60: Create Cover Tune Videos

Indie band Boyce Avenue created a video of the latest Coldplay when the only version of it could be found on an Apple commercial. Since the song had not been released yet, Coldplay fans searching for the song online found Boyce Avenue’s video instead. The band repeated this technique with video covers of popular songs, and gained millions of YouTube views. This led to a tour of the Philippines where the indie band received a Beatles-like welcome.

- Carla Lynne Hall

http://carlalynnehall.com

61: Get Played On Podcasts – Build a Rabid Loyal Audience

Even small podcasts with only 100- 200 listeners count if you get played on lots of them. The key to understand here is: Podcasters listen to others podcasters podcasts and they get ideas from each other and rebroadcast pieces of each others podcasts – it is a pre- selected audience and Podcasters will help you find your niche if you are not even sure what it is.

- Jonathan Coulton

http://www.jonathancoulton.com

Podcasters have two things that musicians need: an audience, and a medium to play music. And musicians have something podcasters are looking for: audio content. Since podcasts are “The Radio Of The Internet” musicians should reach out to them the same way they reach out to radio shows. Some musicians make the mistake to just try to get played in music podcasts, but there’s no need to limit yourself that way in this thriving medium. Instead, use podcast directories like Podcastalley.com or podcastpickle.com and find popular podcasts about topics that you enjoy. Become a fan, send an email, and offer your music. In return, they’ll usually link to your website, and talk about your band.

- Randy Chertkow

http://randycon.org

62: Post Photos on Flickr & Cross Post on Facebook

They say a picture says a thousand words, and it’s true. Flickr is one of the user- friendliest Web 2.0 sites, and Yahoo owns it so millions of potential new fans are waiting for you to discover them and make friends. Flickr works just like MySpace or Facebook. You create a profile, upload your main image, join groups, and make friends, and you can also message people and leave comments on any photo you like. Flickr is a great way to show yourself as multi-dimensional. You can post photos of things other than your band activities (such as vacations, kids, your home, and hobbies) to show your fans you are a well-rounded individual. And if you go to conferences, this is a great way to get people to link back to you and pay attention to you (remember – the most interesting thing for people is THEMSELVES so taking pictures of other people is well advised!). Use this link to synch back to Facebook too! http://www.tinyurl.com/flickr2facebook 

- Christina Duren

63: Study Your Analytics – Google, ReverbNation, & Rockdex

 Use the data you can easily get from Google, ReverbNation, and Rockdex (among others) to learn more about your fans – who they are, where they are listening, what they are listening to, for how long, etc. The more you know about them, the easier it is to connect with them and market to them. You can also use this data to easily get sponsors. Brands want to know who your fans are, how many you have, how engaged you are with them, etc. They don’t care about “Friends”, they want to know about your real fans, your engagement with them and the size of your mailing list.

- Lou Plaia

http://www.reverbnation.com

Rockdex can see who is talking about you online and can track how many people are added to each of your social networks by searching blogs, micro-blogs, music sites and delivering you the hard results via reports with actual metrics on how many po- tential fans have visited your social networking sites. http://www.rockdex.com

- Christina Duren

64: No Money For A Tour Publicist? Artist Data To The Rescue!

If you don’t have enough money to get a tour publicist for tour press then no need to worry. Artist Data is tour press for musicians made easy! ArtistData allows you to update your tour dates at Jambase, Eventful, Sonicbids, MySpace Facebook and Twitter. It not only updates your social networking sites but it also allows you to submit each of your shows info to the calendar editor at local newspapers and magazines in the specific regions you are touring. www.artistdata.com

- Christina Duren

65: Ping.FM – 55 Sites Updated At Once – Hours of Your Life Back

Ping allows you to update over 55 social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and your blog all from one easy to use website simultaneously. There are no more excuses for becoming overwhelmed with logging into several websites. This one interface allows you to update all of your statuses at one click.

- Christina Duren

http://ping.fm/

66: Understand The Power of Tagging

Be super descriptive when tagging the titles of your songs, videos, photos, blog posts, and more. The Internet is filled with multimedia these days. But people still search for stuff using words! Make sure your online content is loaded up with the key words your potential fans use to find stuff that interests them.

- Bob Baker

67: Use Search Engine Optimization

When I first heard Jamie Foxx’ “Blame it on the Alcohol”, I fell hard for the groove of the song (although not the message), and considered writing a parody of the song. After searching online for the chords and tabs for the song, I also found a performance video of another singer/songwriter performing an acoustic version on guitar. I was so impressed with the cover version, I blogged about the tune, the cover video, and links to the chords and tab. By twittering links to my blog post, I unwittingly created more powerful links to my blog post. Soon, my blog post ranked on the first page of Google for this song, and to this day, that blog post is one of my most visited pages, which has also led to new readers and subscribers to my newsletter. Now I’m adding more chords and tab blog posts for cover tunes that are actually in my genre!

