Dave has cracked the door of marketingmusican.com and he created a video for youtube to help explain why YOU should be managing your website (and the fact that you can do it for around $10 a month).

It's Too Big To Fail - Why Every Musician Should Manage Their Own Website

Optimize your profile. Every potential follower will first scan your profile to figure out who you are and why you followed them, and decide whether or not to follow back based on what they see. Be sure to include a short “elevator pitch” that accurately describes your sound, a link to your site, and a reference to a related band or two. I describe my music as “electronic indie piano pop for fans of The Postal Service, Depeche Mode, and Owl City.”

Follow related bands’ followers. In my case, that means finding the official profile of The Postal Service, Depeche Mode, or Owl City and following their followers. With any luck, they’ll click through to my profile, spot my reference to the related band, follow back, and maybe even take a listen. But I don’t just follow anyone! I prescreen each potential fan to ensure they meet the following criteria:

1. At least 20 followers. I learned this the hard way! After my first indiscriminate following session, I received several direct messages asking “do I know you?” People with low follower counts are likely tweeting only to close friends. The idea here is to get noticed without invading anyone’s privacy.

2. No approval required. Along the same lines, I don’t send follow requests to users who keep their tweets private. It strikes me as rude. If I click on the follow button and see “pending (cancel),” I immediately cancel. Perhaps someone more bold than me will experiment with a request-only strategy and share their results.

3. Last tweet less than one week old. There’s no point in following inactive accounts. While our main goal is to attract potential fans, we might as well narrow our focus on people who can help spread our message. That means active Twitter users with public tweets that reach a respectable number of people.

4. No egg icon. While we’re on the topic of respect, no self-respecting Twitter user keeps the default egg icon as their avatar. If they can’t even bother to upload a profile photo, they’re not worth following.

5. Following 30-300. If a user follows less than 30 people, they won’t follow me. If they follow more than 300, they won’t notice me.

6. English speaking. I realize that users who Tweet in other languages could very well speak English, and even spread my message in their native language. Still, it’s disingenuous to follow someone when you don’t understand what they’re saying.

7. No businesses. Businesses are on Twitter to promote their brand and services. Even if they happen to follow related bands, they’re not likely to evangelize. Stick with personal accounts.

8. No back-scratchers. Many profiles state something along the lines of “follow and I will follow back.” My mission is to find new fans, not to artificially inflate my numbers with people who don’t care about my music.

9. No Beliebers. Justin Bieber takes up 3% of all Twitter traffic. If I see him mentioned in a user’s profile or tweet stream, I immediately unfollow. Beliebers have a nasty habit of retweeting anything even casually Bieber-related, including desperate pleas for the little man to follow them back.

These are guidelines, not rules. If I come across a person that interests me, I’ll follow them regardless. If someone meets the criteria but rubs me the wrong way, I won’t. Go with your gut.

I keep at this until I follow 50 new users, which takes about 20 minutes. To check my progress, I use the find function in Chrome to search for the word “following” on the current page until I see 53 hits (three instances of the word appear naturally on the page before you start following anyone).

Unfollow non-followers. After two days, I use JustUnfollow to unfollow the users who aren’t following me back, usually about 40. This step is crucial because 1) Twitter only lets you follow 2000 users unless a higher number follow you, and 2) high following counts coupled with low follower counts look amateur. After unfollowing, it’s right back to following related bands’ followers, ad infinitum.

Beliebers or no, your Twitter stream will quickly become cluttered. To counter this, create a list of users you actually want to keep track of, and bookmark that page. While it’s important to interact with your new followers, it’s tough to stay on top of more than 150. I have Twilert send me email updates that mention me, my band, or my latest album at 4 pm daily, so I don’t miss out on anything of direct concern.

Hey look, it works! On March 18, I had 700 “organic” followers, the natural result of using Twitter since December of 2008. Eight weeks later, I’m approaching 1000.

On the flipside, I’m following almost 400 users, four times more than when I started. And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a chore. 20 minutes every two days may not seem like much, but it sure ain’t passive promotion.

If you’ve got any ideas to further refine the process, please share them in the comments! And if one day you discover I’m following you on Twitter, I hope you’ll recognize the high honor it confers and follow back. ;)

Brian Hazard is a recording artist with sixteen years of experience promoting his eight Color Theory albums. His Passive Promotion blog emphasizes “set it and forget it” methods of music promotion. Brian is also the head mastering engineer and owner of Resonance Mastering in Huntington Beach, California.

Pick up your shogun and aim at anything

If you use twitter to simply tell the world what is going on, and hope they listen. Sure you can automate that, and automate finding people to listen. Why do I feel that is OK? Because your having a one sided conversation. It's all tweet out and not tweet in. As you are not building a relationship with anyone, I also feel that you are doing what I call "Shotgun marketing" where you throw it on the wall and see if it sticks. While tools such as Tweetadder have impressive tools to help you find people that would be interested in your music, or niche, if you automate everything you will look like a robot and turn people off.Tweetadder costs you $55 bucks, and you can set up your twitter account and it will find, follow, unfollow, retweet, reply, and more without you lifting a finger. If you're looking to grow your twitter following quickly with somewhat qualified followers it would work. The tools make it a very educated shotgun, but none the less a shotgun.

Looking to build intimacy with your fans

If you are looking to gain a better understanding of your fans, then automation can't do that. Tweetadder can find more people who are interested in your music, but people are pretty smart. If I mention someone in a tweet and get a "thanks" message almost instantly, I'm thinking you are a robot (which will turn most people off). Building relationships takes time and work. There really is no way around that.

Where Automation Pays Off

In watching the Tweetadder videos, I can see where actions such as unfollowing people who are not following you, or doing a search and following the users in those results could be a time saver. They also include many tools to help your automation appear to be human. The key though is if you want to build relationships you will need to genuinely interact with them.  Tweetadder even mentions in their training videos that if you turn everything on that is possible in the software, you will more than likely lose followers as it will be blatantly obvious that its not you sending a "thanks for following me" message at 4 AM.

Much like everything else in life. Automation in moderation. For more information go to www.tweetadder.com

1. While the Internet has made it easy for the fans to learn about the artists, we artists can also learn about the fans.

2. Many things can lead to people finding and liking you. It could be your picture or an update, etc. It may not have been your music. However, now that you have their attention there are things you can do to pull them in deeper.

3. Instead of just plugging your next gig, say something funny, meaningful, or controversial. Ask open ended questions, and when people reply get involved with the conversation (but don't dominate it).

4. When you reveal your thoughts and emotions it gives people more reasons to identify with you, as well as gives them insights into your music.

Your music is an extension of you, and the best music translates because it becomes a conversation with the fan. The more they understand and relate to your thoughts and feelings outside of the music, the deeper their conversation with the music will become.

So pick what you say wisely; don’t bombard people with “Buy our album” posts. Ease them in with something that gets their brains stimulated. If you can do that, then you are on the way to ultimately making your fans believe that - liking you is intrinsic to making them look cool. More importantly, you will have successfully set in motion the most powerful tool in marketing - word of mouth.

Going Completely Digital May Cost  You Sales

Wish you could save some money and release your next product digital only?  That one decision could cut sales by 65% and more, according to some analysis by Glenn Peoples of Billboard. While digital's share is growing around 3-6% a year, even the smallest releases still sell more physical product than digital. Here's the proof:

2010 New Release Sales

• 500,000+  - 17.7% digital
• 100,000 to 500,000 - 20.4% digital
• 50,000 to 100,000 - 23.8% digital
• 10,000 to 50,000 - 27.2% digital
• 1,000 to 10,000 - 33.7% digital
• 100 to 1,000 - 48% digital

Jingle Punks

I was reading a story on mashable about different ways for musicians to make money. One of them is Jingle Punks. According to the article:

Jingle Punks — which is basically the Pandora of music licensing services — focuses on providing filmmakers, TV networks, media companies and ad companies with music from up-and-coming bands. Band and Punks split the earnings 50/50.

