The comments is where some amazing thought went down and Corey laid the following comment that I recommend you all go and do right now on your Myspace page.

…Until next October, here’s a way to improve the experience for you and your fans. In response to Rich Dale’s comment above, there is a way to replace the Myspace player with the Bandcamp player. I did it at my myspace page

I believe the code is

<style>

table table td.text div
{
display:none;
}

table table table td div
{
display:block !important;
}

</style>

Just put it at the beginning of your “Musician Bio” section and then paste the Bandcamp embed code after it.

So there you have it. Get rid of the super compressed, load-hogging Myspace player in favor of the sleek download, streaming, payment and email generating player by the cool folks of Bandcamp (on our list of Music Marketing 101 Tips).

Here is a screen shot of Corey’s Myspace page where you can see the Myspace player removed in favor of the BandCamp one. Great move Corey and one I hope many bands take note of.

You may also note that Corey is using his Myspace page as a place to send people to more accessible points including his

• Mailing List (managed by FanBridge)
• His Facebook Fan Page
• BandCamp page
• Personal Blog - Making It
• Twitter Account

Feedback and Homework

I’d love to see some more screenshots of people getting rid of the Myspace player. Anyone that sends one to marketing@genyrockstars.com will get the photo featured in an upcoming post.

Also, I’d love to know your thoughts on this great little trick. My guess is that you could use any player that fits your fancy including ones from our friends at ReverbNation, Grooveshark or Audiolife.

Till next time rock stars.

-Greg Rollett

When we launched Label 2.0, we wanted to come out with a backbone and reach as many musicians as possible. Not just to get them inside of Label 2.0, but to let them know that they need to take control of their own career, manage their online business and look at working on the business and marketing of their music as much as the music itself (disclaimer: your music always comes first - without hit songs, all the marketing in the world can’t save you - kinda).

Check out this walk through video on what’s inside of ReverbNation from Label 2.0.

(Internet Music Marketing from ReverbNation and Label 2.0)

ReverbNation has been a leading source of tools, information and innovation for musicians since going online a few years ago. With their free music widgets, email software, distribution, online stores and stats programs, you’d think they’d run out of free things for musicians to use to spread the word about their music.

Not so. Over the past few weeks, ReverbNation has added several new things into their artist “Resources” section of their control panel, including information about several well known music industry consulting groups for bands to contact should they want outside promotion.

And as of last Thursday, ReverbNation unveiled the free “Advanced Tips” training module for users to learn how to fully utilize their ReverbNation memberships. This module has been crafted by Eric Hebert from Evolvor and the other half of Label 2.0. The training was created for Label 2.0 members and gives musicians a great resource that will help them use the tools and resources that ReverbNation has to offer.

It will also give indie musicians (about 450,000 of them) a chance to see the advanced and step-by-step training that Label 2.0 has to offer. This is the type of partnership that we envisioned when Label 2.0 launched and going into the 4th quarter and into the new year.

Here is a screenshot that shows you how to access the Label 2.0 ReverbNation Module.

If you are not a member of ReverbNation, you are really missing the boat. Eric breaks down what they have to offer with the following tutorials:

• The Power Behind ReverbNation
• Control Panel Intro
• Setting Up Your Profile Correctly
• Using Reverb’s Widgets, Apps and Download Tools
• Understanding Stats and Analytics
• Using Reverb’s Tour Widgets, EPK and Gig Finder
• Using Reverb’s Street Team Application
• FanReach and Fan360
• Using ReverbNation for Digital Distribution
• ReverbNation’s Ad Revenue Share and Paid Download Programs
• Integrating ReverbNation Into Your Website, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, and Press Kit Promotions

We are looking forward to working with the Reverb Team as we integrate their tools with the artists inside Label 2.0, give them inside tips and help musicians through tech problems in our forums.

Thanks for sticking it out with us this long and I look forward to talking to you guys in the comments and inside of Label 2.0. Join the musicians who are Taking Advantage of the New Music Economy

Label 2.0 is your personal road map to building your music business and living the dream you envision every time your write a song, perform live or meet a fan.

-Greg Rollett

P.S. ReverbNation members have a sweet deal to test drive Label 2.0. Go to ReverbNation’s Resource Center now and see what I’m talking about.

