How to Use Online Forums to Promote Your Band

Posted on May 16, 2012 by SongCast

Getting noticed and making it big are great aspirations for any artist or band. To achievemusic_marketing that goal takes determination and effort. It also takes a good marketing strategy. Some of the best online marketing strategies to take advantage of combine not only the image of the band, but networking as well. There are ways to break this down into an achievable strategy.

Social Networking

Online social networks are optimal for two reasons. The first is that they promote visibility. There is a name to go with the image portrayed. It is easy to gather followers using online social networks such as Facebook, MySpace or even Linkedin. But it does not stop there. That is your initial foray into digital marketing.

Online Forums

There are a number of online music forums that you should join. The idea is to create music awareness of your art and gain an audience with the forum community. This is unlike the social networking step in that individuals who frequent music forums are a stickler for the details. Vague music commentary on Facebook is not going to impress many on a music forum. You must know what you are talking about and how to go about promoting your own agenda. Online marketing strategies that work the best are ones that make you:

  • Accessible
  • Knowledgeable of your craft
  • Open minded

Online music forums are for “music geeks” what tech forms are for “computer geeks.” It helps to have that in the back of your mind. Here is a sampling of the various online music forums that can give you credibility and a strong marketing base:

Virtually any indie music magazine has a forum as well. Those are excellent resources to use in your marketing strategy. The more recognizable your name…the more interest you can generate.

The next phase of  good online marketing strategies is implementation. Start by registering with the music forum. To ensure no confusion, make your username your performance name. For example: if your name is Harry but your performance name is IndigoBlue, you want to register as IndigoBlue. The idea is to start awareness and name recognition.

After registering, it is time to post. Take some time to look at the forums and see what the discussions are about and who is posting. Do NOT jump right in and start posting. This is sure-fire way to get posters upset. As with most things in life there is proper etiquette to follow and unofficial “rules” for behavior. If a topic is listed in the forum, stay with that topic. Read posts and respond accordingly with politeness and well thought out answers. If you want to post links to your music or web page…do so in the proper areas.

Online marketing strategies do work and online forums are a fantastic way to promote your band. The key is patience and recognition. The bigger following you can achieve online…the bigger following you will have at shows. One final piece of advice is this: ignore the detractors and those that instill discord. It is the Internet and it will happen occasionally. Your goal is to stay harmonious and find those fans. Get started!

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How to Get Your Gigs Listed Online

Posted on May 15, 2012 by SongCast

Independent musicians will often search for the most effective way on how to sell music.marketing_your_band That’s just the independent musician’s way. But there are proven methods to become financially successful. The best way to show your audience what your band is really about is playing for them live. With a bit of determination and savvy use of the Internet, you can get people to your gigs.

Gone are the days of poorly printed, multicolored flyers promoting your band’s upcoming show. Sad in way, but it is something of musical yesteryear. So the question now is how to sell music in a new, digital age of promotion.  A live performance offers your audience not only music, but your band’s personality and presence, not to mention a passed around contact sheet and ticket sales.

Unless you’re a Mouseketeer, successful musicians are organically created by getting people in the front row. But how do you get these people to your shows? Promote, promote, promote. And there are sure-fire methods to having your gigs listed online. Well, hey, at least we’re saving trees.

Social Media

According to a 2010 study by Nielsen, a leading global research company, it showed that 35 percent of social media users find new bands through this platform.

If your band does not have a “fan page,” get one! There is no easier way to post your band’s gig than to create an “event” that will go to all of your family, friends and fans detailing the when, where and why. This is a fairly obvious method, but it is, by far, the easiest and most productive method for independent musicians. Remember, do not overdue it. A constant barrage of messages will just annoy people. You need to know how to sell music without reminding everyone you’re doing it.

Join Forums

The Internet is full of independent musicians all promoting their band. But at the end of the day, this is a strong community that can help you get your gigs listed online. Every major city or region in the country has numerous forums dedicated to live music. Whether it’s through a local/regional music publication or an independent music forum, join the forum weeks before your gig, post your gig, make friends (repeat…friends) with the other participants and see what connections you can make.

Making friends with other musicians, especially on foreign soil, can really help your gig get posted on heavily traveled local sites. Some of these localized websites’ only job is to post upcoming live music. Make contact. Localized gig listings can bring you a new audience, and don’t forget about the Craigslist music forum.