“We work in a very smart but unsexy part of the music business,” says co-founder Jared Gutstadt. “Most artists tend to spend their time focusing on the old standards of how to ‘make it.’ They’re still thinking about record deals, pub deals, merch, touring. To really stand out and compete with this type of competition you need to be thinking about launching a music career in a much more unique way.”

Another Way To Accept Credit Cards on Your Phone

In previous episodes I've mentioned the Square which is a way to accept credit cards on an iphone (and I believe now an android). Now there is another company in this area. They state,"Now there's nothing standing between you and the sale. Expand your customer base, reduce transaction fees and break down barriers to business growth with the simple swipe of a card. With PAYware Mobile, credit card processing is as mobile as your iPhone" Check them out at http://www.paywaremobile.com/

David Crowder Band Thinks Ahead with Lite-Bright Video

This band did a stop action video using the classic lite-bright toy. It took forever, and lots of planning, but the end result is very professional working. The fun part is they must've known that this was going to take forever, so they documented the making of the video as they went along. It's amazing the patience they had to have to pull this off. You will hear how he pulled in groups of fans and got everyone involved in the project. It's a catch tune as well.

Watch the David Crowder Band Videos

David Crowder Band Website

If I had one sad thing to say is that the band's website break a few rules.

1. Their audio comes on without any prompting from the visitor (causing people to get in trouble if they surf at work).

2. Their site uses "mystery meat" navigation. By this I mean I never would've guessed that hovering over the dove in the picture I would get a listing of gigs.

3. There is no place to buy their CD. You have to go to their record label site, skip the intro, and the navigate to find the CD and click again.

When planning for traffic to come your way, make sure you are ready to capitalize on it.

Hey there Jammin’ Dave!
My name’s Chris Hennigar and I’m writing you from Sydney, Australia.

I want to start off by saying that I love the Musicians Cooler. I only started listening a couple of months ago but I’ve already made it through about 70 episodes. The advice that you offer is priceless.
Thanks Chris - tell a friend

I have two questions that I like to ask you that will hopefully add to the Cooler conversation.

1)  Q:    I was at the gym with my personal trainer and he was telling me how he’s not allowed to play certain music during his cycle classes unless he pays a few thousand dollars of royalty money, http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/gyms-rocked-by-tribunal-ruling-on-music-fees-20100517-v7kj.html The gym itself does not want to pay the money so it is up to the personal trainers themselves to cover the cost. I was wondering if the Podsafe Music Network could be a resource that my trainer could use for his class music? I understand that you can use them in a podcast but what are the rules on playing PMN music in a public place?

A: Being that I'm not a lawyer, I can't gie a legal answer, but you can read the terms of use  from Music Alley Here I know in the past you had to site that the music came from Music Alley, and then report when you played it on your podcast (which could be the syicky point, you had to point where people could listen to it)

2)      I run an Open Mic night on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with a mate of mine. We recently had to change venues because our previous venue’s popularity had completely disappeared, the place went in to receivership and we weren’t attracting any crowds. We have now started up at a new venue, The Mona Vale Hotel, Wednesday nights 7pm -10pm, and they are giving us a trial period to prove ourselves. We just had our second night and crowd levels were still quite woeful. You give advice for musicians trying to build their product and popularity, would you be able to offer some great ideas for a struggling Open Mic, after all we are in the same “Beer selling” business. We would like to attract more musicians as well as larger crowds. We have a website coming soon (I’m having to pay for someone to do it because I have no idea about Webmastering), I’ve also thought about using a flyer distribution company to get our flyers out to as manly people as possible.


A: As for the open mic night. Promotion can be boiled down to a few steps

Define your audience
Find out where they are
Tell them about you.

Your audience is musicians who are looking for open nights.
People who enjoy music.

Are there any other open mic nights? Go to them and tell them you're having one on another night (another chance to play). Be nice about this (bar owners don't like people who steal their business).
Be sure that all musicians bring their friends.

If you have any bands in the area, let them know that its time to come down and "jam". use Craigslist, or some equivalent to get the word out. Put up flyers in music stores, hang flyers in the surrounding neighborhood to get the word out. It sounds simple (and we know its not), but it does boil down to knowing your audience, finding them, and telling them about you.

See if there is anything to make this a "one of a kind" event.

Cooler Friends Do You Have Any Tips for Getting More Fans to an Open Mic Night?

Leave your comment below

Inidie Musician Sites Mentioned

http://www.musicians-toolbar.com/

www.stageclothes.net  - because they see you before they hear you.

Selling CDs  on the Street

OK, I'm feeling Old Apparently "Chester French" is not a dude, but a band name (like Pink Floyd). It's actually DA from the band Chester French. None the less, he is out front of the Lady Gaga gig as people came out. he was prepared (with CD opener), was willing to sign the CD. He took his music to a group of music loving people ans ASKED THEM, if they would like a CD. Check out the video.

DA Selling CDs outside of a show from Chester French on Vimeo.

Support the show

Help support the show by purchasing the book "Get Your Band Out of the Basement (and keep them out of the asylum). It's available for immediate download at www.musicianlibrary.com

Get a .com domain name for $7.49 at godaddy.com using the coupon cooler10.

You could have your logo (and website) put on to the tatto0, and sell these on breaks. Don’t just think this could work for a punk band. You can use this for any band as they are temporary. For more information go to www.musicianscooler.com/temptattoo

1. Triple your sales
The average credit card order is 3 to 4 times larger than the average check or cash order. Accepting credit cards as a form of payment can increase sales anywhere from 40% to 400%. People buy more stuff when they are paying with a credit card.

2. No more trips to the bank or bounced checks
By accepting credit cards, you can forget about bounced checks & decrease the time it takes to process orders. Your money is guaranteed.

3. The customer wants it to pay with a card
Studies show that credit card payments will overtake cash and check payments within the next few years. Customers often get benefits such as frequent flier miles when using a credit card.

4. Ease of use
By accepting credit cards, you are providing a means of payment to the growing number of people who don’t carry cash. It’s expected that a merchants will accept credit cards.

5. Impulse Buys
Chances are good that there are people at your shows that did not expect to buy a CD when they set out for the night. Fans are more likely to make spur-of-the-moment purchases when they can use plastic.

I would one huge benefit.

6. No Need to Carry Change for a Twenty
When you are selling items for 7 dollars you need to carry $13 with you at all times. The other bad news is if all you had was $13 and you DO sell your CD for $7, you now have ONE $20 bill and you have no change for the person behind who wants to buy your CD and all they have is a $20.

How Do You Accept Credit Cards At Gigs?
As we mentioned above, CD Baby as a card swiper that you can accept credit card payments at a gig.

Use Your Phone
Paypal is now available on your phone.  If you have an iphone, droid, or blackberry, paypal has applications to allow you to send and receive money. They also offer a "virtual terminal" option where you can take credit card info in person, over the phone, etc. There are also services like https://squareup.com/ which turns your iphone into a credit card swiper, or other services such as  http://www.innerfence.com/, or http://www.processaway.net

Nimbit is another website that allows you to sell your music digitally, and they provide tools to accept credit cards at gigs.

Musformation.com is a great site with a little bit of everything music on it. 

Bandmetrics.com is a great website (in beta) that shows you how much people on the Internet are talking about you. 

Artistdata.com will blast your schedule to sites like mysapce, twitter, facebook, sonicbids, fanbridge, and more by listing your calendar in one place. 

I did try musicscout.com this week on my droid phone and their application is broken. Great first impression. I went to their website, and the "Detailed" feedback you could give was 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars. Woo hoo. 

