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Social Media Trends: Focus on Your Website, Songwriting, and Playing Live (?!)

November 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Social Media Panel OCFF (photo: David Dufresne)

This post was written for Bandzoogle, a website platform for musicians. Bandzoogle is a Montreal-based company, founded and run by musicians, and has every tool a musician needs for their website. Visit Bandzoogle.com to take the tour or get started right away and build your website free.

 

I had the pleasure of moderating a panel called “Social Media: New Trends for Current Users” at the recent OCFF conference in Niagara Falls. After 90 minutes of discussion, the end result of this social media panel was that artists should focus on their own website, their mailing list, songwriting and live performance. Say what?! Allow me to explain.

Social Media Trends: Focus on Your Website, Songwriting, and Playing Live (?!)

The goal of the panel at OCFF was to examine the latest trends in social media, how to manage all of your profiles, and to discuss new tips/tactics, etc. On the panel were Selena Burgess (social media maven for Borealis Records), Tom Power (host of CBC Radio 2’s Deep Roots) and singer-songwriter Ember Swift, who manages her social media accounts in both English and Mandarin since she’s now living in China.

So I threw out questions about how to manage several social media accounts (Hootsuite was the popular choice amongst panelists), what everyone thought about some of Facebook’s new features (not very popular so far), Twitter trends, and the latest, greatest social media network, Google+ (not too many people using it apparently).

But in the end, no matter what I did to steer the conversation towards a social media geek-out session, the panelists and artists in attendance always brought the discussion back to the basics:

1. You still need your own website

Any work you do through your social media networks needs to bring people back to your own website. Bandzoogle founder Chris Vinson just wrote a blog post about why this is so important:

3 Reasons to Drive Fans to Your Band Website (and not to Social Media)

But essentially, it’s because you own it, you control it, and you can give your fans a focused experience of your band through your own site. By bringing fans back to your own website you can deepen your relationship with them, encourage them to sign-up to your mailing list, and shop at your own online store.

2. You still need to collect email addresses

Email addresses are gold for an artist’s career. It is still the most reliable way to stay in touch with your fans. Regardless of what happens to the social media sites that are popular at the moment (remember all the fans you had on MySpace?), you can stay in touch with your fans through email.

Just recently, Facebook changed the way pages worked, removing the “Update Your Fans” feature, which sent a message to all of your fans. Ember Swift brought this up during the panel discussion, as she had been using that feature’s geo-location option to target fans by region while on her current North American tour. Well, halfway through her tour, because Facebook decided to make the change, she could no longer send those updates, let alone target fans geographically. Luckily Ember had always kept her mailing list going, organized by region, so she could still send out newsletters and email fans individually before she came to their city. But had she relied solely on Facebook Pages, that could have potentially been disastrous for her promotional efforts on tour.

Statistics from TopSpin, one of the top direct-to-fan marketing platforms, show that email is still the best way to convert fans to paying customers. With all of the fancy Facebook stores, and sales links being sent out through social media, sending a newsletter with a call-to-action to purchase through your own website (preferably) or through services that people recognize (iTunes, Amazon, etc.) still seems to work best.

3. Your music and live show must be GREAT

Nothing, I repeat NOTHING will be better for the promotion of your music than having other people talking about it. New fans are often created because they hear about a band through a trusted source. So if your music or live show is so good that it gets people talking about it, it’s going to spread naturally.

Tom Power’s last words during the panel talked about how social media marketing can’t make up for bad music. It reminded me of a great quote by Bob Lefsetz:

“No amount of Tweeting and Facebooking and online dunning will make up for lame music.”

 

Should you be active on social media? Yes. It is an important tool in your career and a great way to connect with your fans. But it should never come at the expense of your art. I actually wrote a blog post recently asking if social media was hurting creativity, and in the responses, Bandzoogle member D. Anson Brody mentioned another great quote from comedian/actor/musician Steve Martin:

“Be so good, they can’t ignore you”

 

And that is what will make you stand out more than any amount of tweeting or Facebook updates. Being so good, people have no choice but to pay attention to you and talk about you to their friends.

