Friday 25 February 2011

Writing a song with no knowledge of musical theory

Image by Girl flyer

I'd bookmark the Songwriting Lab blog if I was you.

You can't have too much information to improve your songwriting - and your songs are where it all starts.

It's a great site with loads of great tips.

I liked this one as I've had exactly the experience of people thinking that they must somehow follow an 'approved' musical theory. You don't!

Is it possible to create attractive, appealing song melodies without having a strong background in music theory? I believe it is, and I say that as a person who has had a career-long interest in teaching music theory.

Every so often, someone will write me with a question that goes something like, “Can I have this chord follow that chord?” or “Am I allowed to [insert musical idea here].” In other words, they want to know if music theory “permits” their musical brainwave to exist. Are they violating the rules of music theory by going ahead with their idea?

My answer is always, in the nicest possible way, “Who cares?”

Read the whole post here.

Band email marketing - so bad by so many!

I'm still trying to finish our series on how to run your band mailing list - the two parts that are up already are well worth a look though.

The service that we recommend for running the ultimate fan email list is Aweber. There are other music-industry focused services that are really good (Fanbridge being the most obvious), but we feel that Aweber is the most powerful email system - that it wasn't made for musicians isn't the point. They do email list management and they do it very well. By all means, use another option - and many integrate in other applications, like Nimbit and Topspin - but as a stand-alone, Aweber is the daddy!

However, this article on their site makes us think that they are looking at artists very seriously and thinking that their service is right for us.

The article looks at why so many artists, even if they are collecting email, don't use that asset properly.

It's got some great stuff in it - and in the comments.

A few months ago, we stumbled onto Nine Inch Nails’ creative campaign. We wanted to see what other bands were doing, so we signed up for their emails.

Well, they’re not doing much. Most of their messages are infrequent and uninspired. Worse, many bands haven’t sent anything at all.

Why is this? I’ve got some theories of my own. And then I want to hear what you have to say.

Read the whole post (and the comments!) here.

Online music promotion overview

Good little article on the basic steps you need to take to get the most out of your online music promotion.

I'm a massive fan of the approach talked about here in approaching blogs as part of your promotional foundation (don't forget @cbracco's brilliant eBook on this).

Think of your online media campaign as equivalent to gigging. Playing in front of lots of small audiences will build up to a larger fanbase. This in turn will get you gigs in front of bigger audiences and so on. In the same way, start with the smaller, niche blogs and e-zines to gain the exposure that will make larger sites take notice of you.

Be prepared to give stuff away. This will remain true for the whole of your career, but particularly at the beginning. People will only pay for stuff if they want it. If they’ve never heard your music, they won’t know if they want it yet.

The internet is brimming with free tools and opportunities for promoting your music, in a way that just wasn’t possible with traditional media. A little bit of know-how (and a lot of time) can get you a long way.

I'd actually recommend interacting with the blogs that you find using theirs and Chris Bracco's methods for a while before emailing them, but the principle is a key one that all artists should be embracing.

Read the post here.

Sample anything from any record!

This has pretty much blown my mind.

A piece of software that you can use to separate all the individual musical parts in any piece of music.

If it's as good as they say it is, this is a whole new level of sampling!

 

 

You can read more on the story at the BBC.

This is what they say the software does:

Hit'n'Mix tears apart MP3s/CD tracks and unlocks their basic building blocks - the notes (vocals/ instruments), percussion and ambient noise.

Great for everyone from wannabe home DJs to mashup pioneers, Hit'n'Mix provides the power to do all the following and more:

  • Copy, move & delete individual notes
  • Change the pitch and duration of notes
  • Add effects like vibrato, slide, automatic harmony and pitch quantization
  • Watch amazing visuals.
  • Move the stereo position of notes left/right
  • Thursday 24 February 2011

    Tell stories in your music promotion

    This is a vitally important post from veteran music marketing guy, Bob Baker.

    I can't tell you how many times industry people have asked me 'What's the story?' on a new band. In that instance they want to know why they're hot, who's managing them, which labels are interested....but a nugget of something else (a real story) will always propel their interest.

    And, in this post, Bob looks at how storytelling will always engage your fans more than dry facts.

    What did I just do?

    I told you a story.

    If you're still reading this, I at least held your interest for a few moments. In addition, there's a good chance you were also intrigued and are now curious to know what that song sounds like. (Hold on. That's coming in a minute.)

    I related this real-life experience to make a point:

    Storytelling is a powerful communication device. It's practically wired into our social DNA. Long before the Internet or even the invention of the printing press, human beings used stories to pass along customs, teachings, philosophy, and more.

    Knowing this, why not use the power of stories to communicate with your fans. Don't just deliver facts and sales pitches. Speak with your fans in a way that will pull them in and inspire them to visualize whatever it is you are wanting to impart.

    Read the whole post here.

    Facebook iFrame Tutorial - you NEED this

    Thank God for Chris Bracco's TightMix blog!

    No, seriously.

    There's a few people giving great advice to aspiring musicians on the web but Chris Bracco's blog does that and more - because he has technical skills (i.e. he's a Geek!), he can give simple tutorials that are absolutely essential for artists learning how to do tricky web stuff that will help them promote their music.

    He had the definitive guide to creating custom tabs on Facebook but has updated it so that the future use of iFrames will be something that you can deal with.

    A couple weeks ago, Facebook announced some really big changes to their Facebook pages. In my previous article, however, I neglected to mention one major change.

    On March 11, 2011, the Static FBML application will no longer be available for Facebook pages, and no new FBML applications can be created after that date. Existing Static FBML and FBML tab applications will continue to function for now, but if you want to create any new custom tabs for your page, Facebook strongly encourages everyone start using iframe-based applications instead.

    Basically, this renders my old tutorial and template (and most popular article) completely useless. A bummer, I know, but we shall overcome. Onward with the new hotness!

    Go there - read it and bookmark it.

    It is ESSENTIAL for your future use of Facebook.

    How to use Soundcloud to promote your music

    Soundcloud is awesome.

    I spent a good part of yesterday updating a Soundcloud profile for one of our artists and when I went back today there were 40 new followers and literally hundreds of plays! Can't argue with that.

    Sure, it works especilly well in the electronic music community but all genres can benefit from it.

    It is definitely somewhere that every musician should have a profile and all their music.

    Watch this video to see the benefits.

