Thursday 28 April 2011

Networking and collaboration

Vanilla_ice_stop_collaborate_and_listen-t
Great post by @musiccoaching that talks about the need for all artists to be involved in networking with industry executives and collaborating with other artists, writers and producers - all covered in an interview with a major label A&R exec.

It stands to reason that the more you do these things, the more chances you'll get.

I wrote the other day about a friend who is a manager in the UK who has a very hot act that everyone wants to sign - they have played a handful of gigs and have released nothing....so haven't followed our DIY plan at all!

BUT, they hang out in all the right bars, venues, record stores, music shops etc in all the right parts of town and over the last year or so the frontman (who is charismatic) has managed to get to know huge numbers of record company staff, publishers, journalists, PR people etc. He created a buzz for his band before they did anything!

As for collaborating, I'll write on the main site about some ways to find people to write and record with, but there are online resources such as Indaba, and just searching for things like 'songwriting workshop' will lead you to opportunities.

The entire business is about relationships. So, co-write, meet people who work with other people. I think collaborating is great, because then you have two teams of people who work with you. Even if you were both unsigned and doing your own thing – so, if you have Writer A doing one thing and Writer B doing his/her own thing and both networking – you never know when something is going to hit or get to the next level. It’s not necessarily all about collaborating. It’s about networking: getting out there; meeting other people; getting your music heard. The more people that hear about you, the better. And I think that comes from networking and collaborating with others.

Read the piece here, and see how important making these connections can be to your success.

Secret diary of a band

Locked_diary
This piece in the Guardian promises to be the first in a series where an anonymous band tell all the ugly truth about what went wrong in their quest for success - it may well be worth keeping an eye on.

More interesting than that is the thread of comments that it has attracted - and what they tell us about the aims of musicians.

The general themes can be split into two:

1. That 'making it' isn't the point. Make music, create art for the process and let it take you where you will; and

2. If 'making it' is the point, then the DIY model is starting to show true success and some artists are now truly cheiving success without the old model.

Read the comments here!

Why great recordings matter

Professional-recording
Over on our main site we have a great guest post about why it matters that you have a great quality recording.

Check it out here.

Thursday 21 April 2011

Why a bit of jail time might be good for an artist!

Musician
Not really!

I'm not suggesting that you should go and break the law in order to improve your chances of success.

Particularly in Hip-Hop and Country, a bit of jail time can be seen as a badge of honour and add some depth to an artist's character.

But, really, this is just an excuse to send you to look at this post about 15 musicians who've done time!

Getting covered by music blogs

Brooklyn-vegan-77835019
We looked at a great article the other day that gives a detailed overview of how to get bloggers to write about your music.

Read that here.

And then, add to that, by reading this interview with Fred Pessaro, one of the editors of Brooklyn Vegan - one of the biggest music blogs that you might hope would cover your music.

It has background on how  he came to have that role as well as insight as to how they choose what to cover. But, as a man right at the beating heart of a vibrant music scene, he also has some tips on how to get noticed generally.

I think that’s important. But one of the things I also think is important is just getting out there and playing. People who just get out there and play as much as they can do well. For instance, I book a lot of metal shows in the city, and I notice who plays a lot. Any band that plays a lot, whether it’s the first band, the second band or are in some other position on the bill probably has a strong work ethic. Any band that will play anywhere, at any time is probably a band that really wants to work. And it’s probably a band that, even if it’s not good now, will have the work ethic to be good later on.

Read that here.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Record deals - the basics

Contract-with-devil
You might well want to learn some of the basics of what's in a record deal before you ever find yourself presented with one.

The major record companies, like it or not, do still have the monopoly on big league marketing and promotion - you can succeed without it, but I know from experience that many artists grab that deal with the devil when it passes by....and some even do well by it!

This post has some great advice and good basic information on what to expect.

