Marketing Your Music Blog With Just 3 Tools

Marketing Your Music Blog With Just 3 Tools

Clambr's Richard Marriott got "50 Experts" to weigh in on "How to Promote Your Blog with Just 3 Tools." It's a big page that's now at 53 professional web marketers, SEOs and marketing bloggers. But I think their choices of blog marketing tools and their rationales for using them, which also reveals some of their approaches to blog marketing, offer useful insights for musicians, music businesspeople, music writers and music marketers who are creating content, building brands and spreading the word through blogging.
"50 Experts Reveal How to Promote Your Blog with Just 3 Tools" comes at a good time for me as I begin a process of getting organized for the New Year. I'm investigating new and old social media marketing tools for various projects and will be sharing what I learn here at Hypebot in 2014.
The blog marketing post covers a lot of ground but little of it is specific to music marketing. So here are some key tool groups and observations that I think are especially relevant for marketing music-related blogs with some notes about future coverage at Hypebot.
Email Marketing & Newsletters

Email marketing was considered a key approach with AWeber topping the tools list. That makes me want to take a second look cause AWeber seems more generally on the decline compared to MailChimp which came in a distant second to AWeber in this group. MailChimp's free tier gets multiple mentions for those on tight budgets.
I'm getting ready to reinvestiate FeedBlitz for both email and RSS management. RSS tools did not make it on the list which makes sense. RSS feeds are now a basic feature more than a core tool.
I will also be checking out self-hosted Wordpress email plugins for email marketing and newsletters though that will likely include plugins for hosted email services like MailChimp or FeedBlitz.
Social Media Networks

Twitter topped the social media network mentions with Facebook lagging behind and Google+ barely appearing. Twitter definitely makes sense, especially for content and blog marketing, given its broad reach and focus on short messages with links that can lead directly back to one's own blog.
Given that social proof is becoming a more important part of SEO, all of these networks are relevant in that realm as well, especially Google+.
We'll continue covering the big players and also following the emerging world of messaging as it grows in importance.
Social Media Management

Tools for managing one's social media presence were cited more than any particular social network, which makes a lot of sense, especially for professionals who are often managing multiple accounts.
HootSuite topped the list of social media management tools and it certainly seems to be a fave among music marketers as well. They've done a good job of keeping up with a wide range of networks as well as offering 3rd party apps with reach beyond Twitter, Facebook and Google+ into music-relevant networks like SoundCloud, YouTube and Instagram.
Buffer came in second.
I'm hoping to take a closer look at tools like HootSuite that integrate various services by either connecting with a lot of sites or by bringing all the features in-house. But, like a handful of the 50 Experts, I've focused more on doing things like tweeting by hand since I don't manage accounts for clients and am exploring low volume approaches.
Analytics

Understanding what's happening and how your actions are affecting what happens is an important part of blog marketing so it's not surprising that analytics tools made some lists. Google Analytics, which may be downplaying keywords but still offers more a rich suite of tools than a single tool, was the main one discussed.
Topsy for Twitter was mentioned in passing. Of course, many other tools such as HootSuite offer analytics related to one's social media marketing efforts.
I'm looking for other analytics tools for blogs and websites but it's hard to beat what Google offers for free. If you have any suggestions, please do share.
Link Building

Getting people to link to you is an important part of SEO as well as direct traffic. I've always taken the organic "let them link to you because you have great content" approach.
If you're interested in more overt link building as well as building relationships with other bloggers, these pros recommend such tools and networks as BuzzStream, Blog Engage and Triberr.
Miscellaneous Blog Marketing Tools

iTunes received multiple mentions by podcasters.
Wistia was singled out for self-hosted video.
Wordpress appears low on the list but both Wordpress.org (self-hosted) and related plugins get mentioned repeatedly by many of the respondents. Much of this can be attributed to the flexible nature and generally low cost of self-hosted Wordpress. It's also a reminder that blog marketing begins with a great blogging platform.
I'm slowly getting up to speed on Wordpress and will be getting more detailed in 2014.
Be sure to let us know if you're finding specific web and mobile tools of use for both blog and music marketing.
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/Facebook) is building a writing hub at Flux Research. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.



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Clyde Smith on 12/04/2013 in D.I.Y., Marketing, Music Tech, Social Media | Permalink

Artistic Efficiency: How to Create More and Get Out of Your Own Way

Artistic Efficiency: How to Create More and Get Out of Your Own Way

By Michael Shoup, owner of 12South Music and co-founder of Visualive.

Nine years ago, I left college with a Bachelor's Degree in Music. Untested and honestly, quite naive, I spent the next three years using money from designing websites freelance to ineffectively tour as an artist around the country, gigging myself into over $6k of high interest credit card debt. Embarrassed and defeated, I stopped writing, I stopped playing music outside of my home, and my answer to "what do you do?" begrudgingly changed from music to websites.

Fast forward to today and I've been debt free for over 3 years. Within that time, I self-funded my own full-length record from cash and started a music marketing agency to promote independent artists. I took 3 months, wrote/recorded and shot a video for one song a week about anything my blog readers submitted and released them all for FREE, and I'm currently in the process of launching a new Social Media App called Visualive all while working remotely from the road.

