Music Marketing - How to Target and Conquer your Niche

The music industry today looks to be full of artists that seem to come from nowhere. All of a sudden they have a viral hit, whether it's from a video, or a trending tweet. 

The DIY musician needs to realise that this kind of thing doesn't happen purely because they have have written an amazing tune. There are thousand of undiscovered brilliant tracks out there. More often than not, it has become succesful because of their canny use of Social Media. And probably even more so because they understand what their niche is.

So what is a Niche?

Cyber PR's Jon Ostrow puts it like this,

a niche is simply a specific or ‘specialized’ market. In other words, it is not ‘the whole world’ or ‘rock fans’. A niche is a very detailed, smaller sub-section of a bigger market, but most importantly those who are characterized within the niche are far more likely to be loyalists than fans of a more generalized market. Not to get too ‘marketing-jargen’ on you all, but typically speaking, the more specific a niche, the more dedicated those within it will be, and visa versa, the more broad a market becomes, the less dedicated the fans will be.

So clearly, all music genres fall into niches, the trick is, How do you conquer that niche to get your message/brand across? Well, you need to define and locate the fans of your niche, Jon suggests collating the following information to help you determine that.

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  • Demographic (age, gender location)

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  • Similar / influential artists (remember to start locally, then branch out to the regional, national and global scale)

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  • What are the influential promotional outlets?

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  • Where do the fans exist online?

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  • What blogs do they read?

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  • How do they find out about new music?

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  • Are they into fashion? If so, what brands?

Check out the Jons Full article for cool tips on how to understand and conquer your niche, you can read his full post here.

 

Link

http://arielpublicity.com/2012/07/18/conquering-your-niche/

Don't think like a marketing dude

This is an amazing piece from an artist who does it all differently.

Written in his own inimitably direct style deadmau5 explains a core concept that untold musicians/artists never grasp.

He compares how an artist positions themselves to the difference between having a rollercoaster or a theme park in your backyard.

If youre an artist, youre making music, releasing music, maybe even a hit here and there… you need a few things to cement yourself ‘in’ other than a first and last name and a handful of tracks. Of course youll have your twitter account, facebook, tumblr, etc etc… so you have all these little conduits at your disposal to reach out to your followers, whether its 10 friends, 100 fans, or a fucking epic 1 million plus cult following, it really doesnt matter, it all applies relatively.

It's bonkers, brilliant and true.

Read it here.

Where Do You Start Marketing Your Act and Your Music?

 Throughout the years I have known many many bands that seem to think that their music will do all the talking. That somehow their fantastic songs are all they need to win the hearts of the listener and convert that person into a lifelong fan. 

This in a sense is true conviction that any artist should have about their music, and that's no bad thing because inside that is also how we all feel we discover music, on a personal level, but the reality is we wouldn't hear anything if it wasn't for marketing, which is the first basic concept to understand in developing any career these days in the music industry 2.0.

The independent DIY artists really needs to embrace marketing, and Cyber Pr head honcho Ariel Hyatt has put together a cool set of posts explaining in 3 stages how to increase your fanbase and income. 

Ariel starts off saying that bands and artists seem to be more concerned with increasing the numbers and getting new fans, which is no bad thing thing, but also puts the emphasis on focusing on the fans that they already have.

  These fans don’t need to be found, because they are already your fans. Studies have proven that it is much harder to make a new client and get them to purchase something than it is to get a client that already knows you and trusts you to purchase from you over and over. 

It's all very well building numbers, but engagement is the key, and keeping your act in your fans mind. Building a solid marketing strategy is key to getting new fans and keeping old fans interested. 

You can read her full post here

Links

http://arielpublicity.com/2012/04/16/basic-marketing-principles-for-artists-part-1-3/

http://arielpublicity.com/2012/04/23/basic-marketing-principles-artists-part-2-increasing-frequency-purchases/

http://arielpublicity.com/2012/04/30/basic-marketing-principles-artists-part-3-increase-amount-money-charge/

 

Remix your favourite songs & sell them, legally

Legitmix Empowers Artists from Legitmix on Vimeo.

