Music Marketing [dot] com

Oak Ridge Boys - House Concert for Auction on eBay

The Oak Ridge Boys are auctioning a house concert on eBay.

Winner gets a private New Year's Eve performance and party favors for up to 200 guests.

Where will it take place?  The eBay posting says, "it can be in YOUR home, living room, patio, party barn, wherever you would like!"

Minimum bid is $25,000.  Auction closes Sunday.

Metallica - A Little Taste of Death...and I Do Mean Little

Wow.  Metallica has finally seen the light and is putting samples of its new album online...very little samples.

How the hell are people supposed to get an idea of what your new stuff sounds like if you only give them 14 seconds of a low-fidelity stream?  That's like saying, "Hey, I have this new IMAX film available, but instead of letting you see what you'll see in the theater, I'm going to show it to you on this iPod...in black and white.  And you'll have to wear a patch over your left eye."

If you're going to give people a taste of what you do, go balls out and give them a taste of what they'll actually get...not some watered-down version.

Marketing with Online Audio

Are you talking to your online fans?

And by "talking," I mean that literally!

You're in the music business.  You know how powerful audio is.  And online, it's fastest, easiest, and most economical ways to increase album sales and get more people to your shows.

You can go WAY BEYOND just music. Check this out...

* Collect audio testimonials from club owners and fans, then post them on your online press kit.  Let these testimonials get your next gig for you.

How to you get them?  If you use a service like Xiosoft Audio, you just email your best fans (or happy club owners) a link.  Then they follow a 4-step sequence, and you have an audio testimonial - complete with photo - to add to your website.

* Send audio in an email.  An "audio postcard" will help to build a real relationship with fans, using the power of your voice.

* Add audio to your order pages, thank-you pages, and other secure areas with Xiosoft Audio's SSL publishing feature.

One reason I like Xiosoft Audio is that you can add audio to your website in two simple steps, using the phone or your computer's microphone.  The phone service is great if you're on tour.  You can do an "audio tour update" by calling a toll-free phone number.  Everything is posted automatically, so you don't need to touch a computer.

You can also upload previously recorded audio files, such as mp3s.  This is what we do with Music Business Radio and it works great.

Try it out for 7 days for just ONE DOLLAR, and if you like it, you can keep it for just $29.95 per month.
There are no long-term contracts, and you can cancel at any time.

Got a Blog? Add Your Link to These Sites

If you've got a blog, and you should, here are some blog directories you'll find helpful.

Free Blog Directory
A1 Web Links Blog Directory
Wordpress Blog Tips
Emarketing Blog Directory
Add Your Blog.com
Entertainment Blogs
Free Blog Directory
Blog Directory

Don't have a blog?  This one is run via Typepad.  Also take a look at Blogger and Wordpress to find an option that works for you.

How to Get More Traffic to Your Music Website

My friend John Reese just released a series of free videos on how to get more traffic to your website.

John is a sharp guy and there are very few people at his level when it comes to generating web traffic.  If you could use more traffic to your web page, take a few minutes and check out his free videos.

Want More Readers for Your Blog?

If you've got a blog and are looking for more readers, you may find the following blog directories helpful...

freefeedsdirectory.com

All-Blogs.net directory

Have others?  Feel free to link to them in the comments section.

rssHugger and Growing Your RSS Subscribers

As email boxes have been getting more and more crowded, I've been working lately on good ways to get more people introduced to my RSS feed.  If you have a blog, you'll find this interesting.

rssHugger is a website that aims to bring bloggers and readers together. rssHugger aims to provide blog owners with an inexpensive easy-to-use way to promote their blogs by sending them traffic, building backlinks for search engine optimization, as well as attracting new RSS subscribers if the content is interesting to the reader.

rssHugger aims to help visitors be able to easily find blogs that write about subjects they are interested in. If the visitors find a blog that they had not previously heard about, they can easily add it to their RSS readers or bookmark it.

Worth a look...

MySpace is Dead - Here's the Proof

Music is what people do when they're away from computers.

If you're in the business of music, you need to concentrate on social networking applications that work on devices which fit in your pocket, not on your desk.  As more and more people start to access email from handheld devices, which operate regardless of where they are, we're going to see sites such as MySpace sink deeper and deeper into the cyber graveyard.

Just like mp3.com.  Just like Friendster.  Just like so many before it.

Bottom line... Social technologies succeed only when they fit into the lives of people.

MySpace was fun for a while, but the novelty has worn off.  And the same concept has moved on to better technology.  People no longer have to be hardwired to a desktop computer in order to connect with people online.

Can MySpace add mobile technology?  Sure.  They already have.  But that's like trying to retrofit a Ford Pinto with a racing engine.  There is only so far you can go with it.

You want something that is built for how people use the Internet now.  Something like Twitter.

Sure, there are still people on MySpace.  But the hipsters who listen to music are sick of it and have moved on.  Just look at International Delete Your Myspace Account Day and you'll see plenty of reasons why.

There is a window of opportunity now, before services like Twitter have peaked, for you to get in early and dominate.

Had you been one of the first people on mp3.com, you could have easily been at the top of their download charts.  When they started paying money for downloads, the guys on top were making $10,000/month or more.

Had you been one of the first people on MySpace, you could have easily had 500,000 friends (or more). Jeffree Star joined MySpace on 10/1/2003, has over 800,000 friends, a management deal with the Firm, a #1 album on the iTunes dance chart, a TV show in development, and his own line of clothing, which is distributed via Hot Topic.

Somebody is going to do this on the next social networking site to take off.  I'm betting that site is going to be Twitter, for exactly the reasons I've listed above.  If you want to get on Twitter and completely dominate it, read this book.

Don't be left out.

MySpace is Dead

Yes, MySpace is dead for musicians. 

I've got more thoughts here...

Plus, I'm going to show you what the next big trend for musicians is and get you step-by-step info on how you can take advantage of it...if that's what you want.

This isn't for everybody.  Those who want to dominate the "next big thing" though have a REAL opportunity.

Had you done that with MySpace, you'd have a record deal right now.

Don't miss out this time around...

How to Last 30+ Years in the Music Business

Daryl Hall is 1/2 of the best selling pop duo of all time, but he's also had a great run as a solo artist as well as a songwriter.

What's the secret to his longevity?  In my opinion, it's that he lays the foundation with a great, well-written song, but has the flexibility to follow musical and trends without completely selling out.

His new project, Live from Daryl's House, is a great example of this.  The site has a different live show every month, each with different guest musicians who help bring a new twist to old classics.  If you go there now, you'll see a stripped down version of this song from 1986...

Yes, it has all the trends you'd expect from 1986-- the long hair, the hexagon drums, the neon...  But it doesn't feel like an act.

Compare it with the current version on his site... Acoustic guitars, a set that looks like a barn, denim and cowboy hats...

Totally different from the original, but it doesn't feel like an act either.

If you've got a foundation like he has with this kind of flexibility, you'll have a long career.

Do you know of any other artists with a similar ability?  Post them here.