How To Promote Music: Interview with Ariel Hyatt

// June 2nd, 2010 // 3 Comments » // DIY Music, How to sell music, music promotion

Listen to the interview here:

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or right click HERE to download

I recently asked all the subscribers what they wanted to know about
music PR/publicity and ways to promote music.

I then took the questions to music PR guru Ariel Hyatt.
Although she is best known for  ArielPublicity.com,
Ariel recently published a book that you can find out
about here:

http://www.musicsuccessinnineweeks.com

To me, the best thing about this interview is that Ariel
is the real deal – working with real clients, and shes been
doing it for a while….

Check it out:

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or right click HERE to download

And by the way – listen in to find out how to win a copy of her free book…

ps shout out to Scott for sorting out my Wordpress probs..
he is the man when it comes to anything wordpress.

Sell Your Music And Merchandise With Square

// May 14th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // DIY Music, How to sell music, music promotion

If you want to sell your music and merchandise,
one of the best times to do it is from the back of a show.

I first heard about this from my friend Andy Reynolds,
who has alot of experience in tour management and the live space.

He just published a really interesting piece on a service called Square
that lets you take credit and debit card payments via the Iphone, Ipad
or Android phone.

In my experience, less and less people are carrying cash,  and I expect that
having a service like this will fuel further merch sales.

They do charge a fee, of 2.75% plus 15 cents, but if you have ever had to go through
the hassles of taking cards, this is a no brainer.

The service uses a small plastic box with a jack that slots into your device and then
you use that to swipe the card.  You then punch in the amount, the person signs with
their finger, and enters their email address to be sent a receipt!

If you dont have the reader, you can also enter the card number in manually.

Here are some more features:  https://squareup.com/features
The app is available in the app store right now!

Im really hoping that Paypal will buy Square and then the whole thing can be integrated
into one seamless package!

Right now, its only available in the U.S. and here is a video explaining how it
works:

Andy has written a few books  – most recently, he wrote:
The Tour Book: How to Get Your Music on the Road,
So if you are interested in getting your music on the road,
check him out!

Unconvention

// May 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // DIY Music, How to sell music, Music Marketing and promotion, music marketing, music promotion

Have you been to any conferences recently?
I recently got invited to an event called Unconvention.
The Music Void website asked me to give them an update on how
it went, so I made a video….
Go here to check it out:

http://www.themusicvoid.com/2010/05/event-report-unconvention-music-pies-macclesfield/

Audio Interview With Gavin Bain & Free Book Give Away……

// April 25th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Live Music, Music Marketing and promotion, The Music Industry, music marketing, music promotion, record label, the music business

Audio Interview With Gavin Bain

Last week, subscriber’s to my premium service,
Niche Music System and I got to put our
questions to Gavin Bain who wrote the book
California Schemin’.

When told that rapping in his Scottish accent
wasn’t going to cut it, Gavin Bain and his co star Bill
reinvented themselves as two West Coast rappers
from California and ended up with a £250,000
record deal and a £70,000 management advance.

This interview also delves into the fascinating
depths of one mans incredible passion, drive,
persistence and good old fashioned hustle!
…SO GOOD ;p

Here is the interview:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Let me know what you think….

Get This Book For FREE!!?

Im giving away my copy of the book to the
first person to join Niche Music System and tell me that
they heard the interview…(I’ll send it first class)!

BTW Pretending to be someone else is not why I wanted
to interview him. What drew me in was the extreme use of
“dramatic reality”.

So many artists miss what it is that their audience
really wants and in this extreme example,
Gavin and Bill (aka Silibil and Brains) hit the nail on the head.

In my own case, refining our concept really made it easy for
people to become fans and understand what we were doing
(ie got us way further…).

The converse of that would be doing things that make people
NOT interested in what you are doing!

What are you doing?  Repelling or attracting?!

The First 360° Fully Interactive Music Video Clip In History!

// April 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // DIY Music, Engagement, music marketing, music promotion

UK Band Pendulum have made the
“first fully interactive music video clip in history”.

The amazing interactivity is made possible
with Greek company Mativision’s technology.

If you haven’t seen their technology yet,
you should definitely check it out…

They have a system that allows recording/playback in full 360°.
The user is then allowed not only to  move the camera and
zoom whilst watching playback, but they can also switch to
viewing from another camera!
Its pretty amazing!

You can see the cameras dotted around the stage:

I first heard about it when I was asked to give some input
to a Magic Numbers campaign.  They had a whole show
fully recorded and it was amazing to change where I
was watching from in real time at the touch of a button!

