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Like many musicians, waiting for a record label to find you can take a long time and even then, it may not be worth it. Instead, musicians are taking matters into their own hands and selling music by promoting it on MySpace. Since MySpace reaches millions of viewers each day, chances are you will be able to sell your music, make a profit, and create a fan base without needing to sign a recording contract.

Being your own boss

Without a recording contract, you will be able to choose the songs for your CD, the order of those songs, and when you want to record them. You will also be able to design cover art, inside pages, and other merchandise you may want to sell in conjunction with the CD or music downloads.

You will also be able to choose if you want to strictly sell songs that can be downloaded or if you want to record an actual CD.

You can choose to sell your music in different ways by creating a web site where people can download songs, or working with third-party distribution web sites that will take of packaging and shipping. Promoting your CD or downloadable songs on MySpace is a great way to generate interest. Make sure you include the URL of the site that is selling your music so fans will know where to go.

Cost of releasing your music

The cost of selling your music is much less expensive than it used to be. While you don’t have to produce a CD, many musicians do anyway as a way to show their professionalism and so they can sell the CD at local gigs and events. Radio stations and other broadcasters need CDs in order to play them on the air.

When looking for web sites to package and distribute your CD, find ones that are popular or ask advice from other musicians who have gone the same route. You may have to raise money for these costs by playing extra gigs, or selling downloads first, but it will be worth it. Use MySpace as a way to generate interest, get advice, and find out more information. There are many forums that can help answer any questions you have.

Creating a band web site

While MySpace is currently working on building a storefront where musicians can sell their merchandise directly on the site, you may have to create your own web site and sell your CD there until this new feature is up and running. But that doesn’t mean you cant advertise on MySpace, work with other musicians to cross-sell music, or find other ways to promote your sound.

A band web site should be an extension of your MySpace profile page. Include your web site on your profile page so fans will know where to go when they want to buy a CD, see additional photos, or find out where you will be playing next.

MySpace is a great way to promote your music and help your CD or downloadable songs sell even faster. The internet is a large landscape, but with a little help from MySpace, you will be able to let fans know where they can buy your music and learn more about your sound.

If you live on Earth, you have heard about the deal between Country Music Legend Garth Brooks and mega super store, Wal-Mart. Brooks, who has always proved to be a marketing innovator, has inked a deal that is sure to set the music industry on fire. Recently parting from his label, Capitol Records, the deal grants sole distribution rights to Wal-Mart.

What can we learn from Garth? First, he’s all about the business, his fans, and marketing, something I speak about repeatedly both on my weekly radio show as well as in my book, The Indie Guide To Music, Marketing and Money. While Brooks has not recorded a new CD since 2001, his least successful by Brooks’s standards, this marketing genius still captures headlines, creating urgency for his music.

How does he do it? Brooks learned from his time in the trenches, when every label rejected him sometimes twice, it’s all about the business. Brooks took the business very seriously and handled his contract negations with incredible savvy and skill. One of the most important negations he made was to make sure he owned the masters to his own music.

Because Brooks owned the music, he received a higher percentage of the gross, which helped insure he covered the recoupable costs the labels receive. Ultimately, whether he was still with Capitol or not, he owned his music and that enabled him to be able to do whatever he wanted with it.

A big mistake label seekers make when in negotiations is to let go of their rights in order to get the “prize.” If you give up your rights and your label shelves the project and drops you, anything you created is theirs, even if you wrote the music. You can’t take it with you unless you have a lot of money and a really great lawyer. But even so, the label has the final say.

There is a lot we can learn from the masters and this is one lesson I hope everyone is able to hold on to; learn the business and always get legal advice and counsel before you go into contract negotiations. If you don’t know a really great entertainment attorney, I have a few I would highly recommend: Jordan Keller and Miller Hogan of Lassiter, Tidwell and Hildebrand. Jordan, whose clients include the Backstreet boys will be on my show in a few weeks, so don’t miss it! To a better day in every way.

The ultimate goal of most musicians who use MySpace is to attract a record label. Earning a contract to record an album can be a musician way into the music business. But what can you do to attract record labels? Creating a profile page and uploading music is a good start, but by no means is it the end of your marketing efforts. Below you will find a few tips on attracting a record label and getting them to take notice of your talent.

Tip#1: Upload a Variety of Songs

Just because you have to list the genre of music you perform does not mean you have to upload songs that only reflect that genre! Show record labels and fans that you have other musical interests by uploading songs that are different from one another. This will show your range, ability to attract fans from other genres, which increases your marketability, and prove to record labels you are worth investing in.

Tip#2: Fuel the Fan Fires

Record labels conduct searches on MySpace everyday looking for talented musicians. One way to get them to stop on your profile page is by showing them you have a strong fan base. The more people who visit your site, the more popular your page becomes on MySpace. Use the marketing tools available in order to gain fan interest.

Record labels want to sign those who are already experienced in working crowds during shows and who have a strong online presence because it makes promoting the music much easier. Having a strong fan base will make selling records and make promoting concert tours and other public appearances much easier.

Create a buzz on MySpace by attracting more fans to your page. Join MySpace forums, list upcoming events, and advertise your page on fliers, business cards, and other marketing materials as this will prompt fans who have seen your live shows to visit and download your songs.

Tip#3: Contacting Record Labels

Finding information about record labels is easy because of the internet. Instead of sending a copy of your latest CD or a few of your tunes, you can send record labels the link to your MySpace profile page. Music executives will appreciate this much more than strange pieces of mail showing up at their offices. Sending a quick email with your contact information may be enough to get you noticed. Research record companies to see which ones cater to your genre, and which ones accept email from musicians.

Tip#4: Selling Your Album on MySpace

If you release an album on your own, sell it on MySpace in order to generate buzz and also catch the attention of record labels. Being able to show record labels that you are a professional musician who is passionate about music will set you apart from the rest.

Attracting record labels will require you to remain diligent about marketing your music on MySpace. Uploading songs, using marketing tools such as blogs, video, and photos will help record labels get a better idea of what your sound. Use these marketing tools and others offered on MySpace go showcase your musical talents.

While many musicians have a Myspace page devoted to their band and their music, most of those musicians do not use it to its full potential. Granted, Myspace is a great place to connect with friends and fans, upload songs, sell merchandise, and a host of other really terrific services and capabilities, but the main point of Myspace that many overlook is promotion beyond the internet.

The best way to gain attention offline is the same as you would online, by using play counts. Play counts are a ranking system used to rank the popular musicians whether they are Unsigned, Indie, or on a major record label.

These music charts are first organized by genre and then overall for the entire site. The higher the total Myspace play counts, the higher up the ranks your group or band will reach. Many musicians, including those on major record labels, are turning more and more to promotional tools to aid their rise in the music charts.

In light of just how important these total play counts really are, make sure you select a service or software that has been proven and was developed with the aim of helping musicians reach the desired play counts in a natural manner which produces terrific results.

These results do not only garner the attention of fans, peers, and even important executives in the music industry, they can be used to promote your band through magazines, television, radio, and other forms of media.

Most of the larger cities, and even the smaller towns, have a local newspaper or magazine. These print media are always looking for stories about local people who are doing something of interest. While starting at the bottom and not going straight for Rolling Stone may seem a waste of time, it really is the best way possible to gain attention at this stage, at least before Rolling Stone magazine notices your band.

With an impressive Play Count, your local magazine and newspaper will surely be more than happy to interview you and your band. Getting your band in print, and circulating among tens of thousands of people, is only the first step.

Word of mouth will take hold from there and continue to spread news of your music. More likely than not, if you were to show up to the local magazine or newspaper office without an impressive play count, the editors will only ask you to leave. However, with high play counts and a spot in the Myspace music charts, preferably a higher spot than the bottom three, you will gain the editors attention and interest.

It is even possible to use high play counts to get jobs other than the one at the small bar on the outskirts of town. Bars, pubs, and other venues, especially ones that primarily deal with local and underground bands, book their talent by how popular they are. This way, you’ll ensure that there will be a decent crowd and a decent chance of doubling and tripling their nightly profit.

Keep this in mind as you approach a venue in which you would like to perform. Show them your play count and guarantee that you are popular and worth their time. Again, this can only be done if you have a high play count number. The higher this number, the more likely the venue will agree to let you play. These venues will be an important step to your bands future and gaining fans.

Now, these are just two examples of how Myspace can help you beyond the internet. Myspace is an important tool in elevating your status and popularity in the music world and while it is certainly possible to gain recognition and a record deal through Myspace, it is best to not just wait around for that possibility.

Local media and venues will be more than happy to spread the word about your band when it is popular, so use this fact to your advantage as well. Simply because you are on Myspace does not mean that anyone will take you seriously, you have to have the play counts to back up your boasts.

Use your imagination when promoting your band and use your popularity on Myspace as a guarantee of your skill and capabilities. Along with the site, these offline attempts will help boost your popularity and the number of your fans.

www.mymusicsuccess.com Get more fans, more music sales and more exposure! Looking for the most successful and cost effective ways to market your music on the internet? In this book we reveal all the secrets music publicists want to keep to themselves! 101 Ways To Market Your Music On The Web is the #1 book for independent artists, bands and labels seeking to market and promote their music via the web at little or no cost. Written by MyMusicSuccess Co-Founder Simon Adams, he shares his 25 years of music industry experience as an artist, producer, publicist and promoter to help independent musicians around the world harness the power of internet music promotion. “The most comprehensive and practical book ever compiled on digital music marketing!” Save over 95% of your promotion budget! Why pay an expensive PR company to do the work you and your band can do yourself? Buy this book instead to start saving money and getting your own results! In the 101 Ways To Market Your Music On The Web book we reveal how to Raise your band’s website rank in the search engines by getting guaranteed press coverage on the most popular music news sites, forums, blogs & social media Get your tracks licensed into the lucrative advertising, film & TV sync markets Use online tools to build a solid loyal fanbase that supports your career and grows your digital street team organically Get more gigs and discover the radio stations that want to play your tracks Sell more music downloads and gain new …

Jazz websites have become a hot asset to new Jazz artist as well as established Jazz artist.  As the manager for a new independent Jazz guitarist, Dave Percell, it has become essential to hang out and become familiar with some of the best Jazz websites on the internet.  Two of my favorite Jazz sites are The Jazz Network and AllaboutJazz.com.  These two sites have been incredible resources for me.

It’s true that “Who You Know” can make or break an artist, and that is why I love The Jazz Network.  We have connected with not only other Jazz artist/musicians, but the variety of producers, Radio stations, podcasters, and publicist  that are literally at our finger tips has been a huge blessing.  We have connected with Radio stations broadcasting both in the US, Australia, and the UK in which some of them fish for fresh Indie artist from this website to assemble their playlist and broadcast on air and online.  The Indie Showcase is just one radio station that has aired Dave Percell recently and of course is a contact that we met through The Jazz Network. As with other profile sites you can take advantage of meeting new friends, sending invites to upcoming events to your friends, play your tracks and music on your profile site through the use of their online MP3 player, post bulletins, join groups, and so much more.  The connections on this site is amazing.

Allaboutjazz.com is one the most Jazz artist/musician friendly sites around. Where do I start with this site? Their is just so much you can do. They aren’t their just to make money, they are their to help artist promote their Jazz music, and it’s evident with the amount of free resources and exposure they give to Jazz musicians.  Every day this site features a daily MP3 download that gives an awesome amount of exposure to the artist.  It is featured on their home page, and picked up by other article sites, bloggers, and online news websites. It was honor to be able to have Dave Percell’s song “Eternal Traveler” featured on this site as it drove an enormous amount of traffic to our CD Baby Site as well as Dave Percell’s Myspace and official website.

Article writing is a great key to internet marketing, which is yet another reason to fall in love with this website. All About Jazz allows you to submit articles on Jazz artist, upcoming events, festival, general news etc. and feature it; which is again picked up by multiple websites thus sending traffic to your other websites.  In case your wondering this is all 100% FREE EXPOSURE! Yes people FREE EXPOSURE! The industry resources include music bloggers, publicist, Production companies, and many more …. and yes again its free……AND it includes the contact information to who you need to contact within these companies.

There are many more reasons to love these two Jazz websites, but hopefully what I wrote so far will cause you to go there and start exploring these sites for yourself because they will be a great asset to your musical career.

Traditional radio airplay, standard brick and mortar distribution and being signed by a major record label are no longer the only means of getting your music noticed.

Thanks to digital distribution and the massive appeal and easy access to the Internet, unknown musical talent now has a chance at real success. Additionally the indie musician is not stuck with the costs of making an entire CD. They can make a single and post it on the Internet, gaining huge success from one song.

With a little know how and marketing sensibility any upstart musician or experienced musical act can now achieve success, great success in fact on their own. Recently, while a guest on the Sirius Satellite Radio Show The Good Life, I spoke with the host who told me that his two teenage boys get most of their music off the Internet and never listen to regular radio anymore.

Why? Because they can obtain music from acts they wouldn’t be allowed to listen to on traditional radio. They’re tired of the same old bands and singers being played over and over again. “Most don’t have any talent, they’re just showpieces.” This isn’t the first or the last time I’ve heard that statement from teenagers and adults alike.

For the indie artist who wants to reach a broader market (and you must have a good product) and receive more exposure for their product on the Internet, the first thing you need to do is market, guerrilla market and then market some more. How do you do that? There are many ways that I mention in my book, The Indie Guide to Music, Marketing and Money but here are a few simple suggestions:

• Join music boards and start in on the discussion. At the end of each of your posts make sure to put who you are and your website. Add something to the conversation, don’t spam. Write helpful hints and post them on the boards, etc. If the boards don’t allow tags but they do allow you to post your email address, make sure it’s something with your website at the end. Have a real email address but DON’T use your main email because it will be spammed.

