infolode/music

How To Save MySpace -response

2009-06-28T18:34:00.007-04:00

My response to Jason Nazar's insightful article on the changes MySpace needs to make to remain viable. Too long for his comments, I had to put my reply here. Please continue the discussion either here or there or both.

Response to Jason's article:
I still love MySpace so love that you're thinking of ways to improve the experience there. Some of your ideas are fantastic and could, with some conceptual thinking, not only be made workable, but innovative. However, some I don't think would work and/or as a MySpace user would not look favorably upon.
#1.) MySpace = Yahoo 2.0: Turn MySpace into the Next-Generation Portal
The name MySpace means something to the general public, especially avid users like myself so altering that perception can have adverse effects on user experience/usage. The log-in page makes it MY space. Part of my identity. You already can access articles/profiles/etc.. w/o logging in. You just can't comment/message/add friend/etc.. unless you're a logged in member. Moving the log in to a side bar on the new home page is okay. Less visible, but still part of the home page.

2.) A Micropayment Ecosystem for ALL Digital Goods
All of the above are available through various plugins, but I agree MySpace should aggregate and own specific easy to use programs that make a purchase part of the MySpace experience. Free music is great and is still the primary focus of visitors to MySpace. However making the sale is the motivation of artists/bands having the music up there in the first place.

3.) Local News Online & More Valuable User Generated Content
I absolutely love the local news concept. I'd go one further and have a section specifically for local MUSIC news. Want to know what your favorite local band's doing lately? Go to MySpaceMusicNews, type in your band's name into Search and there ya go.
If you just want local news/blogs, go to MySpaceNews. My space should include news from my home area. The concept has continuity with the MySpace brand. And, as local blogging is becoming very popular, MySpace could become THE aggregator of local blogs, music or otherwise. Music insiders could use the local blog concept to post to instead of their more general and/or national blog w/a link for local fans/musicians, giving them another profile to deepen their own status as well as giving them a platform for local news their nationwide/international followers might not be interested in.
I like your suggestion about Word Press as a blogging system for MySpace. In order to attract good bloggers, MySpace HAS to fix it's blogging system. I transferred my own blog from MySpace to Blogspot because I lost over 25 posts into the MySpace ether. They're simply not there anymore. Poof. I was not a NOT a happy camper about the MySpace blogging experience and that was what started my 'slide' to other sites instead of MySpace.
I'm not sure about turning MySpace into a Mahalo-type site. It just doesn't fit with the MySpace brand to me. Maybe as a side benefit?
4.) Court Star Power
Ashton Kutcher and Oprah attracted TEMPORARY users to Twitter. Those users still have IDs there, they just don't participate. MySpace needs participants. Besides, there's quite a few 'stars' who have MySpace profiles. Make it worth their while to promote their MySpace profiles instead of other site(s), including their own website (or in addition to) and you could achieve much more real user interaction on as much as the public go where the stars are, especially those stars who know marketing. Bring Joe Public and his/her music/local news interest to MySpace and the stars will come back.
"Make the Status updates an exclusive benefit that ONLY celebrities and famous people get, and move millions of users to follow those select groups of evangelists."
IMHO that is the quickest way to kill MySpace outright. It's MY space, not Ashton's, nor Oprah's, etc.. Perhaps you aren't aware of the huge backlash on Twitter against the recent celeb push. I'm an avid Twitterer so was there reading the updates in real time. Angry updates. The common Tweeter was made to feel useless as it was all about how @aplusk was trying to get 1 million followers. Whoop -dee -do! During the mess that was created, our Twitter streams were full of those who were just fans of @plusk or Oprah, not interested in us 'common folk' other than as another number on their wall. Followers got unfollowed quickly if all they 'updated' was about or to celebs. Jokes were made, hashtags created, temporary users abandoned their new IDs and Twitter returned to normal.
As for the friends concept, it's understood not all on friends' list are actually 'friends'. It's just a word. Make it connections/contacts/associates/whatever. I don't think it's that important to anyone.
5.) Fuel Micro Jobs
I love the concept, but, as an online research assistant who went through the 'make money online' website reviews religiously for a while, it might garner MySpace more trouble than it's worth. There are too many rip-0ff sites out there claiming to help people make money online by data processing, etc... and the last thing MySpace would want is to get the name for aggregating them into one site. And, you're worried about MySpace spam now? Open it up to those type sites and MySpace would have to have a separate department just to get rid of spam accounts.
Having individual MySpace users set up professional profiles advertising their services and/or an Elance.com type site would work if done carefully and with a different TOS for professionals offering services. Using the same TOS and procedures already in place for bands should work easily.
6.) New Product Releases Every Month & A Rock Star Product Evangelist
An evangelist, yes. New programs every month, not necessarily. I'm happy with sites that just let me be me without interfering too much with the experience. Forget new apps all the time. They're just confusing and frustrating to a lot of people.
7.) Hustle & Chutzpa
I totally agree. MySpace is still a very viable company/destination site and I'd love to find myself looking forward once again to logging in and experiencing MySpace my way.

Eventful and other 'on demand' DIY

2009-06-20T11:35:00.016-04:00

I've posted a link to eventful.com before. I'm a huge fan. IMHO Demand it! is one of the best widgets out there to help your fans help you promote your music.

