Brand Your Music With An Innovative Domain Name

Ever since the days of Myspace, artists and musicians have known that leveraging their presence in the digital space can lead to greater success. Using social media and the internet to strategically build your brand helps fans find you. Beyond that, it boosts your credibility with venues and, these days, even the labels. Many artists know social media is a powerful way to connect with fans, but training them to go to another website like Facebook to find you isn’t necessarily the best long-term strategy. It makes more sense to steer your fans to an online address that you control.

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15 Very Quick and Simple Things You Can Do to Help Your Music Career

Quick. Simple. And they make a huge impact. What’s not to love? 

#1 Remember Peoples’ Names 

Ya ya ya, you meet a lot of people… we get it. If you want people to remember your name, you better sure as hell try to remember theirs. Find a good system. Make notes. Facebook stalk. Do something.

#2 Send Thank You Notes 

A small and simple gesture that goes a long way to ensure you leave a great impression.

#3 Database Relentlessly

Keep organized and detailed databases of your mailing list, the local media, your supporters, promoters, and everything else. This will save you tons of time and help you manage relationships with ease. There’s a kazillion great databasing tools out there and a simple spreadsheet does the trick as well.

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Seven Ways to Get a Little Bit Closer to Your Fans

This isn’t new information: People will like you if you make them feel special. INTIMACY, therefore, is one of the key ingredients in creating loyal followers and Superfans. How do you do this if you can’t give each one a gift or a hug? There are so many ways to get closer to your fans.

Here are some of the best ways to establish that warm connection:

SHARE PERSONAL STORIES

The usual blogs of musicians are mostly informative. They simply talk about their gigs and about their latest album. That’s okay since that’s necessary but blogging about those stuff alone won’t help you build any connection to your followers.  You have to share a bit of yourself to your followers even (especially!) the most shallow details of your everyday life.  Check out Amanda Palmer’s blog. The girl is an expert on this.

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The Power of a Concert Memento

A ticket stub does so much more than just admitting you into an event. A ticket stub is a filled with memories, emotions and, if you’re lucky, your favourite singer’s autograph. Just one glance at that flimsy piece of paper, and the flood gates are opened. You are submerged in a pool of memories, like which song the band opened with, the moment you made eye contact with the guitarist, the hoarseness of your throat from screaming along with the lyrics, and how, for a couple hours, nothing else mattered in the world. That flimsy piece of paper can become a prized possession. 

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6 Steps to Building Your Brand on Pinterest

Your goal is to be a full time musician, right? Or maybe you already quit your day job and this is all you do. Guess what– you’re not just a musician, you’re a business, so start acting like one. It’s time to convert your Pinterest account to a business account, if you haven’t already. There are perks to having a business account over a personal account, like analytics tools and coming soon, promoted pins.

Why Pinterest? Pinterest gives you an opportunity to further build your brand image, show your fans what inspires you or what you find interesting, and helps drive traffic back to your other sites, like your webstore, newsletter signup, or other socials (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blog etc.) It’s a great place to build your lifestyle branding.

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MusicThinkTank.com | October's Most Popular Posts

MusicThinkTank.com takes great pride in being a renowned resource for all who comprise today’s music industry. We appreciate the conversations you start, the advice you share, the projects you promote, and the feedback you share and we want to encourage your continued efforts.

Thanks to our loyal readers and contributors, October was a great month for MusicThinkTank.com - so today, we’d like to share that success with you by highlighting October’s most popular posts. On behalf of MusicThinkTank.com, thank you for your support. We enjoy providing a unique platform where the music industry really can think out loud!