• Start networking at local musician meetings and songwriter / artists forums in your region. You can find them on the Internet. These meetings host artists such as yourself who get together on a regular basis to discuss the music scene and present their latest creations. It’s also a wonderful place to get the pulse on gigs you can join in on and new marketing ideas.

• You know all that annoying spam snail mail you receive with pre-paid postage envelopes inside? Why not save the envelopes and put a little note inside that states since they were kind enough to share their information with you, you’re returning the favor. Also, with any bill or any correspondence you send out that’s official, include a one sheet or little card that has a blurb about you and your music (watch the weight; you don’t want to add more postage). Make sure to put your website on whatever material you have.

• Start your own podcast and post it on all the podcast sites.

• Why not send your music to different podcasts. Ask permission first. Send them to your site where they can hear a sample or two and if they are receptive to playing your music on their podcast, send it along. If they use your music in their podcast you may have gained new fans and sold more CDs.

The most important thing you can do is to play live. Go to Wal-Mart, Starbucks and other local shops and ask if you can put on a free concert there. Anywhere and any place that will let you play, do! Make sure to have a sign up sheet where people can sign up for your newsletter. Then create a newsletter and send it out once a month at the most. This is a form of “Buzz Marketing” also known as “Viral Marketing.” At the end of the letter make sure you include your webpage of course. Tell your fan base they can pass it along to whoever they want.

This is a very very tiny list of things you can do. The time for the indie musician is now. Take advantage of it! Many blessings to come your way.

Get the Hits That Really Count!

Here’s something to remember: if you receive 1,000 hits a day on your web page, it won’t mean a thing if only one of those visitors is interested in your product. Use your time and energy to generate publicity that brings you a meaningful, targeted audience! Don’t worry about getting thousands of random hits on your site. It’s the targeted visitors who will buy your product that you really want!

Internet Press Release

Why and where?

If you’re doing anything worthwhile at your web site, you ought to be sending out press releases on a periodic basis. These press or news releases can be sent to your music fans, subscribers to your e-mail list (covered in detail later), or the music industry at large. However, be careful who you target your press release to. The last thing you want to do is start sending your press releases to people who don’t want them. The line between an appropriate press release and spam can be a very thin one.

For example, the press release for your band’s new CD would not likely be considered real news to the music industry at large (sorry, but unless you’re a mega-star, it wouldn’t), so you should avoid sending e-mails to announce your new CD to the major record labels and A&R people. That would likely irritate the very A&R people you wish to attract! I myself receive unsolicited press releases from artists that, after the umpteenth time, I really don’t want. Their e-mail address has permanently been placed in my ‘nuisance’ spam filter. That’s exactly the kind of thing you don’t want to do!

If you want to send out a press release about your brand new just-released CD, ask yourself the question, “Who cares about my new CD?” Your fans do, so a news release sent to them would be appropriate. Any time you prepare a press release or news announcement, ask yourself “Who cares?” The answer to that question is a good test to determine whether your news item is worthy of widespread distribution.

When I release my brand new CD, who cares? My fans do, so the news release would be sent to them, as well as those who have subscribed to my personal e-mail list.

So, are you working on a project worthy of widespread recognition? Do you have an event or news you want to get the word out about? Here are a few places online to consider sending your press release:

Mi2N: The Music Industry News Network (http://www.mi2n.com/input.php3) is the first place to go
to find out what’s going on right now in the music industry. Every day, you’ll find dozens of new stories,
and you can submit yours. Some items also get published in MusicDish (http://www.musicdish.com), which is owned by the same people. Don’t miss this one.

Mi2N: Express Release News Service (http://www.mi2n.com/expressr.php3) is the same company as above, but this service is for those who want more widespread coverage and are willing to pay a bit
more for it. For just $55, you can have your release sent out to over 20 music sites on the MusicDish Network.

Beat Wire (http://www.beatwire.com/submit) is a press release service designed specifically for musicians that I’ve consistently heard good things about. Your news is delivered directly to the desktops of over 10 000 music editors at daily newspapers, magazines, news agencies,
top Web sites, radio stations, and other outlets. You can submit your press release to music critics, journalists, editors, and radio programmers. The cost is $99.95.

Finally, EWorldWire.com (http://www.eworldwire.com/) is interesting as you can target very specific groups, which includes major newswires, trade/industry specific, local distribution, top 100 newspapers, European markets, college & university press, and pretty much any ethnic group. Their fees start at only $99.