A Failed Panel Discussion About Social Media?

In my opinion, not at all. While these aren’t exactly new trends in social media, I was heartened by the fact that people are realizing that they can’t let go of these basic principles. Without solid music, a great live show, and a home base for your fans, your best efforts on social media are likely to fall flat.

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Musicians and the Art of Polite Persistence

September 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Don't Quit

This post was written for Bandzoogle, a website platform for musicians. Bandzoogle is a Montreal-based company, founded and run by musicians, and has every tool a musician needs for their website. Visit Bandzoogle.com to take the tour or get started right away and build your website free.

Musicians and the Art of Polite Persistence

A few weeks ago I went back to a venue that I was the program director at for 3 years. The band playing that night was a jazz trio called “Apartment 5”. I realized that the bass player Paul is the perfect example of polite persistence, because it took almost a year for me to first book his band, but they have been playing regular gigs at the venue ever since.

I first heard from Paul after I had started booking a space called the St-Ambroise Centre here in Montreal, which is owned and operated by local micro-brewery McAuslan Brewing (if you can find their St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, it’s considered to be the best stout in the world by many beer geeks). Anyway, his jazz trio had played at a visual arts event at the venue (the artist had hired them), and he called me shortly after to see if we would be interested in hiring his band for other gigs. I explained that it was something we simply didn’t do. We didn’t charge to rent the space, but we also didn’t offer guarantees to bands. But they were a work-for-hire band, so there was nothing I could for them at the time.

A few months later, I got a voice mail from Paul, asking if we had any need for his jazz trio. I didn’t call him back this time because I was swamped with work, and there was still nothing I could do for him. A few months later, he called back and we spoke on the phone once again. I didn’t have anything different to tell him, but he was a nice guy and I honestly didn’t mind talking to him for a few minutes.

Opportunity Knocked

These phone calls and messages continued every once in a while for most of that year, until one day we got a call at the venue to host a private event for a company. It turned out they wanted a jazz trio for entertainment during the evening. Guess who I thought of first? My friend Paul. So I called him up and offered him the gig. It was for less money than they normally charged, but Paul said they’d take the gig to show me what it was like to work with the band and to prove themselves.

As it turned out, they were perfect. Great musicians, totally professional. They came in, set-up on time, played their sets, tore down and got out of the way (and they didn’t get drunk, eat all of the client’s food, etc.). They knew they were there to do a job and that’s what they did. I was really impressed.

I got a thank you phone call from Paul shortly after (remember how much I love those). He of course reminded me they were available to do more gigs, and I reminded him that this was a one-off kind of thing, but that I would keep him in mind if anything else came up.

The Pay Off

Well, the following spring I was given the keys to the much larger outdoor space at the micro-brewery, the St-Ambroise Terrace (250+ capacity versus 50+ capacity). We also made a decision to invest a considerable amount of money into hiring entertainment throughout the summer, a good portion of which would go to weekly music nights. I think you know who got a lot of those gigs, and they’ve been playing regularly at the space for 3 years now, even after I left my job as the program director.

Everyone Needs a Polite Reminder

So when I saw Paul recently after his set at the St-Ambroise Terrace, I reminded him how it had all started with his regular phone calls and messages. We laughed about it, but then he thanked me for reminding him. He admitted it’s not easy to do for an artist, and he had lost sight of the fact that polite persistence can indeed pay off. He realized that there were a bunch of potential clients that he had stopped phoning simply because he had lost confidence after he wasn’t getting calls back, but he said he would pick up the phone and try again.

I figured since the guy who was in my mind the perfect example of polite persistence needed a friendly reminder, then other musicians might need one as well. So take it from someone who was fielding dozens of booking emails/calls every week for 4 years, polite persistence can indeed pay off.