Laura Schneider, MusicThinkTank.com Community Manager

34,708   MTT (Journal) 4,685   MTT - 49 Ways to Get Free Music Promotion (Journal Entry) 4,606   MTT Open - 10 Awesome Independent Record Labels [LIST] (Journal Entry) 3,967   MTT - A&R Tips: The Art Of The Press Kit (Journal Entry) 3,755   MTT - Top 10 Rules For Better Songwriting (Journal Entry)

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Online Band Marketing & Social Networking Crash Course

In our current society we are constantly glued to our tech devices and continuously downloading massive amounts of data through both our personal computers and mobile devices. In fact, over 488 million people use Facebook over a one month span with numbers growing everyday. With evidence like this it is no wonder that it is so important for artists to “put themselves out there”. Gone are the days of searching the Yellow Pages for a phone number, or buying a map to plot a course for vacation. These tasks and more are easily and efficiently carried out over the internet.

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7 Music Marketing Truths ALL Musicians Should Know

Ever wondered why some super talented musicians don’t get the fanbase and recognition they ‘deserve’, while other not as talented musicians get a lot more exposure and seen in all the right places? Well while there could be a number of different reasons for this, one of the most common is that successful person’s ability to handle the business side of the music industry. More specifically, they probably know how to market themselves well.

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How To Make A Music Website Like Ed Sheeran, Case Study Part 1

Hey guys, today I’m going to show you how to make a top music website which will allow you to better turn visitors into fans, capture their details for future contact, and effectively make more money from your music career. I’ve already show you how to set your site up from scratch, so I won’t be talking about that again (use that guide if you haven’t already got a music website). What I didn’t cover in that guide however, is how to structure your site to make the most of your visitors.

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Fonts and Branding: How Typography Affects Your Identity in the Music Industry

Typography plays a key psychological role in how people view your music. If you want to attract new fans and retain loyal ones, it’s important to consider your visual representation in print, online and everywhere in between. A picture says a thousand words, but people spend an extraordinary amount of time reading text.

A particular type of font can invoke a wide range of perceptions and emotions, ultimately creating an image of that particular artist. For example, handmade typography and decorative fonts help musical artists stand out from others and invoke a more personal, intimate image. Meanwhile, sans serif fonts, such as Helvetica, are essential for clean visual identities that rely on expert use of white space and simplistic styling elements.

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4 ‘Normal’ Challenges to Building a Strong Online Brand

The key to establishing yourself online and within your niche, is building a strong brand. Unfortunately this is far easier said than done. The process of designing, building and nurturing a new brand means you have established:

• A unique voice
• Consistent compelling content
• A trustworthy reputation

The problem for most comes down to the simple fact that there is no single path to achieving any one of these things. And yet, you need to achieve them all in order for your brand to blossom.

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Cut Through the Noise: 3 Simple And Effective Ways for Musicians to Get Noticed

Smart musicians know that their career depends on building a loyal relationship with as many fans as possible. But before you can start to build that relationship, you have to get people’s attention…

So how do you cut through the noise?

Well, here’s a simple rule: What stands out gets remembered and talked about. What blends in gets forgotten - or worse - goes unnoticed.

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: The Music Marketing Manifesto. Ten Principles for Success

• Jesse Cannon | 9 Things YouTube Recommends Musicians Do That You’re Probably Missing

•  Simon Tam | 3 Ways Your Band Can Use Creativity to Make More Money

• Mark Knight | The Music Marketing Manifesto. Ten Principles For Success

• Kelland Drumgoole | How Stuff Spreads – Gangnam Style vs. Harlem Shake

The Music Marketing Manifesto. Ten Principles For Success

1. Write, record and play high quality music

It seems like an obvious thing to say, but everything starts & ends with the music. If the songs are poor, the recording is bad, and the live show is dull don’t expect to make a living from music.

2. Continue to only deal in high quality

Some of the best new bands and artists are let down by terrible videos, bad photography and shocking design. Yes it is fickle, but judging a book by it’s cover is a reality. When you are choosing which artist to review, book, or even sign you are invariably drawn to the most attractive presentation. So why not increase your chances of being heard? Remember, you can have the best music in the world but if nobody listens ,you get nowhere.

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