Ariel Publicity

My phone rang last week and it was Tom Silverman from Tommy Boy calling to discuss my panel for his upcoming Chicago New Music Seminar. Tom was half amused and half disgusted. “Have you seen Billboard this week?” He asked. Since Billboard is a publication I largely ignore, I fessed up: “No. Why?” “You have to see this article,” he said. “It’s the most ridiculous thing ever.”

In a few moments, I was reading it and I was laughing out loud.

Here are a few excerpts: From the September 26 edition of Billboard:

BILLBOARD’S 2009 MAXIMUM EXPOSURE LIST

“Today the ways artists can promote their music have proliferated so rapidly that it can be hard to keep up with what’s new — what’s actually cutting through the clutter. It’s in this context that Billboard decided to geek out with 25 promotions and publicity experts across genres and mediums to create the ultimate multimedia metric: Our first Maximum Exposure List.”

I sampled a few random ones from the 2009 list to give you a sense and the whole 2008 list can be found here:

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1: Pick A Niche And Dominate It

There are no ultimate 100 Indie Maximum Exposure vehicles for one simple reason. Indie artists must break from a niche. That niche must be well delineated and can be very, very small and still be effective. The mistake most artists make is making a pop record that does not have a niche to break out of.

The adage, think globally act locally can be re-stated think mainstream, act niche. The newer your niche, the greater your chance of becoming identified with it. Almost every Tommy Boy superstar broke out of a niche they dominated if they did not invent. Examples: De La Soul: hip hop hippies, House of Pain – Irish hip hop, Queen Latifah: first proud and powerful African American woman in hip hop, Ru Paul, first drag queen with dance hit, and so on.

So whatever you genre, sub-genre or micro niche there will usually be media that dominates that view of reality. If you are a militant political artist, you would launch in the niche militant political blogs and magazines to establish a beach head. If you a rapper that rapped about uzis and AK’s maybe your entry would be blogs and mags about guns and ammo. David Hazan mentioned a band that was way into Anime and they get written up in the Anime blogs and make a living playing the Anime shows. Will they be able to cross to mainstream? Maybe not but they can be the lords of their niche and make a good living doing that.

So rather than being specific, I would point to blogs and mags in your micro-niche that might not even be music-oriented. You may be more news to a non-music site and reach a core audience that way than trying to get Pitchfork to discover you. There are also opportunities to perform at industry shows in non music industry events and get paid much better than you would in the glutted music market.

In other words make your presentation and target audience as unique as possible so you can be the king of that niche, then target the non-music publications (both on line and off) and the events in that niche. You will be building fans, gaining awareness and making money before you even attempt to cross into the “music industry.”
- Tom Silverman

2: Understand You Are in Two Related Industries

You are a songwriter/recording artist and need to record and release compelling music regularly (without fail). 2) You are an entertainer / performer. Your show MUST COMPEL those in the audience (no matter how few) to come to the next show with all their friends. On stage you are an actor. Your character may be yourself. But the character usually needs to be an amplified version of your normal self. Alternately, create characters.
- Rob Gordon

3: Lead A Scene

Position yourself as a leader. Put something together that doesn’t exist and get others involved.
- Derek Sivers

4: Look at What Differentiates You – Shove Yourself Into A Niche

Music fans aren’t found on sites for music fans. I’m inspired by certain things- technology, animals, politics, sci-fi/ fantasy – and so is every other artist. Whatever I’m writing about, there’s a community based around that topic. Instead of going after generic “music fan” crowds, I chose to focus on specific niches that share MY interests. Since I’m into podcasting and new media stuff, my music has been resonating particularly well with the geek crowd. That is where I focus my efforts. I’m also a big sci-fi/ fantasy nerd as well, so I hit conventions and gatherings of that nature. Not only is my music relevant to them, I can relate to them on a personal level.
- Matthew Ebel

Create a story that you can pitch to media outlets that don’t specialize in music. (You will have to figure this one out yourself).
- Tom Silverman

5: Be A Contrarian

Whatever other artists are doing in recording, performance and marketing…do the opposite.
- Tom Silverman

6: Build Your Network By Helping Others

Amber Rubarth is a 26-year-old singer/songwriter from Reno, who only started playing music five years ago, is now making a full-time living touring. She interned with a booking agent, to understand what’s she would need to do to get herself on the road. She was helpful to the agency and they in turn booked her as an opener for some high profile acts which helped launch her career.
- Derek Sivers

7: Have Professionalism!

