Get Into iTunes.

Hi

I have been asked quite a few time on how to get into iTunes, Walmart and many more.

Well here is the place. Sign up, load up your tunes and away you go: iTunes portal

Free has become accepted

It is about time. Being free is now recognised as a good way to go. Check out the Wired article:

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free?currentPage=all

The Top 10 Music Marketing Problems AND Solutions

I have now managed to sit down and write the fundamental music marketing do's and don'ts.

This is free stuff but very important. I have condensed what you get in many ebooks into the top 10 things that are bad for the music maker and their solutions.

You can check it out here: Top 10 Music Marketing Problems And Solutions .

Enjoy.

A Big Rant At The Brit Awards

I saw the Brits the other night and what a load of rubbish it really was. I mean what was it all about?

With a huge amount of electro artists and a even bigger amount of listeners in clubs etc why is there no category for best dancey type music?

Who on earth was some of the artists? Was it me or were they playing the same old type of tunes that the Artics have done?

It has been done so leave it alone!

Respect to Kayne however...I will have no word said against him.

Rihanna was bold to go with a mix of umbrella and it worked well No award.

As a side note, The Klaxons are not Nurave (Drums and guitars with some keyboards in there...wow. How revolutionary). They are just a poor version of Linkin Park. Sorry but they are. Why the UK can't produce a decent Linkin Park clone is beyond me, but there we go.

Then you had an artist that was A Britaward student...and they won best ground breaking artist? Why? Because she was a student of the makers of the award? No, that would be skeptical but......

And how depressing is her music?

Every time I go onto that show (I am a sucker for punishment) I get the feeling that they are flogging a dead horse. Foo Fighters are cool, there is no doubt but Best International Group and Album? Is that all they could find?

Mika...why? He is slightly different, happy and jolly but so what. Songs should be if you are singing about the happiest time of your life. And no one should win an award if they go that high.

I am getting quite tired of the same old commercial music that comes out and gets rehashed. If it is not commercial, they don't want to know. If it is not in the charts they don't care. If it is not a CD then don't look at us.

But my biggest rant is this:

Why on earth do they have Paul McCartney on when he has over £500 million (half of which he hasn't donated to Live8, take note Bono who is also similarly loaded) is up on stage playing the most annoying tune "Hey Jude"? It is only annoying because he plays it all the flipping time. Did he say thanks to Lennon?

If it was me I would have the Brits, there is a place for them, but I would give awards to truly justifying artists. How on earth can someone from the Britschool have an award when there are huge Internet artists that have been far more successful by themselves without any help?

Why have Paul McCartney when they could easily devote 30 mins to unsigned artists? The Internet vote on the artists that they would like to see live?

Why do we promote artists who are making stacks of cash, where is the incentive for the unsigned to do well and to be noticed when they don't even get recognised?

If a BoyBand go up against a group who did their own tunes and lyrics then the boyband will win because of the boybands fan base and the commercial aspect of the awards...justice will not be done.

Why does the Brits focus so much on pop? Why not have 4 award shows for BritRock, BritElectro, BritDownload and BritPop?

The smaller award shows don't get the TV audience, so their artists don't get the maximum exposure that they deserve.

It is not all the Brits the Grammys have the same problem. I applaud though the Country Music Awards, separate awards that attracts big audiences and TV and has the same Kudos when you actually win an award.

I just think it is about deserving and proper voting. I know who I wanted to win but because I don't buy some teengirl mag or listen to an ageing format = radio then my vote will never be cast.

Is it my fault? No.

The people who determine who votes don't see me as a buyer, don't see me as a proper voter. If they can't get the vote forms out to me then it is their fault. They just believe it is the same old audience of 5 years ago and use the same advertising format.

It is a tall order but that is the problem with the Brits, its too open to a too wide audience. You can't capture everyone who is needed to vote.

They say "we advertised on Kerrrang Rock Music Channel"...yeah well Kerrang plays Eminem, how is that Rock? The Rock magazines on the other hand would be glad of the exposure and would tell the award people who actually was any good!

Chop the Brits up into 4 separate awards, hit the right voters and give the artists who deserve an award one...only then will the music industry figure out that they are not dying.

There are crap artists on the Brit awards because all the best ones are getting downloaded :) those are the ones that have done it themselves, have a really cool sound that hasn't been interfered with, and I have the biggest repect for them and I would give everyone of them an award.

