Jelly Bean Radio is a kid’s show full of stories, songs, games, and adventures. They always guarantee their listeners tons of fun!

Q) Tell us a little bit about your site. What inspired you to start it?

A) We are a site dedicated in having fun, telling stories and playing great kids music. We started the site because Kids type shows were  few and far between.  Shows like Radio Disney which is great focuses on the Older Kids.. We wanted to focus on the kids 0 to 8 years of age. Like the kids we good stories, we like corny jokes and great Kids friendly music.

Q) Why do you believe new media resources (i.e. blogs, podcasts, internet radio stations) have become so popular? How have they been beneficial to artists? How have they been detrimental?

A) I think the new media sources have become so popular because there easy to use. These sources allow people that would not naturally get a chance to feature their music, stories or ideas a place to do that. It is a platform for the artist to grow, make mistakes and shine. It allows the person a chance to try new things that they would not be able to using traditional methods. I dont really see anything detrimental to the artist.
Q) Media 2.0 has changed the way artists communicate with fans. Where do you envision online communication going next? Any thoughts on what Media “3.0” will look like?

A) How it has changed the way artist communicate is a better connect with fans. The fan responds to new projects and this helps fans get excited earlier on up and coming projects. Media 3.0 will probably be more interactive sites and more mobile applications.

Q) What does an artist have to do to get your attention? Are their specific characteristics that you look for?

A) Basically just send my your music, stories, or jokes.  We are looking for all types of music geared for the 0-8 , (kid freindly) We are looking for songs that have a soul, that are fun or have meaning or are educational. We love to dance, laugh, and have good time.

We are at www.blogtalkradio.com/jelly-bean-radio,  Sunday mornings 6am pst and  replay anytime.

No related posts.

Location: S.I.R. – Nashville, TN

You think you’ve got it? This is your chance to find out if you really do! This workshop will engage you, challenge you, and give you the opportunity and tools you need to help you succeed in your career.

Discover the secrets these successful artists have learned from Tom Jackson’s Live Music Methods: Taylor Swift, Jars of Clay, Jordin Sparks, Casting Crowns, Francesca Battistelli, Gloriana, and many of the acts you admire!

Imagine 2 full days of classes and hands-on demonstrations that will make youand your music absolutely memorable!

Plus, you’ll have a chance to perform in front of Tom and other industry pros – gatekeepers who can provide an opportunity for you to be seen and heard. Tom is always looking for top talent to perform at events and on major tours. If you’re good enough andrecognized as a Top Performer you may even get the opportunity to work with:

• a Grammy winning producer,
• first call studio session players, or get
• top of the line audio gear

Book today! – the Bootcamp is limited to 100 artists

Bootcamp Registration $399.00
$299.00 through SEPTEMBER 3rd only!

Plus, additional $50 off when you register 2 or more in your group!

• Special rates for 2 or more apply to band/group members, managers, chaperons, parents
• $25 non-refundable registration cancellation fee before Sept. 23; no refunds after Sept. 23

Related show

• Artist: Ariel Hyatt
• Date: Friday, October 1st 2010 - Saturday, October 2nd 2010
• Time: 10:00am
• City: Ariel Hyatt in Nashville, TN
• Venue: S.I.R.
• Country: United States
• Admission: $399
• Age restrictions: All Ages
• Buy tickets
• Notes: Discover the secrets these successful artists have learned from Tom Jackson’s Live Music Methods: Taylor Swift, Jars of Clay, Jordin Sparks, Casting Crowns, Francesca Battistelli, Gloriana, and many of the acts you admire!
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

No related posts.

What does it look like?  See here.
-  -  -  -  -

WEEK 9-ish:  60 days in, 15 days remaining.  $3,888 raised (39% of the $10,000 goal), $6,112 needed.

Phil Says:

Having been raised in a WASP-ish household, I grew up understanding that social graces matter.  RSVP to invitations.  Never arrive at a party empty-handed (extra points if what you have in your hand is vodka).  A drunk bride is unforgivably tacky.  Don’t overstay your welcome.  Wear clean underwear, in case you get hit by a car, go to the hospital, and the medical community concludes that you’re a filthy slut.  And above all, handle every circumstance, good or bad, with style, satin wit, and grace.