No matter what level of “success” an artist is at, if he or she has invested time into refining and defining who they are and how they want to present their art to the world, that gets my attention. I discover just as many independent artists today as I do artists who have had extra help getting to where they are. What keeps my attention is, first and foremost, music that grabs my ear, but then the quality of the whole effort, which for me includes an artist website, not just a MySpace page, and the extent to which they have their ducks in a row, which now must start with an electronic press kit with high-res photos! I can’t tell you how many times I was able to run something in my magazine on an artist at the last minute, but a search online for a quality photo was not to be found and so they lost the opportunity.
- Erik Philbrook

8: Create Human Connection & Get In Community

Nothing beats face-to-face networking. And nothing beats a friendly a friendly email or a phone call from someone who knows I am a busy person but who nevertheless wants something from me, and can ask for it in a clear, casual and, yes, compassionate way.
- Erik Philbrook

An artist alone is in trouble – an artist in a community of artists has a chance. If you approach people you meet be they musicians or music business people with an attitude of “how can I help us” rather than “what can you do for me?” you will get much farther much faster.
- Rick Goetz

9: Set Goals & Have a Plan

Create a plan for three months, for six months, for twelve months, and for your entire career (your biggest dreams). Set goals for each phase of your plan. Add dates and measurable action steps that you will be taking to get results during each phase.
http://tinyurl.com/arielgoals
- Ariel Hyatt

10: Have a Killer Pitch

Hone your pitch so you know how to talk to anyone at anytime about who you are and what you sound like. Use this website to help you with your pitch:
http://www.15secondpitch.com
http://tinyurl.com/arielpitch
- Ariel Hyatt

11: Don’t Suck

No amount of marketing can make up for a total lack of talent- this is why people don’t want to spend $20 on major label CD’s anymore. 25 years of piano and a music degree doesn’t guarantee I’ll be a success, but it gives me one hell of an advantage. I try to keep myself sharp and never assume I’m good enough. Even long-time pro baseball players go through spring training every year. If nothing else, I find that surrounding myself with talent raises the bar for my own ambitions. I listen to Ben Folds to inspire my production and piano abilities, I follow people like Ariel Hyatt and Amanda Palmer to improve my outreach, I keep a steady stream of Pat Monahan on my Pandora list to hear what kick ass vocals sound like. I always want to be on my toes.
- Matthew Ebel

12: Don’t Measure Yourself Monetarily

The key seems to be not to measure your indie music success by monetary standards and increased sales… I can’t measure mine that way at all… I don’t have anything for sale (yet)…. The key is asking yourself: How do these tools move you forward toward bigger things happening in your career?
- Jennie Walker

13: Sometimes It’s Better To Think Small

There’s more to life than ABC and the CW. 95% of paid Synch license placements happen beyond primetime network programming, so cast your line in the ocean rather than a puddle. (NOTE: Viacom pays zilch for music placements, which is pure evil since that includes MTV and VH1. It’s amazing exposure to get placed on Real World or MADE, but there’s no paycheck.)
- Phil Putnam

14: Treat Fellow Artists As Colleagues Rather Than Competition

I’ve seen this positive, collaborative attitude pay off handsomely. A while back, I started filming artist-on-artist interviews and have met with everyone from Girl in a Coma, Amanda Palmer, Late of the Pier, The Raveonettes, Semiprecious Weapons, Aqualung, Roxy Epoxy, and 20+ more so far this year. My videos were later licensed by Viacom and played on the LOGO channel. I just posted a Raveonettes interview on my You Tube channel to honor their new album release. It was played on MTV and I got a personal thank you from them. Since I’m writing a solo album now, I’m really cherishing all the fellow artists I’ve treated as my colleagues rather than my competition. Create colleagues and community rather than cattiness and competition.
- Derek Nicoletto

15: Keep Good Company

Surround yourself both personally and professionally with people who will be straight with you. It is easy to loose the forest for the trees as an artist. You need people around you who you can trust and tell you when something you are doing isn’t working.
- Rick Goetz

16: Have Humility

It’s great that you have made this jump into the music business as if there is a net to catch you (especially when most of us are uncertain if this net will ever appear) that said – admitting what you don’t know and identifying the things you aren’t good at will make you make the right decisions in your art and your business
- Rick Goetz

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17: Stop the Musical Masturbation