But, there's more out there than eventful, though I agree with Taylor McKnight's take on it.

I'm a big fan of artists like Lori Lampkin , Pete Hopkins and Athrophy of the Sun (among many others), all of whom have discovered Eventful. Check it out.

On a related subject: Below you'll find a list of articles provided by Zemantha that are useful in researching what program/application is best for you as an artist or a fan.
If you haven't tried Zemanta yet, you're wasting time researching! I love the application.

For example, I wanted to write this article on Eventful and Zemanta gave me a list of related links right in my side bar for me to scroll through, research what others said about Eventful and other comparable programs and add them to my article as I wish, adding my opinion of each article before posting.

I could even start with a single subject, type it into an open post and read through what Zemanta provided as related sources before forming my own opinion on the subject. After all, when I research a topic the first thing I do is 'Google' it, finding expert sources and reading their opinions. Zemanta just eliminates most of the drudgery of blogging.
Molly

Radio's war: Who's really winning?

2009-06-19T06:11:00.009-04:00

As someone who's not a performer, and not 'in' the music industry except in a small way concerning independent musicians/bands marketing themselves, I see this issue from the artists' standpoint, but also from the other side as well. The other side, not the opposing side because it's a symbiotic relationship, not armed warfare.

There are three, not two in this relationship: the band/artist, the venues (bars, clubs, concert halls, radio stations and television stations) and the fans, the last and most important in the relationship.

Any start up band will tell you that just getting their music heard by future fans is their number one priority. Not the money, not the fame, just playing before an appreciative audience. They work sometimes around the clock in order to achieve that next level of 'getting themselves out there'.

Remember when pod-casting was first introduced? The stories on whether land based radio was on it's last legs were all over the 'net. This is where internet radio stations like Insomnia Radio.com and Nette Radio.com got their own start. I remember when Insomnia Radio introduced itself on MySpace. No longer totally dependent upon a few competition sites sprinkled among MySpace users or promoting themselves through band sites, start-ups that were barred from land-based radio because they lacked fame and/or the money for payola could get REAL air play. IR was and is a great bunch of people working to get independent bands/artists' music to those who will appreciate it. Due to recent laws being implemented and their own choice, IR pays a royalty to the musicians/bands they play on their stations. (Update: As Jason from IR reminded me, IR doesn't pay royalties and never has. That was what I thought, but then I read otherwise so went with 'current information'. Always go to the source if unsure of a fact. An axiom of mine I should have followed more closely, obviously.)

I find it amusing that while we just went through the 'payola scandal' in which record labels were convicted of paying radio stations to play music by certain artists/bands, we're now contemplating forcing radio stations to...wait for it.. pay for playing music by certain artists/bands. What's the difference? According to one side of the argument it's that THIS time the small guys will win. Where have I heard that before? It's important to remember that payola was created because major record labels recognized the marketing opportunity of having a song on the radio. They PAID stations to play songs. Get it?

All anyone (label or not) has to do to keep radio stations from 'profiting from their work' is tell them not to play the music. Period. Stations only play what they are licensed to play It's the law. Talk to those holding the licenses as to how the participants are paid.

Performance Licensing, which stations already pay for in about 10 different ways, covers the owner of the copyright of the music and the publisher. Bands who allow their copyright and publishing rights to be mishandled can't really come back and cry foul to those who weren't responsible for the error in the first place. If you're going to sing a song, get a copyright for it before airing it. If one of the band members wrote the song, get it copyrighted.

What's perhaps not so obvious to those who aren't in constant contact with start-up bands is that for the most part they'd do almost anything to get their music on broadcast radio. They send their songs for free to radio stations all the time, begging to be heard. Usually going about it the wrong way, thus their songs don't get played, they don't find more fans, they don't sell more CDs, more concerts aren't sold out and their T-shirts become laundry day left overs. That's where people like me, who know how to market come into the equation. I don't charge, but plenty do and I don't know of one marketing expert who advises start up musicians who approve of this move. If you know of any, please tell them to come to me with a good explanation of their marketing strategy.

What's going to happen in this fight? Considering who's running Congress, I can take an educated guess. Radio stations will be forced to pay a royalty fee for every song played, thus will only play/pay for those songs that are guaranteed to bring in advertising revenue that will recover their extra costs: mega-stars/songs only except in small niche markets that only play locally and/or non-profits, all of which is covered in an amendment to the bill itself. Good amendments and I didn't see a lot that wasn't covered as far as protecting the small and/or non-profit stations. Since DJs, et al are next, I'm waiting to see how they're protected but that's in the future for now.

Where does this leave the start-ups hoping to get played on broadcast radio's larger stations? Back at the end of the line, right when they were getting a foot hold in radio, broadcast and internet.

