Passive Promotion — “Set it and forget it” music promotion

What Artists Should Know About Stereofame

June 25, 2009

I’ve written “what artists should know” articles on Last.fm, Jango, and thesixtyone, but after months of casual participation, I can’t seem to get anywhere on Stereofame. Rather than bore you with my less than noteworthy experience, I turned to the undisputed kings of the site, Temple Scene. Philippe Rose and Ric Levy make phenomenal electronica-tinged [...]

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In-Depth Interview at GarageSpin

June 8, 2009

GarageSpin posted an in-depth interview with me this morning. Topics include songwriting, mastering, gear, and crazy promotional stunts, including a series of personal ads I placed in the Los Angeles Times. You can read it here.

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Time Management for So-Called Musicians

June 4, 2009

Eight months ago, I started this blog to chronicle the promotion of my seventh Color Theory album, The Thought Chapter. My focus gradually shifted to music promotion in general, with a couple of detours into mixing (though I’m still posting monthly sales and profit/loss figures for each of my albums at colortheory.com). I’ve settled into [...]

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What Artists Should Know About thesixtyone

May 28, 2009

In January 2010, thesixtyone unveiled a complete redesign, eliminating the social aspects of the site. Predictably, long-time users revolted and eventually left. This article and the comments that follow provide a brief history of the rise and fall of the site. While you may still find it worthwhile to upload your material, there’s little you [...]

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The Electronic Copyright Office

May 21, 2009

I’m a big fan of the whole “paperless society” thing, as my Kindle will attest to. Going electronic saves time, money, and resources – unless you’re dealing with the US government. Every few years I register a new album with the United States Copyright Office, and every time I wonder if I’m supposed to submit [...]

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Real Songs for Real People

May 14, 2009

Todd Durrant of A Different Drum here. Brian asked me to write about a project I’m working on with Marcus Fellechner of Rename. During the past few years, we’ve seen the music market become more open to independent artists thanks primarily to the internet, and also less profitable, thanks again to (ironically) the internet. Though [...]

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Is Jango Payola?

May 8, 2009

My last article on Jango sparked spirited discussions on the Just Plain Folks forums, the CD Baby forums, and Music Think Tank. Words like “scam” and “payola” are recklessly thrown about. We need to dispel these unfair and inflammatory accusations before we can have an honest debate. Is it a scam? Absolutely not! It is [...]

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The Lead-Up EP

April 30, 2009

Some argue that the album release cycle is a thing of the past, and that artists have moved into an “always on” mode of promotion. Even in the studio, we blog, Twitter, and post videos of our recording sessions on YouTube. Some argue further that the album format itself is dead. Personally, I’d like to [...]

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What Artists Should Know About Jango

April 23, 2009

For my latest thoughts on Jango Airplay, see Why I Still Use Jango Would you pay $1 for a new fan? Would you pay 2 cents to have your song played to a fan of your favorite band? I would, and did, with Jango Airplay. Jango offers free internet radio that plays listener-selected artists alongside [...]

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8 Reasons to Release a Follow-Up EP

April 17, 2009

You’ve just released the album of your life. The songs are honed to perfection, the production is top notch, and you found your true voice as an artist. How can you possibly top it with your next release? I suggest you don’t even try. Instead, follow it up with leftovers. You may call them outtakes, [...]

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