I wasted so much time playing open mics and writer’s nights in Nashville and Boston. The same is true of all the “hot new music sites” that spring up every 20 minutes on the Internet. The fans do not go there, you’re only entertaining yourself. Every open mic I’ve ever seen is a room full of musicians politely waiting for their turn to get on stage. These events only introduce musicians to other musicians and offer some live performance practice. Trying to sell CD’s at an open mic is like trying to sell timeshare condos at a telemarketing convention. Fans go to Facebook or iTunes, not Stereofame. I could waste all my time playing for a crowd of other broke indie artists or I can spend my efforts approaching fans where they’re already congregating.
- Matthew Ebel

18: Get Personal

I imagine this advice won’t apply to “concept bands” that have a specific theatrical act or image, but getting personal with my fans is what keeps me alive. Good music is barely enough to get fans to hand out 99¢ anymore; they have to be emotionally invested in the artist if that artist wants their loyalty. Don’t get me wrong, there can still be a “fourth wall” during a live concert or video, but real, meaningful connection with the fans is what keeps me in their heads after the show’s over (heck, even your “character” can interact with fans in-character). I chat with my fans via Twitter, Facebook, matthewebel.com and matthewebel.net, and as many other channels as possible. The more I interact with them between performances, the more I stay fresh in their minds and the more inspiration I draw from them.
- Matthew Ebel

19. Hand Out A Business Card

I made a card with a little album art, a website address and email – nothing more – and handed it out to anyone who asked what I did, or who even smiled at me at my gigs. The result? Well, even a long-time friend emailed me to say he was embarrassed to admit he’d never bothered to listen to me before, but after pulling my card out of his pocket and going to the website, he just bought all three of my CDs. He brought two friends to my last gig.
- Dudley Saunders

20: Don’t Just Give it Away…. Get Their Email Addresses

Trade your content for an email address. Many fans aren’t willing to pay for your music. That’s okay. But get SOMETHING for it. An email is next best. Artists who exchange email address and permission to market for a song download grow their mailing list 600% faster than those who do not. ReverbNation has offered this feature (as simple as checking a box on a song you upload) for almost 2 years and it works.
- Jed Carlson

21: Consistently Give Out New Material

Since I started posting either new videos or new songs every month, the open-rate on my emails has gone up drastically. And I’m getting emails from the friends of friends who have forwarded them on. I’ve been asked to do two high-profile benefits in the last month, one from someone who had never even heard of me before.
- Dudley Saunders

22: Create Strategic Commercial Endorsement or Alignments

I’m not talking about eating a Whopper on stage and singing the Burger King jingle at every show. But… almost. I am talking about finding companies that you have passion for and a connection to and finding ways to help each other. Almost every company can benefit from the coolness factor that comes from Music and almost all music can benefit from the money that corporate America spends. But more than that if you find alliances with integrity you can in good conscience introduce your fans to theirs and vice versa. Merging communities. Our example of this is Templeton Rye Whiskey http://www.templetonrye.com . We wrote a song called Templeton Rye about a prohibition era bootleg whiskey. A few years later someone launched the brand. We worked together to find ways to help each other. They use our song, we drink their whiskey, they talk about us in the press, and we talk about them in the press. We play events for them, and they pay us money. They have a huge fan base. This is a brand that and we are intricately woven into and we are proud to represent. I think you can benefit from this type of relationship in many different kinds of companies or entities. It doesn’t have to be a big corporation. If you have like tattoos, and you have an artist you like, talk to them about working together. Go to tattoo shows with them, give them music, invite them to your shows, etc. Pretty soon, their fans are your fans and visa versa.
- Jason Walsmith / The Nadas

23: Interview Your Fans – Find Out What They Want

When I began asking them specific questions about who they were and what they responded to in my music, I noticed that lightly-engaged fans began to turn into evangelical fans. Plus, I began to see what actually made them care about my work – which was not at all what I was putting in my press releases.
- Dudley Saunders

24: Stay In Touch With The Local Media In Your Home Town.

Sandra Okamoto, a writer at local paper for 3 decades who has been following her career at Columbus Ledger Enquirer (Georgia), will write large feature article on album release and get prominent placement on cover of Sunday Lifestyle insert.
- Jennie Walker

25: Create Relationships With All Types of Media Makers

Learn the difference between persistence and insistence. Insistence is trying to jam a square peg in a round hole (like badgering a music supervisor for Mad Men to put your hip-hop track on the show – it doesn’t fit, so stop it). Polite, informed, persistence lets the gatekeepers know you think you are worth placement in their shows, but have a respect for their busy and pressure-laden jobs. If you are submitting to a show, make sure you’ve seen it! Make sure you heard the radio program to see if your music fits.
- Derek Nicoletto