With video games and the Rock Band and Guitar Hero titles continuing to rise in sales and popularity, getting your music on the service can be a major income stream and marketing tool. Having your fans play your notes, sing along and get excited with your music is a great way to build a relationship with them from your art.

Rock Band is aiming to help indie musicians put their music into the game, expanding their reach with more songs and giving indie bands the opportunity that has recharged the careers of many guitar legends since the games first came out.

The process comes from Creators.RockBand.com and is a fairly simple, yet in-depth way to get your music digitized and into game mode. Essentially you take your mastered stems (broken down parts of your tracks) and using the Creator Editor, chart the notes in MIDI that become the controls, colors and excitement that you see in the game.

After you upload your song, you can test it out on your own XBox Live, ensuring your notes are correct and on point. When you are satisfied, you upload your song to Rock Band where it goes through a peer review process to ensure quality and playability.

Head on over to the Creators page now, sign up to their email notification list and be on the look out for when this goes live. I imagine it will be soon with the holidays creeping right around the corner and expected sales for Rock Band and merchandise will be at a year end high.

Check out this video for more information:

I am looking forward to seeing some of your Rock Star tracks on Rock Band this winter. Please send them over and we will highlight them here on Gen-Y Rock Stars.

-Greg Rollett

As with all marketing, this is best used in a transparent mode (read the new FTC stuff by Frank Kern, who was sued for millions by them a few years back), and used in moderation. Just because a few people bought something from an affiliate link, doesn’t mean you need to star over stuffing your emails and blog posts with them.

The Major League Affiliate Networks

This post will feature 2 networks and I aim to continue to work with music companies to get their affiliate info. The overall data will be inside Label 2.0 (sorry, need to give preference to those that put food on my table). We will be looking into iTunes and Amazon and how you can use their expansive network and product catalog to make some extra change.

iTunes Affiliate Program

Sign up to becom an iTunes affilaite here. It is super easy and done through LinkShare (affiliate link), a reputable affiliate marketing company that is known for paying its affiliates on time and tracking your stats pretty aggressively. The notion of the iTunes affiliate program is that you can link to albums, singles, movies, ringtones and really anything else in their marketplace and make 5% on all transaction. This means if you sell an album for $9.99 you will generate about 50 cents. Not exactly retirement money, but get creative and grow your audience, and the residuals can add up. Signing up for the iTunes program may take a few days for approval.

Check out a FAQ here.

Amazon Affiliate Program

Amazon was one of the pioneers in online affiliate marketing and is essentially how they grew to the size they are. With their affiliate program, you can link to digital singles and albums, physical CD’s, books to guitars and musical instruments along with the millions of other products they offer. Amazon pays commissions directly and has a tiered commission structure, meaning the more you sell the higher your commission. You start at 4% and can easily work your way to 6% and higher by gaining a few sales. Again, this may not be the money to retire on, but in the following idea session part of the blog post, you may be able to get gas money for your next road trip.

Sign-up to be an affiliate on Amazon here (disclosure: Affiliate link)

How to Use These Affiliate Programs for Your Music

Now that you are signed up to the top 2 networks you need to start putting the links in your content, in a very usable and trustworthy way. In this tutorial we are going to use Amazon as they offer a wider range of products and the ideas can be structured for all of them.

Campaign Ideas

The first step is to generate an idea of what you want to promote. Some things off the top of the mind include:

Your gear - Talk about the guitars you use, why you use it, the sound it gives you, etc. At the end of the post say something like, if you want to try it out, here’s a link to grab one yourself.

Bands of a bill - This is the easiest and most efficient. When you have an upcoming show, do quick reviews on the bands you are playing with. Maybe a few sentences on why you are excited to play with them, some pics and maybe a YouTube video. Tell your fans that if they want to check out their music and start learning the lyrics before the show, grab a digital download here and thus link to their album on Amazon. This will get your fans excited about the show if the other bands are cool too and helps promote the other acts and they may return the favor.

Bands of a bill on Twitter - Fire out a Tweet or two saying something to the tune of: “Can’t wait to rock with XYZ Band this Friday - Insert Affiliate Link”

Sidebar links - If your band has a blog (Music Marketing 101) use the sidebar as a place to promote stuff you believe in, from music to gear to great books you read on a road trip. Your fans are interested in the stuff you do and these links can get a good amount of attention. The best part is that if they click on a link to buy something and end up buying something else during that visit, you get credit for that sale as well!