    SoundCloud - Scion Music(less) Music Conference from Scion A/V on Vimeo.

    Here's the link for the dodgy embeds!

    Wednesday 23 February 2011

    Lessons from your elders!

    We posted an interview with Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra, a while ago - at the bottom you'll find the full length version that I have since uncovered.

    The short version was great - this is even better!

    I dug it up as there's a great post on Mic Control which is a round-up of ideas from Jac Holzman written by @wesleyverhoeve after hearing him speak at a conference.

    For this week’s post I wanted to share some lessons from a panel discussion in which Mr. Holzman, celebrating 60 years in the business, dropped some knowledge. Mr. Holzman not only is one of the greatest music men and creatives of all time, he is also one of the very few senior executives in the music business that always thinks and moves forward as both a technologist and a futurist.

    Read the nuggets of widom here.

    And here's a link to the full length interview if the embed lets me down!

     

    Direct to Fan best practice

    Following on from our piece about the Topspin presentation on direct to fan I checked their blog yesterday and found this interview with a digital marketing guy at a major management firm.

    In the piece he talks about his experiences with Topspin but also covers a huge amount of stuff that amounts to a 'best practice' guide in direct to fan music marketing.

    I think there’s been a major shift in the last few years from website as an extension of the creative project to website as a functional business tool. You’ll still see the occasional site that’s a crazy experiential art piece but it seems a lot of people are really thinking about keeping it minimal and highly functional, or at least I am. My favorite sites are the ones that make getting the information I need clear and easy.

    I also see a lot of indie bands using platforms like Blogger and Tumblr as their sites which is an approach I think is great. It costs nothing and maximizes artist participation. If your whole site is a blog and you don’t post anything interesting, no one is reading your site, so artists have to stay on it with the updates. It seems really up front and honest to me. What I also like about this is it allows you to easily mix in marketing messages with more interesting personal content, which seems to work much better than having an all marketing copy all the time approach. Again, not for everyone, but I like this approach.

    Read the post here.

    A tale of hard work and glory

    Bob Lefsetz posted this the other day.

    It's a response fom Fitz of US band 'Fitz & the Tantrums' (who are getting loads of attention in the US) to an earlier post where Bob talked about how he found out about them.

    It's a great story of how talent and drive (remember the talent vs drive curve in our free eBook for musicians?) will get you where you want to go.

    Let me start by saying that this band is truly an amalgamation of Old and New school music business paradigms and its been incredible to be a part of and witness.  I’ve been making music forever in this town with many musical projects that never went anywhere and certainly never got an ounce of recognition from the industry in the slightest.   With my heart finally broken one to many times by an industry that would never take notice I started working for a producer as his engineer and trying to pay the bills by writing music for film and television.

    Read the whole thing and see how they earned their dues. 

    Whilst you're at Bob's site I recommend reading these two recent posts too as they are full of brilliant insight:

    On Perserverance.

    Failure has to be an option.

    And here's a video of Fitz and the Tantrums doing their thing. 


     

    Tuesday 22 February 2011

    How to be amazing

    I'm always banging on about how you need to be amazing or all the marketing advice we peddle won't be any use.

    If you've not read it yet, you can get our full version of this view in our free eBook for musicians.

    This post has a simple formula that will tell you whether you're good enough.

    So just how good do you have to be to make a career out of your music?

    Damn good.

    Any advice that I, or anyone else, give out on how to advance your career will only help you do so if the music is amazing.  That’s why it’s important to beware of any books or courses that guarantee success, because without outstanding music, the advice won’t do you much good. You may see minimal success, sure, but it probably won’t last or grow.

    So how do you measure outstanding? I was discussing my theory on this topic over the weekend with a talented local songwriter, and I thought I’d share it with the rest of you. I know, ‘theories’ can be boring, but stick with me…

    Read the post here.

    Musicians Question Time - The real deal!

    Another video from the BBC Introducing Masterclass.

    It's a Q&A from the delegates with a panel made up of A&R men, radio director, promoter and an agent.

    It's an hour long, but it's well worth your time.

     

    Music publishing for muppets

    Image by Andy Buscemi

    Sorry, you might well not be a muppet, but whether you are or not, this post will educate you on music publishing.

    Might sound boring, but once you know what it is, you'll have a chance of making some money from your songs - not so boring now!

    This is a great article by the guys at Sentric Music who offer a brilliant publishing service for all songwriters that won't stop you doing a 'big' publishing deal later in your career. They'll genuinely help you out and send you money.

    They also know their stuff when it comes to explaining what music publishing is and how it works.

    What is music publishing?

    It’s essentially your songs.

    That was easy eh?

    It has nothing to do with your recordings. This must be remembered. As a music publisher I look after your songs. Songs that YOU’VE written. Just by writing the song you’ve created a copyright; a piece of intellectual property that can be exploited to generate income.

    (on a side note; the word ‘exploited’ in this usage doesn’t carry the negative connotations you may think it has when you read it elsewhere. To ‘exploit’ in this sense is to simply extract the intrinsic value of something – and your music, no matter how brilliant or rubbish, has value)

    You have to learn that music publishing and record labels are very different things. It is important that the people who look after your publishing rights and master recording rights have a good relationship, but I’ll come onto that later on.

    I strongly recommend that you go and read the article here. 

    It is very much focused on the UK but other than the societies that collect the royalties (MCPS and PRS in the UK, Harry Fox and ASCAP / BMI in the US), it all applies to the US and anywhere else. 

    Understanding how your songs make you money is pretty basic to your career as a working musician, so you'd be daft to miss it.

    Whilst writing this, I also turned up this very detailed and impressive article on Bemuso, which goes farther and covers the whole shebang. Read this one too!

     

    Facebook Pages - In depth guide

    I know that we covered this last week - several times!

    But, I keep finding new posts that teach new things and this is a cracker. The best to date, in fact, and a must read.

    Not only is it the best in-depth guide to the new Facebook Pages, but it also has a few things in it that I have never seen before.

    The big one is a method that will allow you to make a 'Welcome' tab on your page (or a 'landing page') in which the 'Like' button is embedded rather than having to point to it with a big arrow. And, it's done using an iframe rather than FBML, so it'll work if you only decide to do it after Facebook closes down new FBML tabs next month.

    A landing page has proven over and over to increase 'like' conversions on your page and is well worth your time and effort.