26: Do EVERY Piece of Press Available

Screw Rolling Stone/Blender/Wired. Unless you’re a Top 40 household name, you haven’t earned their covers and you’re not gonna get ‘em. Be humble while reaching for the stars…there is no piece of press too small. More importantly, press leads to more press, so say yes to everything that serves your career goals. Also, ASK FOR MORE. If you have a song picked up on a podcast, ask them if they’d like to interview you. If they interview you, ask if they’d like you to perform live on their show. Ask for more; push it to the next level of exposure. It’s SuperSizing. Nine times out of ten, when their format allows for the deeper coverage I’ve asked for, they’ve given it.
- Phil Putnam

27: Join Causes and Charitable Organizations

Pick one, one you have a connection too. One you are passionate about. Get involved. Don’t just play shows, attend events, and become associated with that cause. If you’re lucky, you may become associated with and become the face of that organization. Then all of their promotional power helps promote you. This may sound greedy, but remember, you are helping the organization you believe in. Everybody wins.
- Jason Walsmith / The Nadas

28: Get Involved With Your Home Town

If you promote your city your city will promote you. Probably won’t work in NYC, but maybe. Have you asked the mayor what you can do to help?
- Jason Walsmith / The Nadas

29: Contact School Alumni Organizations

This only works if you started you career in a college town. For us it was a few Iowa College towns. These organizations are always trying to get their alumni together to relive the glory years. May as well be at one of your shows. If nothing else they usually have websites and newsletters and are willing to promote your shows.
- Jason Walsmith / The Nadas

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30: Create Amazing Music – Recorded and Live

Creating amazing songs/music and putting on a killer live show. That is the number one thing an artist needs to do.
- Emily White

31: Record and Release (LOTS OF) Music

No excuse exists with today’s technology to wait for a label, manager, sugar daddy, etc. Write Write Write! Record Record Record! Release Release Release! Plan to release 20-30 songs PER YEAR for the first 3-5 years without any lulls. If you cannot write enough material, find co-writers (Plenty of musicians will not do #1 or #2, but still have great creativity to share with the world). Buy the basic recording gear and learn how to use it (take classes or just experiment!!). Use CD Baby, Tunecore, etc. to release your songs digitally. DO NOT even consider physical retail to start. If you manufacture your CDs, keep them simple. Stick with inexpensive packaging (great artwork is a plus). Use the money you save to buy some more gear or do some marketing. Way too many artists tell me that they spent all their money just getting an album recorded and manufactured. Spend no more than 30-40% of your available cash making / manufacturing music. If you cannot afford to manufacture, then wait. It is far more important that you record, release and play shows
- Rob Gordon

32: Experiment In Public

Speaking of being on my toes, I try to push my comfort level in plain sight. Sometimes I’ll produce a song in a style I’ve never really attempted before and release it to my subscribers at http://matthewebel.net -sometimes it flies, sometimes it doesn’t. My first attempt at Trance, a song called “Night Train”, has become one of the most requested songs I play at live shows now. It’s the first one people have openly talked about pirating. For something I originally downplayed as “just an experiment”, it’s now one of my biggest hits. I experiment onstage as well, trying new arrangements or even lyrics. My fans love knowing that they’re part of something spontaneous, that they’ve got a hand in shaping the very future of my music. Happy fans are vocal fans.
- Matthew Ebel

33: Don’t Be Afraid of Cover Songs And Legally Record Them

Tap into the popularity of better-known artists. Are you known for an awesome rendition of a popular song in your live shows? Great. Record a video of you doing it and post it on YouTube. Better yet, buy a license to record your own version and sell it on iTunes. Then use the video to send people to iTunes to buy the download.
- Bob Baker

Singer/songwriter Steve Acho realized that fans who love a particular song will often collect other versions of the favorites. After getting the proper publishing licenses, he would record new arrangements of songs popular by various artists, and release them on iTunes via TuneCore. When a song-collecting fan enjoyed one of his tunes, they would often also buy his originals.
- Carla Lynne Hall

34: Record Purposeful Specific Music: Appeal to Niches

Record an album to be used by a particular type of person for a very specific purpose. Like Steven Halpern’s “Music for Healing” or Richard Lawrence’s “Music for Concentration” of Bradley Joseph’s “Music Cats Love While You Are Gone.”
- Bob Baker

35: Create Solidly Crafted, Well-Produced, Mastered Broadcast-Quality Songs

Well-produced music will attract more listeners and media makers. People want to be associated with quality. So even if you are ridiculously talented, if you didn’t spend the time or money have your album properly produced, mixed and mastered it will be stopped at the door. You have to be willing to go into debt or come up with a creative way to raise funds to have your music fine-tuned in post production. It’s a step that should not be overlooked.
- Derek Nicoletto

