Music Biz Secret: 5 Ways Anthems Never Fail

Fergie, lead female vocalist for The Black Eyed Peas was recently named Billboards Women of the Year for 2010. What was one of Fergie’s secrets to success? Fergie and her fellow musicians “The Pea’s” are perfect examples of using anthems to stay on top. “Where Is The Love?” was The Peas first major hit. I don’t know if I’d call it inspirational but it did make you think. The people loved it. It landed at #8 on the Billboard Top 100.

Have you ever been at concert and the crowd was chanting to the music?

Through the years all great causes have had songs to create and maintain movement. From the Civil Rights movement to We Will Rock You, Anthems work! Even if your cause is self promotion. Why? Because…

Music Unites People.

How do you write an anthem to unite and inspire or even to Rock? Well, Today’s Music Biz Team has broken Anthems down into 5 categories. Each one of them has brought various artists success in their music career.

Party Anthems and Dance Moves – Music created to move the crowd. The Twist, da Butt, Soulja Boy…need I say more. Also any shuffle works to move the crowd and cross social boundaries.

Inspirational - Songs that people connect with that make them feel inspired where ever they are in their life or that moves them in some way. As I mentioned above, The Peas charted with one. “I’ve Got a Feeling” is another good one. Every genre is full of inspirational songs.

Supporting a larger cause – We’ve seen this more this type of Anthem more this year than ever. Artist came out and wrote songs to causes close to their hearts. To help Haiti. will.i.am, of the Black Eyed Pea remixed The Who’s song “My Generation”. Artists came together to re-create “We Are The World” for New Orleans. Country Musicians were on the forefront of The Tennessee flood. We continue to hear songs from the past, some even passed down through generations, songs that support great causes.

Break up anthems – This type of anthem touches people personally. There are songs about the pain and never getting over you, but many successful songs are about moving on and kickin’ the ex to the curb. Beyonce with “Irreplaceable”, Number 1 and 3x Platinum. Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”, Number 1 and 3x Platinum. Cee Lo Greene is already nominated for a Grammy for his hit song "Forget You!"

Your name (or a derivative of) - “Fergalicious” featuring will.i.am topped the charts at #2. Fergie’s album The Dutchess went 2x Platinum in the US. I have to mention Soulja Boy again here because he practically succeeded in becoming a house hold name.

It’s about Unification. Music unites people and Anthems are proven to be successful.

What great Anthems do you love? What are your memories associated with them? Leave a comment below and tell us.

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Today's Music Biz

Promote Your Page Too

To Get Signed Sell More Music

Musicians ask me all the time, "how do I get signed to a Record Deal"?

I always reply, "sell more music".

I realize selling music is easier said than done. But there are people selling hundreds of thousands of singles BEFORE they get signed to a Major Record Label.

You can get a Recording Contract, but the Major Record Labels are not what they used to be. For example, A&R Reps are now Consultants. A Consultant is a free-lancer. They do not have a secured or assured income.

A&R Consultants don't have the option of  bringing the Major Label an unproven Recording Act. Major Record Labels are looking to sign a proven act. Major Labels are looking for a sure thing.

How To Become A Sure Thing In Today's Music Biz

So how do you prove yourself to be a "sure thing"? I hate to say it again, but you have to sell more music. You have to show any record label that you can sell music. Not just a song or two. You have to sell tens of thousands of units. A good goal to shoot for is 50 to 100 thousand units.

I realize that selling hundreds of thousands of units is a lot to sell. The fact is, it happens. And I hope we can help you sell hundreds of thousands of units.

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

7 Myspace Music Promotion Best Practices To Ignore At Your Own Risk

Forget the negative thoughts you may think about Myspace. 


Myspace.com is still one of the hottest music promotional tool available to anyone in the Music Biz.  Sure there are other social media networking sites out there, but few have the reach of Myspace. 


In fact, many popular recording artist still use myspace to market and promote their latest singles or releases. 


Did you know there are over two million Music Biz Artists on Myspace?  


That is a lot of competition for Fan's. So how do you stand out among 2,000,000 competitors on Myspace?  Short answer, use methods that work. In business, methods that work are called "best practices". 


So what are the best practices for successful music promotion on Myspace? 


There are 7 Best Practices of successful Myspace music promotion.  Do you know what they are?  If not keep reading as Today's Music Biz Staff counts 'em down.