    We'll be adding one to our page with a tutorial in a couple of week's time.

    For now, check this post out and think about using the method they set out for your landing page on Facebook.

    Here are a few tricks I’ll reveal in this post:

    • A way to embed a Like button and other social programs into any tab (no more arrows pointing to the like button at the top of the page)
    • A potential way to pre-moderate (i.e., review before they are posted) every user comment left on your Page
    • How to comment and Like items on Facebook as your Page and not just as you personally
    • Better control the order of your Wall posts and how users see the Wall

    You can read these awesome tips here.

    Thursday 17 February 2011

    A step by step guide to online music marketing

    This is truly awesome.

    READ EVERY WORD!

    @iancrogers who is the main man at @topspinmedia just gave this talk at the New Music Seminar and posted it on their blog.

    I love Topspin and use it daily.

    This post is an outline of how they think artists should approach direct to fan online marketing.

    On top of that, they have announced that they are going to make Topspin available to all artists in March.

    This is a big deal.

    Go and read it all now.

     

    How can unsigned artists make money on YouTube?

    I had a real spate of YouTube posts a month or so ago - and today I couldn't resist this one from the BBC.

    It's a great review of how several unsigned artists are making a living almost entirely from their activities on YouTube.

    You might not want to build your name around covers or what some would see as more comedy than music, but you can't deny that there are things you can learn from these artists and their YouTube activity.

    You might also want to check out one of our posts on YouTube for musicians on the main blog.

    A growing number of musicians are establishing their careers on YouTube, with little or no financial outlay. Last year, an unsigned band from New York even entered the Billboard charts courtesy of their online fanbase.

    The Gregory Brothers first came to attention with their "auto-tune the news" series, where political debates and press conferences were transformed into miniature operas, thanks to pitch-shifting computer software.

    The Gregory Brothers insert themselves into news footage to duet with political leaders.

    Early videos saw Hilary Clinton singing about Somalian pirates, while the US Congress debated climate change as a call-and-response gospel song.

    "Singing is happening all the time when we're talking, but our brains are just too feeble to parse it as music," explains Michael Gregory. "I can change that in the studio."

    The clips, equal parts technical experiment and political satire, became a word-of-mouth success, much to the band's surprise.

    Read the post here.

    And here's a video from the Gregory Brothers to illustrate the point.

     

    Indie advice for the DIY band

    Had to post this since the manager of this band is an old mate of mine and I jumped when he appeared on my screen giving advice!

    Attack! Attack! are building a following all over the world using the web as a main thoroughfare to their music but it all started with building a local scene.

    Well worth ten minutes of your time, covering how a band can come togther from various members in a local scene, how the internet is central to all promotional effort, and, most importantly how concerted effort will get you noticed!

     

    The number one problem facing songwriters

    Image by Rennett Stowe

    Great article on the renamed and relocated Ravenous Raven songwriters blog - now just SongwritingLab.

    It's a site that you ought to be checking regularly for in-depth advice to help you become a better songwriter.

    They polled their readers and discovered that the number one problem facing songwriters was....procrastination.

    Simply knuckling down and geting something started (let alone finished) appears to be the issue.

    So what is procrastination? Essentially it is the problem of always putting something off and not being able to get around to it. So it seems that the world is full of songwriters or potential songwriters who are just finding it really hard to sit down and write.

    So what causes procrastination and specifically what causes it amongst songwriters and why is it so common? We suspect a few things are going on here:

    The post then goes on to hand out some useful tips to help you find the time to make writing part of your day.

    Read them here.

     

    1 killer networking tip for musicians

    Image by Richard-G

    We wrote a little piece about the need for networking offline as well as online a few months ago.

    And then I had a bit of a revelation this morning because of a few gigs and events that I'd been to over the last month.

    In the UK, there's a publication that will tell you where all the players in the music industry will be on any given night - there might be one for the US and other countries but I don't know it (Anyone?).

    It's very London-centric, but then so is the UK mainstream music busines.

    Even if you're a committed DIY musician, you can benefit from networking with people in the music business. If major label A&R men aren't your target, if you hang out in the right places, you'll run into PR people, music bloggers, journos, agents, promoters, producers and more.

    It's well worth it.

    Go to Record of the Day and right there in the middle of the screen is their 'Gig of the Day'.

    It's a given that it'll be in London, but if it's a new band in small venue, you can be sure that it will be teeming with industry bods. Be there. Meet people.

    Don't overdo it and shove CD's at everyone. Just be normal and ask questions. Don't immediately tell everyone that you're in a band. Maybe don't tell them at all. Once they've seen you around a bit, they'll ask you!

    BTW, you might fancy signing up for their two week free trial as well. The daily email that you then get sent lists the gigs and a lot of their in-depth features are good too. It's paid, after that at £150 per year. Steep, but if you're a UK musician, it's probably worth it.

    Another one that is well worth being at is Music Week's Breakout at the Proud Galleries, monthly. Much bigger than most of the RoD tips - 900 plus people - but, generally what is termed an 'A&R fest'!

    Of course, wherever you are in the world, if you hear that a local band is attracting attention from industry players, be at that gig - blag the support slot if you can!

    Another great article on networking can be found on the ever excellent We All Make Music blog.

    I don't agree with it wholesale, but I do agree with it's conclusions about using networking opportunities to ask questions and learn from those in the know.

     

    Wednesday 16 February 2011

    3 email marketing tips for musicians

    This is great and you MUST watch it.

    Greg at Gen-Y Rockstars is the real deal. He markets music (as well as marketing in many other types of business) using the techniques that he preaches.

    I listen to what he says and you should too.

     

    3 Email Marketing Tips For Musicians from Greg Rollett on Vimeo.

    If the video doesn't embed, you can see it and read a transcript at Greg's site here.

    We've told you many times on the blog in our fan email list posts that we (and Greg) use Aweber to run our lists. There are many options that are integrated with other parts of your music promotion (notably Topspin and FanBridge) and Aweber isn't the easiest to use, but it is the best!

    The internet is a level playing field for artists

    This is a great post on the Future of Music blog about how the Internet might develop into a two tier system with not all its functionality available to all. Maybe - I'm not convinced that we'd settle for it now that we're used to it.

    But, the reason for linking to it is that the article looks at a bunch of ideas that artists are using to promote their music from allowing artists to remix their catalogue to filming daily versions of track performances around their house.

