ARCHIVE: Indie Music Marketing

April 07, 2008

TuneCore Industry Guides - i.e. Link Bait

TuneCore produced a couple "Music Industry Survival Manuals" which are pretty much just over-simplified tidbits of wisdom wrapped around a chunk of advertising.  However, if you're pretty new to music promotion, or you just started a new band, they might... Read More

| Comments (0)

March 11, 2008

Make a Living With Only 1000 True Fans

Well, a recent post by Kevin Kelly (wow -- how did he get the domain "kk.org"?) entirled "1,000 True Fans" has caught quite a lot of attention via the interwebs lately.  Building on the oft mentioned "Long Tail" concept, it... Read More

| Comments (0)

February 19, 2008

Innovation, Free Publicity, & Multi Level Music Marketing

Oy vey, there are waaaaaay too many music marketing blogs out there these days...  Which makes having found one that simultaneously inspires, confuses, and awes a rare event.  If you have a chunk of time on your hands, definitely read... Read More

| Comments (3)

June 12, 2007

Promote Your Band on a $500 Budget

Andrew at New Music Strategies recently completed an eBook compilation of blog posts titled "20 Things You Must Know About Music Online" that's now available for free.  (I was a little surprised -- I was thinking of doing a "Top... Read More

| Comments (1)

March 28, 2007

iTunes Charts Bum Rushed, Unsigned Band Makes It

So, an update on the "Bum Rush the Charts" campaign that took place last week (where a group of podcasters tried to launch a currently unsigned band (Black Lab) into the iTunes "top song" charts):The song "Mine Again" reached #11... Read More

| Comments (0)

January 29, 2007

iJigg, A Cool Digg-Like Popularity-Based Music Site

If you've ever used Digg (note the little Digg button under this post), you'll get iJigg, but for those who haven't -- songs are uploaded by indie and unsigned artists into a mega-pool of music.  Surfers check out the new... Read More

| Comments (3)

January 24, 2007

Amie Street and its Popularity-Based Mp3 Pricing Model

There are a million digital music stores out there, and Amie Street has successfully broken through with an incredibly unique concept that seriously rocks.Get this:New songs uploaded by unsigned & indie artists start out at a price of $0.00.  (Thereby... Read More

| Comments (5)

January 14, 2007

Updates to GarageSpin.com

This weekend may have been one of the most active and surprisingly productive in a while for me: Worked on my next song, "Take a Stand", and now have the chord progression for a pre-chorus and chorus.  Chorus lyrics are... Read More

| Comments (2)

October 09, 2006

MySpace and New Ways to Sell Your Music

There's a good article in the Chicago Tribune by Kathryn Masterton discussing the many new distribution tools that enable artists to sell their music directly to music fans that takes a more realistic view of what's possible, what's not, why... Read More

| Comments (0)

August 28, 2006

Interview With Louise Molloy-Harris, PR Manager at Quite Great Communications

Quite Great Publicity is a PR agency that specializes in classic bands, such as Madonna, The Doors, and Jimi Hendrix, as well as new music, film, and eCommerce PR with an arsenal of public relations and word-of-mouth marketing campaign tactics. ... Read More

| Comments (0)

August 10, 2006

Interview With Bob Baker, Guerrilla Music Marketing Guru

Bob Baker is the mack-daddy of music marketing.  If you've ever surfed music sites on the web, you're bound to have encountered the legendary Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook, by Bob himself.  It's filled with solid, creative, common sense to help... Read More

| Comments (1)

June 09, 2006

Jupiter Recommends MySpace For Music Promotion

Ok folks, it's official as of May 29, 2006: Recommendations from friends are one of the most powerful ways people discover music (only below radio and music videos), according to a new Jupiter study, Music and Community: Low-Cost, Authentic Promotion.So go... Read More

| Comments (1)

April 24, 2006

The Power of PR and Buzz -- Sandi Thom

A great deal of press exploded when it was announced that Sandi Thom, an artist who was webcasting basement-based gigs to over 100,000 users online, was signed to Sony BMG.  She quickly became a poster child for home grown artists... Read More

| Comments (3)