Legitmix is a new service, currently in Beta, that allows you to remix or re-edit other people's copyrighted music and sell the remix legally....or at least that's what they claim is the legal position.

I hope they're right, because it's a great idea that sees the orignal artist and the remixer get paid for making something new and might legitimise the world of bootlegs in dance music.

This is what they say:

Legitmix fosters a symbiotic relationship between artists and the copyright holders they sample— and music fans benefit. Artists, producers, and DJs create freely, avoid licensing headaches and profit from the sale of their Legitmix files and the associated source music. Musicians, labels, and publishers get paid when their music is purchased as part of the Legitmix process. Websites receive a commission when they refer sales. Fans get a convenient, legal way to support their favorite artists while building their music collection. Legitmix makes this possible by keeping a percentage from the sale of Legitmix files and source music.

And, I think they're probably right, under US law. The issue might be a bit more murky in other countries where creators have what is known as a 'moral right', but I am asking some UK lawyers to have a look and let me know what they think the position is.

Let's assume for now that Legitmix is right in the advice it has taken and this service survives - what does that mean for you?

Well, primarily for dance music producers, this is a massive opportunity. You will be able to create remixes and re-edits of existing tracks (old classics, current club hits, songs from other genres) and have them available for sale....and, crucially, to promote your name.

We'll let you know what the lawyers say, but hopefully this is an innovation that will shake things up and create new opportunity for budding producers and artists.

Check out their site here.

Assets - get lots of them!

This post is so, so true.

When you're planning a campaign for a release you can't have too many hooks and bits of content ('assets') to hang it on.

You need to plan these well in advance and know when you intend to use them to keep attention focused on your release.

Last week at SF Music Tech Summit, Ethan Kaplan said something very telling yet true: "The worst thing you can do to keep fans actively engaged... is to actually release the album."

Think about that -- just because the album comes out does not mean the campaign is over. Hell, at that point, the campaign just BEGAN! Unfortunately, too many acts waste their ammo in the weeks leading up to the Big Event, then have little salvo to offer in the weeks following, especially if the press, the airplay, film placement, or the tour do not come in as hoped.

Read it here.

 

You can do it

This is just a quote from @Lefsetz's mail newsletter that he sent out yesterday.

I quote it as he always posts it on his blog a few days after the newsletter goes out and I didn't want to wait!

He's talking about Mark Cuban, the US entrepeneur and how it made him realise how he, Bob Lefsetz, had managed to reach an audience. These short paragraphs really hit home, especially the final one:

Are you willing to put in the hard work to get there?

Hell, I'll be honest, I was stunned Mark Cuban knew who I was, never mind wanted a meeting with me. To shoot the shit no less, with no agenda, because he thought it would be fun... I'm just a guy sitting in front of a computer screen in my underwear, how did this happen?

Hard work and a paradigm shift. When I was printing my newsletter and sending it via snail mail, my audience was limited. But the Internet opened the world to me, and if I can just write something special enough, it's astounding who I can reach.

There are no limits online. Everybody's got an e-mail address. Yes, doors are closed, but you have the key in your pocket, you can open them. And it doesn't happen by knocking. It happens by creating.

It's true.

If you create something great and learn how to spread the word online, the modern world and all this connectivity is THE greatest opportunity musicians have ever had to be heard.

You can do it.

 

How to market music online

Bas Grasmayer is one of the people you run into online when you get involved in any aspect of online music marketing - and he knows his stuff.

He works for a digital distributor that has a focus on the DIY musician and has just finished his heavyweight thesis for his degree course - The Answer is the Ecosystem: Marketing Music Through Non-Linear Communication

I've read a lot of it already, but more importantly, I've bookmarked it and will go back to it again and again.

