Connecting Is Key The To Sell Your Indie Music

Do you want to sell more Indie Music? If so, it's helpful to remember what former Indie Music Legend  Jay-Z, is famous for saying;

"Men Lie, Women Lie, Numbers Don't"

 As an Indie, how you see success is in your own head. For you, success could be finally getting your debut single or album released. It could be performing live, or hearing your song played on the radio.

No matter how you view success, successful Indie and Major Record Labels understand that the reality is, sales equals success. Sales is the driving force behind every Major Record Label release. That's why winning Major Record Label Marketers do not go by gut instinct alone. Good Music Marketers use data, to connect them to what the Music Market wants.

Great Music Marketers know that connecting is tapping into what the market wants. Tapping into what the market wants brings a rush of attention and interest to their music.

How To Not Connect With Your Music Market

Some Indie Marketers and Musicians have a hard time understanding how to connect. That's because for most Musicians and Marketers, connecting is all about them - not the Market. So many Indie Music Marketers, walk around with their head in the clouds. This is not the way to connect with the market. 

Recently, we shared some feedback with an Artist, with distribution by a Major Label. We loved one song on the release, and thought it could be a successful debut single. The Artist's Manager disagreed. The song is "shelved" (not promoted). Sadly they are pushing a song that nobody is connecting to. 

"Successful Music Marketers Connect by Keeping An Ear To The Ground"

Gifted Music Marketers know that connecting to the Music Market requires looking for trends, sensing emotions and listening for what the Market wants. They have an ability feel the pulse of their audience.

In the case of Jay-Z, he has "painted pictures with poems". These pictures are not the creation of his ego alone. The pictures were also created by the vibrations he humbled himself to feel, as well as the images of the Brooklyn Streets where he was born and raised.

In the case of Jay-Z, the numbers don't lie. At last estimate, Jay-Z is worth is around 150 Million Dollars. Jay-Z connects with his market and connecting is the key to sell more of your Indie Music.


Feel free to connect with us on facebook and tell us what you think.

What Music Biz related topics would you like to hear us cover? Join Today's Music Biz on facebook and give us your view. Or feel free to post your opinion below.

One Easy To Use Formula To Prevent Music Promotion Failure

Attention Musicians: You've got a lot of competition.

 (Pictured Above: American Idol Contestants waving for attention)

• Have you thought about how many people release songs to the Music Marketplace every year?

• How many people offer the same kind of music as you?
  
• Have you heard, there are an estimated two million people who describe themselves as Musicians on Myspace?

The biggest cause of Music Promotion failure is becoming lost in the Crowd

The Music Marketplace can be seen as a never ending American Idol Audition. People of every gender, color, and culture hope to get attention of the judges. In the Music Biz there have always been contestants hoping for a chance to catch the eyes, ears, and hearts of judges, who are 'the Buyers'. 

Beware, because your music can be smothered by the noise of millions of contestants trying to be heard. Your music can become distant whisper in a stadium filled with your competition singing at the top of their lungs.

We've shared before that 95% of singles released fail to sell more than a few hundred copies. With so many artist fighting so hard to be heard, it's a good tip, that every Musician consider who they going to be heard by.  

Audience + Benefit = Conversions  

Audience, can be seen as one or more people, willing to give you attention. It's a good thing to be able see your 'target audience'. Some fun ways to target your audience is to ask yourself , "who do I see listening to my music"? What do they do? How do they live? Where do they live?  These questions can help you develop a picture of  what your audience looks like.

Benefits, can be understood as, the feelings you hope your fans will have, when they hear your music. You can find benefits by asking yourself, "how do I feel, when I hear my favorite songs by other artists?" Can you relate to and feel the lyrics? Maybe the song gives you sensation in your body. How your songs will connect, with you, is the benefit.

Conversions, are the decisions that your fans make on your behalf. Conversions can be measured by what people do for you. For example, a person clicks on your website and listens to your Music. That is a conversion. A conversion can be small like one person listening to your music, or big, like a thousand people coming to your show to hear your music.

Big or small, it's helps to remind yourself, there is no such thing as a bad conversion. Every conversion is a good thing :)

Internet Music Promotion:

Success in today's music business requires Internet Music Promotion. Over the last few weeks, Kasondra K, "Ms. I.T.", has presented examples of how Musicians like Katy Perry and Soulja Boy Tell "em are using Internet Promotion to win the ears, eyes, hearts, minds and dollars of listeners.

How can you ensure that your Internet Music Promotions will be successful?

• Get Your Story Straight
  
  Love or hate Justin Bieber, no one can deny that it really is his world right now. Justin Bieber has a story that melts the hearts of his Fan's. Justin's story goes like this; White R&B singer has a dream of being a music superstar. He is discovered by accident on YOUTUBE, by a former Record Label Executive, signed to R&B superstar Usher Raymond's Record Label, and would go on to top the Billboard Charts as well as his teenage Fan's hearts.