February 15, 2006

"Calling All Bands" Contest from Verizon and MySpace

One unsigned band on MySpace will get their song, music video, ring tone and ring back tone produced by Verizon Wireless for debut/release on V Cast Music, Verizon's music subscription service.More info in the press release, and at MySpace.(via Ringtonia)... Read More

| Comments (3)

February 03, 2006

American Idol Pay-For-Rotations Music Site

American Idol recently launched American Idol Underground, a music hosting site capitalizing on the show's brand name and its audience's dreams of stardom.Any artist can get a free profile page with gig promotion and fan club management.  Song submission, however, requires... Read More

| Comments (4)

February 02, 2006

TuneCore Launches Beta iTunes Music Submission Service

TuneCore happily declares it will submit your music to iTunes and Rhapsody for you, while letting you keep all of your song rights, as well as any money made from either iTunes and Rhapsody.Pricing involves a 1-time $0.99 per song upload... Read More

| Comments (8)

January 30, 2006

How to Break an Act

Breaking An Act is a good post giving practical advice to new bands trying to make it big.  Most of it is practical - I'd still look to Bob Baker for creative marketing ideas.  A good read, though.(via SpinMe)... Read More

| Comments (0)

How to Break an Act

Breaking An Act is a good post giving practical advice to new bands trying to make it big.  Most of it is practical - I'd still look to Bob Baker for creative marketing ideas.  A good read, though.(via SpinMe)... Read More

| Comments (0)

January 26, 2006

Interview with Jonathan Schreiber, Xingtone CEO

I had a chance to speak with Jonathan Schreiber, CEO of Xingtone, about their latest beta service launch, mStore.  As I mentioned yesterday, mStore allows artists to create ringtone stores for their music, and even offers a free mStore option... Read More

| Comments (2)

January 25, 2006

Real Launches RealCommunity, Unsigned Artist Site

RealNetworks just launched RealCommunity, free music community that lets unsigned groups and artists upload their own music, create profile pages and sell their music online.RealMusic and RealGuide users will be exposed to top-ranking artists (based on user rankings) in RealCommunity.  Both digital... Read More

| Comments (0)

January 24, 2006

XingTone Launches mStore, Ringtone Store Creator

Xingtone, developer of ringtone- creation software, recently launched a beta version of mStore, a self-serve ringtone store generator.One cool mStore feature is the ability to both create an external store that Xingtone hosts, as well as insert the actual mStore... Read More

| Comments (0)

January 18, 2006

Interview With ARTISTserver.com Creator, Gideon Marken

I mentioned an interview with Gideon was approaching, and voila. For those unacquainted, Gideon Marken is the programmer/musician that single-handedly built and maintains ArtistServer, a free music-hosting platform that empowers artists with music promotion tools including blogs, podcasts, feeds, newsletters,... Read More

| Comments (5)

January 05, 2006

ARTISTServer: One Man, Thousands of Artists

Vision and drive. Two huge intangibles that work wonders. Enter Gideon Marken and his brainchild, ArtistServer. Named one of the best music hosting services by Time along with GarageBand and CDBaby, ArtistServer empowers bands with the ability to host, stream,... Read More

| Comments (4)

December 30, 2005

Submit Music For Soundtrack in Collaborative Film

B.Sting Entertainment is inviting unsigned musicians to submit music for consideration in the soundtrack for the feature film The People's Moviea.What's interesting about this film's production, is that many crucial decisions will be made by fans of the movie at www.thepeoplesmovie.com, including... Read More

| Comments (1)

December 22, 2005

CrossDogs, Christian Artist Booking Service, Launches

CROSSDOGS, a Christian artist booking service, will launch January 1 to begin connecting independent Christian bands with venues industry peeps including promoters, venues, churches, festivals, contests, agents, managers, merchandisers, producers, etc.Membership costs bands $49.95, allowing bands to create an Electronic... Read More

| Comments (3)

