Ariel Publicity

Chris Hacker here, I create Marketing Plans for artists at Cyber PR® and really enjoy working with my many clients. I’ve noticed a huge problem though. Artists call the Cyber PR® offices all the time looking for us to promote their new album, totally fine of course, but the problem lies in that many of these artists call us when their albums are coming out the next week!! It completely baffles me that an artist or band will work so hard on an album, spending hours and hours writing songs and practicing these songs and then spending large sums of money recording, mixing and mastering, to only rush the release with no plan in place! Not planning enough lead time for a press campaign isn’t the only issue, but many people we talk to try to release their album when some of the basic music promotion elements aren’t even in place, for example a website where you can sell the music!

In a three part series I will discuss some basic components of a marketing plan to help properly market you and a new release. This first blog post in the series can eloquently be called the “getting your sh*t together” phase. Here I’ve laid out 5 areas that need to be addressed before any official announcements should be made about a new album coming out.

1. Digital Distribution

Figure out how you’re going to digitally distribute the album, and a physical CD only release or selling the CD and mp3′s strictly on your website is not the way to go. You need to make your music available everywhere digital music can be streamed and bought, such as on iTunes and Spotify, and the best way to do that is work with a digital distribution company like CD Baby or Tunecore. With that said, I talk to people all the time who then take this one step too far and sign up with multiple distribution companies because they think they are covering all their bases this way. Which they are not. All that does is put multiple copies of the same album on iTunes and the like, which looks silly and can cause unnecessary confusion. And if you plan on working with a PR company to promote the release don’t set the release date until AFTER you have talked with them first.

2. Online presence

Make sure your online presence is complete, effective and contains all the necessary promotional tools. There are lots of places online that artists can have a presence, here I talk about three of the most important sites: Official Website, Facebook and YouTube.

Official Website – Your website should have a place where people can easily listen to and buy your music (but not a player that plays automatically when a person enters the site, can’t stress that enough), a homepage that has a news section where people can read the latest happenings with your career, and a newsletter sign up form, one that offers an incentive for signing up such as free music or discounts on merch. Plus it always surprises when I go to an artist website and can’t find any contact information or links to their social media networks.

Facebook – Just as important as your website is your Facebook Fan Page. On the new timeline there are three tabs that are on display; one tab should be a band profile that at a minimum contains a music player, tour dates and press quotes. Next is a newsletter sign up form, and again, this should offer an incentive for signing up. And the last visible tab should be a Store.

YouTube – Another important piece of your online presence is YouTube. I’m always curious how people listen and discover new music and time and time again the response I hear back is YouTube. It’s critical to have videos up on YouTube for every song of the new release by the release date or soon after. Not saying these have to be well produced music videos, but just the songs themselves. To do this some artists just put up an image of their cover and leave it at that, but people are much more inclined to listen to your music if there are scrolling lyrics they can read as they listen or if there is a slideshow to watch. Taking free archival footage and editing together to make a music video is another relatively easy and inexpensive way to create a video for your songs, and can be a lot of fun too.

3. Newsletter

This is real simple. Have one. And contact your mailing list once a month with news. Don’t cut corners on this either, a newsletter is where you’ll see the greatest impact on sales. All the tweets and facebook posts about a new album out for sale won’t equal the results of a well crafted newsletter, so spend money on a mailing list service provider that can help you design a rich looking email and provide analytics and tracking capabilities so you can measure the effectiveness of your newsletters and make adjustments where need be.

4. Touring

Ideally you’ll have a tour booked immediately following the release, which greatly helps a PR campaign. A local blog or local newspaper will be much more inclined to cover a new album for an artist if a show is booked in town. And not saying this has to be a month long tour, just a few regional dates will help with your press efforts. Now timing can be tricky here, just like setting a release date too soon, you don’t want to book a tour and then not have the album ready or press plan in place. So wait until you have a better idea of what that will look like and then start booking a tour, and if the tour doesn’t happen until a month or so after the release that is quite alright.

