INDIE ARTIST INSIDER #013
Constant, But Limited Contact

Welcome to a brand new feature here at SongCast, the Indie Artist Insider.  Every week, we will post a new video containing tips, tricks, and sound advice on how to succeed in the music business.  We will start off targeting those who are new to the music scene and progress into topics for the most seasoned and veteran musicians. 

Welcome to a brand new feature here at SongCast, the Indie Artist Insider.  Every Monday, we will post a new video containing tips, tricks, and sound advice on how to succeed in the music business.  We will start off targeting those who are new to the music scene and progress into topics for the most seasoned and veteran musicians

 Hello and welcome to another edition of the Indie Artist Insider, in this episode, we will talk about constant, but limited content.

Managing a music career in today’s digital age can be very time consuming.  Writing, recording, performing, promoting, juggling half a dozen social media profiles, booking shows, rehearsing, and networking can sometimes seem overwhelming.   Learning how to get the most out of everything is key to reducing time, stress, and expense, while still providing constant, but limited, excellent, content.

As you record a new single, use some candid photos from the recording session, maybe a short video of you recording a vocal track, or mixing at the console.  A 30 second sample of a rough mix can add anticipation for the final single release.  Outtakes from the photo session for the single’s cover can be used multiple times.  Other things like a handwritten sheet of lyrics, and candid short vine of you free-styling –  always be on the lookout for things that you use to keep your website and social media current.  Always look for good content that you can get just from documenting normal, everyday musical activities.  Constant, but limited content is very important.   Arriving at a site the same day that a post was made gives the viewer the feeling that they are part of the action, as they arrived so soon after the announcement it is like they were there with you when you made the announcement.  On the flip side, arriving at a social media page that hasn’t been updated in months makes the artist seem inactive, broken up, or just plain lazy.  

Space out your content, while also staying current and posting often.  Find that line and walk it.  Hire a professional photographer for promo photos from time to time and to photograph a few live performances.  You can take those photos and get a ton of mileage from them, from various social media platforms, to use in videos, on your website, promotional materials, single covers, etc.  

Have someone take amateur videos of your live performances, if you can’t afford to occasionally hire a professional.  If the audio is fairly decent, space out a few you tube videos, use on various social media platforms to extend the mileage and views of this content.  Use this content.  Some cell phones will do great videos.  You can get a lot of mileage out of some cell phone videos.

Engage fans by asking what they think of new material, play games like caption contests for photos, having fans submit or post photos of the band, with some prizes of merch or downloads going out to fans who participate.  Use polls to gauge how new songs, photos, and videos are received by your audience.  

By getting the most mileage out of all your musical endeavors, you can maintain a constant and fresh online presence and constantly engage fans with compelling and entertaining material.

I’m Joe Kleon for the SongCast Indie Artist Insider.

If you have any topics you would like to see covered on the Indie Artist Insider, please email host Joe Kleon at promotions@songcastmusic.com