According to Mativision’s website, the band Pendulum
have made the “First 360 fully interactive music video clip
in history”!

If you head on over to http://www.pendulum.com/360,
you can check out the video, or should I say “interact”
with the video?

I like how they put the sign up box for the free mp3 just underneath
the video.
ie engage and then call to action.. super!

If you have play around, let me know what you think!

YOU ARE THE CONTENT, repeat You ARE THE CONTENT

// January 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // DIY Music, Music Marketing and promotion, music marketing, music promotion

This article presents research that one third of all US internet users
post on social networks like Facebook and Twitter at once per week.

What does this mean for music promotion?

People are sharing music that they like via posting links,
People are letting others know that they will be attending xyz concert/show.
People are posting up their own pictures and videos whilst at events.

As the Music Maker, remember – YOU ARE THE CONTENT!!

Its your responsibility to make sure that people can find you,
share you, follow you, comment on you etc..

So take a good hard look at your next campaign or promotion -
is this something that your fans would love to tell others about?

Make it easy for them, give a reason for them to share,
create incredible events…..
IS it great content?
Would you want to share it?
Would others?

Depending on where you live, there maybe a local social network of choice.

But whatever it is, get on the top social networks, and start presenting
great content.

Make an engagement plan and roll it out!

if you want help with this – get in touch with me at:

http://getyourstage.com/contact-us

DO IT NOW!!

The Top U.S. Music Services On The Web

// January 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // DIY Music, music marketing, music promotion

Was just looking through this and assessing the impact for people who
want to be succesful with their music.

Here is the list for December:

Top U.S. Music Services On The Web (in unique visitors, December, 2009)

1. Vevo: 35.4 million
2. MySpace Music: 33.1 million
3. AOL Music: 29.0 million
4. Warner Music: 23.3 million
5. MTV Networks Music: 17.6 million
6. Yahoo! Music: 16.4 million
7. Jango Music Network: 9.6 million
8. ToneFuse Music Network: 8.3 million
9. MSN Music: 6.6 million
10. Rhapsody: 6.5 million

To see the full article, go here

So it makes sense that if you want to give your music some exposure,
you probably want to get it on some of these sites.

Interesting to note though is that the number one site, Vevo,
is actually a joint venture involving Google and that its main source
of visitors is Youtube.

CES 2010 Something To Think About..

// January 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music Marketing and promotion, The Music Industry, music marketing, music promotion, the music business

if you dont know about CES, its the consumer electronics show that happens every year in Vegas.

So whats this got to do with your music?

well -> at CES, they showcase the latest technology and alot of this technology is what people will be using to listen to, watch and engage with your music.

So far this year there is a huge emphasis on connecting the web to the TV.

This means devices that allow you to consume content direct from the internet on your TV.

Apple has already put this in our hands with Apple TV, but the landscape is constantly evolving.

So what you need to think about is this:
If people in the near future will be engaging more and more with your content through their TV,
what kind of content should you be making ?
And how can you make it for maximum impact through the TV??

Just something to think about …

Over and OUT!

Rage Against The Machine Are Ahead Of X Factor!

// December 16th, 2009 // No Comments » // How to sell music, Music Marketing and promotion, The Music Industry, music promotion, music recording

Rage are ahead of X Factor – >

Check out this blog post:

CLICK HERE

Incredible Fan Lead Rage Against The Machine Christmas Campaign

// December 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music Marketing and promotion, music marketing, music promotion

Just got forwarded this by email – Cant wait to see what happens!!

LET’S GET RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE TO THE CHRISTMAS NO.1 SPOT THEN!

Q: So how do we do this then?
A: Take your pick(s) of the digital providers below. It should take you to the page where you can purchase your copy of KILLING IN THE NAME. in most cases it’s track#2 but check before you click!

DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT 6 OR 7 TIMES…IT’LL JUST GET ANNULLED IN THE CHART.

7DIGITAL – £1.19P – track #2
http://bit.ly/ratm-7digital

AMAZON – 29p – yes it will count
htpp://http://bit.ly/rage-amazon

TUNETRIBE – 49P – track #2 – LIVE version (yes it counts)
http://bit.ly/ratm-tunetribe

TESCO DIGITAL – 67p – track #2
http://bit.ly/ratm-tesco

HMV.COM – 79p (careful – this is track #1)
http://hmv.com/hmvweb
http://bit.ly/ratm-hmv

PLAY.COM – 70p – it’s the only track on the page
http://bit.ly/ratm-play

WE7 – £1.07p – track #2
http://bit.ly/ratm-we7

iTUNES – 99p – track #2
http://bit.ly/ratm-itunes