Facebook and Free Music
Call me old-fashioned, but I still listen to music in one of three ways: 1) on my iPhone, 2) with Pandora, and 3) on an FM car radio. That’s it. XM Radio, RDIO, Spotify, Last.fm, Google Music, and MOG have thus far eluded my attention, though I have accounts in all services (except MOG, I believe). I may try Spotify, due to multiple positive reviews from friends.
Will Facebook be offering a music service? Probably not, as it’s more likely that music services will offer an App within Facebook users can use. (There’s a difference.) Facebook’s strategy is still to become the world’s leading platform utility for the sharing of media. In any case, it does look like some kind of free streaming model may be offered in the near future, via a number of partners.
Will consumers use a music service through Facebook? That’s hard to answer, but my gut instinct tells me mass adoption is unlikely. The most successful consumer products and platforms often integrate some combination of 1) ultra-simplicity in usability and design, and 2) some element of “wow” factor that’s new and unique. Integrating a great user experience like Spotify into Facebook risks cluttering and complicating it. It also places template-driven restrictions on design that can lessen the likelihood of a “wow” experience. Why not just use the ‘native’ version of the service?
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I am saying it’s going to be quite a challenge solving both problems above. Music service developers will need Facebook guidance and flexibility to create a well-integrated experience, or the offerings may fall flat. That’ll be challenging, as the Facebook Profile, Wall, News pages are already cluttered with quite a few actionable modules and calls-to-action.
Further, if multiple music platforms are launching simultaneously, how differentiated can they really be? All said, I’m excited to see where everything lands.
What do you think — will music services sink or swim in Facebook?
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How to Add the Google +1 Button to WordPress With the Digg Digg Plugin
I was delighted today to learn that my favorite social sharing WordPress plugin, Digg Digg, recently added the Google +1 Button to the long list of buttons it already supports. It took me about 20 seconds to turn on. Eazy fo’ sheezy.
Not only does Digg Digg enable a huge variety of share buttons, including Google +1, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc, it’s also incredibly customizable, letting you pick the type, size, pages, and placement of buttons throughout your site. Perfect for lazy-but-anal folks like me.
So how do you add the Google +1 button to WordPress? Here’s what I did, though there are plenty of customizable options in Digg Digg, as well as plenty of other plugins that attempt to offer similar functionality:
- In your WordPress dashboard, under “Plugins”, click on “Add New”.
- Do a search for “Digg Digg”. Download and install the plugin.
- Click on “Enable Normal Display”.
- Select “Horizontal” to display the Google share button (and other share buttons) horizontally. (Selecting “vertical” will stack them, which can add a lot of white space under your posts.)
- Select the page types you want the share the button in. (Might as well select all of ‘em.)
- In the next question, include “All”, exclude nothing. (I’m not quite sure what that does, and I don’t particularly care.)
- Check the box that let’s Digg Digg modify your post excerpt. (Recommended.)
- Now the fun part. “Turn on” the Google share button (and others you’d like to use) by selecting an “integration type” for it. (I chose “before_content” for the Facebook, Twitter, and Google +1 buttons.)
- Pick a button size for each. (I went with “compact” for each, and “compact 20px” for the Google button.)
- Leave everything else, and click on “Save Changes”.
That’s it. You’re now part of the hip “early adopter” crowd that’s using Google +1. (Well, actually, you’re a little late. Google +1 is already on more widespread that Twitter’s Tweet button.) You can get pretty fancy with Digg Digg, and play with it’s “floating” functionality, or dive under the hood for deep customization. Enjoy.
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Get a Beta Account for LoopPort’s Royalty Free Sample Service
Loopport is a new company — currently in private beta — entering the royalty free audio sample space, but with a professional subscription spin. In a nutshell, DJs, musicians, bands, and producers will pay a monthly fee (though I’m not sure what that fee will be) to have unlimited access to an ever-renewing library of professional-quality royalty free samples, loops, effects, and patches.
Courtesy of Loopport, the first 100 GarageSpin readers who click here and use beta code “loopport09″ will get a free private beta account.
I wandered through the service myself the other day, and made a few observations:
- The audio quality of the samples and loops is quite good, especially compared to the many royalty free audio download sites currently in market.
- The samples and loops are offered in every file format available, and should be compatible with every DAW (Logic, ProTools, Cakewalk, Garageband, you name it).
- Samples are organized ito “Bitpaks“, which are awesome. You can download all the samples in a Bitpak loop, or just specific instruments. (For example, you like the symbol sound, but hate the bass drum? No worries, just download the cymbol.)
- The service is hosted in the “cloud”, and the promised quick download times are indeed pretty quick.
- What will the subscription fee be? I’m not yet sure…
- There isn’t a ton of content on the site, yet, but it’s early, and the plan to add more fairly frequently. Love the idea of not being stuck with a stack of sample CDs you never use.
- The site itself, visually, could be improved. But I suppose it’s purpose is to please the ear, and not the eye, so that’s a lesser issue.
Anyway, if you check it out, share your thoughts — what do you think? Did any particular samples or service features impress you?
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How Not to Buy a Google+ (Plus) Invite
Yesterday, I listed four ways to get a Google+ invite. One of the ways was to simply buy a GooglePlus invite in eBay. I promised to give it a try, and report what happened.
You can buy Google+ (Plus) invites either via a bidding auction, or via a ”Buy It Now” auction. At a glance, bidding auction prices were around $5.00 to $25.00 with 20-30 hours left to go. “Buy It Now” auction prices seemed to vary from $1.00 to $75.00.