It's important to keep in mind that all musicians/bands aren't on the same level musically and so have to market and promote differently from the other levels. Each level: start-up, mid-level, ex-mega and/or star and mega-star all have different methods and very valid reasons for each method. Start-ups just need to be heard, thus sign up for sites that let listeners listen to their songs for free, throw free concerts in the park, open for a more well known band for free at concerts, give away free mini-CDs outside of more popular (and hopefully related) bands' concerts, have free TShirt giveaways for concert attendance, etc... (note all the 'free' in there)

Mid-level bands continue the start-up marketing in order to continue the rate of growth in fans, but can up the price of their concert tickets, T-Shirts other merch and get on local radio stations, including college stations, for interviews and by having their songs played for free by the larger stations.

Ex-mega stars and (just plain) stars have different reasons for being where they're at but most get radio air time, sell a lot of CDs, T-shirts, sell out a few concerts and are well known enough at least regionally that radio air time is looked at as just another way to make money off of their music, like concerts and CD sales.

Then you have mega-stars. Those that have been promoted to death by the record labels (don't forget we don't HAVE any truly independent mega-stars as yet). These get air time on radio stations to the point you want to scream if you hear that song again and still find yourself singing along anyway. They're in your head, accept it. That's who would profit by radio stations or anyone else who broadcasts their songs paying for the 'priviledge'. Make no mistake about it. Analysing it from a marketing perspective, the winners would be those who've already won. The rest of the levels of musicians/bands would be at the back of the bus once again, locked out of the system they just found a key to. Is this what we really want as fans or musicians? Seriously.

There's a way past that, though. Let the musicians themselves determine royalty payments, with the radio stations having a payment schedule based upon what they pay for which level of musician or a base price, the artists determining if they want to get paid (or not) at the rate the station's paying, in a limited contract. Kind of like in the real world where contractors bid on projects. Mega-stars want to get paid mega-bucks, start-ups are willing to have their songs played for free. Concert prices would be a great comparison. You don't pay the same amount for a Aerosmith concert as you do for Gettin' Deep. In fact, Gettin' Deep would pay Aerosmith to let them play as their opening act, I bet. So, if it's truly intended to benefit the artists/bands, let THEM determine HOW it benefits them. Is it a better benefit to send the music in for free in exchange for marketing or is it unnecessary to market through a now smaller medium that broadcast radio has become and just grab all the revenue the band can, using other means of advertising? Let the bands decide and the radio stations can say whether it's worth the deal or not.

And, another suggestion: Have EVERYONE buy their music online (at the site of their choice). If they're playing it for others in a commercial site/station, they can get a discount for multiple downloads, but have to limit the plays to one for each purchase. Royalties go straight to those under the contract at the site. The 'watch dogs' would monitor whether stations/sites are only playing what they paid for, with NO revenue going through supposedly non-profits like the RIAA, NAB, etc... The stations quarterly returns should reflect how many plays each song got by how many times they paid for it. If not, they're in trouble and, after an extensive audit of their airplay, would have to recompense those artists/bands whose songs they played too many times w/o paying. Any fines/levees would go to fund the watch dog groups.
Problem solved.

Below you will find other discussions on the subject. I don't agree with all the conclusions, but the discussion is important, especially to independent artists/bands.

For some reason comments aren't showing up on this article like the rest. Click on 'Links' to read others' comments and make your own.

Get fans to your gig and sell merch at the same time.

2009-04-25T10:17:00.006-04:00

Getting in free to a concert is good news for any fan. That all the fan would have to do is buy a Fred Deakin (Lemon Jelly) illustrated t-shirt and wear it to the concert was brilliant marketing on Deakin's part.
TimesOnline on Fred Deakin

Deakin's a good marketer as well as a great illustrator, creating a win-win for both fan and band.

Now, if Lemon Jelly were looking for more exposure/press/fans, having a t-shirt signing party a week to 3 days before the concert at the local mall/park/college bookstore/wherever would have increased both t-shirt sales and concert attendance. Freebies are good news for family and friends and a lot share any they hear of through email and social networks like Twitter and Facebook as well as over the water cooler @ work. Word of mouth. About your band. Who woulda thunk it? :-)

As a final recommendation, if you have the capabilities, make a 'special edition' t-shirt with a really cool graphic of some facet of the concert location and/or your logo. You don't have to be or employ Fred Deaken. Lots of good free graphics programs out there list of great logo design tutorials. All of these can be converted to a t-shirt graphic easily. If you need help w/that part, let me know in the comments and I'll find you a site and/or someone to help.

Make your design simple, eye catching and easily read from a distance (think of a concert attendee walking down the sidewalk facing a future fan). You don't want a 'one time only' wear from the t-shirt purchase. Every time someone wears that shirt, it's free advertising for your music. A few years from now I want to see your logo on some worn and holey t-shirts at the laundry mat.
Molly