You gotta recognize when people aren’t laughing at your jokes.  You gotta know when you’ve lost the room.  You just gotta be able to see when they’re not interested.  And that’s what I’ve done.  In general, people just aren’t interested in my crowdfunding project.  Besides the 60 sensational, faithful, deeply cherished friends and fans of mine who have supported the project, the rest of my community of fans/friends just don’t care.  Well, maybe they care, but the best I can see is that they’re indifferent.  Indifference speaks.  Caring acts.  Over the past 60 days, over 200,000 people have heard about this project directly from me, whether during podcast and radio interviews, videos they’ve viewed, facebook posts they’ve commented on and liked.  Over 200,000 people are aware of this project, and only 60 have taken action to support it.  That’s a 0.0003% response rate.  Three thousandths of a percent.  There’s no pretty way to paint that; it’s just not happening.  They’re just not interested, so I’m just not trying to push them to be.  Not anymore.  The party has crested, I’ve grabbed my coat, and I’m making the goodbye rounds gracefully.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not quitting the project before the full 75 days have passed.  WASPs don’t quit.  Good lord, WASPs just don’t quit.  Anything.  Quitters never prosper.  Quitters don’t go to Yale.  Quitters lose their country club membership.  And now my grandfather is crying.  Nice.  See how quitting tears families apart.  I’m not quitting, but I have essentially stopped pushing the project to my fans/friends.  No more new videos, no more facebook posts, no more “Please get involved” status messages and tweets.  Once it became clear that they weren’t interested, I started doing this cost/benefit foxtrot in my head, which you also will instinctively do if you’re ever in this situation.  I could see that it would take a massive promo push to have a chance of raising all the money, and I could also see that my fans/friends would become seriously aggravated, and then alienated, if I kept shoving the project at them.  I looked beyond the end of this project, this phase that is one short piece of a very long career still in front of me, and saw that it’s not worth souring their future allegiance for the sake of this present project that is, by all reasonable expectations, going to fail.  I want my community with me for the long haul, and to make that happen I have to let this one go.  So I did.  I have.

Barring some astonishing miracle of hellacious generosity, I will not raise all $10,000 and the Songs About You album will not be made.  That’s cool.  I’m okay with that.  The RocketHub team and I worked our asses off for this and it didn’t work.  Some projects fail.  Sometimes they fail publicly.  I have no problem failing publicly.  I’m content to fail because I love to learn, I love to grow, and I love to share my experience with others so that they can learn too.  Hence this blog.  There are still 15 days left in the countdown, and still a couple more entires to come in this series, in which I’m going to genuinely enjoy gathering up the good that has come from this journey and gratefully proclaim that nothing is ever a complete loss.  I’ll take warm delight in being that well-heeled gentleman who departs right on time and thanks the host on his way out the door.

We musicians can take a page from the WASP handbook.  We can handle every circumstance, good or bad, with style, satin wit, and, above all else, grace.

Phil

Brian Says:

One of the fun things about Crowdfunding a music project on RocketHub is that it allows you to gauge project demand, test the market without risk and tweak accordingly.

Phil has a very high-concept album project framed around co-writing songs about his fans.  So far the demand has been good, but not overwhelming for this particular project and this is valuable information to have.  To gauge and test without risk, the funding method is “all or nothing” so if Phil is unable to raise the goal amount within the selected time limit, the project is scrubbed and contributed funds are credited back to Fuelers. This protects his fans from getting a sub-standard product – and protects Phil from having to make something when the demand (and funding) is not in place.

To be clear, Phil has had a high number of people contribute to his project  - over 60 so far.  Phil has also managed to raise close to $4,000.  These are solid numbers for any musician.  Plus Phil still has two weeks to raise roughly $6000 – which is also not impossible.  The bigger picture happening here is that Phil is getting valuable feedback from his network regarding this project – and this feedback will serve him well regardless of the campaign outcome.  This makes Phil a winner for taking the plunge and putting his emotions on the line.

Brian

Related Articles:

• The In-Crowd: Week 3 – Heart
• The In-Crowd: Week 1 – Launched!
• The In-Crowd: Week 5 – It Must Be Time to Change

The Marveloddities is a blog about whatever comes to mind. This blog features an indie  artist every   week. They think independent musicians are pretty impressive, since they continue to work their hearts out without making a lot of money.  It’s something to be admired.

Q) Tell us a little bit about your site. What inspired you to start it?

A) The Marveloddities is a blog about nothing and everything.  We usually write about whatever comes to mind from the perspective of a teenager, most of which is unimportant in the big picture, but a big deal to us since we still live in the little picture. I was inspired to start it because I was really impressed with the quality of blogs nowadays.  A few years ago Blogger was dominated by emo teenagers who wrote about the hell they suffered through in school, their crush, how no one understood them, etc.  (We’re probably just as obnoxious, but not as depressed.)  There are a lot of blogs now which are really really good.  Some of them are devoted to a particular subject, and others can read like a journal but still make you laugh.