He blew me away. One of the best thing about Buddy and his band is the SMILE on stage. They have FUN. That fun and smiles spills into the audience and that feeds the band.

I also talk about how I quit the band I just joined, and some tips on planning 2010.

Music:  Someone Else is Slippin in By Buddy Guy from Buddy's Baddest Great Hits Collection

The new owners aren't quite so frugal. In talking with them they were going to keep live music, but probably change the menu (to what they are not sure), etc. So they need to figure out exactly what they want to be (its hard to hit a moving target). None the less I did some research on the club and found that a few websites had reviewed them, and I took those and made the front page filled with testimonials.

I think the same applies for musicians. What if you don't have any gigs? No schedule? Then ask yourself what sets you apart from other musicians? My band had 7 people in it (we had a horn section). Most bands playing the same clubs had about 4 or 5 people. We started pointing that out, "Come hear Akron's most entertaining seven piece party band." Then we had a list of all the musicians with a picture.

Is there something that sets you apart from other bands? Exploit it and embrace it.

Always open for feedback.

Adam Hoek Twitter Band

Adam Hoek is using Twitter to share his music. He has set up the Adam Hook Twitter Band. A place where musicians can work together to share tracks and build songs together. Find him on twitter at www.twitter.com/adamhoek and www.adamhoek.com

My apologies for calling Adam "Andrew" in the episodes.

Jimmy Yukka asks, "Is MySpace Dead?"

Find him at www.jimmyyukka.com

Yes MySpace is second to FaceBook, but saying to ignore MySpace is like saying we should ignore the Rolling Stones becuase they were second to the Beatles.

In my opinion when it comes to all social media, you get out of them what you put into them. Unfortunately the more popular a website gets (MySpace, Twitter) people invent robots to manage their website for them.

The Music business is about building relationship with people - no robots. When you turn your relationship building over ot a robot you are missing the boat. The bad nws is at MySpace its hard to find a person. It seems everyone is using robots. This is why MySpace lost some of its appeal. So try to connect with people at MySpace, build a relationship with them.

If you are finding that most of your "friends" at MySpace don't login, don't pay attention, then maybe your MySpace is dead.

Bob Baker has a great book about marketing your band on MySpace and the whole book is about building relationships with people.

Sponsors and Support

Godaddy coupon code cooler7 gets a .com domain name for $7.49

Budget.com/musician saves 30% off a weekly rental or $10 off any rental.

Buy Dave’s Book “Get your band out of the basement – and keep them out of the asylum” available at musicianlibrary.com Order now and get the bons ““10 Stupid Things That Bands Do”

Today Miata talks about taking that first step and the thrill of discovering exactly where you are (so you can figure out how to get to "there" (financial prosperity) from where you are. She also discusses how "co mingling" your money can muddy the waters of your financial picture.

Save 10% with Abundance Bound Coupon Code Cooler10

If you're interested in their free reports like their "Five Things Every Actor Must Do: Critical Steps Towards Success" Report or webinars check out Abundance Bound.com be sure to use the coupon code cooler10 to get 10% off your purchase. They have online classes, take home studies, boot camps, and one on one coaching. One of the great things about their programs, is they have payment plans. In some cases you are done taking the classes before you're done paying for it. That is how much they know you're going to love the information presented. You will also find the skills you learn will more than help pay for the class.

Don't forget to use THIS LINK, and use the coupon code cooler10 to save 10% off your order (or just check out their free reports).

Sponsors and Support

Godaddy coupon code cooler7 gets a .com domain name for $7.49

Budget.com/musician saves 30% off a weekly rental or $10 off any rental.

Buy Dave's Book "Get your band out of the basement - and keep them out of the asylum" available at musicianlibrary.com Order now and get the bons ""10 Stupid Things That Bands Do"

George is using Facebook as an area for "Exclusive content" and when it comes to twitter he has a great plan. Deliver great content that is occasionally mixed in with a plug for a gig etc.  In some of the books I read about twitter it should be no more than one plug for every five tweets.

Music: George Hrab w/ Slau

Today we answer a question from Dave King (www.davekingmusic.com) about adding RSS capabilities to a "Normal" website. 

We also hear about new software at www.songmanagerforbento.com 

Sean G of http://www.learntodjfast.com/ had a great post about the differences between Kinaki, LuLu, and Vervante. In his example he was shpping for a full color DVD printing, DVD case, full color 1 panel insert, full cover case, cellophane wrapping, upc barcode (for Amazon), 24 hour turnaround from order to manufacturing.

And the results are...

------------------------------

Vervante:

$6.56 USD not including shipping.

Lulu:

$5.50 not including shipping

Kunaki:

$1.75 USD not including shipping.

--------------------------------------

Shipping is $4 USD per DVD to anywhere in the world.
So for the same price as printing a disc @ Lulu & less than Vervante, I can print and ship my DVD.

I was leaning towards Vervante because of its great customer service, but with this large of a price gap, kunaki is the answer for me until I do enough volume to warrant going with Disk.com.

With regards to their poor customer service, Kunkaki isn't trying to hide it:

"Kunaki is not for everyone.

Kunaki operates more like a machine than a business and does not offer a personalized service. We don't engage in active marketing, sales, or public relations. We never offer discounts or special deals. We don't offer affiliate or partner programs. The Kunaki machine is operated and managed by software rather than a management team.

Our service is designed for 21st-century, intelligent, independent publishers who prefer to deal with a cold, efficient, and reliable machine that is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Because Kunaki is highly automated and focused on quality, low price, and fast production, we offer a minimal range of options."

Even though this might cause headaches in the future I understand where they are coming from.

Sponsors

Save on renewals and new domains at www.godaddy.com using the coupon code cooler7

Budget Rental car - www.budget.com/musician Get 30% off a weekly rental or $10 off any rental at Budget Rental Car

This show orgingates from www.musicianscooler.com

Tales From the Road - Stage Thud

Special tales from the road courtesy of Big Al and Mike at www.projectstudionetwork.com

Strategies for Listing Your Band  at Music Sites

There are so many sites that want you to list your music. They will give you music players, email, etc to just list your music on their site (and of course you'll get "dsicovered"). Well here are some things to look into.

1. Are the "bonus" features a true bonus?

At www.gigleader.com they say you can use their classified website (www.bandmix.com which you can use for free), or their other service that helps you build your site (for $20 a month) which is completely over priced (check out www.marketingmusician.com for a site that shows you how to build your own site).

2. Who is it your dealing with?

At bandstock.com there  no "About Us,"  or contact information, and everything you do you needed to enter your e-mail address first.  Also if there is a forum, go check it out. Often disgruntled customers will go in and launch flaming posts warning potential customers not to join (and if this site leaves them there, you know they are not manning their forums). IF there is contact information, contact them and see what kind of response you get.

3. Get a Spam Email Address

I talk about this in my book, but you should have an email that you put on your business cards (that typically ends in your band's websites).  Then you can get a free email from places like gmail, yahoo, or hotmail (I liek gmail).  This should be your band's name "@ blah blah blah" so if your band was the free toys you should get freetoys@gmail.com. Use this email for any website that you feel may potentially spam you. You still need to check this email (as you may occasionally get a gig from a stie).  Only give out the email from your website to a person. This way if something comes into that email you know its from someone you have personally met.

4. Can You Link Back To Your Website?

Look at the other band's pages and see if you can link back to your band's website.

5. Does the Technology Work?

Click on one of their players and make sure that the technology they are promoting actually works.

6. Can I export the email list?

Some websites will allow you to use a tool to build a mailing list . This is ok (I guess), but as your list is your most important tool, I would make sure you can export these contacts into your mater list (which should be hosted at your site).

7. Are there tons of Google Ads?

Many times these sites are not about discovering your music. Its about you getting your fans to come to the website so they website can earn cash on their advertising.

