How to stop your fans file sharing your music

I am not against file sharing.

However, I do believe that teaching a generation of fans and consumers that music has no value and that they can trade it freely is a slippery slope - there has to be a happy medium for the future of music.

If you are the person controlling the free dsitribution of your music (in exchange for an email address or similar) then at least you're getting some value. Let's not forget either that 'free' isn't free - you're still asking a potential fan to invest their time and energy in listening to your work and deciding whether to become a fan. That has a value - something the major labels do not undersatnd.

This article looks at ways that you can help to reduce the file sharing which ultimately should drive fans back to your site where you control the way that music is delivered to them.

They should be happier and so should you.

If you follow the arguments surrounding file-sharing close enough you’d assume that file-sharers are the kind of moral lacking scum of the Earth that would consider pushing their own grandma into moving traffic or, that on the weekends, they shoplift from Best Buy and are slowly working up the confidence to start robbing banks.

Of course, we all know that’s simply not true. Most fans that file-share are like you and I. With the slight exception that they don’t even have an idea that folks like us have invested thousands of words debating, contesting, and trying to make sense of how we feel about the notion that music fans think music, the most beloved and precious thing that we have, should be free and not be paid for.

Read the article at Music Void.

Improve your songwriting - this is key

We are always getting asked by people how they can become better songwriters.

At least they understand that the ability to write a great song is a key skill and they want to improve to give themselves the best shot possible.

There are loads of ways - study, find collaborators who are more advanced than you (Craig's List, facebook, MySpace), go to seminars etc. We'll be looking at this in a lot more detail on the main Make It In Music site after the imminent relaunch.

One way is to go and network with expert songwriters at meet-ups or conferences. You'll learn from them as they speak but you'll also get to meet other aspiring writers and can hook yourself up with some sessions or teaching.

People overlook the development of this core skill - don't be one of them.

If you live in the UK, there is a great event that does just this coming up on 25th - 27th October. My pick is the Tuesday 26th day as there are talks by seriously successful songwriters. And it's only £10 a day!

Events like these can give you the break your carer needs.

Check out SongFest here.

Comprehensive Twitter guide for musicians

We've said before that we're working on the definitive guide for twitter for musicians, but until then, this article is a great place to start.

It's a bit old but the teaching is spot on.

Don’t be obnoxious. Don’t spam people. Don’t ask them to buy your album before they know anything about you. General rule of thumb, only mention your music in 1/10 tweets maximum (unless it’s appropriate in a conversation). Don’t be a robot and post things from stufftotweet.com and follow-sweep everyday, contribute and show what you are all about. If you do that, you’ll burn the marketing flame out like MySpace bands did with adding everyone. Overnight success is not likely. It will feel slow, but it will be steady and predictable. If you measure properly and learn what works you will spend less time and get more results.

Read the whole article here.

How to get other bands to tip you to their fans

Headliner might just be genius! It is definitely another tool in the arsenal of the diy musician.
It's a relatively new service that networks bands together to leverage their existing social networks on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace etc.
In essence, you join, and in return for tipping bands to your followers and fans, they will do the same for you. Think how genuine that is for a fan. If you find bands that are great and who are in your genre, their fans are very likely to listen to their tips.
Got to be worth a go.



Check out their site here and go and sign up.

Get Bloggers to write about you

This article is aimed at brands rather than musicians specifically but most of it applies and it's full of some really great tips. Getting coverage for your act on blogs is a key part of digital music marketing - you need to learn how to do it.

Cultivating relationships with bloggers is vital for any serious brand marketer. They can be a real asset to help you spread word about content, products and services. They are more likely to link to you than mainstream media sites and they often link in the right way. 

I’ll try to shine some light on the tools you can use to unearth the most relevant blogs to your business. You’ll find that there are many bloggers out there that will be receptive to working with you, you just know how to seek them out.

Read the whole article here.

Virtual touring - a way to avoid cost but at what price?

A theme develping today of posts all related to gigs and touring!

But what if you want to avoid the cost of touring (despite crashing on sofas and splitting gigs)? Gigs and tours are, after all, an integral part of your band marketing.

Can virtual touring be the answer?

The virtual tour might be but isn't necessarily a web hosted live show. It could be that, but it might just be getting the focus of a website to be on your band for a day with added interaction from your band.

My concern would be that, although the cost is much lower than mounting a tour, how much is the face to face interaction that you'll miss worth to you and your fans. Perhaps the virtual tour is an add-on to touring, not a repalcement.

MTT has a two part post of which only the first part is up so far.

A virtual music tour is similar to a traditional tour in that the band/musicians make several appearances, and in several locations, in an attempt to promote and sell their music. On a traditional tour, musicians make contact with clubs, bars or other suitable venues (suitable venues: house parties, small music festivals, state fairs, and Geri’s Bat Mitzvah) to book live shows. They then travel to each city, spend time at each location playing their music and possibly spending time with the audience in an effort to sell their music and merchandise. Many musicians will agree, for the effort and expense involved, touring and playing live doesn’t sell many CD’s or music downloads. (Although it can be a heck of a lot of fun, if you have the money.)

Read more about it here.

Travie McCoy runs an enviable Social Media presence

You can learn a huge amount about how to make social media a key part of your online music promotion just by looking at what some very successful artists are doing.

This article looks at the places that Travie has been active and how he has built a massive online following.

Travie McCoy is part of a generation of savvy young artists who understand how to use social media to their advantage. In July, Travie dropped his debut solo album, Lazarus, which was met with both critical praise and commercial success. Lazarus peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, due in part to McCoy’s strong social media presence. ArtistHQ caught up with Adam Samiljan, Senior Director of New Media at Travie’s label, Fueled By Ramen, to get Adam’s insights into how Travie built a resonant buzz online.

Read the post at Artist HQ.