Last year, I decided that I could probably start my own.  I enlisted my friend, Josette, and my sister Sofia, and now we all contribute to our blog.

Q) Why do you believe new media resources (i.e. blogs, podcasts, internet radio stations) have become so popular? How have they been beneficial to artists? How have they been detrimental?

A) I think new media resources have become popular for several reasons.  Most of the people who are on the internet right now are teens, and almost all of them will continue to spend the vast majority of their time on the internet.  I think multi tasking comes into play here.  While you’re researching for your history report/stalking your friends on facebook, you might as well tell everyone about your day on your blog, listen to your Pandora, and then check out new artists while you’re at it.

The internet makes everything more accessible, faster.  Why go to a record store to discover new artists if you can find them at home?  Why buy a CD, why even own a radio, if you can download any song, any album and listen to it on your laptop or iPod?

It’s easier now for artists to market their music to reach out to new audiences.  Everyone is connected, so exposure is much more attainable.
It’s been detrimental for artists, since they may not make as much on their music as they would have before.  Also, the music industry is not as exclusive as it used to be, because everyone with a computer can market their music.  This has its pros and cons, the positive being that it’s easier to get your music out there, as I mentioned before, the negative side being that for the same reason, it is harder to be picked out of the growing crowd of musicians.

However, I do think that the internet has aided musicians more than it has hurt them, and in the long run, it’s one of the best tools an artist can have.

Q) Media 2.0 has changed the way artists communicate with fans. Where do you envision online communication going next? Any thoughts on what Media “3.0” will look like?

A) I’m pretty sure that holograms will the next big thing in online communication.  (Just kidding, but that would be a cool way to watch a concert you couldn’t go to.)  Really, I’m pretty bad at making predictions.  When I was ten, I thought that by now I would have written a noble prize winning book, or that I’d at least have a boyfriend.  I have neither Nobel nor significant other.

Obviously, we’re going to see more social networking sites.  I’m surprised that Twitter has not only lasted this long, but is growing so quickly.  I believe we’ll see similar methods of communication in the near future.  Also, several few artists have started blogging seriously.  I see this becoming more popular, because fans really want to feel like they have a “bond” with artists, and blogging gives them that connection.

Last year, 30 Seconds to Mars had their fans sing on their record, as well as grace the covers of their albums.  Other than giving the band a lot of publicity, it changed the relationship they had with their fans.  They weren’t just the people who bought their CD’s; they were a part of their music.  Whether you like 30 Seconds to Mars or not, it was a bold, impressive, and ultimately successful move.  I’d like to see what would happen if more musicians would have their fans become similarly involved in their music.

The internet isn’t used to its full potential yet.  And while I only have some vague ideas of where it might be in the future, once the internet is spread to other parts of the world, taking music along with it, interesting things can happen…

Q) What does an artist have to do to get your attention? Are their specific characteristics that you look for?

A) If a song has me hooked before the chorus, then I’m pretty impressed.  Lyrics are very very important to me, and if they’re well written, then that artist has my eternal devotion.

Secretly (not anymore, I guess), I find myself attracted to lo-fi production. I like grungy, raw, sounds.  (Of course, I appreciate great production, and I think a good producer should be on the top of any aspiring musician’s list.)  I’m thinking the White Stripes, or the Velvet Underground.  It’s just a personal taste, like preferring Swiss instead of cheddar on your sandwich.  It makes you happy when you have it, but it’s not like your going to scream it out to the world or throw a fit if it’s not what you get.

Q) What do you ultimately hope to accomplish with your site?

A) Besides the obvious, (grow readership, post more, etc.) I’d like to expose my readers to new music, and show that young people can be thoughtful and idealistic. Proving wrong all them mean girls from my grade school days who said I wouldn’t amount to anything would be nice too.  But I’ll stick with the thoughtful idealism, the obvious, (grow readership, post more, etc.) I’d like to expose my readers to new music, and show that young people can be thoughtful and idealistic. Proving wrong all them mean girls from my grade school days who said I wouldn’t amount to anything would be nice too.  But I’ll stick with the thoughtful idealism.

No related posts.

What is crowdfunding?  Find out here.

What does it look like?  See here.
-  -  -  -  -

WEEK 7:

44 days in, 31 days remaining.  $3,753 raised (38% of the $10,000 goal), $6,247 needed.