Although Marshal Mathers goes by many names, his story stays thesame. Matters, aka "Slim Shady" and "Eminem", was a dissatisfied dishwasher and cook from Detroit, Michigan. He was broke, with a troubled past and a young daughter to raise.In spite of his odds, Mathers had dreams of being a rich and famous lyricist.

At first, Mathers battled perceptions of being another vanilla flavor of the month. Overtime as his lyrics started sharing who he was a real-person struggling with issues millions of people could relate to. His shattered relationship with his mother, his jaded view of relationships, and his struggle to stay sane in a world that felt it only appreciated insanity.

One day, his demo tape is discovered by Hip-Hip Producer Dr. Dre. White Rapper goes on to top the charts, win a Grammy for his Debut CD and sell millions of albums world-wide.On Eminem's latest release Relapse, Mathers tells more gritty stories. He addresses why he went into recovery (from a unknown addiction). He declares that he's not afraid to take a stand, and he gives listeners his view on hot topics like domestic violence. Once again, Mr. Mathers and his stories have journeyed to the top of the Billboard Sales Charts.

The Moral of these two stories is; telling your story allows people to understand who you are as a person.

• Don't Be Afraid Of Being An Underdog
  
  Both stories above, have a common main character - the Underdog. Everyone loves an Underdog. We are naturally fascinated by those who want to overcome the odds. The more the odds are stacked, the bigger the interest in the story. The Daniel vs. Goliath style tale creates suspense and compels those watching to cheer for the Underdog as his or her story unfolds.

So, what is your story? How do you see your life? How do you feel about where you are as a Musician? If you are feeling down and don't see your life as where you want it to be, that may be good news. You can use your troubles to motivate music lovers to become your Fan's.

You are welcome to tell us your story. Leave a comment below and tell us about the odds that you feel are stacked against you. You may find as you type that your story starts to take shape.

Music Promotion: Katy Perry Steals From Fans

Hosting the recent Teen Choice Awards, Katy Perry is becoming the latest online music promotion success. Many of us know Katy Perry from her controversial hit single “Kissed a Girl”. It was the first single from her album "One of the Boys". "Kissed a Girl spent seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 during the summer of 2008 and has sold 3.1 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Her first internet single was “Ur So Gay”, also causing a controversial buzz in the media. It’s hard to believe all this comes from a girl steeped in Gospel. That’s right! Formerly Katy Hudson was raised by Christian Pastors and released a self titled Gospel album in 2001.

Katy Perry has taken what online fans would typically do and used it in her online music promotion. She’s stolen these ideas and turned them into a very successful promotion blitz. Have you ever seen a friend countdown on Facebook to something they were excited about? Katy Perry's FB countdown was to the revealing of the cover art for her upcoming album, Teenage Dream, to be released on August 24th. This gets fans excited and curious about whats to come.

Most artists hate it when their creative works get leaked on the internet. Katy Perry leaked preview pics online before the release of her “Teenage Dream” video. Proving she’s super social, she recently answered questions in the YouTube community. Over 20,000 questions were submitted from fans. That’s one way of controlling the dialogue.

All the best and most popular artists get parodied. Well Katy Perry released her own parody of her already fantastically fun and color video “California Gurls”. The parody now has over 7 million views, the original has over 34 million views on YouTube. To top it off, fans from all over are doing their own viral parodies. There’s California Boys, of course. California Gays is on its way to two million views, and California dorks has 400,000.

Katy Perry also tweets regularly to make sure she stays connected to her fanbase.

Being controversial sometimes helps your popularity in the music business. Being social always helps. Think about what your fan base does regularly, even if it’s something you don’t like. Then figure out a way to do it first, using it to your advantage in promoting your music.

Wishing you Success.

twitter.com/TodaysMusicBiz

Number 1 Music Promotion Trick To Help Musicians Sell More Music

What is the TOP Music Promotion Trick that can help you, as a Musician, to sell more music?

We will get to that trick. But first...

Albert Einstein said;

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice."

What Einstein is saying is; march to the beat of YOUR OWN drummer. We see so many Musicians trying to succeed in the Music Biz who are; walking, talking, singing and sounding like the next one. Boring.

Don't Be Afraid To Be Yourself. The beauty of Humanity is that no two people are the same. So why are so many so-called Musicians, singers, producers and song-writer's; acting, walking, talking, sounding and writing songs that sound like one-another? The answer; Fear. Many Musicians are fearful of being themselves. The trouble with being like someone else is that no one likes a Copy-Cat.

