3 Simple and Free Website Design Resources for Musicians

3 Simple and Free Website Design Resources for Musicians

A Guest Post by Crowd Audio

I’ve harked on marketing for a few posts now.

Not for nothing, because being a band in a vacuüm is pointless.

You want fans, and marketing is the thing that will get you fans.

It gets a bad rap, but marketing isn’t evil. It’s what you do every day when you talk about your music, upload a song or post a music video.

And as you all know by now, you should be doing this through your own website.

Where Do I Find a Good Website Design for My Band?

Good question.

The answer is: ALL OVER THE PLACE!

It’s actually quite frustrating because you can feel like you’re drowning in designs when you go search on Google. But let’s narrow the search parameter a little bit and focus on something that’s more budget friendly.

Or as you musicians might know it as: free.

I’m only recommending and talking about WordPress themes because that’s what I’m familiar with and confident to talk about.

There are a ton of free options out there, and even more Premium, paid themes as well.

Just a quick search on Google for “free WordPress themes for musicians” yields some good results. Obviously they won’t all be free but here are some great sites that have some good free options for you.

Premium Free WordPress Themes

PremiumFreeWordpressThemes has some good options for musicians on a budget that would like a simple and nice design.

The Retro Music and IndaClub are both cool options for wildly different genres.

Heaven Themes

Heaven Themes looks super cluttered and seems to portray itself as a massive hub for website themes. At first glance it looks like Amazon.com if they only sold website themes.

But once you get past that you can’t deny the massive amount of different themes available on their site. And they’re not only limited to WordPress so if you have different preferences for your platform(you shouldn’t) then you can choose a Joomla or a Blogger theme (don’t do it).

TightMixBlog

There are some interesting choices on TightMixBlog. I guess the generic 2010 theme could work for your music, but it just lacks design and is a bit “blah…”

However, the author’s favorite theme on the site is Sight, a really cool free theme that comes with a bunch of customizability.

I actually used it a few years back as the theme for my band so I can highly recommend it to anyone who needs a simple but cool looking theme that won’t cost them a dime.

Other notable mentions are the City Dreams theme, which would come in handy if you have a really cool band photo or an awesome live shot of your band rocking out on stage.

Make it Simple

You don’t need an expensive designer to make you a website. You just need some intermediate skills in setting up your free WordPress theme and you’re good to go.

This is something anybody in your band should learn because you should always treat your website as your flagship marketing tool.

What themes are you using on your website? Did you go with something free, or did you treat yourself to a premium theme?

Crowd Audio helps you take your music to the next level. They connect independent bands and musicians with excited audio engineers eager to help them with their music.

If you’re a musician, Crowd Audio gives you access to a community of audio engineers eager to mix and master your music, giving it that professional sound.

If you’re an audio engineer, Crowd Audio creates a community of like minded individuals looking to gain experience by doing the audio work they love.

Through community and crowdsourced competition, bands get a professionally produced sound while audio engineers get exposure and experience

5 Tips For Getting Featured On Beatport

5 Tips For Getting Featured On Beatport
A Guest Post by Symphonic Distribution

So you have a new release and want it to be featured on Beatport. Get ready! There is a lot of competition, but the good news is that it can all happen with some consistency and good music. Here are some simple yet effective ways to increase your chances of being featured on the coveted site.

1. Plan ahead.

Planning ahead is vital in order to be considered for a feature. All banners that you see on the site are actually planned weeks ahead. So remember to deliver your music 2-3 weeks prior to your release date and to communicate in the featured release form the entire promotion efforts you will be doing for the release.

2. Get a high quality release cover

Make sure it’s as sharp and high-quality as you can. Use smart design principles. Get help from a professional graphic designer if need be, we can also help you design your release. We cannot stress this enough: This is your music’s first impression, so spend some quality time on this. Everyone sees the cover art before they hear the music. Not only will Beatport judge it – all the blogs will. It should draw full attention. This will not only help you get more fans, but Beatport will see you have taken the time to get some cool art work and have a strong branding effort. If you’d like more details on what younger music fans are looking for get the scoop here.

3. Remember to spell check!

Editors will notice any misspelling and will not take these types of releases in consideration. Remember to have a solid release bio as well that describes the release itself and not the bio of the artist. Keep it short and to the point, but as descriptive as possible with key words.

