A Good or Bad time for Music?

In many ways it's never been a better time to be an artist as the 'democratisation' of the 'industry' means anyone - and I do mean literally anyone - can make a record andput it out for sale. The ready availability of computer sampling software and the like even means there is no longer any need to be a skilled musician in the traditional sense. Moreover low cost digital distribution outlets such as itunes etc. provide a non-discerning open outlet for music to be put on sale. Literally anyone can now be 'in the music business'; no longer are there the old barriers relating to production and physical manufacturing costs associated with the old 'vinyl' industry where, unless you were signed by a record label, it was as good as impossible to make a record, let alone market it. 

So, that's the upside, but with this opening of the floodgates has come - unsurprisingly, of course - a deluge; a deluge of self made, self produced and self marketed music. So much so that it's almost impossible to sort the wheat from the chaff and, worse still, because all music is now so readily available, it is no longer a scarce commodity and, by dint of the laws of economics, has largely become financially valueless. 

Music is now, by and large, simply given away. Spotify, soundcloud, myspace, youtube, facebook and/or by the many dozens of other 'social network' and download distribution channels - let alone the thorny matter of illegal downloading - make everything so freely available to the extent that why would anyone actually go to the bother of buying it? And of course people aren't buying it and so revenue streams for artists, both real and potential, are drying up at an alarming rate. Music itself will survive -  people will always make music and people will remain compelled to self express as long as there is a sun  in the sky - but, for now at least, the ability to make music for money seems severely curtailed. It's a

bit of a win win for the consumer - we can have whatever music we want, pretty much however we want it, for zero cost - but a far less rosy outlook, I would suggest, for those seeking some financial reward from the creative process.

Agree or disagree, we'd love to hear your views.

Social Media tips for Musicians

Social media and social networking networking allows artists to connect to their fans in a number of ways, and make discovering music much easier.

Since web 2.0 was created social media and social networking sites have taken off and are now a major part of any companies or musicians marketing efforts, the reason for this is the outreach these social networking sites can have, the Internet has always been a brilliant way to share music. Now I'm a bit of a social media geek, so i thought i'd share with you a few tips!

Myspace started off the movement for bands to create their own online presence, and since then there has been many more sites offering the same kind of thing. I know you’re probably thinking I’m crazy but if there is one thing Myspace is still good for, it's hosting your band page. Many people when they search for your band name will find your Myspace page at the top of their results. Although Myspace is dying (& desperately holding on for dear life), it is still a great SEO booster for your band and a great way for people to hear a couple of your tracks & find out where else you are online.

Twitter has become a part of the mainstream culture, it can be a powerful asset in music promotion that not only helps spread the word about new music, but is great for making real-world connections with people on an individual basis. Twitter allows the artists and fans to share links to radio interviews, YouTube clips of live performances or SoundCloud links to an artist’s latest tracks. Users can also upload images of behind the scenes photos or flyers for upcoming gigs directly to the Twitter stream with services like TwitPic. Artists can get insight into what the community thinks of their latest track, suggestions for where their fans would like them to play a gig or to give their followers the oppourtunity to help pick artwork design for an upcoming album release. Twitter is a direct line of communication between fans and artist’s.

Soundcloud is a platform for sharing music, and is a great way to discover new music. It has had a significant effect on the way music is consumed. Soundcloud works brillantly with other social media websites, as every song that is shared has a unique URL, so a new song can be linked directly. The soundcloud player is embeddable, where the Myspace player is not, and it allows the artist to decide whether they want to make the track downloadable to fans. Overall Soundcloud is a brillant social media website that allows interaction with other websites, making sharing much easier for artists and fans.

Facebook is a great platform for artists and fans to share and discover music. Applications can be added to an artists Facebook page, such as BandPage (RootMusic) which can be made the default landing page, and offers a clearly laid out page with a music player, which can be linked to Soundcloud, and can be updated with new gig announcements and links to iTunes to purchase music, as well as a Twitter stream. The ‘Like’ feature for artists pages is another element that can spread the word about a particular artist, when a fan presses ‘Like’ on the artists page, it automatically updates in the Facebook feed, so all of that fans friends can see that they have ‘Liked’ that artists. Facebooks other facets include the ability to upload photos into different albums and the ability to create events and invite all fans to RSVP.

YouTube

YouTube is not only a great way to showcase what you’re up to, your music videos, and live performances but it is also a great discovery engine. Many people will click on your video if they find it in the related videos section of a band they already like. I always urge any artist to set up a YouTube channel, start off with something simple, like recording yourself covering a song that's popular at that moment in time, it's a guaranteed way to at least get a couple of hits on your video, and you never know, whoever is watching your video might even click through to some of your other vids. YouTube is becoming more of a search engine these days, if someone wants to learn how to play 'Stairway to Heaven' they don't google the tabs, they search for it in YouTube.

When used together Social media is a powerful tool, artists can make music discovery easier by spreading themselves on every possible networking site, and with the ease of these websites being able to interact with each other so effortlessly, it makes social media awesome.


if you need any help with setting up social media sites for your band or organisation, we can help and have some very cost effective pricing offers alongside our general press, publicity and promotion support packages.