Friday, July 31, 2009

Music Marketing in Multiple Social Networks




Music Marketing -- how does one begin this noble enterprise?

Once you've got your stupid music converted to mp3, your next move is to join as many music fan and composer websites as you can find. Check out how bands you admire are promoting themselves online. Go to their website or MySpace page and see what they link to, what widgets they're using.

Widgets that sell tunes online are usually worthless. They often have "Not working right now. Check back later." messages on them, making you look stupid.

Create cool profiles, with weird photos along with a few (I repeat FEW) glam shots for the love starved fans. Upload as many mp3s and music videos of your band, as many as they allow. Interact with other bands and fans on these music oriented sites. Explore the sites and discover new music, then post nice comments thanking the bands for sharing their marvelous tunes.

Huh?

What's the point?

What if nobody comments on your tunes, replies to your comments on other band's tunes, or friends your band?

What if all your online mp3s are ignored and under-appreciated?

Here's why...

You post tons of music, videos, and photos to the web for one basic reason: You Are Proud and You Love Everybody...and You Love SERPs.

You're proud of your music. You worked hard on it. You did numerous mixes until you got it perfect. You even deleted uploaded mp3s on various websites and replaced them with better mixes as you found flaws in the originals. You think maybe some other music fans might like your music. You want to share. Even if you charge 99 cents per download, as I have not ever done yet, still: you're making your music known and available.

Rule #1 of Music Marketing:

There's too much music. Fans can't make sense of the abundance of new music and bands out there.

Rule #2 of Music Marketing:

Go from Unknown and Unwanted...to Popular and Craved by Collector Mentalities...by spreading your music all over the internet.

Your enemies, and every band and singer has enemies, will hate you for doing this. They'll say you're "spamming" the web with your "shit". But spam is unsolicited commercial email, so it's not spam. It's not flooding either, because you don't overload any one site, you spread it out all over the internet.

Google likes it. Google spiders crave fresh keyworded content. The more you put your work on the web, the easier it will be for fans to find you. Prove it. Follow the instructions in this post, then start Googling your band name. It won't take very long for the fresh content to show up on the SERPs (search engine results pages).

As we approach the end of this lesson, let me just share with you some of the locations (that I remember) where Str8 Sounds and my other projects are found on the web. Perhaps you'll discover a cool site to put your music on, and also find some new bands to love!

Each of these sites has different functionalities, purposes, user communities, rules, and offerings.

For example, I use Last.fm to upload entire distinct albums with cover art. I use SoundCloud as a dropbox for other musicians to upload their entries in my underground music compilation. I use MySpace Music as the central hub for Str8 Sounds, with all the most important information and links there.

Some of the sites listed below contain exclusive material that is not uploaded to any other site.





Str8 Sounds
on the Web






The Str8 Sounds on MySpace Music


Str8 Sounds on YouTube


Str8 Sounds (band) on Last.fm


Str8 Sounds (user) on Last.fm


Str8 Sounds on Rhizome at the New Museum



Str8 Sounds on NME New Musical Express


Str8 Sounds on SoundCloud


Str8 Sounds on WFMU Free Music Archive


Str8 Sounds on Pure Volume



Str8 Sounds on SoundClick


Str8 Sounds on GarageBand


Str8 Sounds on Vimeo


Str8 Sounds on Mevio


Str8 Sounds on Box

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Fatty Jubbo cake and polka 7-20-09

WFMU's Cake & Polka Parade with Fatty Jubbo from 7/20/2009

Fatty Jubbo aka Gregory Jakobsen of Ritualistic School of Error...entertains you as a DJ or something.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Random Free Product Distribution - CD dropping in Peoria




In keeping with anti-marketing and social network sharing trends, Sludge Farm Records is happy to announce that the STR8 SOUNDS "failed music distribution system" is ready to launch.

CDs that contain only partial albums, half-finished EPs, de-cataloged maxi-singles, demo tracks that were later remixed for CD release, out-takes, mistakes, alternate versions, test tracks for sonic analysis, albums withdrawn from public availability, and other rejected material (most of it quite fine indeed) will be randomly "dropped" at public places.