How did I do it? I want to show you and show that you can too with 5 simple rules.

————————————————

About every six months, I use this system to revitalize and redefine my goals and work-flow as an artist, as a business, and as a human being. Most of it is common sense, and perhaps that's why many people never use it; they don't realize they already have the tools.

Here's what I've learned:

RULE 1: Minimize

Chances are, if you're in your 20's or 30's, you're doing too much. You have a Twitter, Facebook, 4Square, Tumblr account, and maybe more. You may not even realize it, but you find yourself wishing you'd start that business, try for that dream job, or make that record… and you don't because of "obligations" or "responsibilities", or worse yet, simple "lack of time." I'm with you. I've been there. Unfortunately for us as humans, this doesn't get easier as we grow older and add families or children to the mix, so it's best that we learn how to handle it now. No more excuses. It's time to trim the fat.

In my early 20's, I found myself devoured by a freelance design business that demanded constant attention with little return. My assumption that making my own hours would instantly give me the flexibility to do music wasn't exactly true, as the constant search to find work became a full-time job of its own. My solution? Take a 9-5 position at a local design firm. While this might sound counter-intuitive, it actually freed up a large majority of my time by eliminating an entire proposal and client management side I no longer dealt with, and provided me with the means to invest in my music career for the first time. I had time to write better songs and money to get things moving.

While this may not be the exact first step for everyone, I believe minimalism is key. I challenge you to examine what you do on a day to day basis, and ask yourself (a) do you actually like doing those activities and (b) what would happen if you just STOPPED doing part of it. What are the consequences? What is the worst-case scenario that could happen if you just dropped that activity today? What would the benefits be? What if you only used one social network and built your audience there? Would you suddenly find yourself with blocks of time available to dedicate to your passion or audience? I certainly did.

This rule applies to people as well as activities. You know those friends I'm talking about; the ones who seem to disappear until they have a favor to ask of you. Though removing yourself from unbalanced friendships may have its difficulties now, the rewards in time and creative energy down the road are exponential.

RULE 2: Delegate

While the term "independent" in the music industry generally refers to running your own career, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to do it alone. This is one part of the puzzle that I find many creatives miss. I know I certainly did. The beauty of being an "independent" artist is that you're suddenly the boss of your own career; the CEO and founder of your music, and it's your job to build a team under you.

So how do we do this? If you've followed rule #1, you should have already eliminated anything that isn't necessary to do. With what's left, ask yourself if it's necessary that You specifically do the task, or if someone else could do it for you, possibly even better than you. [side-note: I don't generally suggest delegation of creative work. That's what you enjoy, remember!?] If it's work that you personally need to do, [for example, communicating with your fans] I move it onto the next rule. Otherwise, I find a way to delegate it.

Real life example: I dread cleaning my house. Because of this, it takes me twice as long as any normal person to perform the task. However, if I hire someone to clean my house for me, it costs me money. Here comes the magical logic: I use a time vs. money ratio to make most of these decisions and apply it to everything from life tasks to music business work. First, I take my last year's income and come up with a (rough) hourly wage for myself. Next, I'll take the amount of time it takes me to do a given task, multiply it by my hourly wage, and come up with a task price. If I can find someone else to do the task cheaper than my "price" I consider it a matter of savings! In the end, time is money, and what we're looking for are ways to stream-line the busy work and free more time for connecting with fans, other creatives, and doing creative work.

"But I'm a starving artist? I can barely pay my rent. How do I find the money to pay someone else to do something for me?"

Do you have a parent / friend / significant other who believes in you and wants to see you succeed? Can you ask them to take on a very small task part time to help you get a leg up? What about a college intern? Do you have experience you can offer up or teach them in return for some "free work"? You don't have to go from starving artist one day to cash-flowing business the next, and taking small steps like this will teach you how to better delegate before you start paying for it.

"Okay Michael, I get your example, but do you really weigh this for everything in your life? Even Music Business?"

YES.

In the last year alone, I've hired two Nashville based assistants, a Los Angeles based Virtual Assistant, and a Virtual Assistant from the Philippines. These people have helped me book entire tours, gather contact information, build websites, schedule meetings, run my finances, make phone calls, and even plan strategies for creating new music. By taking time to find the right people and trusting in their abilities, I have been able to almost double my creative output, and the cost to me has been negligible once you factor in how profitable they have allowed my music business to become.

What was the tipping point for me? If you haven't yet read "The 4-Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss, pick it up now, today, this second, and read his chapter on outsourcing. Think what you may about the rest of the book, but this chapter alone has invaluable strategies for creatives on how to get out of your own way.

RULE 3: Prioritize

"The key is not to prioritize your schedule but to schedule your priorities."

~ Stephen R. Covey from "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

Our society, and partially our school system, has ingrained in us that busy is better; that multi-tasking is a necessity, and that Facebook deserves your constant attention. It doesn't. What does deserve your attention are your goal-driven, well-defined priorities. It's time to separate yourself from the noise.

If we've already dropped the collective mass of unnecessary items from our lives and delegated out anything that doesn't specifically require our input, then all we have left are things that actually need our attention. You are now the CEO of your life and artist career. Congrats! Now to act like one.