Emails - You always want to provide value when sending emails to your fans. One really cool thing we have done with some of our roster of bands is send emails telling fans to check out another really cool band. Something to the tune of,

“Hey guys - On our recent road trip we couldn’t stop listening to XYZ and we just had to share their music with you. Hopefully we can share a bill with them soon and the show will be super bad ass. Affiliate link.”

Getting Links and Banners

Now, let’s grab these links and banners from Amazon. After you login, you want to go to the links and banners page. From there I would click on the Product Links Tab to start searching for specific products to sell.

The next step is to choose a category, maybe music, DVD’s, books, music instruments or whatever else you are looking for. Then pick the keyword, from product name, to band name, album title or a general category. I do suggest having a product in mind before performing the search. Also remember that if the band is indie, they may not have their album within Amazon’s catalog yet.

Once you hit search it will look for the product. From this screen you need to hit “Get Link.” It is here that you get the code that you need to insert on your site, on Twitter or other places.

This next screen will tell you how to get the links, with either a text only, image only or text and image. You can add your own graphics and change things from here as long as you keep the link intact.

And below is a live affiliate product link for Caveman Theory’s album - The Stone Quarter. I do recommend their music for hip-hop heads, so please feel free to pick up the CD from the link below and you will buy me a beer or 3 when Amazon cuts me a check.

Amazon also has Mp3 widgets, that you can get to on the widget tab at the top. From here you can add whole albums, add select songs and make a “mixtape” to share with your fans or have singles that you think will be valuable to your fans. These will link back to Amazon and you will make commission on the sales.

Then you place the widget on your site, in your sidebar or within a post and get something like this:

Again, that is a live affiaite widget, where you can preview the artist’s music and then allow them to click and buy. The tracks are 30 second clips.

Closing Thoughts

This is powerful stuff and creates a new stream of income for your band and music. I do warn of abuse as when you stuff salesy stuff to your fans, they will start to ignore the ads and eventually ignore you. The goal is to provide value around what you are already offering and doing. Sprinkle links in blog posts you would have written anyway. We always advise against writing posts specifically for promoting affiliate links. It doesn’t come out naturally and your fans can call your bullshit.

This is not to say don’t monetize. Monetize the hell out of your music. Just do it in a way that you would want to be presented. You have something precious in your fans. Treat them like royalty and they will reward you.

Let’s talk in the comments!

-Greg Rollett

The difference, I can (almost) guarantee that I will introduce you to at least one new voice, one new opinion maker on music marketing that will get you to take action - check out their site or grab their RSS Feed. And if you know them all, then number 6 will give you an idea of what to actually do with the crap you are reading. With this intro now in tact, I present the Gen-Y Rock Stars Top 6 Music Marketing Bloggers:

Derek Sivers

Just because he left CD Baby for greener pastures, this guy still lives and breathes the music industry and how it is changing and evolving for indie artists. Not just the business side, but the side of a budding entrepreneur, as someone who listens to others and their stories and as someone who has really seen it all in this business and is just getting started. Check out this clip from the article: Write? Write. Sleep? Sleep. Read? Read. Don’t fight it.

If you’re excited to work, work.  Sneak out of bed at 4am if your toes are tapping, and go do what’s on your mind.

But if you’re tired, don’t fight it.  Sleep.

If you’ve got writer’s block, enjoy the silence while it lasts. In another day, week, or month, you’ll be so filled with things to say you’ll be sneaking out of bed again.

Who knows why the brain is into different things at different times.

But we’re so much more effective when we follow what our body wants to do, rather than trying to fight it.

Justin Boland - Audible Hype

I honestly feel like you can learn more in Justin’s truths about the business and marketing in his writings than any school, book or Label Exec could possibly try to. Honesty and bluntness are the theme over at AudibleHype and the kid isn’t afraid to tell you yur plan sucks and so does your music, but is really quick to put on the folks doing it right, like my friend, artist and producer Godamus Rhyme. Justin and I don’t see eye-to-eye 100% of the time and that’s what makes me respect him. His writing on the state of hip-hop, how to release a record and research into the business is eye opening and “real” for anyone looking to DIY in music. Peep the writing:

…making an album in one week on an independent label and moving 18,000 copies…that’s not failing. That’s not platinum, either, but that’s still good money.