Recording contracts are extremely complex and it’s almost impossible to explain all possible provisions a contract might contain in simple terms. If an artist finds his or her self presented with a recording contract the absolutely most important thing to do is to find an attorney with experience in the music business (not a cousin’s friend who closes real estate contracts for a living) to review the agreement and negotiate on their behalf with the record company’s legal department or outside attorney. Recording contracts are written by the record labels and their attorneys and can be structured as less than advantageous for the artist.

Read it here.

 

5 mistakes songwriters make with demos

Recording_demo

Image by MiiiSH

Thanks to @TQuillfeldt for this tip - worth following, as he always uncovers good stuff.

This one covers 5 points that I fully agree with and have seen many times!

When you're writing songs and making demos, bear these in mind as you can waste a lot of time and money recording stuff that either isn't good enough or that you just aren't ready to record or perhaps use.

Keep your powder dry so that you don't waste your efforts!

The professional demo-recording process is a necessary part of the equation for songwriters aspiring to get their material heard by music industry decision-makers and, hopefully, cut by successful recording artists. Despite the fact that hundreds of demos are recorded every week in places like Nashville, New York and Los Angeles, new songwriters often find themselves overwhelmed and a bit intimidated by the prospect of getting their songs demoed and ready for primetime. By highlighting some of the mistakes I’ve encountered in my years of recording songwriter demos, I can hopefully help new songwriters avoid some of the pitfalls that result in either overly expensive or ineffective recordings.

Read the post here.

 

Tuesday 19 April 2011

5 ways to make a cover song great

We wrote about taking obscure but great songs and making them your own in this post.

It's a brilliant way to get a hit song and not be tarnished as 'that band with the cover', since a vast majority of people will never realise that it wasn't your own song.

There are, however, various ways to use covers that everyone knows and still make them work for you.

One of my favourites is the total reinterpretation as in the revered version of NIN's 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash that is now the version that everyone refers to. But, that's just one of 5 methods in this great article.

Check it out here.

And here's that Johnny Cash track.

 

Social Media Marketing Report 2011

Social_media_2011
You might find this a bit dry!

It's written for 'marketers' rather than musicians, but I'd suggest you check it out.

It's a report on the state of Social Media in 2011 and how brands and marketers are using it.

I found the facts about what tools people are using to help them deal with social media management as well as the things that they feel they can outsource interesting.

You might find something that helps you with your music marketing!

Read the post and report here.

The silver bullet for music success?

Silver-bullet
I agree with this great post on Music Think Tank.

I recommend that you read it all, but the main point is that the author realised loads of people talking about how they made their breakthrough were inadvertently saying the same thing - that, at just the right moment, they were working with or collaborating with an unknown artist who was looking like they'd make it in the near future.

It's a really simple point, but one that I agree with.

In my own experience, the songwriters and producers that I manage (and those that I worked with in the past) experienced MASSIVE success when they worked with an unknown act that was just starting to look like they might get a hit. They didn't spend all their time looking for an opportunity (or leg-up!) from an established act (although, to be fair, this does happen a lot too) but rather they worked longer and harder on the developing artist. When that turned out well (i.e. a massive global hit), then the previously unknown songwriters were suddenly the 'go to guys'.

And it's not just the case for songwriters and producers - for a band, it also means working with the eager and 24/7 agent or promoter or young manager who won't give up!

The truth is this: Just about everyone on these panels became successful because of their collaboration with virtual unknowns at the time when they started out. Time and time again, they told us that the people they work with now are people they started working with years and years ago when those people too were nobodies. Stargate (the production duo behind an onslaught of hits last year) shared about how they started working with Neyo when no one knew who Neyo was and no one knew who they were. And how that helped them excel in the U.S. with their career.

Read the whole piece - it's a good point.

Monday 18 April 2011

How to succeed as an artist - the secret!

The_secret
I saw this post courtesy of @thornybleeder's very good daily music stories round-up email - worth signing up for.

And it's great - insightful and inspiring words that should encourage all artists to keep going, perfecting their art and never giving up.

There's loads of great stuff in the post - here's just one litle bit:

If there was a secret formula for getting an audience, or gaining a following, I would give it to you. But there’s only one not-so-secret formula that I know: “Do good work and put it where people can see it.”