Whereas all my previous CDs were contained in hard plastic jewel cases, these are packaged in distinctive slip sleeves, with or without track listings, times, and cover art.

Pick it up, turn it up!

Don't be shy. If you see one, it's not stealing to take it. I'll write "FREE" on it, in case a cop or sales clerk tries to stop you.


NOTE: Please keep in mind these are REJECTS. If you post a comment here, or confront me in a bar, about any of this music, I'll pretend I don't know what you're talking about.

Where to find the free, wild, and abandoned Str8 Sounds reject recordings:

* Public restrooms

* Libraries

* Record retailers

* Coffee shops

* Laundromats

* Musical equipment stores

* Restaurants

* Gas stations

* Hospitals

* Fire stations

* Downtown bars

* Universities

* Bus depots

* Hair salons

...and other involuntary distribution points.


IF YOU FIND ONE...please post a comment here, telling us where you discovered the CD.







Ergo Phizmiz and the Midnight Florists something dirty




Ergo Phizmiz and the Midnight Florists "Something Dirty"

Sunday, July 19, 2009

12 Twitter Secrets





(1) Nobody cares what airport you're at, except burglars.

(2) Inspirational quotes relentlessly tweeted are just plain annoying.

(3) Any Twitter bio with MLM, SEO, Guru, Investments, or Social Media Marketing is generally to be considered and exposed as a spammer or con artist.

(4) Social media marketing experts always explain how to do business the old way (hype and hard sell), rather than provide real value, insights, information, tips, links, and customer service to Twitter community members. (Altruism trumps capitalism on social networks.)

(5) We are not sitting ducks, waiting for companies to sell us shit. We're here to interact, share, joke, complain, recommend, debunk, amuse, question, explain, debate, compliment, inform, update, flirt, and encourage.

(6) On Twitter, you find out just how boring, stupid and self-obsessed celebrities and A Listers are.

(7) Nobody cares what you had for lunch today.

(8) It's not necessary to say "Good morning" and "Good night" -- this is not summer camp.

(9) Since a DM worded "thanks for following me, check out my ______ web site" is standard spammer talk, instead say something specific like "I value your insights on gardening and music" when you want to greet a new Follower.

(10) To foil the Twitter filters that prevent your Followers from seeing your tweets to those they don't Follow, do a prep tweet "Conversing with and suggest you Follow http://twitter.com/PeoriaPundit" to let your Followers know who you're interacting with. That URL will be a link they can click to visit that Twitter user they don't yet Follow.

(11) It's not cool to explain Twitter to businesses or individuals, the merely curious, the cynics and neanderthals. Let them join Twitter, jump into the rushing river of brevities, and figure it out on their own. Most of your sincere explanations will fall on deaf ears, and they'll think you're weird.

(12) Newbies on Twitter turn to the Twitter Fan Wiki



Saturday, July 11, 2009

Trent Reznor explains free mp3 music marketing






Trent Reznor "So You Want to Make Money on the Web?" article on CNET News.


[QUOTE]

Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters.

[END QUOTE]

TechDirt joins the conversation on this topic here:

http://techdirt.com/articles/20090709/1114395500.shtml

I have posted my own remarks on how bands have to post tons of videos and mp3s online, or they really don't exist. "MP3 Music Marketing and SoundClick" on Live Music Peoria, is one of my posts on this subject.


Gigs in live venues are extremely important for your own perfecting process, but of very little value for promoting your band.

We all need to get on stage and entertain real physically present people.

But if you neglect the global audience that's going to MySpace Music, Last.fm, Free Music Archive, Ubu Web, GarageBand, Pandora, and other music sharing sites, you should consider getting internet and digital technology savvy, or finding someone who is.

Videos and free mp3s are what music fans want. Only after you wow them in this easy to consume format, will they contemplate buying any CDs or show tickets from you. FREE music now = PASSIONATE fan base = PAID product sales in future.

There's too much music.

How can potential fans find music they want to collect, if all you have is a dumpy website and lots of blabbering about your influences and dives you've played in? Bah!

Step it up playa!

