Posts tagged as:

social networks

How to Create a Wikipedia Page for your Band/Music

by Disc Makers June 28, 2011

WikipediaGetting a Wikipedia page approved for your music project can be tricky. It can also be great for building credibility and gaining exposure for your music.

Because of the sheer number of relatively unknown independent artists out there, Wikipedia has become very strict in its guidelines for accepting artist pages. Wikipedia editors are composed of volunteers from around the world and they all interpret Wikipedia’s guidelines a little differently, so, mileage may vary. Read more…

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The Album Release Schedule Is Back!

by Disc Makers February 24, 2011

CD Baby and IndieGuide.com have put together a very interesting and helpful album release schedule – updated for 2011.

Back in the late-90s at Sony Music Entertainment, we had these incredibly detailed setup schedules for albums. That included everything from getting artwork approvals, passing elements to distribution, setting up artist interviews, the works.

Read more…

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@ – A Simple and Powerful Social Promotion Tool

by Chris Robley December 6, 2010

There is one character that should appear in most of your Facebook posts and tweets. No, not YOU, silly! I’m talking about the “at symbol” (@). For many of us, it resides on the same keyboard key as the number 2. And now that we know WHERE it is, let’s look at WHY you should regularly use it in your social media communications.

The simple answer is that the @ symbol has the ability to create a linkage between your social media profile and that of another person’s. Read more…

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10 Things Bands Can Do to Book More Live Shows

by Chris Bracco November 16, 2010

10 Things Bands Can Do to Book More Live ShowsAssuming that you have strong songs and an kickass live show, here are ten simple things you can do to get more gigs:

1. Create a YouTube channel for your band.
Upload a live performance video on YouTube that represents your band at its best. Read more…

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Fresh Pressed: A Great Big Pile of Leaves

by Disc Makers November 8, 2010

A Great Big Pile of LeavesHot off our presses this week is Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex?, a new CD by A Great Big Pile of Leaves, set to release tomorrow, November 9. Here’s a bit more about them, from an article in The NJ Underground:

A Great Big Pile of Leaves is an three-piece indie rock band from Brooklyn who have been quietly making a name for themselves. After releasing 2 EPs (both of which have been downloaded over 6,000 times) the band put out their full length Have You Seen My Prefontal Cortex? to rave reviews.

Read more…

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Hot Links! How Hyperlinks Can Make Your Music Easier to Find Online

by CD Baby October 27, 2010

hot linksDid you know that the hyperlinks you create can boost your search engine ranking and improve your web presence? It’s true! Using relevant link text when you link back to your website, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace etc. will boost and broaden the search ranking of the page you are linking to. These keyword-studded “back links” will make it easier for your fans to find your web pages in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing because these pages will rank better in search results. Read more…

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Music Marketing 2.0: The Digital Brand Manifesto

by Dexter Bryant Jr. October 11, 2010

Every artist needs a fully customized DIGITAL BRAND to succeed. Proper branding requires the following:

  1. A unique web domain separate from an artist profile on the record label website. The artist’s website functions as the central web hub for that artist’s digital brand.
  2. A simplified e-commerce system on the artist website. Easy check-out store supporting various forms of payment (PayPal, credit, debit, etc).

Read more…

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Online Collaboration

by Keith Hatschek and Casey Newlin September 21, 2010

Back in July 2009, an Echoes post offered an overview of a number of online interactive music collaboration sites. At that time, online music collaboration in the form on co-writing, long-distance overdubbing, remix contests, and simply expanding one’s own network of possible music-making partners was just starting to gain momentum. Read more…

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The Thing About Ping, Apple’s New Social Network

by Chris Robley September 7, 2010

PingApple announced last week that they were launching a new social network called Ping which is integrated into their ubiquitous iTunes player. Ping allows music fans and artists to interact and share details about their listening habits. This is another great way for musicians to market themselves, share content, display concert info, and boost sales (artist profiles link to iTunes artist pages). Unfortunately, Apple is currently only allowing artists to start profiles by “invitation only,” though anyone with an iTunes account is welcome to start a user profile. Read more…

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Don’t Miss Press About Your Band – Use Google Alerts

by Disc Makers June 2, 2010

Google AlertsSo you sent out a hundred or two press packs to various newspapers, blogs, podcasts and internet radio stations. Now what? Well, following up is certainly in your best interest, but you might be surprised at how many people will start reviewing your album or playing it on their show without letting you know first. The best way to make sure you catch every press write-up or album review (or even just fans talking about you online) is to use Google Alerts. With Google Alerts, you’ll receive an email any time Google indexes a new instance or mention of your band or artist name on the web. (You can adjust your settings to specify how often you get emailed.) Read more…

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20 Ways To Engage Your Fans

by Scott James May 5, 2010

In this day and age there’s a lot of talk about engaging with fans. Technology has changed marketing from a one way street to a two way conversation. So now that we all know that we’re supposed to engage our fans, how do we do it? I’ve created a list to help get you started with some ideas. Read more…

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How to Create a Facebook Event for Your Shows

by CD Baby March 26, 2010

How to create a Facebook Event for your showsWhen you have a show to promote, you’ll want to use every means available to promote it.

This is very easy (and effective) to do with Facebook events, however a common problem is multiple band members creating separate “event” pages for the same event. What then happens is most of the mutual friends of the band will get three or four invitations to the same event, which looks like it’s three or four different events. Read more…

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10 Marketing Basics for Musicians

by Scott James January 20, 2010

With the barrage of new websites and blogs targeting independent artists, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to marketing your music. Information and ideas are everywhere and unless you’ve got a strong marketing foundation it can feel like trying to put together a giant puzzle without being able to look at the box. With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of 10 marketing basics to help expose the underlying structure that makes a music marketing campaign successful. Read more…

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Online Music Marketing: 38 Metrics and 7 Tools To Measure ROI

by Dexter Bryant Jr. January 18, 2010

Using the Internet to market and promote your music is one of the most affordable ways to establish and build a following. The abundance of free tools and music-based social networks has made music marketing more accessible than ever for musicians around the globe. Rather than investing boatloads of cash into advertising, PR, and radio promotion, instead musicians invest their time. Through social networking and direct-to-fan engagement musicians can achieve remarkable results with online marketing. Read more…

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Indie Resolutions

by Jesse Gray November 23, 2009

10 ways to stay focused and build your independent music empire.

As we roll into the New Year it’s time to make those ever-famous (or infamous) New Year’s resolutions. But have no fear; our list doesn’t require cutting out chocolate or getting up at 5AM to run. We want to help you where it really counts – your music career.

So how did we come up with this master list of goodness? We asked. We solicited answers from working musicians far and wide, as well as tapping into our own staff (we have a few hundred active musicians working here). After we sifted through the rubble we found ten diamonds that kept getting mentioned over and over. And now, here for your career-enhancing pleasure are the best of the best. Read more…

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