Second of all, let’s really talk numbers.  Brooke Hogan is an Amazon monster of a punchline, but “Brooke Hogan numbers” are both way better and radically worse than Slaughterhouse numbers.  Her first album moved 29,000 copies in the first week.  Her second…well, that one pushed exactly 3,381.  Apparently she’s up to 6000 now…months later…ouch.

But enough about women who could rape Mike Tyson.  The debate around Slaughterhouse brings up some really important points about where the music biz is at in 2009, especially the world of hip hop.

Kyle Bylin of Hypebot

Not to take anything away from Bruce Houghton from Hypebot (best news source in the business), but Kyle gets the interviews with the changemakers. From the 3 part series with Amanda Palmer to Ali from iLike to Jed from Reverbnation. His interviews and in-depth pieces speak to the technical culture the music business is moving into and also looks to get down to where it’s all going. Check out this Q&A with Jed about the challenges he faces in delivering quality content and tools to artists:

Q: As Chief Operating Officer of ReverbNation, what are some of the day-to-day challenges you face leading a tribe of artists?

Jed Carlson: The advent of the Internet has created a myriad of opportunities for Artists, and those that orbit them. Our challenge is to teach them how to take advantage of that. We think about Artists, big and small, as businesses and brands. It’s our mission to educate them on how to take advantage of the Internet, and outfit them with the tools they need to become better – equipping them with the skills, and tools, they need to succeed in the new environment.

An example is the way in which they are approaching the social networks. We have watched as Artists spend countless hours plugging away at their MySpace page, treating it as the ‘destination’ for their business activities. We are training Artists to take a different approach. Social networks should be viewed as ‘lead generation’ sources – giant, FREE, billboards on a super highway of music fans. The strategy for social nets should be to turn as many heads as possible to see your billboard, offer good content and engagement, but also to provide a way for those fans to ‘pull over’ to a place where the experience can be better controlled, the relationship can be ‘owned’, and the fan can be more easily converted into a ‘customer’.

Seth Godin

Yes, the famed author and change making marketer has gotten on the music bandwagon in the last year and his daily dose of information is extremely relevant to DIY musicians. While some are stating that by people following Seth’s talking they are actually not innovating, but following, I still feel that what he has to say about convergence, dealing with customers and fans as well as building a tribe is more relevant that ever to musicians without a clue. Check out this thoughts on “Music vs. the Music Industry“:

The music industry is really focused on the ‘industry’ part and not so much on the ‘music’ part. This is the greatest moment in the history of music if your dream is to distribute as much music as possible to as many people as possible, or if your goal is to make it as easy as possible to become heard as a musician. There’s never been a time like this before. So if your focus is on music, it’s great. If your focus is on the industry part and the limos, the advances, the lawyers, polycarbonate and vinyl, it’s horrible. The shift that is happening right now is that the people who insist on keeping the world as it was are going to get more and more frustrated until they lose their jobs. People who want to invent a whole new set of rules, a new paradigm, can’t believe their good fortune and how lucky they are that the people in the industry aren’t noticing an opportunity…

The New Rock Star Philosophy Guys

Hoover and Vonyo jumped head first into the online music marketing and blogging game with an outstanding free PDF eBook of the same name. Filled with telling tales real strategies and focus along with the here and now of tools, they are providing great support to this new era of rock stars. Their posts range from looking at classic artists and their models to looking into case studies of how to market your band and make some beer money in this business. Check out this quote from a Push vs. Pull Markting post:

We all know the band spammers who constantly post comments to check their music out.  I’m sure it works to a certain extent, but most comments are so in personal that you probably won’t bother approving it or checking it out.

Then there are the other artists who create something that will draw people in to check out their music.  It could be a great youtube video that people just want to share and tell others about. It could be the fact that they are one of the few people to write songs with an 8 string guitar. Whatever it is, they created something unique that gets people interested. Sure, they may have to get the word out initially by telling friends and fans, but if it’s truly special, it will start pulling more people in. People that actually want to see what you’re all about instead of being pushed into it.

Alex Wilhelm from Crazed Hits

Here is the thing with Alex, he is a super smart guy with an ear for the next “it” thing. The thing you may not know about Alex is that his site is the best online marketing research tool on the web for musicians. You know when you are doing SEO and are looking to rank for a keyword? What is one of the key steps? You look at the competition and do it better. With Alex’s site, he gives you the competition, now you need to do it better. Look at their promotions, the gigs they play, the bands they play with, the layout of their site, their fan interactions, join their mailing list and see how they write and anything else that can give you the upper hand. I am not saying to copy, I am suggesting you study. Want to know how important studying this list is? They have featured 72 acts on their site that have been signed to record deals! (Again, not suggesting you get signed, just that being in a position to be signed means you are moving in the right direction).

He also interviews music execs and hit makers. Get to class!

That concludes my top 6 recommendations. Did you learn about someone new? Is there someone deserving on this list that I forgot? Let’s shoot the music marketing blogger talk in the comments.

-Greg Rollett

photo by Michael Desmarais

Another frequently asked question we get all the time is “what networks do I need to be on?” or “should I only get on iTunes?” and “I can’t manage more than Myspace or Facebook, what do I need to blog for?”

I always reply, all of them.

Then they look at me like they have the time to create pages on the gazillion music sites and other niche networks on the web. How do they have time to upload their music to the countless services and digital download companies that may never result in one sale, one download or one page view.

I hear you. I do.

Then I read this article OneWorkingMusician.com, and a guest post from David J. Hahn, also of MusicianWages.com. Here is the excerpt that should make you realize why I recommend being everywhere:

I received an email last week from Sony’s motion picture department asking me for the full-quality version of one of my piano recordings they are considering using for one of their upcoming films.

The production company working on the film found my recording on iTunes. That’s right, iTunes. No agents, no radio play, no label executives pushing to get exposure for their artists – just iTunes.

Do you know what that means? It means that there are music supervisors for big films that are typing little searches into the iTunes Music Store and trying to find new music for new movies. It means that a DIY musician’s best case scenario can come true. I’m talking about the scenario that begins with that musician putting their music on iTunes and ends with a licensing contract from Sony and their music exposed to, potentially, millions of movie goers across the world.

Ok, So How Can I Do That For My Music

By Marketing the crap out of your music for starters. By being in the right place in the right, and having what someone is looking for and being able to be found. In Label 2.0 we go indepth about how to be found, brainstorming on everything from bands you sound like to what your music sounds like to producers and fans to building a band description that is killer.

What I NEED you to do right now is open up a Word Document, a Google Doc, a Text File and take 20 minutes and brainstorm the crap out of the following:

Who and what is my band? Describe everything from the members to the lyrics to the influences to the sounds and instruments. I remember one guy from a tv show, needed a song that was crafted by a Gibson Guitar - as Gibson was a sponsor.

Who do I/we sound like? Break it down, go major and go indie. People search based on music they want it to sound like, just at a cheaper rate.

What keywords describe your band, your music, your songs, your song titles, your live show, your attitude, your skillset, your local scene and everything else you can think of. Then find ways to get them into your pages, your descriptions and tags.

Distribute This Information in Your Marketing

• Now that you have everything nicely written out, copy and paste it in all of your networks. It should be a painless process.
• Send all the traffic from all these 3rd party sites back to your site or blog (Step 1 from the last post on Music Marketing 101)
• Use aggregators and only upload once (TubeMogul for videos, Artists Data for live shows, Reverb, TuneCore or WaTunes for Digital Dist)
• Set up Google Alerts or RSS Feeds for new music services and signup as they go live. Get your music and your contact info on there.
• Repeat, over and over again and find better keywords, more laser targeted descriptions and keep connecting with people. Your music will be seen, if you hustle and then hustle again.

For more on SEO, grab our free SEO report, along with the Gen-Y Tool Kit and 100 Social Media Resources for Musicians by signing up here.

I’d love to hear what you guys think of this stuff and how it fits into your own music. What are you trying to be found for, known for, who are you trying to reach? Leave your feedback in the comments.

-Greg Rollett

photo by Pocheco

Sometimes the hardest step is the first. When you are a baby and trying to stand up for the first time, it’s pretty tough. Starting school, not so easy. Promoting your music, also difficult to get off the ground running.

Why?

There are so many directions to be pulled in. There are too many things to get done. Too many things on the to-do list and none produce immediate results. Spend 4-5 hours everyday for 2 weeks designing your website only to throw in Google Analytics to see that no one is coming to to the site. We are all limited by time and being indie musicians this is even more true, between working a day/night job, creating music, playing live and spending time building fans. You want to make the most of your time.