Blogging

Begin an active band blog and incorporate different venues and other band links in it. Musicians and venues love to cross-promote because everyone is using new platforms on how to sell music. Link to them in your blog, and make sure event promoters have your gig listed on their website. Good ticket sales are a mutual benefit. Work with other bands as well, linking to their band’s content as they link to your band’s blog. It’s simply a new audience for all that stay connected and an easy way to have your gigs listed online.

Due Diligence

By far the best way to get your gigs listed online is to work at it. Just like printing and handing out flyers, it takes some effort. But with the countless ways you can work with the three aforementioned methods, you can get your audience in the front row.

Posted in Cross Promotion, Digital Distribution, Getting Gigs, Music Marketing | Leave a comment

Read, Research, React

Posted on May 14, 2012 by SongCast

Indie artists need to stay on top of the news in the music industry, but how?

As an indie artist, it’s incredibly important for you to stay on top of the news in the music industry. You need to keep on top of new developments, trends and ideas so that you can incorporate them into your brand and your strategy.  But there are so many publications out there and so many ways to get the news, how is it possible stay up to date with everything without feeling totally overwhelmed? Here are a few tools that will help you read, research and react:

Google Reader: You probably know of ten good music websites and blogs within your genre, right? Well Google Reader helps you find and keep track of interesting stuff on the web, and puts it all in one place for you. You can subscribe to your favorite websites, and keep up with news and trends very easily this way. New content comes to your Google Reader when it’s posted, so you don’t need to visit individual sites.

Plus, Reader keeps track of which items you’ve read, so you only see unread items when you come back.

Hootsuite: Twitter is a great source for finding out about breaking news, or just to keep track of what industry leaders are talking about. But Twitter itself can be overwhelming. So how do you cut through the noise? Hootsuite. It’s is the leading social media dashboard to manage and measure your social networks (not just Twitter).

Apps: There are a number of phone and tablet apps that help you keep track of all the things you want to read. Flipboard is a great one –  it acts as your personal magazine and connects to your social networks so you see what your friends are sharing. It also allows you to handpick stories, as well.

The Stalwarts: Rolling Stone, The New York Times music and business sections, the Wall Street Journal, and Billboard, always provide useful info that indie artists should stay on top of. See how you can integrate them into an app or Google Reader to make your life manageable!

And once you’re armed with the most up to date information about the music industry and the happenings in your genre and region, you’ll be able to use this info to take your career to the next level.

Tell us what you think: How do you stay on top of news and trends?

The SongCast Crew

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Featured Artist: Roseanna Gallo

Posted on May 10, 2012 by SongCast

We’re always looking for new ways to help promote YOUR music. So today we’re beginning our new SongCast Spotlight feature. Every Thursday we’ll highlight the career and the music of a SongCast artist. Check out this week’s Spotlight interview with Roseanna Gallo.

As part of our new weekly featured artist interview, we recently spoke with Roseanna Gallo, who lives in Australia and works full-time as a performing musician, about her career and influences. She was kind enough to elaborate on some very personal topics that influence her music and along the way shared a few insights about the emotional power of music.

Roseanne GalloWhat’s your first musical memory?

I remember from a very young age probably when I started kindergarten, I went to a catholic school and loved singing the hymns at church. Also in class we were given music books and used to listen to the ABC radio at 2pm, where they had an educational program and the class used to learn a song a week. They were songs like  ”blowing in the wind”  ”Morning town ride” and “yellow submarine”. I used to love this!

What artist inspires you?

I loved many artists, like Olivia Newtown John, Helen Reddy, Bette Midler, Carly Simons. I just loved most of the artists from the 60′s and 70′s. Songs back then had

the catchy chord progression and great lyrics, which you could understand what the story behind it was all about.

What’s your latest track or album?

My latest album which I launched last year was a religious spiritual compilation named All of Thee Above.

What song or album do you HATE?

I don’t really hate any album or song, I do dislike the song “I will walk 500 miles” (this one drives me crazy)

Tell us more about your local scene.

I do lots of singing at nursing homes, seniors groups, local festivals, Italian festivals, club work, funeral services, wedding services and weekly Mass services at various catholic churches.

What’s a song or album everyone should be listening to right now?

This is a hard question, as we all have different tastes in music, it’s not about what people should be listening, but what their hearts and minds are drawn to. I do believe that people should not be listening to songs which have obscene language!