It’s a two step process.

Step one, “do good work,” is incredibly hard. There are no shortcuts. Make stuff every day. Fail. Get better.

Step two, “put it where people can see it,” was really hard up until about 10 years ago. Now, it’s very simple: “put your stuff on the internet.”

Read the whole thing here.

 

 

Artists still want a record deal

Reverbnationlabel
I saw this survey the other day that set out that 75% of aspiring artists still want to sign a record deal.

And I was confused!

Despite the fact that I know many artists don't yet understand the sea change that the music industry is going through, I thought that the majority knew things weren't all rosy in the record labels.

So, when I received an email from Taxi that set out why many artists felt this way, I thought I should share their reasoning as it's a dose of realism for those of us who belive that DIY is the answer!

This is some of the Taxi email:

Recently, a very credible survey of 1,800 musicians showed that surprisingly, 75 % of the bands and artists who responded would like to be signed to a Major Record Label. In an era when "Major Label" is practically a dirty word, there's a simple reason that 3 out of 4 musicians would like to be signed to Sony, Universal, Warner Bros., etc.

You already know the answer, don't you?

The Internet's "playing field"--although level--has not proved to be the magic bullet most musicians thought it would be.

Yes, the opportunities are abundant and equally available to every musician on the planet. But capitalizing on those opportunities takes laser-like focus, a rock solid business plan, twelve-to-eighteen hour workdays, substantial amounts of cash, professional marketing skills, and the relentless dedication it takes to launch any successful entrepreneurial business venture.

A successful career in the music business is a business, after all. Oh, I know, it should be enough that you've worked hard to become a great songwriter or artist. You've done your part, haven't you?

And if you hit a label's radar and got signed, they put up the money, the marketing machine, the tour support and everything else necessary to break you as an artist. And that's why 75% of you reading this would still like to be signed to a major label--mustering the money, marketing skills, and the business chops is really, really hard to do on your own, especially if you're holding down a job and paying your bills.

You can read Billboard's view here.

What I'm always banging on about still remains true though - whether you want to build a career as a DIY musician or want to get signed, you still need to build the fanbase and create the buzz that takes you to the next level - whether that is the elusive deal or the forward thinking self-sufficiency!

Friday 15 April 2011

Killer YouTube Idea

Youtube_killer_idea
I think there might only be one post today, but I'll do more if I get the time.

This therefore needs to be a good one - and it is!

Go to YouTube and watch this - awesome YouTube video.

Now, think about how this could be used by an artist!

The first person to do something like this is going to get massive publicity.

I know that it might be out of reach for most indie or diy musicians, and you seem to have to be a YouTube partner to run something like that on an iFrame on YouTube, BUT, don't let that stop you thinking about trying to come up with amazing ideas for your music promotion.

We looked at another YouTube Viral method here, which is doable by anyone with a camera phone, some time and access to Google to work out how to do it!

Thursday 14 April 2011

How to make the most of your album release

Making the most of your album release is something that almost every indie or diy musician falls short on.

You slave away and make a great record and then put huge effort into the release, but within a few weeks, it's all over.

These two posts look at this issue in different ways.

This great post from We All Make Music sets out five things that you really ought to be doing to maximise the impact of your release.

Just because you have 500 copies of your new record sitting in your apartment doesn’t mean you should start selling them at shows or online right away. If you just spent three, six, maybe even ten months creating a new album, the least you can do is spend at least three months (if not more!) promoting it.  Here are a few steps that every young independent band should take to ensure the release of their record is as successful as possible:

Read all 5 tips here. 

And then there's this post from Greg Rollett. Greg looks at music promotion and marketing in a way that nobody else does. He is an internet marketer, and experts in that field really are at the cutting edge of how to use the internet to market stuff - anything - but Greg applies it to music.

In his post and video he focuses entirely on how to extend the shelf life of your album once it's released so that it's not all over in a matter of weeks.