If you haven’t checked out the Gen-Y Rock Star Tool Kit, I suggest picking that up (it’s free) as one place to start. Below is what I suggested to one band that really had nothing done in the marketing department, but had a physical CD that sounds kick ass (tip 1 - don’t wait till your garage is full of CD’s to think about getting rid of them).

Step 1 - Setup Shop Online

• Wordpress - self hosted
• Mailing List (FanBridge, Aweber, Reverbnation)
• Physical sales and digital distribution (CD Baby, Audiolife, TuneCore, WaTunes, PayPal, Bandcamp, Reverbnation, etc)

Step 2 - Create Content

• EPK (use Sonicbids or Reverb, or self host it - check out how Ford does this)
• Bio / About - Tell us about your band, use keywords and content that is intriguing but also tells people what you band/music is about.
• Videos - Not music videos, but band videos from in the studio, at practice, live shows, behind the scenes and shots of you just talking.
• Pics - Host them on Flickr, title, describe and tag them properly.

Step 3 - Market Your Ass Off

• Start connecting with bloggers asap. Give them something to write about, build up your inbound links and think about delivering exclusive content for every interview, feature or guest post. Think of this as getting in the Source or Rolling Stone 2.0.
• Get people to listen to your music by paying them. Use Grooveshark and Jango and test real songs, get feedback and see your fanbase demographics.
• Start looking at stats and tracking your progress (Google Analytics, RockDex, BandMetrics, Su.pr, etc)
• Play live, get emails, promote to them, ask them for sales, guest blog, shoot more videos, write more content, give your fans cool stuff, ask them to promote your stuff (affiliates), leverage other bands and networks (JV Partners), play live some more, be aggressive, advertise on networks that you can target your ass off (Facebook, Grooveshark, Jango, Google Content Network, etc), sell stuff other than music-  make it exclusive - make it good and repeat as much as possible.

Rock Star Tip - No one is going to work harder than you in the indie game. Those who hustle the hardest, win. This list is really just the starting ground, but if you only did the things in this post, and did them well, you can make a living as a musicians and content producer.

A Content Producer?

That’s right. Even Jay-Z said his music sales were the lowest income stream in his portfolio. But he uses that to leverage everything else he does. For you this can mean many things from live shows, to merch, to membership sites, to DVD’s to books, custom songwriting, acting, producing, advertising revenue, affiliate income or anything your imagination comes up with.

As a Gen-Y Rock Star, your job as a musician and a marketer is to produce content worth sharing and monetize it.

I hope this post is a start to get you in the right direction as quick as possible. The best advice is to do something. You can read books, blogs, take courses and everything else, but taking action will always prevail. You may make mistakes, but you are progressing. Just like that first step as a baby or your first day of school. Look at how you walk now and well, you are reading blogs, so school did a little bit of good!

What parts of the plan do you need help with? Let me know in the comments.

-Greg Rollett

I think this is great for musicians and I wanted to quickly walk you through this new addition.

Take advantage of this feature and also relay the message to your fans to let them do your marketing for you.

Hope you enjoyed the video.

-Greg Rollett

From Music Marketing to Internet Marketing

In the Internet Marketing world, product launches are the big money makers. You know the super marketers launching hardcore money making products retailing for the special price of $1997, but only if you act now. The ones that have those long, one-page sales letters, that go on and on with testimonials, features, benefits and guarantees. The product launches that friends of the super marketers promote to all of their lists, and in the process you get 10 emails from 10 different people all promoting the same product. The one time offers for more internet riches, that with only the click of a button, you will be on your way to enjoying the beach and luxury lifestyle you always dreamed about.

The problem with this kind of launch…

They work!

They work so damn well that launch after launch these big shot Internet Marketers bring in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars everytime.

You want to know a little secret? The music business does the same thing.

Remember when 50 Cent first signed with Dr. Dre and Eminem? That was the start of his product launch. It got music and hip-hop fans buzzing. He was building affiliates and teammates that would be able to promote his music further as a team that he would be able to on his own.

The Internet Marketing to Music Marketing Process Exposed

Those famous Internet Marketing sales letters: The stories that graced the cover of XXL, the Source, Vibe and Entertainment Weekly.

The story: Pop culture was fascinated with his remarkable rise from being shot 9 times to signing with the most prominent producer and his wonder kid apprentice.