This is the rule where I see most creatives lose focus. I personally suffer from the "do-it-all-now!" syndrome, so I can relate, but doing what deserves your attention at the right time creates momentum, and our goal is to feed that energy.

I start this process by taking a pen and paper and writing down all of the tasks that I need to do [Actually, I usually do this starting at rule one and make columns for "minimize", "delegate" and "prioritize"]. Once I have my list, I'll give each task a weight based on its urgency, my desire to see it to completion, or the length of time it's been on the list [longer gets higher priority].

Now, the magic comes in making these priorities actionable. For each item with the top priority rating, I break it down into small steps. For example, if I have "Finish Co-write with Kenny" as a priority, I'll break it down into:

1. Call Kenny for writing meet-up
2. Follow up and put it on the schedule
3. Refresh on material we wrote previously
4. Write with Kenny

Suddenly, I've got easy steps to reach each of my priorities. Next? Do step one TODAY. Setting your priorities in motion is the easiest way to guarantee they stay a priority. Then, continue in sequence scheduling up your week or month with these actionable steps to accomplish your goals.

Also, as a general rule, I try to give myself no more than 3 "to-do's" per day. Seeing a giant list of things that need to get done tends to send me into a coffee drinking panic, and in general, is not super conducive to freeing yourself creatively. Savor the coffee. Make time for your priorities.

RULE 4: Automate

Does anyone still pay with cash all the time? Do you remember having to thumb through a stack of bills and change to find the right amount, then possibly receiving change back and having to count or organize it? Along came Debit and Credit Cards, and with them slews of systems to make the process of a transaction more efficient. What if you could use similar automation to get out of your own way? Well you can, and I do every day.

By running myself through this "5 Rules" process numerous times, I began to notice systems develop each time a similar priority was identified. Perhaps all co-writing appointments could be setup in the same 4 steps. Maybe all my reoccurring payments could be pooled to one credit card that I auto-pay once a month? Could all my booking emails be funneled to an auto-responder that followed up for me and sent a press release? As these systems began to develop, I would ask myself one simple question: Does automating this task make it too impersonal? If the answer was no, I'd set the system in place.

So far, I've done this for my finances, 90% of my email, my processes for scheduling and communicating with my assistant, and a custom process I've developed for passively finding targeted fans [this one I'm super excited about. Hit me up here to find out more]. The results? I have more time to write, make music, and live life than I ever have before, and I find myself far less worried about "did I do that?" I don't have to think. It's already set to go.

Now, I can understand some people being a bit wary doing this with their finances and I could probably write an entirely separate blog on how to do this. However, for a great run down of how to do this successfully, I'd suggest Ramit Sethi's "I Will Teach You To Be Rich." Don't let the unfortunate title fool you, he's not full of crap. In fact, the book's a New York Times best seller, and is full of very plain and simple financial advice that even a scatter-brained musician like myself can understand. I've used common sense from this book along with Dave Ramsey's "Debt Snowball" plan to automatically budget for my goals and make it near impossible to not get them funded. Also, previously mentioned "The 4-Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss contains a good amount about personal automation.

RULE 5: Create

This is it, folks. This is what you've saved up so much time and energy to do. In my personal opinion, this should always be priority and rule #1, even if you do use the first 4 rules to clean out everything else. This is what drives and motivates you. As an artist or content creator, this is what will actually make or break you in the end. This is what you should be funneling the vast majority of your time and effort into as it feeds your authentic ability to connect and engage your audience.

My personal favorite metaphor for this comes from Bruce Warila's article about a 3 legged table. It's a quick read and worth your time, but in summary it suggests that your career is built on 3 legs: Songs, Magnetism, and Business… and that out of these, Songs is the one leg that can bring down the entire table if it isn't strong. Take this to heart. Spend your time developing your talents and creating quality material. While it may not be the first thing that brings you financial success [via digital downloads, for example] it is the strongest piece that connects you to your fans, and builds a relationship that can last your entire career.

And personally, I think that should be quite a long time.

————————————

*BONUS ROUND: Take Big Calculated Risks

This last piece I include as a small tidbit to chew on.

At least once a month, I challenge myself to take a big risk with my career; to do something that scares me or toss a Hail Mary with no real assurance that anything will come of it. Though sometimes these amount to nothing, they've also accounted for some of my greatest successes and built relationships that I would've never dreamed possible.

Real life example: Being in Nashville, I'm often close in proximity to some of the greatest music industry veterans of all time… but proximity only matters when you do something with it. As a long-shot, I reached out to the Grammy Award Winning engineer for one of my favorite records of all time [Tom Petty's "Wildflowers"] to master my most recent record "Learning How To Live." To my surprise, a few days later Richard Dodd responded back to me happy to work with me and within my budget. My Hail Mary turned into a superb collaboration and I couldn't be happier with how the record turned out.