5. Merchandise

Pretty much everything in regards to your music career takes longer than expected, from making the album to creating the artwork to booking shows, and this definitely applies to any merchandise you want to have available to sell with the new album. And merch isn’t limited to T-Shirts and tote bags, handmade items can make for great unique offerings. Here’s a tip, at your merch booth bundle your music with these items cheaply and easily through download stickers from MerchMusic.com, where 120 codes will cost you just $10. Even though people aren’t buying CDs much anymore, they are still interested in supporting artists they love so give them lots of different ways to support you and purchase your music instead of just having a CD and leaving it at that.

So remember, plan early so you can have these items when you’re ready to release a new album, which I will be getting in to in more detail in the next blog post where I will discuss some basic principles for an effective pre-sale and album launch.

To find out more about the marketing plans I create for artists please visit our page here.

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Viddy, like Instagram, is simply an app that allows you to take videos and share them with the world directly from your mobile device. Obviously, there is one tiny little company that is built completely around the sharing of videos (YouTube, I’ll write about them when they get big enough). But Viddy sets itself apart in so much as it’s designed specifically to be mobile.

The main issue with mobile video sharing is upload time involved. To solve this issue (and further set themselves apart from other video services) Viddy has limited the length of all videos to 15 seconds. That’s right, 15 seconds is all you get to put together whatever funny, quirky little video you want to share with the world.

At first, I thought this was a huge problem. What is anyone supposed to do with 15 seconds?! But when you get down to it, given the average attention span these days, 15 seconds is all you need. This, of course, makes the content harder to curate, but every creative musician should love a little challenge.

There are two ways to load up a video. You can take a 15 second video with the Viddy app, or you can select 15 seconds of a pre-existing video you have on your phone. In either event, once you have the video selected, next comes the fun part. Viddy provides some stock visual effects you can add to your video, but if you don’t find what you like there, they have a whole store of other effects available for free and for purchase. Viddy has also added in an audio element as well, allowing you to add in clips from songs or pre-recorded special effects. The store has these available as audio/visual bundles. At the moment, their ‘Marketplace’ isn’t overly expansive, but I imagine this will grow as the app grows in popularity.

Similar to Instagram, Viddy has a built in social network. When you create your account you’ll be able to follow other users and, in turn, be followed by those who like your videos. But even without following you, users can like the videos you post and leave comments for you. Viddy’s easy to use interface makes it simple for users to find new videos to watch, find new friends and manage all their contacts.

But Viddy was smart enough to know that no matter how large their social network grows, it will never rival the size and power of the social media power houses like Facebook. So they’ve built in a sharing function that allows you to simultaneously post your videos to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr when you post to Viddy.

Viddy can be a great way for artists to share quick videos of new song ideas, in-studio recording experiences, snippets of live performances or just back stage shenanigans. And the user base on Viddy seems to be ready and eager to consume new content. I posted a test video of my band before writing this article and within 15 minutes I had two likes and a comment. I have followed 1 person and have nobody following me and I’ve done nothing to engage anyone. If I actually spent the time to use the platform effectively (instead the bare bones set up I did to learn how it works) I can only imagine the engagement I’d receive.

Viddy is a great way to create some additional content and share it across all your social media profiles. And if you get in while it’s still early, the user base on the Viddy social network will be highly engage-able. If you tag your videos properly and use links intelligently in your descriptions, this could be a great way to find new fans and help direct traffic to your other sites. As always, I’m much more concerned with what you all think. Has anyone used this app yet? Do you think it has potential to reach the level of Instagram? What kind of videos would you make in just 15 seconds? I look forward to your thoughts in the comments section!

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I’m continuing the Music Marketing Experts FAQs where my favorite gods and goddesses of online marketing and Social Media promotion share with me the questions they get asked the most by musicians.

What’s most important as a promotional tool; Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube?

