Being Your Own Marketer

Today's post at the Copyright Alliance blog got us thinking about how today's musicians develop a fan base. The digital revolution has led to unprecedented ways to connect with potential audiences, but the landscape can be tricky to navigate.

If there's any consensus about what you need to succeed, it's probably much the same as back in the analog era. Talent (even if it's currently only your mom or GF/BF who thinks you've got it) and persistence are still your best bet. The good news is that you've got tons of tools to start convincing the rest of the world.

While there's no shortage of new technologies to promote and distribute your work, getting going can seem daunting. FMC talked about ways to get your music out there at our "What's the Future for Musicians?" events in Chicago and New York City (as well as our earlier seminars in upstate NY) — we'll be archiving the presentations online as soon as they're available.

In the meantime, here are a few interesting places you can visit to learn how to "market yourself."

FMC Advisory Board member Derek Sivers is a hero to many for having started CD Baby — a service that's helped countless indie musicians sell physical discs and get their stuff in digital stores. Derek recently sold the company, but he hasn't given up on helping artists promote their work. His site has tons of DIY tips for musicians, which he's constantly refining and adding to.

Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan are the authors of a book called The Indie Band Survival Guide, and they also run a website of the same name. (We got to meet Jason in person at our Chicago seminar). The book you have to pay for, but the PDF that it's based on is still free. The site has tons of information about tools you can use to promote your music.

Ariel Hyatt is a publicity expert who appeared at our Big Apple event. Her main site is here. (She's also got a new book called Music Success in Nine Weeks.)

David Rose has a blog called Know the Music Biz that's full of good tips.

It used to be you pretty much needed to have a label or distributor (or spend a lot of time consigning stuff at individual record shops) to get your tunes to retail. Nowadays, you can "stock" your music with all the leading digital stores for a nominal charge. There's the aforementioned CD Baby, which includes digital servicing when they stock your physical disc (you can also opt for digital-only), TuneCore (which also offers CD duplication and marketing tips) and ReverbNation — which recently went from being just a streaming player to a full-service digital distributor.

Of course, once you've made your music available, you gotta let people know about it. Today's artists have a lot of different means to do so — podcasts and webcasts (either their own or other people's), blogs, social network sites and online "radio" stations like Pandora and last.fm. And let's not forget good-old-fashioned terrestrial radio. Indie artists may be mostly locked out of commercial stations, but there are stil plenty of opportunities with non-commercial, Low-Power FM and college broadcasters.

The bottom line is that you've got great deal more opportunity to self-promote than at any other time in history. This might mean a lot of work that doesn't seem to fit into the "rock star" stereotype of boundless leisure. But it also means more control over your musical destiny — something pretty rare in the days of bottlenecks, gatekeepers and middlemen. (If you think musicians should be able to make their own choices about how their music is distributed online, you should check out our Rock the Net campaign for net neutrality.)

Of course, we're curious: what are some of YOUR favorite means to promote your music?

This Week In News: Friday, September 7, 2007

Music Industry

The Music Man
An interview with Rick Rubin, co-head of Columbia Records, sheds light on the music industry and how it can be saved amidst the impacts of file-sharing.
by Lynn Hirschberg, The New York Times, September 2, 2007

Apple Supersizes iPod Capacities, Labels Unenthusiastic
Apple now offers its popular iPod with 80GB and 160GB capacities. However, labels worry that those who do fill their 160GB devices to capacity will be filling it with pirated video and audio rather than purchased content.
by Paul Reskinoff, DigitalMusicNews, September 5, 2007

An Update On EMI's Digital Album Share
EMI's increased digital album market sales are believed to credited to their movement away from DRM-protected tracks.
Coolfer, September 5, 2007

BMI Posts Record Revenue Totals, Artist Payouts
Although the CD sales are slumping, BMI recorded an 8% increase in revenue totals from last year. The increase is credited to revenue from cable and satellite radio, as well as other new media outlets.
by Paul Reskinoff, DigitalMusicNews, September 4, 2007

RIP for the CD?
Fong offers another interesting look at the demise of the CD while examining areas where it still succeeds.
by Jennifer Fong, The Edmonton Journal, September 3, 2007

Indie Labels Venture Into Venue Business
In an effort to expand business, indie labels such as Omaha's famous Saddle Creek have begun to open venues. Their access to artists and their opinions has so far lent to the venue's success.
by Mitchell Peters, Billboard.biz, September 4, 2007

Radio

Thousands Support Local Radio
Over 10,000 responded in favor of the FCC's proposal to limit the amount of licenses one group can obtain in the upcoming FCC opportunity for non-profits to build full-power FM radio stations.
Prometheus Radio Project, September 5, 2007

Airing Their Differences About Pay for Play
With Internet and satellite radio stations paying artist royalties, musicians are starting to wonder why terrestrial radio stations aren't asked to the same. Broadcasters argue that artists benefit from the publicity of terrestrial radio but in the face of lagging CD sales, the music industry is pushing for royalties.
by Marc Fisher, Washington Post, September 2, 2007

Momentum Builds for Low Power FM Radio
Support is growing for the bipartisan Local Community Radio Act, which would create thousands more LPFM stations to offer local news and programming.
Free Press, August 24, 2007

New Devices Bring HD Radio to Itunes
Two new devices which combine HD radio and Itunes "tagging" are helping to promote HD radio as a whole. "Tagging" allows HD radio listeners to tag songs they like and then purchase them later from the Itunes store.
by Susan Visakowitz, Billboard.biz, September 6, 2007

The sky is falling for the music industry? Not so fast...

A lot of ink is spilled on the declining fortunes of music industry. It seems like every other day a new report shows album sales are down for this period or in that country. In the wake of all the doom and gloom, the always informative Digital Music News posted an interesting report showing the sky isn't exactly falling everywhere.

The researcher eMarketer is projecting revenues in the North American music industry sector will grow at a rate of 2.8 percent annually between now and 2o11. Revenues will climb from $23.1 billion to $26.5 billion largely on the strength of live concerts and publishing. eMarketer also predicts mobile and digital assets will offset decreases in physical sales.

"Every major category of the live music industry has been growing and is poised for continued expansion, including ticket sales, merchandise sales, ancillary venue revenue and tour and special event related sponsorships," according to the group.

Of course, the other growth area is independent music. Derek Sivers, founder of independent music distributor CD Baby, reports his sales are up 30 percent this year. All of this is great news for the independent musician -- usually the most profitable area for any musician is touring and merchandise sales and, obviously, a general increase in the independent market bodes well for all indies. It also leads you to the conclusion that music fans may be voting with their wallets for independent music over the major label stuff, but that's a subject for another post.

Anyways, the concert and merchandising upticks haven't exactly gone unnoticed in the music industry. Live Nation just completed a purchase of music merchandiser Trunk.