IMPORTANT: Why Paul’s Polite Persistence Paid Off

It’s one thing to say that polite persistence works, but I want to take a closer look at specifically why it worked in this case:

1. They never sounded bitter, angry or frustrated

Whenever Paul called, he never came across as pushy, and never sounded bitter, angry or frustrated that I wasn’t booking him. He was always upbeat, asked me how things at the venue were going, and was just fun to talk to. The reality is that had he given me any attitude along the way about not booking the band, the story probably would’ve ended there.

2. They didn’t take a non-reply as a “No”

There were several times when I didn’t call Paul back, but he didn’t take the non-reply as a “No”, and neither should you. If a booker or media person (or anyone else you’re trying to reach) doesn’t return your phone call or respond to your email, all it means is that they didn’t return your phone call or respond to your email. It doesn’t mean the answer is no.

People are extremely busy, especially any gatekeepers in the industry, and emails and phone calls often get lost in the shuffle. Heck, even when I did tell Paul the answer was “no”, he still persisted, but that’s because I always left the door open to the situation changing in the future, so he kept following up until the answer was a definite “No”, which it never ended up being.

3. They persisted, to a point

Yes, Paul persisted, but he didn’t call every day or even every week. It was more like once every few months. Had he called me every day or every few days, I probably would’ve blocked his number and never booked the band. He struck the right balance.

4. Once opportunity knocked, they exceeded expectations

Once the band got the first gig, they did an amazing job and exceeded my expectations. They even took the gig for less money than they were usually paid, just to get their feet in the door. They made sure that if ever another opportunity came up, I would have no choice but to think to book them, which is exactly what happened.

Have you ever used polite persistence to get a gig? How about to get an interview in the media or song on the radio? Let us know in the comments section below!

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21 Ways to Collaborate with Other Artists & Bands to Get More Fans

September 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Dynamic Duo

This post was written for Bandzoogle, a website platform for musicians. Bandzoogle is a Montreal-based company, founded and run by musicians, and has every tool a musician needs for their website. Visit Bandzoogle.com to take the tour or get started right away and build your website free.

 

One of the best ways for emerging bands to gain new fans is to be exposed to another band’s audience. Especially if you have similar target markets, fans are more likely to trust a recommendation coming from a band they already know and like. Here are some ideas on how you can collaborate with other artists and bands to grow your fan base:

21 Ways to Collaborate with Other Artists & Bands to Get More Fans

Collaborate on Live Shows

Likely the easiest and most common way to collaborate with other bands is to play gigs together. Here are a few different ways to collaborate on gigs:

1. Gig Swap

This is of course a no-brainer. Find other like-minded bands whose musical style either compliments you, or even better, that would make for an interesting combination, giving fans of both bands a unique experience. You can open for each other at different shows, and this will work especially well if the other band is based in a different (but nearby) city. You can do gig swaps to help each other break into new markets.

2. Festival gigs

 

If you’re playing a festival and there is an artist or members of a band that you want to collaborate with, why not create a special environment at your festival gig by collaborating on a song or two? I’ve seen artists collaborate on festival stages big and small, and it usually makes for a buzz-worthy performance that gets people talking.

3. Conference showcases

 

Same idea as with festivals, but if you manage to get a showcase at a music conference, why not bring in another artist to collaborate on a song? Just be sure to have rehearsed it live before showcasing.

4. Tours

 

Take the concept of playing live with another band even further and book a tour together. It could be just a weekend tour of a few cities close to home, or a full-out regional/national tour.

Collaborate on Recordings

For your next album, try and think of some like-minded artists that you can collaborate with. Collaborating on recordings can be done in many different ways, here are a few to consider:

5. Guest performances

 

The simplest thing you can do is perform on each other’s recordings (sing, play an instrument, DJ, rap, etc.). If you want to get the most bang for your buck, make sure that in the song title it actually lists the other artist “X Song Name (Featuring X Artist)”.

