Ourtunez, the Music Network

I am Nino Munaco, Editor and Blog writer for Ourtunez, the Music Network. Ourtunez is a free music streaming service that features Independent musicians. Any one can sign up, upload their music and instantly receive the benefits.

Your music will gain exposure through our website and app. New music discovery is missing in other music streaming services but Ourtunez excels in that department. Even our “mainstream” stations are full of independent artists who have signed up. They are being played alongside today’s (and yesterday’s) biggest artists. We even have a Comedy station where independent comedians can be discovered.

We are looking for people who want to be a part of this community of amazing artists.

Click to read more ...

5 Social Media Secrets for Indie Musicians

Today, social media is the cornerstone of your music career. It’s what lets you stay in touch with your fans and easily notify them with exciting news. With all the social media guides out there, you’d think no one remembers one of the key behavioral aspects to being human - socializing. I know, it’s hard to find a balance between social and promotional - afterall, you still need to sell your show or record. Here’s 10 secrets to help you find that social media balance.

Click to read more ...

How to Monetize Your Following PLUS win a free online store

Wondering how to take advantage of you fan base but stuck on where to begin? 

In this article;

- Easy way to sell band merchandise straight from you Facebook page.

- 3 lucky bands will win a fully set up online store.

Imagine the opportunity to offer your online followers the chance to buy band merch right from your Facebook page.  Galloree offers just that.

There are no minimum order quantities or ridiculous price minimums.  Types of merchandise offered ranges from Tee’s to Hoodies to Skateboards.

Click to read more ...

Conversion in a Box: Why 'Website Visits' Are a Worthless Metric for Musicians

A few weeks ago, our good friend Wes Davenport put us on to a new service called ‘Conversion In a Box’, which is a simple email-for-media form creator aimed at helping musicians to easily create a newsletter sign up form for their website that offers a download in exchange for an email address.

While most email services offer some sort of opt-in form, and many do also include an e-for-m option, it’s not always the easiest thing to set up / customize. For instance, Mail Chimp offers a great newsletter service but won’t allow you to upload a song directly to their server so if you are going to offer a song download in exchange for an email address, you’ll have to find somewhere else to actually host that song.

Conversion In a Box on the other hand will host your files, allow you to set up a highly customizable sign-up form in mere minutes that can be embedded to any website with ease. And for those of you who already have a newsletter set up through another service, the email addresses you collect here can be easily exported in .csv format and imported back into your newsletter service.

Click to read more ...

New Start-Up Provides Independent Musicians and Labels with One-Stop Solutions

Happy Dog Music is one of a handful of marketing centered music start-ups that are a product of the seismic shift that has taken place in the music industry in the last ten years. Happy Dog Music crafts and implements custom marketing campaigns and provides any other ancillary support clients may need during the course of the agreement. Unlike the typical record label deal, Happy Dog Music clients retain 100% of all rights. Happy Dog Music provides major label support without all of the strings that come attached to a major record deal.

Click to read more ...

Top 10 Musician Mistakes: You Don't Leverage Your Fans as Marketers

As an indie artist today, you’re most likely in charge of your own marketing. You probably don’t have a record label planning your releases or scheduling your social media for the week, and you certainly don’t have any spare cash for a big marketing campaign. Marketing can seem like a completely daunting task if its just you and maybe a manager trying to get the word out, but you actually have a whole team of marketers just waiting to share your music – your fans!

With the constant presence of social media and the internet, most music fans today are bombarded with more information than they can possibly process. On top of that, new technology has enabled just about anyone to get online and call themselves a musician. As a result, most music fans look to recommendations from trusted sources for new music. These trusted sources could be a good music blog but more times than not it comes from a friend. Think about how you found some of your favorite artists. How many of them did you discover from a friend’s recommendation? Or someone you trust?

The key here is authenticity. Making it real and transparent and interesting. More people will check out your new album after a friend recommends it than would after a flashy TV commercial. This means you don’t need to dish out thousands for a big marketing campaign. The most effective form of marketing is completely within your reach financially!

