Videos by American Songwriter
I just recorded the best song I ever wrote. What’s the new model for getting my music heard? What to do with my demo?
Jonny Corndawg, singer-songwriter: I think Bandcamp is probably one of the best ways of getting music out there. It’s free, easy to spread around, handsomely set up … Giving away a song certainly won’t hurt you. Especially if it’s a good one. Actually, it could hurt you, if the song/recording sucks and you send it out to everyone then you may have just shot yourself in the foot.
I think the single biggest problem with the accessibility of Internet, as a means of getting your music heard, is there is no quality control. There are thousands of low budget, crapped out EPs and demos just floating around, wasting bandwidth. Crappy recordings and crappy songs leave quite an impression. Just not always the right one.
Traci Thomas, independent publicist and artist manager at Thirty Tigers: Give it away. Put it up on Bandcamp, collect e-mail addresses in exchange for the track, hook it up to your Facebook page. Make people “Like” your page in order to get the free track.
Do I post my music on Facebook, or is there a better place for music?
Jacob Jones, singer-songwriter; marketing director at Artist Growth: Yes and yes. Post it on Facebook, post it on Twitter, post it everywhere. It is good to put it online at a central location and then you can easily see how many are getting downloaded. Some sites even offer you analytics on where those fans live, how old they are, and when they downloaded it. This way you can discover, for example, that you are huge with 14-year-old girls in Vancouver. Surprising, right? Just make sure when you post it, you actually engage with your subscribers and not just beat them over the head with “I have a song! Hey everyone, I have a song!” The competition is stiff and cleverness can get you in their ears faster than aggression. No one likes to be annoyed.
Tim Putnam, vice president of client services at Moontoast: Facebook is a huge channel I don’t think you can ignore. It’s important to realize that while there are a bajillion people on Facebook, you’re really interested in creating a concentrated community. Your posts aren’t going to reach every single person who likes your page. Moontoast’s Impulse App lets musicians sell music and merchandise within Facebook and is super simple to set up.
Kendel Ratley, director of marketing at Kickstarter: If you’re still establishing your fanbase, check out where your peers, favorite artists, or bands you want to emulate share their music and follow suit. There are countless platforms and venues to debut your work. Identify your audience, think about where you discover music, and post accordingly.
If I post my music for free, will anyone want to buy it?
Traci Thomas: Yes.
Jacob Jones: Yes, you will probably make some money on very considerate folks buying it even if they got it for free before. You need to think about value as more than just dollars at this point, though. If you are giving it away for free, you are probably still in a stage of development. Music lovers talking about your songs, going to your shows, and sharing those experiences with their friends can be more valuable at times than cash in your pocket. Just don’t tell your landlord that theory.
Mike King, instructor and director of marketing at Berkleemusic; former marketing/production manager at Rykodisc; former director of marketing and managing editor at Artists House Music: Artists have to think about sales differently. They have to romance new fans a bit – it’s really kind of like dating. I don’t think going in for the kill immediately makes for the best long-term relationship, you know? … Providing free music is key to building up your larger community, and I think that in terms of sales, you are going to want to sell a variety of items to your fans from your own site, with the idea that you can sell items that are more personal, and not available in traditional retail. Talk to any of the third-party, direct-to-fan companies like Topspin, Nimbit, Pledge Music – they will all tell you that the average revenue per sale is more than $20. This is because artists have this relationship that they have built with fans, and they are monetizing much more than a single song on iTunes.
Tim Putnam: Build your audience/e-mail list, then follow up with bundles, and creative offers. Look how Third Man Records builds their bundles – they have a very niche and dedicated audience and they constantly give them cool products. Even if you can’t afford to produce merchandise, you can give people shout-outs on Twitter and Facebook, host live chats and video events. Debut music videos to a core group of people … then the next time you have something to sell, take it to those core people first.
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