Music Marketing [dot] com

The Death of Postal Mail = Good Opportunity for You

Postal mail works for musicians. It worked 100 years ago and it still works today. In fact, it works even better today than ever.

Why? Because almost nobody is using it!

According to the annual survey done by the post office, in 2010, the average household only received one personal letter every seven weeks. This is "primarily driven by the adoption of the Internet as a preferred method of communication."

But that doesn't mean the Internet is the best form of communication when it comes to your music career...

Emails are quick, but they get deleted easier...if they get opened at all. And, like text messages, Facebook updates, or messages on Twitter, they're a lot more impersonal than a hand-written letter or postcard. 

If you want to form quality relationships with fans, you're missing a big oppotunity by not using postal mail.

How to Impress a TV Host

Did a conference call with Bob Baker tonight and Michael Brandvold told a great story about an experience Dick Clark had with Greg Kihn.

Looked it up and found this video...

If you're looking for an effective, simple, and inexpensive way to get attention for your music, this is a good one!

An Offer You Can't Refuse

Well, maybe you can refuse it, but 1,000,000 people felt otherwise when it came to this offer from LivingSocial...

Everybody has a deal like this...even you.

One of the great things about the music business is the high perceived value of something like a CD or DVD. You can press either for under $1/each and most people, even with piracy and a lot of customers switching to downloadable product, still wouldn't flinch if you told them the value was $10.

That's a 10x margin to work with. Take advantage of it.

Do You Have Fans Like This?

Michael is 24, he lives in Seattle, and he wants Billy Idol to play his birthday party. To make this happen, he's doing anything he can to get the word out and raising a lot of money for charity.

Needless to say, this is the kind of fan you want.

Cultivating the "Superfan" is just one of the many things I'll be covering in my upcoming book. Until then, check out Play My Birthday Billy Idol for examples of the lengths Michael is going to in order to make this happen.

On a related note, if you're interested in Ron Jeremy playing your birthday party, he's up for it...

10 Tips to Conquer Writer's Block

We’ve all been there at one time or another, with a pen in hand, guitar on our lap and a completely blank mind. Writer’s block can be seriously frustrating, but tapping into inspiration can help lead you out of this dark hole.

Inspiration comes from within and can be as random as something you see in a magazine ad, or as traumatic as a death in the family. Whatever it is, it breaks down the dam of sensibility and streams you through a completely creative space where nothing is beyond limits. There are things to get this process moving along quicker, which is good news for you and your wallet.

1. Change Your Routine

Sometimes we get into the hang of following a strict routine, and life seems to hit a flat line. Try changing your routine, whether it’s going to bed later and sleeping in an extra hour, going to the gym in the morning or going out for coffee after work instead of heading straight home. You may notice something off your beaten path that stirs that instinct to write.

2. Go Outside

Many artists quote the great outdoors as being a source of inspiration. Go to the beach and watch the waves roll in, take the family for a hike in the woods, go mountain biking, for a jog or sit with a glass of wine on the patio and watch the sunset. You may feel a connection with your surroundings that will emit feelings perfect for words.

3. Read

Reading new material helps build new ideas. Read that novel you’ve been meaning to pick up, grab a morning newspaper or have a look through the latest copy of your favorite magazine. It’s better than television because you can stop and reread something if it perks your interest. You’ll come across new ideas, life situations, world events and even other inspirational quotations, or prose that will set you in a new direction.

4. Try Something New

While this doesn’t necessarily mean to dabble in psychedelics, change is a good thing for songwriters. Many of the great songwriters like Bob Dylan and Neil Young went through countless transformations which inspired new music for them. Try sky diving, cooking or even a new instrument. Change stimulates us and gets us excited about life.

5. People Watch

This might sound odd, but people are so interesting, especially if you live in a big city. Spend some time at your favorite café, drink coffee and watch the people go by. You’ll notice comments and judgments float up through your mind about these people, or one particular person that interests you—characters in a story. Make up a theme song in your head for them, and go from there. Learning to be observational will take you a long way in songwriting.

6. Listen to Music

Pull out that old Led Zeppelin record you haven’t listened to in years and throw it on. Try listening to new music, or revisiting songs that touched you emotionally. Pick the songs apart like a critic or just lay out on the sofa with your eyes closed and enjoy it. This is similar to reading in that music offers new ideas and sounds which tap into our creative brain.

7. Go on Vacation

Take a break from songwriting and jump on a plane somewhere. The more exotic and unfamiliar the better, though going camping for the weekend free of electronics is also a good option. Explore, meet new people, learn new cultures or languages and try new things. Keep it relaxing, stress doesn’t write good songs.

8. Head Out for a Night on the Town

This doesn’t necessarily mean get smashed and hit every downtown bar you can find. Go out and catch a live show, no matter how significant the band, DJ or solo artist is. Being in a crowd of people all enjoying the same thing is a riot, and can inspire some good feelings and great lyrics. It may get you excited about writing again.

9. Explore Your Inner Workings

A lot of classic songs are emotionally charged. While this comes a lot from the performers themselves, the lyrics explaining these feelings are essential. Tap into your emotions, or significant events in your life. This can be something happy like your wedding day, or sad like the day your old dog passed away. While it can cause a bit of a rollercoaster effect you’ll find some organic thoughts will spring forth. Just remember to come back to normal afterwards.

