Music Marketing [dot] com

YouTube Trends

One of the most interesting trends on YouTube is people making music videos to other people's songs.

For example, here is a video somebody did for Paris Hilton's "Screwed" that uses clips from the Sims.

This is an amazing opportunity for upcoming video directors.  It's also a great opportunity for bands and musicians who have cover songs that need exposure.

Band Name Generator

Joe Taylor turned me on to a link with 10,000 band names, which was generated by MIT students and a computer.  Worth taking a look at, if you're in need of a name for your new project.

If you don't see anything you like, check out the Band Name Generator.  Just type in your name and it does the rest.

My band...

Your Band Name is:

The Above Average  Panties

My 7- Year-Old Business Partner...

When an opportunity comes along, I sometimes get involved with non-music projects.  Like writing a song on an instrument you don't normally play, I find it helps me to get new ideas which I can later bring back to bands, musicians, artists, and labels.

One such project is a book I did with a 7-year-old named Alexi Harber called Guide for Living: 54 Tips for a Happy Life.  The concept is similar to "Life's Little Instruction Book."

I'm mentioning this here because I think you guys could learn a lot from my experience of working with Alexi...

The main thing I want to share is how open she is.  If I've got an idea to promote the book, she's up for it.  It doesn't matter how "crazy" it may seem, she's going to hear me out.

And she has great ideas as well...stuff I'd never think of.

My point is that kids don't think that something can't be done.  Successful businesspeople don't either.

Why Hammer Will Never Be Broke

Yesterday's post about Hammer got me thinking about a topic which musicians and others who read this blog will find beneficial...making tons of money.  I don't have any specific advice on how to do this today, but do want you to think about the "big picture" of bringing money into your life.

You've probably seen news stories about people who win the lottery only to lost the money within a couple of years.  This happens to the majority of people who win the lottery.

Why?  It's the same reason people get a weight loss surgety like gastric bypass or liposuction and gain all the weight back.

You've got to be ready for money, weight loss, or anything in life if you want it to stick around.  There are several ways to do this, which I'll talk about over the next few days...

This works both ways.  "Rich" people, folks like Hammer, can lose everything and be back to making millions within months.  Thin people, can go weeks without watching their diets or hitting the gym and remain thin.

It's mindset.

Again, I'm going to talk more about the details of how to go about changing your mindset to get what you want in life over the next few days...  But for now, check out Ask and It is Given.

Hammer Sells Out...Again

After poking fun at his dire financial situation for Nationwide Insurance ads, the rapper’s newest attempt to avoid a cardboard box on skid row is no joke.

According to media reports, the one-time successful rap artist has sold his entire back catalog of songs to the music company Evergreen for a reported $2.7 million.

Hammer’s library, which includes such hits as “U Can’t Touch This,” “Pray,” and “Let’s Get It Started,” was referred to in a statement by Evergreen as "some of the best-selling and most popular rap songs of all time."

"We anticipate that many songs in the MC Hammer catalog will emerge as a perfect fit for licensing in movies, television shows, and corporate advertising," said Evergreen rep David K. Schulhof.

200,000 MySpace Friends

Kevin Smith got his start via a grassroots marketing campaign for his movie Clerks.  He maxed out his credit cards to make the movie, which was filmed in the convenience store where he worked.

The sequel, Clerks 2, is using MySpace for promotion.

The movie has its own page and ALL of the people on its friend list has been added to the end credits.  So far he has about 200,000 friends and the number is growing daily.

Letter from Nigeria

Got this email today, which I thought was interesting...

heloo,

 

      pls my name jibola toriola a member of ur site pls i worn a parkage on the the internet and am not an america resident but i sent it to ur adress pls kindly do me a favour and sent me the pakage or didut the amount these cost u and buy me a sony ericson k700 or send me the parkage. pls send this to (No 174,Bamgbose str lagos island lagos state Nigeria)pls this is due to the situation in my country,kindly help me out.
NOTE_this is not a fraudulent act or any internet fraud am a proud citizen of Nigeria.

 

 

 

Yours Faithfuly,

 

Jibola Toriola.

I'm going to overlook the fact that Nigeria is known for "419" emails, which encourage people to send money in exchange for transferring millions of dollars (which doesn't exist) from Nigeria to the United States.  I don't think this has anything to do with one of those "opportunities."

I do think that it's an interesting example of emails which come in asking for help though...

On one hand, I think it's great that Jibola is asking for this.  Like the Bible says, "Ask and ye shall receive."

But on the other, I don't feel that Jibola is really doing all (s)he can to get this phone.

Regardless, most people will need a little more info to know what the person is doing now in order to even consider a request like this.  They need to know a "reason why" you need help...and they need details, more than just a general comment on the situation in your country-- especially when your country is known for fraud.

In short, I think that it's great that you ask for help, but if you expect somebody to come through for you, it will be helpful for you to let them know you're already working on this and just need a boost to support work which is already in progress, not 100% of the work.

Lessons from Rockstar: Supernova

Still haven't watched it, but did check out this video below via YouTube. 

Note-- I didn't watch all of this video either...just the beginning where she is critiqued.

Two lessons here...

1. Don't act like you don't know what a major act is doing. 

What she said is like saying, "Rage Against the Machine?  Never heard of them.  We thought we invented socio-political rap-rock."

2. Accept criticism.

Tommy Lee may be a total goof, but the guy has been in the music business for a while and his opinion, at least on this show, matters a lot.  You probably won't win him over by arguing with him.

Storm Large on Rockstar: Supernova

Have never seen the show and don't know a thing about it, but I've known Storm Large for several years and she is great.  This woman is a true rockstar.

Check out this old video...

Second Life - Income Opportunity for Musicians?

What's the deal with Second Life?  Can somebody please explain to me how "musicians" on there are making money?  Is this something that is translating to real world, physical sales or is it just "virtual" services which are being sold.

Don't get me wrong here-- money is money.  But I've got some ideas on how this game could possibly be used for marketing purposes and need more info.