Tasmanian Musicians. Carry That Weight

Since recently dabbling in assisting bands increase their public profile by way of an online music newspaper that was initially called "Music In Tasmania," I was underwhelmed by the lack of responses that I received after contacting them. The major response was/is a surefire winner. A chap called Mat from "Argusband" contacted me with other websites that the band is on so I have tweeted them with the relevant hashtags with moderate success at this stage.

I didn't bother contacting Rod Fritz as his online presence is making my job pretty easy as far as "Music In Tasmania" goes.

What took me aback was that I received four letters complaining that they hadn't been featured and the bands that I have featured are "....crap...." "rubbish...." "....wankers...." and so forth. Such letters were the first correspondence that I had received from these bands. Needless to say, they're off my schedule.

Having a small population base put me behind the eightball to start with. Having such useless and pointless comments from some bands narrowed my field even more. This saw me launch straight into 'Plan B.' This entails a name and content change for the paper. It is now called "Music And Arts In Tasmania." It is now including tourism, art, photography and theatre as well as the original topic of music.

Where am I going with this blog? I was heading away from my original theme of discouraging musicians from being aloof when nobody knows who they are for a start. Added to this, it's not a good idea to send unprofessional slurs about other bands to the likes of myself with my mere 26 years as a professional musician. My word travels far and fast. Make it work FOR you. It's not rocket science!

If any bands are viewing this entry as criticism, then you're way wrong. It's the music business. Are you into your music as a hobby or are you treating it as a business? If your answer is the latter then I suggest spending some time exploring legitimate and worthwhile to your specific needs. It really is worth it. You don't have to upload you're entire catalogue of music to each site. I do recommend, however, having a consistent bio. and profile picture.

The music business has been around longer than we have so they know all the tricks. You can make yourself stand out simply by being easily reachable via Google search. This is where consistency comes in. People will be more likely to 'join you' on another site if your presentation is consistent with the other sites that you're on.

It takes time for each site to 'generate' you and make you Google friendly. Patience is a virtue.

The best promotion that I can offer you is via "Music And Arts In Tasmania" (below) which is heavily reliant on my Twitter activity. All you have to do is send an occasional tweet my way and I can get you great mileage; namely in the form of a "featured article." In order to keep up to speed, simply subscribe to the daily edition of my newspaper.

Tips To Selling Your Music Online.

In an era where digital music is frequently pirated and distributed freely around the internet, it might seem highly difficult to discover new methods of selling your tunes. Sure, there is always going to be listeners who download albums illegally, but allowing it to ruin your day or marketing strategy isn't going to help anyone. Finding true success within the digital market is by no means easy, but never impossible if you have a decent product and the right plan.

Right off the bat, you must ask yourself what about the music influences people to purchase it, and drop their hard earned cash on one of your creations. Obviously, writing material which is inspired and enjoyable is the first step, but even this might not be completely enough. Listeners need to love the music so much it's impossible to resist, and something they can't help but share with friends and family, hoping it will evoke a similar positive reaction.

Creating a deep, diverse selection of music is another critical step in making some cash off your tunes. Perhaps if some people aren't interested in one album, there's another with a slightly different style which will pique their interest. Building an impressive discography allows potential fans to experience multiple sounds and ideas, and with enough of them, they are bound to discover something they can jam to. Once someone purchases a few songs, they'll become inclined to download more, becoming thirsty for another taste of your music.

While constructing your discography, it's also significant to remember that quality will always outweigh quantity. Just because there's an extra five tracks or so you've been dying to dust off and post online for sale doesn't quite mean they're ready for public consumption. Capturing accurate emotions, feelings, and inspiring people is what truly pushes fans to spend money, and you're more likely to capture new audiences with top notch material, rather than some B-side you don't even enjoy. Making sustainable, powerful music should be the top priority, and always before a marketing or distribution plan.

Once a record or single is touched up, completed, and prepared for release, it's time to devise an effective strategy to create some buzz and compel more listeners to try out your latest product. Utilizing social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace is a free, easy method to spread the word and drive some more traffic to your web pages. Affordable and sometimes free press release services are available online as well, which help to distribute information to the appropriate music blogs, message boards, magazines and sites. Make contacts with other bands or record labels so you can reach their audiences as well. If you've created something special, people will be listening, and the reflection will hopefully become evident in your bank account.

As long as you're focused on writing and producing top notch music, there's always a way to create some income through attracting people and generating digital sales. Stay away from rushing your products out the door, and ensure each and every release is absolutely of the best quality. Marketing and promotion is equally important, but all the fancy Flash animation and website hits in the world won't make poor music profitable.