    Use them for inspiration.

    Read them here.

    Words of wisdom from established artists

    Thank God!

    Established artists interviewed by @unsignedguide unanimously advise that the route to success is to master songwriting, become a good player and performer and to stay true to your music.

    Amen.

    Read their quotes here.

    And for more of the same get our free music success tips eBook if you don't already have it.

     

    Image by PaulODonnell

    Facebook Fan Page - 10 things to do now!

    I know that we posted about this on the day that they made the change, but it's only today that I've had the time to get stuck in and have a little mess about with the changes myself.

    Despite Amanda being a genuine Facebook wizard (and I'm not so bad myself), we've been waiting for these changes before really working on our own page - hopefully as a showcase of some ideas that you can use on your own. BTW, please, please go and 'like' it now as we'll be doing some stuff there that you'll want to see. Here's our Page - http://www.facebook.com/MakeitinMusic

    So, we started messing about today and we're loving it. I think it's a massive step forward for the interaction available that you can now do as 'the Page', or, as a musician, 'the Band'.

    In particular, being able to leave comments and threads as 'your Page' will really allow you to spread your brand across Facebook. Don't spam - just do the same things that you would with your personal profile.

    And the iframe option - I'm horribly bad at tech stuff but 'my people' tell me that this is a game changer and will mean that what we can do on Pages and in making Apps is going to explode.

    Good stuff!

    So, other than the links we gave in that post linked above we found this one that has a great list of ten things that you should do now to set your new Fan Page up right.

    Facebook announced a massive overhaul of its Pages for business today, and here's the most surprising part: It's awesome.

    Don't listen to the angry mobs complaining about change. Today's shift is overwhelmingly positive and creates much-needed options for Page admins.

    That said, you've got some work to do if you want to make the most if it. We've compiled 10 simple steps that will get you started on the right foot:

    Read and act on that list of 10 steps NOW.

    Direct to fan - from the expert

    I did Mike King's Topspin course at Berklee.

    And it was / is great!

    I now use Topspin for a number of my clients and am increasingly called on to assist artists signed to indie and major labels develop a direct to fan element that sits alongside their traditional deal. The two are not mutually exclusive - in fact they sit perfectly side by side to offer different types of fans different experiences.

    Mike looks at all aspects of direct to fan in this lecture.

    This is a long video, but it is, in my humble opinion, required viewing for all artists.

     

    And, watch it on Hypebot here if the embed fails!

    Tuesday 15 February 2011

    Snoop Tweets it like it is.

    I really am about to post the final part of my Twitter for Musicians series. Tomorrow!

    For now, this is a great post on why Snoop Dogg is so good at handling his own Twitter presence.

    As a Hypebot reader, you're undoubtedly informed on the importance of artist-fan relationships and how Twitter has broken down the walls between the artist and the fan by keeping each one at arm's length from another. Yet still, many artists I know refuse to enter the "Twittersphere" as they are still not fully convinced that they need it to communicate with their fan base.

    While an artist may not necessarily need to Tweet, it certainly opens up an entirely new landscape for fan interaction and engagement.

    One music artist who is a master of digital fan engagement through Twitter is Snoop Dogg. As of this writing, Snoop has 2.4 million followers! This gives him an incredible sphere of influence. So how does Snoop keep his fans engaged?

    Just head over to Hypebot and check it out.

     

    Self-create and then build - plus a free eBook

    Image by fotologic

    I really like this site - we mentioned another of his posts the other day.

    In this one, he talks about taking action. Setting a goal for your band, researching it and making it happen. This is truly more achievable than ever in the modern world where everything you need to find out to make something happen is just a click away.

    More accurately, they researched the who, what, when, where, and how to tour over there, came up with a plan, and executed it. They didn’t wait to be accepted as an opener, or look for showcases, or wait for some other opportunity to come along.  They just knew what they wanted to do, researched how to do it, and did it.

    Read the post here and be inspired. 

    And, since a lot of the post talks about making the most out of gig opportunities at conferences, I might as well point you to this post on Dave Cool's site. 

    He's giving away a free eBook about how to do just that! 

    This eBook is a comprehensive guide to making the most of a music conference. From pre-conference planning, showcasing and networking, to the post-conference follow-up, it offers a step-by-step look at the music conference experience and how to maximize it from a musician’s point of view.

    Well worth getting it for free!

     

     

    Grow organically from a niche

    Love this video from the BBC interviewing the Gossip.

    It's a simple message and one that we've touched on many times before.

    Focus on a niche - whether that's local or based on an interest or style - and grow from there. Create interest in the whole scene in which you can stand out.

    This video has some great points from people who've done it.

     

    Or, watch it here if the embed goes iffy!

    10 top tips for improving live performance

    Image by D.S.B

    Great post from the Surface Festival folks about improving your live performance.

    In a nutshell - do all you can to be good, and be professional!

    For a musician live performances are one of the greatest joys of being in a band. The results of hard work and creativity are displayed for all to experience. The adrenaline can be mesmerising and leads to some intensly memorable performances. Here are some practical performance tips from the Surface Festival for the next time you’re on stage: 

    Check it out here.

     

    What to say to your fans

    Don't dismiss this post as being off-topic. It's not.

    In my advice to my management clients (but it also applies to readers of our music marketing blog) I am consistently finding myself talking about 'content strategy' and what they need to plan out and then pass on to their fans from their various online profiles.

    That will be music (free tracks, DJ sets, covers, demos), videos (rehearsals, gigs, backstage, on the road, messing about), and......information.

    That information will often be about them, their music, their releases, but it's also about other stuff that they're in to, their scene, other bands they like.

    We try to plan out when things will be posted and released, but we also like to be able to react to what's going on in music and comment on it and be involved.

    This is very powerful for an artist as it places them in the fan's sense of an overall love of music.

    And, here's the point - we encourage artists to use tools to follow and discover things that they might want to Tweet, mention on their Facebook wall or blog about.

    In order to be at the forefront of things happening in your scene, you need to monitor what's being said online and then get involved.

    The best way to do this is to monitor keywords in a variety of ways. Once you have your keywords (things like 'London music', 'London Gigs', 'Post Rock', 'Post Rock London', 'Post Rock UK', 'Sigur Ros' - might be some of the things you'd monitor if you were a London, UK-based post rock band, for example).