Read the post here

 

40 Facebook Fan Page Designs and Practices

Facebook-fan-page-practices
This isn't a music focused post but there is a HUGE amount that you can learn from it.

We are doing some more posts on Facebook music promotion in the next few days, which you'll be able to find on our page, Facebook for Musicians, and this post has helped already.

Not only does it list 40 Facebook Fan Pages that can give you great ideas, but it also lists 10 very cheap (around $20 on average) apps that will allow you to create a custom iFrame tab on your Fan page, and it links to 5 other great articles.

Bookmark it, refer to it, and read it!

Freemium works - you can't blame P2P!

Free-music-299x224
Dr Sean asked if he could repost my comment on a DIY Musician thread in this post.

I'm happy for more people to read it. But don't take it the wriong way!

If your efforts to build a fanbase by giving music away for free are failing, the lesson isn't that you won't ever 'make it' and that you should give up. The lesson is that you need to have a very harsh and reslistic review of your material, your band line-up, your commitment to improving and then make the changes that you know, deep down, are necessary before your music will be good enough.

Don't give up, but do learn to make your art as good as it can possibly be.

Read Dr Sean's post here.

Just try to write a hit

Short and sweet.

In this interview Gwen Stefani reveals that she tries to write hits:

Stefani, undoubtedly, aims to write songs that could potentially become hits. “Why wouldn’t you want that many people listening to the songs that you wrote?” Stefani says in the interview. “So the intentions of even the solo records were always about trying to write those guilty-pleasure albums that just get in your head and you can’t get out. I’m not cool, I’m not into the B-sides.”

She also recalls some very valuable advice she received from the iconic guitarist and pop singer-songwriter, Prince. Stefani explains, “Prince, who is one of my idols, gave me some advice when I worked with him: ‘Have you ever just tried writing a hit? Like, don’t just try writing a song, try and write a hit song.’ I remember him saying that and me thinking, Yeah, you’re right. Why would you write anything else?”

That is seriously good advice.

Clearly she followed Prince's wise words! See her proving it here.

 

The right way to get music bloggers to write about you

2006_10_arts_blogband
This is a great post that EVERY artist should read.

It's a detailed look at why music bloggers are now very important to your success, how to approach them and what not to do.

I have added my own rather good (if I say so myself!) comment in the thread below the post that sets out how we approach bloggers when promoting an artist release. It's a handy, short 'how to'.

But, I thoroughly recommend you read the whole thing.

If you want someone to blog about your band but can’t be bothered past the point of spamming a collection of mailing lists, you’re wasting everyone’s time including your own. Whatever you do though, don’t give up. That next email you send or blog you read might lead to you finding your biggest supporter. It’s always worth a shot, but unless you’re sensible with your expectations and are willing to be at least a little bit honest with yourself along the way, you’re not likely to make it past a single blogger’s delete button.

Read the whole thing (and my comment!) here.

And Chris Bracco's free eBook on getting written about by blogs is essential reading too.

 

The right way to get music bloggers to write about you

2006_10_arts_blogband
This is a great post that EVERY artist should read.

It's a detailed look at why music bloggers are now very important to your success, how to approach them and what not to do.

I have added my own rather good (if I say so myself!) comment in the thread below the post that sets out how we approach bloggers when promoting an artist release. It's a handy, short 'how to'.

But, I thoroughly recommend you read the whole thing.

If you want someone to blog about your band but can’t be bothered past the point of spamming a collection of mailing lists, you’re wasting everyone’s time including your own. Whatever you do though, don’t give up. That next email you send or blog you read might lead to you finding your biggest supporter. It’s always worth a shot, but unless you’re sensible with your expectations and are willing to be at least a little bit honest with yourself along the way, you’re not likely to make it past a single blogger’s delete button.

Read the whole thing (and my comment!) here.

And Chris Bracco's free eBook on getting written about by blogs is essential reading too.

 

Wednesday 13 April 2011

Tunecore upgrades give you more options and information

Tunecore announced a major upgrade to their service this week.