UNITE IN THE NAME OF EXPOSURE-response

2009-04-07T10:05:00.013-04:00

David,
First of all, I'd like to state for the record that I have almost no music industry experience. For the last 5 years I've avidly studied the independent music industry's top experts. I consider you one of those experts. I have nothing but admiration and respect for your accomplishments and find you a very open and likable person. Having no wish to diminish in any way your knowledge and expertise, I base my presumptions and argument upon what I've learned about independent musicians from one on one contacts with them as well as my own general life experiences on human interaction. I highly recommend my own readers to subscribe to David's blog.
In addition, I have nothing against record labels in general, just the business model of the corrupt ones. Even they have/had their good points, especially when it comes to court decisions regarding copyright laws, the RIIA dispute and other legal issues that have benefited indies by proxy.
Moving on to your post,
"Regardless of the record companies’ ever increasing efforts to stop it, their existing business model is in an ongoing state of decline."
I think everyone's aware of the decline in record labels' influence and power in the music industry. As an adviser to independent musicians, I am not one who advocates a return of their power. Their history is rife with payola and corruption along with the missed opportunities of talented musicians who never saw stage lights while mediocre ones were made into stars. No, they lost their power for a reason. They abused it and it has taken a long hard fight for independent musicians to make the inroads on that power structure they've accomplished so far. I don't see them giving the power over their own music they've achieved so far to return it to the same corrupt leaders.
As to the record companies' "depleting customer base", that base is still listening to music, it's just not under their labels so having one site that managed ALL music would definitely help labels regain control of the music industry. Your solution would benefit the old record labels enormously as it would restore them to power and control, but in an even larger way than before.
"This new DRM and royalty free, digital environment must be organized into a new business model that allows anybody trying to build a career as a successful musical artist to be discovered, exposed, branded and monetized."
Who does the discovering? Who's on the main page as 'new artist of the week'? Who does the branding and monetizing? There has to be a board of directors and I can't really see any of the record labels agreeing to anything that doesn't leave them as major power brokers.
"Additionally, before it’s too late, record companies must take advantage of the clout their remaining legacy artists have, while they still have control over them"
That kind of says it all. 'while they still have control over them'. What happens when the label loses control of said artists? Do they branch out independently and leave the label in the dust? Granted, the artists wouldn't be in their stellar position w/o the label. However, slavery's illegal. Most of the time the record label has already made it's investment back many times over before the artists get to the point they can contemplate being able to finish their run independently.
"Doing so will bring millions of people looking for less choice and more control over their music to one place to fight it out for exposure."
Less choice? For whom- the listener or the artist? I see no trend toward a wish for less choice from consumers, in fact the trend(s) I see go in the opposite direction in that genre specific music is a growing industry. As for independent artists, less choice for them would result in the artists already in the public eye getting the lion's share of attention in a conglomerated site so such a site would be no help for a start up at all unless the 'powers that be' on the site pushed them to center stage. Can we say 'payola'?
"In the digital world, record companies can no longer exercise the level of control over the marketplace they once had." I've seen no one unhappy with this except the record companies.
"This limits the ability of record companies and independent musical artists to easily promote their music in any kind of truly effective or meaningful way."
I disagree. As one who assists in that promotion and is in constant contact with others who do the same, I can state categorically that with the advent of social networks, free or low cost music listing sites and the capability to put an artists' music pretty much any place on the internet you want, the effectiveness of an independent marketing plan is only as limited as the promoters' imagination.
As for meaningful, the only meaning one can get from promoting music is sales: either concert seats warmed, merch sold and/or music purchased. Statistically independent musicians are being very successful at all of the above, collectively and in large part, individually.
"where people could influence and be influenced to make decisions about that music."
Who does the influencing? It is always going to lead back to the key question: Who is in control of the site, independent musicians and/or their advocates or old school record labels?
"Once again fan choice and control could take over." Fan choice has already taken over, which is why we see the rise of independent music. I'm afraid your solution would strangle fan choice in a bottle neck with fans trying get a refreshing taste while unknown artists attempt to claw their way past the more well financed musicians to reach the top.
"For this to happen, you have to buy into three assumptions: 1) that it’s still important to create popular mainstream artists; 2) that to successfully monetize an artist the bigger the base they have to build for themselves, the greater the potential to monetize themselves; and 3) to accomplish 1 and 2 quickly, effectively and successfully there has to be a better way to promote artists in the new music business because the terrestrial market place is disintegrating."
Since the latest and biggest trend is toward more specialized and genre specific music, I disagree it's important to create popular mainstream artists. #2 is true, as it's true for any product. I have to disagree again on #3 The terrestrial marketplace is disintegrating for old business models. You practically have to have an internet business model in today's marketplace, whether you're a musician or a plumber. Successful independent musicians have a business model that integrates both terrestrial and online marketing. Neither have to include either a 'one site fits all' or a record label.
"In my brave new world, various entities will able to build large networks, e.g. bloggers, internet radio stations, individual driven A&R machines like Crazed Hits, any of which can influence the tastes of many people at one time."
This is already happening, but without the control of the old record labels.
"It will then be possible for large, powerful networks to connect with each and combine into a critical mass great enough to push new artists into whatever is left of the mainstream."
Having a few 'mega stars' leaves the rest in the dust. Why hunger for a few hamburgers when limitless steaks are all over the internet much cheaper than the burgers?
"By promoting to those that can seriously influence the aggressive artists and, I am sorry to say, those with more money will be able to mount serious campaigns quicker and more effectively than has ever been possible because of the way the digital landscape is currently structured."
And that's why it wouldn't work. Independent artists have learned that by doing a lot of the work themselves (or having fans do it by proxy) they also can reach for 'mainstream' status. They're not going to unlearn this hard won lesson nor are the fans going to be satisfied with generic music. Even today's television shows and movies have recently trended toward genre specific music, geared much more toward the mood they want set for an individual show or even scene and less a general theme.
I've really enjoyed making a rebuttal to your post and look forward to a further discussion. Again, I greatly admire and respect your work and you as a person.
To those who would like to comment, please feel free to post either or my blog or David's. Or both, if you want. Continue the discussion. It's a fascinating and relevant topic.
Molly

Interns needed. Do you qualify?