Music Promotion Websites

Our Stage
A few websites I have heard good things about is Our Stage which is a promotional site and a contest at the same time (and you will see where they have contact information at the bottom of the page). 

Song Cataglog

http://www.songcatalog.com/ is a place where you can list your music if it inTV shows, Movies, etc.

iStock Photo is now selling audio. I listened to a track that was two minutes. If this sold, you would make 7 dollars (or $14 if you are exclusive to istockphoto). While I realize that there are all sorts of talented musicians, not everybody can be in a band. This a way to be creative and make some money.

Free Play Along Track for Drummers

I found out about this from www.brianstephens.com there is a cool free "Drum along" track available at http://www.hudsonmusic.com/site/features/the-woodshed/66-woodshed/151-messin-wid-da-bull

Free Book from the "Indie Guide"

You Tube Tip

Kevin Reeves let me know that if you embed a you tube clip in your website it is NOT counted as a view. So you might tkae a screen shot of the video, add the picture of the video on your website, and then link the picture to your video on their website. 

Keep Up With Your Buzz

THe Internet is big. How do you keep up with what people are saying about you? By using these tools

Google Alerts (www.coolger.com/alerts ) you can set up words and phrases (like your band name) and be notified when someone mentions you on the Internet.

Twitter Search (search.twitter.com ) will show you if anybody is "tweeting" about you. The cool thing is you can grab an RSS of this search and be notified automatically.

Whos Talkin (www.whostalkin.com ) is a search of socail media.

Sponsors

Godaddy.com  Get your domain name for $7.49 a YEAR by using the go daddy coupon code cooler3 . The cool thing is this works on renewals as well. Go to godaddy.com and use the discount code cooler3

She did her homework
She had her marketing material ready
She didn't let all the obstacles ruin the show for her.

In the end there are more ways to gauge a gig besides sales. You could make a great contact (I once played a gig to 6 people. One of them hired the band for a gig where we sold 122 t-shirts).  Just because things aren't going your way doesn't mean the gig is a wash.

Anne is the author of the book The Musicians Guide To Brides.

Sponsor:

Budget.com/musician gets you 10% of any rental, or $30 off a weekly rental.

Get a .com domain name using Go Daddy coupon code cooler3 at www.goaddy.com

Alesis ProTrack Released

Alesis has launched a new portable recoding device that works with your iPod. Here is the verbage from their website.

Record stereo audio directly to your iPod with ProTrack. Capture live sound on your iPod anywhere and anytime without a single cable, and with one hand free! Just dock your iPod and cover it with the protective clear shield, and you’re ready to roll.

You can record detailed, 16-bit, 44.1kHz or 22kHz stereo digital audio without connecting any additional equipment using ProTrack’s onboard pair of cardioid condenser microphones. The on-board mics are fixed in XY configuration for optimal stereo imaging. ProTrack also has a pair of combo XLR-1/4″ inputs enabling you to connect any professional sound source, including condenser and dynamic microphones and mixer outputs. Whether you are running on plug-in or battery power, ProTrack supplies 48V phantom power to its inputs for operation with external condenser microphones.

ProTrack has LED-level metering for instant visual indication, even in a dark club. You can monitor or play back recordings on the 1/8″ stereo-headphone output. Controls for phantom power, limiter, and volume are easy to access.

ProTrack records on four AAA batteries or AC power using the included adapter. A 1/4″-20 threaded mounting point enables you to mount ProTrack on a mic stand with the optional ProTrack Adapter, on a table with the optional ProTrack Tripod table stand, or on a camera tripod for hands-free tracking.

ProTrack automatically dates and time-stamps files so it’s easy to identify which track was the recording of the acoustic-guitar folk duo last Tuesday at happy hour, and which was the flailing hard-rock drummer from Friday night. And speaking of that percussive dynamo, you’ll appreciate ProTrack’s switchable limiter which ensures that your recordings are distortion-free.

ProTrack is the most convenient way to capture sound effects, recitals, jam sessions, speeches, interviews, rehearsals, performances, meetings, lectures, notes-to-self, and anything else you can thing of… directly to your iPod.

You can get one tax free with free groudn shipping at Same Day Music

Are You Releasing a CD  in 2009?

Do you know what the following bands have in common?

Heaven and Hell
Ace Frehley
U2
Prince

They are all releasing CDs in 2009, and they alerted the media in late 2008.

By letting your fans know you are working on a CD it can build anticipation, and make them excited about your CD.  How do you build the buzz? By telling them about it in your newsletter, your blog, your podcast . Give them quick samples of it. Let them vote on it. Make a contest and let them design the album cover.  Make the release of your CD in 2009 AN EVENT!

Make sure you have a solid plan so that your CD WILL be released in 2009. There is nothing worse than building up our fans and then letting them down (Guns and Roses anyone?).

Show Promo

"Sessions with Slau" for more information about this behind the scenes look at a recording studio go to www.sessionswithsalu.com

Sponsors

www.budget.com/musician save 10% off any rental or $30 off a weekly rental. 

www.godaddy.com get a .com domain name for $7.49 using the coupon cooler3

Planning For 2009

If you do not make a plan for 2009 you will accomplish less than those who do. This is a proven fact from numerous studies. You need to write them down, make them specific, and review them on a frequent basis. To help with this I have made a FREE planning guide for 2009 that is available with all of my free ebook at the musician library. Download the Free planning guide here .

There are great tools like Indie Band Manager and Band Leader softwar e (use the code DJ7KK to save on shipping and more when you order). 

Marketing Ideas From Disney

Disney has a deal now where they will let kids into the park for free on their birthday. This is brilliant as how is the kid going to get there? So now a family will plan a $4000 vacation to save the price of a Disney ticket (what is that 50, 80 bucks?).

You can use this idea too. If your email list software allows you to add custom fields, be sure to add birthday. In theory you don't even need the year, just the date. Be sure you get the email address. Now at the beginning of the month you can send emails to everyone how has a birthday and say you are putting their name on the guest list and they can get into the gig for free.  After all, who is going to go out and celebrate their birthday alone?

If you want to go one step further, have your band record a generic version of "Happy Birthday" and then have the band do a "Gang vocal" where the name comes into play. So every month you record a few names, pop it into the song and send it to the birthday person. This would build HUGE loyalty.

Podcast Poll

I'm thinking of having more shows of a shorter length. What do you think of this idea? Let me know in this poll

Sites Mentioned

www.wufoo.com

Fanbridge.com - email list management system with text message capabilities.

aweber - email list management.

www.peterwoolston.com - Kicked of the show From New Zealand.

Coupon Codes

Godaddy.com get a domain name for $7.49 using coupon code cooler3 (try cooler1 and cooelr2 as well).

Budget Rental Car got to www.budget.com/musician get $30 off a weekly rental or 10% off other time period rentals

SPONSOR: Get a c.om doman name for $7.49 using the coupon code cooler3 at www.godaddy.com 

My Gmail Account Got Hijacked

I went to login to my account. That's funny, it won't let me ine. Then when I used the password reminder, it sent my password to an email that wasn't mine. A week later and I still can't get google to give it back to me on a permanent basis. They did, and the hijacker got to the email before I did. Now when I try to get my gmail account back I get "Thank you for your report. For account security, we limit the number of requests that can be processed about the same account. Please wait a few days and try filling out the form again." Can they be a bit more vague? A few days? What is that, 2, 8 10, 15? NICE.

So now I've listed all my contact information at www.musicianscooler.com/contact

Free Music Business Ebooks

I found an article at hypebot.com about the Top 5 Free Music Business Ebooks.  Here is the list they provided.