If you don't know what it is, Tunecore is one of the digital distributors that will get your music (yes, anyone's) on all the major digital retail outlets - iTunes, Amazon etc.

It charges a fee per release and takes no further commission or rights. It's a great option.

However, if you want to know everything that you'll ever need to know about which digital distribution service to use, check out Adrian @Buzzsonic's amazing post here.

For the Tunecore skinny, watch the video here.

 

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Custom Backgrounds for YouTube and Twitter

Sub-youtube-channel
I've been asked about this a LOT in the last few weeks.

And, I'm remiss, as I haven't done our YouTube channel background properly (it's just the logo) and our Twitter one is a simple repeated logo! It's on the very long list of things to do.

However, we do try and make sure that our clients have a custom background for Twitter and YouTube that fit with their site design. Some are prepared to invest the small-ish cost of getting a designer to do this and some aren't. YouTube is tricky to do well if you don't have Photoshop skills!

Nonetheless, it's what we recommend. A consistent look across your own website and your social media profiles is obviously a good idea - just look at what major label artists do to see the consistency of their look! In fact, look into what they do all the time in social media and steal their best ideas!

This oldish post on Mashable has some good pointers and is worth checking out - although the dimensions listed for Twitter are now wrong for the new layout - check our post here (point 2) instead for that.

If you Google 'YouTube Background', you'll get loads of detailed info and endless videos that show you how to do it if you have the skills.

Obviously, if one of you in the band is a designer or if the people that designed your site can do the backgrounds, you're sorted.

However, if you are after an all-in-one solution, check out these people - Custom Page. We've used them several times for various backgrounds and they will be doing ours for Make It In Music when we get five minutes!

The quality is good and they're reasonably priced and they deal with the photoshop stuff that gives me a headache!

That said, they have lots of free backgrounds that you can use as well, and a really good tutorial on how to make your own here.

 

Why learning to market your music won't work!

Social-networking-sites
Weird thing for me to say, I know, given that I spend a lot of time pointing out ways to market and promote your music.

BUT, I really liked this post on Hypebot that got a bit of flak in the comments - which you ought to read just as thoroughly as the post.

The post, in essence, talks about the tools and industry that exist around aspiring artists (of which we are one, I guess) in order to help them build a fanbase and sell more music.

And, it points out that learning all the tricks in the book won't make any difference to many artists - you cannot market somebody's wallet to open!

Well, actually you can, but all the marketing ideas in the world MUST come after you have become MARKETABLE!

That's what people forget.

The advent of digital distribution for all and the myriad ways that you can reach and engage fans has levelled the playing field for all artists, but most won't succeed as they haven't perfected their art. People will only buy great music and become fans of great artists.

Focus on that first and then learn how to spread the word.

Unfortunately, and I hate that it is true (but it's why we started writing the blog in the first place), most of the people who read our posts and those of the other 'music marketing' advice blogs will believe that they are ready and that their material is awesome. They will therefore plough into learning how to promote and market and use every tool under the sun, when the thing that they should be concentrating on is their music!

Go and read the post and comments here.

Get an extra 5% from your iTunes sales

Itunes_affiliate
You might not think that matters that much, but it all adds up.

iTunes now accounts for 80% of most of my client's income outside of their own direct-to-fan sales from their websites, so adding another 5% to that makes a noticeable improvement.

And it's relatively easy to do.

What this post teaches is that you should swap bare links to your music on iTunes for 'affiliate' links. Now, if you don't know what an 'affiliate' link is, the short answer is that it's a link that the vendor (in this case iTunes) tracks to see where people coming to their store are being sent from. And, if the visitor buys as a result of coming through your link, you get paid a commission.

This is a massive business online and if you've never heard about it, go and search it up and have your mind blown!

As a musician though, you should follow the advice in this post and use affiliate links to your own music on iTunes.

BTW, the same thing applies on Amazon and various other digital music retailers.