The easiest way to motivate myself to take these risks is merely to consider the worst-case scenario. What is the absolute worst thing that could happen by taking this risk? Often, I find even the worst scenario lands me only mildly out financially and more often than not, only back in the place I started

Interview: Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas on SXSW, the Music Industry Today and Going Solo

Interview: Taboo of The Black Eyed Peas on SXSW, the Music Industry Today and Going Solo
 Liz Moy
We’ve got a feeling that you may recognize hip-hop artist Taboo as one of the 4 members of pop supergroup, The Black Eyed Peas. What you might not know, is that the LA-native is stepping out on his own, with a solo EP titled ZUMBAO set to release mid-April, and will be headlining the High School Nation Tour presented by Aquafina FlavorSplash at their first non-official SXSW event. Taboo joins Drake Bell, Trevor Jackson and a ReverbNation artist onstage, all to support keeping music and arts programs in local public schools in Austin.

We sat down with Taboo to learn more about what lead him to start a solo career, how he reinvented himself and how promoting music has changed since the last time he performed at SXSW.


Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas

Hey Taboo, it’s great to talk to you today.

Thanks so much for this opportunity!

So have you ever performed during SXSW music week before?

Yes, I did in 1999 with the Black Eyed Peas when we first came out. We played Stubbs Barbeque, and that was our first official introduction to SXSW. We performed with The Roots back then, and it was exciting because it was the first time that we had been at any type of music conference. It was kind of like going to college and seeing all these different musical artists and bands that you were inspired by coming up.

When we were there, we were playing in-store performances at Sam Goody and Virgin Megastore, record stores that don’t even exist anymore. We would meet fans and they would buy our physical tapes, and we would sign autographs and posters. Back then, there was no Twitter, no YouTube, none of that. We would hand out cassettes and VHS videos of our first single, Joints and Jams, and it was more about spreading things by word of mouth. Now people go on Twitter and Instagram to find out about what bands are performing, how they’re doing, where they’re going to be.


“Back then, there was no Twitter, no YouTube, none of that. We would hand out cassettes and VHS videos of our first single, Joints and Jams, and it was more about spreading things by word of mouth. Now people go on Twitter and Instagram to find out about what bands are performing, how they’re doing, where they’re going to be.”

Things have definitely changed since then, but it seems like one thing that’s remained the same is the variety of performers who come to SXSW. On the High School Nation tour, it seems like your style of music is much different than co-performers Drake Bell and Trevor Jackson. Would you say that’s true?

Trevor Jackson is R&B and he’s a soul singer and I think our music, when it first came out had influences like soul, hip-hop and R&B. So we’re not too far away from one another. The last two Black Eyed Peas albums were very Dance and Electro-styled, but in our early days we were an underground hip-hop group.

I believe my individual project caters a little bit more to the essence of hip-hop, but I appreciate everyone’s take on music and how they want to express themselves. I’m here to support all of the artists, you could say I’m the ambassador of the tour. I’m here to help inspire the youth and to activate the youth to understand how important it is to give back and how important music and the arts are.

That makes sense. What excites you about being a part of the High School Nation tour this year?

I’m most excited about being able to give back. With the Peas I was able to accomplish so much but now as an individual I get to be a part of something that is very important to the youth, and I can be active in different communities around the United States. I’m active in LA with programs like Little Kids Rock East Los Angeles where we donate musical instruments to inner city schools. I’ve always identified and been involved with these types of philanthropies within my own community.

It means so much to me to be able to take that on the road and make a difference in the lives of children through a great organization like High School Nation.


“I’m most excited about being able to give back. With the Peas I was able to accomplish so much but now as an individual I get to be a part of something that is very important to the youth, and I can be active in different communities around the United States.”

That’s great that you’re so involved in your local community, and it seems like they’ve shown you some love back – your featured piece in LA weekly was really moving. Did your own life experiences have an impact on your decision to become involved with High School Nation and support arts programs in schools?

Thank you, that was a very personal look into my life outside of the Black Eyed Peas. It’s one thing to be a part of such a big group, but then to really understand me outside of the group, it was kind of like my rebirth as an individual. For that piece, I was promoting my movie that came out, Jamesy Boy, but it was also letting people know about my personality and my approach to creating music. It showed people who I was as Jimmy Gomez, not just Taboo.

Not just “The long haired guy from the Black Eyed Peas,” right?

Right, not just that guy. If you’re in the music business and you’re able to reinvent yourself — your image, your packaging, your music — it goes a long way and it has a lot of longevity. I was inspired by people like Prince and Madonna, and people who were always able to reinvent themselves and come up with something new that made people say “Wow, what will they come up with next?”

When I heard about the tour and ReverbNation and what the whole thing meant, I thought “This is a great opportunity for me to activate the youth and go back and make a difference.”

Even if just one person is inspired by this that’s worth it. My job is to be that ambassador of inspiration.

It’s good timing too, since your new EP ZUMBAO is about to release! Congrats on that. When is the release date?

YES! FINALLY! WOOHOO!

I’ve been working my butt off for this one. It’s been years of trying to fine-tune the sound and make sure everything is properly aligned. Finally my dream is coming true. I’ve got the right team to help me out with that and I’m on cloud nine right now. Everything is going according to plan. I’m in a great place in my personal life and in my business life and I’m very excited. As of now the EP is set to release mid-April.

I appreciate life and everything that’s come my way. I have a beautiful wife and family of three boys, and I couldn’t be happier. That’s something people didn’t know about the guy with the long hair. He never smiled. But this guy will always smile and let out a big “WOOHOO!”

What has the whole process of creating and producing the EP been like?