Phil Says:

Songs About You is at a point that has felt far off and surreal up until this moment: there’s one month left until the deadline.  This snuck up on me, mostly because I’ve been thinking of the timeline in thirds and I know that the middle third always feels the longest and most difficult.  Well, it was difficult, but it just flew right by and now I’m on the precipice of the last leg of the journey.  I’ll be honest, there is a sense of relief due to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  This experience has worn on me more than I anticipated, in ways I didn’t imagine it would.  The relief isn’t the lone sentiment in my heart, though.  I’m excited by the possibility that this could still work, that all the money could be raised.  It feels like a long shot, but it’s still in the realm of reality.

The tough part at this point is coming up with new strategies to share the story with people and motivate them to get involved.  They’ve all heard it before, they’ve decided whether or not to get involved and whether or not to tell their friends about it, and I’m having a hard time coming up with new ways to share old news.  I honestly think that, at this point, the ball is in their court.  They’re either going to jump in or they’re not.  I don’t know how much I can be a part of that decision process anymore.  Pushing people I truly care about to say yes to something that they’ve already said no to is a bad fit for me.  It’s not who I am.  Still, the marketing/never-give-up part of me is keeping me in the game, pushing me to rethink, restate, resent.  Well, maybe not resent.  At least not yet.    But that’s what the gift giving feature that I added (see last week’s blog post for details) is about.  I found a way to be myself in this process, and it took a lot of friction out of it for me.

I’m not yet sure of the approach I’m going to take to the next 30 days, which are the last 30 days, but I’ll have it worked out this week.  I know I’m going to make a new project video, and I’m going to ask those who are involved in the project to post it on facebook and share it with their friends.  Of course I’m going to keep giving the special gifts to those who are involved.  Beyond that, I don’t know.  The Cover Song Voting thing has lots its wind, and it just feels like people aren’t listening anymore.  There’s a very stark contrast between those who are involved, who are so effusive and graceful in their encouragement, and those who are not involved, who seem like the truly don’t care whether I make another album or not.  The ones involved are dear to me, and the relationships that have grown with them are without question the best part of this journey.  The ones who are not involved are good people, I’m sure, but they’re definitely not ones to base a career on.

This takes me back to a statement I’ve made many times in my life: You worry about the people you have, and not about the people you don’t.  Yes, that is the absolute opposite of what marketing is about.  However, it’s the absolute truth of what I’m about, and no matter how this process finishes, I’m really looking forward to getting back to being myself.

Phil

This week’s RocketHub-ber post is from co-founder Vlad Vukicevic

Vlad Says:

A powerful tool that Phil has at his disposal is the deadline. The all-or-nothing nature of his crowdfunding campaign makes the deadline a very powerful motivator. If Phil doesn’t get to 100% – he gets no money. This high-stakes urgency needs to be clearly conveyed. This is where the fans begin to take ownership. This is where Phil rises to the occasion and makes the deadline into a crucial ally.

Vlad

Related Articles:

• The In-Crowd: Week 1 – Launched!
• The In-Crowd: Week 3 – Heart
• The In-Crowd: Week 5 – It Must Be Time to Change

Him: Really?

Me: Yes

Him: You know one thing I have noticed about Social Media and marketing…

Me: What is that?

Him: I noticed that you don’t really have to be a great artist or well respected by your musician peers to succeed now a days – you just have to be really good at marketing and you get more success than you ever would have in the past.

Well, he’s right. I’m not saying that his point is fair and he only voiced what 99% of most musicians only think: That guy’s music really sucks but he got good at being pushy on Facebook and so he gets more people to his gigs than me, and he sells more than me.

Really? Is that what you think?

What I would say is: It doesn’t matter if you think that musician sucks. The POINT is that artist managed to identify and relate to enough people who think his music is great and his fans reward his efforts. So, stop judging others and worry about how to make a difference for yourself.

Why?  Because there are 500,000,000 people on Facebook to connect with.

And anyone can connect with a few hundred people, forge great relationships and then market music that those fans who want it and like it. Simple.

What is NOT simple is getting your judgments about yourself and other artists out of the way and just diving in.

So here I am to debunk a few of your (ahem) resistances and the aforementioned one is #1 on the list of….

Top Seven Reasons Why Artists Strongly Resist Social Media

#1: I don’t want to be pushy and over-hypey, like all those other artists that I hate. (or “I hate the way he markets and I don’t want to market like him!”)

OK – so talking about yourself is icky.  But having people love your music is wonderful. So my advice is: when you use Social Media, take the spotlight off of YOURSELFF and shine it on OTHERS (the people in your community/ fans / friends).

Share things that feel mundane. Don’t even think of marketing yourself or your music for a few months until you get the hang of it; and then after you do, use it to gently lead people to your newsletter sign-up, your website, and to help yourself with Google rankings.