4. Sharing and Social Presence.

Your social networks, websites, and photos should all be cohesive. Beatport and other retailers do their research and there is a chance that they will support someone that has a solid social presence – AND a well-branded social presence. You must have a logo or professional press photo as well as a well-designed Facebook cover picture. Make it look great – it’s not that costly anymore to get top quality design.

Also, one of Beatport’s best indicators that your release will sell well is the traction and plays your release has. Work on getting as many REAL plays as possible. Join Soundcloud groups to help get more traction as well. Get the scoop on Soundcloud groups here.

5. Get prepared to answer some questions.

Stores like Beatport want to know that you are doing to promote your music. To increase these chances you should supply: Amount of Fans Artist has, amount of fans label has, DJ Support, marketing efforts done & expected sales. Make sure that any coverage you do get while you’ve been promoting, you actually communicate it to marketing@symphonicdistribution.com at least a week in advance, so we are able to communicate to the specific genre managers.

Beatport does not send us notifications about the releases they select for features, so we suggest you review the various pages of Beatport on release week to see if your release was selected. Best of luck!

Ready to submit for a feature? Just fill out the form in the content portal and we’ll communicate your interest! Not selling on Beatport yet? Check out our distribution options and we make it happen!

DIY Merch and Marketing: Bandcamp Adds Gifting, Topspin Intros Cross-Promotions

DIY Merch and Marketing: Bandcamp Adds Gifting, Topspin Intros Cross-Promotions and more...

DIY Merch and Marketing: Bandcamp Adds Gifting, Topspin Intros Cross-Promotions

Here's some action from music support elves making DIY artists' lives easier. Just in time for the biggest sales season of the year, Bandcamp introduces gifting. Now you can give digital downloads as gifts with physical products up next. Over at Topspin they've added a promo exchange as well as advertising options via ArtistLink, which is a rebranded version of GoDirect now on its own site. So go make merry and benefit from the season while building to an awesome New Year!

Bandcamp Adds Gifting

Yesterday Bandcamp announced the option to buy and send digital music as gifts:

"You can now send any album or track on Bandcamp as a gift. Just click 'Send as Gift' (below the Buy Now link), enter the recipient’s email address, add an optional personal message, and then check out as always."

"Your friend will get an email containing a link to the high-quality download, as well as instant, unlimited mobile access to the music via the free Bandcamp app."

Physical items will also soon be available. Gift recipients can easily set up a Bandcamp fan account if needed without making an additional purchase.

For folks wanting specific music as gifts, there's a Bandcamp wishlist option.

As Bandcamp notes:

"Your fans would love to support you by giving your music to their friends. Please let them know that there’s now an easy way to do so!"

In some respects this is an increasingly basic ecommerce feature but, given the power of Bandcamp for indie artists, it's well worth noting.

ArtistLink Promo Exchange and Advertising

ArtistLink, previously known as GoDirect, is the home for various free services developed by Topspin.

ArtistLink is the gateway to getting an artist's page at artists.MTV, VH1 or CMT and uploading your content. ArtistLink also supports integrated sales and downloads on your page.

In addition, ArtistLink offers fan-gating, i.e. requiring an email address, Twitter follow or Facebook like to access content.

In yesterday's newsletter, Topspin announced the ArtistLink Promo Exchange:

"The ArtistLink Promo Exchange is a free and optional cross-promotional network where your offers are promoted to fans of similar artists and in return you agree to allow other artists to promote their offers in front of your fans. The more impressions you give to other artists, the more impressions you get in return."

And if you want to pay for more specific promotions, ArtistLink now has an advertising program.

They say they have more plans ahead so go sign up now to hear about it before we post about it.

How To Be Creative On A Limited Video Budget

How To Be Creative On A Limited Video Budget

Kelley James (@yourboykj) is a singer/songwriter whose music is a fascinating collection of acoustic guitars, hip-hop beats, thoughtful lyrics and freestyle flows. His brand new album 'The Pattern Transcending' was released on Oct 1st, 2013.

Being a recording artist in the digital age means you have more resources than ever to share your content and engage your fans. With so many different blogs, music platforms, and social media outlets, it can start to get a little overwhelming, both from the sheer number of options and the other voices threatening to drown you out.
Despite all these avenues, there is one channel that many artists let fall by the wayside: video. At best, most will have a few videos of themselves performing live. On the other end of the spectrum, some have only a vacant YouTube channel, or worse, no video presence at all.
Creating engaging video content may seem like a burden, but I’m willing to bet it’s actually a lot easier than you think. I’ve pulled together a few easy steps every independent artist should take to not only amp up their content, but increase their digital footprint by connecting with the people who matter most - the fans.
1. When creating content, think outside the box.