Music Marketing Interview

Hi

I have been working on a hour interview that I had with Kavit Haria who is director of the Music Mastermind Music Marketing Course.

Having been on the BBC in the UK and in various Newspapers I thought Kavit would be an ideal source for knowledge picking.

And so he is. I quizzed Kavit on a number of topics including: hints and tips on blogging, social network sites (which are the best), gigging and alot more.

I collected all the scraps of paper and wrote down everything that Kavit said.

I have created (The Best Kept) Secrets Of A Music Marketer.



You can download the pdf, completely free, from here: Marketing Interview.

How Slow Can You Go?

I wanted to join an affiliate program that would work like a dream with a mini project that I have lined up.

So what do you do?

Contact the affiliate people, check out their great "pitch page" on their affiliate system (links, graphics etc) fill out a little form and they "will get back to you".

1 1/2 weeks later I still have no reply.

This is not good. Is that the way they treat their affiliate people, customers, sales...and money?

I hope not. I hope that they have lost my email, or that the dog sat on the mouse button and coinsidently clicked on the delete button.

But why I am making excuses?

There are loads of affiliate programs of this type around, and my little warning lights have told me to move away from this company.

They may have a great affiliate percent, they may have great conversion rates...but I don't want my site to suffer indirectly by them.

Sale lost just by being slow...not even an automation email to say they are processing my request.

Sale lost just by not answering their email on time.

Sale lost because even if they got back to me, I wouldn't go with them...I would have found someone else.

If you go slow, your customers will go faster to someone else. When everyone does exactly the same, the smallest bits of "customer service" can generate far better sales (immediate and future) than costly advertising.

Timberland

The artists Timberland is going to release his next album as a download ringtone.

He says "this has never been done before"

Is he right in doing that or not?

I think it is a good idea (as long as the download is cheap enough) in the fact that they are trying something different. But I tend to worry.

I worry about the idea of a ringtone. Are people going to keep it as a ringtone, or are they going to transfer the tracks to their computer and burn it onto a CD? Is that going to increase piracy?

Also ringtones are spreadable and easily made, that is why they are so cool.

People enjoy the idea of converting their CDs to ringtones, it doesn't seem that bad a deal- it's free and it is not piracy. However to have a full album ringtone only could be iffy- could people Bluetooth it to their friends? So the initial sales could be high but later sales could be reduced.

If they can't Bluetooth it then that reduces a great marketing technique.

Also, if the tones are over $5 for the full album...then that would be wrong.

Will people buy the CD as well? I doubt it. Unless that is an industry ploy.

Ringtones are a huge growth area, but I would feel dissapointed that I only had the ringtone of the full album.

What the companies could do is give a voucher for 60% off the normal CD to encourage buying of those after the tones have been sold (at $2-3 for the album).

Watch this space.

When It Comes To Adwords I Thought I Saw It All

I did an article on piano lessons, and I put some Adwords around it, you can check it out here: Piano Article.

Now what I saw on the left hand side was something that actually made me stop and look. Then look again.

Serendipity Music School have an Ad there. Problem being they also have a phone number on their Ad.

What on earth is all that about?

All it says is "piano lessons for adults and children phone ...."

Now are they thinking that I am going to stop, run hysterically to the phone and call them up, because of that Ad?

No.

Are they going to get crank callers?

Probably :)

I think they are trying to be too clever. They have thought, "actually if we put our phone number on the Ad then people will click it rather than jumping to our site"

I went to their site and found one or two faults.

1 I am about 100 miles away from them, and I am not going to go to their school just to learn the piano...obviously geography selector in Adwords wasn't used.

2 Their webname is too long. Also I guessed it was .com, but it is in the UK, so couldn't they use .co.uk?

3 As soon as you get to their site, guess what is the very first page you see? A telephone number!

4 For a school, there is no pictures of anyone...anywhere on the site.

5 On the "About Us" link, there is an address? So the address made the site? No one is updating it...it is all controlled by an address? Do you have to write to them to know the background of the company?

6 "Aural/ Ear Training" is one of the course descriptions...nothing else. Is that where your ear jumps around and through hoops?

The site has been made by someone who knows too much.

If I designed a site I make it from a beginner point of view, with free Youtube videos to explain the point.

