Two months ago, I began implementing Ariel Hyatt and Carla Lynne Hall’s strategy to increase my Twitter following, as laid out in their book Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter. The basic idea is to follow potential fans in the hope that they will follow back. I discovered that the more selective I am in choosing who…
I’ve always been skeptical of cryptocurrency. Still am. Early last year when NFTs were at max hype, I sent out an email blast to my fans declaring: I never got around to creating NFTs, and I doubt I ever will. It would by necessity drag you into the crypto space, and I’m convinced that’s not…
I last wrote about Spotify playlist pitching back in January, when I detailed my campaign with Playlist Blaster. I’m still getting thousands of streams per month from those placements! As much as I’d love to hire them again, I’m not made of money. So I decided to pitch my single “Crystal” the old-fashioned way: reaching…
I’ve been releasing a new track every 4-6 weeks for some time now, and I daresay I’ve got it down to a science. I upload the track to DistroKid a month or so before release, then work my way through the checklist below. Many of the items won’t apply to you, but they’re sure to…
I’ve got an album launch coming up, and I’m determined to make it my best yet. That means putting together bundles of merch that my fans will actually want, and not just what I think is cool. I would’ve been happy taking a chance on cassette or MiniDisc, but vinyl is too big a proposition…
Until recently, I only dabbled in influencer marketing. It seemed promising but daunting. To do it right, I’d need to research influencers across multiple platforms and determine which ones align with my brand. Then I’d have to figure out how to reach them. A cold DM? Comment spam? Next comes the really awkward part: negotiating…
In my last installment, I detailed the mechanics of my free + s/h funnel. If “free + s/h funnel” is gibberish to you, you can get yourself up to speed here. When I started, I had eight titles available on CD. Now I’m down to five, with less than 20 copies of the two I’d…
In a recent How I’m Promoting My Music This Month email newsletter (subscribe here), I mentioned that I was working through a long to-do list to promote my new album. Several subscribers emailed to ask for a copy of that list. It’s full of abbreviations, acronyms, and other indecipherables, so I figured I’d break it down…
Patreon has been doing a lot lately to help creators maximize their potential on the site. In addition to the recently launched Patreon U, I was invited to not one, but two special workshops: Special Offers & Membership Reboot. The former allows you to offer a limited-time reward at a particular tier. The latter involves…
You’re probably familiar with song share links that direct fans to the music service of their choice. For example, here’s one for my last single: There are several free and paid options. I can’t say that I’ve tried them all, but I’m partial to Feature.fm Smart Links. It’s comprehensive yet easy to use, and offers several advantages…
UPDATE: I gave Playlist Push another whirl in March, and they’ve come a long way since I wrote this. You won’t miss anything if you skip straight to my latest review, Playlist Push Revisited. My Spotify numbers are weak compared to my other social stats. I hover around 1200 listeners and 3600 streams per month….
I haven’t bought a CD since 2011. If it isn’t on Spotify, to me, it doesn’t exist. Once you’ve experienced the convenience of having the entire history of recorded music in your pocket, why would you go back to schlepping files around? 50 million paid subscribers agree. Thus, it is with great sadness and a…
MusicSubmit is a music submission platform, similar to recently reviewed SubmitHub, but with a broader reach. They too cover music blogs, but their primary focus is online radio. CEO Michael Corcoran credited me with 25 “Best Shot” submissions to give MusicSubmit a spin. Now sit back as I share my journey from painful anonymity to online radio glory. Approximately. Step 1:…
UPDATE: I wrote this in March of 2016, and it quickly became my most popular post. Four years later SubmitHub has over 1100 curators including radio stations, YouTube and Twitch channels, Spotify playlisters, and Instagram influencers. Read about my latest experience, including tips and tricks from SubmitHub’s founder, here. I hate submitting my music to blogs. Hate…
UPDATE: Since writing this article, 8tracks disappeared and recently relaunched, so I’m not sure how much of this still applies. You can also promote your song on Feature.fm through Deezer. Read about my experience with that here. Right now my favorite Feature.fm feature is Smart Links. Every musical artist wants their work to be heard….
Your album is mixed and mastered, finally! You’ve got cover art and maybe even replication lined up. Now what? This is the question I was hired to answer. Specifically, I was asked to create a to-do list for a band’s debut album. They were generous enough to allow me to share it with you. Keep in mind…
UPDATE: ReverbNation acquired Audiokite in November of 2016, and improved upon it with their new Crowd Review product, which I review here. This is the story of a mediocre song. An objectively mediocre song. My song. Curse you, data! If you’re looking for unbiased feedback on your latest track, you’ve got five options. Well, five-ish. There’s SoundOut,…
Ever spotted a terrible video on YouTube with an inconceivably high view count? Of course you have. Would it make you feel better knowing that most of those “views” were completely automated and only lasted 30 seconds with the sound turned off? Vagex (referral link), a hugely popular YouTube exchange platform, is largely to blame….
I’m excited to bring you a follow-up to one of the most popular articles on this site, by friend and music licensing veteran Helen Austin. -Brian My music career has advanced significantly in the two years since I first wrote about film and TV placement. As more and more licensing opportunities become available to indie artists, I’m often asked for advice. It’s nice to…
Quality graphic design is expensive. I paid $500 just to license the cover image for my last album, plus $600 for the rest of the design. That’s fine every couple of years, but now that I’m releasing songs individually, I need a cover design every month or two. I decided to give 99designs a try,…
I measure my success as a recording artist by the growth of my mailing list. The best way to get someone to subscribe is to offer something in return, and a great song is a powerful incentive. Here are ten techniques to negotiate that delicate exchange: 1. The classic squeeze page. You’ve probably stumbled onto…
I’m often asked how to get music into film and TV. I owe my small degree of success to a music supervisor from Bunim-Murray who found me on thesixtyone and placed several of my songs in MTV shows (more info on my latest and largest placement here). For a more helpful answer, I turned to my…
I promote to establish and nurture a genuine relationship with my fans. I measure my success by the number of subscribers to my mailing list. Notice I said mailing list, not Twitter followers or MySpace “friends.” I’m talking about the people who grant me permission through a double opt-in process to email them directly on…
When I put out my first CD in 1994, you had to be signed to be taken seriously. So I created my own label, 11th Records. I even went so far as to sign another band to my roster. Loosely translated, I sold a friend’s CDs on my web site. My letters went out on…
That's all, folks!
That's all, folks!