Everyone is pretty familiar with the two main standbys that most artists will utilize when it comes to creating videos: the video-blog update and, of course, music videos. One is low budget with the potential to be stale and contrived while the other often seems like too big of an investment for artists who are still growing. That’s why it’s very important to think outside the box when it comes to video content. What are your viewers getting from your videos that they can’t get elsewhere? If the answer is “nothing”, they probably won’t be tuning in any time soon. When I’m creating content for my channel, I like to give my fans something they can’t see at a show or buy on iTunes, so I like to do one of my signature freestyles on-the-spot. Other times, I’ll mash up two songs into one streamlined acoustic performance. Once your viewers realize that they’re getting in on something special when they watch your videos, you can bet they’ll be back again next time.
2. More is less.

There’s proof all over the web that a clever idea can be as valuable, if not more, than a bloated budget. A lack of funds can be a blessing more than a curse in that it forces you to think creatively and work with whatever resources are immediately available. In 2012, I released my single “Summertime On My Mind” and wanted to create a unique video to promote it without spending a ton of cash. I was involved in a campaign for Patagonia at the time called “Repair, Reuse, Recycle” which was aimed at promoting cleaner environmental practices and conserving resources, and I saw one that one of the logos was an acoustic guitar with only one string. Inspiration struck. With the goal of showing that you can create something awesome with only simple tools, I rounded up five friends and six guitars - each with only one string. We played the entire song together, one string per person, and over 13,000 views later, I was able to prove that it doesn’t take more than a few buddies and some ingenuity to make something special. Don’t get caught up in trying to copy the music videos you see on TV, because the average major label video usually has a budget somewhere between $200,000-$500,00. Use your brain and remember, more is less.
3. Utilize live-streaming platforms to bring your content to life.

One of the greatest things that technology is doing for artists is tearing down the barriers between us and our audiences. Live-streaming services only continue to get better with time, and they can be a powerful weapon in your social media arsenal. Websites like StageIt can help you easily create streaming content to share with your fanbase. I use StageIt to turn any location with an internet connection into a concert venue by allowing my fans to tune into scheduled performances via webcam. Artists are free to charge whatever they please for access to the show, and can leave a digital “tip jar” open if audience members feel so inclined. This is a great way to let your audience know that they matter and that you’re willing to go above and beyond to provide them with a unique musical experience.
4. Get to know talented filmmakers and videographers.

Everyone dreams of the day when they’ll be getting paid big bucks to do what they love, but as most of us well know, you have to start somewhere. There are as many talented people behind cameras as there are behind guitars and microphones, and it makes sense for us as artists to get to know each other and discover ways we can help each other out. Filmmakers and videographers want their work to get noticed too, and it never hurts to ask to see if there are options for you to work together to promote your respective brands. Some of them may be willing to work with you for free, while others won’t consider it without some promise of payment - either way, it’s only beneficial to get a sense of what your options are. At the very least, you might find yourself inspired by some of the material you find. I constantly draw new musical ideas and vibes from my friend Mike Greene’s video work. Bottom line: you’ll never know until you get out there and do some research, and with the entire internet at your fingertips, you have no excuse to not do it.
At the end of the day, video content is one of many, many tools that can be used to make yourself stand out from the crowd and engage people. The fact that it gets overlooked by a lot of artist should provide you with that much more incentive to take advantage of it in the most resourceful, cost-effective means possible. Being creative with your webcam today means that you might get to be creative behind a big-budget music video tomorrow - so get to work!

Music Industry Execs Embrace Content Marketing To The Tune of $3 Million Annually

This week Venture Harbour released a Midem-sponsored report on a survey of 64 music industry executives and their take on content marketing. A related analysis of "over 15,000 pieces of content produced by music companies" is included as is supporting material on such topics as influencers. Given that the music industry is said to have spent over $3 million on content marketing in the past year, it's a topic with which we should all be familiar.
In a press release for Venture Harbour's report, "Content Marketing in the Music Industry," content marketing is defined as:

"an emerging trend involving the creation and sharing of content, such as how-to guides, videos, and eBooks in order to acquire customers online. Content marketing is focused not on selling, but on delivering consistent, on-going valuable information, to build loyalty and awareness amongst potential customers."
This is a nice clean definition of content marketing that emphasizes its power in building a brand by sharing "valuable information" on an on-going basis.
When you see the byline of a CEO of a music tech company writing about issues of the day at Hypebot, that's content marketing.
When a music marketer posts great tips about how musicians can be building their social media presence, that's content marketing.
When Midem sponsors a report and posts about it on their site, that's content marketing.
As Midem Director Bruno Crolot points out in the announcement, the report itself is an example of Midem's ongoing approach to content marketing:

"By providing the most relevant content at the right moment to an audience, content marketing represents a powerful tool for artists & labels to reach further and create a meaningful relationship with fans."
"So powerful that, at Midem, we have developed a structured content marketing approach, which aims at proposing added-value content to professionals from the whole music ecosystem all year round. As part of this strategy, we are very pleased to share today this exclusive report about content marketing in the music industry developed by Venture Harbour."
You can download the report, authored by Venture Harbour founder Marcus Taylor, via a link on Midem's blog where a lot of their ongoing content marketing occurs. In fact, blogs have played a big role in content marketing and often exist primarily for that purpose.
Note that content marketing can also be viewed much more broadly, from posting photos on Instagram to releasing free apps as part of an album marketing campaign.
An even trendier development, native advertising, mucks things up even further by turning content marketing into a paid form of advertising.
But the focus of "Content Marketing in the Music Industry" is content marketing in the purest sense. And in that sense, I was somewhat amazed to find that music businesses spent at least $3 million on such efforts in the last year.
Additional findings include:
Which topics generate the most buzz?

"For content to be highly shareable, it must provoke a strong emotional reaction. In the music industry, we found that content relating to artists being exploited, piracy, and low royalty payments typically generated the most online buzz."
What types of content are most effective?

"In the music industry, infographics, case studies, and how-to blog posts are the most effective types of content for driving online interaction. On the other hand, industry news, video blog posts, and interviews are the least effective."
Which social networks are most important?

"We found that Facebook was overall the most important social network for content marketing within the music industry, with 62% of all shares, and 55% of all social traffic being referred from Facebook.com Despite this, we found that on average, tweets had a higher rate of traffic referred per share than any other social network."
You can find out more by downloading the free report.
Bonus: I make a brief appearance at the end of the report, along with Billboard's Juliana Koranteng, responding to the question "What makes a great piece of content?"
“Great content connects concrete details to the bigger picture. That's why case studies can be a particularly strong form of content marketing. Case studies allow for a satisfying level of detail presented in a larger business context. They can showcase solutions but are most valuable to the reader when the takeaway goes beyond 'buy our product.'"
If you're interested in seeing more on this topic at Hypebot, please let us know. Content marketing offers a great way to move beyond push marketing and towards "building the pull."

Related articles

• Music Industry Execs Embrace Content Marketing To The Tune of $3 Million Annually (hypebot.com)
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• Midem and Musexpo Team Up to Spotlight A&r Worldwide, Synch & Brands in France 2014 (brbmusic.org)
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Not All Musicians Are Entrepreneurs, But Successful And Professional Ones Are

Not All Musicians Are Entrepreneurs, But Successful And Professional Ones Are

Guest post by Julian Weisser (@iamweisser), CCO of Bottoland writer of Ideas then Lemonade.

Most of my days are spent working on the business and communications end of the music and technology industries. Because of my immersion in these areas I tend to read and absorb many ideas, concepts, and philosophies. They are all mainly related to doing business in a global ecosystem based around innovation and constant iteration as a startup. I have found the core concepts to be remarkably transferable to many industries and buyer/seller relationships.

Sometimes musicians ask me for advice on the business end of what they are trying to do. Admittedly, my advice is sometimes not even solicited but I give it anyways. One thing that troubles me is when very talented players tell me that they are not entrepreneurs. They say they are professional musicians. If you want to have success in this intense musical landscape you must be able to think like an entrepreneur or be willing to pay the team of people that can do that kind of thinking and ideation for you.

Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon defined the entrepreneur as “someone who engages in exchanges for profit; specifically, he or she is someone who exercises business judgment in the face of uncertainty.” The emphasis of this definition should be placed on the word “uncertainty.” Few things are less certain than what will become popular in the music industry. There is no formula for success and the pathways to that rare sliver of spotlight are numerous. Forget uncertainty, the music industry is very unpredictable but this actually presents enormous opportunity to those that know how to look at this kind of landscape through the correct lens: that of an entrepreneur.

