Music Marketing [dot] com

A New Business Model for Record Labels?

LaunchALabel.com is looking for 50,000 music fans to donate $25 each.  These fans will then vote on five bands to sign to record contracts worth $200,000 each.

An interesting concept.  Here's where the money goes.

Signing up for the site is free.  Nobody pays pays a thing until 50,000 people join.

$200,000 can certainly go a long way, but I've also seen bands and labels spend that much in a matter of hours.  If the right plan is in place, I believe this is something that could be huge.  But if not, it's going to be a massive failure.

This would be a great concept for an already established band.  For example, if these guys could get somebody who already had a large fanbase and some kind of business organization in place, thanks to a previous major label deal perhaps, I think they'd have an easier time getting the money together and selling the product.

This thing I love about this idea, and something that every band should do, is that they're asking fans before a decision is made about what they release.  More or less, they're asking, "What will you give us money for?"  By doing this, the project is much more likely to have financial success.

Should be interesting to watch.

Opportunity - Look it Up in the Dictionary

Over the last week, I've had about three experiences where musicians were bitching about submitting for something, whether it be for a film/TV placement, a showcase, or a gig, and not getting feedback on their submission.  One guy was complaining that the "opportunities" he was getting via Sonicbids were not guaranteed.  Another was talking about how he submitted a ton of stuff to Taxi and never had anything come of it.

Because of this, I think it's a good time to clarify...

An opportunity is just an opportunity.  Nothing is guaranteed.

Like the lottery, you may not "win."  That doesn't mean that you won't have a good experience or learn something though. 

And, like the lottery, you can't "win" if you don't play.

This is a business.  Things cost money.  Deal with it.

If you're one of these guys who sits on your computer, never plays a gig, and treats your music like a hobby, stop bitching that you're not getting anywhere.  If your music is a hobby, fine, but don't call it a business, if you're not going to treat it as such.

Running a business costs money.  And if you're not going to believe in your business enough to invest your own money, don't expect people to come along and invest their money in you.

Guide To Radio Promotion - Radio Promotion Basics

by The Music Connect

MusicDish Network Sponsor

Radio is becoming more and more important in an artists career, but steady radio play is becoming harder and harder to obtain. The best way for an artist to get radio play that people are listening to is satellite radio via XM or Sirius. This form of radio is more supportive and accepting of independent and unsigned artists.

When starting your radio campaign most artists should start at a local level by contacting there local stations and see if they have a show for local artists, which many stations do. Make sure you post the station's request information on your website and have all of your fans request this song. This will get the stations attention. Even if they were not going to play your music, they may now take a second look after they see you have a fan base in the area.

The new step in your promotion of your song towards radio is pressing up copies of the single. There are many places that will thermal print your CDs and put them in jewel cases. You should not pay more then 55 cents a unit for this.

The next step is sending this song to your local radio stations again, all of the stations pertaining to your genre in your region,  XM and Sirius, as well as any internet radio stations.

Radio promotion can be very time consuming and frustrating, and for many artists, a waste of time. You have to know when it is right to take your band to the next level by pursuing radio plays. This should come at a time when you have a fan base and have done a consistent amount of shows in your region. The radio play should accompany an album release. If it doesn't, many stations will not even think about playing your song unless you have a release coming out that has distribution where the radio station's signals reach.

Once you do start receiving some radio play contact the stations to see if you can do a "phoner" (an interview on their station via phone). Many of these phoner interviews are recorded and played on air at a later date, while a few are actually live.

Many artists wonder whom to contact at the radio station. The person you should be directing all of your music and information to is the program director. You should also give your music to popular DJs at the station you are targeting as they do have a very small bit of input on what is added to rotation, and some might help by giving your album a mention during their show.

You can employ a radio promotions company, but this will not be cheap. I do not recommend hiring a radio promotions company for an unsigned artist or an independent artist with a small budget because the failure rate of these campaigns is very high and many singles. And, artists are broken on radio with little or no money invested at all. Wait until you get a substantial budget to use a company that promotes to radio.

Before you start your radio campaign you should have the following checklist with all of the boxes checked:

* A budget of at least $1,000 USD for printing of CDs, mailing, mailing supplies, and other costs you may incur.

* A fanbase of many people who check your website and buy your CDs regularly. If no one at all is buying your CDs, then what makes you think they want to hear you on the radio?

* A song of yours that many people have listened to and they all feel it has the potential to become a hit. Even run it by your local radio station to get their feedback.

* Make sure you have a release, tour, or many shows coming up so the promotion on radio is worth it. So many artists attack radio with everything they have trying to get a major deal, and it doesn't work out and the money they spent is not recouped. Don't always shoot for a record deal. Work on selling your albums and growing a fanbase and the fame and money will come.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © MusicDish LLC 2007 - Republished with Permission

7 Secrets to Low-Cost Music Promotion - Live Workshop in Nashville

Don't usually post "local" stuff, but since I'm in Nashville and there are so many musicians here with me...

Bob Baker, of "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" fame, is coming to Nashville to present a workshop called "7 Secrets to Low-Cost Music Promotion." It takes place Thursday, September 6, at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University (2555 West End Ave), from 7 to 9:30 PM or so.

During this seminar, Bob will demystify the nuts and bolts of music marketing and reveal the "7 secrets" any artist can use to get wider exposure. Bob has asked me to join him that night to share some of my own indie music promotion tips.

During this interactive session, Bob will cover:

    * Three steps to effective music marketing.
    * What you need to know about the "Marketing Diet" and "The Dip."
    * The #1 thing you should focus on to boost your music career.
    * The four crucial "D-words" of music marketing.
    * The three types of fans you need to know about -- and why they're so important.
    * How NOT to promote your music to the media.
    * The four essential elements of "guerrilla" marketing.
    * And, of course, the 7 Secrets to Low-Cost Music Promotion.

And... I'll also be presenting some thoughts on the subject of music marketing and promotion. :)

There is limited seating, so if this interests you, reserve your seat now.

I'm not sure that this information will ever be available to the general public, but I do know that Bob is recording the session, so if you're unable to make it live, you just might see it again in the future.  Bob hasn't mentioned this to me though, so make it out if you can.

My Band is Big in Japan - The T-Shirt

In 2003, I had a bunch of promo shirts for 2NMC, which said, "My Band is Huge in Japan."  Since then, I've gotten dozens of emails asking if we have any more.

We don't.  But I did find you something that might work for you...

Musician T-Shirts

Enjoy!

Music Marketing with YouTube

Started doing video for Music Business Radio a few months ago, so I've been thinking about lot about the topic.  And as i was checking out how video from yesterday's show turned out, this video was recommended to me...

Why?  I don't know.  But I do think it would be a great idea for your band to do a contest similar to this.

Anybody with a computer and video camera can put together a video.  Why not have a video contest for your fans?

Summer NAMM - Back in Nashville?

Word on the street is that NAMM's Summer Session will return to Nashville in 2008, after somehow going through Indianapolis and ending up for the last couple of years in Austin.

Smart move.  I like Austin as much as the next guy, but who was the brainiac who decided to do something known as the "Guitar Show" anywhere but Nashville?  Especially Indianapolis...  What was that all about?

How to Be a Better Songwriter

Check out the Music Business Radio episode we just did with a group of music publishers called Chicks with Hits...

Get the podcast on iTunes or hit the play button to stream it...

                  

How to Be a Better Musician

Jerry Seinfeld has advice for being a better comic. It also applies to being a better musician, songwriter, or person.

Film Music - How They Used to Do It

Music in film has come a long way...

This is a video of a Photoplayer, a pump organ designed for player piano rolls, sound effects, and a human composer.