The PIMP's of Today's Music Biz know that a USP is the number one trick to selling more of your music. We are Music Biz Insiders who have seen how the top 10% of  Record Labels sell millions of units, while, small Indie labels play copy-cat hoping to sell a few thousand copies. Your USP is the trick to selling more of your music.

Case in Point: Christina Aguilera's Burlesque Attempt Is A Bionic Flop:

No one can doubt the fact Christina Aguilera is a talented Vocalists. So why is her latest CD, Bionic considered a flop? Because Ms. Aguilera is known for selling millions of Music Units for her Parent Label; RCA Records. But Bionic has sold only 200,000 units as of July 15, 2010.

In our PIMPS opinion Christina Aguilera is not selling because she seems to be trying to compete with Lady GaGa.

Lady GaGa Owns Burlesque. 

Burlesque is an Art Form, that is part strip-tease and part imitation. Lady GaGa, has mastered the lost art of burlesque. Christina Aguilera is playing copy-cat to Lady GaGa.

The results are, Lady GaGa is in the lead. In fact, The Fame was the biggest seller for the first half of 2010, according to Billboard.


In a blond head-to-head match, Lady GaGa is winning because of the #1 Promotion Trick - the USP.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP): USP is the different benefit that you offer fans. Ask yourself, what set's you apart from every other Musician? What is it about your song's that are different from all the others? Why is it that people should spend time and money to purchase what you offer - not your competition?

Lady GaGa and her marketing team have learned what her USP is (Burlesque) and have sold more records, than any other Recording Artist, during the first half of 2010. You can do the same, but first you have to find and communicate your USP.

Does Soulja Boy use Pretty Boy Swag in Music Marketing?

Soulja Boy used the internet to launch a very successful hit single “Crank Dat” including an instructional viral video. Once again Soulja Boy is breaking music marketing barriers with his latest promotion.

Joining forces with Swaggmedia.com, Soulja Boy is celebrating his birthday and streaming it live over fans cell phones, proving once again…it’s all about getting in the fan's pocket.

Craig Nobles, Swaggmedia.com’s founder commented, “The future of music is a combination of technology teamed up with the artist to provide immediate and continuous content. Swaggmedia.com provides just that, an opportunity to reach millions of viewers with their music, products and interviews from the comfort of their home or the convenience of their cell phone.” (BlackWeb 2.0) It’s brilliant! It gives fans just what they want.

This pay-per-view event will include live stream of The Party, Celebrity Red Carpet and live performances all viewable on your cell phone for $2.99. Knowing he has over 2 million twitter followers alone, he’s stands to make a good amount of cash.

How do you tap into your Pretty Boy Swag? Think about recent inventions that have revolutionized the music business like YouTube.com, ipods, and cellphones. Along with them came internet based music stars and millions of promotional and music marketing opportunities. Pay attention to what the younger tech savvy generation is doing and find a creative way to make money with it.

5 Things you Should ask Before you Hire a Music Manager

Are you considering hiring a Music Manager to handle your music business affairs? This is a very big step in an artists career. A decision that could make or break you. Here are 5 important questions to ask before you put your career in the hands of someone else.

1. Do you have a lawyer? Contracts are complicated. You’ll have peace of mind and protection if you have an attorney available to look over your music business contracts before signing them. There are options available for affordable attorneys.

2. Is the person you are considering willing to sign a contract? It’s best to make sure everything is in writing. Remember that friends don’t always stay friends when money is involved. It’s best to protect everyone up front.

3. Are you positive this person has your best interests in mind? This should include your vision of where you want your musical career to go.

4. What do you expect out of a Music Manager? Make sure to be specific and long term on this. If your long term goal is get your music in the movies, does the person you are considering know how to get those connections?

5. What is the Music Managers role in your online strategy? There’s a viral video going around where Justin Bieber’s Manager, Scott "Scooter" Braun, says that he reminds Justin to tweet several times a day. The young Manager of this teen sensation also said the fans know when the Record Label is tweeting or updating the status for the artist. So try to implement the manager’s role in promoting you in creative ways on the web.

It's obvious that Justin Bieber's manager knows what he's doing. Make sure you have clear expectations before you hire a Music Manager to handle your Music Biz career.

Music Promotion Battle 2.0: Friday Night Musician Fights

 
Independent Musicians: Are you ready to grab the harness of attention and give your career a boost?  Can you or your team rock the MIC? Do you want exposure to Celebrity Guest Judges and thousands of  listeners?

Are You Willing To Battle For Your Spot At The Top?

P.I.M.P.s (Professionals In Music Promotion) Present: Friday Night Musician Fights. This is a Music Biz 2.0 Battle. The contest is easy to enter. But winning is up to you.