Keep this in mind: 78% of people trust peer recommendations (i.e. the “Like” button on Facebook) for products and services that they BUY.  Only 14% trust TV/radio/print advertising (source: Socialnomics). You need to be one of the artists that peers are recommending.

#2. Promoting my music on Social Media won’t put any money in my pocket I’ve tried it and it just creates more work for me.

Here is what is true: Social media most probably won’t directly put money in your pocket in the short term. But when used in concert with traditional marketing and as part of a plan it can be integral in re-enforcing relationships between you and your fans which will down the line lead them to a point of purchase.

In a recent Top Spin training class I learned that being Googlicious (your Google rankings) and your email newsletter list are two vital components to putting money in your pocket and social media can help you strengthen both.

#3 Social Media and Marketing takes too much time.

I only want to be “an artist” rehearsing and playing.

OK, I never said that this was fair. Being successful does and will take hard work and it always has.  These are a personal questions:  What is your definition of success? How much time are you willing to commit to learning new skills and mastering new tools?

If the answer is “none – I just want to play,” than that that’s OK.

Derek Sivers recently wrote a moving piece (http://sivers.org/starving-artist) about this and the comments are very telling (maybe making music for profit isn’t for you)

“Stop expecting it to be valuable to others. Accept it as personal and precious to only you. Get your money elsewhere.”

Wanna Keep Going?  Good!  Read on:

I remember attending a seminar called the “World’s Greatest Marketing Seminar” which was designed to help entrepreneurs market their companies and one of the most successful ones stood up on stage and delivered some horrible news:

To be successful, 70% of your time should be spent on your marketing and sales and 30% working on your business…

There was a collective gasp in the audience.

(Yes this means that as artists you still must balance the creation of music BUT you better spend a lot more time on the marketing side)

#4. “Social” Media isn’t “real” media – or – Social media has no real impact on the “real” world.

Citizen journalists (bloggers, podcasters, Internet Radio stations and people with large followings on Social Media sites) are the new influencers.  Take a good long look at traditional media these days: approx once every minute, TV news broadcasts tell you to go to their Twitter and Facebook pages.  Many of them have a permanent graphic on the screen with Facebook and Twitter feeds (think CNN or Fox).  The “real” media is constantly telling viewers to go to social media and contribute.  And note: There are over 200 Million blogs online.  One or two of them may just want to write about you J

#5. Social media is just for young people – I’m not in “that” generation.

Think Again: The average age of a twitter user is 39.  The fastest growing demo on Facebook is 55-65 year old women.  Why?  Because grandma is signing up to look at photos of little Johnny and then realizing that all of her friends and family are actively engaged and … that’s FUN!

#6. Status Updates on Facebook and Twitter Tweets are stupid. Who CARES about what everyone is DOING ALL OF THE TIME???

Many artists only feel that social networking sites are made for promotional use.

And when we all came to the party with the first ever social network – MySpace – that was indeed the case. In fact the GOAL was: Hype, hype, hype. Promote. And add, add, add as many friends as possible. Rack up the plays by any means necessary. Or you wouldn’t get that club to pay attention to you or that record label to sign you!

There were no personal thoughts or “status updates” in the mix whatsoever.

Therefore, a lot of artists become deathly afraid of Twitter and Facebook status updates because they don’t feel that people want to know their random or personal thoughts.

Since Twitter counteracts that and is more of a community-building tool than a promotional tool, it confuses them on what they are supposed to be doing or saying on it.

Get everyone in your group involved! Maybe one person flourishes on Twitter but doesn’t understand Facebook. Then let them put 100% of their energy into that social networking site alone. You will see when someone is actually doing something they understand you will get the best return on your investment on that site.

#7 I’m not a social person / I don’t want my fans to see my personal life.

If you really are not a social person, Social Media is ideal for you because you’re at a computer screen, not in front of a live human!

You can decide when and how to respond to someone, have time to think about what to say, who to say it to, without the pressure of someone sitting in front of you expecting a response in the moment.

And only show what you want to show – not EVERYTHING is personal – movies you like, books you read, how about talking about other artists you love and respect? There’s a few to start with.

If you want my help in getting over all of these resistances come join My Music Success in Nine Weeks Blogging Challenge

Thanks to Phil (@PhilPutnamMusic) and Christina (@CyberPRUrban) for the help on this post!

Related Articles:

• Social Media & Online Marketing For Musicians
• Social Media Shortcuts
• Recap of Ariel Hyatt’s Music and Social Media Panel at ASCAP EXPO