Intro

I’m behind.  Usually have this post up and running around the first of the month, but I’ve been busy.  Go figure!  Sometimes it’s hard to maintain a writing hobby when you are a busy network administrator.  So what’s with music this month?  What kind of words of wisdom do I have?  Not much, actually.  Let’s just say that I’m going to rehash an old point – Marketing.  

Music Marketing

It’s a rare artists that I come across which has all of the bells and whistles in their marketing campaign.  This month I’m going to highlight what I believe are absolute necessities in a world where music must battle it out midst a host of other music for purchase.  Here’s Steve’s check-list, if you will, on what you must have to be truly successful as a musician or band:

1. Web site – This may seem like an obvious, but there are quite a few musicians who do not have a web site and instead have only social networking sites.  Web site’s should be the first created piece of your digital foot-print.  
2. Social networking sites – All of them.  Seriously, you or your band should have Facebook, MySpace, Twitter-every piece of social connectivity that will allow you to communicate with your now and future fans.
3. Get your music heard – This means Sound Cloud, Reverbnation, Band Soup, Band Camp, any place where you can post a few tracks and link back to all of your other digital foot prints.  
4. Get your music seen – I know, this sounds dumb, but videos are an important part of music marketing these days.  In fact, they are almost essential.  I’m not talking about a poor-quality video from the cheap seats of a concert either, I’m talking  about a studio quality video.  That video should be posted on YouTube and Vimeo and available to link to from your web site, Reverbnation or Band Camp site.  Getting your music seen, of course, also means live performances where you can meet your fans face-to-face, play your music, sell your CD’s, posters and T-shirts, and whatever else you can provide with your name plastered all over it.
5. If you are willing and able, consider self-releasing your CD or digital release.  If you need funds to get this done, then a Kickstarter campaign might be just the thing. Using a label means that you may be able to get to a larger audience more quickly, but you will do it at a huge cost to your bottom line. If you are using effective marketing, you can reach a broad audience that will help you advertise your music to a larger audience.  No fees required.
6. Make sure that every piece of your digital foot print links in some way to your other digital foot prints.  Web sites should have Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Bandcamp, Reverbnation, etc. links on them.  Facebook should link back to your web site, MySpace, etc.  All roads lead to all locations.  

I’m not an expert, but I do know that when I’m searching for references for a band to post on this blog, I often run into something that is missing that should be there for the band to fully market themselves.  If I notice, then there are a host of people out there that might find you or your band that simply don’t know you exist. If they don’t know you exist, then they don’t know how wonderful you are.

Feedback

Just a reminder that if you’d like to contact me, feel free to use the “Ask” button at the top of the blog or send an email to sspencerwire (at) gmail.com.  I’m hoping to hear from you!