1. Get a myspace.com music page. 


Getting a myspace.com music page is free so there is no reason not to have one. We've been using Myspace to educate people for years. Feel free to friend us here (right click to open in a new window or tab).

2. Make sure your page is user friendly.

There are many would-be music business professionals who have myspace pages take too long to load. If your myspace page loads too slow, you could be losing potential fans. Mega bandwidth graphics and images will prevent your page from loading quickly. Your myspace page should take no longer than 20 or 30 seconds to load.

Many artists on myspace use layouts that emphasize their creativity but are a nightmare to navigate. Refrain from using dancing cursor's, raining text, and distracting images on your myspace music pages. Other myspace artists have "about me" blurbs that go on forever. Keep about me blurbs short (no more than 1000 words), if people want to know more about you, they will ask.

3. Have you-own music on your myspace page.

Don't put someone else's music on your myspace page unless you were involved in the creation of the music. How can you be discovered if your music isn't on your page?

4. Reach out for friends.

Networking on myspace is one of the most powerful tools you can use to build your fan-base. Take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to people with like interests. Never ignore or decline a friend request (unless you are sure it's spam or a scam). You never know who can help your music career.

5. Treat your friends like friends. 

Common courtesy applies on myspace just as in real life. Be willing to thank your friends for adding you as a friend. Respond to friend's when they reach out (if appropriate). Never post your ad as a comment on someone's myspace page without acknowledging them. Limit the size of your "ad comments".


6. Promote yourself in appropriate ways.

Noteworthy career updates, or new music added to your page are good reasons to promote yourself on myspace. List your tour dates on your page and use bulletins to let people know where you are performing. Limit the number of bulletins you post. Posting irrelevant bulletins, or posting bulletins too often, will force your friends to ignore you or "un-friend" you.

Let people know about your myspace.com page. Putting your unique myspace.com address on your website and business cards will make it convenient for you to build your network and fan base faster.


7. Provide ways for people to purchase your music from your myspace page.

If you sell your music anywhere online make sure there is a direct link from your myspace page to the location where people can buy your music. Follow our rules and you will have fun and make many friends on Myspace.


Click here to become our friend on Myspace. 

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

How Kanye West VMA Outburst Will Help Taylor Swift Sell More Downloads

Last night at the 2009 MTV (VMA's) Video Music Awards, in 30 seconds, Kanye West stole the show and the press coverage from Micheal Jackson, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and even Beyonce. If you didn't catch the VMA's but want to know how Kanye West stole the show, click play on the video below.



Why We Shouldn't Be Shocked?

No one should be shocked that Kayne West upstaged Taylor Swift.  Kanye West knows that any publicity (good or bad) is publicity. As I write today's blog, Kayne West has already received mentions on Good Morning America (on ABC), and on every Radio Station in America.

Last week, I would have never thought, that when I wrote about how Taylor Swift makes songs that sell that Ms. Swift would win a VMA.  But I'm not surprised she won.  Nor am I shocked that Kanye West stunned the audience by bum-rushing the stage to give Beyonce her props.

How Will Kanyes' Outburst Help Taylor Swift?

No Musician can ever go wrong by taking a stand on an issue.  As I said earlier, Kanye West is getting major mentions in all major Media.  Taylor Swift, on the other-hand will get the sympathy vote.  Not like Taylor Swift needs sympathy. She was recently on Oprah, where it was announced that Taylor Swift was the best selling Recording Artist of 2008. But there will be million's of Fan's who like Taylors' music but have never purchased her songs, that will go to their computer and download her album.  

On the flip-side, hard core Hip-Hop and R&B Fan's will go out and download Kanyes' and Beyonces' latest albums. 

What's The Moral Of  This Music Biz Story?

A few weeks ago, Kasondra Kay and I did a Podcast, titled, "How A Diss Can Help Increase Downloads".   This is a win-win-win for Kayne West, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce.  Kanyes' diss of Taylor Swift will help all three sell more music.   

The moral of the story is, you can't please everyone - every time.  If you try to please everyone, in Today's Music Biz, you'll find yourself pleasing very few.  Take a stand on an issue, even if you're wrong, people will remember you for standing up and speaking out about what you thought was right. In addition, you might sell a few thousand more downloads.

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

The ABC's Of Music Marketing

This Music Marketing blog post is brought to you by the letter's A. B. and C
The are three fundamentals for Marketing Music in Today's Music Biz. What are they?  Stick around and keep reading for today's answer. You can jump ahead of the class by watching this video.