2009-03-16T00:27:00.003-04:00

This is a special favor for a brilliant friend of mine. She's going places, so watch her smoke!
Darya Bushmakin

We are looking for interns to assist with both "Education" and "Music" markets penetration for u2youLIVE - our cutting edge social networking/online marketing software. Interns will be expected to perform at a high level and their progress will be evaluated on a weekly basis by the CMO, and on a monthly basis by the CEO.

We are a start up company with a diverse group of founders, and we are looking for a diverse group of highly motivated interns. The ideal candidate must be able to demonstrate their interest or expertise in the environmental and green product vertical market which has been exhibiting online commercial growth. Demonstrated interest or expertise in these markets includes knowledge of the Green Movement, green technologies, renewable energy, energy conserving products, green building products and techniques as well as organic products (food, fashion). This is an experienced-based internship, but it should noted that interns will receive a small percentage (10% of ad revenue) from any vendor(s) an intern brings into the u2youLIVE network. Interns will be compensated at the conclusion of the internship.

This remote/online internship will focus almost entirely on building u2youLIVE's user base and adding vendors to our network. In order to disseminate u2youLIVE, interns will learn and utilize, but will not be limited to, techniques including viral marketing on social networks, posting on blogs and forums, writing and publishing ezines related to u2youLIVE, and creating online video media. Additionally, interns will use offline venues such as college newspapers, radio stations, and other forms of media.

Please reply with your resume and a cover letter to david_stark@u2youlive.com describing the vertical market in which you consider yourself an expert. Please provide examples of why you consider yourself an expert, and why your field of expertise is relevant to online marketing and e-commerce (i.e. potential contacts, participation in forums and blogs, growth in the industry, etc.)

Salary/Wage: interns will receive a small percentage (10% of ad revenue) from any vendor(s) an intern brings into the u2youLIVE network
Status: Internship
Shift: Days
Location: Nationwide

Marketing Trends in Music 2009

2009-02-17T11:26:00.012-05:00

The one trend everyone seems to agree on is that the consumer is now driving the bus. That's really good news for you as independent musicians as long as you understand you have to take over the responsibilities formerly reserved to record companies, managers and promoters or hire someone else to do so. Look to the right column for managers and promoters I've had good dealings with in the past. Having someone you trust manage matters you don't feel comfortable with is a viable alternative as an independent band. If that scares you, keep in mind that 50% of the Grammies this year went to indies. 36% last year so it's not a fluke. Being independent isn't a fad, it's a new way of doing business in the music industry. Marketing your band yourself is part of being independent.

I have written several blogs on the issues involved in marketing your band, including a general post What To Do as a New Band or Increasing Your Reach. Scroll down the same page to learn how to keep 'friends' on MySpace as loyal long time fans.

In order to fulfill your new role as a business owner (and your band IS a business, make no mistake about that), you're going to have to learn to think like a business person because, as Ariel Hyatt says, "Most Internet marketers make money online, most musician marketers don't."

Peter Spellman not only gives specifics on the latest music trends, but tells you what you can do about it.

Bruce Houghton writes "Predictions are easy. Being good at them is much harder. As I've been working on my predictions for the music industry for 2009, however, three recurring themes seem to be dominating the industry conversation as we begin the new year.
DEMOCRATIZATION - Giving entrepreneurs, artists and even fans the tools to compete with the major labels and mass media.
DATA - Gathering and crunching actionable date. As you explore all of these new avenues for music discovery, what is working? How do you break a band in 2009?
MONETIZATION - If you can't make money at it, you probably can't keep doing it. But how do you monetize music in a down economy?" He answers the questions so read it and use it.

NYLA EntertainmentGroup has a list of 10 changes in the music industry I don't know if I agree completely with all of them, but it's relevant and useful.

That's enough for now, but I can't leave out one of my best sources for answers on how to teach you to be truly independent musicians ArtistHouseMusic I can spend hours there, learning and reading.
Molly

Marketing your music

2009-02-03T09:45:00.019-05:00

If you want to sell your music instead of playing out of your parents' garage, you have to either hire someone to market it for you or do it yourself. If you decide to hire a promoter, Fischler Artist Promotion or Ariel Publicity are trusted friends of mine. Or, if you're all ladies, Madalyn Sklar of gogogirlsmusic. She is marvelous. No, that's not all the promoters I trust, they're just at the top of the list.
If you decide to do it yourself, approach marketing your music as you would any other product. I know it sounds cold, considering your passion, your talent...your ego. (Oops, did I say that out loud? heh) In brief, don't restrict your research in how to market your music to just music marketing. I won't get into SEO (search engine marketing), keyword analysis and all the technical stuff this time.
Below are a few sites that will list your songs. Most of them are free. All you have to do is direct your specific fans and/or target market to their website after signing up. I'll be going into how to direct people to your site later.
TuneFlow
Music Submit
ArtistsILove
ReverbNation
LastFM
GigList

FloridaEntertainmentScene Lists your concerts for free.