10. Forget Reason

Try laying on your back or some other relaxed position, guitar in hand or fingers on the keys and completely forget about everything you know about music. Put away all the theory, chords, and notes and just close your eyes and see where your fingers land. This could end up in just a lot of noise, but you may find a new melody or riff by accident. This meditational practice is worth a try.

Add your tips below...

The "Downside" of Spotify

Yesterday, I talked about how Spotify can help your music career. Today, the topic is the "darkside" of Spotify...and the music business in general.

As previously mentioned, there are Spotify has three options to choose from. There is a free service, with limited access and commercials, a "computer" based service with unlimited access for $4.99/month, and a "mobile" service, also with unlimited access, but with higher quality streaming for both computers and mobile devices for $9.99.

To me, it's a great deal. Spotify doesn't have everything, so there are plenty of songs you won't be able to listen to through the service, but they've got 13,000,000 titles available, which should be more than enough for the average consumer.

So it's blown me away how many people are out begging for an "invite" to the free service, when you start using an "unlimited" and ad-free version immediately for only $4.99/month. Is having instant access to 13,000,000 songs not worth $4.99/month?

The answer is that it's not worth it...to some people. After all, not everybody is a music fan and not every music fan thinks that music is worth spending money on.

That's the reality. And it's the reality that some people are going to copy your music, sneak into your shows, and steal the t-shirts you're trying to sell.

Not everybody is going to see value in the work that you do. That can be frustrating.

Instead of spending time and energy on the people who don't care about what you're doing, focus on the people who do. Cultivate the "superfans" who will not only come to an occasional show, but come to every show...and walk out with CDs, t-shirts, and whatever else you're selling.

And take a look at the people who aren't yet into you enough to spend any money, but still provide some type of value. For example, the people who are copying your music to share it with friends.

Should you encourage people to copy your music? Maybe. For most bands, an issue far greater than piracy is that nobody wants what they've got for free. If you've got somebody who is so enthusiastic about what you're doing that he's making copies and telling all his friends about it, that may put you in a better position to make money than if he wasn't doing that.

Think about the big picture. Spotify is here; you can either use it to your advantage or not.

Spotify - How it Will Help Your Music Career

Spoify, a music service with instant access to over 13,000,000 songs, launched in the United States last month to huge buzz. Users have three options to access it. There is a free service, with limited access and commercials, a "computer" based service with unlimited access for $4.99/month, and a "mobile" service, also with unlimited access, but with higher quality streaming for both computers and mobile devices for $9.99.

It's a great service. More or less, you type the artist you want to listen to, click on the song you want, and it starts playing.

And I think it's good for the music business. At the height of the business, when people were both new CDs as well as back catalog, to replace worn out vinyl and cassette albums, the average consumer was spending about $3/month, which was split between retailers, distributors, labels, publishers, songwriters, producers, and artists.

If we can get 2-3x that money, without worrying about the "middlemen" and costs of physical distribution, we'll be in good shape as far as revenue.

Plus, a service like Spotify allows consumers to explore music. You can find an artist that you like and, instead of focusing on one album or a single you've heard, you can dig deeper, going into back catalog and more obscure recordings, of which Spotify has many.

This gets people more interested in and involved with the acts they like. Knowing one song is great, but knowing entire albums worth of material creates a relationship.

Imagine having fans who knew everything that you've ever done, thanks to a service that paid you every time your music was played? That's Spotify.

Spotify, and services like it, will help you to develop the type of fans you're looking for. People who have access to music like this are more likely to come to a live show, more likely to buy a t-shirt or other mechandise, and more likely to support you in future endeavors.

If your music is not available on Spotify, you can make that happen now via CD Baby or Ditto Music.

5 Ways to Collaborate (or Partner) with Other Bands

The music industry is one giant community. Take away the corporate jungle, and you get a group of artists who enjoy making music and love to share it. Collaborating with other artists is a great way for both of you to tap into each other’s fan bases and learn about other musical styles.

1. Remixes

While admittedly there are some terrible remixes out there, it’s another way of getting your song heard in a different atmosphere. Team up with an electronic musician and see what comes out of it. Your song may end up funkier and maybe unrecognizable but people will be hearing it at clubs and parties, and as long as your name or band is listed as the original recording artist you’re set.

Sending your music to another artist to remix is another possibility. Perhaps they have an idea for your sound that you’d never thought of. The possible outcome of a better track is a great reason to share your music. Hopefully the artist knows what they’re doing.

2. Jam Sessions

Getting together for a good old jam session can be an energizing experience that will bring life back into your music and inspire new sound and progressive songwriting. Make new songs together or rework old ones to develop a new sound for them. You’ll likely learn a thing or two from each other, another building block to becoming a well rounded musician.

3. Music Festivals or Live Events

Live events offer a great stage for you and another band to jam or play songs together. While rehearsal is recommended, an encore provides good space for spontaneous collaboration. If you know each other’s songs this will be a lot easier and sound better.

