Musicpress

Creating a Web Presence for Your Indie Band

Waiting around at the punk show for your band to get discovered by a lurking talent agent is so 90’s. The Internet presents a huge array of options to get your band’s music out there and into the ears of your audience. You don’t have to have a fancy record label campaign to promote your material, just a little social media know-how.

Putting Your Music Out There

Start by establishing your presence on major music hosting sites like Myspace, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Last.fm. If you are serious about your project, establishing a .com website for it will lend it credibility. Consider putting your tracks up for download with well-formatted ID3 tags to properly identify you to your audience.

When your tunes are out there for the world to hear, cover your social media bases. Establish a strong presence on Facebook and Twitter to engage with your fans and let them know of your next performances.

If you’re a hometown outfit, establishing a relationship with the bloggers and indie publications of your area is a must. Engage in community forums, promote your band’s next show in your city’s subreddit, and keep a comprehensive RSS or Twitter feed of any zine or alt-weekly that may be willing to give you a write up.

Maintaining a Youtube presence is also vital. It’s another outlet for people to listen to and share your tunes, even if you don’t have a full music video. Even just a live recording of you playing your first single on funky science lab stools or strumming away in a hip coffee shop is good material for your fans to share.

Keeping Your Website Strong

A little SEO knowledge can go a long way if you’re setting up your flagship domain. You don’t need to mount an entire ad campaign, but having your pages be easily digestible to web crawlers will help searchers find your music. Consider doing some basic keyword research to see who is searching for what in your area.

Finally, make sure to start up a band blog and update it at least once a month. Writing about what you’ve been doing as an act, memories from your last show or even a fun piece of fan interaction gives you the opportunity to share posts across your social media. Fresh content also gives your site better link rank in search engine results pages. And flexing those writing muscles can only help your lyrics, right?

Developing an EPK (electronic press kit) can be a valuable tool as your act grows. This is a conveniently-packaged collection of documents and press material that can be transmitted to bookers at the click of a button. It can serve as your rider, promotional material and professional introduction all at once.

Wrapping It Up

Learn to use the variety of free tools that are at your fingertips to figure out what’s working with your online endeavors. Mashable.com has great tutorials on how to use Facebook Insights and Google Analytics’ easy-to-use interface will make analyzing your visitors a snap.

It can be scary trying to do your own marketing, but the Internet is an exciting opportunity for the savvy bandleader. Just take advantage of social media and webpage optimization to get your music out there to be discussed and enjoyed.

Michelle is an aspiring writer with a passion for blogging. She enjoys writing about a vast variety of topics and loves that blogging gives her the opportunity to publicly voice her thoughts and share advice with an unlimited audience.

The picture is of independent artist extraordinaire Cory Mo who has a dynamic website at http://corymo.com/

The Heretic’s Comments: I love the fact that if you have some video production grind about you, then YouTube does offer you a way to generate money from your efforts. That being said, however, YouTube just like most of the other huge social media platforms has a ton of rules, regulations and guidelines which separate you from generating YouTube Money.

I wanted to provide you this quick video produced by Dom Power (a photographer) who provides great insights on strategies you can use to make YouTube money as well as the realities of things that can stop you. (Please note: Mr. Power is using the British pound instead of the U.S. Dollar, but the strategies are all the same)

Before we go always remember this:

Content is King, but “Original Content” is the King Maker

Let us know your thoughts

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The Paperback version of “Before You Sign That” is now available for purchase at the following site:

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The Heretic’s Comment: We took the first part of this year off to focus on putting the finishing touches on Cross’ book “Before You Sign That”.

Well the  Book is completed and we can now start back providing you with the insight, information and resources you can use in order to cash-flow your creative projects.

This is the first break we have taken in almost 3 years of posts and we want to thank the hundreds of you who have continued to visit our blog and utilize us as a resource library.

2012 is going to be an interesting year for creative projects. It is an election year, plus many believe it is the end of the world as we know it.

Whatever your beliefs, if you are a creative person and you plan to put out a project this year, you will have to realize that most of the country (in fact) most of the world is financially hurting and if you want people to spend their hard earned money on your project, you are going to have to give them maximum value.

Another commitment YOU will have to make is connecting YOUR project to people. It is becoming more and more apparent, that people don’t want to spend money with strangers (especially when it comes to buying music, books, films).

Fans and consumers want to feel connected to you and a part of your movement before dropping money on your project.