• The Word Of Mouth Manual Vol. 2 by David Balter. Not just about music, but an essential guide to word of mouth marketing. (pdf)

• 20 Things You Need To Know About Music Online by Andrew Dubber.  Can something 16 months old already be a classic?  (here)
• Music 2.0 by Gerd Leonhard, co-author of The Future Of Music. This free version of the ebook is 228 pages long. If you only have time to read part of this, don't miss his Open Letter To The Independent Music industry which starts on page 154. (pdf)
• The Pirate's Dilemma - How The Youth Culture Reinvented Capitalism by Matt Mason.  The title says it all and the books suggests that it just might be a good thing.  Available via the Radiohead "pay what you want" model.
• Unleashing The Ideavirus by Seth Godin. Written way back in 2001.Practical yet inspiring.(pdf)

I would add to the my book Promoting You Band With Podcastng (www.promotingwithpodcasting.com )  and Derek Sivers Free Ebook (www.sivers.org )

We find out what it was like for a typical day on The Biggest Lost ranch. We also hear how Dan is handling his weight now and we get to hear the title track his new CD "Goin All Out."

We get to hear the title track his new CD "Goin All Out." This is a great CD filled with positive, honest lyrics that combine country and rock. I love the title track and Letter to My Addiction. Goin All Out has made it to #7 on the Country Billboard Charts. It's also available in iTunes.

We also get a "Tales From the Road" from Julian Moore of www.gwonder.com who talk about the time the monitor left with quite a lump on his head.

Support this Show

Budget Rent a Car. Save $30. off weekly rentals and 10% off other time rentals by going to www.budget.com/musician

Go Daddy COupon Codes: Use cooler3 to get your own .com domain name for $7.49 at www.godaddy.com

Get Dave's Book "Get Your Band Out of the Basement" at www.musicianlibrary.com

Support This show by commenting in iTunes www.musicianscooler.com/itunes and by shopping at www.supportthisshow.com

I just found out about a new service. It's called Our Stage. It's kind of a Sonicbids (as you get a FREE EPK, and the ability to get gigs) meets Garageband (as you get reviewed by industry types) meets MySpace (as you can have friends). Meets American Idol (as you can enter and win monthly prizes of $5,000. There are also "Channel" prizes where you can win $100.  Here is some text I copied from the website.

How Does Our Stage Work?

As an artist, your first step is to upload your music or video and decide which channel competition to enter. Then, fans judge the work side by side with the work of others. Our unique judging capability (called Peer Relative Ranking, but don't worry about that) makes sure that each piece is judged fairly by the real audience- with no rigging, no cheating, and no celebrity judges. At the end of each month, the top 20 and the top 10 in each channel go head-to-head in a special judging channel to determine the winner of that channel, and then a site-wide judging contest to determine our Grand Prize winner. For more information about that, see the Judging section below! As a fan, all you have to do is listen to some great music and give feedback about just how great you think it is. Find your favorite artists and follow them as they grow!

How Does the Ranking Work?

The ranking or judging is done via two patent pending algorithms that serve up top ranking, middle ranking and relatively new uploaded material in a channel in "somewhat" random fashion for someone to judge.

When we say somewhat, we mean that we take care of serving up the material in a fair and unbiased fashion. We are watching very carefully to make sure that each item in the channel gets equal exposure–we guarantee that. Whether that happens in a particular judging session, though, is another matter.

Depending on how much our users like something (rank it favorably), and how long they want to keep on ranking, the ranking engine will try to get the user to discriminate how much more an item is liked over other ranked items, and thus, the reason why users may see what appears to them as the same item coming up during several battles.

Our site users who judge cannot request what material they will be served to judge. During judging they have to view or play the material served, and at a minimum, they have to screen an item for 15 seconds each before they can rank one item over another.

Then, all of the rankings from all of the users are taken together and the ranking engine bubbles up the best items to the top!

Prizes?

TWO (2) GRAND PRIZES, one for Music and one for Video, for each Contest Period, a check payable to the Music winner in the amount of $5,000, and a check payable to the Video winner in the amount of $1,000.

ONE (1) FIRST PRIZE FOR EACH CHANNEL on the site (one for each Channel winner who is not selected as a Grand Prize winner for each Contest Period): a $100 Online Gift Card. Gift card is subject to the terms and conditions stated thereon. Approximate retail value ("ARV") of each First Prize is $100.

Mojo Ratings?

What is a Mojo rating?

Every artist gets a Mojo rating based primarily on where the fans rank them in our Channels. Other factors that figure into the Mojo rating are: number of Fans, number of Friends and number of media uploads as well as EPK completeness. On Marketplace, venues can use the Mojo rating to help them identify artists with a proven ability to draw a crowd.

How do I get a Mojo rating?

To get a Mojo rating, register on OurStage and activate your account using the link we email you. From there, all you have to do is create a free EPK from your profile page and activate it. To get a positive Mojo rating, just click "View My EPK" from your profile and click the "Activate My EPK" link.

How Much Is It?

OurStage is still a free site for all the services you have right now It's free to join, free to enter competitions, and free to be ranked. The only part of OurStage that will be costing any money is Marketplace, our new site feature for finding gigs around the USA. OurStage Marketplace will be free until Labor Day 2008, and then it will still only cost a small monthly fee, about the cost of buying lunch. So don't worry! You aren't losing any features. The only change is that you can now opt to pay a small monthly fee to access and apply to gigs on the OurStage Marketplace.

I Think It's Worth Checking Out

While I hate things like "It costs as much a lunch" comments this site seems to have alot of potential. The great thing about new sites with competition is it doesnt' take much to be a big fish in a small pond, and when they are handing out prizes I say its worth a shot.  If you're using the service I would love some feedback, and if you're not you can sign up at ourstage.com

Music Marketing Tips From Cheryl Crow

Cheyrl Crow's got a Christmas CD that available at Hallmark stores. Inside the CD you get a code to download an extra song. Now this create a sense of urgency. I HAD to buy this CD at THIS store. The fact that there was an additional song adds more value to the purchase.

Why not have business cards set up with a special link on your website where they can download the extra song. They only get the code if they buy your CD at the show. This way at a gig, if someone is on the fence, you can say "if you buy this CD now you will get an additional downloadable song." When they purchase, you hand them a business card with the URL to your song, and you spent 10 cents on business cards, and the customer spent 10 dollars on your new CD.  I use Vita Print for my business cards.

So they charge a little more to get people to buy the bracelet, but in the end you get a one of a kind product, and now you have a memory that can live on forever.

Queen Makes You Buy Without Hearing It

Queen and Paul Rogers are using a similar tactic on their new Cosmos Rocks CD. You can pre order their new CD, and in addition to the CD you receive FREE ACCESS to the Queen & Paul Rodgers "Album Club"

This means you get first crack at listening to the new album. You get previously unreleased live tracks. Automatic entry into 12 prize draws to win exclusive prize.  An opportunity to purchase an exclusive "Album Club" T-shirt.

The "album club" t-shirt is uber marketing. You've made people pay to get into the club, and then you make them pay to prove they are in the club. For more information go to www.queenonline.com

AC/DC Says No to ITunes

To the best of my knowledge you can't buy AC/DC in a downloadable version. This too me just begs to get your music stolen. If you don't provide this format in a way for people to buy, those that want it in this format will steal it from you.

Building A Tribe

Uber Marketer Seth Godin has a new book called "Tribes." You can hear Seth Introduce it at the "Marketing Over Coffee" website (a cool marketing podcast). While I haven't read the book his prelude ot the book really got me thinking. In it he states something so obvious and (for me) so thought provoking.

He said a tribe needs two things:

1. A common interest

2. A Way to communicate.

We have a common interest (the music business, selling more music, getting more fans, gigs, technology), and we have a way to communicate (voicemail, email, forums).

Many bands name their fans:

KISS- Kiss Army
Grateful Dead - Dead Heads
Jimmy Buffet - Parrot Heads
(notice the last two make a killing on tours).
Terri Clark - "Hat Brats" where she is letting them write a verse in a song, ask her questions, and other items that only members can do.
Def Leoppard - "Fan Club" (how original) $30 a year.

