If you’re a musician working to build a career in the music business hopefully you have already covered the basics like getting your own website, setting up a MySpace page and signing up for distribution through a company like CD Baby or TuneCore.

There are numerous solutions now available for marketing music at a minimal cost but keep in mind that none of them can offer a magic bullet for success in the music business. Below are a few categories and companies worth considering when you sit down to develop your music marketing plan.

Radio

Online radio is growing quickly in popularity among music fans as many of the providers have greatly improved their music recommendation technology and added social networking options to help their members discover new music. Here are two popular online radio providers that accept submissions directly from artists, have a large base of listeners and feature links that allow fans to buy the music they are enjoying.

Pandora – Accepts artist submissions only via mail but it’s definitely worth the effort. They only add songs into rotation that meet their quality standards. Their address is: Music Genome Project Submissions, 360 22^nd St. Suite 440 Oakland, CA, 94612. Cost: $2.50 (for postage)

Last.FM – Artists can directly upload their music to the site, create an artist page, join genre based groups, add friends and build their own station. Cost: $0

Licensing

Licensing music for television, films, video games or advertising has emerged as one of the best ways for independent artists to actually get paid for their work plus gain exposure from a wide audience. If you control the rights to your music, a non-exclusive agreement can be signed that typically pays 50% of the licensing fees collected. Two of the leading licensing companies that accept submissions directly from artists are:

Rumblefish – Rumblefish features an online music licensing store that makes it easy for buyers to search and purchase licenses directly from their catalog of available music. They also allow artists to keep 100% of their PRO royalties Cost: $0

PumpAudio – PumpAudio was recently acquired by Getty Images and is now able to offer Getty’s existing customers access to their music licensing catalog. Cost: $0

Gigs

Playing live shows is one of the most important things an artist can do to build a fan base and create momentum for their career. Of course it’s very difficult to get booked if you are not widely known, regardless of your talent level. A couple of online tools that can help artists improve their chances of getting booked are:

Sonicbids – Sonicbids allows artists to create an electronic press kit (EPK) that can be submitted via email instead of mailing costly and environmentally unfriendly traditional press kits. They also feature a list of promoters and gig openings where artists can submit their EPK for consideration. Cost: $49.95 annually.

Eventful – Eventful is a leading provider of local community events calendars where artists can upload their tour dates. Their unique approach allows fans to create demand for a specific artist to play in their town. Artists can use demand information to help them plan a successful tour. Cost: $0

Mobile

Many music fans now spend more time on their mobile device than their PC: It only makes sense to develop a mobile strategy for promoting your music. Mobile marketing solutions can include text messaging, ringtones, ringbacks, full track downloads, wallpaper and mobile fan clubs. Two solution providers that make it easy for artists to start marketing their music through mobile devices are:

Broadtexter – Broadtexter lets independent artists easily create mobile fan clubs plus text fans with artist news and regionally based tour date alerts. Costs: $0

MyxerTones - MyxerTones allows artists to create mobile phone ringtones and wallpapers that can be bought directly from a mobile device or the artist’s website. Artists can set their own prices and keep 60% of the revenue collected for their content. Costs: $0

Awareness

Building a strong fan base is the key component to a successful career but simply finding a way to get noticed by fans can be quite challenging. There are a lot of great options for promoting your music on the web and here are a few you should definitely consider:

OurStage – OurStage features a monthly competition where fans use a voting system to determine the best song and video by genre then select an overall winner. There are several monthly prizes, including a $5000 grand prize. Fans of your specific genre will get exposed to your music and even have the option of purchasing it. Cost: $0

Artist Data Systems – ADS can automatically synchronize an artist’s information, news and tour dates across several social networks and music related sites. This allows an artist to expand the number of places where fans can discover their music without the hassle of individually managing the same information on multiple sites. Cost: $0

ReverbNation – ReverbNation offers a vast assortment of promotional and viral marketing tools for artists including email newsletters, media players, street team programs and embeddable widgets. They also provide detailed reporting and statistics on fans, songs, traffic and widget use. Cost: $0 (they actually pay artists a share of ad revenue from their site)

 

 

 

 

John Doe is the founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, a solo artist and actor. John answers questions from our community members in the WWJDD? blog. Photo by Autumn de Wilde

Question from Kathy in South Carolina

Hi JD,

I am a songwriter in an emerging band and we are about to complete and release our debut cd. What is your take on sharing songwriter roya

lties with others in the band? Also, how does one decide which performing rights organization to join these days? Do you have any practical tips and insights on choosing between ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc? I have read that you can contact each of them and decide based on options and relationships you develop, but I have not approached a particular one yet.

