Paina B Music Marketing is asking Indie Artists and Indie Labels….Who handles your marketing?

Music Marketing Company looking for new clients to “Promote to the next level”

(ATLANTA, GA), August 1, 2012 – Paina B Music Marketing is launching a new campaign “Who handles your marketing?” in hopes to recruit indie artists and labels to promote to the next level. This company is looking to take on new clients to provide quality marketing services to them in hopes gain exposure in the entertainment industry. Launched in December 2010, Paina B has worked with pop, rap, and R&B artists in providing ways to enhance their brand according to the artists’/label’s goals and objectives.

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Zen and the Fine Art of Perpetual Inspiration

The demands on our creative energies is high. The need for our content and ideas has never been greater. We know we need to write more, practice more, paint more, produce more and create more… but for many of us, all we have is a deficit of inspiration.

Where do you come up with all of your ideas? 
Where do you find your inspiration?
How the hell can you be consistently creative?

Embracing the Art of Zen can help.

Zen can be approximately translated as “absorption” or a “meditative state”. 

Once you allow yourself to be in a contemplative and reflective state, you will find inspiration literally everywhere.

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And the award goes to…….

Celebrating the small wins

All artists want to be recognized for their craft/art. And recognition can come in many forms. The main forms of recognition, that artists often go after, generally falls under the categories of awards, high sales, popular media exposure, and other opportunities/offers within the entertainment industry. However, some artists will not get these on large scales.  If you find yourself in the latter scenario then don’t hesitate to celebrate the small wins/recognitions. Since the world isn’t making a big deal about it….YOU should make a big deal about it. Get people involved and get them to care about what you’ve accomplished. Hey you worked hard to earn it….why not brag about it?!?!

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Nobody 'Likes' To Play

Mark Knight from Right Chord Music examines fan voting competitions, and asks can bands ever really win?

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Fans Are Like Friends – So How Do You Keep Your Friends?

One of the biggest challenges for a band or artist is to attract, engage and retain fans. When considering this challenge it appears there are clear parallels with the way we manage the relationships with our friends. So how do we maintain our circle or friends, and how can we apply these principles to attract, engage and retain fans?

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Microphone Marketing

A microphone is actually a miniature speaker. It works like the human ear; it “listens” for sound waves, then translates and reproduces the signal to send it to the brain (or sound system). Until a microphone is used to magnify a person’s voice, it is just a speaker. A microphone is great for certain applications: events where a speaker or singer need to be heard or for grabbing someone’s attention. The problem is that unless it is a message that a person is listening for or wants to hear (such as a concert that the person has paid for), the message can get tuned out just like all of the other noise in our lives.

Think for a moment about the messages you hear when you fly somewhere. Every two minutes in the airport terminal, a voice interrupts the music playing overhead to announce a “high priority security alert,” only to tell you that it is important to watch your bags. These messages tend to get ignored. When you board the plane, flight attendants ask for everyone’s full attention while they go through life-dependent emergency procedures (they even ask for you to follow along in the safety guide). However, if you look around the plane, you’ll see that hardly anyone is listening – people are reading, listening to music, or distracting themselves with little games. Even though our lives may depend on knowing these procedures, our eyes tend to glaze over and we think “I’ve heard it all before.” Yet, we music marketers kid ourselves into thinking that certain ads will be given the attention we hope simply because it’s being broadcasted.

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Fan the Fire of Fandom

you might have a spark.
but you need a flame.
and once you have a flame,
you need a fire.

in fact, you need a raging fucking inferno.

you need to burst into flames and create the most fantastic of fans.
that’s how you create true, sustainable longevity.

it’s done by your fans and through your fans.
your most passionate fans are the key to your success. 

are you fanning the fire of fandom?

without fans, your thing won’t be heard. 
without fans, your thing won’t be seen.
it won’t be shared. it won’t be talked about.
and it sure as hell won’t be bought.

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CALL TO INDIE ARTISTS: STOP GIVING AWAY YOUR MUSIC FOR FREE Part 1.5

Due to numerous comments, I realize some readers are missing the point of the post. Sure the title grabs your attention, but it is the substance of the article that further explains the thought process behind Call To Indie Artists: Stop Giving Your Music Away For Free. “Firstly, limit the amount of music you offer for free.”