As a result, it is timeout for those of you who believe that you can disrespect your fans and still get them to spend money with you. It ain’t happening. They have too many choices now and they will just pass your project to go with the next.

Okay that’s it for now, but we will get back on our post schedule and we want to say again how grateful we are and appreciate all the love and support you have shown us during our time focusing on other projects.

Now let’s go make this money doing what we love!!!!

The Heretic’s Comments: Music Blog Hypebot has recommended three sites to target your music marketing in 2012.

To cut straight to chase, the three sites are:

1) Facebook

2) YouTube

3) Your own website.

We have provided a direct link to the full article below. The article is short and will only take you a few minutes to read, but is worth the read because HypeBot provides good explanation on why they believes this is the best way to focus your efforts (and we agree).

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/12/mobile-marketing-for-independent-artists-reality.html

Closing Comments:

YouTube in a lot of ways is becoming the center of the Universe to market independent music. If you don’t have a YouTube Channel, then you are setting yourself up to enter the fighting ring with one hand tied behind your back. That being said, the ultimate goal is to use social media sites as road post pointing Fans to your own website. This is the most critical aspect in marketing your music. You must invest the time, money and effort into developing, launching and maintaining your own website as the hub for your everything that you do and everything that you are attempting to sell.

Go into 2012 seeing yourself as a STORE and not just as a artist/musician/songwriter!!!

If you enjoy The Heretic™ and the information we provide please sign up as a subscriber today! Thank You!!!

Let us know your thoughts and comments.

The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY FROM YOUR PROJECT Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

Follow us on Twitter @attorneycross

Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  More details are coming soon if you are interesting in pre-ordering the book. We are very excited about this Project!!!! We also have other projects in the works that we will be sharing with you soon!!!

The Heretic’s Comments: Vinny Ribas of Indie Connect Magazine provides some excellent insight to why you might not have been successful as you want to be in selling your music online.

A direct link to the Vinny’s post appears directly below:

http://indieconnectmagazine.com/2011/11/indie-artist-tip-day-buying-music-online/

Closing Comments:

One of the most tragic mistakes I see recording artist constantly making is thinking that creating great music will cause people to discover them.

It is only partially true!!!

It is a given that you must record and deliver great music, but you also have to make great decisions in mapping out a plan which will allow the widest possible fan-base and customer-base to discover your music.

That being said, if YOU are not good with marketing and promoting YOURSELF these days, YOU will have a very short music career as well as not make any money.

Long gone are the days when you can just be a great songwriter, singer or musician and leave the responsibility of promoting yourself to a Record Label. YOU are YOUR own Record Label, and YOU better realize that YOU are going to have to get out their and kiss some babies and shake some hands if YOU are going to make impact.

YOU are in a business of relationships….if they don’t feel connected to YOU….YOUR music will be ignored…and they won’t spend money with YOU or YOUR products!!!

Take time to read Vinny’s post. It will help you organize your efforts in generating money online!!!

If you enjoy The Heretic™ and the information we provide please sign up as a subscriber today! Thank You!!!

Let us know your thoughts and comments.

The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY FROM YOUR PROJECT Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

Follow us on Twitter @attorneycross

Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  More details are coming soon if you are interesting in pre-ordering the book. We are very excited about this Project!!!! We also have other projects in the works that we will be sharing with you soon!!!

The Heretic’s Comments: One of the most frustrating things I deal with day in and day out are producers/songwriters/composers who have compiled tons and tons of original music content but just sit on it.

Why do I use the word frustrate, because many of these individuals are saving their music for one particular project or one particular artist or for the number one hit single they think is coming.

As a creative person myself, I understand that certain songs we compose are indeed very special and we place such songs in our special vault, but if you are wanting to turn your song library into cash-flow, you simply cannot afford to sit on your music (to essentially be for your own exclusive personal listening pleasure).

Music can only generate cashflow if it is used and heard by others.

With the above as our backdrop, I found an excellent article describing options and strategies on getting your music catalog included in various music libraries whose sole purpose is to find work for songs. Additionally, the article provides an excellent explanation for how to set up your own music libraries for licensing (cash-flowing) your catalog. The article is authored by Michael Borges who I read regularly through Linked In. The link appears directly below:

http://www.licensequote.com/blog/index.php/2011/08/how-experienced-music-creators-can-increase-their-sales-revenues/

Closing Comments:

Make the decision that if you are constantly investing the time to create original music content that your creativity has value. Despite the attack the creative music community is under from the freemium models being thrown at us, if you have quality content and have the courage to put a value to it….place it out in the product stream and let the marketplace work for you. Quality is the key determinant. You must have professional grade music in its structure, recording, mixing, mastering and delivery. Remember, you are not competing with local songwriters/producers you are familiar with….instead, you should see yourself competing against world class composers and songwriters. That being said…be you…not them….there is only one you and no one can be a better you…than YOU!!!!