36: Make Instrumental Mixes

Make mixes of your album without the lead and background vocals and throw your instrumental tracks into the licensing ring. It doubles your available catalog and opens up opps for shows that do not use vocal music. If your w/vocal mixes are already copy written (if they’re not, seriously, I will beat you senseless when I see you on the street), you don’t need to register these instrumental mixes separately because the music on them has already been registered. An instrumental placement won’t get your voice out there in TV land, but it could pay for your next EP.
- Phil Putnam

37: Think About Fan Financed Recordings / Projects

As the fan base grows, so does their desire to see an artist succeed. Last year, Shane wanted to record and went out to the fans for support. See www.teamtrance.com. This effort raised just over $34,000 in just 60 days.
- Michele Samuel

Telling on Trixie also leveraged Social Media and their fan base to raise $50,000 and record an entire album that was 100% fan funded www.tellingontrixie.com/news
- Ariel Hyatt

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38: Learn How to Rehearse

You know the rules to get a song on radio intro/ verse/ chorus/ verse/ chorus/ bridge/ chorus, 3 1/2 minutes long, etc. But live those rules change…it’s a different medium. You need to find the moments in the songs and develop them during a rehearsal. Rehearsals are a great place to take chances and be spontaneous.
- Tom Jackson

39: Play Shows Locally & Frequently First

I differentiate this from TOUR (which is what is the ultimate plan). The idea is build a HEADLINING (with smart opening slots also) following in each city which will show that you can sell tickets, give you the opportunity to become excellent at ENTERTAINING your audience, pay for the expansion into neighboring regions and to have some proof of your value for fickle promoters/ club owners and ultimately a booking agent (you should NOT plan on having success finding an agent until you can sell 250+ tickets locally). Play shows locally (all the towns within a 3 hour drive) frequently (but no more than 10-15 shows/year until you are selling approx 250-400 headlining tickets, then phase down to 3-4 times per year as you sell 400-1000 headlining tickets). Once you are selling 250 +/- tickets (more if you are a larger band with higher touring costs) expand regionally, then multiple regions until you can cover the whole country and ultimately other countries. Getting to a modest National stature (500-1000 tickets across the country) should take 4-7 YEARS of VERY hard work! Oh, and be professional: Advance the show, promote your own shows (digitally and physically) wherever possible, show up on time, and be NICE to everyone (no attitude when problems occur, and they WILL), respect the venue, make friends with all other bands on the bill, etc. Booking yourself WILL be frustrating. Be pleasantly persistent. Ask to play appropriate sized rooms and nights.
- Rob Gordon

40: Get Fan Generated Bookings

A Corey Smith’s email/text list grows, we have been reaching out to fans to generate bookings. This has generated both college shows and club shows. Fans are even starting Facebook groups to prove that they can get fans to the shows and then are working with us to book them. We would have never thought Shane Hines could get 50+ people out and now will be headed to Morehead to do just that. This group was started by a fan that saw him open for Corey Smith. We kept in touch with them via the mobile text program.

See http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=155044073320&ref=search&sid=1464974436.302266636..1
- Michele Samuel

41: Use Eventful.com

Eventful is very powerful. The first time I knew I was going to be in Seattle I sent a message to 75 people who demanded me on Eventful and w/in 24 hours I had a show set up at a venue that held 75 people. That show sold out. This made me realize you can tour in an efficient way instead of driving up and down the east coast to cities where people don’t know you. It’s much better to wait till people know who you are and you know they want you there.
– Jonathan Coulton

42: Play Gigs Where No One Else Plays Gigs

You won’t be making money in the beginning anyway so play in weird places that will get people talking (even if you get arrested). Getting arrested is great for your credibility and will make everyone talk about you and make everyone but the status quo like you.
- Tom Silverman

43: Prove To Each Venue That You’re Going To Promote

Conquer Social Media Before You Book Shows by setting up MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and make sure your music/email list is on it. You as the artist are the voice behind those pages, but don’t spend more than 2 hours a day on it. Make sure all of the above is in place before you book shows. Once a Show is Booked, Promote it! Otherwise no one will turn up and you may not get another gig. Ask the venue if fliers work well in their market and ask for a local media/radio list you can send the show to. Offer fans guest list in exchange for postering around town and sending in photos of their work.
- Emily White