By having merchandise, or special names, it helps build a tribe identity. So far I've got more from the launch audio from Marketing Over Coffee, than the book, but I'm only 28 minutes into it.

Do you have any examples of tribes? How do you build your tribe of fans?

There is a reason Buddy Guy has 5 grammys and has inspired Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray, and Jimi Hendrix. He is a great performer. Watch this video and you will see how he is not faking one note. He also uses dynamics, smiles while he is on stage, and gives it everything he has. He leaves it on the stage.

Dr. Pepper Marketing

Dr. Pepper said that if the Guns n Roses album Chinese Democracy came out this year they would give away Dr. Pepper.  Well the album hits stores November 23rd. They have decided to give away coupons on ONE day, and they are for ONE bottle. Why can't indies do this? With the world series going on, why not say "I'm such a huge fan that if the Phillies win I'm giving away a track from my album. It's a win-win situation becuase iether way you get publicity.

Music Marketing Sites.

www.animestreet.com seems to be gaining ground. Here is some ext from their website, "Amie Street helps you discover new music you'll love quickly and easily. With millions of songs to choose from we make it simple and enjoyable to find your next favorite song. How do we do this? It starts with the fact that all songs on Amie Street are priced from free to 98 cents. Instead of the arbitrary $0.99 per song, on Amie Street the community determines the price of music. Every song starts free, or very cheap, and increases in price, up to 98 cents, as more and more people purchase it. This variable pricing system ensures that the public gets music at a fair, community-driven price point, and makes it easy for you to find the type of music you want. We then encourage you to talk about the music you like by putting money in your account for more downloads when you recommend songs that continue to rise in price. You can play the music you purchase from anywhere on the web and all Amie Street downloads are iPod compatible DRM-free mp3s. Enjoy the music!
Artists collect 70% of the money from each song after it has made $5. The first $5 of each song covers our storage, bandwidth, and transaction costs for that song. This one-time only charge is deducted from your first royalty check so there is no risk: you only have the $5 deducted after you make it

Band Camp was created becuase they feel most band's websites load too slow.  Check them out at http://bandcamp.mu

Other Music Marketing resources

Battling Bands to relaunch soon. Check it out at www.battlingbands.com and sign up to be a beta tester at www.marketingmusician.com

Sponsor: Budget Rent a Car

Cool iPod Application for Sound Engineers

I've got a great iPhone app for the Cooler - at least their techie friends.

It's called SignalScope and it's a full-scale real time audio analyzer which will handle the full 20-20kHz audio range*.  I've already used it on a bunch of gigs and it works great to tweak monitors, or check problems at front of house. It may not be as accurate as professional RTAs costing $1000 or more, but at $25, it's the best money I've spent this year! Every live sound engineer should get it 

Thanks to Paul from www.mesasand.com 

Throat Spray for Musicians

Brian from www.jhenryband.com likes www.throatcooler.com They are drug free and takes the edge off a dry throat when they perform.   It’s a healthy ice pop with Honey and vitamin C.

Reverb Nation Adds Digital Distribution

It is based on a flat-fee model ($34.95/album with an annual renewal fee) that is non-exclusive and pays the Artists 100% of the royalties we collect from the retailers on their behalf.  The feature is designed to be priced competitively, but the real differentiator is the way we will be tying it into the marketing and promotion solutions we already offer. The sites they will distribute to are:

ReverbNation distributes to these 10 online outlets:

• iTunes U.S.
• iTunes Aus/NZ
• iTunes Canada
• iTunes UK
• iTunes EU
• iTunes Japan
• Amazon
• eMusic
• Napster
• Rhapsody

For more information see http://www.reverbnation.com/main/artist_feature/digitaldistribution

Go Daddy Promo Codes (try cooler1, cooler2, or cooler3 to get a domain name for $7.49)

Daniel Johnson Jr. Saved $5 on the following URL:

http://getthatjobonline.com (with private regist.)

http://jazzmaniaproductions.com (with private regist.)

http://newmediacincinnati.com (domain transfer)

Music "Blowing Me Out" From The Malloys Courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network

All the details of my band can be found at... http://www.themalloysonline.com, http://www.themalloys.co.uk and of course http://www.myspace.com/themalloys 

Free Beta Testers Need For Music Marketing Website

If you  are ready to make your band's website, have the ability to pay for hosting, have some music for your site, then go to www.marketingmusician.com

Win a Copy of Get Your Band Out of the Basement and Keep Them Out of the Asylum

You can win a copy of my ebook by providing your feedback (good and bad) at www.musicianscooler.com/contest

Music Marketing Tools

Last we we talk about www.ping.fm and this week we mention www.tubemogul.com and www.hellotxt.com which are all used to syndicate your information on numerous sites by posting information in one place.

Keep Your Gigs Moving

Rich Palmer writes in with a question, "How do you keep your band's set moving. It seems like bands lose their momentum in between songs. It takes too much time in between songs, and it brings the set to a halt. How do you stop this?

Dave says: First of you need to identify the problem so record a gig, and when you listen back get a watch with a second hand. You will be amazed. While a minute doesn't sound like a long time, it's VERY long time if you are sitting there waiting for the band to start playing another song. My favorite is when a band asks the audience to get up and dance. When they finally do they take time after that song to thank them. Consequently, as the crowd waits for another song to dance to, the band looks at each other to see what song they are playing next. Finally the crowd gets bored and returns to their seats. At this point, the band goes "Hey why aren't you dancing?" When the crowd gets up, keep them up by having a set list with the song listed. A well planned set list is key. Make sure songs in the same key are not played back to back to back. Put dances songs next to dance songs. Time your sets, and make sure the "bottom of the hour" (when many people leave) has a great song that makes them want to stay. In some cases you may need to call and "audible" on stage and say to skip the slow song and stick with the dance songs. Why is it important to keep the crowd dancing?

Bar Owners love thirsty customers, and dancing customers are thirsty customers.

The bottom line is you have to come up with hand signals, or some sort of way to communicate on stage in an effective manner so you can stick to the plan, or change on the fly in a minutes notice.

Blip.fm Become Your Own Internet Disc Jockey

Daniel Johnson Jr talks about www.blip.fm where musicians can list their music and be their own DJ. This could be a great tool for artists. Daniel Johnson Jr does the Journey Inside My Mind Podcast.

Music

New Music Monday "You're Freakin Me Out"

Rich Palmer - Another Man

Tales From The Road "Then We Blew a Fuse..."

Rich Palmer talks about the gig in the "gig trailer" where they blew fuses, blew keyboards, and more. The gig from hell. We listen to Rich's Music from the Podsafe Music Network.

Attracting New Members To Your Band

I recently started a new podcast about Online Dating Resources and one of the things I've found is that your personal profile should be postiive. Nobody is attracted to someone who complains. You can approach the marketing for your band. If you are putting an advertisement for a new band member, don't fill it with what you are NOT looking for. Instead, you should simply put what you are looking for in a band menber.

Instead of saying "Looking for a guitarist. No druggies, ego maniacs, no alcoholics, with no transporation." Why not spin this into, "Looking for a reliable sober guitarist who is a team player."

I Need a Way to Keep All My Social Networking Tools Updated

Jimmy from www.myspace.com/jimmyyukka asks:

The second point  is that currently I have a facebook profile Fast Hands (the drummer) has a facebook profile, I have the myspace for jimmy yukka and potentially a proper website for the band. I would love to be able to edit a blog in one place and have the info appear everywhere. Is there a service you or any of the listeners know of that allows this? I have experimented with rss feeds but both facebook and myspace can be a bit funny about it.

Jimmy,

Thanks for writing. Check out www.ping.fm

He was also looking for a tool for Text Messaging in Australia.  