If you enjoy The Heretic™ and the information we provide please sign up as a subscriber today! Thank You!!!

Let us know your thoughts and comments.

The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY FROM YOUR PROJECT Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

Follow us on Twitter @attorneycross

Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  More details are coming soon if you are interesting in pre-ordering the book. We are very excited about this Project!!!! We also have other projects in the works that we will be sharing with you soon!!!

The Heretic’s Comment: Don’t count physical product out just yet. We found just the story we had been looking for  which indicates that a number of mom and pop retail stores are selling independent movies, games, books and music cds at a very brisk rate.

The story we found deals with sales taken place in the state of Maine, but we are hopeful that this trend will be proven to be applicable for other areas of the country as well. We have provided  a direct link to the story below.  The story will take you between 5 to 10 minutes to read.

http://www.kjonline.com/news/old-media-holding-its-own-this-holiday-season_2011-12-04.html

Closing Comments:

If you can afford to do physical product (and you have a fanbase that supports you), invest in physical product and don’t just limit yourself to digital.

Your profit margins are so much better going physical over digital and additionally you can be more creative with the packaging you offer…which will hopefully entice your fans to buy your product as gifts for others.

Its crunch time for the Holiday buying season…so if you have product…push it…push it…push it….

I know times are challenging, but this is the time of year that relationships you have developed consistently over the months leading up to the holidays can pay off.

On the other hand, if you are not having a successful holiday season selling your product this year, then come up with a game plan to introduce yourself to local retail business owners and service shops such as barber shops/ beauty shops/cleaners/convenience stores/medical offices.

Get to know the managers/owners/service providers. Find out if there is a way you can put your product in their stores on consignment. Let me emphasize, don’t limit yourself to music stores or stores that specialize in selling what you do.Expand well beyond that.

So you say to me…you crazy…I am not going to do that. Well my response to your reservation is to first make the owner or manager a Fan of what you do. If you are performing, make an effort to give free passes to local retail store owners. If you have new music, give a complimentary copy to the store owner and pitch them on the possibility of placing your product near the register or checkout if they truly like your music (or whatever you do).

It won’t be a hard sell for the store owner/manager, because hopefully their customers  will just naturally ask, what is going on with this music cd or dvd or book you are carrying. And a conversation can take place from there which will hopefully lead to a sell. Your sell!!! Anything can happen!!!

One Last Thought

Develop a thick skin and go beyond your fear of rejection. You have to be willing to do what others are too intimated to do in order to give your product a fighting chance of generating a profit. That being said, don’t be a pest. If they don’t like what you do, move on to the next until you are able to make the connection.

If you enjoy The Heretic™ and the information we provide please sign up as a subscriber today! Thank You!!!

Let us know your thoughts and comments.

The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY FROM YOUR PROJECT Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

Follow us on Twitter @attorneycross

Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  More details are coming soon if you are interesting in pre-ordering the book. We are very excited about this Project!!!! We also have other projects in the works that we will be sharing with you soon!!!

The Heretic’s Comments: Vinny Ribas over at Indie Connect Magazine has come up with a great post today entitled “10 Places You May Never Have Thought About Looking For Gigs”. We did a somewhat similar post a couple of weeks ago entitled “Creating Music to Generate Cashflow through Everyday Life Events”

We encourage you to click on the link below and gain wisdom from Vinny. The holiday season is in full swing and for the performing musician/artist its money time as well as crunch time to get gigs secured. Be creative and get your music before a live audience!!!

Closing Comments:

If you are successful in getting gigs booked, make sure you give them a show. Don’t just give them a performance….give them a show!!!

The Link to Vinny’s post is directly below

http://indieconnectmagazine.com/2011/11/indie-artist-tip-day-10-places-thought-gigs/

The Heretic’s Comments: A short post to remind songwriters and composers that limiting your entire creative focus to always working on your next single or album is not wise , especially as it relates to generating cash-flow.

Why do I say this? Okay I will answer the question, but before doing so, I want you to think about the following:

Keep in mind that (at its heart) one of music’s most powerful qualities is how effectively it attaches itself to certain moments in our lives.