Since I’m both cheap and impatient, I opted to buy a Google Plus invite for $1.00 using the “Buy It Now” functionality. The transaction took place, and the seller sent a message asking for the Gmail address I’d like the invite to be sent to. However, after sending him the info, he sent the bad news:
“I’m sorry invite option has been removed due to reaching capacity. They are supposed to open it up again here soon, would you like me to keep you posted and send one out when it re-opens or would you like me to refund your purchase?”
Is Google now rationing Google+ invites, or are eBay sellers taking advantage of desperate Google+ fans, hoping most people will just opt to lose $1 in the hopes of gaining an invite? This particular seller had a large number of positive reviews, including happy Google invite buyers, so I believe Google+ invite rationing IS in effect. [UPDATE: It's now fully confirmed, Google stopped sending out Google+ invites, due to insane demand.]
Have you tried sending, buying, or selling a Google+ invitation recently? What was your experience?
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How to Get a Google+ (Plus) Invite
The Social Media world is all abuzz, scrambling for invites to Google’s Facebook-targeting social network product, Google+ (or GooglePlus, or Google Plus). Invites are pretty scarce — are you searching for one? Here’s how you can get your hands on an invite:
1. Just Ask Google for a Google+ Invite.
When in doubt, just ask. You can sign up for Google Plus here. However, it may take a while, per their message, “We’re still ironing out a few kinks in Google+, so it’s not quite ready for everyone to climb aboard. But, if you want, we’ll let you know the minute the doors are open for real. Cool? Cool.”
2. Write for, or at least read, Mashable or Techcrunch.
Google has been using these social blogs to help launch their social media initiatives, including Google+. As such, employees get immediate access, and readers can enter various contests for various related giveaways, including this one for a Google+ invite contest.
3. Buy a GooglePlus Invite on eBay
Yup, capitalism is in full force, and eBay sellers are cashing in. I’ve seen Google+ Plus invites being sold on a “Buy It Now” basis for $1.00, as well as in auctions that are up to $15.00 with 24 hours to go. If you’re desperate enough to pay to play, head to eBay. (I didn’t plan on it, but ended up shelling out a buck, just to see if I’d actually receive an invite. I’ll let you know how it works out.) [UPDATE: I tried to buy a Google+ invite, and failed. Google may be capping invites. ANOTHER UPDATE: Yes, Google had capped invites, but they're now apparently back on. Beg a friend to invite you to a "Circle", and you're in!]
4. Wait a Few Weeks for Google+ Plus
I can guarantee this — anyone who wants a GooglePlus invite, will get one within less than three months. The same was true when the Gmail invite rush took place. Eventually, invites were worth less than Cold War era Rubles. If you’re patient, and can suffer through a few more days of Facebook goodness, just wait it out.
Best of luck to all you Google+ user wannabes. My next question — is there a Google+ Plus Band Page in the platform? And which music network (ReverbNation, Nibmit, SoundCloud, BandCamp, etc.) will be the first to develop a plugin for it? We’ll see.
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9 Online Tactics to Complement Your Band’s Offline Presence
This week kicks off with a guest post from Nick Lewis of Zimbalam, a European digital distribution company, giving solid tips around leveraging social media to build effective relationships with fans and influencers. Take it away, Nick…
A lot of bands make the mistake of treating their online and offline presence as completely separate entities, but actually, they should be used to complement each other. Bands that gig a lot tend to have the most Facebook fans, and also tend to sell the most music online.
Online marketing is at its best when it’s used as part of a wider strategy, especially when used to maintain relationships that would otherwise have been lost.
Promoting Your Online Presence Offline
The biggest part of social media marketing is building relationships with your fans. Of course you can build notoriety and establish a fanbase purely online by virtue of blog mentions and online PR, but your most readily available source of fans is gigs.
But think for a second, how many times have you seen a band at a gig that you really liked, but forgot about a few weeks later? That’s where your online presence kicks in, and why it’s essential to make sure people at your shows know where to find you on the internet. So:
- Put your Facebook/Twitter/website URL on all flyers and other promotional material where possible.
- Provide a clear incentive for people to look you up and subscribe (e.g. ‘Free download forall Facebook fans’.)
- Tell people about it over the mic. (No, it doesn’t damage your credibility, everyone’s doing it).
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Klout Crowns Bieber “King”, and Rihanna a “Thought Leader”
I swear, there must be hundreds of sites that claim to rank social media effectiveness based on social metric-driven algorithms now. It’s a challenge to keep track. Klout is one of the bigger ones basing its influence score (0 to 100) on Facebook and Twitter presence and influence.
Klout’s blog just posted about the the top 10 musicians with the most influence. Bieber reigned supreme, scoring a 100, and is labeled a “Celebrity”. Gaga is #2. More interesting to me, however, was the assigning of the title “Thought Leader” to Rihanna and Nicki Minaj. Really? “Thought Leaders”? Alarming? Or the simple reality? Both. Anyway, here’s the list, FYI:
- Justin Bieber 100
- Lady Gaga 94
- Chris Brown 92
- Rihanna 91
- Joe Jonas 90
- Gypsy Heart Tour 90
- Selena Gomez 90
- Nicki Minaj 89
- Jasmine V 88
- Katy Perry 88
Btw, on a positive note, it’s reassuring to know where to look for guidance during the upcoming election.
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Google Guitar Logo App: A GarageBand Killer??
No, but a neato app nonetheless. Google continues it’s oh-so-amusing trend of messing with its logo on special occasions. Today’s celebrates the great Les Paul — a mouse-playable, recordable, and shareable Google Guitar app doodle. You can actually send a recording to someone else, and that person can jam along with you.
Granted, there are only three or four chords you can play, but hey, that’s not too shabby considering it’s just a logo. (But in answer to the post title, no, it’s not a GarageBand Killer. Check it out:
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