6. Co-write a song

 

Next step would be to co-write with another artist. This will not only be great for the sake of collaboration, but might help with each of your songwriting abilities and open up some new ideas, which is never a bad thing.

7. Cover a song

 

Why not cover a song by a fellow emerging band whose fan base would like your music? It’s a great way to flatter the band and also generate buzz for both of you.

8. Produce each other’s music

 

An even more involved way to collaborate in the studio is to take turns producing each other’s songs. This can give each of you a new perspective on the songs you choose to produce for each other.

Often emerging artists can’t afford to hire a producer, but having that objective ear can really help improve the songs. So if you have an opportunity to have a peer produce a song, it might be worthwhile to give it a try.

9. Remix songs

 

Another great way to collaborate is to approach an artist to do a remix of one of your songs. You can even remix each other’s songs, or take it further and do remix albums of each other’s music.

10. Release an exclusive single/EP

 

If you’ve collaborated with another band through guest appearances, songwriting, production, remixes, etc., why not release an exclusive digital single or EP through your website?

Even better, couple that digital release with the release of a limited edition vinyl: Vinyl sales already up 41% on the year

Collaborate Using Video

There are also lots of possibilities to use video for collaborations:

11. Official music videos

 

If you’ve guested on a song, or co-written a song together, collaborating on an official music video is also a no-brainer.

12. Live videos

 

If you’ve collaborated with another band live on stage, be sure to get some footage of it for both bands to use to promote to their fans.

13. Cover song videos

 

Even if you haven’t covered the band’s song on your album, you can still release videos covering songs of fellow emerging bands that you want to collaborate with. Chances are that both of your fan bases will get a kick out of this.

14. Videos from the Studio

 

If you’re doing any kind of collaboration in the studio, be sure to get some footage of it to release on your website/YouTube, etc. Remember, when you’re in the studio, don’t shut out your fans.

15. Live streaming video

 

Why not use live streaming video while in studio, at a live gig, or even after a gig to chat with fans of both bands?

Collaborate Using Your Website

Don’t forget to use your website to help in your collaboration with other bands. Here are some of the ways to drive people to your website:

16. On Your Blog

 

It can be as simple as blogging about the other band. You can:

  • Talk about why you like their music
  • Do a review their album
  • Interview the band

17. Photo Galleries

 

Use photo galleries to highlight collaborations with other bands, including pictures from studio sessions, pictures from live shows, or just the bands hanging out together.

Note: Live Video & Exclusive Music

If you do decide to use live video streaming in your collaborations, be sure to host the video on your own site and not the streaming service’s site. Most services will let you embed HTML to host the feed directly on your own website.

And as mentioned earlier, if you do collaborate on a recording with another band, why not release the track(s) exclusively through your website? Take advantage of any excuse to drive traffic to your website where people can sign-up to your mailing list, shop at your online store, etc.

 

Collaborate Using Social Media

And last but not least, probably the quickest way to collaborate with other bands and help each other out is to use social media. You can:

18. Exchange Tweets

 

Tweet praise about each other and encourage your fans to follow each other’s band.

19. Host a Twitter Chat

 

Why not organize a Twitter chat session for fans of both bands so you can chat with each other’s fans. What’s a Twitter chat? Here’s a great article that explains what it is and how to set one up: http://mashable.com/2009/12/08/twitter-chat/

20. Use Facebook status updates

 

You can each talk about why you like the other band and be sure to link to each other’s fan page.

21. Post a Facebook Note

 

Create a Facebook note talking about the other band, just be sure to tag the other band in the note as Madalyn Sklar pointed out in her guest blog about Facebook Notes here on Bandzoogle.

Note: And it goes without saying, use social media to drive fans to your website to view your blog posts, video blogs, live video and other exclusive content on your website.

 

The bottom line is that the more emerging artists join forces to help each other out through collaborations, the more buzz it will generate, which will no doubt result in more fans for each band.

Rappers do it best

The amount of collaborations and guest appearances that happen in hip hop eclipse’s other genres. As discussed in a Digital Music News Article “The Top 8 Reasons Why Rappers Make Better Businessmen…”, guest appearances help amplify your music to new audiences, and rappers use this tactic often and to great effect.

Making the news these days is the high-profile collaboration between Kanye West and Jay-Z called “Watch the Throne”. But I’ll end this post with a more old-school example.

Here’s a video of one of the most famous collaborations that crossed over genres and garnered both groups increased sales, awards, and arguably spawned a new genre of music:

P.S.- A Shout-out

In the world of music blogging, with so many blogs and writers out there, the chances of overlap are great. Case in point, this blog post was in the can and scheduled to go up a few week ago, but with a back-log of content, we delayed publishing it until this week.

Well, ironically, David Hooper over at Music Marketing [dot] com posted a blog recently called “5 Ways to Collaborate (or Partner) with Other Bands”. And although there are of course some similarities, there are a few ways to collaborate with other bands that didn’t make it onto my list, so head on over there if you’re looking for a few other ways to collaborate with bands.

Question: In what creative ways have you collaborated with other artists or bands? Please leave us your comments below.

 

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Is Social Media Hurting Your Band’s Creativity?

August 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Computer and guitar

This post was written for Bandzoogle, a website platform for musicians. Bandzoogle is a Montreal-based company, founded and run by musicians, and has every tool a musician needs for their website. Visit Bandzoogle.com to take the tour or get started right away and build your website free.

 

For the past few years I’ve been advising every band I speak to that they “must” be on social media sites to promote their music. But do emerging bands really need to be using social media? Is it possible that too much time spent on social media can actually hurt your creative output?

 

Is Social Media Hurting Your Band’s Creativity?

I recently went on vacation for a week. It was the first time in 2 years that I had been away from a computer for more than 24 hours, and with it, away from Facebook and Twitter. It allowed me to completely disconnect, relax and truly reflect on life.

Then a funny thing happened: I noticed that by the end of the week I had come up with more quality ideas than I had in a long time. It’s as if my brain just needed a break from the constant bombardment of Twitter updates and Facebook notifications to be creative again.

So I asked myself a simple question: was constant activity on social media hurting my creative output?

Digital Downtime and Creativity

I did some research and discovered the concept of “Digital Downtime”. When one of the world’s best-known marketing/communications firms JWT released their “100 Things to Watch in 2011”, #25 on the list was “Digital Downtime”:

“These mindful breaks from digital input will be intended to relieve stress and foster creativity.”

The New York Times also published an article related to the subject of digital downtime, and in the article it mentions that scientists had discovered that:

“…when people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas.”

When you’re spending a lot of time on social media sites, where you’re constantly reacting to questions and comments, focusing on updating your profiles, is it possible that it can hurt your creativity in other areas?

Social Media Not for Everyone?

The topic of social media and creativity actually came up in my interview with online fandom expert Nancy Baym right here on the Bandzoogle blog:

“I encourage artists to use social media, but they don’t have to use every site and if, for them, social media are uncomfortable or deterrents to creative production, it’s totally okay not to use them.”

I think it was the first time I heard someone say that it’s okay for a band not to be using social media. Then Berklee Blogs published an incredibly revealing interview with John Mayer, who at one point had over 4 million Twitter followers, but then gave it up completely. Here’s why:

“You’re coming up with 140-character zingers, and the song is still 4 minutes long…I realized about a year ago that I couldn’t have a complete thought anymore. And I was a tweetaholic. And I stopped using twitter as an outlet and I started using twitter as the instrument to riff on, and it started to make my mind smaller and smaller and smaller. And I couldn’t write a song.”

But John Mayer is not the only artist to question Twitter and social media. Many artists are leaving Twitter, and in some cases donating their accounts. As Nancy Baym also pointed out, other artists like Sufjan Stevens simply never used social media to begin with.

So the question becomes: do all bands really need to be using social media?