Once a particular song is attached to a life event, like a special date with a girl or guy, our first kiss, a special night, or special event, that song sticks like cement glue to the point that whenever we hear that song, (even years later) the entire scene of that previous event can come alive again.

Okay I will answer the question now. So the reason limiting your creative focus to just working on your next single or album is a mistake,  is that it positions you to miss daily opportunities to make your music come alive by attaching it to everyday life events.

So instead of just closing yourself in the studio to work on your single or album, as a creative songwriter or composer, create music in real time as life events occur.

For example, you can write words and music for a guy or girl who wants to make an immediate impression on a love interest. You don’t have to charge them a lot of money, make it reasonable so that the word will spread and prayerfully they will tell more of their friends to use your music services so your phone will keep ringing.

Or if you know of a small company that is having a special event, pitch them on letting you come up with the theme music for the event. Again, you don’t have to charge a lot of money at first, just see if you can get this particular niche  to grow, and the money will start flowing more easily.

Closing Comments:

What I have described above of course is not limited to music and can be applied to a host of creative activities. Poets, Painters, Photographers, Dancers, etc can all apply their particular art to everyday life activities and events which people will be willing to pay for if the price is reasonable.

Something for you to Think About!!! Remember you don’t have to always  hit a homerun to score….you just have to keep the ball in play long enough for you to get to the next base without being tagged out…Home plate is coming!!!!

If you enjoy The Heretic™ and the information we provide please sign up as a subscriber today! Thank You!!!

Let us know your thoughts and comments.

The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY FROM YOUR PROJECT Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

Follow us on Twitter @attorneycross

Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  More details are coming soon if you are interesting in pre-ordering the book. We are very excited about this Project!!!! We also have other projects in the works that we will be sharing with you soon!!!

The Heretic’s Comments: Earlier this week YouTube announced two new arrangements that will prayerfully position indie artists/bands/musical groups/songwriters with better opportunities to generate money through the YouTube platform.

1. The Merch Store

The First arrangement is the creation of a  service known as the Merch Store. The Merch Store will allow viewers of your videos to purchase fan merchandise directly from your YouTube channel.

If you don’t have a YouTube channel, what are you waiting on…get it setup immediately.

If you have merchandise, you need to immediately get on top of this. On the other hand, if you don’t have merchandise, why don’t you…in this blog we have told you repeatedly that the music business is not just about music anymore.

2. Merlin global rights deal

The Second arrangement is the completion of the long negotiated global rights deal with the agency known as Merlin which represents roughly 14,000 independent labels. Why is this such a good deal for indie labels, because major labels have turned their music catalogs into hundreds of millions of dollars per year through the YouTube platform. Now, with the Merlin/YouTube deal in place, indie labels will have an opportunity to get a piece of that YouTube revenue pie.

If you are unfamiliar with Merlin, it is an organization that is setup to protect the commercial interest (right to make money) of independent record labels.

More specifically, if you are recording and releasing your own musical projects, then you are operating as an independent record label and should seriously consider joining Merlin.

For those of you familiar with Attorney Cross, this is something that he has been pushing independents to do for sometime now.

Joining Merlin allows Indie Record Labels to move as a collective group which will provide better leverage to get deals done like the one completed with YouTube which will prayerfully create an additional way for indie music to generate cashflow.

You can get more information on Merlin @

http://www.merlinnetwork.org/home/

Closing Comments:

There is sooo much clutter on YouTube and I know it can be extremely difficult to get your music noticed above the noise, but if you are successful in getting people to come to your YouTube page, then you owe it to yourself  to position your channel to generate money in as many different ways as it can.

Take advantage of the information we are providing in this post so that money can have an opportunity to find you.

If you enjoy The Heretic™ and the information we provide please sign up as a subscriber today! Thank You!!!

Let us know your thoughts and comments.
The Heretic™ © 2011 Cross Live Media All RIGHTS RESERVED For the MAKE YOUR OWN MONEY Movement……..

www.thecrossfirm.com

Follow us on Twitter @attorneycross

Join our Facebook Fanpage: Search for Music Business Heretic

The Official Release of the  “Before You Sign That” is coming soon. An indie artist inspired book Authored by The Heretic’s very own Leslie W. Cross Jr. and co-authored by platinum recording artist Paul Wall.  On May 1, 2011 pre-order your copy. More details coming soon. We are very excited about this Project!!!!