1) Get opinions, then promote

Your own opinion doesn’t count because more then likely you love your own
music. You need to get unbiased opinions and seek feedback from friends, family, artists, and if possible industry professionals. It is needed to get at least 30 different opinions, but to get a stronger indication to where your music stands, you should get around 60 different opinions. If the majority loves your music, then the next step is to go out and promote. However, if the majority dislikes your music, then you should get back in the studio and figure out how you can make your music better.

2) Stay current with music industry news

You need to stay current, what was successful 10 years ago is not successful now. Any new artist should keep a close eye on the music business, learning about the current trends in record deals and promotion and more importantly how newly established artists have maintained their popularity. It’s hard to obtain and preserve mass market exposure in this constantly changing music industry, therefore staying current will give you the best chance for success.

3) Experienced production

It’s hard to choose/find the right producers since there are so many out there right now. But to narrow down that list, you should find and use the most experienced producers, engineers and songwriters. Money spent on an experienced producer will go further then money spent on promotion. The producer you chose should also share the same vision and direction for your music as you do. Quality production is a must; it is the sound of your music we are talking about here.

4) Don’t be a loner- promote and collaborate with other artists

Do you think any of the successful artists now made it on their own or did they get help along the way? The answer is the latter; therefore it’s a waste of time to think you can make it alone. You should consider collaborating and promoting with other artists. Collaborating with also further your artistry and it will gain you recognition in another fan base. With many other artists out there looking for some help, it shouldn’t be hard to find someone to team up with and further develop both of your products. Collaborating with also further your artistry and it will gain you recognition in another fan base.

5) Expansion

This is a crucial step; you need to have someone that can handle the social media, video production and software development, as it is one of the best ways to promote your product. First, try to see if someone within your band can handle any or all of these duties, it would save you from opening up your wallet. However, if members can’t handle it for any reason, then you need to find someone that can, most likely a manager. Expanding your brand can separate you from the rest of the artists.

Practice

You’ve heard it before, “practice makes perfect.”

-You should practice at least one hour per day.
-Play the same piece over and over again, even until you get blue in the face.
-To learn new songs, you should try not to figure it out by ear, it should be from the tabs and chords charts.

Performances

Your make or break, you wont want to mess this up.

-Never challenge yourself live, instead just play it the same way every time so you don’t make any mistakes.
-Book four shows a month, if possible at the same club/venue.
-Don’t take a gig for just playing covers, you will be stuck as an average artist.
-Don’t listen to other artists on stage, focus on yourself and the songs you will be playing later that night.

Fans & Social Media

The more people you get to your gigs, the more successful you can be

-Make sure you get your friends and family out to your performances, even if it’s the third performance they’ve seen this month.
-Use social media to promote your next performance or product, you need to keep your fans up to date.
-On the day of the show, make sure to update your friends and fans via facebook, twitter, etc.

The Studio and Recording

Do your research

-When selecting a studio to record your music, try not to select the cheapest one unless you have to… it is your sound we are talking about.
-Rehearse plenty of times before stepping into the studio to record, you are paying by the hour so you will want to get it done on your first couple of takes.
-Be open, if a producer suggests to take the song in a different direction, then you should listen.

Never settle on being that typical artist. Setting yourself apart from other artists will eventually gain you the attention you deserve.

Email Is The Digital Glue

In today’s digital age, there has been a shift of focus with artists from email marketing to social media marketing.  However, a well-structured email will establish a better relationship than the forms of engagement through social networking.  Having friends and followers are important, but emailing fans is still way more personal and direct.  You need permission to reach people through email whereas anyone can “like” anything with little interaction.  Email is simply a deeper level of engagement.  Metrics still show the ROI (return on investment) on emails is 10x the value of social media interaction.

How To Get More Email Addresses

There are some creative ways for artists to get more emails.  Instant downloads has been a more common way to get emails.  Here, the artist offers a free download and for the fan to receive the music, the fan must enter a valid email address. Once the email address is given, the fan must open the validation email to receive the download.  The artist receives a valid email address and the fan receives free music, a win-win situation.  Another option could be to offer a discount on music or merchandise in exchange for an email.  Once you receive the email address, the goal is provide the fan with some future value so they will continue to check and read your emails.

