Welcome back to the Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools and Sites. In this second edition, I’d like to turn you all on to a very cool site we, here at Ariel Publicity, have been familiar with for some time now; NoiseTrade (www.noisetrade.com).
Like I said, we’ve been hip to this site for a little while now, but a few weeks back Brannon from NoiseTrade came to our Brooklyn office to give us a sneak peek at their newly designed site, and we were very impressed.
NoiseTrade is a platform for both artists and fans to discover each other. For the fan, it provides a fantastic and easy way to find new music. The fan is not obligated to pay for this music, but has the option of ‘tipping’ the artist when they download the tracks.
If the fan is particularly broke (aren’t we all?) and decides not to leave a ‘tip’, they can still feel good about themselves since NoiseTrade has provided them some powerful and simple ways of spreading the word. First, once they download their new music, NoiseTrade provides social media links so the fan can quickly tweet about their download or post it to Facebook. Second, if they fan is really impressed (or feeling particularly guilty about their lack of monetary contribution), they can get an embed code that will install a widget on their website or social media profile, directing their friends to that artist’s website.
For the artist, NoiseTrade is a remarkably elegant way to share their music with potential fans. Again, NoiseTrade allows fans to ‘tip’ artists, so the artist can make money directly from being involved with Noise Trade.
But the true power of NoiseTrade is in its marketing potential. When a fan downloads an artist’s music from NoiseTrade, that artist gets the zip code of that fan, giving the artist valuable location information about their fan base to use when planning where to tour.
The fan is also obligated to leave their email address in exchange for the great new music they are receiving. If you follow this blog at all, you are well aware of how much we LOVE getting these email addresses. If you find yourself at a loss for why in the world email addresses would be so valuable, please go here.
Empowered with zip codes and growing mailing lists, artists can begin their direct to fan marketing plan (that’s right, it’s effective because it rhymes). As more fans download your music, your album or EP will move up the charts till you grace the coveted front page (with 120,000 unique monthly visits it truly is a coveted position). If you need a boost, or just want to up your exposure, you can apply for the NoiseTrade Artist Partnership that, for a fee, will give you a banner on their front page.
For more information about this great site and what it can do for you, please go to www.noisetrade.com.
Take a spin around their site and find some great new music and come back here and let us know what you found. What’s the new summer jam that should be playing in the Ariel Publicity office? Upload your newest project on to Noise Trade. Share the results with us. We’d love to hear how it goes.