Artist Development, Music Marketing, Band Promotion, Music Success Tips, and Music Biz BS for those who give a damn.
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Wow! Right along the line of what the MusicBizNinja was babbling about (I think), comes a great article by Vinny Ribas at Indie Connect Magazine.  He points out that opportunities for indie artists have never been greater. There have never been so many options to pursue, avenues to follow, methods to use, and results to achieve.  The article touches on:

  • Labels control careers. As an indie, you have total control over your career.
  • There are no unreasonable limitations
  • There are more income opportunities from recording music
  • There are numerous income streams from songwriting
  • You have unlimited co-writing opportunities
  • Your global reach is unprecedented
  • More venues are used to artists booking themselves
  • It can be inexpensive to record songs, an EP or a CD
  • You have direct access to talent buyers worldwide
  • You have access to amazing marketing tools
  • Indie music is accepted as an alternative to major label music
  • You can start your own record label
  • You have the ability to organize and mobilize a team
  • You can manage your fan base in ways unheard of just 5 years ago
  • ‘Trade secrets’ about the music industry are now common knowledge
  • ou have access to experts and expert advice on every aspect of the industry
  • You can control your radio promotion
  • You are control of your business. You are the CEO
  • You control your merchandise and merchandise sales
  • Being a musician is quickly becoming a more legitimate career path

Each of these topics are broken down in more detail.  Read the original article at http://indieconnectmagazine.com/taking-advantage-of-the-benefits-of-being-an-indie-artist/

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Portions reprinted from Bob Baker’s Indie Music Promotion Blog

Yep, I like this post from Bob Baker. One of the best in quite  awhile!

Bob claims, “To be effective in today’s noisy world, you can’t be lazy when it comes to marketing your music. You have to stretch your thinking and your methods. You must break old paradigms and shatter trusted formulas.  You must become a marketing ninja!”

He goes on to point out 3 ways to do this are to:

  1. Reconsider all of your marketing tactics.
  2. Think in terms of opposites.
  3. Redefine your small-scale, independent status.

Tips adapted from Bob’s book, Guerrilla Music Marketing, Encore Edition.

For an in depth explanation, read the entire article at http://music-promotion-blog.blogspot.com/2010/09/3-ways-to-become-music-marketing-ninja.html


Bob Baker is the author of “Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook,” “Unleash the Artist Within” and “Branding Yourself Online.” He also publishes TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site, blog and e-zine that deliver free music marketing tips and self-promotion ideas to musicians of all kinds. Visit TheBuzzFactor.com for more details.


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gama bomb.jpgBack in November 2009 I published Music As A Marketing Tool, regarding Earache Records teaming with Rapidshare to release the Gama Bomb album, Tales From The Grave In Space, as a free download. I followed up in January 2010 with Tales From The Grave In Space, which covered the release of the physical product. This third installment touches on the success of the campaign. Here’s an excerpt from the Gama Bomb Blog:

By the way, when my band released their third album for free last year, we managed to sell an equal number of physical CDs as we did the prior album when it finally hit shelves. Not a spectacular result, but an interesting one.
More importantly, we’ve seen a groundswell in our fanbase and now get paid more for playing gigs and sell more merchandise than before. On the balance I think we won out, because we gave people what they wanted; a quality album and a bit of credit.

This is actually part of an open letter directed toward U2 manager, Paul McGuinness. Please read the entire letter at http://gamabomb.blogspot.com/2010/08/open-letter-to-and-about-paul.html

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Unsigned Acts and Drawing Fans

A Commentary, by Professor Pooch

(C) 2008-2010 David J. Spangenberg

Part 3
Now, “Promotion” is the most obvious step that comes next in most people’s minds.  Artists promoting themselves, telling their fans and potential fans that they’re playing at this venue or that venue.

But my question to you is, “What is it you’re actually promoting?” That is, when you’re promoting yourself, what will be your potential fans perception of what you’re promoting?  Will you just be one more “amateur artist” playing somewhere?
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Music marketer and Gen-Y Rock Stars founder, Greg Rollett has posted a cool article on MicControl.com suggesting a 6 figure indie musician salary is not that far from reality.  He calculates the following:

  • 10,000 CD’s at $10 a piece = $100,000
  • 5,000 T-shirt and CD combos at $20 = $100,000
  • 2,000 high end packages at $50 = $100,000
  • 833 members in a $10/mo fan club = $100,000
  • 200 shows that gross you $500 = $100,000

Follow the link below for more details.

Shared via How To Make 6 Figures In The Next Year Selling Music School | MicControl.com | MicControl (Beta).

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“Power to the People” began as a political slogan in the 1960s. Used by the younger generation, it was a form of rebellion directed against the older generation, those in charge – The Establishment! As often it happens, history does repeat itself. We are once again experiencing a rebellion. This time around, those sticking it to the man are the music fans. The establishment they are rebelling against – The Recording Industry!

Make no mistake, the fans are in control. What started over 10 years ago with Shawn Fanning’s ill fated Napster, has become one of the largest and most successful grass roots movements in known history. Peer to peer file sharing (deemed piracy by the powers that be) continues to be a thorn in the side of major record label executives. In fact, it has all but brought the industry to its knees. Call it what you will, but the revolution is upon us and the recording industry as we know it will forever change.
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We’ve all come to associate web design with painful, expensive, and – if we’re honest – pretty ungratifying experiences.

It’s different now.

This video on musician web design shows how you can set up your music website in 10 – 15 minutes with WordPress. It’s not complicated, it’s not technical, and it’s 100% free (apart from web hosting, obviously).

Sure, there’s still SOME times when you’ll want to pay a developer to do it for you. SOME things are tricky. But for most of us, we can get exactly what we need – a good looking site that tells our fans, friends, and all in sundry really, who we are and what we’re about, and they can grab a listen to our music. FREE. In a few minutes.

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There’s a lot of buzz floating around about NuMuBu!  The creators claim, “NuMuBu empowers the individuals and businesses that make up our industry by providing them with the tools and the network to succeed.”  I visited the today and created an account under ‘Artist Development’.  There are way too many features to list here, but the NuMuBu Intro Video outlines the site pretty well.  Check it out and let me know…

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By The MusicBizNinja

We’re always preaching direct to fan – bands building relationships with their fans.  Shouldn’t that work the same way if a music biz pro seeks to gain a musician’s business?  Let’s say you want to sell that musician on an artist development package.  Do you just build a website, place the product on a page for a set amount of $$$, run an ad campaign and hope for the best?  I think not!

You need to make it a lot more personal these days.  Maybe create an artist development blog tied into some outlying social networks, update frequently with music success tips or excerpts from your program.  But do it in a way that shows you sincerely care about that musician’s career, not from a sales standpoint!

Once you build value and trust, you make the sale.  That’s what I think, anyway.

About the author
The MusicBizNinja lurks in the shadows of the the Music Biz. Watching, waiting – Striking out against the old guard whenever the opportunity arises!

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VIDEO IS THE NEW AUDIO by Jay Warsinske, INDIEPOWER.com

Two of the MOST IMPORTANT aspects of a breaking a NEW ARTIST is their VISUALS (music videos, EPK, graphic designs, logo) and their LIVE SHOW!  VIDEO is the new TOOL, along with a dynamic performance in creating IMPACT in a cluttered & competitive marketplace! It’s the Artist or Group’s ‘personality’ that has a chance to cause a ‘reaction’ through a good video and the live show.
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