What is Music Marketing?

"Music Marketing is the science of selling more music, to more of your fans -  more often".  

That quote isn't entirely mine.  I learned it from Sergio Zyman.  Mr. Zymans' book, 'The End of Marketing As We Know It', was revolutionary.  In that book Mr. Zyman shattered a lot of the Marketing missteps and helped me to focus on what was important for my clients; selling more of whatever they marketed.

The ABC's Of  Music Marketing.

As the title of today's post suggest there are three components to marketing music to gain more sales. The ABC's of Music Marketing are:

• Audience
• Benefit
• Conversons

In fact, there is an easy to remember formula to use when marketing your music to Fans:

"Audience + Benefits = Conversions"

Audience:

Who is your audience?  In marketing terms, what 'Demographic(s)' are you trying to sell to?  Here are some good questions to ask:

• What age range are your fan's? Are they Women 18 - 24 or are they Men 35-54?
  
• What are they into?  
• Where do your fans shop? 
• What life-style do they lead?
• How do your fan's vote?

Once you have a grasp of the Demographic Segments ("Demo) you're trying reach you'll save a lot of time formulating your marketing plans.

One thing that frustrates me is when an Artist asks me for help but they don't have a clue as to whom the Artist is trying to reach.  If I had a dollar for every time a talented Indie Artist said, "I'm trying to reach everybody", I would have retired long ago with a fortune.

 The sad fact is, every song won't sell to every one.  For that reason, it's important to pick your Target (Market / Demo) carefully.

Benefit's:

Benefits include what's in it for the 'Buyer'.  Benefit's should not be confused with features.  For example, if you've got some great graphics as Cover Art, those graphics are features.  On the other-hand if those graphics can make the buyer relax, that is a benefit.

OK, let's take another example.  Say you go to buy some speaker wire and you're on a budget?  You find all kinds of colors, lengths and price ranges.  Since you're on a budget, the higher priced wires are features, prevent you from buying.  Whereas the speaker wires that fit your budget will provide you a benefit.

Now let's say the sales person at the store is trying to sell you on the various colors of the wires (but at a much higher price).  How will that benefit you? It won't. Unless you find a benefit in color coordinating your sound system you'll buy any speaker wire that fits your budget. Fan's buy based on benefits - not features.

Conversions:

A "Conversion" is any action that your fan takes, based on your call to action. Marketing Professionals have a saying that, "nothing matters until after the conversion". Nothing could be more accurate in Today's Music Biz.

For example, Jay-Z has a new website (Rock4Life.com).  This website allows visitors the opportunity to convert and follow all of "Rock Nation's" artist.  How does he do this? By allowing visitors to make their own profile page on the site.

Every Music Marketer should have a feature that allows for small conversions to turn into big conversions later.

So there you have it, the ABC's of Marketing.  Do you have anything to add?  Maybe you have some questions?  If so, feel free to comment below.
Click Here to Discover the Secrets of Success in Today's Music Business. Or log onto www.simbiz.info.

The Big Secret Of Music Marketing

In my days as Music Director of a Hip-Hop Radio Station, I learned one big secret. This secret influenced not only my career, but every successful artist that I've worked with. What is this big secret? Two words "Emotional Marketing".

Taylor Swifts' latest single, "You Belong With Me" (in the video above) is one of the most added songs in America, at Radio, last week August 13. Why is that? Many people don't believe that Ms. Swift has the best singing voice. So what makes Taylor Swift so successful? What is her Secret?

Ms. Swifts' secret can be summed up in the words of every one who has ever been a teen with an unlikely crush on someone. In the song Ms. Swift is singing about a boy she likes. The problem is the boy is dating a popular (but mean) Cheerleader. What Ms. Swift is marketing in her music is love and desire.

Music Marketing is not about how "hot" or "rockin" or 'twangy" your music is. Music Marketing is about getting Fan's to trust the artist. Fan's want to identify with something. Hip-Hop Fan's identify with artists who have 'Swag' a.k.a. confidence. Rock Fan's identify with artists who are not scared to rebel, Country Fan's identify with music that reflects their values.

So, before you launch your next Music Marketing effort, take a moment and think about the emotional qualities of your music. Make sure that you communicate those emotional factors in your publicity efforts. Try to win Fan's emotionally and you'll be more persuasive at selling your music.

How do you feel about this big secret of Music Marketing? Let me know by placing a comment below? Also feel free to subscribe for Music Marketing updates.