How to be EVERYWHERE

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.

Follow Pat on Twitter 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!

 

How to get noticed!

I've been posting a lot of these videos from TruSound because they are compiled from interviews with people who've made it in the music biz.

That doesn't mean that what they say is gospel but it does mean you should listen to what they say and give it a chance before deciding whether to act on their advice or discard it.

This one's great - all about getting noticed. A lot of it is old school and not about online profile, but that aside, what they do talk about is really good.

The one thing many of them ARE talking about is how they created their own scene, starting local and building their visibility in that little niche. This creates the start of a following and fanbase which itslf can become the foundation to build from.

Listen to the guy from Godsmack at 4.30 saying that he and his band focused on a 60 mile area around their home town and they would be at every show (local band or national band passing through) that fit their genre and they'd network and flyer like crazy. Old school networking and promotion that works.

Bottom line - get your music straight, then work your ass off, play shows, flyer, network and build a buzz locally. That buzz will be noticed. Go from there!

Tumblr Time

You need your own website - fact.

But, you might also benefit from a Tumblr site.

Less formal, a place where you can post thoughts, photos, inspiration, random stuff.

I'd still have a sign up form that goes to your same mailing list system (Aweber if you need help deciding!) on your Tumblr though!

You might be reading this on our Tumblr site - the way we use it is OK. It suits our purpose of quick posts pretty much every day (and we save our main site for larger, deeper posts), but it's not really best practice.

Still, people check it out....a lot.

You can make your Tumblr as simple or as complicated as you like. It can be styled or left very plain. The added advantage is that there is a community on Tumblr just like Twitter and Facebook and they reblog posts avidly - so it's genuinely a way that people can discover you and your music.

This piece in Billboard lists 30 great music Tumblr sites that will give you plenty of inspiration.

If you think it's worth adding to your network I'd recommend posting a little something about your life and how that fits with you being a musician at least once a day, saving deeper content posts for your main site, posting there maybe once a week.

That's a general 'rule of thumb'.

Here's the Billboard list again.

Every gig counts!

Image by Identity Photogr@phy

This is a mindest thing!

You have to accept that a gig that seems pointless - nobody turns up, no merch sold, it actually costs you money....that sort of thing - might turn up a great opportuntity.

Of course, some shit gigs will be just that - shit.

But you have to play every one as though it counts. Don't put on a sub-satndard show if it's just the barman and you. You don't know - that barman may have a brother who is head of A&R at EMI.

Read the post here.

How to get signed (or not)

Image by Steve Snodgrass

After yesterday's post that wandered around the subject of a major record deal, these two links seemed the natural follow up.

This post from Music on the Make looks at what artists get wrong in their quest to get signed.

Despite all the talk of how getting signed is not going to do you many favors, most artists are still hoping to get signed. And why not, it can help you in many ways, if you are smart about it. However the effort they put into getting signed is often simply a waste of time. I still see this happening a lot. Here’s the typical blueprint:

• Make a high quality demo of their 3 best songs
• Google the address of major labels and a handful of big indie labels
• Make a funky package in a jiffy
• Send and wait for a response

If you’re lucky you’ll get a decline letter, but most of the time the result is a complete radio silence. All record companies receive dozens of unsolicited demos every day. The majors receive hundreds. Your hard work on that demo is going straight to the big brown box by the receptionist, who picks up the mail every day. (I’ve seen the box, it’s big!)

Instead, your time and money is much better spent on figuring out who you are, creating interesting stuff and making connections.

Read it here.

And it points to this article on Universal's blog written by two A&R men that gives great insight into what they are looking for.

1. Don’t worry about getting signed.
2. Make music that you adore.
3. Be unique and brilliant
4. Being an interesting person with something to say is a good starting point. Work on that before you even think about writing a song.
5. Once you do have some songs think about performing live.
6. See point 3 again
7. If your audience drifts away to the bar you're doing something wrong. If they throw things at you, you might just be doing something right.
8. Get online and make sure people that like you can find out more about you. Put up as much or as little information as you like but see point 3 and 4 again.
9. High quality demos aren’t essential. A good song is a good song. If enough people like it someone will tell someone and you'll get offered some free studio/producer time. Or help with video filming or releasing a single to get you to the next level.
10. Be prepared for this all to take a while. "Overnight sensations" have usually been plugging away for years in various different guises before finding that right alchemy.
11. Because of point 10, refer to points 1 and 2 again, that'll keep you going and enjoying it.
12. Send in unsolicited demos by all means – they will be listened to eventually – but taking on board and acting on the above gives you much better odds

Read that in full here.

 

 

Getting covered by music blogs

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.