BANDCOCKTAIL.COM

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.

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.

The word blog is short for “web log.” A blog is basically an online journal that its author uses to publish “posts,” which are separate entries to the journal. Blogs can be used for any reason and subject matter imaginable. From teenagers and activists to politicians and best-selling authors, anyone can easily and inexpensively publish a blog. In many ways, blogs are just another version of a web site with multiple pages. You can visit and read a blog page in the same way you would any other web file format called RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. In general, it is used to publish and organize frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds and podcasts. The coolest thing about RSS is that it gives people the ability to subscribe to blogs and podcasts.

In essence, an RSS feed allows you to subscribe to a web site, which just happens to be a blog. You can subscribe to blogs using something called a news reader, feed reader or aggregator. Feed readers work in a similar way. Open it up, and all of the blogs you’ve subscribed to will show up, with the latest content at the top, usually with just the headline and maybe the first few lines of the blog post displaying. It’s a pretty awesome way to have only the information you want delivered to your desktop.

What to Do With Your Blog:

Deliver the facts. The most basic thing you can do with an artist blog is to announce stuff: gigs you’re about to play, new tracks you’ve released, awards you’ve won, media coverage you’ve just landed, etc. Let people know about all of your music-related activities. But there are other things you should do with your blog too.

Read More

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 …

I’ve been using ReverbNation for about 6 months now, and I have to say, the site has really helped me with the promotion and marketing of my music. Like anything else, you get back what you put into it, and as anyone who has done any type of online marketing knows, it is a very time consuming process. Especially if you are attempting to do it alone ( or with very little help).

This is where ReverbNation can help. They provide you with tools, such as promo widgets, a fan mail program,etc. that can help you get your music out there, and get your band seen and heard online. They also provide detailed stats on your page views, plays, listeners, fans, etc. The best part of their site is that most of their services are absolutely free. They actually have a band equity program that pays the musician.

Obviously, you are providing content for their site, and with the email program there is an ad at the bottom of the email sent out. But it is all done with style, and in my opinion, is very professional looking.

The Fanreach email system also offers you info on click thru %, fan location, age, % of mail opened,etc. It also has filters so you can search for fans in certain geographic locations ( to avoid email fatigue ) and automatically removes invalid email addresses or unsubscribed users.

The widgets speak for themselves. If you want to see how they can be put into use, check out examples on the reverbnation site.

I think these widgets blend  nicely into  websites. They aren’t plastered with ads for doritos or bud light. They are customizable as well ( background and font colour ).

ReverbNation helps  artists to better understand how their promotional efforts are working, and provides the means with which to communicate better with their fans. I really believe it is a must for any indie musician. Especially if you are understaffed, underpaid, and underfed.

The internet continues to revolutionize the music industry and the creation of music networks has helped musicians to promote their bands, sell their music, find band members, buy and sell musical instruments, chat to fellow musicians in the forums, post photos, their music, videos and so much more.

There are many benefits to joining one of the top music networks. It is best to focus on two or three at the most and create, as well as maintain, a standout profile page for your music or band. If you spread yourself too thin and try to join every music site you come across then you will find yourself struggling to maintain an active profile. If you join one of these music networks then you will gain a massive amount international exposure for your music.

Try to devote 30 minutes each month in updating your profile with new photos, gig dates, videos or music samples. On a more regular basis you may want to respond to forum posts, reply to comments posted on your page and also respond to any emails sent to you. You need to treat these music networks as an advertisement and great way to promote your band. Therefore spending some time on the site could bring about some lucrative and life changing publicity for you.

The key point to gaining the most exposure for your music on these sites is to be proactive and make the most of the features available to you. You will want to post recent photos of yourself or your band. You should add some new photos each month. Try and add some bright and colourful photos of each of your band members as well as some group shots. Ask a friend or partner to take some high quality photos of you while performing.