The major­ity of artists already have their music on iTunes, thanks to sim­ple ser­vices like CD Baby and Tunecore.  You get 70% of the money every time some­one buys your album.  But if you are send­ing you fans to iTunes, you need to sign up for an iTunes Affil­i­ate Account to earn an extra 5% every time one of your fans buys some­thing after click­ing on your link!

Read the whole post here.

 

Thursday 7 April 2011

How to focus your efforts on YouTube

Youtube_gen
Great article by Jon Ostrow at Mic Control.

Jon looks at why video on YouTube is so crucial to your promotional efforts and what types of video you can make to maximise the ways that fans can find, watch and listen to your music.

Think about it - if a blog takes your song and uploads it to hulkshare or even uses a track embedding plugin on their blog, people can listen to your music but the road ends there. However, if you give bloggers the opportunity to share your music through a Youtube video, you are giving ALL of their readers the opportunity to not just listen, but turn around and share the video with their friends as well. And of course, many blog readers are themselves bloggers, who find new music through a blog they follow, and then turn around and promote the same artist. With a Youtube video being the piece de resistance, you have significantly increased the likelihood of a feature from multiple bloggers.

Read the whole piece here.

Surviving as an artist

I can't embed this video from Artists House, so just go over there and watch it.

Insight on what it takes to survive the rigours of life as a working musician - and how to hold the band together.

Interview with a very seasoned manager.

Watch the video here.

Wednesday 6 April 2011

How your songs make you money

I know that I owe someone for pointing me to this, but, sorry, I can't remember who!

It's a great video that sets out 7 ways that your songs can make you money - and it makes the very good point that once they are out there earning money they will do so up to your demise and beyond - meaning that a somewhat successful musician has a retirement plan built into their songs!

Obviously, they need to be good to get that kind of income.

So, watch the video and learn the 7 ways that your songs can make you money.

And then, go and check out Sentric Music if you're in the UK and Song Trust if you're in the States. Both these companies offer a great service and will publish your songs no matter whether you're signed or not or how successful you are. One takes a commission on what they collect - at a very fair rate - and the other charges a small monthly fee.

Crucially, neither takes your rights from you. So, should you get a hit record or your career takes off some other way you can finish your deal with them and do a 'big money' deal with a major publisher - if you want to.

I really like the guys at Sentric - it's a great service and very fair. I don't know the Song Trust people but I hear similar good things.

Write songs, get them published, collect money - another basic part of the plan for all musicians.

Watch the video here.

 

Fan engagement - part 2 of Mr Robotic

Boy_in_the_band_cover
We looked at how to turn a TV synch into real fans in this post last week. It's full of great tips.

In fact, it's part 1 of a 2 part post by Ariel Hyatt, and you can find the 2nd part here.

In this part, Ariel's interview looks more at Mr Robotic's ongoing approach to fan engagement. There's some great ideas and best practice ideas in here.

I talk to everyone. In order to build relationships, you must be inviting. You can still be a mystery and be cordial. Answer fan’s questions and let them know that you welcome them into your world. That’s what it takes to turn casual social media friends into fans. When they feel like they are a part of your life and involved in your little victories they will want to help you. And of course, when they support your current music, this gives you more opportunities to create more music for them.

Read the 2nd part now.

The 3 most important platforms for musicians

Email
Are:

Email

Twitter

Facebook Shares

.....according to Topspin.

This is a short post that sets out the direct to fan specialist's view, backed up by their data, that those are the three most important platforms artists can use to drive direct sales. Note that it's about sales and they also give a large nod to YouTube for engagement.

It's also refreshing that their advice is to spend all your attention on developing your art and finding people who can do the marketing for you. Clearly, your material needs to be great for any marketing effort to be worth the bother.

But, read the piece and don't ignore their data and the reasons. Email creates sales.

If you're not running an artist website that offers free tracks in return for an email.....you are an idiot!

Read the piece here.

Monday 4 April 2011

Copyright - the basics

Copyright
Don't switch off and think that this is boring!

Understanding the basics of copyright is actually fundamental to all musicians. Only by knowing something about this will you know why your songs and recordings make you money.