There are many other press release distribution services out there, many of which overlap in terms of who actually sees your release. Check out the above services and if you want to compare these with others, simply search Google.com for ‘press release distribution.’

Promotion, promotion, promotion is the main thing you have to keep in mind as you attempt to make yourself and your songs known to the world. Simply having a Myspace and playing at a few local scenes is not going to make you famous. Sure, you’ve sold a handful of CDs, you have a moderate amount of friends on Myspace, and your mom loves what you do, but the goal is to get more attention especially important attention from music executives. To achieve this attention takes promotion of your site.

Myspace is the premier social networking site on the web but using it alone will not draw the required attention to your page. If you notice that you are not receiving the amount of plays for your songs that you were hoping and that your page is quickly going the way of the dinosaurs, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Be proactive and tenacious.

Promotional campaigns are important for your goal of being a recognized and possibly famous musician. Myspace is a way of promoting your music for free and this is why so many struggling musicians choose this method, the same is true for Facebook and Youtube. You are able to reach a large number of people, who may become fans, for free everyday. However, without additional help how are people going to know that you even have anything to promote? This is where word of mouth and viral marketing comes into play.

Word of mouth marketing has been around since our ancestors had items to barter. This is a time tested and trusted method used by large companies, corporations, and professional musicians. Take a moment and think about how you heard about some of your favorite musicians? Was it through the radio, TV, the internet, or was it from a friend who told you about them?

Word of mouth is a frequently the way news spreads about musicians and bands. You may have heard a bands name, but usually it wont be until a friend vouches for the band that you will give them a listen. This is how word of mouth works and how it can be used to work in your favor.

Some view this method as old fashioned with the introduction of the internet and advertising methods used there; however word of mouth will never fall into disuse as long as people continue to recommend, and talk about items, musicians, and other subjects of interest.

On the internet word of mouth is referred to as viral marketing and basically works the same way. Blogs, social networking sites, and other places such as forums all work to spread recommendations and news about a variety of items.

Both word of mouth and viral marketing work on the concept that if one person tells another person and that person tells two more people and so on then soon enough people will know about that object of subject to make an impact. This can work in your favor when it comes to your music.

You should ask your friends to mention your band and music to their friends, and tell as many people as you can that you have a new song out and where it can be found and how great it is. Post about it on blogs, forums, and use other sites like Youtube and Facebook to help spread the word and you will be very pleased with the results.

A great way to help entice people to come to your site is by mentioning how many plays you have for your songs. This will convince people that your songs are worth the time and all the buzz surrounding them is dead on. The dilemma is that if you do not have a solid fan base yet, or if your songs play counts are not as impressive as you would like, then you will not be able to use those figures to entice anyone.

Promotional tools are a great way of boosting play counts which will help gain fans, attention, and make heads turn. Back up claims of popular songs by actually having solid and impressive figures.

More plays and views adds an edge to your word of mouth and viral marketing efforts.

Once you are receiving a sufficient amount of traffic to your site, you will have to keep people coming back for more by updating your page, uploading new songs, and keeping up with the current information and be sure to never stop promoting.

With the Internet becoming an integral part of our lives, web-based services like social media marketing has taken the world by storm. Internet music marketing has come as a major breakthrough in communication and technology and promises to put artists like indie musicians in a win-win situation with its effective, low budget marketing tactics. Social media marketing is all about promoting your indie music via social networking websites like Webs, Friendster, Orkut, Blogger, LiveJournal, BlackPlanet, and MyYearbook.

What makes independent musicians swear by social media marketing? First up, most of them depend on their own funds for their independent music distribution. Social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace open up lots of doors for indie music promotion and what’s more, all these are free marketing channels. To get started, independent musicians generally create an artist profile by making use of any dominant online platform catering to indie artists like Tupelo Super Store.

In this age of viral marketing, independent musicians are increasingly making use of applications such as widgets, press kits, and gigs to build rapport with their fans and to increase their fan base. The trick of social media marketing lies in keeping fans in the loop. Give fans some authentic and rocking top indie music, and they will do the rest. Great music spreads like fire by word-of-mouth. A strong brand image begins to build slowly and steadily.

There are many free online promo tools that help indie artists increase their credibility and visibility. With their premium services, online venues like Tupelo Super Store serve as a great launch pad for independent artists. They provide a number of do-it-yourself tools to help independent musicians reach out to their fans. Indie music labels can put to use any of the widgets in their widgets gallery for spreading their tracks in millions of places.

All in all, internet music marketing is perceived as a smart move by independent musicians to get successful overnight.