Music videos are all the rage due to YouTube. You can use a camera to take some footage of the band performing one of their most popular songs. Just as a great video can make your band; a bad video can have a negative impact on your music. If a music venue manager is not the network to look for a band for a gig and they listen to a poor quality live performance then they will just move on to the next band. So make sure the video you submit is one that will impress your viewers.

Why spend time in the forums? Because you never know who is online and who is reading the forum posts. Many of the top music forums not only allow bands and musicians to sign up and create a profile but also music promoters, managers, music venue owners, music producers and professionals from the music industry. As a result, you may just catch the eye of one of these promoters who could give you the lead you need. Post positive and informative posts that will require a similar response. Avoid getting into any personal attacks or conflicts with other forum members. Maintaining a high level of professionalism is of the utmost importance in building the reputation you want to succeed.

What about writing an article? It is quite easy to write an article about a topic you are passionate about and have knowledge in. How can this help you? Well in a music network you have members who are musicians and are therefore craving information to help them with their band or music. As a result you can gain some valuable exposure by adding your name and active link at the bottom of the article. You can basically piggy back these top music networks who already achieve high page rankings in the search engines for your own benefit. Search engines love quality content about a specific topic. As a result these search engines will pick up the keywords used in your article and rank it highly as the article is located on a reputable site. Both these combined will give it a good chance of being spread throughout the internet.

One of the best features is the ability to post your upcoming gigs or events. What other way can you get free advertising for your gigs! When posting your gig make sure all information is correct and if any of it changes be sure to return to your profile and update it. There will be fans that listen to your music samples, watch your videos and then decide on attending one of your gigs if they like what they hear. You don’t want to upset them by having them go out of their way to attend your event only to find that the details were changed and there is no gig! Try to include the date, time, cost and location of the event. Some of the top networks will have a feature where your fans can “subscribe” or add their name to an attendance list. This will also allow you to send emails with specific details to these members. This is networking and building a fan base.

Classifieds are also a great way to buy and sell instruments, equipment, search for new band members, post jobs or look for a gig, sell tickets to events and so much more. Make sure you only add the information you want people to see and only use a respectable payment solution provider in the transaction. Most sites leave transactions up to both parties and are not responsible for any disputes or problems with the sale.

Are there dangers associated with music networks? Yes, but only if you post personal information that hackers or people involved in criminal activity can use to spam you or rip you off. The top sites will have internal email systems where your personal email address is protected. They also have a feature that allows you to block any members you wish not to correspond with. Remember that you use these music networks to promote your music and not your personal life and details as a lot of the “Social Networks” do. This is why you should stick to the top music networks that operate with the sole purpose of assisting bands and musicians in promoting their music.

If you maintain an active profile you may just be lucky enough to gain additional exposure from the site. For example, the music networks highlight and profiles a new band each month. This profile puts the band on the front page, generates extra hits for the band’s profile page, spreads their band across the internet due to the quality content in the profile and provides a reputable promotion for the band by a music industry leader. Want to make your own luck? Then be proactive and contact the site team and let them know that you would like to have your band or music be considered to be profiled.

One more great tip is to use “Keywords” in your title for photos, events, profiles etc as these keywords will appear in that page’s URL. This will help for better search engine exposure as they love keywords and targeted content.

The key is where to start when selecting which music networks to join? There are many ways to promote your music and three of the best methods for music and band promotion is by creating a profile on MyBandMate and MySpace Music or posting your music videos on YouTube Music.

So if you want to showcase your music to the world and are not active in these top two music networks then you better get on to it. It takes time, some effort and a desire to make your music reach a global audience. Be proactive, utilize all of the key features to gain maximum exposure and build a fan base by responding to their emails and comments. Don’t include any information in your profile that you don’t want the world to see. Treat your profile page as an advertisement for your music. You may only have one chance to catch the eye of a music promoter, producer or music venue owner looking for a band so make your profile look professional.