The part that I have focused on so far is the section where Bas talks about creating an ecosystem for your music to live in:

1. First, a band, group, artist, label, has to differentiate themselves. This means, their music has to be very good, but it also needs an element which defines it and which makes it different from all the other music in the niche or sub-genre.
2. Second, as an artist or label, you need to give fans a message that spreads. Niels Aalbers mentioned that people love telling stories. With the phenomenon of word of mouse, stories spread faster and more easily than ever. This does not mean that you have to tell stories in your songs, but that you have to be a story, as an artist or a label, be remarkable and be worth mentioning. A good example of this is the immensely popular pop artist Lady Gaga, whose songs are (arguably) about nothing, but the identity of Lady Gaga is a great 'story' (one only needs to look at the pictureon this page to understand that).
3. Third, when this story starts spreading, that's when you start building your ecosystem. This has to be done with patience according to Niels Aalbers, specifically noting that business models should be kept out of the door for as long as possible.
4. Fourth, once the ecosystem is in place, one should start listening very closely to this ecosystem to see what it wants. This is a paradigm-shift in marketing communications, because it has traditionally been about finding a consumer for your product, but this is about finding a product (business opportunity) for your consumers

You might think this would be a bit heavy to wade through, but it's not!

You see Bas, as a  futurist, hasn't published his thesis in a mass of text, but as a very, very cool HTML5 site. You can skip about and read bits as they take your fancy.

Without wishing to be too rude about Tony Wadsworth's report Remake, Remodel: The Evolution of the Record Label which is broadly in the same ballpark (OK, I admit its directed to the record industry rather than the DIY fraternity...but they both need to learn the same realities!), Bas's effort makes Music Tank's approach look laughable. Their report, which isheavier on supposition rather than data, costs at least £45 (Bas's is free under Creative Commons) and doesn't address the core issue of what to do about the changes in the way people consume music in the ay that Bas does.

PLEASE take the time to read and bookmark Bas's report. Its ace both due to it's content but also just because of the way he has made it availbale to all.

Here's the link.

Make Ringtones for your fans

There are a lot of ways that you can make a ringtone for your fans (Google it), but the advent of smartphones means that simply supplying your fans with the file in the right format (pretty much anything for Android but M4R for iPhone) and telling them how to upload the tone to their phone usually sees great results.

It's weird, but people (and I am one) just don't delve into what their phones can do unless given a nudge - we are all too busy - but if you help your fans to use your music as a ringtone, many will. Does it help promote your music and your band? - a little, and every little counts.

Of course, there are also very many ways that you can sell your music as ringtones - again Google 'sell music as ringtone' and see, or start with this article from Hypebot.

BUT, until you have a sizeable following, I wouldn't bother selling ringtones - the cost is usually high to set it up and the returns are low unless you become a mass market phenomenon.

Giving them away is the ideal answer.

Make up audio files in the correct formats and simply have a page on your site that offers them for free download (behind an email sign-up is obviously best practice). Also, spend some time explaining how fans can get the file from your site to their phone - maybe a YouTube video and a blog post can do that? The ringtones don't just have to be parts of songs - you could create music especially or record some kind of talking / shouting - whatever you think your fans would like.

This article from Evolver.fm set me off on this train of thought. Their piece talks about making ringtones form any file - even a YouTube video - and has a clear explanation of how the ringtone tool at Brinked.com can be used to make the files.

Most smartphones fall on the side of allowing you to choose any audio as your ringtone, but it’s not the simplest thing in the world to make them and transfer them to your phone — especially on the iPhone.

Brinked.com offers a nice web app for converting any MP3, WAV or OGG music file into a ringtone, but we were more interested to see that it’s also capable of grabbing the audio from YouTube videos and making ringtones out of those, for free.

Check it out here.

 

Marketing Methods for Musicians

This is something that you need to bookmark and read at your leisure.

It's 18 posts on the Dotted Music blog that, combined, give a great overview of how to market your music.

It would be impossible not to learn something from these posts.

Bookmark it and read them here.

Indie Label Market - and QR cupcakes

I had hoped to go to the Indie Label Market in London last week, but my son's Birthday party intervened!

So, I was glad to see this review on the Entertainment Retailer's blog which explains the event, but also has one cracking idea that I think bands could use at gigs anytime, anywhere.

But then something happens. People start turning up. In droves. The next minute Jarvis Cocker is DJing on the Rough Trade stall. Oh, look, there’s Steve Lamacq. And Bernard Butler. And lots and lots of people.

 

Mute have lifted Record Store Day’s “indie cupcake” idea, but they’ve gone one better. Each cake has a little flag in it with a “QR” code. Just snap it with the camera and you get a free download.

 

Being Mute, these are not just cupcakes, these are conceptual cupcakes, a statement on the value of music in the digital age: Cupcakes £1.50, Music free, reads the sign.

 

There’s a palpable enthusiasm in the air.

The sun is shining. It is like a school fete. But the coolest one you’ve ever been to.

Read about the event here.

And, you can see what the idea is - QR codes on cupcakes. You buy the cake and eat it but the QR code gives you a free download. You could tie this up with pretty much anything. I love the idea of selling cakes (or other suitable food at your gig) rather than the music itself, but leaving your fans safe in the knowledge that they can download the music as well.

You could link the QR code to a page on your site where the buyers have to give their email address to get the download, thereby adding everyone to a 'buyers list' - that being the most responsive list of fans that you have.

In the UK, this company can make you QR cupcakes - Google will find you someone to do the same wherever you live.

But, if not cakes, how about selling artwork with a QR code and linking it to a download. Look at this piece to see how much QR codes can be tarted up - they don't have to be Black and White.

And, in fact, Mute's cakes didn't have the code on the cake but in a little flag. How about making full-size flags with QR codes. I remember a few years ago as Kasabian were breaking in the UK, every festival you went to had hordes of Kasabian flags. People notice flags!

QR codes - I'm really getting into these. You should too.

The Who, The What, The Where and the Why

Four great posts from Loren Weismann in which he distills four key concepts that every band needs to get to grips with

The Who - work out who you are!

The What - what are you putting out there to tell people about you?

The Where - where are you playing and promoting?

The Why - give people a reason to come or buy!

Lots of great nuggets of advice in there - check them out.

Resume strageies you can use for marketing your music

Mashable have a recent piece on creative ways that people have come up with to create resume's when job hunting.

But, you can use these same tactics for various parts of your music promotion.

How about creating a video that you have on your press kit page of your website where you or you and your band answer some typical questions that a blogger might want to know the answers to.

Or how about creating a QR code that takes people to that press kit page or your music store page (or wherever seems like a good idea) and get it out to your fans - on a poster at gigs, on a badge, sprayed on to your merch table etc.

These people have come up with some very creative ideas for their resume's - look at them and apply them to your needs!

See the resumes here.

A Music Marketing education for free

I recommend a lot of things that Jon Ostrow does at Mic Control - because he works incredibly hard to post really useable advice for aspiring musicians.

His latest post groups together 25 articles breaking down the basics of music marketing.

He says:

'As an emerging musician, marketing your music and yourself can be an overwhelming though. Even an uncomfortable one at times. Some musicians are naturally business-savvy and are lucky enough to truly understand how branding and marketing can help create a sustainable career in music. Unfortunately these 'lucky ones' are few and far between, with most musicians having a far more difficult time the fact that their ability to establish a fan base and create a sustainable career is dependent on the their business and marketing skills on top of their musicianship and performance.

So, I've put together my first course all focused on helping you to better grasp the idea of marketing and how it can help you with career advancement, if executed properly.'

Read the post, bookmark it and use as a reference.

Be innovative on every front

I found this post whilst looking for a link to Martin's book for the previous post. He's quoted in this piece.

It's from the start of the year and isn't really about one thing but it sums up the state of being a musician in a web 2.0 world really well and covers some of the things that are essential - YouTube, mobile, live shows.

I want a bass player who can fix the van. I want a keyboard player who can screenprint some shirts. I want a drummer who can shoot some video, throw it into iMovie, and put a YouTube thing together—second largest search engine now—and fuckin’ sell some more tickets. I want a lead singer who can shag the world.” – Martin Atkins

That's just one little bit. It's all really good stuff!

I recommend that you read the whole thing here.

Market your music with Text Messages

Marketing to your fans via their mobile is the next frontier.

We should all be making sure that our websites work and are easy to read on Smartphones, but we shouldn't ignore the simplicity of text messaging for marketing.

I'm no expert in this, although we have used it in the past with bands that I've managed on major labels. It used to be out of reach for DIY musicians!

Some apps that bands use (like Mobile Roadie) are similar (to texting) in that they send 'push mesages'.

But, this piece by Jon Oszajca on text message marketing using a new service called Call Loop is worth a read.

Perhaps the most significant factor with text messaging is that the open rate of each message is nearly 100%. After all, who doesn’t click the tab on their phone when a message comes in.

Email on the other hand is another story. Open rates tend to average between 10% – 40%. That’s a significant portion of our hard won leads who are not even bothering to read our emails.

Another great thing about text messaging is that it’s a great way to alert people instantly about real time events such as live shows, album releases and special promotions. Furthermore, it’s a relatively new medium which offers a lot of opportunities for those of us who get involved now.

Great open rates and being at the forefont of new methods is always a good idea in marketing!

Read Jon's post here.

Call Loop integrates with the autoresponder that we recommend - Aweber.

Check them both out.

Why learning to market your music won't work!

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.

Music success comes from marketability

Well, sort of!

Robin Davey's post on Music Think Tank states that all your success will come down to your marketability, and that, in turn, will rest on your talent, songs and image.

To a very great degree, I agree.

Some of the comments - which you should read as well - say that he is stating the obvious. And, maybe he is. But, as we say in our free eBook, it's the truth that 99% of people who try to succeed as a musician (whether that's becoming a global star on a major label or self sustaining a DIY career) will fail. And they'll fail because they were never able to realise that they simply weren't good enough. Add to that the fact that you need a lot of drive.

Roll it all together and you do have your marketability - and that starts with being good!

Read it all here.

Ultimate guide to music promotion and marketing

Chris Rockett is building a great resource at his blog - Promote Your Music.

And, I have to recommend this article as it really is a run through most of the major things that you can do to promote and market your music.

And it's good.

He promises to go into more detail on each over time, but, as an overview it ought to tell you a few new things to try.

If you do a simple Google search on “how to get more music fans” you will come up with hundreds of thousands of pages packed with ideas for the best way to get people listening to your stuff.

What we must keep in mind is that not all these methods are created equal, and though most of them have some basis in reality there is a good chance that you can focus on the gold rather than just trying to do everything.

Then you will have a much better chance of success.

One thing I have found while learning music marketing information is that even though a tactic is sound and makes sense, there are certain things that suit me better and that I just understand right away. I think if you see the whole picture in your mind it’s much easier to stay focused.

So try a bunch of stuff for a few weeks and see what works best for you.

Read it here.

10 marketing lessons from KISS!

You'd be an idiot if you didn't read this and file the lessons in your memory.

Seriously.

10 great music marketing lessons learnt from a band whose success you can't argue with.

Love them or hate them, there is absolutely no denying the influence that KISS has had on the music industry. KISS in the course of their 36 year career have sold over 100 million albums, has over 2,500 product licenses (coffins, condoms and credit cards), Gene reportedly earns $100,000 for a speaking engagement and don’t forget the longest celebrity reality series on TV, Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley get it when it comes to business.

Read all 10 lessons here.

My favourites? - 1, 4, 5 and 9. BUT, they're all great.

Music Marketing Interview

I'm a regular reader of the blogs of both Mic Control and Promote Your Music - we have a post coming up from Chris from the latter very soon, in fact.

This interview tells you all about Mic Control but also Jon's insights into music promotion and marketing are the key to music success in today's world.

Best Music Marketing Tool?

Blogs. The ability for musicians to leverage the existing influence of blogs to find new fans and even increase their own online influence is incredible. ALL musicians should be seeking out blogs that represent their niche, both locally and nationally and should get involved.

Biggest Inspiration?

Bands with cult followings like Phish and the Grateful Dead…. their deep understanding of marketing and community growth helped both bands to establish careers that spanned multiple decades, meanwhile having the freedom to create the music they wanted. These bands are the perfect combination of music and business.

Read the whole thing here.