Why Don't Clubs Let You Eat and Stay For Free?

James from http://churchofnoise.dyndns.org wants to know about the horror stories of touring.

Unfortunately, its very hard to operate a club in the USA. There is a TON of competition for clubs. Things like a higher drinking age, video games (WII, XBOX, Play Staion), there were no ONLINE DATING SITES all of which took some of the fun out of going to a club. Also, in the past some bands have taken advantage of a clubs hospitality.

You Band's Bio - Who Are You, Where Are You, And Who Do you Sound Like?

Today Dave reviews the Band Conspiracy's band bio (it needs some work). Remember to get to the point and tell people who you are (band name) where you are (city and state), and what type of music you play.

Review Conspiracy's "New World Order"

 Today we try a new idea of playing a song and let people comment on it. You can reply in the forums or leave comment.

Other Sites Mentioned

www.chicagoguitar.com should check out the episode about playing Weddings

Need to take information from your fans? Check out www.wufoo.com and www.surveymonkey.com

www.onlinegigs.com and www.geologicpodcast.com were mentioned as they provided IDs.

Dave's Book Get Your Band Out of the Basement and Keep them Out of the Asylum at www.musicianlibrary.com

This show originates from www.musicianscooler.com This is show 214

The Positive Side of Negative Comments

When I was a customer service representative there was a simple way to find out someting from your customers. YOU ASK. Now I know they may say something negative, but then you have the opportunity to remedy the situation and make them fans for life.

The problem is not everyone is interested in filling out a survery. So to make it worth their trouble, you need to offer them something for free (like give away a CD).

Contests Can Help Build Site Interactivity and Feedback

I found a cool tool at www.contestfreemachine.com which makes it very easy to obtain feedback, and at the end the system e-mails the winner and gets their mailing address. It also blocks duplicate vots and more. There are other sites if you are just looking for a survey like www.surveymonkey.com

Tales From The Road - It's "Snot" Funny.

For several years I worked for Yamaha Music UK, programming all sort of keyboards and demonstrating them at trade shows music fairs etc. 
I was once playing solo piano on stage at a UK Music Fair, PA, lights, foldback the works. Playing to about 200 people. So it was winter approx 1995-ish and I was suffering from a heavy cold whilst working at a large music exhibition in Manchester England. My job was to demonstrate products on stage 3 times a day and talk to customers on the exhibition stand inbetween shows. So there I was on stage with my new Jaeger jacket on, 200 people, and 30 minutes of music prepared to hype the audience up. All going well except for 2 things:
during a Chopin Etude, I suddenly sneezed projecting an almighty mess onto the beautifully polished music rest, embarrassing to have to scrape that off.

This was then topped when I was playing "Nutrocker" by Bee Bumble and the Stingers. This is a great one to end a show, and to sound most impressive I had carefully programmed drum and guitar parts into the digital piano I was playing, I then played live over the top, but obviously couldn't pause mid way if the backing tracks were preprogrammed, very flashy and a great end to the show. It only lasted about 3 minutes and always went down really well with me finishing with schorching blues piano run going down through 3 octaves and me energetically standing up immediately after the last note, which looked very dramatic and audiences loved it.

This normally went well, got applause, and lots of interest in the product which was the whole idea of me being there.  So on this demonstration I had already splattered the music rest and then my problems got worse because my nose started running really badly but I had no handkerchief, and I was not going to ruin my new posh jacket, so I sniffed with increasing frequency throughtout the demo, but of course with a head mic you can't sniff loudly can you, so things degenerated until during Nutrocker I lost the battle and my nose streamed in the worst way, i.e. long and stringy. So picture it, a professional Yamaha player playing the latest music technology on a professional stage with PA lights, sound man, compere etc. and during the "piece d'resistance" the pianist is hacking his way through some flashy rock and roll, with nose streaming down between his legs onto the floor, and the audience howling with laughter. At the end I broke the stream with my finger, turned to the audience and got a standing ovation !!!    That's the only time it's ever happened to me, thank god.
After a few more years at Yamaha I decided to change tack and now work for a very large IT company, not so much fun but I have my own function band, the T6 Band ( www.T6band.com ) which is great fun.
 
Keep up the good work,
Cheers matey!
Jeremy

Battling Bands Coming Back?

I used to host a podcast at www.battlingbands.com but it went away becuase people cheated. I am thinking of brining it back for free. Bands interested need to meet a criteria.

1. You need to have a CD at CDBaby.com
2. You need to have music on www.podsafemusicnetwork.com
3. It would be beneficial if you have a maling list but not mandatory
4. You would be willing to (possibly) email/send downloads to a random recipiant of the voting population.

If you are interested please send an e-mail ot musicianscooler "at" gmail "dot" com with the title batting bands and let me know where I can find your music.

Other Sites Mentioned

Loking to put audio on your website check out http://www.myflashfetish.com

Looking to save money on a domain? Try www.godaddy.com and use the Godaddy coupon code cooler3, or cooler1, and cooler2 to see which saves you the most.

Dancing with the Stars is Going to Make Me Gauge My Eyes Out

I was at a club this weekend and the band was playing some old 60's tunes. They launch into Journey to the Center of your mind by Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, and a couple gets up to do their "Cross Country Ballrom Dancing" routine. This included lots of  posing, and (of course) a dip at the end. This has to stop.

Cool MySpace Widget

I was over at www.jimmiebratcher.com when I was he was using some social networking widget called "Gydget."

You can find it at http://www.gydget.com/home/bands This seems to really boost alot of intereactivity at myspace and facebook, etc. You can sell tickets, ringtones, music and more while you add "top fans" to your widget. From what I've seen it's free.

Cover Band Tips

I saw a band this weekend called Cosmic Candy. They were really talented and did a great job of paying attention to their fans (as in playing requests immediately when people request them). They also took the song "Funky Town" and made it their own.  On the other hand their website promotes their myspace page (www.myspace.com/thecosmiccandyband ) their website is www.cosmiccandy.org I went over there and found it odd that there was no "about the band" that says:

1. Who they are
2. Who they sound like
3. Who is in the band

Remember if someone is looking for a member of the band it won't work if they are not listed on their website.

Also, if you list where you are playing (and you SHOULD), put the club's address. This way people can use sites like mapquest, and google maps and get directions. Make it easy for your fans to find you. The other thing I noticed is there was no contact name on the business card (I realize this means anyone can pass out cards).  Business cards are cheap if someone quits and you have to make new cards, its not going to kill you (and you can use those in the event you run out).

Survey Question: Cover bands, Are there songs you thought were going to go over (and didn't) and songs you thought might lay an egg and instead went over like gangbusters.

Let me know 888-563-3228 (or email me at musicianscooler "at" gmail "dot" com)

Matthew Ebel Launches Membership Site

I talked about this in a previous episode that one way musicans can make money is by having a "Fan site." Matthew Ebel is doing this exact thing with membershps starting at $5 a month going up to $15 a month. You can read about all the bonus material he will be giving away at www.matthewebel.net I beleive he is using the Amember membership script to pull this off.  Amember is around $179 for the script. If you interested in membership scripts check out this list of membership sites at Weekly Web Tools

Tunecore Get Your Music Into iTunes

It appears Tunecore.com now has a deal with guitar center that gets your music into iTunes (you keep all the royalties). Thanks to Marcus Couch of the The Scene Zine Hard Rock Podcast.