December 14, 2005

CD Baby Partners With Best Buy

Way to go, CD Baby. Best Buy found that a growing number of customers were asking for independent music not carried by Best Buy, so they turned to CD Baby to deliver. The relationship is only online, currently. If you... Read More

| Comments (3)

December 12, 2005

Interview With Podcast NYC Creator, Rob Safuto

As promised in my last post about iMusic Flow, an interview with its architect, Rob Safuto of Podcast NYC, follows below. Rob's a blogging, podcasting, and videocasting machine, as well as a indie music (and general media) guru. Check it... Read More

| Comments (0)

Get Your Flow at iMusicFlow.com

Podcast NYC has created yet another media channel focused on the independent music scene in New York City. The new, video iPod-compatible service, iMusic Flow, features videos of live performances of various NYC bands in different NYC clubs. Rob at... Read More

| Comments (4)

November 15, 2005

DIY-Only Label Launched

Simig Media, Inc. launched a new record label that differentiates itself by only publishing and distributing records that are wholly recorded and produced by the musicians themselves. I love love the concept, which is very much in the spirit of... Read More

| Comments (0)

November 07, 2005

Harvey Danger Experiments With Free Album Download

Harvey Danger hit gold with “FlagPole Sitta” in 1998, had less success with their 2000 release, was then dropped by their label, and broke up. Now they’re back sans label, experimenting with a promotion strategy including a free digital download... Read More

| Comments (0)

November 04, 2005

MySpace Launches Record Label

MySpace, an online community site that has become a top destination for music lovers and musicians sharing their music, has launched a record label in partnership with Interscope. I was initially excited by the news, imagining a new launch pad... Read More

| Comments (0)

October 26, 2005

Brit Band Hits No. 1 After Creating an Online Fan Base

Here's an interesting story about the Arctic Monkeys, a British band that built up a huge following of young fans well before signing with a label, by circulating Mp3 files and holding spontaneous gigs. When the single was finally released,... Read More

| Comments (0)

September 29, 2005

Unsigned Band Sells 17,000 Copies of Self-Released Album

Another unsigned band success story. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a band based in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, has sold almost 17,000 self-titled albums through word-of-mouth marketing alone. The band recorded the entire album for under $10k, and fulfills orders the... Read More

| Comments (0)

August 31, 2005

Boosting CD & Merchandise Sales

If you're actively gigging musician, you know the importance of successfully selling CDs and merchandise. Bob Baker, author of the Indie Music Promotion Blog, and the Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook, recently posted a list of Top CD and Merch Sales... Read More

| Comments (0)

August 25, 2005

Podsafe Music Network Officially Launches

The Podsafe Music Network went live this week, after having been in beta for little over a month. The site looks good. It must be the ABSOLUT Vodka sponsorship. Podcasters will be happy.... Read More

| Comments (0)

August 18, 2005

Podcasting and GarageBand

A little coincidence... Today, Glenn Reynolds from Tech Central Station talked about podcasting in his article, Podcasting and New Media. He discusses the emergence of Podcast DJs, the new avenues of promotion available to unsigned artists, and the copyright issues... Read More

| Comments (0)

August 02, 2005

The Positive Pop Song Contest - Yippy Skippy!

Gee wiz, Beav! It's the Positive Pop Song Contest! But how do you know if your song is positive enough? Well, just make sure you follow the tried but true A-B-A-B-C-A-B song structure, and stick with major C, D, and... Read More

| Comments (2)

July 20, 2005

Finance Your Album Project...Through eBay!

