Today's Music Biz

This week John Legend takes Digital Music Marketing to a new level with a high profile performance streaming live on YouTube.

Promoting his new album Wake Up, along with the legendary Roots and directed by Spike Lee, there will be special guests Jennifer Hudson, Common, Melanie Fiona, and Estelle.

Today’s Music Biz team is looking forward to witnessing this latest music promotion and free streaming concert!

Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records, stated recently in a YouTube video:

“YouTube is the strongest place you can be.”

This is a man who knows. He came up with the concept that created MTV.

YouTube provides fans a way of being able to get to know more about you, verses just listening to your music.

Here are 5 tips for your YouTube Indie Music Marketing and promotion success.

1. Use various ways to interact.

You can comment on videos, subscribe to channels you enjoy, or post video comments.

2. Remember who you’re marketing to.

Try to picture your ideal fan in your head. What are their interests? Appeal to that person.

3. Use your interests to attract new fans.

By posting or commenting on things you’re interested in, fans can get to know more about you and people interested in those same things will come and check you out.

4. Call to Action!

Ask for what you want. Please don’t say: “Cop my album”. They already know you want to sell your music to them. Remind them to: Subscribe, Rate or comment on your video.

5. Remember, it takes time.

The more time you spend interacting, the more attention you’ll get.

The more creative and entertaining your videos are, the better chance you’ll have of them going viral. It’s about EXPOSURE. Find creative ways to get more of it, like John Legend.

In Today’s Music Biz, fans want an experience when they hear your music. The better experience you provide for your fans, the more music you’ll sell, and the more you’ll Succeed in Today’s Music Biz.

• Have you thought about how many people release songs to the Music Marketplace every year?

• How many people offer the same kind of music as you?
• Have you heard, there are an estimated two million people who describe themselves as Musicians on Myspace?

The biggest cause of Music Promotion failure is becoming lost in the Crowd

The Music Marketplace can be seen as a never ending American Idol Audition. People of every gender, color, and culture hope to get attention of the judges. In the Music Biz there have always been contestants hoping for a chance to catch the eyes, ears, and hearts of judges, who are ‘the Buyers’. 

Beware, because your music can be smothered by the noise of millions of contestants trying to be heard. Your music can become distant whisper in a stadium filled with your competition singing at the top of their lungs.

We’ve shared before that 95% of singles released fail to sell more than a few hundred copies. With so many artist fighting so hard to be heard, it’s a good tip, that every Musician consider who they going to be heard by.  

Audience + Benefit = Conversions  

Audience, can be seen as one or more people, willing to give you attention. It’s a good thing to be able see your ‘target audience’. Some fun ways to target your audience is to ask yourself , “who do I see listening to my music”? What do they do? How do they live? Where do they live?  These questions can help you develop a picture of  what your audience looks like.

Benefits, can be understood as, the feelings you hope your fans will have, when they hear your music. You can find benefits by asking yourself, “how do I feel, when I hear my favorite songs by other artists?” Can you relate to and feel the lyrics? Maybe the song gives you sensation in your body. How your songs will connect, with you, is the benefit.

Conversions, are the decisions that your fans make on your behalf. Conversions can be measured by what people do for you. For example, a person clicks on your website and listens to your Music. That is a conversion. A conversion can be small like one person listening to your music, or big, like a thousand people coming to your show to hear your music.

Big or small, it’s helps to remind yourself, there is no such thing as a bad conversion. Every conversion is a good thing

Success in today’s music business requires Internet Music Promotion. Over the last few weeks, Kasondra K, “Ms. I.T.”, has presented examples of how Musicians like Katy Perry and Soulja Boy Tell “em are using Internet Promotion to win the ears, eyes, hearts, minds and dollars of listeners.

How can you ensure that your Internet Music Promotions will be successful?

• Get Your Story Straight

  Love or hate Justin Bieber, no one can deny that it really is his world right now. Justin Bieber has a story that melts the hearts of his Fan’s. Justin’s story goes like this; White R&B singer has a dream of being a music superstar. He is discovered by accident on YOUTUBE, by a former Record Label Executive, signed to R&B superstar Usher Raymond’s Record Label, and would go on to top the Billboard Charts as well as his teenage Fan’s hearts.