In case you didn't notice, most of the links above are the same ones that are in my side bar under "Links you need". Get the hint, yet? :-)

Next time: Marketing Trends in Music

Dumping flotsam for a clearer message and a cleaner desktop

2009-01-06T07:45:00.008-05:00

David Sherbow, in addressing problems with bands and social networking sites' busy work, hit my problem dead on:

"No.3 - I totally agree with this. Many artists run around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to post up profiles on 5 to 50 sites, overwhelming themselves, letting a useless process suck every ounce of energy out of them and getting little or no return for their effort. Its tough enough trying to cope with the daily grind of being in a band. Trying to be everything to everyone only puts you and your artistry in an oppressive downward spiral towards depression and frustration which is hardly the way to go. This is never a necessary course for an artist."
(His Music Business Reality Check articles are a little long for light reading, but in depth and well worth the time it takes to read them through.)

All week last week I clicked and clicked, site to site to site, trying to be everywhere and learn everything, signing up for social networking sites right and left, getting widgets, gadgets and paraphenalia stacked on my desktop and address bar to the point I didn't know what I was doing where at any given time.
And, just like I do when I find I'm overloading on chocolate, I'm hiding some of it at the back of the fridge to snack on later, giving some to the neighbor's kids and tossing the rest in the garbage.
Since everyone uses social networking and widgets/gadgets for different purposes and diverse personalities, I won 't bother to list which I keep and which I toss. All are great sites/gadgets/widgets or I wouldn't have bothered with them in the first place. My blogs will continue to have my links in the side bar if you're interested and I'll probably list at least a few links to programs/sites I'm not using myself because we have different goals.
Suffice it to say that in a few hours I'll be working on my research assistant and website checker blog, looking for a template for my new website, my desktop will be clean, my address bar will have been cleaned of an annoying array of tools, my inbox will lose some excess poundage, I'll be making time to play with my grand-daughters and I might even get dressed today. :-)
Molly

Tossing out some gig links for New Years

2009-01-01T09:55:00.001-05:00

The Indie Venue Bible is the source all serious musicians/bands should have close at hand. https://nt4.magma.ca/bigmeteor/ivbim_order.cfm

Where venues are going to find bands, RentMyBand.com:
http://www.rentmyband.com/

And, of course, Progigs can't be left out of any serious list. I don't care if it's got cruise ships listed as a source. Got pride? Lose it. Well, unless you WANT to be flipping hamburgers/straightening your cubicle instead of doing what you love. Let's hope you're not too rigid to do a few tribute songs. Gives you depth, yanno. :-)
http://www.progigs.com/

Online gigs is popular and an essential tool as well:
http://www.onlinegigs.com/

Garageband.com is recommended by some really insightful and successful indie industry insiders:
http://www.garageband.com/htdb/index.html

Explore Talent is new to me, but seems to have alot of diverse listings both in gigs and bands/musicians who've put themselves in the list.
http://www.exploretalent.com/music-jobs.php

Another new link (I got a runtime error when I searched), but you might want to save it and keep checking back. Has potential.
http://www.gigsdirect.com/Login.asp

GigMasters costs some money, but you have to decide for yourself if it's in your budget or worth the expense:
http://www.gigmasters.com/

Sonic Bids http://www.sonicbids.com/ has been in the news lately because of complaints of some bands/artists that they're being scammed, but here's CDBaby's forum on it. http://cdbaby.org/stories/08/05/30/7898376.html
Decide for yourselves.

A potential mine of local gig info are sites like Craig's list :
http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites

Yahoo classifieds:
http://classifieds.yahoo.com/

And, one source I can't say enough good things about, Berklee Music. Pretty inexpensive @ $49 a year, IMHO. :
http://www.berkleemusic.com/billboard/jobs/

Festivals are a great source of gigs and future contacts. Festival Network Online has several different price levels, including free. :
http://festivalnet.com/index.html

Reverb Nation is free and uses your MySpace information so looks easy:
http://www.reverbnation.com/

Of course, don't neglect the social networking sites, but an upcoming blog addresses them so we'll save them for later.

I thought this gig calculator might come in handy for you to have. :
http://www.gigcalculator.com/index.html

Molly

Serious musicians only need apply

2008-12-25T14:23:00.000-05:00

Well, alrighty then. You and the guys have rehearsed your butts off, have agreed on 'the look', have your set list down pat, named your band and feel confident that you are ready to take the next step to becoming music professionals. No more free concerts in whatshisname's backyard. Nope, you're ready! So........ what's your next step? How DO you get people who don't know you or who aren't friends of a friend to listen to you long enough to actually pay you serious money for your talent?

The first thing you'll need if you're truly serious is a Press Kit. Yeah, it sounds like suits and ties, but you still need a good one if you're serious about your music business.

The people looking at your Press Kit are professionals, whether it's a venue owner/manager or a studio head. To give them less than your best professionally is an insult that they don't usually take very well.