    You can then monitor these words using tools (Google Reader is the one everyone talks about but I'll show you a better way another time!) and regular searches on Twitter and pass relevant things on to your fans. That way you're not always talking about yourself!

    In my example, if you pass on good and timely news about Sigur Ros or a new post rock band playing in London, your fans will appreciate it (as will the new band) and they will start to see you as an integral part of that scene.

    This non-music post by a marketer talks about the same thing and gives some suggestions on using tools to keep abreast of your searches.

    It’s a cliché, but the early bird really does get the worm. In this case, the quick and sly Internet marketer gets the traffic and the conversions.

    Staying ahead of the competition in terms of social media presence is often an underrated weapon. However, in a world where there are potentially thousands of competitors, doing the little things often separates the leaders from the rest of the pack. Beating everyone to the punch and staying in the forefront of the buzz can take a website from obscurity to Internet prominence in a hurry.

    Oh, I know – it’s physically impossible for you to monitor each blog, forum and social network 24/7. We’re not going to do that.

    We’ll pick our spots so that even the upstart Internet marketer can do things that will move him forward.

    Read it here.

    Monday 14 February 2011

    What's the best online site for bands post-MySpace?

    Amanda wrote a book on using MySpace as a central part of your music marketing - and it was, even just two short years ago.

    Sure, other things were sneaking up and stealing traffic from it, but you still had to be on it.

    Do you now?

    It's kind of up to you  - as we've looked at in various posts in the last few months.

    Everybody is saying that MySpace is dead - and that may well prove to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

    The key for me is that there is no longer any interaction there. It's so full of spam and devoid of any human interaction (now that all the everyday users have bolted), that it seems pointless to focus any effort on it.

    However, there is still traffic - see this report from Ignite Social Media. Sure, it's fallen off a cliff, but it's still huge. So, that, plus the way that Google still ranks MySpace so highly, means that I would advise every band to maintain a profile for now, with an email widget to collect fan's details and current music and tour dates. It's an EPK that you should now set and forget.

    Don't forget as well that MySapce is a tool for bands to use to find gigs, promoters and other industry help - you can still trawl it yourself to uncover other bands you can play with and venues to play at, but that is truly about it for now.

    BUT, point your fans eleswhere whenever you can!

    And that's where these two posts come in.

    They both look at whether there is a replacement site - and the answer is that there isn't!

    You need to maintain your own site and a profile wherever your fans might find you and want to interact - but keep it manageable. I'd say no more than 4 or 5 where you have a full-on presence.

    This piece from AltPress espouses the multi-part approach:

    “So as an artist and as a platform, you want to create the most convenient user experience,” he says. “This means the least clicks, the least bugs, the least scrolling, the least clutter. I think the combination of Facebook and the three hosting services earlier mentioned do a great job at that.” The nature of the internet tends toward decentralization, so a site like Myspace—which was at one point the one-stop shopping portal for music fans and bands—was bound to become fragmented. “What we see now with Facebook is not a centralized approach,” says Grasmayer. “It's the integration of fragments: YouTube, Bandcamp, Twitter, SoundCloud... they're all fragments put together.”

    Whereas, this piece from MetalSucks backs Bandcamp as the real alternative.

    Read them both and take their opinions on board, but remember that you need to be where your fans are. Go to them rather than expecting them to come to you.

    What do you use to Tweet?

    I found this interesting as I am, belatedly, finishing off my series on Twitter marketing for musicians.

    I'm just writing the bit about using third party clients like TweetDeck and Hootsuite and came across this infographic.

    I assumed that loads of people use these options - and clearly many do, but it's interesting to see that the vast majority use the interface at Twitter.com.

    You're missing out if you don't use one or several of the available clients. We look at these in the final part of the Twitter series on the main blog.

    Image by Rosaura Ochoa

    Songwriting tips - are you really good enough?

    I post a lot more about songwriting than a lot of 'musician advice' bloggers.

    And, I know that a lot of my readers don't bother to read it all or watch the videos.

    BIG mistake!

    The single common fatal flaw in 99% of the musicians that I have spent the last 20 years meeting is that they are, quite simply, shit.

    They all also believe that their material is good enough for some level of success - usually global mega-fame is what they think they're ready for.

    And, in almost every case, their songs are woefully below the necessary standard - but they can't see it or won't admit to themselves.

    Please, don't let this be you.

    Before you spend huge amounts of time listening to me and others about how to market and promote, invest a far greater amount of time in yourself and your craft.

    I think the stuff I post about songwriting is the most important stuff I pass on.

    This is the first of three videos from someone who has sold a lot of records as a songwriter. You can find the other two on the channel on YouTube that this is taken from.

    If I needed to be sure that I was good enough songwriter, I'd spend some time watching these!

     

    And here's the direct link if the embed fails.

    When should you quit your day job?

    Pretty much every musician wants to jack in the drudgery of the day job and be the full-time rock star - or perhaps just the self funded artist!

    We wrote about that dilemma in this piece on the main blog - You're not in a band until you're in the band!

    And, we made the point that one thing people don't realise is that you need to be a working band for that to become a reality. Read the piece and it'll make more sense.

    This post on Live Unsigned takes a far more sensible and long-term approach and points out the advantages of staying in work whilst you either get ready for the leap to full-time working musician, or use that job to bolster your long-term DIY approach.

    A lot of us want to be full time musicians, doing what we love all the time. However keeping your day job is often vital as the money and other benefits are really useful for musicians. Here are a few reasons to keep your day job, at least for a while:

    It's well worth a read.

    Online Mixing - improve your masters

    This is a relatively new service that I came across the other day. It gives everyone access to professional level mixing (and mastering) at an affordable (-ish) cost.

    Many DIY musicians will know that the area of their material which mosts let them down when self-producing and releasing is the final mix.

    I genuinely believe that mixing is one of those skills that really does require that 10,000 hours of practice to get right - to have learnt every little nuance. Some people definitely have an ear for it and can do a good job early in their 'experience curve' but most people take a very long time to actually be great at it.

    Trust me, this is part of how I make a living. I have a world-class mixer on my roster!

    But, finding someone with that level of skill for the unsigned artist has always been difficult, but it is now easier thanks to this site. They offer a graded range of fees depending on what you want and hopefully it is within range of most aspiring artists.

    Go and check it out.

