Web for Musicians

Featuring four seasoned music business executives — David...

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 18:56:03 -0400

Featuring four seasoned music business executives — David Avery of Powderfinger Promotions, Bernard Chiu of First Act, Steve Walter of The Cutting Room and Joe McGuire, formerly of Tweeter — the 2007 Berklee Music Business Seminar panel discusses a number of topics of interest to music business entrepreneurs for an audience at Berklee College of Music. Among the things they discuss are: hiring your dream team, finding a balance between work and life, growing your business, and honing the instincts and skills that will give you the drop on your competition.

How to Execute a Successful Fan Funded / Direct-to-Fan Marketing...

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 02:11:43 -0400

How to Execute a Successful Fan Funded / Direct-to-Fan Marketing Campaign — an interview with Benji Rogers, CEO of Pledge Music (posted by Berklee College of Music)…

Kickstarter and the Artist-to-Audience Ratio In the...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:57:45 -0400

Kickstarter and the Artist-to-Audience Ratio

In the “concepts from an unusual source” category, here’s a fabulous article that relates directly to all musicians wishing to go the crowdfunding route — MAKE Magazine’s David Lang writes in-depth about the mechanics of audience numbers, and discusses the concept of “True Fan” and “True Believer”:

A True Believer is someone who knows you, the person behind the art or product. Someone you’ve confided in by showing them your art or explaining your business plan. They care about your product, because they also care about you. Not only will they buy your product, but they’ll tell everyone they know about what you’re doing; they’ll get the word out.

Read the entire article at MAKE | Kickstarter and the Artist-to-Audience Ratio

Your 60 Minute Social Media Plan How to take care of your daily...

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 20:36:43 -0400

Your 60 Minute Social Media Plan

How to take care of your daily social media creation, curation, and engagement in only one hour per day, via the Social Media Cafe…

Five Ways to Fit Social Media Into Your Busy Day

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:51:04 -0400

Travel Market Report has posted an article about managing your social media amid a busy lifestyle — which musicians generally seem to have on some level. Author Sophie Bujold offer five strategies for the person with no time for social media by stating, among other things:

Social media only becomes a time-sucking vortex when you shift your focus from producing content that will help with business to consuming whatever your eyes fall upon when you’re online.

Bujold also suggests four tools that can significantly help you with your social media management. Read the entire article at Travel Market Report.

Using Pinterest for Artist Marketing

Wed, 23 May 2012 20:05:05 -0400

Currently one of the fastest growing social media sites, Pinterest is yet another avenue for you to use to market yourself and your music. In a recent article on Hypebot by Valeria Bornstein of Fame House, numerous examples and strategies for using Pinterest are discussed, beginning with why the site is seeing so much growth:

First, their platform is visually appealing. Users select items of interest based primarily on imagery, so there is very little text to read, ultimately retaining a user’s attention for much longer.

Another factor is that Pinterest users can sign in through Facebook or Twitter, which automatically integrates them into their existing social networks. This means that sharing across social media platforms is already built into Pinterest, even if one may not have any Pinterest “followers” yet. Yet another key advantage for Pinterest is in its easy-to-use interface. People can navigate it and create new boards without much trouble or confusion – very clean, and very simple.

Be sure to read the complete article at Hypebot for all the details on how you can use Pinterest to market yourself and your music. Did you know we have a Web for Musicians board over on Pinterest you can follow?

Brian Solis with Billy Corgan: Why Musicians Need More Than...

Fri, 18 May 2012 19:17:38 -0400

Brian Solis with Billy Corgan: Why Musicians Need More Than Viral Videos to Succeed

Dig this fabulous conversation between new media relations guru Brian Solis and Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Bill Corgan on the current state of affairs for musicians and their lives online… well worth your time… read the entire companion article at Mashable…

10 Effective Strategies to Get Your Music Noticed

Tue, 15 May 2012 20:53:00 -0400

Disc Makers recently released a free downloadable PDF called “10 Effective Strategies to Get Your Music Noticed” by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan, authors of The Indie Band Survival Guide. Each of the ten strategies draws attention to different resources, both online and in the real world, to use to your benefit to gain exposure for you music. Download it free at Discmakers.

Musicians: Stop Building an Email List

Sun, 13 May 2012 14:46:42 -0400

Chris Rockett of Music Marketing Classroom has posted a great article about e-mail lists. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction:

I know the title of this post may seem a little bit weird considering I have been banging on about fan capture for the past guzumteen years, but hear me out… Something was buzzing around my head this morning that I probably stole from somewhere but let’s pretend that’s it my own original thought ;-). Here goes… You need to stop building an email list…or in other words you need to stop thinking about it like a LIST. Just to be clear…there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that having a way to connect with your fans instantly is your most important asset…but actually thinking about them like a LIST makes them sound like groceries and does not help you on your mission to entertain and delight them.

Read the entire article at Hypebot…

Music Business Professor Michael Harrington on Today’s Job...

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:41:31 -0400

Music Business Professor Michael Harrington on Today’s Job Market for Musicians (by Artists House Music)

The Music Biz Weekly Podcast: Episode #52 An unedited, no-holds...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:14:25 -0400

The Music Biz Weekly Podcast: Episode #52

An unedited, no-holds barred discussion with Brian Thompson and Michael Brandvold, bullshitting about a range of current music industry topics such as: the all-new Facebook Timeline for Artist Fan Pages, a new website building platform for musicians called StageBloc, info on our upcoming Webinar on Direct-to-Fan Marketing, and the latest complaint about Spotify and other music subscription services from none other than the Black Keys.

6 Essential Elements For Every Artist's Homepage

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:23:38 -0400

Read the complete article by David Dufresne, CEO of musician website and marketing platform Bandzoogle…

12 Strategies For Long Term Success As An Indie Artist

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:19:00 -0400

Read the complete article by Vinnie Ribas, the Founder and CEO of Indie Connect…

Twitter Releases Guide for Musicians and Artists

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 01:48:44 -0400

Twitter has posted their very own list of suggestions and examples of how musicians and other artists can effectively use Twitter, aptly titled “Twitter for Musicians and Artists”. It’s a great article that covers a ton of ground, with lots of ideas — no need to download it, it’s available for reading over at the Twitter Dev Blog…

Tutorial on webtool Daytum with a slant for musicians, presented...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:59:00 -0400

Tutorial on webtool Daytum with a slant for musicians, presented by Red Raspus Music…

A 45-minute seminar in music business strategy with Berklee...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:59:00 -0400

A 45-minute seminar in music business strategy with Berklee professor John Kellogg, presented by Artists House Music…