Ariel Hyatt

I believe all three sites are vital and important to have and keep active with an ongoing strategy.  I know what you are thinking…  That will take a LOT Of work.  And if your networks are not very big and robust to begin with creating and posting content on three platforms can feel totally overwhelming.  But think about what each of these Social’s represents.  Twitter is like a great news feed  on steroids and it’s a completely open and a place where everyone can come and follow your updates.  Facebook is more of a closed ecosystem where you will tend to be connected to people you actually know and recognize, and YouTube is a platform where people see your videos based on the fact that you either sent them there (using Twitter, FB or your blog) or they discovered them using a search and the keywords matched their interest.  The truth is these three work in concert with one another and it is vital to use all of them.  After much consideration, I can’t choose one as the most important.  If you are not yet on all three and you would rather stab a pen in your eye then dedicate the time it will take to manage them all my advice is: Get really good at using the one that you like the most and make the most sense to you.  Mastering one Social is better than doing all three half-way.

Rick Goetz

Oh man – this one’s a setup.  There’s no right answer to this one.  Different things work for different people.  If video is easy and cheap to regularly create and edit for you then YouTube can be great.  If you are surgically attached to a smartphone with a camera then Twitter or Facebook are good too.  IMHO these three and a website are (in my opinion) the must haves for any artist.  I do believe that Twitter is only half as powerful without blogging.  At 140 characters Twitter is made to send people to links – these may as well be links to your content situated some place where you get the most benefit.

Bobby Owsinski

I’ve personally found that Twitter is the most immediate and successful promotional tool as long as you use hashtags (the “#” before a keyword), which is the key, and your content is interesting or informative. The problem with Twitter is that a tweet has a shelf-life of about an hour, so if it doesn’t grab someone right way, it’s gone and of no further use. On the other hand, YouTube has the longest shelf-life and the best possibility for a viral success under the right circumstances. Plus, it’s easy to point people to a video from any medium, and if you’re SEO savvy, can develop a new audience just from searches. Facebook can be effective too, but it takes a while to build up your friend- and like-base, but these are your hard-core fans/tribe so it’s the best medium for sales opportunities.

Corey Denis

Marketing plans cannot successfully replicate and all three tools are different. The first step in deciding which tool is most important is figuring out what you want to achieve.  If you are unable to tend to all three platforms named above, the best way to figure out which platform is more important to you is to spend some time using it – without promoting yourself. Make real friends and get acclomated. Figure out how the community works, and then you may figure out if it’s a good fit for your intentions. If you have to ask which platform is best for you, and are on a tight schedule for an album release or upcoming tour, I advise that you delay the album release and set aside a budget for some marketing strategy, advice, and, if you can afford it, marketing execution. The space is new, and the tools are new. There isn’t terrible harm from misusing the tools, but the Internet is written in indelible ink; over the long term it could be similar to leaving money on the table. If you already have a fan base, go to where your fans are, and stalk them. Know them. If they are on all three platforms, combine your efforts.

Carla Lynne Hall

If you had asked me which social media tool was more important two years ago, I would have said Twitter, hands down. But now, I’d say that YouTube is the most important promotional tool that anyone could have to promote themselves. Online video was created to be viral, so if someone likes your music or message, they can easily share it with their friends. Online video has a powerful reach, and I believe that we’re going to see a lot of musicians using more online video to promote themselves.

Cassie Petery

All three sites are extremely important.  As far as which one is the most important, I truly believe this varies depending on the genre and the type of audience you have. If you have a strong video strategy, then YouTube would obviously be one of the most important pieces of your online marketing campaign.  However, if you don’t have the right video content to do this, then YouTube shouldn’t be your number one focus just because it’s a huge site.  You must have well thought out video production strategy to be successful. Facebook and Twitter are always the two main communication outlets for my artist’s online marketing campaigns, and which one takes priority changes from artist to artist.  A lot of my developing acts view Twitter as a priority because a lot of early adopt/hardcore music fans live there.  However, Facebook moves the dial more than Twitter for most of my established acts.

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I’m just back from the mighty ASCAP Expo in Los Angeles where I spoke on a panel, did a book signing and sponsored.