    Friday 11 February 2011

    Artist management - for and against

    I make my living as a manager. Mostly songwriters and producers these days, but I've managed artists too for a long time.

    These two articles on Hypebot therefore really caught my eye.

    This one - the case against artist managers.

    And, this one - the case for artist managers.

    There's a piece about how to approach a manager on the main site. Given the view in that piece and the fact that it is what we do, I think it's clear we feel that a good manager is essential to an artist's success.

    I think what matters today is that bands learn how to get themselves started, build a decent fanbase and understand the shifting landscape of the business. Then, if they can find a manager who gets that latter point (and it's true that very many don't!), then that person will be worth their weight in gold.

    Put simply, a band working hard to build a global audience will not have the time to do it all themselves - that's why the manager won't disappear.

    Songwriting Masterclass - Barlow and Ronson

    The BBC Introducing site is awesome for all aspiring musicians - get amongst it and get a lot of great ideas.

    They recently ran a series of masterclasses with very successful musicians in discussion.

    I've picked this one with Gary Barlow and Mark Ronson on songwriting - but I've also watched the Kaiser Chiefs one which is great too.

     

    Taking control and doing it DIY

    Not that sort of DIY - being a DIY musician!

    We've looked at some examples of this on the main site such as this post on Hollerado - an archetype diy musician.

    This post on the excellent UnsignedGuide blog talks to a bunch of people invoved in grass roots promotion and has loads of tips for bands taking the diy route - and who isn't these days?

    Once a maverick approach that worked for a handful of artistes, going it alone (or DIY) is fast becoming the only viable route to making any kind of significant progress.  It’s not about keeping all the money (what money?), but creating the action that might generate opportunities. Rob Sandall reports

    Any emerging act will tell you that the only chance of making even a modest sum of money – at least initially – is by finding, promoting and playing as many shows as possible.

    With record sales yielding little and some of the labels directionless and floundering, the DIY route of self-promotion has become less of an option and more of a necessity.

    Read the whole post here.

    I especaily like the tip about 'gig hijacks'!

    Facebook Fan Page revamp - what does it mean for musicians?

    There is only really one story today - that Facebook have rolled out the expected changes to their Fan pages.

    Image by Robert Scoble

    How does this affect what you do to promote your band on Facebook?

    The good news is that, on balance, it's an improvement. A few things I liked have gone - the tricks with profile photos for instance.

    But there are two great improvements - switching between admin and yourself which allows more personal interaction - i.e. you can now interact on your page as the band or as any individual from the band (excellent!) and secondly, being able to act all over Facebook as your page.

    These are both really good developments for artists in the ways that they can up their interaction.

    And, the great concern was that tabs would change, but these have stayed as is, so all the work you put into making them work (such as with BandPage) will remain. Plus the introduction of iframes will allow some new trick apps to be developed and gives more freedom of design - don't ask me how but the techy people are excited about this!

    I'm just going to link to four good reviews of the changes at the foot of this post so that you can go and get the gossip.

    Amanda and I were waiting for this, since the changes to personal profiles, before we started finalising her eBook on Facebook for Musicians and various posts on the site about best practice for Facebook for bands.

    Now that we know how Pages will look for the time being, we'll get stuck in to giving some specific advice on the main site.

    Here's the four best posts about this that I found:

    All Facebook

    Ignite Social Media

    Mashable

    Inside Facebook

     

     

     

    Thursday 10 February 2011

    Don't waste your time and money on Facebook Ads

    Unless, that is, you are prepared to do it properly - which means A/B testing.

    We've looked at Facebook Ads for musicians before, such as here

    There's lots of stuff about this just a Google away.

    But, before you start, read this post on Hypebot.

    I've run lots of Ads on Facebook and on Google Adwords and I've learnt to my cost that it is ALL about testing one add against another - called the 'control'. It's in doing this that you can refine the ad for maximum effectiveness and minimum cost.

    Musicians are a suspicious lot. We tend to hold fast to our gut instincts. We heed the counsel of close friends and die-hard fans. We can be defensive and protective of our artistic “purity.” We’re afraid to do anything that smacks of out-and-out marketing.

    But sometimes you shouldn’t trust yourself.

    Sometimes you should ignore the advice of loved ones. Sometimes you just need to get scientific about things.

    Trust the numbers! They don’t lie.

    A/B testing allows artists to try out variable options in an advertising campaign so you know how to best direct your efforts.

    Read the piece here.

     

    10 things every musician should do everyday

    Image by yoppy

    One of those posts that's useful as much for the comments as the post itself!

    Do you or your band have a daily online routine? You better. At the speed this world moves you can’t afford to miss even one day of what is happening. Your competition is not sitting still, so you better be out there. But as a band you have to find a balance that is not going to hinder your ability to be a band. You need to write, rehearse, record, perform… if you don’t do any of those things, being online won’t mean much.

    So I thought I would take a look at my daily online routine and maybe you can apply to it your routine.

    Read it here - and check out all the comments. They don't all agree and also add some more essentials!

    Get your Ustream on!

    The problem with doing this music tip aggregating thing is that I find something and I don't just post it - I root around and see what it's all about.

    Great stuff, since I can then apply it in my music marketing efforts for my clients, which is what it's all about.

    But, it eats up time.

    I've not used Ustream before for any of my clients, although I am obviously aware of it and have seen colleagues do some good stuff.

    Then, this article from Musician Coaching got so many ideas and questions going that I have spent half the morning digging around the Ustream site, the web and even calling people up who've used it!

    They all love the experience and the feedback that they get from fans.

    It's not easy to just jump in and you want to spend time setting up a channel and working out how you want to use it, but the veiwers are there and the fan engagement is very strong.

    It seems that everybody really likes the Ustream app on Facebook and reaching out to their fans before a broadcast on Facebook appears to be de rigeur.

    As part of a broader new media strategy that these artists are employing, and a much more accessible profile to their fan base, I definitely think we fit into an important part of that. I do think when you talk about Twitter and Facebook, we all know the biggest artists out there that are updating those feeds, and they can be easily ghostwritten. But there’s no way to get in front of a video camera and replicate talking live to your fans. I definitely think there are some artists – and Nikki Minaj and also Trey Songz would be examples of that – who have used us as part of broader and more engaged policy with their fans, and then in conjunction with traditional media have broken through to the mainstream.