If I don't know a topic that well, I learn it and write down my learning curve. What is the point of Aural/ Ear Training? What does it mean, why do I need to use or learn about that?

And there are no pictures, there is no picture of the person taking the lessons, there is no bio, qualifications, no pictures of their piano room...

There is no reason why I should go with them. The benefits of using their school rather than another one is just not expressed on their site...or even on the Adwords Ad.

Just no detail...

I am not picking on Serendipity, there are a few sites that are like this. So if you are building your music site up, make sure you know who you are dealing with, know your audience, and ultimately...what are you trying to achieve with your site?

Blogs, MySpace And A 600% Increase In Music Sales. The Ultimate Secret.

There is a little study that was released from the NYU’s Business School. They decided to check out the music marketing arena specifically about Blogs and do they actually increase sales. This occurred from Jan 07 to Feb 07. It is important to note that it was done over one month!

They tracked 108 albums sales. They compared people who did nothing and promoted their albums normally (this would be the base line) with people who promoted using blogs and MySpace.

The results were quite shocking.

They found that people who had MySpace friends and did promotion between them increased sales. However the amount of friends that you do have does matter however, they found one other little thing.

MySpace was good, but blogging was much better.

If the album they were talking about was released by a major label, sales increased by 5 times.

If there were about 40 posts, then sales jumped by 3 times. However, if there were over 250 posts, then sales jumped up 6 times.

Now this is hugely significant especially about the power of "word of mouth".

Online chatter that is free seems to create a better sales pitch or a better advertisement than the traditional blatant advertisement method.

Something to think about. We have to think about the type of blogs that were used, but I would suggest that they must have been very relevant (i.e. to specific genre) and the post must have been in a promotional area or the writer must already have been known to the blog.

One just has to look at the whole issue and see that it is astoundingly easy for a "non label" musician to do exactly the same as their labelled counterparts. I would assume though that time is the main problem. However, fo the indi musician who should already be blogging and MySpace friend making then this shouldn't be much of a problem.

I know that you are screaming out about blogs and have I got any tips for you. Well I have :)

Here are just a few tips to increase subscribers and have a cool blog:

1: Make sure that your blog is updated and relevant. Seems obvious, but people seem to use a blog just for advertisement. Forget that notion. It needs to be updated a least twice a week. Not too many times as people just won't have time to read all your text.

2: Link your blog to your website and tell people about it in your newsletter (you do have a newsletter right?). Also use ping services (go into Google and type in Blog ping) after each post. Make sure that people can bookmark your blog as well. There are many services on the net that allow you to place code on your blog to subscribe via RSS and to bookmark.

3: Too many words are just plain boring. Add graphics and video. This just makes your blog seem...more professional and also subconsciously increases your knowledge.

4: Promote your blog like you would your site. Post into blog directories, make and post articles and include a link back to your blog. Relevantly comment on other peoples blogs, including a link back to your site.

5: Make your blog keyword friendly. Your main keyword/ tags should be in the headline and like an hourglass throughout your text (more at the top, little in the middle, more at the bottom). Oh, and make sure that you have a hyperlink with your keyword.

Remember though that a blog is a build up mechanism. One post won't bring you legions of fans but regular posts over time will get people alerted to your presence. You need to turn a stranger into a listener and then into a friend.

Just remember that people are giving you their time, so reward them with good content. This is so as well on MySpace, make sure that your friends are given what they signed up to: information about you and your group not just constant advertisements.

I have found and reviewed a great information source on how to create download surges and moniterising your blog. It can be found here: Blogging, Traffic and Money.

CD thought?

I have always wondered about this one. If I take out a CD, took away its plastic packaging, took away the paper and actually took away the CD what do I have?

If someone said just music, great you would be right.

If you look at things logically. You would decrease the amount of time spent to reproduce the thing, and decrease the hours and wages that take to create one.

So the biggest wonder of my time at the present is this:

Why do we charge $12 for an album download?

Is it a wonder then why people pirate stuff?

I think the decent folk out there will buy something for what they thought the album is worth. The most famous example is Radiohead who said their audience could buy their new album at any price they wish.

It averaged out at $5.

Unfortunately they released the album in the shops as well, fleece your audience...nice style Radiohead...[growl]

But instead of thinking, wow, this is great, we have figured out what people are willing to pay, so lets do something about this. Downloading sites are still offering downloads at over $10.