Next you need a demo. If you're a broad ranged band/artist, it's better to have demos set up for each of the genres you perform. If you don't have that available, make sure to note ON THE DEMO which tracks you want to highlight as being what the one listening to it will want to hear from you. If they're looking for acoustic and your best acoustic isn't your best work, don't bother sending them to the heavy metal and/or the jazz part of the demo. They're not interested and you're wasting their time. Not a good first impression. Do the acoustic over and send it as a separate CD, go with what you've got or forget about the gig. Oh, and don't make too many excuses if you're not happy with the results of the recording EVER. Can I say that again? NEVER NEVER NEVER make less of your work. If you put your best into each performance, that's all you need. Apologizing endlessly denigrates your talent and draws attention to what may be overlooked in an otherwise excellent piece of work. Include in the Press Kit the method used and other specifics on each song and let the professionals draw their own conclusions about the equipment used and quality of the talent versus recording equipment. Making a brief mention that the band doesn't feel it's their best work and are looking forward to the opportunity to apply what they've learned since recording it is acceptable if you just can't stand it. Nothing more, though.

At first you might want to concentrate on some Open Mic nights at your local venues to get new fans and get used to playing together in front of larger crowds. You also will make new friends from established bands, get contact information for paid gigs and might sell some demo CDs if you have some. It's a good experience and will generate good will in the local music community for your band if you mind your manners.

You might also volunteer for local charity events or throw one yourself for the band's favorite non-profit. You don't have to play, though that's the best scenerio, but mingle with other professionals in and outside of the local music community and you'll not only gain new contacts for future gigs, but garner knowledge on how to further your business from successful people in your community. Local news agencies usually will cover events such as these for free and it's good press for the band to participate. I know you already help, but subtly making sure it's known your band participated, even in a limited way is good business sense. If you sponsored and/or organized the event, even better.

You can also offer to open for free for the more well-known local bands in the same or similar genre. Don't leave copies of your Press Kit, business cards and CD demos at home, either. Don't forget to follow up with any band you open for. Drop an email, phone call or whatever to stay in touch. If they're traveling, you can be a source of news from the local music community that they'll enjoy hearing from.

Don't forget that local newspaper reporter! If he/she already knows you through your non-profit efforts, so much the better. If not, contact the newspaper/television/radio station regularly to let them know what you're doing professionally. Send an updated Press Kit along with any news if you don't think they remember you. Sounds pushy? Not if you're working your music business as you should be. The local news agencies will want to know where you are and what you're doing because your fans will want to know. If that's too pushy for you, have a free concert in the local park and send a press announcement. Don't be surprised if you get an interview out of it. Remember the reporter's name and stay in contact if you feel comfortable, even if it's nothing more than a phone call every now and then.

Have the band make a list of local clubs/venues/festivals they'd be interested in playing at. Use the internet and/or local contacts to find out who does booking for each and the requirements to get booked. Deliver your Press Kit to the proper person, either in person or mail. Make sure if it's in person you dress professionally. That doesn't necessarily mean suit and tie, it means in a professional manner. Don't be someone else. Be yourself on your best behavior.

Because you don't want to leave a message when you call back, try to find out when the best time to contact the booking agent in person is during your original contact. Wait a week and call back. If you have to leave a message, leave it once. I'd recommend only calling once to make sure he/she got your message and then leaving it alone if the booking agent doesn't call you back on their own.

After you get a gig, then what?

Call in any chips you're owed. Get those seats warmed! Not having 20-30 seats filled even in the smallest venue is professional suicide. It matters a little if over half of your 'fans' look like you. Not much when you're first starting out, though. You know your relatives/friends' weaknesses. Use your knowledge. Uncle Al loves lobster and has lots of friends/relatives? Arrange an 'after party' with platters that have some lobster dishes. Don't go overboard, just use your noodle. Who would come to your wedding? Your funeral? Let them know this is a close second to either. If the whole band does this, you're bound to have a good crowd.

Show up on time and prepared. This is probably the worst offense that a band can make in order to be taken off the short list of a venue's regular acts. Barring acts of God, BE ON TIME AND BE PREPARED. In fact, giving yourself extra time beforehand will usually take care of those more mundane acts of God such as blown tires, missed directions and hung over band members as well. Volcanic eruptions, Jesus returning and flying cows hitting the windshield are reasons to be late to a gig. Anything else is unacceptable and shows lack of planning and unprofessionalism.

Be nice to everyone at the gig. Sound simplistic? You're a heavy metal screamo band so think you're supposed to be rude and obnoxious? B....S..... You're also human. Act accordingly. Please and thank you aren't cuss words and getting drunk and feeling up women in public and/or breaking other people's stuff is not cool.

Call the gig back a week after the day you played and ask for another booking. If you were polite, professional and talented they'll be happy to find a spot for you if they have one available. If they're booked solid in the near future, ask for other venues the booking agent may know of that will suit your band. Get contact information and a reference if you can. Start the process over. :-)

You can use this article in whole or in part as long as you send me a million dollars and/or a large house with a swimming pool. Oh, okay, you can repost it as long as you give me credit. :-)
Molly

BerkleeShares. Bookmark it. Go back to it often.