- Carla Lynne Hall

http://carlalynnehall.com

68: Scratch The Back That Scratches Yours Online: Give Thanks!

Many of the Billboard Maximum 100 “opportunities” and placements are the results of years of favors, legal agreements, negotiating and bargaining tactics, and just plain historical relationships from the labels and commercial outlets. They have little to do with the artist. I maintain all of my bands networking sites as well as my own blog www.dereknicoletto.com,

Youtube channel www.youtube.com/dereknicolett and http://twitter.com/dereknicoletto. My band and my music has been placed on 11 television shows, countless podcasts, radio programs, publications and video programs. For every single placement, I either re-posted the feature on a site, sent a tweet about it or let my fans know in some way. Most importantly, I said “Thank You.”

- Derek Nicoletto

69: Tell Them It’s Okay To Share With Creative Commons Licensing

Copyright law is clear: Your songs are yours. But what if you want to tell people it’s okay to share your music, or use it for noncommercial purposes, as long as they at- tribute you? Enter creativecommons.org, a simple way to license your music to let people know what you want people to do with your music, while keeping the rights that you want to reserve. If you use the creativecommons.org website banners on your own site, your music can come up in searches for Creative Commons material, which can get your music used, and exposure in places you would never have dreamed about.

- Randy Chertkow

http://randycon.org

The derivative works clause of the Creative Commons license didn’t cost me a bit of time or money and I found niches I never knew about including the World of Warcraft Machinima Music Videos. A video artist named Spiff created 15 videos using my music and there is a huge online community of people who love Machinima videos. Some of them have been viewed millions of times which is VERY good for someone who has a marketing budget of zero dollars… It would never have happened if I had posted warnings about my content

- Jonathan Coulton

http://www.jonathancoulton.com

70: Get in a Podsafe Collective - Let Podcasters Find You

Podcasts are “the radio of the internet” and they are hungry for new music to play thanks to very strict copyright rules about using major-label music. Consequently, they are always looking for the right songs to play during their podcast, and they turn to podsafe collectives because all of the music on them has been branded safe for them to play. Read the agreements carefully on these websites, and if you’re comfortable with them, post your music. In return for using your songs, they’ll attribute your band, and even link to your website, exposing your music to new potential fans. Examples are http://www.podsafeaudio.com/ and http://www.musicalley.com/

- Randy Chertkow

www.randycon.org/

71: Activision’s “Guitar Hero” Not Calling You For A Synch Deal? Join The New Rock Band Network Yourself!

Rock Band is a multiple player video game. The game licenses music from famous artists (like the Police) and currently you can buy music from many named artists to compete with. The creators of Rock Band are opening up the platform for all musicians to submit songs in the game. Rock Band will sell your tracks for you using their powerful network but you must hire a programmer to program your music to synch with the game. I think the potential is there for an unknown artist to rocket to the top in this whole new median. I wouldn’t be surprised if people start writing songs that go with this game. It’s a brand new opportunity to put your music in a place where it can bounce around and find it’s feet and find your future fans – someone will be getting famous as the first rock band from Rock Band.

Watch the how to video here: http://creators.rockband.com/

 - Jonathan Coulton

www.jonathancoulton.com

72: Sponsored streaming single or album release through Reverb Nation, Pandora, imeem, Rhapsody

All of these media companies connect music with advertising on the vast platform of the Internet, which can help you, get maximum (and track able) exposure to your music. This is your Johnny Carson. This is your Oprah. If you get this, you will be exposed to over 40 million potential new & genuine music fans with high consumption rates on the web. All three companies have engaged in advertising programs which package a new release in a stream surrounded by an advertisement. Read about Reverb Nation’s DIY Song Sponsorships here, or Pandora’s sponsored album releases here.

Tip: All of these companies are engaging or about to engage in sponsored video streams. Prepare now. Get your videos together now. Watch their video series. Rhapsody has been promoting independent live shows for 3 years, with its Rhapsody Rocks series. Big Light was featured in Rhapsody Rocks San Francisco where every band was paid appropriately and then featured on a Rhapsody Rocks play list. Remember, these placements are just another 15 minutes if you don’t make a connection with every single person who connects with you about their experience with your music. Know who is listening and thank them.

Tip: You are not ready to begin pitching for this until you have 1000 true fans on Facebook and/ or Twitter (or whichever network you use).

- Corey Denis

http://notshocking.com

73: You Say Rolling Stone, I say Hot Lips: Get a Live Show Review on Jambase, Appear on Jambase TV, Perform In Their Office For Jambase Live

Jambase has become the source for Live Music exposure online. Recently, artists Big Light & Nathan Moore teamed up for Jambase Live & the crowd went wild. Jambase is not just a source for how to see live music - more than a 50,000,000 music lovers participate in the Jambase community, with massive syndication generating 750,000 unique visits every month. Think it’s just for Jam Bands? You’re wrong. It’s not. Read that sentence again, please. Jambase has the most accurate show listings online, for more than 50,000 artists across 50 genres, performing in 50,000 venues worldwide.