It was a lot of fine-tuning and trying to find my voice. With the Peas you have four different voices and everybody kind of feeds off of each other. But now it’s just me and my writing partner Joshua, and I’m so used to writing with Fergie, Will.I.Am and Ap that it was new to take a different approach and I used a lot of my personal feelings about things I was going through, like being a father, being a husband, traveling the world by myself as an individual and just all these inspirational elements. I’ve been working on it for about three years.

It’s given me a lot of peace of mind to be able to create this album, this form of self-expression, and telling a lot of my own personal stories within the music.

I’m a new artist with a lot of experience, coming from playing with a group like the Black Eyed Peas. With my solo career, I’m starting from ground zero like most new artists do. It’s really interesting because I have both worlds colliding into one. Even as my team and I promote the album, we want people to know that you can be that big, but also still find your identity as an individual and create your own voice. That’s part of what I want the kids to know. Kids can get so lost in finding themselves and their own identity, I want to inspire them to keep striving to be true to themselves. This has been such a humbling experience for me as an individual. Coming from a world of private jets and selling out arenas and stadiums, playing Super Bowl games and attending awards shows, I look at that as a previous chapter of my life.

Now I have to reboot, go through a rebirth and start all over from the ground up. I have to reintroduce myself with this whole new project.

There are going to be some people who don’t know the Black Eyed Peas in this day and age. The Peas came out with our last release in 2011, and there are kids in High School that didn’t understand the music at that time. Reinventing myself has allowed me to utilize my humor, my enthusiasm and my passion.


“With my solo career, I’m starting from ground zero like most new artists do. It’s really interesting because I have both worlds colliding into one.”

Past and present, name one artist who has inspired and influenced you and why?

Past, it would be Michael Jackson for his showmanship and the hard work that he put in over the years to create the ultimate entertainer — singing, dancing, the wardrobe, the music. He was all-around one of the greatest, if not the greatest.

Present, I would have to say Pharrell. I like what Pharrell’s doing right now. I like that he was gone for a while and then he came back with “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines” and now with “Happy.” I really appreciate that about Pharrell. I remember touring with N.E.R.D. and they really blew up. Then Pharrell came out with “Frontin’” and then he kind of branched out and had his own niche going. Then he came out with “Happy” and the whole Despicable Me movement, it put him in a different stratosphere. Now he’s like performing at the Oscars, has a #1 Hit in 60 countries.

If you could give any advice to aspiring musicians, what would it be?

Don’t allow anyone to stand in your way of your dream. The person who inspired me to create music and pursue it was my grandmother. She was the person that set the tone for going after my dreams and aspirations and not letting anybody interfere with that. She was very supportive and was very understanding of the trials and tribulations that would come. When you have someone in your corner like that — it could be a family member, a best friend, a teacher — it goes a long way.

Fine-tune your chops. There are so many artists who go out there and think, “I’m going to make it” but their skills aren’t strong. If you’re am emcee, make sure you’re able to rap and stay on beat. Practice creating songs, not just creating raps. If you’re a singer, get a vocal coach or find a way to work on your voice. If you’re a producer, get the equipment and programs that you need and get the proper training.

Believe in yourself. I often get discouraged and beat myself up, because I’m a perfectionist when I’m onstage or in the studio. If you don’t believe in yourself nobody else is going to believe in you or your music either. You need confidence. Not ego, not arrogance, but confidence within yourself.


“Don’t allow anyone to stand in your way of your dream.”

Follow Taboo on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Catch the unofficial SXSW High School Nation Tour event on Friday, March 14, 12pm – 4pm at 7th St & Medina Parking Lot, 1121 E 7th St. See website for more details.

Location:Sycamore Dr,Lancaster,United States

Amplify the positives

What are the positive attributes of your situation? Try amplifying those to see how it affects the negative ones (like feeling stuck or not having enough motivation).

Well with the internet being the way that it is, this idea isn't that hard to do. It's just staying positive with yourself, and your fans is more of the problem with this. With Facebook, Google +, and other social media outlets keeping your friends, family,  or even fans is easier. The main thing is not to have all these people and not keeping everyone up to date with whats going on. The easiest way is to posts all the time, also there are tons of apps available now that makes all this possible.

Plus you can do a lot of this on your cell phone, or smart phones now. Apps like Foursquare, Get Glue, Instagram, and Pinterest to name a few.

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3 Crucial Whys & Hows to Get Out of Your Writing Comfort Zone

3 Crucial Whys & Hows to Get Out of Your Writing Comfort Zone

Written by Cliff Goldmacher

One of the many challenges we songwriters face is that we’re tasked not only with creating something from nothing, but our “somethings” need to be unique – and not only compared to what others have written but also compared to what we’ve written before. This is no small feat, and the moment you think you’ve “figured it out” as a songwriter is exactly when you need to leave your creative safe place and shake things up again. To help you along the way, I’ve listed a few “whys” and “hows” to get you out of your songwriting comfort zone.

The Whys

1. You’ll demonstrate your versatility to music industry decision makers.
By showing you’re not afraid to experiment and explore new musical and lyrical territory and be a bit left of center, you’ll show those in the industry - whether publishers, record label execs or music supervisors - that they can consider you and your music for a wide variety of projects. This can be essential when one area dries up and the industry is looking for something new.