Seattle Tacoma Music artist and band promotion on the internet.

Promoting your music, band or songs in the Seattle Tacoma area is hard these days but, there is help!

Today’s internet is a great place to promote your music and song writing from, with great results if done right.
Washington State produces some great artists and it is getting better every day with new studios and places to play popping up every day.
The Seattle area has many music artists that started there and are still residing there today.
Although it is hard to find FREE places to promote from in the Seattle Tacoma area, there are still ways to do so.
There are local websites that cater to just that in the Washington state area but, some are kind of hard to find if
you are not to good at searching the internet, reading local publications and other things.

I am an old independent music artist that knows a few things about music and music artist promotion on the Internet.
I have been doing music for over 40 years and have had a few music artist and band web sites that were very popular.

I want to tell you about a site that I put up to help music artists, bands, and songwriters promote themselves
at http://www.w3music.com .
This site is a Washington state based site and caters to local music artists, bands, and songwriters, helping them promote
their music, gigs and other internet sites they may have by giving them the tools to do so all in one web site.
The site is totally FREE and requires no membership!
I do this for a hobby, and have always done it for free.
I have just started promoting the site, and am going to be working hard at it from now on.
Google, Yahoo, MSN and others are already spidering the site , and it is getting listings like crazy!
You will only help yourself and the site by visiting frequently!

About the site:
The site offers free ad posting like this site, has tools like banner creators that you can use to make
banners, buttons and logos for sites like, my space, twitter, your own personal site, and what ever else you can think of.
We have a Top list, where you can post a banner and get free traffic to the site of your choice.
The site is always being updated with new features, to help in your promotions.
There is a forum to be used for whatever you want to talk about.
You can advertise your latest gigs, post pictures…
So, like I said, it is FREE and you have nothing to loose, so maybe you should check it out?
Go Here:   http://www.w3music.com
Hope this helps everyone that is traveling the Internet jungle looking for help in promotions.

Music Promotion – Promote Your Music Easily

Are you a budding musician who is dreaming of big times and big gigs? Are you in a garage band and do you desire to become famous and let the world know about your talents? Have you met a lot of agents and been disappointed with what they had to say about your music and why they can’t market your band? If you are at any one of the above stated questions then it is time that you found out how easy it is to promote your band in three easy steps.

When promoting your band, you require a well thought up promotion plan. To ensure that you find the best promotion plan, you would need to go online and search for proper sales and marketing techniques for bands and musicians. It is imperative to realize that such promotion strategies should consider a lot of aspects that would not only showcase your music or your band but also create a need for listeners who want more.

While going ahead with a proper music promotion you will need:

A proper online music promotion

To create a website for your own band

A proper offline music promotion and

To choose the right channel to distribute your music.

With the advancement in technology, internet and internet services have become the buzz words for marketing, sales or promotion of any product. This is very true in the case of music as well. If you want to promote your band easily then it is a must that you choose the right types of online music promotion. Social networking sites and other partnering websites could become your gateway to tap new fans and let your music or you band be known out there.

It is also important that you get a website for your band. In recent times, the concept of creating and hosting a website is not so monumental. The rates have dropped and as an artist, you yourself can create a website that can be publicized in a lot of ways possible.

Next you would have to look at offline promos as well. Just because you’ve done your online music promotion doesn’t mean that your work stops there. You would have to remember that there are many People that still do not know about or use the internet. In such cases you should have a good plan to reach out to them. To promote your band right, you should look at proper music demos, your performance on stage and publicity through conventional means.

As for your last music promotion tip, you should look at the best possible channels to sell your music. By the end of the day you would have to make a living and to make your music or band earn for you, you would need to have a fail-proof distribution system. You would have to be willing to have your music released on CDs. You should also look for ways to publicize the same through the internet. There are a lot of online music shops and stores that you can tap into and distribute your music.

Now with these simple tips, you would surely be able to promote your music successfully. Now, you don’t need to worry about getting a publicist or an agent. Now it’s your band, your music and your own music promotion.