Jambase is headquartered in San Francisco and has been around for 10 years. Go say hi now.

http://www.jambase.com

- Corey Denis

http://notshocking.com

74: Spin Magazine Doesn’t Exist: Album review on Stereogum (buzznet), My Old Kentucky Blog, Largehearted Boy, Gorilla Vs Bear

Tip: first read these blogs and determine if your music is appropriate, and con- tact bloggers in accordance with a planned digital strategy. Pork is the other white meat, and these top music blogs are the other Spin Magazine. A review on any of these music review blogs will get you exposure to at least 10,000 true genuine music lovers. Blogs are also now participating in the presentation of events ranging from local to major showcases at SXSW. Wendy Darling hopped on a My Old Ken- tucky Blog concert.

Tip: Time your solicitations appropriately, read the blog for at least 3 months before you submit or ask for their attention. Know the writers, respect the blo- gosphere, and communicate with them via their blog. All three bloggers above have been writing about music online for 6 years. They have specific taste and did not do this for the money.

Tip: do not spam. Ever.

- Corey Denis

http://notshocking.com

75: Video / Music Video Feature on CurrentTV

Rotary Downs was featured on Current TV and the band is still receiving feedback via comments on the video, which was syndicated across the web. In addition, Current TV recommends “like music” to appropriate fans, so Rotary Downs enjoyed the benefit of entering the Current TV recommendation realm. Also, how can you deny the awesomeness of Al Gore? Pay attention to all the music contributors and if you think you fall into the category of something they may feature and go for this if you know you have at least 500 true fans who will enjoy it. Tell them when it airs and encourage them to share the video with the embed code. When you acquire new fans, make sure they know where to find your music and how to connect with you. Return the connection favor. Rotary Downs enjoyed a 40% increase in digital sales as a result of their feature on Current TV. Tip: remember, Current TV also airs on cable. www.currenttv.com

- Corey Denis

http://notshocking.com

76: Premiere Your Music Video on Singing Fool

Singing Fool offers exclusive music video premiere offers for professionally made music videos. The videos are then premiered on top sites such as, billboard.com, All-music, Windows Media, Friendster, and many more. Contact them and ask if they will consider your video for a premiere. www.singingfool.com

 - Christina Duren

77: Feature on Indiefeed Podcast: A Single Serving Podcast

With single servings (one track at a time) this is the ultimate way to expose your single to a passionate group of music listeners. Indiefieed is the number one music podcast on iTunes. I have placed at least 30 tracks with Indiefeed, and as a result every track was exposed to over 1 million Nielson Certified listeners. Indiefeed likes to post your promotional mp3, and links to your website in the show notes available at Indiefeed.com, which has lead to at least 1000 dedicated-fan downloads and a minimum of 20% traffic increase with every feature I have placed.

Tip: Time this appropriately with your strategy, and give Indiefeed an exclusive if you can. Start listening to the show immediately, and follow the contact information provided for submissions. www.indiefeed.com

- Corey Denis

www.notshocking.com

78: Record a Cover For Coverville - One of iTunes’s Highest Rated Podcasts

I love Coverville – it’s a great podcast b/c it’s bands covering other bands and it has a devoted listener base. Brian (Coverville’s host and producer) has been very kind to me and helped me promote my cover of “Baby Got Back.” This is the kind of track that would never fly on radio…..

- Jonathan Coulton

http://www.jonathancoulton.com

I was a fan of Coverville, one of iTunes’s highest rated podcasts. When I submitted our version of “Mad About You,” I referenced other bands who had placed rougher, minor chord arrangements to sugary pop-songs; also noting this arrangement was in the minority of his submissions. A lot of what Brian gets seemed to be slower acoustic versions of popular songs, so I knew ours stood out. I think we formed a relationship because he sensed I knew a little about his job, and noted how my song would complement his programming. Ultimately, he featured our song as the title track in one of his podcasts. When the video was made, I thought, “Brian might like this” and brought it to his attention, he posted it on Coverville’s front page. We got tons of YouTube hits from his placement of that video on his site, which doubled the exposure “Mad About You” had gotten from the original podcast http://www.coverville.com

 - Derek Nicoletto

http://www.tellingontrixie.com/music

79: Accident Hash Podcast: A Podcast Hosted By A Social Media Icon

C.C. Chapman hosts one of the longest running independent music podcasts. Accident Hash receives several thousand listeners each month. An added bonus is C.C. is well known in the Social Media world and he has over 17,000 followers on Twitter (so if you connect with him there you will be sure to find some new online fans, and friends. Genres: Assorted (almost all) http://www.accidenthash.com

- Ariel Hyatt

http://www.arielpublicity.com