2. You’ll broaden your opportunities for collaboration.
Quite simply, the more styles and approaches that you’re comfortable writing in, the more collaborations you’ll be suited for. The flexibility that you’ll develop by not writing the same style of song in the same way will help you step into a variety of co-writing situations. This concept of new and different collaborators is also a fundamental part of the “how” to leave your songwriting comfort zone.

3. You’ll keep yourself - and the people who listen to your songs - from getting bored.
Songwriting is difficult enough, but heaven help you if your motivation to write starts to fade. By challenging yourself with new songwriting approaches, you’ll stay engaged in the process. And, better yet, your core group of listeners and industry contacts will also stay interested in what you’re doing. It’s just as dangerous to have those folks lose interest due to the sameness of your songs as it is for you to lose your motivation.

The Hows

1. Put down your instrument.
We’re often limited in our songwriting by how well or in what style we play an instrument. Work on the melody (and the lyric) without your trusty guitar or piano, and you’ll be amazed at the new places your songwriting will go.

2. Vary your rhyming approach.
A typical songwriting mistake is to use rhymes that are so predictable that the listener knows exactly how the line will end before you get there. Look for unpredictable rhymes, which not only tell a more unique story but surprise the listener when they arrive. You can also deviate from your normal rhyming patterns and make use of internal rhymes to add an interesting touch both lyrically and vocally. Little variations like these can open up brand new areas in your writing with very little effort.

3. Write with new collaborators.
As I discussed earlier, varied collaborations are an excellent way of keeping your songwriting fresh. Even if your idea is unique, going to the same collaborator over and over will most likely result in a similar sounding song, no matter how new the idea. As much as possible, resist the temptation to fall back on the familiar. There’s also the fabulously motiving element of fear. It’s always a little nerve-wracking to go to a new co-write, but it’s that same nervous energy that creates great art!

It’s almost unfair - after you’ve spent all that time learning your craft and honing your songwriting approach to a fine point - to tell you to change it all up again. However, the benefits mentioned above, which come from stepping outside of your comfort zone, will far outweigh the extra work and mental gymnastics required. As I’m fond of reminding myself (when I’m resisting what I know will be good for me), fortune favors the bold.

Good luck!

Bio
Cliff Goldmacher is a songwriter, producer, session musician, engineer, author and owner of recording studios in Nashville, TN and Sonoma, CA. Cliff’s site, http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com, is full of resources for the aspiring songwriter including monthly online webinars. Go to http://www.educatedsongwriter.com/webinar/ for the latest schedule.

Cliff’s company, http://www.NashvilleStudioLive.com, provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual access to Nashville’s best session musicians and singers for their songwriting demos.

You can download a FREE sample of Cliff’s eBook “The Songwriter’s Guide To Recording Professional Demos” by going to http://www.EducatedSongwriter.com/ebook.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/EducatedSongwriter

Twitter: @edusongwriter

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10 Networking Tips for Musicians and Bands

10 Networking Tips for Musicians and Bands
BY: SIMON TAM |
Networking.

For most musicians, this is something that most know they should do but feel uncomfortable with or don’t know how to approach. However, it’s something that can open the doors to better shows, a record label, a new sponsor, or even more fans. Here are some things I’ve learned over the years about networking:

1. The Value You Bring to Others: Many networking events can feel like a shark tank, with people fighting to get business cards out and meeting the right people. It can often be inherently selfish, people seeing who can help them get what they want. However, networking is about building partnerships, so you can often stand out by finding ways to deliver value to other people, whether that is simply connecting other contacts to one another or helping someone solve their problem. That’s far more effective than finding ways to show off or impress others.

2. Ask Questions: Whether you are connecting in person or through email, the best thing you can do is open up communication by finding out what the other person needs. The better you understand them, the better you can build the relationship. That interaction matters more than the pitch you’ve carefully constructed about yourself.

3. The Pitch: That being said, find a way to accurately describe what you do in an interesting way in 15 seconds or less. This article on pitching your band might help.

4. Be Intentional: Whether it is at an industry event or online, you don’t want to spam everyone about what you do. Instead, identify the people who are most relevant to what you do, what you offer, or what you need. Focus on them. It’s better to have one solid connection than 100 meaningless ones.

5. Stay Alert: This is one of the reasons why I don’t drink; acting tipsy in front of others can be a sign of weakness and lack of self-control. It’s also important to proofread emails before they are sent, both for spelling and grammar as well as content and length. All of these things reflect you and your work.

6. Think Outside the Box: Don’t always focus on record executives or promoters. Sometimes, it’s good to go outside of your industry and just focus on the general needs of your music career as a business. You’ll always need printing (business cards, download cards, posters, etc.), so why not connect with a printer?

7. Make Connections: The best way to meet people is to be the person that connects others. Offer to introduce someone to one of your contacts who can help them. If you’re known as a connector, people will be more willing to connect with you as well as return the favor.

8. Accept Rejection: Sometimes, people are too busy or they are uninterested. Don’t take it personally and don’t fire back some kind of hurtful email. Be careful about leaving bad reviews on sites like Sonicbids, you might be viewed as petty.