Each month PIMPs will select two musicians or bands. You can compete and reach up to 10,000 listeners. You can also win exposure to Music Biz Celebrity Guest Judges. In fact, our first Friday Night Musician Fight featured legendary DJ, Producer, Marley Marl Heard Nightly on WBLS FM, NY!

Again, Entering Is Easy.

• Call PIMPs at 407-479-8681
• Skype: TodaysMusicBiz

Leave your name, and contact number. Next, Today's Music Biz will contact you to compete in the next Friday Night Music Fight.


To Learn The Secrets Of Becoming A (P.I.M.P.) "Professional In Music Promotion":Click here

Musicians Wanted: YOUTUBE Helps Musicians Get Paid

Attention Musicians: Great News! YOUTUBE has announced a partnership to help you get paid for your music. The partnership is called Musicians Wanted.

In the video below Jack & Nataly of the Group Popalose pitch the "super easy" to get benefits of the Musicians Wanted Program.



Don't Quit Your Day Job Yet

Musicians Wanted is a great announcement by YOUTUBE! Especially for Independent Musicians. So far it's the biggest buzz at the 2010 South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Fest. But don't quit your day job yet. 


Check out the Musicians Wanted Channel on YOUTUBE, read the terms and conditions and sign up. You may just earn enough money with your music, and this program, to quit your day job.



To Learn The Secrets Of Becoming A (P.I.M.P.) "Professional In Music Promotion":Click here

We obtained this slide show from one of America's leading Digital Marketing Guru's - Mark Ramsey from his 'Hear 2.0' Blog. This show is full of fact's and should be read by anyone using Social Media to futher their business. ~ Jeronimo Black.

What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later

View more documents from Marta Kagan.

Marketing is all the activities and processes of planning, communicating and executing a product, with a price, the promotion and the placement of an item to an end user. Your music is your product which you are then supplying to the end user - the music fan. Between you and the fan is a big space on how to bridge this gap. You may think that if you just get a record deal with some label, your prayers are answered and this instant bridge is built across that space. This is for the most part, not how things work today.

As an aspiring indie or unsigned singer, songwriter, or a musician in a band you can not do just a few things to promote yourself and expect success in your music career.

Offline and online music promotion and marketing exposure is an ongoing process in this DIY age. Music companies are looking for artists that already have fan bases, sold CDs, and are proven ready to move up to a higher level. Presented here are more than 100 tips and ideas for you to think about and tweak as you will, to get noticed, gain fans, and get heard. You have to find a way to stand above the crowd, for talent alone is not enough.Promo

Tip #1 A music artist must start somewhere, that's usually locally, but it's better to not just dive in without a plan. But begin you must. Create a plan with some ideas and set goals as to what you need to accomplish weekly, monthly, and yearly. Start small and make it progressive. Reach bench marks and keep at it.

Promo Tip #2 Image is everything. Image is the complete package - artist/band name, look, performance, merchandise, and style, to how that brand is marketed. A stage name can be a descriptive statement of the image you or your band project. Be unique and interesting to look at in some way....build your own unique stage persona.

Promo Tip #3 Word of mouth has always been the best promotion - tell people what you do. Get people talking. Create your buzz by just giving enough info to get people interested, but hold some secrets close.

Promo Tip #4 Those that promote the most win.

Promo Tip #5 You may be a truly great talent, but without getting out there and consistently marketing yourself, networking, meeting the right people, maintaining your image, and being humble, your talent will only get you so far.

Promo Tip #6 Be innovative in your promotional efforts! The Internet has made it possible to hear a LOT more music, from a LOT more artists. You are now a very small fish in a very large pond - you will need to find a way to stand out, above and glow in the dark. Think beyond the box on every promo tip.

Promo Tip #7 Learn web basics to use the Net to your advantage. The Internet thrives on links, quality content, keywords and consistency. Properly use the tools of the Internet to build your online brand.

Promo Tip #8 Create a web site. Buy your own artist name or band name URL for your web site, keep it simple, easy to remember, make sure it loads quickly and is easy to navigate.

Promo Tip #9 Submit your web link to online music directories, search engines, good music resource sites, in the best possible descriptive category. Use niche sites like tour date sites, lifestyle, regional, music magazine, music ezines, music Blogs and similarly themed sites.

Promo Tip #10 Use Myspace, Tagworld, Frappr, Facebook and any of the good social networks and extend your fan base. Update on a regular schedule. Promo

Author Bio:Artistopia - The Ultimate Artist Development Resource http://www.artistopia.com is an artist development and community on the web providing music artists, songwriters and bands all the tools needed for displaying their talent, music business collaboration, marketing and networking. Online since 2003, Artistopia develops advanced technology solutions that leverage the Internet to both the music artist and music companies respective advantage.
Link



Click Here to Discover the Secrets of Success in Today's Music Business. Or log onto www.simbiz.info.