Amber Rubarth would call each venue and ask them how she could help promote her show. She would then do everything that they requested and stay in touch with them to let them know that she was working hard to promote her own show and she fostered relationships with the venue owners and bookers while she worked for her own promotional benefit.
- Derek Sivers

44: 3 Critical Things To Bring To Every Show…

1. Make sure you have a physical piece of music to sell at shows
2. Additional merch
3. Have an email list sign up form
- Emily White

45: Gig Swap

Network with other bands in person and online to set up gig swaps with other artists to play in other cities. You host them when they come to your town and they in turn host you.
- Emily White

We are strong in some areas and other bands are strong in different areas. So, we often trade shows so that bands open each other shows and build tours around them to tap into multiple fan bases.
- Michele Samuel

46: Stay With Friends

Stay with friends on the road to save money. Be considerate – walk their dogs in the morning or cook them breakfast…. You will probably be invited back!
- Emily White

47: At Live Shows Employ Mobile Text Short Codes, Mobile Phones or Google Voice

Walking around with an email list requires manpower, time and generally does not get a great result. But, if you could have the fans text you during your performance and stay in touch with them that way. We use a short code and have the fans text to it during the performance. When they text they receive a link to download free tracks. We capture their text number and then keep in contact and get permission to continue a relationship with them after the show. The return has been a minimum of 25% of the audience.
- Michele Samuel

Offer up a Google Voice number from stage where folks can text in their email address. Or a mobile # where people can text their phone numbers straight to you. Next time you play in that area you already have a built in text-messaging list.
- Emily White

48: Create Moments, Capture And Engage Audiences, Don’t Just Sing And Play Songs

Your audience wants to feel something, not hear something. When people are moved, they remember and want to buy those moments to take home and relive. It’s about how you and your music affect people. Give your audience something to think about. The audience wants to forget about themselves. There are onstage skills, tools, and techniques to win an audience, and to keep them captured and engaged and wanting more. It’s all about an emotional connection with people!
- Tom Jackson

49: Exceed Your Audience’s Expectations Without Changing Who You Are

Like a great restaurant, your customers (audiences) have expectations. If a restaurant doesn’t figure out what the customers want, the restaurant will go out of business,
- Tom Jackson

50: Your Songs Don’t Sound the Same…They Shouldn’t Look the Same

An artist wouldn’t even think of using the same lyrics, rhythms, or tones for every song. Yet artists have a tendency to do the same thing visually for every song. Big mistake! 55% of communication is what the audience sees with their eyes. To the audience, if the songs look the same then they start sounding the same. If this is what’s happening, whether you realize it or not, you’re not getting the most out of your show.
- Tom Jackson

51: Know Your Role in the Band Onstage

Know what your audience expects. Players on a great football team need to know their roles in order to be successful. It’s the same with a great band. A great quarterback/front man is a leader. The wide receiver/ lead guitarist knows he’s supposed to deliver the touchdown. The lineman/ drummer holds down the fort. There are specific skills and roles for each person to know and work on in order to be great as a group onstage and win the audience.
- Tom Jackson

52: Meet & Greet: And Sign Autographs Till There Is No One Left Waiting

Sign and hang out and engage with folks post-show. Stay at the merch table till you have met every single person that wants to meet you and sign merch. That personal touch will be long remembered after you leave and those fans will bring their friends the next time you come through town.
- Emily White

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53: Have A Killer Website at Your Custom Domain URL

Create a webpage that lures in the “just looking” visitors and gets them to upgrade to level 2 of your site when they give you’re their email / contacts. The level 2 experience of your site should be enhanced from the level one “tire kicker” level in terms of content quality, quantity and how quickly it is updated. Once you have enough level 2 members you will want to create a level 3 experience that is another big step up from level 2. This is for your best customers and most devout fans. At some point this can become a subscription site but early on it will be a la carte. It just rewards your street team/super fans for their support. Here you will sell exclusive merch and sell advance tickets to shows and music no one else gets to buy.
- Tom Silverman

The best place to be is you.com Artists who have their own domain make more money than those that do not. Period.
- Jed Carlson

54: Use the Social Networks Properly: Build That List!