The Welcome Message

The viewer is most engaged at this moment.  This is truly the start of the relationship and here content should be seen instantly.  Content should consist of: tour dates, links to official website and social networks, list of albums that are out, and a brief update about what the band is up to.  The design and lay out is important.   It should not be all text in standard paragraph form, the email should have sections outlined and should include pictures.  Most importantly, the email needs to tell the viewer what to expect in upcoming emails.  That information will hopefully remind the viewer the benefits of opening upcoming emails.

How Do You Structure An Email That Won’t Be Disregarded?

The emails need to be well structured.  The shorter the email is the better and it should contain 1-2 “call to actions”.   Always drive the viewer to the connected landing page.  For example, if you say, “go here for tour dates”, don’t bring viewer to the homepage, bring them to the tour dates page.  Use “go here” or something like that instead of “click here” to make sure the email is not put in a spam folder.  Another important aspect of the email is finding the right voice.  In saying that, you should know your audience and your voice depends on whom you are speaking too.  Depending on what type of artist you are, you should include the tone you’re most comfortable with.  If you have someone else helping you with the content of the email, it should be a collaborative effort.  At the least, the email should include a quote from the artist.

Another important part of the email is the subject line.  Finding the right subject line can be a rather lengthy process and may not happen for the first couple emails.  Include whatever the main call to action is, should be short and sweet.  Including the word “free” can never hurt, and rarely gets filtered by spam.  If you’re sending out a weekly email, you really shouldn’t use the same subject line.  In general, it’s better to change up the subject line occasionally.

Lastly, considering more people are reading emails on their phones, you need to create local, friendly versions that can fully open on both the phone and the computer.  It’s also helpful to create a link in the email that can convert the email to be seen on a smart phone.

When You Notice The Emails Are Not Working, What Should You do?

You can spice up the subject lines and start a promotion. You can change up the structure of your emails. Include different call to actions.  Consider changing the tone of the email, maybe the email is too forceful or not entertaining enough.

At some point, however, it may be time to let the uninterested viewers go.  If you notice certain viewers are continually not opening the emails or not clicking within the emails, there’s a way you can try and reengage the viewers.  You can start a campaign and ask viewers to click a link to reengage or opt out. Any people that didn’t respond don’t delete them; just move them to another list.

Email marketing is still an important tool for artists to reach their supporters.  Even with the rise in communication within social networks, effectively marketing through email still proves to be a valuable resource for artists.

The impact of social media on hip hop with words from Talib Kweli, Wiz Khalifa, Devi Dev, Bishop Lamont and more.

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These groups are keys to your success and are likely already supporting and spreading your music. For the part time musician, this first circle of “contacts” is your first set of “satisfied customers.” Your music provided a service to this group and now this group is out there in the community as walking talking testimonials to the quality service your “music business” provided them. These testimonials and communications about your music are the roots and foundation in which you organically grow your fan base. Without a set of initial fans championing your cause and validating the quality of your music, you are left to “spam” potential fans or pay advertisers to deliver your message to relevant listeners.

What motivates your friends and family to become your first set of die hard, stick with you to the end fans? What turns them from passive listeners into the marketers and sales force for your music? Motivations can differ from person to person, but it is likely a combination of several factors which include: your consistent push of quality music, the desire to see/help you succeed, the desire to be part of something bigger than themselves and the value of being “the first to know” of a new music out of their friends.

What did you do to motivate these people or deserve their support? Basically nothing beyond what you are currently doing now: making great music. Your family, friends and fans (in that order) will care about and support your music as long as you keep consistently providing them with great new content. Stay focused on top notch excellent music content and your fans will inherently want to help spread the word.

What does this mean as an independent artist? Consider each new listener as a potential new customer to “satisfy” with your music. If you do your part as a “music business” (notice you are not a marketing business) and provide they will invariably do theirs as your marketers. In order to help your fans help you market your music we have outlined a few broad steps:

1. Focus on recording good songs with high production values
2. Get these songs online so that it can easily be shared
3. Get fans involved with your music and caring about your success
4. Reward them for being a fan

If you would like to learn more about how Audimated can help you turn your fans into your sales force watch this: