"Has Your Music Been Featured In The New York Times?" An Exposé on Beatwire.com

“Has Your Music Been Featured In The New York Times?” That’s quite a question! When I saw the advertisement headline recently I was tempted to click on it myself it looked so enticing.

This is a bit of a dangerous article, but after seeing that the advertisements for these types of companies are still all over the place targeting hopeful musicians, and knowing the disappointment left in their wake, I had to say something. It is in no way intended to insult anyone. It is only meant to tell the truth, so you can take that for what it’s worth.

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The Most Overrated Things in a Musician’s Career

Sometimes, we need to get our priorities straight. Sometimes, we need to learn to say “no” to the good so that we can say “yes” to the best. Other times, we need to not let perfection get in the way of productivity. How do we sort it all out? What do we need and when do we need it?

Let’s go over the most overrated ideas, services, and opportunities in a musician’s career. Please note: not all of these things are useless. In fact, some are quite essential but they should only be pursued at the right time. So, let’s get this thing going:

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6 Critical Ways For YOU To Manage Your Expectations of Digital PR & Social Media Marketing

This article was co-written by Ariel Hyatt and Jon Ostrow.

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“80% of marketers begin with tactics instead of goals” – eMarketer Report.

One of the most difficult things that we, and really any digital marketer faces is the ability to effectively manage the expectations of our clients.

We primarily consider clients who pay us to represent them in the realm of new media and social media. For us, it means properly identifying your goals as a client (be it an artist, author, entrepreneur or well-established brand) and often times, educating you as to why certain expectations and goals may need to be re-considered.

So many times we’ve had potential clients come to us complaining about how their previous digital PR or social media marketing campaign didn’t garner the results they had hoped for…

And you know what the first thing we ask is?

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: Premiumization & More

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud 

• Tommy Darker: Premiumization 101 for Musicians
• Mike Harmon: Landing Musician-For-Hire Gigs with your Presskit
• Jamie Leger: The Musicians Guide To YouTube Marketing

The Musicians Guide To YouTube Marketing

Got another treat for you today folks. This training, The Musicians Guide To YouTube Marketing: Audience Development and Video Promotion for CREATORS is taken directly out of my high end Masterclass for Modern Content Creators  – which you can sign up for F*REE here for a limited time. (until we’ve reached capacity for the number of people I can effectively serve for this class)

*I’m Jamie Leger, and if we haven’t already met, I’m here to hook you up with this caliber of content on the regular. You can sign up for my VIP Email List to get the latest premium content, as well as answers to your questions, and someone who really gives a crap that’s out here testing, (experimenting both personally AND helping others) and reporting what works and what doesn’t.

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Landing Musician-For-Hire Gigs with your Presskit

A musician-for-hire is someone who provides a service to an event coordinator, talent buyer, or group of people that caters to the event’s specific needs and generates a notable yearly income. 

You know, the guy that’s singing “Don’t Stop Believing” in the background of a picture-perfect wedding reception, or the guy kicking off “Hava Nagila” at the most anticipated Bar Mitzvah of the year. Even the cover band at the coolest bar in town is an example of musicians-for-hire work. There’s plenty of work like this out there for us to make a living from - but how do you set yourself apart from the rest of the bands trying to compete for these kind of gigs?

Well, although there’s no short answer, there are several steps you can take to set yourself ahead of the competition and create a “wow-factor” for yourself. Indulge:

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Premiumization 101 for Musicians

Music is valuable for triggering emotions and shaping our mood, but the market laws are different. There’s no silver bullet on how to add scarce value to a musical composition in order to make it marketable. There’s a yet unexplored territory though, and it lies in the power of perception. Brands resist commoditization by skillfully adding value to what they offer, changing people’s perception. In other words, enter Premium.

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: When to Release Your Album & More

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud 

• David Roberts: When to Release Your Album - Month by Month
• Simon Tam: Band Interview Tips: How to Make the Most Out of Your Interview
• Jem Bahaijoub: The Power of Personal - When Traditional Marketing Still Counts

The Power of Personal - When Traditional Marketing Still Counts

Written by Jem Bahaijoub

As a new artist it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the constantly evolving new media world. With new marketing platforms bombarding us every day, it’s difficult to see the forest from the trees. So what should you do to market your debut EP? How can you build up a fan base from scratch? Next time you feel a panic-attack coming on and start screaming “where do I start?!”, take a deep breath and remember that we were sociable before we were social. So cast your smiley text faces and FB invitations to one side, and go back to basics. The foundational elements of direct-to-fan marketing all started in the physical world….

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Band Interview Tips: How to Make the Most Out of Your Interview

If you do a scan online, you can find many articles about how to interview a band and what kinds of questions to ask a band, but there aren’t many things about what bands can do to prepare for and leverage an interview. I’ve done a fair share of them, both as the interviewer and the interviewee, and wanted to share some experiences with you so you can maximize the interview.

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When to Release Your Album - Month by Month

It’s still technically winter-time at the time of writing this post, but before you know it, it’s going to be spring and there’s a good chance that you’re thinking of releasing a new album. I’ve read at least a dozen articles with people who make sweeping claims like “Don’t release in January” that quite honestly don’t have any idea what the hell they’re talking about. When you should release your album depends on A LOT of factors and there’s no simple reason why you should pick one month over another. It all has to do with what your plans are AFTER the release. Let’s take a look.

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: Songwriting 101 & More

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud 

• Mark Doyon: Songwriting 101: Why Originality Matters
• Derek Sivers: It’s all who you know?
• Simon Tam: 5 Things You Need to Know About Unofficial SXSW Showcases
• Ken Dardis: To Indie Artists and Dreams
• Levi Weaver: What Does an Indie Get Paid? #1: iTunes

What Does an Indie Get Paid? #1: iTunes

I’m doing my taxes this week.

If it helps you maintain my “image”, imagine I’m A.) really sad about it, philosophically pondering how Western Civilization and Capitalism got to the point that I, one whose job it is to write poems and sing them so that we can momentarily forget about these things, am sitting at a computer figuring up royalties to the .000000000000001th decimal point. (this part is actually true.) and B.) Not wearing glasses and my hair looks super cool. (this part is not true.)

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To Indie Artists and Dreams

In the increasingly difficult world of getting your music heard, indie artists are being supplied with unparalleled tools in the form of social media, web sites specializing in “helping” musicians with marketing, and audio platforms which promise unlimited access to the public.

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