I try to help musicians train their way of thinking so that they realize the broad scope of their actions and how easy it is to pivot and change direction when needed. When they are starting out, the risk of damage from a failure is nearly zero. This means they should observe how the fan/user reacts while they constantly improve things and are open to new ideas and directions. This is a core component of what makes up a lean startup; a term coined (and trademarked) by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Eric Ries. It’s a development philosophy used by everyone from Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com (where you canbuy Lean Startups) to Mark Zuckerberg.

There is no reason for a band with a few hundred FB likes not to continually put out new material and see how the followers react and what gets them talking and sharing with their friends. If you are reading this article and you think you have an established audience you likely do not. Don’t feel bad because very few do. If you intelligently develop and improve based on your observations you will certainly gain fans but better yet you will have an understanding of who they are and why they like you.

Amanda Palmer recently spoke at Rethink Music about the freedom she has with no label and the stronger relationships she can build in the new industry with those that enjoy her music. "I don't like using the term ‘fans’ with my fans,” stated Palmer while discussing her listeners, “it starts to feel patronizing sometimes." Amanda Palmer has developed a large but tight-knit community around her music by being very open to "fans" on her Twitter account and blog. This falls directly in line with a thesis from the Cluetrain Manifesto that “markets are conversations.”

Those that have meaningful conversations with their listeners/fans/customers (take your pick while being mindful of the baggage associated with each) will have created the strongest bond and most emotionally invested stakeholders. This emotional investment creates evangelists, your best way of acquiring new listeners and your true backers. Gone are the days of labels investing money in experiments. If you can develop an organic following through constantly tweaking and communicating with those that care you will find immense support that is not hollow. As of this publication Amanda Palmer has raised $563,607 from 10,271 fans for a new album, art book and tour on Kickstarter. Unlike 10,271 typical investors that would care most about the financial success of the project they were funding, these fans care first and foremost about the experience they will be able to help Amanda Palmer create. Palmer talks to her fans constantly and they trust that she will be able to give them something they will love and value.

“Entrepreneur” is a French word but I assure you it is not a dirty one. If you are a musician interested in making that into your full-time job I suggest you consider yourself an entrepreneur. You are about to embark on the most uncertain and imprecise mission of your life and the bumps and bruises will be the lessons that make the biggest impact on how you proceed forward. Remember that the risks are usually much lower than they initially seem and that a meaningful conversation and constant improvement are key.

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Musicians: Take A Ride On The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster

Musicians: Take A Ride On The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster

Musicians – if you are at all “serious” about your music, and you are looking to create a sustainable career from your craft, while building a tribe of people that will support it, then like it or not, you’ve embarked on the path of the entrepreneur. And being an entrepreneur comes with its fair share of ups and downs, twists and turns, and a few barrel rolls in between.

Think you're ready for it?

Well that’s actually a trick question, because you’ll never be fully prepared; regardless of how many articles you read, how many classes you take, or how awesome your gear might be. But that’s not the point; the point is to be like Nike and just do it!It doesn't matter if you are successful right out the gate (you probably won't be), but failure will provide you with greater lessons than any class or article, and you will be far more educated and experienced on how to make your next move. As the character Morpheus tells Neo in the film The Matrix:"There's a difference between knowing the path, and walking the path."So musicians, I encourage you to take the entrepreneur roller coaster, at the very least for the growth opportunities that come along for the ride. You won't soon regret it.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKocnAS345U]—

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7 Ways to Avoid The Psychological Hazards Of Music Entrepreneurshi

7 Ways to Avoid The Psychological Hazards Of Music Entrepreneurship

Building a career in music is often much more about becoming an entrepreneur than getting a job. And like entrepreneurs in other fields musicians face many emotional ups and downs that can derail their progress. Psychiatrist Michael A. Freeman recently shared some tips for tech entrepreneurs on dealing with emotional roller coasters that many musicians should find relevant.

Silicon Valley has become more away of the psychological hazards of entrepreneurship in the wake of a number of tragic events involving tech entrepreneurs. The world of music has also seen far too many tragic outcomes even for musicians deemed successes.

In many ways, the high pressure world of tech startups places similar pressures on entrepreneurs to outperform and to forget about their own needs that musicians face when taking their careers seriously.

