This course provides an engaging and methodical insight into the past and present cultural and commercial music industry developments, directions, and trends. It will equip the students with the knowledge and skills necessary to appreciate, understand and more productively participate in today’s music industry field.
Methods and Practices Part 2: Music Promotion, Distribution and Sales (Part 3 of 7)
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来自 West Virginia University 的课程
新世界：当代音乐产业导航
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从本节课中
CD, MP3, and Online Marketplace
与讲师见面
Darko VelichkovskiMusic Industry Program Director
Music Industry
Anyway, now that the band has written a decent amount of original music, performed in a number
of local venues, built some local following, recorded audio and video of some live performances
and uploaded it on the sites like Soundcloud and You Tube, created studio recordings of
their music, and is beginning to seek regional and national performance opportunities, it
is time for wider promotion, for expanding the communication efforts, and for distributing
some of that music throughout the market, so the potential fans have something to buy
if they like what they hear.
So, in that vein, the band’s Facebook page needs to be created and activated as one of
the major social media nodes for the band’s communication with the fans. And when I say
“activated”, I don’t mean just register and activate your Facebook page. I mean make
it active and make it work for you. Of course, before you do anything through Facebook, have
the name of the band, the band’s bio, the contact info, the band’s website address,
and a few of the band’s tracks and videos, clearly laid out for all to see and hear as
they get to your Facebook page. Make it easily and clearly accessible. There is nothing more
frustrating for the fans, the journalists, and the professionals from the industry, to
have to still dig for all that, although they are already on your Facebook page.
Then, reach out to other artists and bands that you know and don’t know, and ask them
to share your content on their Facebook pages, and to link it back to your page. Of course,
offer to do the same for them. Your friends list will grow exponentially faster if you
do that; plus, you might as well start communicating that way with other bands, regionally and
nationally, and start offering to host them and to share the sets with you on your local
gigs, if they do the same for you. It is one of the most productive methods out there to
get to perform regionally, and perhaps even nationally, while extending your network,
connections, and fan base.
Also, regarding Facebook, make sure that you post things regularly, and that you include
three kinds of content in your posts and status updates: 1) your recordings, performance videos,
on-the-stage and behind-the-stage photos, and so on – your music activities in general
that will keep your fans current on your career and your music; 2) your personal photos, videos,
and comments that will allow your fans to get to know you better; and 3) links and content
on the web that you find interesting, challenging, abhorring, ridiculous, funny, inspirational,
and so on, that might resonate with your fans.
And make sure that, as you schedule your live performances throughout the year, you create
Facebook Events for each, and post them. Do so even if the venue itself has created its
own Facebook event. Remember that your fans may not be on the venue’s friends list.
As you post your Facebook events, they will show up on your Facebook friends news updates.
As they RSVP to your event, that RSVP will be posted on all of THEIR Facebook friends
news updates, increasing your exposure.
Also, as you make your music available for purchase on the sites like iTunes, for instance,
(and we’ll talk more about that in a minute) make sure that you distribute posts with the
“buy link” for your tracks on Facebook, so your fans not only know that those are
available for purchase, but can also easily get to your tracks on whatever platform you
are selling them through. But don’t post it a million times, every hour of the day,
every day. That’s annoying. Just use your common sense judgment there, and don’t overdo
it. A push is good. An over-push, no so much. Instead, announce the release, post the “buy
link” every once in a while, and keep the fans engaged with your music and your band,
while reminding them of the available release. Do track giveaways. Post new You Tube videos
of your gigs. Ask your fans for input on different issues. And, by the way, use the Facebook
Questions feature for that, and solicit answers to various questions about your tracks, touring,
covers, posters, prices, anything relevant and engaging.
And while we are on this topic of engaging the fans and gaining exposure through your
Facebook presence and activities: Yes, post your tracks and your videos, and offer some
audio or video content of your music that fans can not get anywhere else but on your
Facebook page, so they clearly feel the benefit of being on your Facebook friends list; but
as you do that, every so often, use the so-called “like gate” feature on at least some of
that content. Meaning, set up your videos and tracks on your Facebook so that in order
for someone to open them, they have to “like” your page first. As they do that, of course
those “likes” get distributed to their friends’ list, expanding your exposure.
So use that feature. It’s easy to set up, and it makes Facebook work even harder for
you.
And now that you are becoming a Facebook music promotion expert, you might as well start
incorporating some of the applications that work in conjunction with Facebook to the whole
mix, and take it to another level. For instance, sign and set the band up with BandPage, and
it will update your uploaded, audio and video content, news, touring dates, bio, and so
on, on all the sites where you are present, across the web – Soundcloud, Facebook, VEVO,
and so on. Plus you can sell your music, merchandise, and tickets through the site, too. You can
do similar things through ReverbNation as well, which also has its own music widgets
that can be used across platforms, and through FanBridge, which in addition to all the other
things mentioned, enables live video streaming, and crowd-funding projects. So now that you
know, go and get your Facebook turbocharged and make it work for you overtime.
But Facebook is just one aspect of your online presence. You need a website built that you
can customize from the ground up for your band’s purposes. Your site should allow
for: streaming and selling your music, connecting with your social media sites, blogging, acquiring
fans’ contact info, access to your live performance calendar, sharing of your photos
and videos, and other promotion, information, and sales features. To build the site, in
the early part of the band’s career, you can of course use general website building
platforms, like Wix or WordPress website builder, or you can use expressly music site building
platforms like Bandzoogle, BandVista, HostBaby, FourFour, and others.
Regardless of what your preference there might be, the differences between all those are
relatively minor, and what’s important is not really what service you use to build it,
but that you build it, and that you include all the relevant components in it. It is your
online calling card, your info center, and your commercial hub. So it needs to be done
right, and to be actively maintained and updated. Take care of your site, and you increase the
probability that it will take care of you.
