maine songwriters association - diy music marketing workshop
DESCRIPTION
http://www.indieleap.com - How to build a website and manage your online presence for a music brand / career. This workshop was designed to give an overview or foundational information on how to develop a marketing infrastructure for your music career. This is just the outline of the workshop. For more information please visit http://www.indieleap.com and http://www.indieleap.com/resources.TRANSCRIPT
MARKETING YOUR MUSIC
How to use all that confusing stuff on the internet
Presented by: Tom SiegelHosted by: The Maine Songwriters Association
The History of the Music Industry
The recording industry was the music industry.
The four areas of record label control:
Quality recording Distribution Marketing Radio / Promotion
WHAT CHANGED?
Just about everything
Quality recording The digital age brought the
recording studio into our basements or the basements of our neighbors
Distribution The growth of the Mp3 and
digital delivery giving birth to digital distribution company’s such as CD Baby.
Marketing MySpace and other social
networks came on the scene lowering the barrier to entry for musicians to do it themselves.
Radio / Promotion The record labels still have
terrestrial radio. However, internet radio platforms are big contenders and these platforms are available to independent artists.
For the first time in history: You Can Do it ALL Yourself
Your first step is to define your goals!
You May Still Want a Record DealThat’s ok…
RECORD DEAL INDEPENDENT CAREER
You want to be famous.
You want to be rich. You don’t want to
have to do any of this work.
You want music to be your career.
You want to earn a living.
You are ready to run your own business.
MARKETING YOUR MUSIC
What does it take?
Marketing Vs. Publicity
Marketing Vs. PublicityMARKETING
The message being delivered
Branding
Marketing Vs. PublicityMARKETING PUBLICITY
The message being delivered
Branding
Eyeballs and Eardrums
Exposure Numbers
Good Marketing Grabs and holds people’s attention Encourages an action or reaction Develops a relationship Makes your audience want to tell their
friends about you
Develop Your Infrastructure
A delivery mechanism for your message.
The Seven Elements of your Music Marketing Infrastructure
A Website Market Analysis Distribution Email Blogging Social Media Promotion
RESOURCEShttp://www.indieleap.com/
resources
YOUR WEBSITEBuckle up!
Where to Start Domain name How are you going to build your site?
Elements to include in your site
Home page About page Music page / Lyrics Store Gigs / Events News / Blog Media – Photos & Videos Contact / Bookings
Home Page Nice photo Inviting text Clear Navigation Name capture form (email) Music player – NO AUTOPLAY PLEASE Upcoming shows
About Page Make it About _______ Bio
1-2 sentences One paragraph Full Bio
Include name capture forms in the body of the About Page.
Music Page Image of each of your albums Music player – NO AUTOPLAY PLEASE!! Combined with your store
Store Sell Music & Merch Bandzoogle Topspin CD Baby More…
Gigs / Events Google Calendar Gigpress Wordpress plugin Bandzoogle
News / Blog To be continued…
Photos / Videos This is where you put your photos and
videos.
Contact / Booking Invite people to contact you Include links to social networks Give your email address & phone number I like Contact form 7 Wordpress plugin
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is complicated so don’t worry about it too much
Worry about developing content and inspiring people to share your content
Types of SEO On page and off page
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
On page = If you are going to be found for a particular
search phrase, it has to be in text somewhere on your site
Title tags are important More important phrases are given an H1 or an
H2 tag Lyrics pages help Blogs help
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Off page = Links
Reviews Social media Directories Anything really
YouTube Videos
MARKET ANALYSISWho is your audience?
Market Research Live in person
Take real notes Talk to people Survey people What are people wearing? Any trend that you can notice
Market Research Electronic - Analytics
Google analytics Facebook insights Hootsuite / Tweet Deck / bit.ly – for Twitter YouTube analytics (owned by Google) Surveys delivered by email or on your website
Market Research What metrics to pay attention to
Anything that helps you to know who your audience is Age Geographic Male or female What do they buy? Coffee or tea
EMAIL“The money is in the list” –Every direct marketer to ever roam the
earth
The Law – The Canned Spam Act
You may not send emails for commercial purposes to people who have not expressed interest in receiving emails from you.
People must “opt-in” to your list. You must have a link embedded in the email
that allows people to “opt-out” of receiving future emails.
How do you make this happen?
Email Software Makes you legal Gives you a way to collect names and
email addresses on your website, Facebook and other places.
Schedule and automate email delivery.
Some Email Software Options
Bandzoogle Aweber MailChimp iContact Constant Contact
How Often to Send Email Once per month Twice per month Plus Broadcasts
What to Include in Your Newsletter
What happened last month Did you have a big gig? New equipment that you are excited about. New posts to your blog. Were you interviewed on a blog or radio show,
etc.
What to Include in Your Newsletter
What is coming up this month Upcoming gigs Any other special events New song is coming out Getting a new guitarist
What to Include in Your Newsletter
Something unrelated to music Nicest sunset you saw last month. Funniest thing the drummer did backstage. Update on your garden. Cute picture-of-the-month of your cat. Interesting snake fact.
BLOGGINGEvery musician’s favorite thing.
What to Post on Your Blog News update
Band personnel change. New haircut
Story from the road (or the house) New video Picture Poem Whatever…
SOCIAL MEDIAGo ahead, try and keep up
General Strategy Be Everywhere
General Strategy Be Everywhere
Start with the social media platform that you are most comfortable with.
Learn to use it and track your effectiveness Start posting/sharing Notice what types of posts get the most engagement. Start to track results using various analytics.
Facebook Insights Hootsuite / Tweetdeck / bit.ly - for Twitter YouTube analytics Plus Google analyics
General Strategy Be Everywhere
Tracking results of social media activity. Facebook Insights Hootsuite / Tweetdeck / bit.ly - for Twitter YouTube analytics Plus Google analyics
Social Media Best Practices
Promotional posts are boring It’s a party and you are either the host or
the guest at any given moment and sometimes you’re both.
80/20 80% of the time you need to either start a
conversation or join one. 20% of the time you can post promotional stuff.
Social Media Best Practices
Engagement Sharing
What is the Goal?
Social Media Structure Set up each of your profiles to funnel into
your website. YouTube
Put the URL of your site as the first thing in the videos description
Facebook Link in the beginning of your about description
Twitter Put a link to your website in your bio
DISTRIBUTION
Digital Distribution There are several digital distribution
services Best known
CD Baby Cool because they handle physical as well.
TuneCore Ala Carte label services from UMG
Ingrooves Distribution + Marketing
Physical Distribution You still need to be chosen for this. The Orchard
Primarily for independent labels This is something that might make a label
useful.
Most Important Thing About Chosing a Digital Distributor
READ THE TERMS OF SERVICE
PROMOTIONYour message delivered
Types of Promotion Radio Bloggers Magazines Podcasts Media Placement Touring Press
How to Approach Media People
Notice their work Read their blog Listen to their podcast Read their articles
Find common ground Then pitch yourself
BONUS: REVENUE SOURCES FOR MUSICIANS
Diversify, Diversify, Diversify…
Sources of Revenue Music Sales (CD, Digital, whatever
happens next) Gigs Merchandise Sponsorships Placements – Licensing
Music X-Ray Rumble Fish – CD Baby
THANK YOUIndieLeap.com
IndieLeap.com/resources