I went over to CDBaby, nice basic site...most downloads $12.

If you want to buy a CD...$12.

However, I believe that the CD is going to die..

CDBaby also realise that, and have now released HostBaby for musicians.

But musicians haven't realised the fact yet.

And neither have record companies. If they did then all of their music would be up for download at $5 a shot (CD presses, artists, shipping- all gone and prices reduced). It wouldn't put an end to piracy fully, but it would heavily dent it.

It would also dent the record shops, and put people out of work in CD presses.

However change is needed. And it is the record companies fault that we haven't done anything about this mess yet. Unfortunately they will panic and try downloads in the future, but by then it will be too late. Musicians would have found out about downloading and the record companies will downsize. Would they be needed in the future? I doubt it, maybe to organise large concerts and tours...but why else would you need one?

Bleak picture, but true...we live in a "now" society that utilises downloads.

Kill the CD, and offer downloads.

Banner Ads In All Forms Are...

I just went onto my music hosting site and they are offering promotions. All fair and well but they don't offer one tiny little bit of information which would make it worthwhile for you:

The CLR.

This is the clickthrough rate.

This makes it all the worhwhile, and is what most marketing people don't do.

The CLR is all part of testing, and that is what most people hate because it proves once and for all if something works or not.

If I said to you that banner ads do not work, full stop, and offered you proof of that, well you wouldn't spend anything on that adertisement area would you. You would invest in something that works.

Oh, and banner ads don't work.

Some point in time you probably will advertise. To sell your music probably. But how do you know what works and what doesn't?

Testing.

Testing makes a good marketer and good sales. Someone who doesn't test doesn't make sales.

If you test a headline for people to buy your music you can change that headline every week to find out which headline is the most profitable.

I know banner ads don't work because other marketing people have made those tests and anyone who does banner ads will lose money.

However increasing your community presence will increase sales. Increasing your subscribers, increasing your listers through online forums and "community sites" will increase any sales and downloads.

It has been tested. So don't wate your money.

5 Steps Top Do It Yourself In Music

This is my, "Cut it out and stick it on a wall guide to make your own splash in music".

I think the title needs shortening.

However here are the three ways that you can do it by yourself in music. You will buy many books, subscribe to many places, but ultimately this is the way that you can succeed...and hey! I'm telling you for free.

1. Make sure that your music is good. This is quite hard as alot of your friends will say "yeah great"...that is not the people you want reviewing your music. You want them to tell the truth. It may be harsh truth, but without it you will never know how to improve your music, churn out the constant stuff and wonder why people are not downloading your stuff. So go onto garageband.com upload your tracks and see what people think. They actually review your tunes so that would be your first port of call.

Please note, if you have a super dooper website costing alot of cash, then it will not make your songs any better.

2. Make sure that you have your own site and domain. This only costs a few dollars a year now. I have my domains ordered for my birthday present. What is the idea of the website? To present and showcase your music, not your art or how well you can get downloaders annoyed by uploading a flash intro.

Your website should have on the first screen a java MP3 player which will allow people to hear your songs. I would suggest in the middle to middle top of the screen. The player should have a link to your downloads as well.

The site should have on the side in links : contact us, download our music, about us, pictures, testimonials, our gig videos, gig dates, newsletter, blog,

Everything should be a click away

3. Promote yourself. This is not as hard as you think. Promoting is by giging, telling your friends and family about your group. Putting your music on all these free sites. The problem is with those sites they work on a link to them basis. To get higher in the charts you need more people linking to your tunes...too many links everywhere. Make sure that your free music profile includes a link to your site. Also join in with chats and put a link to your music (on your site).

4. Repeat number 3. Ultimately you need people to get to your site, and you need to turn a stranger into a subscriber. Do that with free tunes, ebook, pictures...anything that is related to your music. Keep on doing step three. It is all about keeping in contact, keeping uptodate and treating your visitors like people who will help you. Oh, and do more gigs.

5. Open an account at Clickbank, then sell your albums using credit cards, and Paypal (Clickbank handle this so don't worry about it). This is vastly new for musicians, but you can sell upto 99 things. If you have an downloadable album, this would be perfect.

Adding extra stuff to your download product will increase the reason for somebody to buy your album. Add an ebook, pictures, two albums even.

And that is it. Once you have your own website it is quite simple to increase downloads and to get a frenzy for your music.