Music Should Always Come First

“Focus on the music and the show, the rest is secondary.” – Bob Lefsetz

At the end of the day, your music is what’s most important. In an age where there are so many other bands out there, what truly stands out is great music. So if your band is just starting out, should you be spending a lot of time on social media trying to gain new fans? Could that time be better spent writing, rehearsing, and recording? Especially when you consider that most emerging musicians work day jobs and their time is limited to begin with, where should that limited amount of time be spent? Social media might not be the answer.

Should Bands Give Up Social Media Completely?

But should bands give up social media completely? I think it comes down to personal choice and what’s right for your own career. If you find that being on social media is hurting your creative output or taking time away from rehearsals, then you might want to scale back. Moderation is key. Or, you can simply choose to hold-off using social media until you feel that your music is truly ready to promote to the public. As John Mayer told the audience at Berklee:

“This is not a time to promote yourself. It doesn’t matter. This is the time to get your stuff together. Promotion can be like that. You can have promotion in 30 seconds if your stuff is good.”

So the next time a band tells me that they’re not going to use social media, I’m not going to react as if they just told me they killed a unicorn. If they feel that social media is not right for them at this point in their career, then I think that’s totally valid.

Do you find that too much time spent on social media hurts your creativity? Please leave your comments below.

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5 Key Elements to a Solid Band Bio

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

BAnd Bio

This post was written for Bandzoogle, a website platform for musicians. Bandzoogle is a Montreal-based company, founded and run by musicians, and has every tool a musician needs for their website. Visit Bandzoogle.com to take the tour or get started right away and build your website free.

One of the first things bands have to do when they create their website is to add a bio. It can be challenging, and many get stuck on what exactly they should write. Here are some key elements that you should have in your bio to help get you started:

5 Key Elements to a Solid Band Bio

1. Who you are

 

Some questions you should answer right away in your bio:

 

  • What’s your band name?
  • Where are you from?
  • What do you sound like?
  • What are your influences?

 

Remember that your bio will be the first impression that most people have of your band, so this first paragraph is really important. Make it interesting, engaging and as unique as possible.

2. What’s going on with your career right now?

 

Have you just released a new album? Are you in studio? Are you currently on a songwriting retreat in Nashville? Make sure to include some information about what you’re currently up to in your bio.

3. Background info

 

Feel free to include some pertinent background info, but within reason. Nothing will make a media or industry person’s eyes gloss over more quickly than reading something like “Dave started taking pianos lessons when he was 5 years old. At age 6 he…”, etc. Find an interesting way to explain your musical history without necessarily spelling out each step from childhood until now.

4. Career highlights

 

Take the time to write down all of the successes you’ve had in your career, big and small. Did you collaborate with a well-known musician? Did your band win any awards/contests? Have you charted on radio? Once you’ve done that, choose the most unique/eye catching stories and include at least one of them in your bio.

5. Media quotes

 

If you have any quotes from media or industry people, definitely include one or two in your bio. Maybe have one in the opening paragraph to help describe your sound, and maybe a quote to end your bio talking about your potential as a band. And although tempting, please don’t include quotes from your Mom. If you don’t have any industry or media quotes, that’s fine, better not to have any than to make something up.

Bonus tips:

Here are a few extra tips to keep in mind for your band’s bio:

 

  • Have several versions ready

It’s a good idea to have several versions of your bio ready: Long (1 page), Medium (2 or 3
paragraphs), short (1 paragraph) and an ‘elevator pitch’. An elevator pitch is a way to
quickly describe your music in 30 seconds, so it should only be a few sentences.

For some great tips on how to create your pitch, check out Ariel Hyatt’s guest blog right here on Bandzoogle:
Creating a Perfect Pitch – Laser Focus Your Message

Music conferences, festivals and media outlets have different needs and criteria, so having different versions ready beforehand will save you time and potential panic in having to edit your bio in situations where you need to submit it right away.