I find that all but a handful of musicians know that there are 2 basic copyrights in every track that they make - the copyright of the composition (song) and that of the recording.

These are separate and each is capable of generating you money.

I am going to do a series on copyright and sampling on the main site in due course, but this article is a great primer.

I encourage you to read it, whatever stage of your musical career you are at.

So you’ve written a new song. It may have the potential to be a hit, but one thing is certain: it makes sense to properly protect your song if you hope to profit from its recording and public performance. How do music copyrights work? What is required to have ownership of your song’s copyright? Why should you register it with the Library of Congress? What are some of the common music licenses that generate income for songwriters?

Read the whole post here.

Grow your fan base - experience & insight

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This is an interview with an experienced and active manager who understands the modern music business - Randy Nichols of Force Media Management.

The interview is from the ever excellent Musician Coaching site. You might want to skip some of the early stuff about his own career (although it's interesting), but don't miss his thoughts on the industry, what it takes to make it as an artist today, using social media and more.

One of the biggest things I look at when I’m thinking about taking a client is whether or not the client is working really hard already. Not just working hard in the studio, but working hard on the street, getting to know people, talking to fans, using technology and doing everything a manager should be doing to build their own careers. The way I see it, a successful artist needs to be a good business person nowadays.  A manager can come in and help them run their business, but if they’re not already smartly running their business, chances are they’re not going to take my advice, they’re not going to follow everything I say, and they’re going to be in a bad situation quickly.

Read the whole post here.

Friday 1 April 2011

Why Google +1 will be good for musicians

You've heard about Google +1?

Google's answer to the Facebook 'like' button which appear in search results in the next few days as they roll it out and later on third party websites. Including yours if you have any sense!

You know how it works, as you're used to clicking the 'like' button already, but I think that this will be great for musicians as people will get social proof about a band right in the Google search results.

So what does this mean for artists, record labels, promoters and ticketing companies? First of all, Google's +1 gives artists and music companies added incentive to integrate social media into their online projects and properties. Think about it: If your competitor has added +1s and has facilitated the discovery of their artists amongst fans' social networks, you would be giving up an advantage if you ignored these social features. Think of music as a zero-sum game. Awareness and sales for one artist takes away from another artist's potential. And by allowing people to +1 an item, you're creating a popularity measure that can be seen by all viewers of Google search results.

Read the full lowdown in Billboard.

And get the mega detail here.

Failing that, and if you couldn't care less, watch the chatting babies discuss it here.

8 reasons why you need to have your own website

Band_website
Well, the first reason (so that makes 9) is because everyone who knows what they're talking about says so!

I just got off the phone with an artist asking me to manage them. Good online presence with 50,000 YouTube views and 1500 fans on Facebook. He wanted to know what he should do to sell his album that he's just completed.

I asked where his site was and how many fans he had signed up to his mailing list from there.

Nothing!

Well, then, I don't think you're going to be able to sell your album yet!

You need a band website as the place on the web that you control, the hub of your activity and where you can build your email list of fans who are going to be the bedrock of your support.

Facebook and Twitter (and others) are great for regular engagement and are vital but having your own place to focus activity on is ESSENTIAL.

Michael Brandvold explains this in more detail on the Mic Control site here.

It’s 2011 and you would think it is obvious why you need your own website. I can’t tell you how many conversations I have had where the other party says “I have a MySpace page, or I have a Facebook page or I have a Reverbnation page… I don’t need a website.” Or how many people have their own website, but spend all their efforts driving everyone to Facebook. All they seem to care about is how many Likes they can get. You should care about how many visits you get to your website. Some people don’t look at a website as a significant part of their business or brand. They may see it as a afterthought, something they guess they should do. If you were to open your own restrauant is the building and location that last thing you would think about? It is your future, everything you hope to achieve depends on it. Your website is your bit of real estate on the internet and it will be yours potentially forever. Make sure you treat your online presence with all the seriousness you can.

Read the whole piece.