Save Money and Support The Show

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We hear how musicians are "starving" and how there isn't enough money.  Well it's true, the potential to make less money than a lawyer is greater. However, becuase we accept this, we need to manage our money better  than the average Joe. Today we talk with Veteran Musician Doug Ross who has been writing financial advice for musicans (and non musicians) on savng money, and making money. You can find Doug at www.dougross.net

There is a great book that Doug Mentiones that you can download as a pdf called "Common Sense" by Art Williams"

Get Bob Baker's Free Report "How to Recession-Proof Your Music Career: 39 Ways Musicians, Bands and Record Labels Can Reduce Expenses and Prosper in Today's Economic Times." at http://www.bob-baker.com/buzz/recession-proof-music.html Check out Bob's

Other Sites Mentioned

www.xpenser.com where you can easily track your expenses.

www.gnucash.org is an open source (free) software alternative to quicken

I use http://home.ingdirect.com/index.html to create his "Oh crap" fund. He earns 3% interest.

I mentioned Dave Ramsey on the podcast. Everyone is raving about his Book Total Money Makeover. There is even a total money makeover workbook. How am I going to save money? By going to the library and reading it for free.

www.betterthanavan.com is a way to find places to stay on the road.

www.fool.com is a great site to learn about investing.

Music on This Episode (from the Podsafe Music Network)

"Distractions" from the self-titled Doug Ross CD. You can buy it at his website www.dougross.net or at CDBaby

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No More Practicing Alone

Today in Cooler History

• 164 Niche Happens with Christine Kane
• MC163 Putting on a Show with Phil X of Powder The Musicians Cooler - Where Musicians Trade Advice › Edit — WordPress
• EZ Drummer Feedback - PMN Discussion
• 161 Interactive T-shirts
• 160 Blake Morgan Shows Up Big

• 95: Home vs Professional Studio Which One Makes Sense For You
• 94 Anthony Gomes “It’s All About the Fans” - Getting Airplay in 7 Days
• 93: How to Be a Hit Songwriter Reviewed
• 92 Dipping Your Toe in the ProTools Pool

• Mentoring Moment with Judith Owen
• #33 Interview with the Booker
• #32 Podsafe Music Network - The Results Are in
• #31 Americas Biggest - Here I am Dave

Make Your Song The Next Anthem

Musicians Guide to Brides

Today I talk with Ann Roos who is the author of the book Musician's Guide to Brides How to Make Money Playing Weddings and has a huge amount of experience playing weddings. There are some great tips in the book (and this interview). If you've been afraid to play a wedding, this book walks you through the whole process. The tips in the book are great for the music business in general (so if you're playing clubs, the marketing tips will work for club bookers as much as brides).

Some great points include:

"Showing up late with a great excuse does not equal "on time."

"It's all about the bride."

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Kadoink Wdiget Music Promotion Tool

Rich Palmer from Blog Views and Blues podcast Reviews www.kadoink.com which is a great widget to promote your music. He is using at his www.RichDesoto.com website.

4 Resources for Musicians

Paul from www.mesasand.com he got it from www.isound.com the artcile states:
Sunrise Promotions
http://www.sunrise-promotions.com/

Sunrise Promotions is a great inexpensive newsletter service that allows you to connect with your fans on a monthly basis. They offer newsletters with no cap on subscribers for only $5 a month. The newsletter service does require you to be a little knowledgeable with html but at $5 a month you can afford to learn some simple html. For those that would rather pay more, Sunrise also offers a full service newsletter where they create your monthly newsletter for $30 a month. Other services offered by Sunrise include street teams and website development.

Feedburner
http://www.feedburner.com/
Make it easy for your fans to subscribe to your band blog with Feedburner. Feedburner manages your rss feed, allows you to keep track of the number of subscribers, usage and traffic. The best part are the widgets for your website and blog that make it easy for your fans to subscriber via email or rss reader and make it easy for the content to be shared with each other. For those that subscribe via email, Feedburner sends all your daily blog updates every day at noon to all your subscribers.

Whrrl
http://www.whrrl.com/
Whrrl is a new Social Networking SMS Service. Think Myspace and Yelp all in one. Whrrl allows you to connect with your fans regionally by city. Share with your friends great restaurants you find while touring, or notify your fans when you arrive in their city for a concert date, or let your fans know that you would like to meet them at a pizza joint before the show. Great for promoting concerts and reminding fans of events.

Twitter
http://twitter.com/
Twitter is similar to Whrrl and is used for micro blogging, it allows you to update your fans on a minute by minute basis. Fans can subscribe to your Twitter updates via SMS, Email, Instant Messager or just read them on your Twitter profile. Let your fans know about your current playlist, what you just ate, how your band practice went, or keep them updated on the recording process. A Twitter widget also allows you to place your updates on Myspace, Facebook, or your band's website.

Web Traffic for Musicians Package

Never heard of Twitter? David Hooper has some great books on using Twitter, facebook, bloglogs and more. All these books for $27 check it out

Tales From the Road - Driving Through the Road/River

Peter Woolston had a gig where the raods turned into rivers.  Hear his music and watch the video at http://www.reverbnation.com/peterwoolston Watch his video on You Tube

Calculate Profits On CDs and Gigs 

Disk Makers Launches Eleite Artists Services (http://www.eliteartistservices.com/) they have a cool Excel spreadsheet you can used to measure the profit on your next CD release. If you like this sheet, check out the tools from David Hooper of Music Business Radio at www.gigcalculator.com

www.judithowen.net

Independent artist, session guitarist and music educator, Chris Juergensen shows you the steps you need to take to make music your career. Subjects include: building and maintaining your website, recording and releasing your own music, marketing on a tight budget, selling from your site and through internet retailers, digital distribution, royalties, publishing, personal finance and more. This book will pay for itself with one CD sale. Available at lulu.com

Today Chris and I discuss his book, his time in Japan, getting your music promoted on Podcasts, and more. He has a great marketing idea about working with other local musicians (that will boost CD sales).

In his "tales from the road" Chris talks about the time he found himself without pants on stage. Thank goodnews for his guitar.

MUSIC: Sweet Mellissa from the Podsafe Music Network buy Chris' music at CDBaby, and iTunes.

How Much Money Do Artists Make on a CD Sale?

According to a video fomr the Band Bezerker the breakdown is as follows:
Retail 52.3%
Distribution 23.3%
Record Label 12%
Manufacturer 9%
Artist 3.3%

This means on a sales of $12.99 the breakdown would be as such:

 Last.fm Royalties

 You will accrue an amount each time one of your tracks is streamed on the Last.fm service. The amount will vary depending upon which Last.fm service your track is played. A brief rundown of the various royalty levels can be found below:
- If your track is played on our free radio service you will accrue a 10% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue (see the definition of “Share” and “Net Revenue” in the terms and conditions) from the free radio service.
- If your track is played on our personalised premium radio service, you will accrue the greater of either 10% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue from the personalised radio service, or US $0.0005 for each complete transmission on the personalised radio service.
- If your track is played on our free on-demand service, you will accrue 30% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue from the on-demand radio service.
- If your track is played on our premium on-demand service, you will accrue the greater of either 30% of the Share of Last.fm’s Net Revenue from the premium on-demand service, or US $0.005 for each complete transmission on the prepaid or subscription on-demand service

Thanks to Rokk from http://www.myspace.com/rokk  and http://www.myspace.com/vociferousmusic

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Three Sites To Surf

Today we have three sites you may want to check out.

Songness

http://www.songness.com/ is a fair way to evaluate and market new songs, and systematically introduces fans to songs they might otherwise miss. You will have your song evaluated by 200 people. Their engine suggests music that they like. It opens in September, so you may want ot check it out.

MySpace Lets Band Find Their Fans
You can apply at https://advertise.myspace.com/apply.html you spend 25 and every time someone clicks they deducts .25 from your account. This means you will get 100 people to your profile. In my book that's kind of pricey. If you use this please let me know if this is bringing results.

Last.fm pPoviding Royalties

You can sign up for Last.fm at http://www.last.fm/uploadmusic as they are no issuing Royalties when you music is streamed. I was unable to see how much a "royalty" is, but its better than 0.00

Feature Interview with Vick Blankenship of Indiegrrl as they launch new Conference