Great news! The FAA has announced new rules that make airlines have to care about musicians. The New York Times has up a post that says if you are carrying an instrument there will now be ways to keep it in the seat next to you and if you can store it below your seat you can carry it on. Check the full details here.
Lately I have felt a critical mass of friends talking about using ReverbNation’s Promote It in order to get new fans and concert attendees. The service has the ability to take the thinking out of Facebook promotions and ads for those who find their interface complicated and annoying. They offer pre-designed plans for you to either promote a song, an upcoming show or just get more Likes for your page. Get more info on this service here.
I know, you have had you’re on eye one of those super awesome and expensive fog machines (and if you do and you live in the NYC area, hit me up since I have one I’d love to get rid of) but you can actually save a ton of money and make this happen for $5. Just watch the above video and have at it!
One of the questions I often hear from smaller bands is “How do you have the time to take down all the people posting your record illegally?” and they are often shocked when the answer is “Who Cares?” Yes, I do not care whatsoever if people download the music of the groups I work with, because I have made a decision that as a business plan I would rather have as many people hear the music I work on, than to try to curb them from stealing it and limit our audience. (note: I am presenting this argument as one aimed at those who have not had yet established themselves and become a big player in their genre, that realm of musicians sets up a whole new set of problems)
Recently, we came across a comment on one of our posts that asked “What do you do when the rest of your band trusts you too much and thinks everything you say or do is gold?” While this is a rare instance it is an issue that can be detrimental to your music reaching its full potential. One of the best things about music is everyone is able to have an opinion. If everyone involved in a project is humble and reasonable, everyone’s opinions can be discussed and an easy consensus can be reached.
While the world buzzes about Spotify, Rdio and MOG, one of the coolest things about these services is that it opens a whole new world of promotional opportunities for groups to share what they have been listening to. The biggest door this open is to get features on blogs where these blogs show curated playlists by musicians. The always awesome blog Property of Zack is one of the first into this exciting new format and has been doing awesome Spotify curated playlists. Some of the first they have is where all of the groups on Thrice’s latest tour each contributed a playlist of their current favorite tracks. The ways these playlists can be used are endless, whether it is a playlist of what inspired your latest record, seminal tracks or even just your favorite tracks of a certain genre. This is sure to become one of the more popular features on every big blog in the land. To get on the boat, start pitching some blogs you’d like to see your music on for this feature and see if they will get on board.
The world for musicians and songwriters just got so much brighter. In the AppStore you will now find a version of Garageband similar to the iPad version, waiting for you to make some great music with…. or um… At least sketches on a tiny keyboard that you can later use to make great music with! Get it here!
If you have an iPhone or look at social networks you have seen links to the iOS only (for now) picture sharing social network know as Instagram. The service allows you to import all of your friends on Facebook, Twitter and your contact list that also have the App. Your fans also have the ability to follow you if they see a picture you posted to Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. You may be asking yourself what good does it do to have your fans follow you on a social network where you only post pictures? You’d be surprised, here are just a few ways you can promote your group on Instagram:
1. Post pictures of your latest album or press you have gotten so your fans know to go check it out.
2. Instagram has geo-tagging built in so that you can tag yourself at soundcheck at the venue you are playing that evening to remind your fans you have a show that night.
3. You can show behind the scenes glimpses, and bond with fans in the comments section of your photos.
4. If you are able to take particularly amazing photos and have lots of fans, you have a chance of getting on the featured page which can get you added promotion. Photos with the most likes go to a page entitled “Popular” where the whole world can see your name and you can get some serious branding and recognition for your bad-ass photo.
5. It’s FUN! Instagram has tons of cool photos and they really look great. Many of the filters make the iPhone camera usable for taking great photos you can use for a wide variety of sources.
When looking to tour the country it keeps becoming less cost effective to lug a huge gas-guzzler across the land, with a trailer in tow. GreenVans seems to have a great, affordable option for bands who wish to rent a van that runs of Bio-Diesel. Check out their website and email them to get a quote before you budget other touring options.
Hey! Long time no see! I know, you probably assumed we dropped off the face of the planet but really, we were just gearing up for something even more amazing. As you can see this blog has a great new look, that we are very proud of. We have also moved the blog from Movable Type to WordPress (word to the wise, if you aren’t an ultra-coding geek, stick with WordPress as your CMS). You will now see more than one post from us every weekday consistently (if not more), just like we used to do. The other exciting news is that we launched this site to gear up for the Musformation Book! It is finally, almost complete. To welcome us back if you can spread the word by clicking all those share buttons and let people know we are back we would REALLY appreciate it. Stay tuned for some GREAT content, we already have almost 100 new articles written, and waiting to go out and show you some great new things in the world of music. So much cool stuff to come and please let us know if you see anything funny going on in the new website. Thanks!
PS Thanks to Jackie and Matt for doing an amazing job and making this new design what it is!
Most of us spend our teenage years dreaming of playing arenas and
getting to do cool things like blow up a Tyranosaurus Rex on stage,
shoot lasers through your legs during a guitar solo and project images
of frogs being blown up like a Jodorwosky film. OK maybe those were my
teenage dreams but we still want to do something looks totally awesome
on stage. The good news is you don’t have to wait untill you get to the
arenas to do something cool on stage. The bad news is it just takes a
little bit of effort. Here are some ideas of how you can easily add some
cool visuals to your live show for cheap.
One of the most important parts of getting fans out to shows is to make sure they know you are coming to town. One of the most under utilized tools for this is to link your Songkick profile. By linking this page fans can sign up to get updates when ever you are in town for the duration of your career. This insures they will be aware of when you come around. Songkick shares concert listings with Bandcamp, Yahoo, YouTube, Hype Machine, BBC, Mobile Roadie, etc., so more people
can find out about your gigs. If your gigs aren’t showing up on Songkick learn how to make them do so here.