  • Be honest (no making stuff up)

It might be tempting to say that you showcased at SXSW, or to add a quote from a major news outlet talking about your music, but if it isn’t legit, don’t write it. People will eventually find out, and it’s not worth the backlash or the risk of being blacklisted by media.

  • No typos

Seriously, no typos.

  • Keep it current

 

And last but not least, always keep your bio current. The moment something significant happens in your career, you should update your bio with this new information. If you’ve gone from being in the studio to releasing your album, update your bio. If you’ve release the album and are now going on a National tour, add that to your bio, etc. Your bio should be continually updated as your career moves forward.

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Why Bands Shouldn’t Give Away (ALL) their Music for Free

May 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This post was written for Bandzoogle, a website platform for musicians. Bandzoogle is a Montreal-based company, founded and run by musicians, and has every tool a musician needs for their website. Visit Bandzoogle.com to take the tour or get started right away and build your website free.


There’s a lot of talk in the music industry about the diminishing value of recorded music and how bands should look for other ways to make money. The argument for giving away your music is that you should simply want to have your music heard, and since people can generally find music online for free, then why bother putting a price tag on it? Live shows, merchandise, licensing, and subscriptions are just some of the ways that bands are encouraged to generate revenue. However, should artists just give up selling their music? Are we to believe that nobody buys music anymore? I’m not so sure that’s the case.

The topic became front and center for me recently after I spent a considerable amount of time following indie artists from all over North America on Twitter. I was shocked at how many would automatically send me a direct message with a link to download their entire album for free. I didn’t sign up to their mailing list, I didn’t have to buy other merchandise in a bundled package offer, I simply followed them on Twitter and received a free album of music. I couldn’t help but think: too much, too soon?

I started following the artists out of curiosity, but I don’t know who they are yet, what their personalities are like, etc. It was simply a first step in the relationship, and they’ve already given away what could be their most valued asset: their music. There is a hint of desperation to it, but that’s understandable, because with so many other artists out there, how do you compete? How do you get your music heard? Well, why not give away your music for free to anyone and everyone you can?

Here’s another way to look at it, keeping with the example on Twitter:

One artist sent me a direct message thanking me for following them. The message was hilarious. The artist obviously has a great sense of humour, so I already know something about them that gives me a better sense of who they are as a person. They also included a link, but it was to their website where I could hear their music, not download it for free or buy it, but simply hear it. And because the link took me to their website, it increased the chances of having me see their latest blog posts, watch some videos, to sign-up to the mailing list or even shop in their store. Although I did go to the site, I simply listened to a few tracks, one of which I found kind of catchy, and moved on.

Fast forward to a few weeks later. The artist tweets something I find funny, I tweet back, and they respond to me right away. Awesome, they’re engaged with their fans, I was impressed. A few weeks after that, I tweet something, the artist responds to my tweet with a personalized joke that had me laughing out loud at my computer. The artist is paying attention to their fans’ tweets as well, now I’m really impressed. I went back to the artist’s website, saw that they had a new EP for sale, and bought it for $5.

So what happened here? The artist took time to develop a relationship with me. Once I knew the artist better, once they had made a deeper connection with me by making me laugh and responding to me personally a few times, they no longer felt like just another one of the thousands of other artists out there. They stood out from the pack because they took time to get to know me and I felt like I was a part of their world. Now I wanted to support their career. Could I have bought a t-shirt or a hat? Maybe, but I didn’t want to buy any new clothes, and I didn’t need a new mug or trinket. Could I have bought a ticket to their show next time they passed through Montreal? Possibly, but I wanted to show support in the moment, and given their geographic location, a show here was unlikely. The simplest way for me to show support was to buy their music, which is what I did. And what if they had simply given me their EP for free like the other artists? They would have $5 less in their bank account today.

But Aren’t Music Sales Tanking?