9. Get Your Hands Dirty: Remember, the payoff for networking comes when you help others. Offer to donate time or resources, volunteer, offer advice. Some of my strongest connections have come from volunteering for non-profit organizations and meeting contacts who believe in similar causes.

10. Follow Up: Following up is one of the most important parts of building relationships. Emails, text messages, and phone calls are often forgotten about. Everyone can get busy and need a reminder. Other times, it’s just good to check in. Make it a habit to follow up with an important contact every few weeks.

Whether you are heading to a music conference like CMJ or SXSW, or you are trying to connect with others via Linkedin, keep the above 10 tips in mind to help you stand out as a vital member of the community rather than someone who is only pursuing their own interests. Keep your communication short, to the point, and valuable to others!

If you’d like more advice on how to find, develop and win over contacts, check out How to Get Sponsorships and Endorsements.

—————

Simon Tam is the President and Founder of Last Stop Booking, author of How to Get Sponsorships and Endorsements, and performs in dance rock band The Slants. Simon’s writing on music and marketing can be found at www.laststopbooking.com. He is on Twitter @SimonTheTam

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Why Is A Culture Shift Important For Musicians?

Why Is A Culture Shift Important For Musicians?
BY: TOMMY DARKER |
Written by Tommy Darker.

Most artists feel helpless today. This is how I comprehend their crawling around the digital music world. Laws and the status quo have changed radically, the audience’s behaviour and preferences as well. And we cannot change their newly ingrained views. It would be pointless. In my opinion, the digital world has ‘change’ imprinted in its DNA.

I understand that we want to preserve the status quo, because it worked so far. But I think we miss out the opportunity for innovation presented here: to build our own future as independent entities and help a new culture emerge.

They say you cannot break the nose with small punches. You need to punch it vigorously.
That’s what we, as visionary independent artists, need to go for.

I have a plan and I intend to execute it gradually. I will briefly present my mindset here. So, follow along and tell me what you think. I would encourage you to share my views, whether you agree or not, so we can have a diversity of opinions.

Advantage for labels, opportunity for independent artists
Labels have strong cards in the game. Let’s see the ultimate truth for a moment.

Major labels. There are a few major players, with a few artists on board, mainstream following and a lot of strong connections and budget. They are on the left side of the Long Tail, their model is to build short-term hits and milk them till the next one. They know the recipe for a hit and walk on that very same way all the time. Predictability and reverential measurement of metrics are their weapon. If something happens not to work, they dump it. Scaling up is the ultimate goal, after all.

Independent artists. Our main characteristic and advantage: we are a lot, millions. And every single artist has some power and following that is difficult to ignore once combined with others as a group. An ant, as an entity, might be insignificant, but as a group, it can move objects multiple times of its size. In economic figures, our Long Tail part is competitive to the major artists.

Here’s where I see the opportunity. In collective power.

A few major players can change a market, but they cannot change a culture. A million minds can.
Startups showed the way. They showed, in progressive fashion, that an ecosystem around entrepreneurship can change, if there is persistence.

A few years ago nobody could believe that it would be so easy to create your own enterprise. A few visionaries started, persisted and inspired. They got early adopters on board. They kept persisting. And services to accommodate that culture shift soon appeared; because businesses saw an opportunity to make money by offering services to an emerging trend. The same goes for investors.

That trend took a share of people’s minds, who passed it on. Then social proof came, a few successes showed that it’s not impossible to build a profitable business out of a niche idea. And more followed. People started encapsulating and teaching this knowledge. And the culture became stronger. Everybody believes now. Culture shift completed.

The transition didn’t happen because of money or metrics. It happened because of persistence for radical change in the culture. It all started with a few crazy individuals.
None of these guys that founded startups was a businessman before. It was the need to do something bigger than themselves that pushed them towards innovation, creation and then education and knowledge.

Their accomplishment: now millions build healthy businesses out of what they love, by offering real, honest value to the real world.
The same thing can happen for musicians. Startups play with needs, we play with emotions. Needs and culture are extremely important for a healthy human being.

But we are not united. We do not have the same mindset to work as one, towards one direction. This is why a reset in mind is required. Before investing in videos, recordings and networking, we need to learn to invest in knowledge. Re-learning some things is essential for independent musicians to take advantage of their huge power.

Next up: the platform
I’m planning to build a platform to unite performing artists and change our habits. Easy to think, it will take much effort and patience to execute. The platform will not change the culture. We will. The platform will merely be the medium to enable us to see relationships hidden before, encouraging success stories buried in oblivion or revealing opportunities and ground for innovation that people thought was blurry.

PS. Follow my work @TommyDarker.

—-

I’m Tommy Darker, the writing alter ego of an imaginative independent musician. I started ‘Think Beyond The Band’ because I feel proud of what I’ve accomplished so far and I like helping other fellow musicians that struggle with the same problems.

I love starting conversations. If you share the same mindset, find me on Facebook and Twitter and let’s talk!

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Fake it

Dive right into working on your project or problem, pretending (even to yourself) that you know what you're doing. Spend at least 15 minutes faking your progress to see what comes of it. Remember: fake it 'til you make it.