Although Marshal Mathers goes by many names, his story stays thesame. Matters, aka “Slim Shady” and “Eminem”, was a dissatisfied dishwasher and cook from Detroit, Michigan. He was broke, with a troubled past and a young daughter to raise.In spite of his odds, Mathers had dreams of being a rich and famous lyricist.

The Moral of these two stories is; telling your story allows people to understand who you are as a person.

• Don’t Be Afraid Of Being An Underdog

  Both stories above, have a common main character – the Underdog. Everyone loves an Underdog. We are naturally fascinated by those who want to overcome the odds. The more the odds are stacked, the bigger the interest in the story. The Daniel vs. Goliath style tale creates suspense and compels those watching to cheer for the Underdog as his or her story unfolds.

So, what is your story? How do you see your life? How do you feel about where you are as a Musician? If you are feeling down and don’t see your life as where you want it to be, that may be good news. You can use your troubles to motivate music lovers to become your Fan’s.

You are welcome to tell us your story. Leave a comment below and tell us about the odds that you feel are stacked against you. You may find as you type that your story starts to take shape.

Soulja Boy used the internet to launch a very successful hit single “Crank Dat” including an instructional viral video. Once again Soulja Boy is breaking music marketing barriers with his latest promotion.

Joining forces with Swaggmedia.com, Soulja Boy is celebrating his birthday and streaming it live over fans cell phones, proving once again…it’s all about getting in the fan’s pocket.

Craig Nobles, Swaggmedia.com’s founder commented, “The future of music is a combination of technology teamed up with the artist to provide immediate and continuous content. Swaggmedia.com provides just that, an opportunity to reach millions of viewers with their music, products and interviews from the comfort of their home or the convenience of their cell phone.” (BlackWeb 2.0) It’s brilliant! It gives fans just what they want.

This pay-per-view event will include live stream of The Party, Celebrity Red Carpet and live performances all viewable on your cell phone for $2.99. Knowing he has over 2 million twitter followers alone, he’s stands to make a good amount of cash.

How do you tap into your Pretty Boy Swag? Think about recent inventions that have revolutionized the music business like YouTube.com, ipods, and cellphones. Along with them came internet based music stars and millions of promotional and music marketing opportunities. Pay attention to what the younger tech savvy generation is doing and find a creative way to make money with it.

Today’s Music Biz is pleased to interview “Danny Dee” Aguayo of Digipendent.com.

Danny is a Digital Media Strategist and recent SXSW panelist. He has a background in Radio, Social Media Business Development, and has a whole list of positions among the urban music market. Danny Dee is currently advising various regional labels such as ABB Records, SMC Recordings and Town Thizzness; while overseeing digital strategies for Murs, Rakim, Mistah FAB, Glasses Malone, Killer Mike, and many others.

Twitter.com is a great promotional tool for anyone. One day I received a DM from one of my followers. It wasn’t just the usual “check out my music…”. It actually said my name and greeted me and then said he wanted to share his presentation.

“An Urban Guide to the Social Music Evolution”.

I liked the presentation of his tweets and I clicked the link. I enjoyed the slide show so much that I wanted to share it below.

This is the way social media marketing is supposed to work. Making connections. We hope you enjoyed Danny Dee’s informative presentation.

Fresh From South By Southwest

Danny Dee just got back from SXSW and he brought some gifts from his trip. Listen to Today’s Music Biz Podcast on Sunday, March 28th, anytime on demand.

Now that’s great marketing. As soon as I left Danny’s blog, I received a Direct Message (DM) thanking me for visiting his blog. Now I’m impressed. When I shared this with my partner Jeronimo Black, we decided we’d like to interview Danny.