If you are ready to take your band to the next level then you should check out Promote Your Band.net It has a great ebook full of tips and resources to get you on the right track when it comes to promoting and playing live with your band.

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.

Few people understand just how difficult it is for young emerging music artists to sustain their craft, let alone make a living at it.  The world is full of talented musicians, singers and rappers who struggle every day to get their music heard and who have no real economical distribution channel for reaching the masses.  The internet should have made it easier, but in fact it’s become harder than ever to rise above the noise of the millions of artists trying so desperately to be heard.

We’ve all heard the endless stories of struggling artists living out of their cars and working dead-end jobs just to support their passion.  As many as I’ve heard, and continue to hear, I can’t help but wonder about those that weren’t so lucky.

I’m not talking about those who lacked the talent.  I’m talking about those gifted artists who just couldn’t afford to keep it going and who ultimately faded away into oblivion.   Truth is, the world will never know just how many incredible and truly gifted artists we’ve missed out on simply because they couldn’t financially sustain themselves long enough to “make it”.  Let’s face it, talent doesn’t always dictate who will sell music and who won’t.

Could it be that the Fans are the solution!

For years fans have devoutly supported the music industry not only by purchasing music, but by providing the single best marketing machine on the planet.  Nothing, since the beginning of the recording industry, has resulted in more album sales than the simple act of one person exuberantly telling another about a new artist they heard or a new album they just bought.  The general public has always been directly responsible for the success and failure of any artist.

That’s why I find it so incredibly hard to understand the thinking of the Recording Industry Association of America.  The RIAA has filed more than 35,000 copyright infringement lawsuits since 2003.   Just when they should be embracing the fans, they’re instead choosing to treat them as pariah.

While I absolutely do not support the violation of copyright law or the violation of the rights of artists, it seems that suing the very goose that built their golden egg is not only counterproductive, but just plain foolish.

I remember when buying a new album was like an event.  I would go to the record store and browse the aisles admiring all of the album covers and after finally making my selection, I’d pay an actual person at an actual checkout counter.  When I got home I’d tear the plastic wrapping off and listen for hours while reading the liner notes.

Today’s typical music purchase has no tangible feeling or similar emotions that we felt or associated with buying music years ago.  You simply click a few buttons and bam, you’re listening to it on your ipod. No liner notes, no human interaction.  It’s no wonder illegal downloading is so prevalent.  It almost seems like a victimless crime. It’s just you and your computer.

The hard question is; how do you make the act of illegally downloading music seem as wrong as putting a CD under your coat and walking out of a store?

Perhaps a better tact to supporting Indie Music and preserving the sanctity of the artist’s copyrights is to embrace the fans!

Why not a plan that makes fans a part of the process? One that creates a dynamic that’s less retailer/consumer, but more like a partnership. If illegally downloading music meant stealing from not only the artists, but from other fans or themselves, would they be less likely to Kazaa? Would they begin to police themselves and others?  If you had some ownership in an album or song, would it bother you if someone else obtained a copy illegally?   I think that it might, and that’s why I believe that it’s a social experiment worth exploring.

Don’t get me wrong, no plan would ever completely eliminate piracy and illegal downloading.  Even in the times long before MP3’s, there was theft, but I think embracing the fans in a way that gives them a vested interest in preserving and protecting the music, would be a huge step in the right direction.

I firmly believe that fans finally deserve to be rewarded for getting behind their favorite artists and spreading the word about the music they love.  While at the same time, and just as passionately, I believe that music artists deserve to be compensated for providing us with their heart and soul in the form of recorded sound.

If indie music artists want to promote and sell music in a manner that’s safer and more economical, things will have to change.  It’s time for a paradigm shift in the way Independent Music is promoted and sold.

Empower The Fans!

Howard Archer

EFCMag.com

EmpoweredFanClub.com