    Read the whole piece here.

    And wander about Ustream here.

     

    Great song + YouTube = Hit

     

    So, here's me sticking my neck out.....a bit.

    This song was tipped by Record of the Day today - so maybe I'm just jumping on the bandwagon!

    I'm not going to say a great deal other than this guy is obviously really talented and this song is truly great. It fulfills the things that we mentioned in this piece the other day about James Blunt - honesty and clarity in songwriting.

    I'm well aware that this sort of song, style and genre really annoys a lot of 'artists' - as being too cliched, soft, lacking in edge (and a whole host of things). That's up to you, but don't delude yourself that you can't learn from it.

    I'd go as far as to say that this song feels nearly as big as Blunt's 'Your'e Beautiful' did when it first came out. That's the bit where I stick my neck out. Maybe it is, maybe not. It's still great.

    The YouTube element is clear too. It's a simple well shot one take performance and he's obviously built a small following up from previous songs on YouTube. But, this is where people are coming to discover him and send their friends - sure, radio is now spreading it.

    But where do you send your mates to hear it? YouTube.

     

    Don't be afraid to lose a band member - more Beatles

     

    After the 50th anniversay of the Beatles playing the Cavern Club yesterday I watched a documentary about it on TV last night.

    A part of the show was about the sacking of Pete Best - which many felt was handled in a shabby way.

    And there's great debate about why he was sacked. Looking into it today, I think that this Wikipedia piece has the best version of events.

    Also reading that reminded me that when I was still a music lawyer I had a meeting one day at Apple with Neil Aspinall - the Beatles Apple boss - but who only worked for them at all as he had been Pete Best's mate. That's a story for another day but I do remember being squashed in this tiny three person lift with him, able to palpably feel the resonance of music history!

    Name drop over.

    So, why should you care why Pete Best was dropped from the Beatles - did he not get on with others? Was it that he was too quiet, didn't mix, wouldn't do drugs? Was it that he got too much attention from the female fans? Was it that he wasn't a good enough drummer? - read the Wiki piece for thoughts on all those.

    What matters though is that for some reason, the other Beatles felt that he had to go in order for their band to get the chance they deserved at success.

    And that's what matters to you.

    Can you make tough decisions about your act if you know deep down that they're holding you back.

    I wrote about this as a piece about artist development on the main blog.

    Check it out here.

    Wednesday 9 February 2011

    Use Foursquare to promote your music....how?

    There seems to be a deathly silence amongst artists in finding ways to use Foursquare to promote their music.

    This post on Hypebot has 5 ways to use it as an artist.

    I'm almost as intrigued though by the comments at the bottom - that Facebook and Twitter do the same thing better, and by the discovery of a site called Aka Music. I'd never heard of it and it seems to be doing well as a place that fans can fund artist's projects and the comment by the band, Dallas, about how they used it and Foursquare may inspire you.

    Foursquare describes its goal as "getting users out of the house," and one way in which they do this is by offering local businesses a Merchant Platform to attract and retain customers.

    Through this platform, a user checks in at a specific venue and is presented with a special offer – usually a mobile coupon, small prize or discount – to entice them to keep coming back. In addition, brands (either with physical locations or without) can create their own profiles to further interact with customers. 

    Just this past year, brands such as MTV, Vh1, Bravo, Huffington Post, and Zagat, among many others, have all signed on to integrate Foursquare into their social networking activity.

    But I can't help but wonder: where are the bands, artists, and labels? 

    I see Foursquare as a great potential here – especially for those looking to build a loyal fanbase.

    Read the piece on Hypebot - and don't ignore the comments!

    How to be a rock star

    Image by xJasonRogersx

    I came across this article today by Chris Rockett which lists six skills that he says you'll need to make it as a musician - and it's a good list.

    In particular, I'll listen to anyone who starts their list of requirements with talent. As you'll know if you come by these parts regularly, I think it's the one thing everybody forgets!

    My definition of success is to build a profitable and reliable income and fan base around your music, that can sustain you without a 9 to 5 job.

    If that sounds like something you would like to achieve you need to acquire the skills below as soon as possible.

    Musical talent alone is not enough these days; to run your own career you need to build a set of skills that will see you through the tough times. Some of these will take work and are very hard to achieve which is why a lot of people just give up and go back to a job that they hate, because at least they can feel like they are winning at something.

    It's well worth a read.

    And, it reminded me of a post on our blog that I hadn't looked at in a long time that takes a slightly sterner view of what is required. You can find it here under the very catchy title - All you need to know about the music business.

    It makes it clear what you need if you're going to win!

    Get people on your band mailing list and don't make them leave!

    Two interesting articles that look at best practice for your fan list.

    Firstly, there's this piece from FanBridge about how you should follow up with your new fan subscribers - essentially, how pushy should you be?

    This is probably one of the most common questions artists have when starting to communicate with their fans. We all know the first contact is very critical and we want to make sure we not only give them a reason to read the first campaign, but to keep on doing so over time.

    We asked this question to some of our industry experts to get their opinion on what should be the first thing artists communicate to their fans after joining their mailing list.

    Read their view here.

    And then there's this great piece from Mashable - which is where the picture above is from - that looks at why people unsubscribe from email lists or 'unlike' you on Facebook. Although it's about all consumer activity, you can apply it to your music fanbase pretty much wholesale.

    More than 90% of consumers unsubscribe, “unlike” or stop following brands because of too frequent, irrelevant or boring communications, according to a report by social media and e-mail marketing services company ExactTarget.

    Released Tuesday, “The Social Break-Up” is a study that surveyed more than 1,500 consumers, exploring changing online behaviors and top motivations for “unliking,” unfollowing and unsubscribing from brand communications via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.

    Here are a few key findings from the study:

    Read the reasons here.

    The key is balance and keeping your fans engaged without winding them up!

    Online music marketing expert - interview and book

    Bob Baker has started a new audio interview series talking to artists who are making it as a DIY musician.

    First up is David Nevue who has been making a living in that way for over 10 years - and has written a great book on online music marketing.

    I'll link to it below again, but I'd urge you to seriously consider buying it. It was the first thing I bought on how to market and promote music online - must have been over 4 years ago. I have had the updated versions free twice since and it just keeps getting better.

    $25 for a vast amount of very good and bang up to date information - I guaranteee that if you did buy it and use any of the information in even a half-arsed way, you'd pay for it many, many times over.