Click to read more ...

Post-Show Procedures: 8 Things Every Band Should Do After the Performance

Do you have a post-show plan? Is there a set of procedures that you work on after each performance? Or, does your band simply work on the next upcoming event – the next show, the next rehearsal, time in the studio, etc.?

In almost every professional endeavor, there is some kind of routine or review period to measure performance or follow-up with customers:

• In sports, the coach diligently sits down with the entire team to review footage of the previous game. Team member celebrate successes and most importantly, look for areas of improvement.

• In corporate business, the board of directors and executive staff look over stock performance and make decisions to keep their shareholders satisfied.

• In the arts, performers carefully review each element of the show to see what delighted audiences and what could use work.

Click to read more ...

How Bands Can Break Into New Markets

One way to grow your music’s reach is to break into new markets. This could be taken a number of ways: new geographical areas (cities, states, countries, etc.) or simply new audiences in general (by demographic, interest, psychographic, etc). Before you try and expand your reach through new markets, it’s important to take a few things into consideration:

• Return on Investment: What is the cost or effort required to break into this market? Is the return on investment worthwhile or would you be better off using those resources to grow an existing market?

• Goals: What kind of role will this market play in your S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals?

Click to read more ...

The One (and Only) Thing A DJ Should Ask For In Return For DJ Mixes

You’re creating boatloads of amazing mixes - yippee! So, it’s only natural that for every piece of music you deliver people should automatically make people want to come to your gigs or buy your latest release …right?

Errrr..wrong.

One singular piece of music isn’t going to translate into an immediate purchase or attendance to your event.

But, I have good news.

Building trust and BFF-worthy relationships with people so that they do backflips of joy when you make an offer is something you can do.

Click to read more ...

An Honest Review of the All-New Sonicbids EPK System

Today, I was checking out a Sonicbids EPK that was emailed to me. Much to my surprise, the layout for a Sonicbids artist profile completely changed – there was no quick bio, music player on top, or a useful set of links (press, stage plot, etc.). Instead, I found a Pinterest-like layout with navigational tiles. I thought it was just some lame option that the artist chose, but decided to check using my own band’s profile.

This is what I found:

Click to read more ...

The Coffee House Sessions

Coffee House Sessions is a new music initiative, exposing the hottest in upcoming UK music talent to the student market via daytime performances in University coffee shops around the country: http://youtu.be/CZRp_MoTqhM. 

With a carefully designed touring circuit taking place in 40 universities, Coffee House Sessions holds acoustic performances at two different campuses a day over a ten day period and provides promotion for the showcased artists through student media outlets such as student newspapers, student radio and student TV at each university.

Click to read more ...

How to be Featured on Music Blogs

At NoisePorn.com, we pride ourselves on featuring little-known, talented artists just launching their music careers, alongside their established counterparts. We love getting emails from artists who don’t have 1 million, 50,000, or even 1,000 Likes on Facebook. Discovering new talent for us is typically more exciting than just another release from a legendary artist.

Click to read more ...

One Book To Rule Them All! The Elusive "It" Factor in the Music Industry

I have always been a creative entrepreneur, and not allowed the world to get the better of me, but instead, let the world fuel me. Throughout 13 years in the music industry I’ve worked with some of the best in the business: Anita Baker, KC Porter, Jim Henson Studios, Never Land, OK GO, George Duke, Lauren Mayhew, Pomplamoose, and as far as I can remember, I’ve heard of “it,” this elusive thing setting apart the extraordinary from the ordinary. These people encapsulate: auras, energy, and empower all that are near; you’re drawn to them.

Click to read more ...

12 Angles to Get Your Music More Press

Getting more press is one of the most important parts of your music career. It helps your industry buzz, gets you better gigs, lands bigger sponsorship relationships, expands your audiences, and builds your music’s credibility. So how do you get more reviews or your work highlighted?

Click to read more ...