Music festivals are great places to come across other musicians and bands you’d be interested in working with in the future. Make a lot of friends and be open to new ideas. Consider partnering with another band if you’re a solo artist for a music festival, to be able to player a fuller, more complex sound.

4. Charity Events

While this also falls under live events, many great artists have collaborated for charity events and benefits like Live 8. Not only is your partnership helping raise money for a great cause, but it leaves artists who value the same things open to working with each other.

5. Cover Songs

By sharing music with other artists and producing good covers of their songs you’re both paying homage and reaching out to a wider fan base. If another band produces a cover of one of your songs and it becomes a hit—you’ll find that fans will start searching out the original or recognizing that song as yours.

Collaborating and partnering with other bands helps not only strengthen your musical chops by giving you opportunities to learn new techniques, sounds and songs, but it’s also great for your creative process. Always be open to new ideas, styles and genres and your music will feel timeless and progressive.

Add your tips below...

 

Your Mother's Music Business

Over the years, I've worked with and for a lot of musicians, from guys selling millions of records, to upcoming indie acts who haven't really done anything yet. Something that I've found interesting that differentiates the two is how they feel about the music business.

For the most part, the people who have been around for a while (and been sucessful) have a completely different view of the music business than most small acts. Again, for the most part, the successful people look at the business as fun and approach it with a level of ease. A lot of the smaller level acts seem intimidated by things, even if they haven't really jumped in and been part of them yet.

Sure, you could argue that things are great when you're on top and have "other people" to handle your business and day-to-day work for you. And you could argue that things come easier to people once they've had a certain level of success. But do you really know these things to be true or are they just assumptions you're making?

If you dig in and listen to a few episodes of Music Business Radio, where I've talked in depth with dozens of people about their careers, you'll find that a music business career isn't always smooth. Everybody has highs and lows, but I'm pretty sure the "lows" of a music business career aren't nearly as bad as what I hear most indie artists talking about.

I'm not saying that a career in the music business is easy, but there is definitely some ease to it and if you jump in with the passion that you say you have, you'll be fine. The music business always makes room for good people and both music fans as well as people in the business want you to succeed, because it's good for everybody involved.

If you feel the business is tough, ask yourself, "Why do I feel this way?" Is it from actually experiencing something or something else, like your mother telling you that you should have "something to fall back on"? 

Feel free to post comments below...

5 Reasons to Record in a Professional Studio (Instead of a Home Studio)

It can seem tempting for home bodies, or those who are just starting out recording to gear up at home and just do it yourself. While it’s becoming easier to get every basic thing you need to record at home, there are many reasons why using a professional studio is a better idea.

1. Studios have Trained Professionals

Unless you have some very knowledgeable friends it’s hard to pass up the chance to record with highly skilled recording professionals. These people, from engineers to producers, know how to get the sound you want, and are familiar with all the studio equipment, helping to cut down time in terms of searching out that perfect sound.

If you’re going to a professional studio search be sure to check their credits, or who they’ve worked with and what they’ve produced before. This will give you a good idea of their abilities and genres of expertise.

You’ll find at a professional studio you’ll save a lot of time by having skilled pros at hand who know what they’re doing and how to do it. It saves the frustration of you and your band sitting around tinkering with piece after piece, track after track and still being unable to come across the sound you’re hearing inside your head.

2. Objective Recording

This is another reason you’ll want professionals around. If you’re recording at home you might hear what you want to hear. Having someone else critique your work can be the difference between an okay track and a polished hit. These people have experience in making hit records and they know what works and doesn’t work. Be ready for a little constructive criticism.

3. Top of the Line Equipment

Check out the equipment in a professional recording studio and you’ll understand that, unless you have the bucks to put behind tens of thousands of dollars of different instruments and hardware, a home studio in no way compares. Professional studios will usually have over $25,000 just in different mics to help you achieve perfect sound. Not only that but you’ll find different percussion, keys—you name it, it’s all at your fingertips, so if you get the sudden whim that a song needs a keyboard dubbed in it’s there for you.

The production equipment is also what makes pro studios superior. While there are some great home studios out there, you can’t beat having top of the line computers, mixers, compressors and amps right there in one studio.

4. Acoustics

Unless you’re prepared to fork up some cash to sound treat a room specifically for recording, you’ll find you won’t be as happy with the sound, especially in regards to percussion.

Professional studios are built to acoustic standards so that everything sounds clean and pristine, and not like you recorded in your dad’s garage. You’ll get fuller sound, and the percussion will be tighter when you use a good studio room.

5. Don’t Take Your Work Home with You

While this is hard or impossible for many musicians, it feels good to be out of the house recording somewhere entirely dedicated to making music. Not only is this atmosphere more inspiring but will actually energize you to get the job done and avoid the distractions you’d find at home. It feels more like you’re getting something accomplished, and with so much equipment at your beck and call you’ll find recording much easier.

If you’ve been humming and hawing about whether to splurge for the gear and do it all yourself or to record in a professional studio, hopefully this has given you something to think about. Skills, plus experience, plus top of the line equipment and recording space prove invaluable to a great record. 

Any other reasons? Post them below...