Pump out that video and free mp3 mess you KNOW you're capable of producing.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

slackers vs economic recovery




In these troubled economic times, it's time to really look closely at what corporations have been doing wrong, and how to go forward by improving.

Many good workers have been laid off recently. Hordes of unemployed talent wander the streets and alleys, looking for jobs. Don't you think it's time to do the right thing?

Kick the slackers and dysfunctional managers to the curb. There are plenty of loyal, overachieving, passionate potential employees out there. Why put up with managers that can manage their way out of a paper bag? Why put up with slackers who waste time or do personal stuff on company time?

Economic recovery depends largely on eliminating mediocres, lazies, time and office supply thieves, and other malignant coasters who wish to slide easily from paycheck to paycheck. These slackers burden others with work the slackers are clever at avoiding. Mediocre lazies are more prone to be disgruntled, gossipy, whiners, and good at bringing down morale among your good, hard-working employees.

Declare your independence from pampered sloths who care nothing about mission statements, embracing challenge, expanding skills, or learning new ways to satisfy your customers.

Get rid of the inept, the incompetent, the charmers who trick you into letting them get away with things all the time. Honor and reward the work horses. Demand accountability and results, at all levels, based on the impact, not just on profitability, but also on customer-centric objectives.

Improving the passion content of your organization begins, in most cases probably, with better internal communications. When you clarify and enhance the communications within your company, you can't avoid poking a stick in the hornet's nest of mediocrity, concealments, diversions, territorial concerns, office power struggles, and plain old deception.

Do NOT assume that everyone's on the same page, and all trying to accomplish organizational goals. That's naive. You must ferret out the sandbags who are burdening others due to their negligence, inadequacy, and sloth.

Pamper your customers, not your lazy, immature employees.

Honor your passionate workers who are serious about what they do, because as they help the corporation to succeed, they know that their own job security, paycheck, and self-esteem are beneficiaries of their productivity and commitment.

Give deficient workers the training or ultimatums they need, or get rid of them. There are too many great candidates for that job, roaming around at job fairs and job hunt websites.

Your business will appreciate very much.

Monday, July 6, 2009

social media problems for business





Many social media pundits are proclaiming that the biggest problem for corporations is having specific goals. Take this recent blog post for example:


"If we want to be successful using social media tools, we need to know a few things to make the tools work:

* Who we are.

* What we offer.

* Who we’re offering that to.

* Which tool is a match."

"What We Gotta Know About These Social Media Tools"


This formulation is still the old fashioned company-centric model that isn't working anymore. Besides, shouldn't you have already figured out who you are and what you offer, long before attempting to invade social media?

I suggest a better approach. Customer-centric.

You need to know:

* Who your customer is, what their problems are, what they dislike about products currently on the market.

* How your product solves problems for customers, in their own words, not according to your mission statement.

* Who is seeking these solutions that your product can provide.

* How to behave like a normal, friendly, helpful member of a social network community.


To simply state a commercial goal, find a social network that is appropriate for your sales message, then spam it with hype and self-promotion, mixed with stupid inspirational quotes?

Bah!

You're still trapped in 1950s, pre-Web Revolution thinking.

One of the most successful "goals" for business in social media is Be Social. Answer customer complaints, offer special social network community discounts, link to helpful web pages that are not connected with your company, engage in conversations with average people, learn about the market and its unmet needs.

Fundamental Truth About Social Media:

We do NOT join social networks to receive sales messages, learn about investment opportunities (mostly con jobs anyway), or listen to corporate propaganda. We socialize. We share free legal mp3s. We link to cool YouTube videos and important updates on news sites.

Your first mistake as a business, when it comes to social media, is to think the community members are sitting ducks, loaded with cash, craving to spend money on your junk. That's not reality. That's marketing department/social media pundit fantasy.

Be a good neighbor in social media.

Tweet links to valuable information, interesting videos, cool podcasts, relevant web pages, and only occasionally -- your own blog posts or ecommerce site. Please don't flood Twitter with inspirational quotes, that ploy is getting rather annoying.

Interact like a warm human being, not a cold spreadsheet.