When people pass thru your social network profiles (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc.) get them to come back your own web site that YOU CONTROL. To do this, give songs away for free in return for email addresses. ReverbNation’s Fan Exclusive Widget will facilitate this. Offer fans something special that makes them feel like they are a real fan and you really care about them. Social networks are all good, but they should be treated as lead-generation sources. They are free billboards on the super highway of information. Be there, but have something that extracts value and move those listeners down the fan funnel to something valuable for you.
- Lou Plaia

55: Be Active On Facebook

Almost every advance in your career will happen thanks to who you know AND how you treat them, and Facebook is where you can deepen relationships with fans and industry contacts. Ye olde FB gives you one-click access to countless industry folks who have the power to do something about your work. If they don’t respond, leave them alone. If they do, keep the convo going, nurture the relationship, and leverage it when the time is right. Four developments in my career in the past 3 months that started on FB: 5 concert bookings in NYC, 2 new songwriting collaborations, adds of two of my music videos to the HBO Zone channel, and being hired to write a daily column (I’m a writer too) that is now published to every Sprint and Boost Mobile PDA in the world. No joke. Love the FB. Login NOW.
- Phil Putnam

56: Tweet, Please

Twitter has been really big for me and it gives me direct contact w the people who want to listen to me – literally. When I released my new DVD I asked people to check it out and within a few minutes my tweet made it to 100, 000 people who were pre-disposed to care about it, which is a remarkable marketing message. I sold hundreds of them online just using my Twitter connections. I use Twitter as another entertainment channel to say interesting things and show people interesting things and share photos. To share photos with your Twitter friends use these easy sites:

http://www.twitpic.com & http://www.yfrog.com

Between these 2 things Twitter has become my main focus. I no longer am always thinking about updating my blog – I’m always thinking about Twitter.
- Jonathan Coulton

57: Create Twitter Contests

We have had several different types of contests that have caused small frenzies on Twitter but the ones that I think are the most effective are the ones where we have asked people to post links to an actual song via blip or just download links. We have had hundreds of songs posted in a matter of minutes, which means that each of those people’s followers could potentially be listening. I estimated 10,000 potential listeners in just a few min with our last contest. We usually give away tickets to shows or CDs or other prizes. In fact, I should be doing one right now…
- Jason Walsmith / The Nadas

58: Actively Start Conversations With Your Twitter Followers

Artists need to foster the all-important online two-way conversation. Just using status updates for only promotional means is not the best way to do this. Ask fans to comment back/@reply/direct message and they actually will. The more intriguing the question, the more likely people will respond. For example, the other day I asked the fans on my band’s Facebook page “Who is cooler, Nicholas (the guitarist) or Christopher (me)? Please provide reasoning for your explanation haha.” There were 20+ comment-backs by the end of the night. Provide fans with quirky questions that fit your personality. Use status update/micro-blog opportunities to create an environment that your fans want to continually be a part of.
- Chris Gesualdi

59: Rock The YouTube: Make A Sticky YouTube Video

Michelle Citrin made 20 Things To Do With Matzo and it has received over 1,000,000 views. It’s the kind of video that is so captivating and interesting that people share it with their friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMSEFCQCKPo
- Derek Sivers

Before Kina Grannis won the Doritos contest, she was releasing a YouTube video each week, which built her a loyal following and worldwide “street team”. Similar to a TV show, Kina released a video of herself playing an original tune, or cover tune. At the end of her videos, she’d give birthday shout outs, read fan mail, and open gifts that fans had sent her. When she needed votes to win the Doritos contest, her loyal following supported her all the way to the Super Bowl. She later signed a record deal, and she has a ready-made audience waiting to buy it.
- Carla Lynne Hall

Let fans in. Take video of the fans themselves, or encourage them to submit their own videos to you Post these regularly and the fans will watch along and continue to grow as you post.
- Michele Samuel

I riddle my website with videos where I talk about the people in my songs and the stories behind them. Every time I add a new one to the site, downloads of that song go up on iTunes. And new people learn very quickly (1) if they like me personally and (2) if they respond emotionally to the kind of work I do.
- Dudley Saunders

60: Create Cover Tune Videos

Indie band Boyce Avenue created a video of the latest Coldplay when the only version of it could be found on an Apple commercial. Since the song had not been released yet, Coldplay fans searching for the song online found Boyce Avenue’s video instead. The band repeated this technique with video covers of popular songs, and gained millions of YouTube views. This led to a tour of the Philippines where the indie band received a Beatles-like welcome.
- Carla Lynne Hall

61: Get Played On Podcasts – Build a Rabid Loyal Audience

Even small podcasts with only 100- 200 listeners count if you get played on lots of them. The key to understand here is: Podcasters listen to others podcasters podcasts and they get ideas from each other and rebroadcast pieces of each others podcasts – it is a pre- selected audience and Podcasters will help you find your niche if you are not even sure what it is.
- Jonathan Coulton