Let’s take a quick look at the numbers:

  • Digital distributor TuneCore boasts over 45 million in music sales through their service
  • CD Baby reported music sales of almost $40 million in 2010 alone
  • Our very own Bandzoogle members recently crossed $4,000,000 in music and merchandise sales.

Are CD sales down? Yes. Are they non-existent? No. Are digital sales flattening out? Perhaps. Are they non-existent? You get the idea. People still spend money on music when they perceive that music to be valuable. And this is the key to selling any product or service: creating value.

Note: There are those who will argue that TuneCore’s sales are skewed because they have several former major label artists selling in their catalogue, or that CD Baby’s album sales actually went down while new album additions went up. I don’t want to turn this into a debate about their numbers. The reason I’ve included them is that they simply illustrate that there are obviously still some people out there buying music.

 

Note #2: Here’s a nice article detailing how paid single tracks are still the dominant force in digital music revenue: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/05/digital-radio-paid-musicians-36-million-more-than-paid-subcriptions-last-year.html

How to Create Value

So if the key to selling your music is to create value for it, how can you go about doing that? Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Develop a relationship with your fans

One of the most important ways to create value for your music is to create a deeper connection with your fans. Every day take time to respond to fan e-mails, tweets, questions on Facebook, etc. Don’t just promote yourself and your music, have a conversation with your fans. Make them laugh, ask them questions, find out more about them, make them feel like they’re part of your world and that you’re a part of theirs. Take time to develop a relationship with them and they’ll want to support your career, which can of course include buying your music.

  • Generate lots of content

Blog regularly, post video blogs, music videos, etc. By generating content on a regular basis, you’ll give people a better sense of your personality and show that you’re an active artist. And if a fan responds to a blog post or video blog, respond as soon as you can and never leave them hanging.

  • Be genuine, be your unique self

The key to fan engagement is being your true self. Make sure to bring out your personality and you’ll attract like-minded people who you can have a genuinely deeper connection with.

  • Use emotion

People respond to emotion. Make people laugh, make them cry, inspire them, and they are more likely to respond and feel a deeper sense of connection to you as an artist. Use your lyrics, your personality, make engaging videos, well-written blog posts and show your emotions. You never know when somebody will really connect with how you‘re feeling.

  • Bundled options

Always offer buying options for everyone from a hardcore fan to someone who just wants to show a little bit of support for your career. From the single song download, to a personalized signed CD, to a bundled option with other merchandise, make sure there are plenty of options for the different level of fan.

  • Release great music

And last, but certainly not least, the most important thing you can do to create value for your music is to only put out great music. If you have 15 new songs, and even you would consider 4 or 5 of those songs as “filler”, scrap those songs. Only release the songs that are great. Only release the songs that will have a chance of standing out from the thousands of other songs out there. Focus your energies on fewer songs and do as much as you can with them: music videos, live videos, making-of videos, blog about the songs, etc. Make sure they are front and centre on your website and online press kit. These are the songs that are going to help you stand out from other bands, and these are the songs that fans will gladly pay money for.

It’s About Strategy

I’m not saying that you should never give away your music. Giving away an exclusive track or an exclusive live EP to get people to sign-up to your mailing list can be great ways to build your fan list. All I’m saying is don’t give away ALL of your music, especially if you’re not getting anything tangible in exchange. Make sure to have a strategy behind the giveaways and always get something in return whenever you give away even just one song. Get an e-mail address, get some information about the fan (where they live, their birthday, etc.), get a “like” on Facebook, or a re-tweet on Twitter.

There is Always Demand for Quality

There are indeed many, many artists out there, and the perception is that there’s more supply than demand, which is the argument for why the price of music has gone down. That might be true in some ways, but there is always a demand for quality music and for quality relationships. And people will spend money on quality. Developing a quality relationship with your fans might take more time, but the return on that investment of time is exponential. And if you take the time to focus on getting to know your fans and putting out great content on a regular basis, you’ll create value for yourself as an artist, and in turn, for your music. And when people perceive value, they will spend money on it, and music is no different.

 

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