Former entrepreneur turned psychiatrist Michael A. Freeman has some tips for entrepreneurs of all types in an article about the "Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship" (via Wes Davenport).

7 Ways to Avoid the Psychological Hazards of Music Entrepreneurship

1) "Most important, make time for your loved ones" - Friends and family can be a powerful source of support.

2) "Don't be afraid to ask for help" - Mental health professionals come in all shapes and sizes.

3) Limit Your Financial Exposure - "Set a limit for how much of your own money you're prepared to invest."

4) Take Care of Your Health - "Cardiovascular exercise, a healthful diet, and adequate sleep all help."

5) Cultivate an "identity apart from your company" - Defining yourself by more than your music career is key to maintaining stability when things are going wrong.

6) Learn to "reframe failure and loss" - Understand that the failure of a music project such as an album release is one step along the way that doesn't define you as a failure.

7) "Be open about your feelings" - This advice may sound odd given the often vulnerable nature of both songwriting and performance but it's far too easy to react to that exposure by closing yourself off emotionally to those around you.

Excellent advice for those facing the uncertainties of entrepreneurship. But at least entrepreneurial musicians know they'll always have music whatever direction the business takes.

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Ask why not?

Ask yourself why you aren't doing something. How is what you aren't doing affecting the project or task you're working on?

This creative ask you a question, which ask you why not? Meaning, why not do this?, Why not do that? It's just asking why can't you do anything in regards to your project, or problem that you are currently working on.

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Top Ad Agency Edelman Tells Brands How To Engage The Ever-Evolving Music Fan

Top Ad Agency Edelman Tells Brands How To Engage The Ever-Evolving Music Fan

As music consumption continues to evolve, money from big brands has become increasingly important. Sponsorships, licensing, ongoing initiatives like Converse's Fader Fort and more, all help power the modern music industry's engine. Just ask Jay Z who nabbed $5 million from Samsung for 1 million copies of his latest album. But are brands benefiting from their relationship with music? Top as agency Edelman offers 5 ways that they can:

1. Fish where the fish are - "In a fragmented music market, it’s essential that brands meet consumers in their native music-listening environments... Although opportunities for brands to engage music listeners are vast, brand-plays on music streaming services like Pandora, iHeartRadio and Spotify are ripe for consideration."

2. Do some sensory research - "Forget pushing products right out of the gate and get a feel for the target market’s passion, listen to their playlists, go see a live show, taste (and smell) the festival food. Perhaps the brand will even discover its own music identity in the process."

3. Gain listeners for the long haul - "Engagement with them is as simple as finding a common musical interest and committing to staying in touch."

4. Add a “wow” factor - "The music scene can be loud in more ways than one, and getting a brand to stand out among the crowd can seem like quite a hurdle.... The next best thing could be right under your nose. Creatively leveraging sponsorships, partners and social media can do wonders.

5. Practice what you preach - "If your brand is looking to communicate with music fans, keep an arsenal of knowledge about the music industry."

What do you think of Edelman's advice to brands?

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3 Key Music Marketing Lessons Based On Eye Tracking Studies

3 Key Music Marketing Lessons Based On Eye Tracking Studies

Given the importance of your website and email for marketing your music online, it's key to understand what people do when they interact with your site and email newsletters. Eye tracking is a particularly powerful research approach that is designed to help you understand where people focus when they look at your site. Here are 3 music marketing lessons from eye tracking studies to get you started.

Eye tracking originally involved observing where people looked when they were doing such things as reading text or shopping. While there are devices for tracking actual eye movements while people look at computer screens, marketing studies often rely on the activity of one's cursor as a proxy.

That raises some significant questions about research findings but when combined with clickthroughs, signups and purchases, one can understand a lot about good website, blog and email newsletter design.

The following 3 music marketing lessons are drawn from "7 Marketing Lessons from Eye-Tracking Studies" on the KISSmetrics blog, an excellent resource for such information.

They include one that caught me by surprise and is a reminder that research is sometimes most valuable when it challenges one's assumptions. However all research should be read with a critical eye and compared with what you and others are finding in actual practice.

3 Key Music Marketing Lessons Based On Eye Tracking Studies

People tend to browse web pages in an F-shaped pattern.

"Web users tend to browse sites based on their reading habits. For English speaking people (and languages with similar reading patterns), the left side of the screen is heavily favored, and all sites tend to be browsed in an F-pattern."