This is one of the more ballsy steps I've seen a musician take to finance the production of an album: He sold himself on eBay. Well, not his entire self. In an eBay auction, Indian singer/songwriter Shayan offered one quarter... Read More

| Comments (0)

July 14, 2005

Submit A Demo to the Independent Music World Series

Disc Makers has been running the 10th Independent Music World Series (the term "world" is a little bold, since the event takes place accross the US only), and the submission deadline for bands located in the Northeastern US is August... Read More

| Comments (1)

July 07, 2005

Mobile Radio Empowers Unsigned Artists

Unsigned musicians have begun using a new distribution channel to bypass record labels and earn a larger share of revenue from sales. Andy Cato of Groove Armada has teamed up with O2 in the UK to offer tracks for download... Read More

| Comments (3)

July 06, 2005

Band Creates Pre-Release Buzz Through Podcasts

Detroit rock band The Transfer has been able to generate significant online buzz for its album Romantics & Addicts by submitting the single "Down With Everything" to podcast and internet radio stations. A nice alternative promotion vehicle success story. Unsigned... Read More

| Comments (4)

July 05, 2005

Digital Bear Entertainment Music Publishing: Song Submittion

Digital Bear Entertainment Music Publishing is looking for recorded music to place in TV, commercials, and feature films. At this time, they're particularly interested in Metal instrumentals and R&B, though all genres are accepted. One thing that's great about this... Read More

| Comments (0)

July 01, 2005

Oasis CD Manufacturing and HostBaby Team Up

Oasis CD Manufacturing enlisted HostBaby (a division of CDBaby) to provide web hosting and wizard-based automated website design to independent musicians. Upon reading this announcement, I checked out Oasis' services for the first time, and was impressed. They offer... Read More

| Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

June 30, 2005

Music Plus TV, Independent and Unsigned Music Videos

Music Plus TV launched its independent and unsigned internet music video channel this month. Their focus on commercial-free, independently-funded and interactive content may win them a psyched fan base. A cable network will follow in January of 2006. Not too... Read More

| Comments (0)

June 08, 2005

Cool Band Names

Cool band names. We've all thought of one at some point, whether for a real band, or for hypothetical amusement. Juliet just didn't get it: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would... Read More

| Comments (56)

June 07, 2005

Cool Band Names

Cool band names. We've all thought of one at some point, whether for a real band, or for hypothetical amusement. Juliet just didn't get it: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would... Read More

| Comments (6)

May 31, 2005

MySpaces, An Awesome Place to Promote Music

MySpace is a social networking Web site offering tools allowing anyone to post personal info, photos, blogs, message boards, music (up to 4 tracks) and video they've created. It's been hugely successful, partly because it offers so many great free... Read More

| Comments (2)

May 25, 2005

More of a Reason To Jump Into Podcasting, or Create "Podcast Safe" Music

Unsigned musicians and bands should seriously consider both 1) starting a podcast, and 2) making their music "podsafe". Why? Within two months, a new version of iTunes will support podcast feeds, according to Steve Jobs during the D3 Conference. Per... Read More

| Comments (2)

April 29, 2005

Audioslave Promotion Needs 1 Million Fans to Unlock Single

On Wednesday, at 6 am EST, Audioslave released Your Time Has Come, a single from their upcoming album, Out Of Exile, through an unique promotion. Initially, fans were only able to listen to a 30 second clip of the song.... Read More

| Comments (0)

April 06, 2005

Starting a Weekly Indie Artist "Showcase"?

I've considered starting a weekly showcase of music written and recorded by readers of this blog. We've talked about finding ways for our community of self-managed artists to be less independent and more cooperative. I thought an opportunity to present... Read More

| Comments (4)

April 04, 2005

Indie Managers Association Re-launches Web Site

The Indie Managers Association (IMA) re-launched a new website with a new members-only section for independent music management and self-managed artist communities. From the Music Industry News Network press release: Indie Managers Association, a company that provides resources to educate... Read More

| Comments (1)

March 28, 2005

McDonald's Infiltrates Rap Lyrics

McDonald's is paying rappers $1-5 every time a song with a "Big Mac" lyric plug hits the radio. Does "Street Cred" still matter in rap? How long before 50 Cent busts out 99 Cent Menu rhymes? How long before I... Read More

| Comments (20)

March 23, 2005

Bitmunk Empowers Bands With P2P File Distribution

Indie artists and garage bands can now allow fans to sell music on their behalf using a peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution network, thanks to Digital Bazaar, Inc., which launched Bitmunk, launched. The innovative distribution model allows fans to purchase digital... Read More

| Comments (3)

March 19, 2005