Podcasters have two things that musicians need: an audience, and a medium to play music. And musicians have something podcasters are looking for: audio content. Since podcasts are “The Radio Of The Internet” musicians should reach out to them the same way they reach out to radio shows. Some musicians make the mistake to just try to get played in music podcasts, but there’s no need to limit yourself that way in this thriving medium. Instead, use podcast directories like Podcastalley.com or podcastpickle.com and find popular podcasts about topics that you enjoy. Become a fan, send an email, and offer your music. In return, they’ll usually link to your website, and talk about your band.
- Randy Chertkow

62: Post Photos on Flickr & Cross Post on Facebook

They say a picture says a thousand words, and it’s true. Flickr is one of the user-friendliest Web 2.0 sites, and Yahoo owns it so millions of potential new fans are waiting for you to discover them and make friends. Flickr works just like MySpace or Facebook. You create a profile, upload your main image, join groups, and make friends, and you can also message people and leave comments on any photo you like. Flickr is a great way to show yourself as multi-dimensional. You can post photos of things other than your band activities (such as vacations, kids, your home, and hobbies) to show your fans you are a well-rounded individual. And if you go to conferences, this is a great way to get people to link back to you and pay attention to you (remember – the most interesting thing for people is THEMSELVES so taking pictures of other people is well advised!). Use this link to synch back to Facebook too! http://www.tinyurl.com/flickr2facebook
- Christina Duren

63: Study Your Analytics – Google ReverbNation & Rockdex

Use the data you can easily get from Google, ReverbNation, and Rockdex (among others) to learn more about your fans – who they are, where they are listening, what they are listening to, for how long, etc. The more you know about them, the easier it is to connect with them and market to them. You can also use this data to easily get sponsors. Brands want to know who your fans are, how many you have, how engaged you are with them, etc. They don’t care about “Friends”, they want to know about your real fans, your engagement with them and the size of your mailing list.
- Lou Plaia

Rockdex can see who is talking about you online and can track how many people are added to each of your social networks by searching blogs, micro-blogs, music sites and delivering you the hard results via reports with actual metrics on how many potential fans have visited your social networking sites.

www.rockdex.com
- Christina Duren

64: No Money For A Tour Publicist? Artist Data To The Rescue!

If you don’t have enough money to get a tour publicist for tour press then no need to worry Artist Data is tour press for musicians made easy! ArtistData allows you to update your tour dates at Jambase, Eventful, Sonicbids, MySpace Facebook and Twitter. It not only updates your social networking sites but it also allows you to submit each of your shows info to the calendar editor at local newspapers and magazines in the specific regions you are touring.

www.artistdata.com
- Christina Duren

65: Ping.FM – 55 Sites Updated At Once – Hours of Your Life Back

Ping allows you to update over 55 social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and your blog all from one easy to use website simultaneously. There are no more excuses for becoming overwhelmed with logging into several websites. This one interface allows you to update all of your statuses at one click.
- Christina Duren

66: Understand The Power of Tagging

Be super descriptive when tagging the titles of your songs, videos, photos, blog posts, and more. The Internet is filled with multimedia these days. But people still search for stuff using words! Make sure your online content is loaded up with the key words your potential fans use to find stuff that interests them.
- Bob Baker

67: Use Search Engine Optimization

When I first heard Jamie Foxx’ “Blame it on the Alcohol”, I fell hard for the groove of the song (although not the message), and considered writing a parody of the song. After searching online for the chords and tabs for the song, I also found a performance video of another singer/songwriter performing an acoustic version on guitar. I was so impressed with the cover version, I blogged about the tune, the cover video, and links to the chords and tab. By twittering links to my blog post, I unwittingly created more powerful links to my blog post. Soon, my blog post ranked on the first page of Google for this song, and to this day, that blog post is one of my most visited pages, which has also led to new readers and subscribers to my newsletter. Now I’m adding more chords and tab blog posts for cover tunes that are actually in my genre!
- Carla Lynne Hall

68: Scratch The Back That Scratches Yours Online: Give Thanks!

Many of the Billboard Maximum 100 “opportunities” and placements are the results of years of favors, legal agreements, negotiating and bargaining tactics, and just plain historical relationships from the labels and commercial outlets. They have little to do with the artist. I maintain all of my bands networking sites as well as my own blog www.dereknicoletto.com, Youtube channel www.youtube.com/dereknicoletto and http://twitter.com/dereknicoletto. My band and my music has been placed on 11 television shows, countless podcasts, radio programs, publications and video programs. For every single placement, I either re-posted the feature on a site, sent a tweet about it or let my fans know in some way. Most importantly, I said “Thank You.”
- Derek Nicoletto

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