Keeping important content "above the fold" (fold = bottom of visible screen when first loaded) is not as important as previously assumed.

"Multiple tests...have shown that users have no problem scrolling down below the fold. Surprisingly, they will browse even further down if the length of the page is longer."

People spend less time scanning emails than web pages so keep newsletters "short and sweet."

"Once you’ve earned the right to appear in a prospect’s inbox, be sure to keep that privilege by crafting emails that are clear and get to the point quickly. You don’t have as much time to broadcast your message as you would in an online article."

The Fold Doesn't Matter?

The issue of whether or not putting content above or below the fold matters is the one that caught me by surprise. But note that the studies to which the KISSmetrics article links are all based on pages that are a combination of text and visuals designed to lead you to a call to action which usually involves signing up for something or actually purchasing something.

Related research from The Washington Post considered ad "viewability" (not sure how that's defined in the study) and found that such behaviors as quick scrolling mean that top of the page isn't always the best place for an ad if you want it to be seen.

Their experiments included an "ad unit to combat quick scrolling by following the viewer for the first seven seconds of scrolling." It then "floats back to the top of the page."

This report opens up some interesting possiblities to explore on your own website where you should be testing results rather than relying only on studies that report average results.

For example, many blogs will have links to social networks that allow you to easily share a particular blog post. Some services now provide a floating social media sharing bar that appears next to the post by the headline and then stays in view as one scrolls down the page.

If you're looking to increase social shares of your blog posts, trying out different sharing bars and tracking shares is an example of how you can test such things on your own site.

So do take research seriously but remember that one size rarely fits all and that you should ultimately be finding ways to test variations on your website and in your emails.

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• 3 Key Music Marketing Lessons Based On Eye Tracking Studies (hypebot.com)
• 7 Marketing Lessons from Eye-Tracking Studies (kissmetrics.com)
• Part 2 : Lessons Learned from Eye Tracking Studies (firstdigital.co.nz)
• Eye-tracking cameras show peahens' wandering gaze (sciencenews.org)
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Musicians: Marketing Is Part Of Everything You Do

As part of our 9th Anniversary, we asked our regular contributors to share their favorite Hypebot posts. This one comes from Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith.
For many people the term "marketing" conjures up images of cheezy advertising or pushy sales people or wack gimmicks to catch the attention of the press. So if you're a musician that equates marketing with those things, it's understandable that the idea that you need to market yourself and your music makes you really uncomfortable. But if you understand that marketing is part of everything you do, you can then begin to spread the word in a productive positive manner.
Musicians who only see marketing as an annoying, interruptive process of shouting at people aren't going to see it as something they want to do. And if they see marketing as something pushy and rude, then when they embrace marketing as a way to spread the word about their music, they go into full-on spam mode and alienate everyone around them.
Even many business people look at marketing as a necessary evil, something that's somewhat beneath the creativity of the true entrepreneur. For example, noted venture capitalist Fred Wilson once wrote a blog post telling startups to avoid marketing as a component of their business plans. Instead he advocated that they do a lot of other things that ultimately sounded like a list of marketing tips.
Fred Wilson proposed that instead of marketing, one should spread the word through such things as:

social media
word of mouth in a specific community
live events
having a good story, bypassing publicists and taking it straight to the press
search engine optimization
Of course, these are all forms of marketing and these are all things that any good music marketer will suggest you do as part of your ongoing activities. Because marketing is about spreading the word about what you're doing. At its best, marketing is spreading the word by speaking to other humans in a human voice.
Good social media marketing is what The Cluetrain Manifesto describes as having conversations in a networked market:

"Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice."
"Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman."
When one starts to understand marketing in these terms, as spreading the word and as having human conversations, one can begin to understand how marketing is part of everything a musician does.
But it's also important to understand branding as a component of marketing.