To Learn The Secrets Of Becoming A (P.I.M.P.) “Professional In Music Promotion”:Click here

Last night at the 2009 MTV (VMA’s) Video Music Awards, in 30 seconds, Kanye West stole the show and the press coverage from Micheal Jackson, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys and even Beyonce. If you didn’t catch the VMA’s but want to know how Kanye West stole the show, click play on the video below.

Why We Shouldn’t Be Shocked?

Why are the Beatles considered America’s most popular Rock Band ever?

Stick around for the reason’s and use them to effectively market and sell more of your music to Mainstream America.  But first, take a look at the new commercial for the Beatles Rock Band video game below.

How Did The Beatles Take America By Storm?

John Lennon of the Beatles knew insitinctively what I’m about to share with you about marketing music to American’s.  So in the spirit of coming together, I’m going to share top three music marketing tricks that the Beatles used to market music to mainstream America.

1. K.I.S.S. “Keep It Simple (for the) Stupid”.

If you’re a Beatles Fan you know that their music was composed dynamically and produced excellently.  But the Beatles lyrics were very simple. “She loves you yeah yeah yeah”, “Let it be, let it be, let it be yeah let be”,  Those are two of the choruses (‘hooks’) of the song’s ‘She Loves You‘ and ‘Let It Be‘ .  Now let’s take a look at how the Beatles kept their verses very simple.

Here’s The First Verse From The Beatles ‘All My Lovin’

“Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you, Tomorrow I’ll miss you, Remember I’ll always be true, And then while I’m away, I’ll write home every day, And I’ll send all my loving to you.”

It doesn’t take a Music Scholar to see that the verse above is simple enough for even the most stupid listener to understand.  Many Musician’s make the major mistake of choosing abstract lyrics and complicated story-lines in their songs.  Those songs my receive critical acclaim, but rarely sell more than a few hundred copies.  Keep it simple and you’ll keep them coming back for more.

2. Using Pictures Can Be Worth A Thousand Record Sales.

Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.  In the Music Biz, a picture is worth a thousand record sales.  When the Beatles first started performing in Germany, every other Band was wearing two-piece suits and trying to look like the Guy every parent would approve of.

The picture to the upper-left is of  (left to right) John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Pete Best in the early in 1961 (before Pete Best was replaced by Ringo Starr).

The Beatles Image:”we’re the Guy’s your Parents warned you about”

 John Lennon was the Beatles Image Coach.  John was always fashion-forward because he knew that listeners paid attention to how Musician’s looked as well as how they sounded. John Lennon had the Beatles ditch the suits and wear leather jacket’s and jeans.

The Beatles goal was to differentiate the Beatles from all the other stiff-suit Rockers in Europe.  The message the Beatles meant to send was ”we’re the Guy’s your Parents warned you about” .

When the Beatles came to the United States, every Rocker was wearing leather.  The Beatles seeking to be seen as different, started wearing the two-piece suits. And again it worked.  The Beatles again were seen as different and made an instant impression with Fan’s, male and female alike and went on to become the greatest Rock Band of all time.

3. Sell-Out To Sell More Music


John Lennon admitted to Rolling Stone Magazine that he and the Beatles “sold out”.  What was the result? Billions on sales of the Beatles music and a legacy that lives on nearly 40 years after they broke up.

I hear today’s Artists and Musicians ranting and raving that they’d rather die broke as opposed to selling out.  And that’s what a majority of Indie Artists and Musicians do – die broke because they wouldn’t sell out.  The Beatles, made simple music that the whole family could sing along to.  The Beatles image was one that was compelling.  The Beatles knew that if they made their music too abstract, no one would listen or buy their music.

The Ugly Truth Of Music Marketing

The Music Biz is not the art of music – it’s the business of music.  The ugly truth is, if you as an artist are not willing to sell out you are not willing to sell many records.  The Beatles knew this fact and used it to sell more music to more fans more than any other artist.  The good news is you can do the same if you are willing to follow the three music marketing tips of the Beatles.

What is your take on this topic?  Feel free to place your comment below.  In the mean-time, here’s to your success in Today’s Music Biz.

Click Here to Discover the Secrets of Success in Today’s Music Business. Or log onto www.simbiz.info.