Ok this isn't too much of my forte here, I'm not use to faking anything. But I guess the point is to pretend what you're doing and seeing where you end up. But this not like it is in the movies where someone can come off the street and start pretending to work somewhere. And be able to get away with it. There is a lot of things that can and most likely will go wrong. But if do all this in your mind, or some other way that it affect getting yourself, or anyone else in trouble.

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Music On Tumblr & Their Unique Relationship With SoundCloud

Music On Tumblr & Their Unique Relationship With SoundCloud

By Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

Marissa Meyer has pledged not to screw up Tumblr and to leave it more-or-less autonomous, as part of Yahoo’s bold $1.1 billion acquisition of the company. Her pledge should mean that all the #music on Tumblr will be okay (unlike the porn), which is a good thing for music fans among the 4.8 million people who access Tumblr every day, which means Tumblr has roughly the daily population of Alabama.
The acquisition should help Yahoo attract a more tech-savvy crowd, too, as well as boosting its bottom line as Yahoo inserts “Yahoo Stream Ads” to Tumblr feeds. That includes all the music Tumblrs out there, which take advantage of the platform’s ability to embed music from Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, your hard drive, and the whole web.
So, what is that music, anyway? How do you put it there? Where can you hear it? And is it any good?
You’re on your own for that last one, which is down to personal taste. We can help you out with the rest, though, if you’re sitting there going “Am I really, honestly, doing everything I can to use Tumblr for music and understand the mechanics of what goes on there, music-wise?”

To make your own music Tumblr, just click the Audio button.

For the uninitiated, know this: You can post any recorded song in the world on Tumblr, using third-party services (SoundCloud, Spotify, or YouTube), linking to music elsewhere on the web, or by uploading your own sonic creations (up to 10MB per MP3). Unless you use the last option, you don’t need to worry about copyright, permissions, or any of those niceties, because that’s on the company hosting the file.
As for listening, you can see just about all of the music on Tumblr by working your way through Tumblr’s music tag, which could take years. A much better idea for using Tumblr for music: Find a few Tumblrs that cater to your taste, and follow those (some suggestions below). On the flipside of that coin, it’s also ridiculously easy to use Tumblr to set up own music blog — then just click the Audio option and follow the simple directions.
This approach makes Tumblr’s music selections a smorgasbord (an apt description, given the weird Swedishness of digital music). However, in our anecdotal research, we’ve seen a way higher percentage of SoundCloud jams than we do on Facebook or Twitter, although YouTube and Spotify are also well represented.
As such, we put the question to SoundCloud: Are they seeing a big uptick in Tumblr embeds? In other words, are SoundCloud and Tumblr the relative besties they appear to be?
SoundCloud spokeswoman Kristina Weise told us that one reason for the apparent surge in SoundCloud on Tumblr is that the two companies worked together to replace Tumblr’s custom widget with the standard SoundCloud widget, which happened a couple of months ago, as well as SoundCloud updating its search function in December, making it easier to find the tracks:
The reason you’re seeing more SoundCloud presence on Tumblr is that this past March, Tumblr replaced their custom SoundCloud player with our official widget inside audio posts on the web (mobile + desktop). This gives our creators better attribution, SoundCloud better brand placement inside Tumblr, and a better overall listening experience.
In addition, by updating our search functionality back in December (’12), this has also improved better search results in Tumblr. Sorry to not be more helpful on the numbers side, but did want to acknowledge that we’re working closely with Tumblr and are constantly working with them on ways to improve the audio experience for users on both platforms.
If you’re looking for a quick way to get started with Tumblr and music, by the way, you could do a lot worse than this top ten list.

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YouTube For Musicians: Single Frame Music Videos, Free Analytics, Creator Updates

YouTube For Musicians: Single Frame Music Videos, Free Analytics, Creator Updates

YouTube continues to be a primary tool for many musicians and fans and third parties are here to help out. To create a quick single frame music video, see TunesToTube. Want to track your YouTube action across the web? Try Strike Social. Just need more insights into using YouTube? The Creator Playbook has been updated.

TunesToTube Creates Single Frame Music Videos

YouTube is not only a great way to market your music but, for many musicians, it's becoming a great way to monetize as well. And since making a full music video for every track you with to add to YouTube is probably out of the question, some musicians are creating videos with one image that then serves primarily as an audio player.

TunesToTube (via Musformation) offers a free service to combine an MP3 and an image into a music video that's then posted to your YouTube account.

For those who donate to the site, an upload to SoundCloud option is also available.

Strike Social Offers Free YouTube Analytics

Strike Social is a new YouTube analytics service whose current features are free and should remain that way. According to CEO Patrick McKenna, long-term plans include additional premium features for monetization.

Special features include:

"Strike Score" - One overall score based on "more than 100 data sets across YouTube, Facebook & Twitter."

Engage - Discover and engage with viewers across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Promote - Video advertising to increase viewership.

So the Strike Score gives you a quick overall take while you're also able to get more detailed, for example:

"Publishers can also look at what people are saying about the video, sort those comments based on the size of each commenter’s social media following, and respond to specific remarks from within Strike Social — in particular, McKenna says that the tools are 'more actionable on the Facebook side' than the competition."

YouTube's Creator Hub & Creator Playbook Updated

YouTube recently announced the update of their resources for videomakers, Creator Hub and Creator Playbook.

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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