Some people think of brands as logos or as corporate identities but a brand is essentially the image or thought that immediately comes to mind when people think of you. So your brand can be thought of as your personal and professional identity in the minds of people other than you.
If marketing is what happens when you are showing who you are to the world and are spreading the word about what you do, then marketing is part of everything you do, at least, when it involves other humans.
Marketing is what happens when:

You choose a name for your band that communicates what your music or larger aesthetic is about.
Marketing is what happens when:

You pick an image for your cd cover or flyer that creates a first impression.
Marketing is what happens when:

You tell people you have a show coming up, whether you're pushy or polite.
Marketing is what happens when:

You post fliers around the neighborhood and share the space with other events or plaster over those fliers like a total jerk.
Marketing is what happens when:

You publicize your new single by sending out emails to a list of people who've signed up or to a bunch of people who never gave you permission and may not give a damn.
Marketing is what happens when:

You get drunk at your show and say crazy things on the mic that alienate people.
Marketing is what happens when:

You get drunk after the show and start hitting on women (or men) inappropriately.
Marketing is what happens when:

You get drunk, show you can handle your liquor and maybe even buy the house a round.
Marketing is what happens whenever you interact with people because, as a performer, you're a public figure and you're always on stage. That can be a difficult thing to handle but, if you're trying to build a career in music, it's something you have to face.
So wo/man up and realize that marketing is everything you do from what you name your band to how you present yourself in public to how you spread the word about your music.
More:

Business Planning: Marketing Tips from Fred Wilson, A VC
The Cluetrain Manifesto
10 Insights From Andrew Dubber's "The 360 Deal" - Connecting With People Is Part Of The Business
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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Do musicians need to interact with their fans?

Now, musicians are busy people. Often they play in several projects, or have day jobs, families, or all of the above. So whenever there is talk about social media, newsletters, and marketing in general, it’s understandable that it can seem a little overwhelming. It takes a lot of work just for the artistic side of things, between writing music, rehearsing, playing shows, and all of the logistics that go into those creative endeavors.

But the days of the reclusive rock star hiding backstage, letting record companies and managers do all the promotion and communicating with their fans, is long gone. It’s not enough to write, rehearse, and perform music to develop a sustainable career. Fan interaction has now become part of the job description for today’s musicians.
How We Got Here: Technology
So how did we get here? We’ve seen recording technology reach the point where you can record professionally from the comfort of your own home. You can now take music you recorded at home and easily distribute it to online stores like iTunes and Amazon for a small fee. And the internet, with tools like websites, email, and social media, gives you access to a potential global audience of fans.

The result of these technological advances? A level playing field for all musicians where you can record for cheap, distribute your music for cheap, and reach a potential global audience of fans for practically free. Hooray! Everyone gets a career in music!

Unfortunately, it’s not that straightforward. The flipside of all of this has been that music fans also now have an unlimited choice of music. They can listen to whatever music they want, whenever they want to. Musicians are now competing for the attention of music fans, who are distracted more than ever by the thousands upon thousands of options available to them at any given moment.
3 Reasons to Interact with Your Fans
So do musicians need to interact with their fans? In a word, yes. But here are 3 reasons why it’s important that you do:

1. Keeps fans aware of you

The biggest reason to interact with your fans is to simply keep them aware of you and your music. As previously mentioned, fans have unlimited choices when it comes to music, so it’s extremely important to keep them aware of your music on a regular basis.

2. Solidifies relationships with fans

More and more, fans want to feel a direct connection to the artists themselves. So interacting with your fans not only keeps them aware of your music, but gives you the opportunity to solidify your relationship with them. Every time a fan makes a comment or asks a question on your blog or through social media, you have the chance to respond and make them feel like they’re an active part of your career. But if you don’t respond, they just might pay more attention to an artist that will.

3. Creates "super fans"

As you solidify your relationship with fans and they start to feel like they’re going on this musical journey with you, some of them will become “super fans”. These are the fans that will buy almost everything you put out; from buttons to t-shirts, to limited edition items. They will also come to all your shows, and probably bring their friends. But most importantly, these are the fans that are going to talk about you and promote you through social media & blogs.

Whereas marketing used to focus on finding ways to communicate the value of your music to potential fans, now the key is getting fans themselves to communicate the value of your music to other people. Here’s why that’s so important:

Nielsen recently conducted a study that found that 54% of people are more likely to make a purchase based off a positive recommendation from a friend.

People are tuning out ads and giving more weight to the recommendations of their friends for what movies to watch, which books to read, and what music to listen to. So if you can get to the point where your fans are actively promoting you to their friends, chances are, your fan base will grow, and with it, the attendance at your live shows as well as your music sales.

And one of the best ways to create this kind of word-of-mouth marketing? Developing a relationship with your fans by interacting with them on a regular basis.

Hypebot contributing writer Dave Cool is the Director of Artist Relations for musician website and marketing platform Bandzoogle. Twitter: @Bandzoogle | @dave_cool

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