    Anyway - here's the link to the interview on Bob's site. It's great and I'd suggest downloading it and listening to it in the car or something. It's got some great nuggets of advice.

    Here's the link for the book again.

     

    Don't over play your local scene - or is that bullshit?

     

    Today is the 50th anniversary of the Beatles first gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

    It's got me thinking.

    They played that venue 292 times in just over two years. (That's actually a little misleading as I'm pretty sure that multiple sets on the same day are counted more than once.) You can see their full live dates here. And you can see how they correlate to their releases here.

    But, whichever way you cut it, they played at the same venue....a lot. 9 times a month by my reckoning. And, that wasn't even the only place they played in Liverpool. In fact, they played more at the other venues combined than they did at the Cavern. So they were playing their scene as often as 20 times a month.

    Nobody would expect a band to survive if they tried that today.

    OK, so it was a different era and kids had less to do so were more drawn to the good things that they could go out and do and all sorts of different social and cultural forces were in play.

    BUT, the Beatles were drawing a crowd and creating a buzz that would drive their breakout from that niche.

    And they did it (in part) by and whilst massively over-playing their local scene.

    The elephant in the room here is that they were revolutionary, brilliant and creating a level of excitement that you can't hope to match.

    BUT, if you're truly good and putting on a great show, all the arguments that I've ever heard about over-playing your area are bollocks. People won't come and see the same show; they can't afford to keep coming out etc.

    Well, that's because you aren't doing it right and you're not good enough.

    I accept that there are some truths in the arguments against playing week in and week out in the modern day with all the other attractions vying for the attention of your fans and potential fans.

    My point is that great bands with a great live show can draw a new crowd, a repeating crowd, a crowd that can't get in because it's sold out - all in the same town at that crucial time in their breaking career. If they're really good enough to make it.

    If your shows are empty and your fans aren't coming out, maybe you've over-played your current set.....or maybe you just aren't good enough yet.

    You know when it's going off, when people are queuing up and begging for the next show. Make that your aim, not some notion that is in itself an admission that you aren't enough of a draw.

    Tuesday 8 February 2011

    5 simple ways to market your music online

    Image by aless&ro

    Some great stuff in this post from Wayward Musician.

    I'm obviously very gung-ho about music marketing, but sometimes it's necessary to keep it simple and realise that not one size fits all.

    This post removes a lot of hype and over thinking and just has 5 great elements that you should have down.

    There are endless ways to market your music online and it can all sometimes become a bit overwhelming.

    Advice is being thrown at you from all directions and all kinds of “experts”.

    But, it’s important to realize that many musicians who’ve had success marketing themselves online have done so in completely opposite ways.

    Whatever methods you choose, make sure it is something that works for you and your fan-base.

    Here are just a few ideas to get you started.

    Read the simple tips here.

    Focus on your local scene first

    Image by superfem

    I wrote about the need to focus on your local scene for online and offline networking in the 5th part of our Twitter series on the main site - Twitter for musicians. It's point 23 and I think it's REALLY important.

    Although that piece talks about using Twitter and interacting on that service with players in your local scene, I also talked a little about transferring that to the real world. The venue owner, the sound guy, the local guitar shop, record store, local paper journo - these are all people you need to get to know in your local scene.

    But, there's also a whole load of very niche focused small local blogs that cover 'what's on' or music in your town, state, area - whatever.

    This article / interview on Hypebot about the importance of hyperlocal music blogging made me think about this relatively recent addition to the ranks of players that you need to be talking to.

    Hyperlocal music blogs are important because they encourage fans to become active participants in their cultural lives; document the happenings in local ecologies of music culture; foster communities that support creativity; and raise awareness for regional artists among like-minded fans with similar tastes in music. In what ways do hyperlocal blogs encourage fans to become active participants in their cultural lives? How does blogging benefit regional artists and help to create a healthy and sustainable ecosystem of local music culture?

    You can read that piece here.

    A simple Google Blog search for 'your area / town + music (or live music)' should throw up a bunch of people that you ought to reach out to.

    And for a superb 'how to' on reaching out to bloggers to promote your music - get this free pdf from Chris Bracco at the Tight Mix Blog.

     

     

     

    Inside the Hits - tips from major publisher

    We are VERY big on trying to make aspiring artists understand that you can market and promote all you like, but you need to have some good songs before you start!

    So, I'm subscribing to this series from Universal Music Publishing called 'Inside the Hit Songs' that promises to go inside the process of how some major hits were written.

    Get songwriting tips wherever you can!

     

    What will it be like in ten years time?

    I got asked to point you all to this survey about where we'll be in the music industry in 10 years time. I've already completed it.

    Music Supported Here has launched Ten in Ten. The concept is simple. Ten questions that will be answered by experts from the music industry – musicians, fans, managers, labels etc – to give an overall picture of what we think is going to happen.

    “Will illegal downloading become less of a problem? Will recording contracts be fairer? Will there be less new talent emerging? None of us can really be sure of what 2021 holds for the music industry, but we think that the opinions of thousands of people who live and breathe the music industry will produce some pretty accurate predictions’.

    Take the survey here. 

    We'll do our best to follow up on the discussions that the poll causes at the review event.

     

     

    Monday 7 February 2011

    5 keys to fitness for musicians

     

    I'm not sure that pursuit of fitness was what OK Go had in mind when they made that video, but I like this article that several people mentioned the other day and I hadn't had a chance to read.

    I've worked with some artists who have obsessed about keeping fit and healthy and some who'd well and truly flipped the physical self-destruct switch, and I know which I prefer.

    Of course, if you keep body and mind in tip top shape you're more likely to be able to focus and acheive your aims.

    Every musician knows that practicing your instrument is a crucial part of any professional career. But most musicians have no clue about what it takes to prepare their bodies for a tour or a performance on stage.

    You can have all the ability in the world with your instrument but if you’ve got no stamina physically to perform each and every night, no one will ever know how talented you are.

    It takes a great deal of energy and strength to perform on stage night in and night out. You’ve got to prepare your body just as much as you prepare your instrument. Consider it an essential piece of equipment that if neglected, will render your performances worthless if not taken care of.

    Here are the 5 Keys to a successful fitness regiment for any performing musician. Each key can be dealt with in great length but here are a few major points on each.

    Read the list here.