 

Thanks for your guidance!

Kathy Osborne

From the band South85

www.south85.com

www.myspace.com/south85band

WWJDD?

Hey Kathy,

You share the songwriting credit any way you see fit. Either work done, like melody, chords or lyrics contributed or situation inspired, being there & essential to the process. It doesn't have to be 50/50. Always do what your intuition tells you is right. You will probably do the right thing & won't have regrets. You could say all your songs were written by Jesus or your mommy if you wanted but then they would collect the royalties.

I used to be w/BMI, mostly run by broadcasters i.e. radio & the like. They were competent but sort of hands off, didn't really hear from them personally. I switched to ASCAP because it's run by songwriters & composers. Also someone I've known for a long time works @ ASCAP & I get a bit more attention that way. That only applies to an established writer but anyone can have a champion in any company. By which I mean if you meet someone at either society who really gets what you write then work w/ them. It appears that ASCAP collects a bit more money than BMI but I'm sure someone else might say the opposite. Both are non-profit & do a good job. I don't know any writers who use SESAC so I can't really comment on them but they definitely are the lesser of the three.

best of luck,
Jd

If you have questions for John Doe about music, the music business or life feel free to email them to wwjdd@knowthemusicbiz.com.

For more information on John Doe check out theejohndoe.com or YepRoc.com

If you set up your MySpace page to help launch your music career but fame and fortune haven’t automatically followed here are some additional ideas to consider:

1. Be really, really, really good

Work extraordinarily hard at perfecting your craft. Write some great songs. Quality matters more than ever, make sure your songs are exceptional and the recording sounds good as well. You will often have only one chance to get heard. Don’t put any of your work out for public consumption unless you are sure it’s ready. If you are not really, really good, different or unique you will never be able to get noticed among the thousands of bands competing for attention today.

2. Support local music in your community

Supporting local music in your community is the right thing to do if you truly love music; it is also a great way to build important relationships. Regularly attending (and actually paying!) at local shows will get you noticed by the bands and venue staff and can provide a good opportunity to meet others in the local music community. When you are one of only a handful of people to attend a local show it will be noticed and much appreciated. Building relationships and helping other local artists can be a critical component to your success. You need local support to launch your career before having a chance to grow regionally or nationally. You never know who might be willing to help you out, facilitate an important introduction or need an opening act at some point in the future.

3. Play live shows as often as possible

Regularly playing live shows is probably the most important thing an artist can do to help their career. Performing live is the best way to build a local fan base and having an active fan base willing to pay for your shows is the best way to attract the attention of venues, booking agents, managers, distributors and record labels. Of course, the challenge is to get booked (even in an opening slot that doesn’t pay) when you are just getting started. Venues expect artists to bring paying fans to their shows, they book bands with an established following not “great” acts no one has heard of before. When you finally get booked do everything possible to bring a crowd with you. Getting gigs is very important but also very difficult, see item # 2 for some helpful hints.

4. Get a website

MySpace is an important part of every artist’s online marketing strategy these days but it should not be your primary web presence. MySpace should be one of the many places that helps drive fans to YOUR website. Like it or not an important part of being an artist today is building a brand. As a brand you need to have your own domain name that you control and can keep forever. Having your own website also allows much more flexibility and choice in selecting tools for reaching fans and selling music. Today there are several website solutions available for artists that are extremely easy to use and don’t require any HTML or programming skills. One website solution specifically tailored for artists is Hostbaby. Their websites include an email tool, blog with RSS feed, concert calendar, streaming audio, the ability sell music through your existing channels and costs only $20.00 per month. Let us know your experience with other artist website solutions and recommendations.