the American medical system. "If you want to live," says the leader of Queens of the Stone Age, "you better be rich."

Two years ago, Homme's Queens bandmate Natasha Shneider died from cancer, aged just 52. She was put on chemotherapy pills – two a day at $500 a time. Schneider had health insurance that split the cost, but that still left her paying $500 a day for essential treatment. Now Brian O'Connor, the bassist in one of Homme's other bands, Eagles of Death Metal, has been diagnosed with stage-four colon and lung cancer as well as tumours on his bones.

Read this article in the Guardian - be prepared to be upset and shocked.

Then, if you're a US musician, go and get some health insurance.

Setting up a pre-sale for your record or track

I'm an unreserved fan of direct to fan marketing for music.

Topspin and Nimbit are my two preferred providers, and Nimbit is undoubtedly the one for bands starting out.

They have an amazing set of training articles on their site and this one about setting up a pre-sale for your album caught my attention.

Pre-Selling your album is one of the best sales tools you have in the direct to fan arsenal.  A successful pre-sale campaign takes careful planning, excellent execution, and a solid understanding of your fans.  It’s very important to keep up the excitement about the release while not over-hyping or over-selling the event. Yet this IS a very special event and you want your fans to feel the same way you do about it.

Read the article here and have a look at the rest of their content.

Music synchronisation opportunities for your music

I was put on to this site by a twitter follower - @jamesbrister.

I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like it's worth checking out. It has a whole host of features and opportunities, but I'm most interested in the way that you can upload your music and have it put forward for synchronisation licensing opportunities through their site.

Anything that can give you music sychronisation advice, is good with me.

Check out our video tours and see what R&R WORLD has to offer you! Whether you are an artist, music lover, music pro, designer, studio or venue we have something for you! Learn how you could earn as part of R&R WORLD Simple.

Go and watch their videos explaining what the site can do for you.

Everything a musician needs to know about facebook

....is covered in an eBook that Amanda has drafted and is perfecting at the moment. It will be your bible on facebook for musicians.

Meanwhile, this is a great blog post that pulls together ten other sites that are packed with useful information on how to use facebook to promote anything - such as your music.

For all true blue Facebook users, it’s also important to know what’s happening on it. For instance, how are the new privacy modifications going to the affect us? What’s the latest social application that we can plug into on Facebook? Or would it be safe to do that in the first place? Facebook news, views, and opinions help us keep us in the know.

I will ask you where you get your Facebook news from later. Right now, check these 10 resources that are always worth a visit for news and articles on Facebook. We will start off from some of Facebook’s own resources.

It's a great place to bookmark and come back to time after time to keep up to date with everything that you should know about facebook.

Twitter for musicians - top 10 tips

I'm working on an ebook and a few videos all about twitter for musicians.

Until it's done, this is a pretty brilliant resource to have from Mashable.

Listen up, bands: Twitter is more than just a place to wax poetic from the tour bus and gripe about broken guitar strings (and/or dreams) — it can also help you promote your music and connect with your fans.

While you don’t have to go all Kanye with your Twitter stream, hooking up to the micro-blogging site can add a whole new dimension to your act.

We talked to a ton of bands — from up-and-comers like The Limousines, to indie darlings like The Thermals, to established artists like Pete Yorn and Ben Folds — about how they use Twitter, and compiled the following list of tips and tricks.

Read the whole 10 tips.

Membership sites for VIP fans are a must

We've been using direct-to-fan marketing techniques for a while using the brilliant Topspin platform.

It rocks.

They've just updated the software so that it automatically allows the sale of membership packages to fans.

This week we’re adding a new product type, VIP Access, to the catalog. VIP Access allows you to sell or give away membership to a group will receive special access to offers (early access to tickets?) or content (streaming, downloads, etc).

Whether you use Topspin or not, check out their announcement as it covers ideas of how and what to do when offering memberships to music fans.

 

Fan engagement online is the key to future music success

I like to write about how it's critical to make good music first and let it do the talking. Get that right and then fan engagement becomes easy. Well, perhaps easier.

This interview of Kevin Breuner of CD Baby covers this point and talks about how artists must be tech-savvy to engage with fans.

The internet has changed the way the fan community consumes entertainment.  The idea of releasing a new album every 2-3 years with no content in between seems totally ridiculous.  If a band is not generating content online (blog post, social media updates, photos, videos), it’s often assumed that they broke up or are no longer making music.  At very least, with no online presence, an artist’s fan base will begin to look other places for that same musical experience.

Read the article here