I learned so much from the hundreds of artists I spoke to over the 3 days there and I boarded the plane with a whole new perspective on just how confronting marketing and social media is to 90% of artists.

You guys REALLY hate this stuff

You hate it so much that I literally felt like I had been beaten up over the concerns, complaints and sheer confusion directed my way.

So I  will kick off with this: Making it in music is HARD

No matter what side of the fence you are on.  My friends who are managers and agents and club owners work just as hard as my artist friends.  And, music industry professionals are getting laid off left and right. This game (if you choose to play it) is not for the meek!

And now you, the artist are required to do a WHOLE LOT MORE than you might have 7, 8, 9 or 10 years ago (if you were lucky enough to have a label).

But here’s the thing:

The basic rules for success are still the same.

They have always been the same and those artists who understand this succeed: To Increase Your Bottom Line (no matter how you define your bottom line) you MUST focus on your fans!

The first step towards this is building rapport with everyone you come into contact with in person, social media and on your email list.

Everyone always references the astonishing Amanda Palmer as the poster child for success in this paradigm – the woman focuses on her fans!

You know how Amanda does this?

She STAYS at the venue after each and every show signing every CD and piece of merch and scrap of paper put in front of her

She STAYS until she has personally touched the last fan.

Then she STAYS in touch with them long after she has left their town with her newsletter, her blog, her Facebook posts and her Twitter stream.

She understands the rules of engagement.

It’s not magic – its just hard work.

You can have what she has too and here is how:

Today we are going back to three very important basics

(I’m not going to focus on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and all the social media that drives you bonkers this time – you can read many articles I wrote about social media on this blog)

1. Your Newsletter
2. Your Product Line
3. Asking Your Fans What They Want

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A few weeks ago I got a tweet from Mr. Robotic, asking if I could include him in my In Defense of 1,000 True Fans series.  I love meeting people via social media, and what follows is the first artist who has approached me to tell his own story.  It’s the perfect roadmap of how to take full advantage precious TV placements.  Instead of the usual interview, I’m combining my “How To” article format (Sound Advice) with this In Defense of 1,000 True Fans piece, giving you an action plan. This article is so long it will be delivered in 2 parts.

When I teach master classes to artists I often get asked:  How do I leverage a TV placement?

Creating more fans and friends from a hard earned TV or film placement takes a combination of fast action and solid strategy. In the end as evidenced here by Mr. Robotic, this combination can really pay off!

First: A back-story and a word of precaution: I have stood by and watched helplessly now as two of my Cyber PR® clients (who shall remain nameless) have been included in NATIONAL TV spots (one on an Apple commercial and one on a car commercial) and completely squandered these massive opportunities to make new fans.

Getting placed on TV is not easy and these two clients had hit the jackpot. Not only do you get paid for a TV placement, you also get residual income each time it airs but that’s only HALF of a placement’s potential.

Their music was getting exposure multiple times in front of millions of people on TV. Then as the massive opportunity (and potential future income) to capture and engage fans was literally pouring out of the machine, they walked away…  How?  By not setting up the bucket to catch the coins.

Imagine this, a fan hears the song and likes it and heads straight to Google to find out what it is and then Eureka!  He finds it and heads to the website of the artist he just discovered…

One artist had a landing page that said “website coming soon” and the other had a ReverbNation page that was so confusing, I’m certain that potential fans just clicked away, looking to  downloaded the track from a free site, never to be heard from again.

Opportunity squandered.

When potential fans come your way it’s your job to leverage everything you can to engage them (and for gods sake get their email addresses!)

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In this episode of Sound Advice TV, Ariel interviews Tiffany Alvord on how to become a YouTube sensation.  Tiffany has leveraged the popularity of Billboard hits to attract fans on YouTube.  This young rising star spoke on her first panel at the Taxi Road Rally with Ariel, marketing guru Bob Baker, Taxi founder Michael Laskow and was moderated by Tony VanVeen from CD/DiscMakers.

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