His affiliate team: Dre, Eminem, G-Unit, Interscope Records, Aftermath and Shady Records Team members, press, fans and sponsors.

His offers to reel you in: Those free mixtapes that came in abundance. Guest appearances on other hip-hop and R&B artists’ tracks.

The result: 872,000 copies sold in the first week! Over 13 million copies sold worldwide in the year it was released (2002)

The snowball effect of his first major product launch: 4 Multi-Platinum records, shares in Vitamin Water, G Unit Records, G Unit Clothing, Cheetah Vision Film Company and on and on and on

Ok, ok…I know what you are thinking. You don’t have the power to align yourself with moguls like Dre or Eminem. You are a local band, bedroom MC, touring musicians, whatever - that is looking to start, sustain and grow your career.

This advice applies to you 100 times over.

Leveraging your surroundings to create anticipation, trust and lust for your music, your products and your live show. In the next part of this music marketing feature we will look at your USP (unique selling proposition) and how to create the Internet Marketing wave around your product.

I’d love to know what you think about the above scenario and how you think it applies to you and your music. Share in the comments below.

-Greg Rollett

Tribes

Seth Godin, the legendary marketing pro and author dedicated an entire book to discussing tribes and their impact on society. To him, and others like Kevin Kelly, building a tribe is nothing more than leading a group of people. In your music, you can be a leader, whether for a movement of political scale, humanitarianism or just for a certain scene that you partake in. The goal with the tribes is to create a culture and have a dedicated number of fans that are willing to do anything, pay anything or go anywhere to experience what you have to offer.

Story Tellers

(Greatful Dead concert)

The best stories of all time in the music business go back to amazing story telling. From the Greatful Dead fans telling stories of legendary shows to stories of seeing the Beatles for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show, stories helped create a culture around those bands. Modern day stories may include 50 Cent and his shot 9 times into riches story or even (as lame as it is) the Britney comeback story. If you can create a story, one that will be retold and retold for the hands of time, you will have a culture that will grow as quickly and passionately as any advertising campaign.

Youth Movement

photo by Conor Keller | fortysixtyphoto.com

Young people love joining cultures outside the norm. Most of these cultures are a result of music or art that populate locally, grow regionally and are eaten alive by companies and corporations all over the world. If you can connect with youth culture you have the ability to connect with movers and shakers that are responsible for over $200 million in recreational spending every year in the U.S. alone. The new youth generation, Gen-Y or the Millennials, are the largest generation in the world, and in some countries like Iran, make up 60% or more of the country’s population. Targeting them based on their wants and mental assessment can play a huge part in your growth and development as a band, or in the music industry.

How to Market to These Groups

Marketing your music to these groups can be tricky. There are many downfalls to doing it wrong. Creating a bad first impression is a hard thing to overcome especially in youth culture. Keys to developing a culture through your music can be created both organically and through brainstorming and great planning.

Organic Culture Creation

Live Shows - Playing out live and making an impression on your audience is the biggest way to spread your message and build a culture. Solillaquists of Sound from Orlando have toured the country and built a large independent following almost solely through live performance. Crowds leave the room talking about Divinci on the MPC or Swamberger’s passion in every lyric that comes out of his mouth. They never go through the motions and just play songs to fill a time slot. Think of your live show as a performance and create a culture around the songs and the people enjoying your songs.

Your Online Attention - I called this online attention because it boiled down to two attention spans. One is getting the attention of your fans online. This is no easy feat. The second part is after you have their attention, following up and talking to these fans so that a culture is created with you leading this culture. As a leader you need to share information (in this case it could be songs, lyrics, video, live appearances or some type of education) and you also need to communicate this information. Think of a CEO or a boss. While they have the big office and the big paycheck, if the information that leaves his office never gets relayed to his team, the company will fail. Same for your music. The Internet makes it very easy to close that communication gap and lead your tribe.

Planned Culture Creation

In this aspect, you would be spending marketing dollars towards getting fans involved in your culture. This can range from widgets that showcase your music and interactive media or media buys on influential sites that your fans visit frequently. The key with planning a culture is to take aspects that make your music special and see how they fit into the culture around your music. It can never be forced or it will not work. Talk to your fans, talk to your friends, producers or other artists and see how they view you and your music. This will help you in the planning stages.

So, does your music have culture?

What is your band’s story?

What do you want your fans to say about you?

-Greg Rollett