ENTER: The Good Guys

There is a lot of talk about the insufficient (and often unreliable) ways that sites like YouTube and Spotify distribute royalties. But there is roughly an equal amount of talk about the potential for significant amounts of income to be generated from these platforms if it is done right. Recently, a new company has emerged to at least make sure that musicians see the royalty money they are already owed. Audiam recently announced new investments totaling in one million dollars to help with their efforts, which have already collected and paid-out millions in royalties dating all the way back to 2007. This will go a long way towards turning these services from handy publicity platforms to legitimate moneymakers for up and coming musicians.

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How To Approach Traditional Media Outlets

If you are launching a PR campaign that goes beyond social media - as it should – there are slightly different approaches you should take to the different media outlets. If you are in a relatively small town/city, you might think that the local newspaper doesn’t care about reporting on music, and there’s a decent chance you’re right. However, they are often interested in what their citizens are up to, especially if there is a chance of them (you) getting into the national spotlight. To these types of papers, you want to pitch a “homegrown heroes” type of story to convince them that people with no particular interest in your music will be reading it because you work in the local hardware store or you delivered their paper.

If you live in a medium-large city, chances are that there are local magazines and probably at least one alt-weekly. For these types of publications, you not only want to include your locality in the pitch, but also tell a story about your band that makes for good reading and brings relevance to your upcoming album or big show.

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Nickel-and-Diming For Songwriters

There are many ways to monetize your song(s) beyond the obvious and ambitious goal of selling a couple hundred thousand records. The option we talk about most often is licensing/publishing. However there are smaller things you can do to (hopefully) pick up a few more bucks here and there by milking every penny from each track. One thing to consider if you’ve already tried licensing/publishing is to remove the vocal track from the recording to make the song more generally usable for potential buyers. This is also a great solution if you have already be hesitant to go down this path because of possibly offensive lyrics or if your voice is more “distinguished” and not necessarily agreeable for a wide audience. You could also record alternate versions of the song – live or acoustic for example – and release them as b-sides or feature them as a fan club/crowd funding perks.

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Music Career Life Support

When you’re band is starting to come together, it is easy to get caught up in the work that you already expected to do (i.e., writing, rehearsal, recording, gigging/touring). It is understandable if you assume or feel like you’ve done your part and can leave the rest to fate. However, if you want all of that work mean anything, there is a lot to be done on a day-to-day/week-to-week/month-to-month basis to keep your career advancing. One thing you have to make sure of is that all of your marketing driven communications with your current/potential fan base, and not to rely on social media alone. It is also understandable if you, as an artist, are either afraid or weary of promoting yourself. But the fact is that your career’s longevity, strength and progress entirely depend on how much you put into it.

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One Good Gig Deserves Another

It's not easy getting gigs when you're starting out and it's even harder to get good ones. Even if you've been playing out for a while, it can be pretty difficult to get a steady stream of them. The best way to keep 'em coming and keep them going well doesn't necessarily have anything to do with you music, stage banter, of even how many Facebook fans you have. A lot of it depends what you do after the show is over. First, you (or at least one member of the band) absolutely need to stick around until the end. It is not onlt the respectful thing to do for the other bands and the person who put it together, but it is the only way to get paid. While you're at it, hang out (READ: network) with the other bands for as long as possible. Even if they liked you set, you may not come to mind next time there is an open spot on a bill they're playing so it's important to bond with them. It will also go much smoother when you try to extract contact info if it comes up naturally then asking in passing while you're loading out. You also want to make sure to thank EVERYONE else who was involved in the show. This goes triple for the guy who booked it, double for the sound guy and probably the door guy, the bartender and pretty much anyone else who didn't have to pay to get in.

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A New YouTube Policy That WON'T Test Your Faith In The Internet

YouTube is known for many things, but only to those in-the-know is it thought of as a fantastic platform for music marketing. Although there are still very loud stirs in reaction to rumors/press about coming changes to the way it currently works for (or against) musicians, as of this week they are offering something good. The cornerstone of any marketing campaign is of course The Brand, and YouTube is now offering custom URLs to creators with 500+ subscribers. While this definitely does not benefit most musicians right now, it gives a very good reason to dust of the video of you playing at your younger brother's after-prom party.

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Facing the Music of Facebook

Many musicians have been up in arms over Facebook’s recent changes to its advertising policy. The language or the policy sounds like it is mostly intended to limit the marketing abilities or major brands/products, however BANDS have somehow (rather sneakily) been thrown under this umbrella. It used to be that Facebook was the best (and most free…completely free actually) way for artists to connect with their fans and publicize upcoming shows and releases. But now Facebook wants people to pay to let a fan know that they’ll be playing three block away from their apartment on Friday night. A band I know in Brooklyn recently told me that he had tried to post a link to nice write up they got from Pitchfork, but of their (relatively meager) 400 + fans, only 11 saw the post. It didn’t matter how many read/liked their posts in the past, not even their friends who Like’d them to be polite got to see it until he posted it on his personal page.

On the one hand, it’s ridiculous that a group of twenty something who wait tables part time are being treated the same way as Target or GAP. On the other hand, it’s also very, very, very ridiculous. The silver lining is that if the history of the internet and social media is any indication (along with growing resentment towards Facebook in general), something just as good or better will eventually take its place.

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