I just stole the first video to get your attention - but if you go here you'll find 7 videos of music supervisors telling you all the stuff you want to know about getting your music used in movies.
These folks are the ones that have done the music synchronisation for some massive films and the clips are from the New Mexico Music in Fim summit 2010.
This is very valuable stuff!
QR Code use is really taking off.
Don't know what a QR code is? It's those square odd looking boxes of pixels that you see on posters, packaging - all over the place now. It stands for 'Quick Response' code and once scanned with a scanner on a smartphone it will transmit information or open a webpage.
Powerful stuff and, despite some naysayers, the recognition and use of QR codes is growing exponentially.
I think they are now something that every musician should be using to send fans to their website, to a mailing list sign-up form, to run a special competition etc.
This post from Aweber has a great basic guide.
Through the magic of QR codes, consumers can interact with your brand in unexpected places. Mobile web means they can explore your content away from their home computer.
That’s why QR codes make the most sense in print – on billboards, stickers, fliers, signs, business cards, in magazines, anywhere people might see them on the go. The point is to drive them to your mobile site to make a purchase, join your mailing list, download a coupon, find out more about your business or something else that makes their interaction with you easy and enjoyable.
As a bit of inspiration, look at this very clever Christmas promotion that JC Penney are using - a customer records a personal message to the person they are giving a gift to and they can scan it and hear the message as they open the gift.
Imagine doing that with a personal message from the band as a tier offer on your fan funding project for your next album.
This video is a run through of Pat Flynn's Blog World presentation.
His original post with links to the things he mentions is here.
Pat is a well known marketer online who has created a very large audience for himself through his open and honest marketing methods.
He talks about how to promote a blog or products online, but what he says can be applied to promoting music pretty much wholesale.
In this video he talks about the three biggest ways that his blog has been discovered and where the majority of his followers come from.
And they are:
iTunes (because of his podcast);
YouTube;
Links from other blogs
Although the concept of creating valuable useful content that applies to bloggers who teach something (how to blog, how to surf, what's the best camera etc, etc) isn't 100% applicable to how you can spread your music and your brand as a musician, there are many lessons in here that you can adapt.
Podcasting is a great way to get your fans in tune with you, your tastes and your music - an effective way to bring your tribe (as Seth Godin calls them) closer to you. Those podcasts can be about your music and what's happening with your band and career but they can also be about the wider world of music - with elements that relate to your music.
And, as we said in this post - Why musicians should be bloggers - there is a MASSIVE opportunity for musicians to place themselves at the centre of a niche, genre or scene by becoming the authority blog on that particular scene. The strategies that Pat talks about here are then very useful for building an audience.
In short, every musician trying to get noticed should be looking to get a presence in places where there are huge numbers of people looking for music and info/news about music - YouTube, blogs and iTunes are obvious places for that.
Watch and you will get some great ideas!
This is a great video about how to make the right Search Engine Optimisation choices for your website.
If you don't yet have a website to promote your music, you are living in the dark ages.
Admittedly, this video is some pretty detailed information on how marketers set up their websites to make sure that they rank in Google (and other search engines) for the keywords they want to rank for.
It makes sense for every band to aim to do the same.
If this is all new to you, the very knowledgeable Michael Brandvold and Brian Thompson are running a webinar on How to use Wordpress for your Website in a few weeks time.
It will be great.
Here's the video for the SEO geeks:
The dedicated 'Music Page' on your band's Facebook Page is becoming a 'must-have'.
We've written before about RootMusic's BandPage and FanBridge's DamntheRadio, but the latter one has just really upped it's game with the introduction of the Partner Ecosystem.
This is just a fancy term for the fact that you can now plug in loads of apps from other services that you might already be using, such as SongKick for gig dates and tickets, Topspin for music sales, IndieGoGo & Pledge Music for fan funding - and loads more.
This makes DamntheRadio a very flexible choice for your Music Page.
And this is an example of how easy it is to integrate Topspin.
Why D2F?
Well, because building your fanbase through direct means is both long-lasting and rewarding for both the fan and the artist, but, crucially it is now a reality for every artist with access to the web....
...i.e. everyone.
This seismic shift in how to reach your audience and keep them close is discussed in this very good video.
You can see the original post at the Midem Blog here.
Gamechanger?
People who write about the music industry love that word. They use it all the time and apply it to every new disruptive idea.
But, this time they could be right.
The big news for most folks about today's launch of Google Music is all about the service for music consumers - the unlimited cloud storage, the download store, the social sharing.
And it's a big deal - can they catch iTunes? - we'll see.
But the part that is potentially truly disruptive and amazing for the average DIY musician is the 'Artist Hub'.
This allows every DIY musician to have a direct relationship with Google, to upload and sell songs through Google on an Artist Page.
Build your artist page, set your own prices and sell your material. Google Music users can play their music purchases instantly on any device.
This is THE BIG DEAL.
People are already complaining that Google are just copying Bandcamp or CD Baby - and they are to a degree. But having the biggest (the behemoth) company of online services and seacrh offering to host your music store and hub could be a massive win for the DIY musician.
You cannot deal direct with iTunes as a DIY artist, but you now can with Google.
You can also tie your Google Music hub to your YouTube channel - the de facto place for music search. That is very smart integration.
A $25 set up fee and a 30% cut to Google is comparable to Tunecore, but is of course an additional expense for artists as they will still need to use a digital distributor to reach other services such as iTunes.
Only available in the US for artists but with a global roll out close behind, this is big news.
The Google Music Artist page is here.
And this Digital Music News article is worth reading.