2008-12-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

This one speaks for itself and should be in every musician's favorite bookmarks. I know it'll be in a prominent place on my blog (as soon as I figure out where to put it).

Berkleeshares.com

1. Top Ten Truths of the Music Business
Authors: Dave KusekTopics: Music Business & Careers

2. Copyright Infringement
Authors: Don GorderTopics: Music Business & Careers

3. Music Like Water
Authors: Dave KusekTopics: Music Business & Careers

4. Song Quality - Music PublishingAuthors: Eric BeallTopics: Music Business & Careers

5.What Is Music Publishing, Anyway?
Authors: Eric BeallTopics: Music Business & Careers

Who are your fans?

2008-12-25T11:58:00.001-05:00

In order to determine who your fans are, you have to ask them some questions. With the advent of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other sites like it that allow fans to input information about themselves, it's much simpler to acquire as much information about them as they have about you. In addition, there are widgets now that you can put up @ your band site(s) that give fans the opportunity to let you get to know them better, both for more personal connections to your base and for marketing purposes.

Below are some questions you can research for yourself from your fan base(s) that will give you a statistical sampling of very useful information on where to go on your tour, what venues to target and whether to concentrate on urban or suburban settings. By taking some educated guesses as to income, you can even determine what to give away as incentives to loyalty and viral marketing:

What age group are they on average?
What gender?

Image by luc legay via Flickr

Do you appeal to one ethnic group or is your music broadly popular?
What are their education levels?
Are they spiritual or agnostic? Atheists?
Political party?
What are their hobbies?
Where do they shop?
Where do they eat?
What do they eat?
Favorite movies?
Books?
Television shows?
Do they volunteer? If so, where?
What do they do online (other than go to your website)?
Shopping? Games?
What other bands do they listen to and are they similar to yours?

A quick way to get to know your fans is to put up a survey with a list of questions about themselves. Make it clear it's just for you, not to sell to list makers. Your core fan base will beat each other over the head to get to tell you more about who they are. You could reward them for filling out the survey by giving them a discount off of your next CD or a free T-Shirt/bumper sticker.

The ones who answer that survey will be LOYAL fans. Find out who they are, what they do and where they shop, volunteer, go for recreation and education and/or work and that's where you'll find more loyal fans. You can use the same tactic over again to dig deep into what makes your fan base tick. Each time reward those who fill out the surveys with something only they can get.

Got a video camera?

Image by pantagrapher via Flickr

Stop filming yourselves.
Film your fans and review the tape.

What are they dressed like?
What are their ages?
Did they just get off work or out of class before coming to your concert?
Do they bring their kids to see you?
Their nieces and nephews?
Their friends and/or co-workers?

Don't expect your fans to always come to you and have your interests. Find out their interests and come to them where they live, work and play. They'll meet you more than half way and become even more loyal because you showed an interest in them other than their wallets.
Molly

A few words in support of record labels

2008-12-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

We spend alot of time attacking the record labels for making money off of the artists/bands. It's become a profession for some, cranking out books on how to get around their rules (and making their millions in the process); swaggering around being 'independent' and finding myriad ways not to have to deal with them.
But, to be fair, where would the music industry in general BE w/o those record labels? Would we have ever heard of Elvis? Ray Charles? Aretha Franklin? Buddy Holly? GunsNRoses? That's just a few that permanently changed the music industry just by being who they were and belting their hearts out to larger and larger audiences specifically because someone with money heard that 'something' and felt the world would want to hear it also and were willing to risk millions on that belief.
And, recently the record industry has went to bat about file sharing and the internet. Sure, they did it for selfish reasons. Who cares? The result is that the small indie artist is reaping the benefit of court rulings that determine what is his/her intellectual property, not to be bought, sold or even given away w/o their permission. Do YOU have enough money to take a case all the way to the USSC to retain the rights to your own product? If not, thank a record magnate for doing what you cannot afford to do.
Just keep that in mind as you copywrite your original songs, trademark your logo, and put your CDs out for sale. Use caution in ALL of your business dealings, just make sure you don't cut off your own nose to spite your face by refusing entirely to deal w/those who can forward your career in their best interests as well as yours.
Tomorrow, I think I'll defend managers and promoters. ;-)
Molly

Inspiration

2008-12-22T17:53:00.000-05:00

This is from a few years ago, but I liked when I re-read it again, so I'm sharing it with you. It was inspired by Sue, a songwriter friend of mine who's sensitivity to her subject leaves me in awe of her talent.
myspace.com/sueslyrics

She waits in the wings, breath held sharply,
Her soul bared by flamboyant gestures and courageous riffs.
Pained expression.
Panicked eyes.
Fear and stillness, frozen quiet in the darkness.
That's not my soul being bared. Impatiently she shifts.
Sorrowed suppression.
Butterflies.
Suddenly the tempo changes, echoes on echoes.
Sharp waves of her soul's cries dart from the guitar strings.
The violin whimpers her fears.
Hands clenched.
Eyes wide.
The piano enters softly with a subtle beat, tapping toes.
Soaring rhythms and husky voices reminding her soul to sing.
Quietly drying her tears.
Face drenched.
Smiling widely.
Validation.
Understanding.
Empathy.