What profession would you choose if you couldn’t choose music?

I would probably be doing radio work or television work. I love communicating with people, be it through media, music…

What aspect drew you to the particular genre of music that you now perform/write?

I suppose going through so many life experiences and knowing that there are people going through the same thing and this gives them some healing through song. Especially the spiritually based songs. People have come back to me saying they have received so much enjoyment and peace and healing through my compositions.

As a performer, what would be your ‘perfect’ live experience?

I would have to say the best perfect live experience was what I did last year when I put on a concert for my second album All of Thee Above.  I put on a spiritual concert on inside our catholic church and I presented my album to over 400 people, singing my songs from the album and recounting my spiritual moments in between. It was like giving people wonderful inspiring messages and also singing this through song. There was also our church choir supporting me and other musicians. The atmosphere was with dim lighting and candles, it was beautiful.

Lastly, what’s one personal event in your life that greatly influenced a song or album that you have created during your musical career?

Both my albums On The Right Track from 2008 and All of Thee Above from 2011 were the result of my major car accident in 2001. I basically had a miraculous recovery from an accident which I should have died or with my serious injuries made a complete recovery within 3 years. It was during this time that I had written a lot of my material and also had the time to reflect on my life’s journey and go into a musical path a path which I so wanted to do as a young girl, but never had the opportunity because my parents didn’t encourage my musical side, plus finances were not there. It just was a different time back then. I don’t regret my life’s path, probably my car accident was the best thing that ever happened to me, as my life took a different direction for the better

A big thanks to Roseanna for speaking with us this week!

If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming interview, shoot us an email with your name and SongCast user ID and we’ll get in touch.

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How to Best Utilize Your Website to Market Your Music

Posted on May 9, 2012 by SongCast

songcast music marketingAccording to a global survey by Nielsen, a leading marketing research firm, digital music listeners and consumers tend to have certain habits, and being savvy of these trends can help the independent artist aid in their music marketing. In 2010, after surveying roughly 25,000 people, Nielsen found digital musical trends that can help you best utilize your band’s website to engage your online audience.

The digital age is a mixed blessing for independent artists when it comes to music marketing. On one hand, marketing your music has never been easier and more convenient, and on the other hand, because of this ease of use, it’s easy to get lost in the fold with thousands of other independent artist.

Your website is the launch pad for your music, sending visitors to music distribution sites such as Amazon and iTunes to purchase your music. According to the Nielsen study, 18 percent of digital music consumers buy from these music distribution sites by accessing direct links from the band’s website.

This makes your website very important. Promoting a new tour or performance or to generally keep your band’s online presence engaging is also paramount. There are a few ways to best utilize your website for effective music marketing.

Direct Links from Your Web Page to Your Band’s Social Network Sites

The core digital music consumer is aged 21-34. Incidentally, this is also the largest demographic of avid social network users. Being connected in a social network from your website is ideal for independent music marketing. It can be used to make short announcements, build an online fan base, offer videos and overall help lead people back to your website. It is the Pied Piper of sorts for the website. Nielsen also found that 35 percent of music consumers listen to music or find out about a new band first through a social media network.

Keep your Website Visual

This idea is not exclusive to music marketing, but a well-thought and clean design can make or break your website. Your music should reflect the aesthetics, or visual integrity of the website. Think of it as album cover art for your website. Videos, whether staged, live or both, are also important to a website. The Internet has definitely filled the void for music videos.  According to the study, 57 percent of digital music listeners consume music through videos primarily, and 44 percent watch videos multiple times a week.

Press and live performance pictures should also be integrated into the website. Again, it’s not just the music, but it’s the content associated with the music. There’s a level of intimacy between you and your audience that can be found by offering pictures.   If possible, include links with the pictures.

Regular Blogging

Blogging on band’s website is almost a standard nowadays. Press releases have their place in the right circumstance, but blogging is another method to not only offer that level of intimacy with your audience, but also to effectively market your actual website. By writing informative and engaging blogs, you can both talk to your audience and also market with outside links. You can link to your music distribution sites, link to an upcoming venue or link to other bands. The more links you have, the more engaged you are outside of your website, and the more likelihood your website will enjoy links from other places, helping your site’s search rating.

Overall, there’s one major idea to keep in mind for effective music marketing through your website. You are not just marketing your music, you are marketing, as actively as possible, content associated with your music.

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