FATdrop webhead Alex was on the panel at the Independent Label Showcase in Brighton (UK) last week, giving advice to bands and independent labels on how best to utilise the internet for marketing and promoting music.

We summarised the tips from the event on our blog , hoped they might be useful. And below...

build a mailing list: having a list of people who are likely to want to pay to come to gigs and buy albums later down the line is essential

give music away for free: but make sure you’re getting something in return, like an email address to add to your mailing list. And be careful what you give away – you won’t be able to sell it to any other groups afterwards. Consider giving away remixes instead of actual album tracks

don’t spam the fans: when you’ve got your mailing list, make sure what you’re sending out has value and is entertaining – treat the email as a product and remember that it’s competing against emails from the receiver’s friends and family, who aren’t trying to sell something

facebook v myspace: the panel thought that facebook is better for engaging with fans; but myspace is better for discovering music, so make sure you keep both/all communities up to date

you must be on these sites: discogs and last.fm

get your music on to mp3 blogs: bloggers are generally happy to receive music from bands so just email anyone that might be interested. To find out who you should be approaching use hype machine and imeem to see who’s most popular

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