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Comparing Music Marketing Platforms/Services

A few weeks ago I got to present at PodCamp Nashville. The topic - comparing three different music marketing platforms. Bandcamp, Reverbnation and TopSpin. They’re summarized below.

Going by the Twitter stream and this blog post, the biggest take home most of the audience apparently got from my presentation was:

1) “As a musician, your biggest competition is porn. And if you’re paying for porn, you’re doing it wrong.”

2) “Have A Plan.”

Well, one out of two ain’t bad….

The first bit of wisdom was based on an Ars Technica Bit Torrent downloads graphic I had in my slides:

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in Band Website Tips, DIY, Distribution, Music Strategy, Promotion, Web 2.0, digital music, direct to fan, music marketing, music promotion, social media for musicians | tagged Ars Technica, Band Equity Score, Bit Torrent, Hypebot, Nashville, Nashville Tech Feed, Plan, PodCamp, Porn, TopSpin, music marketing, reverbnation

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Interview with Brian Thompson of Thorny Bleeder Records

If this were a bio on Twitter, it would be short and sweet: “Music biz entrepreneur, artist manager, marketing guru, strategist, consultant, speaker, blogger & web designer.”

“Today, my goal is to find the best unsigned, independent artists and deliver their music to the world. I develop careers, facilitate business connections, negotiate deals, present opportunities, and consult on marketing and branding initiatives. I distribute music to record stores and digital download sites, chase down radio stations for airplay, and execute press and publicity campaigns. I preach about the power of the blog, social media marketing, and how new technologies can make your music heard. I understand the music business, the needs of an artist, the desires of a music fan, and the essential tools needed to help artists realize their goals.

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New Podcast, The Music Biz Weekly with Michael Brandvold and Brian Thompson

Welcome to debut episode of The Music Biz Weekly, a weekly podcast co-hosted by Michael Brandvold and Brian Thompson. Each week Michael and Brian will discuss the latest events in the music business and music marketing events and techniques.

This week’s episode, March 18, 2011 – Topics: Introductions to Michael and Brian, Jon Bon Jovi blames Steve Jobs for killing the music business.

Click here to Listen!

Please leave feedback and comments, we want to hear what you think.

Tune in every week for the latest discussions and comments on the music business 

Be sure to follow both Michael and Brian on Twitter for updates on each week’s podcast.

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Where the Music Industry Went Wrong: Why Indie Musicians Are Struggling to Sell Their Music

There are three reasons why local, indie musicians are not achieving the levels of success they desire in the music industry. In this article, I will give a short overview of these three reasons and the role the music industry has played. If you are an indie artist and you are struggling to sell your music, if you are struggling to get promotion and publicity, then it is probably because of at least one of these three reasons.

Three Reasons why most indie musicians are struggling to sell their music:
Reason # 1. Indie musicians have forgotten or are not aware of, the true value and power of music.

Reason # 2. Indie musicians do not communicate the value of their music or they do so poorly. This reason aims at how musicians market and promote their music. This reason also explains why most musicians are not able to network effectively at industry events and get the attention of music executives and the press. I will discuss this reason in a later article in this series.

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Secret to Success: The Power of Passion

For years I’ve been asked by artists and aspiring entrepreneurs about an easy way to succeed in the industry. Typically the question is unwittingly disguised as various queries, including: What’s the best way to get noticed? How do we sell more music? How do we get a manager? How do we get a deal? What’s the best way to get coverage? How do we get radio play? What’s the secret to getting more gigs? Et cetera… Many don’t realize this, but in essence, they’re asking, “What’s the easy way to succeed?

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How Indie Musicians Can Get Started With Video

YouTube is huge. We know that. But did you also know that it serves as the number 2 search engine, right behind the king of search and technically their parent company, Google.

That means there are more searches done on YouTube than on Yahoo, Bing, Ask or any other search engine! Do you know what they are looking for?

Much like the personal branding niche tells us to Google ourselves, musicians need to look at YouTub’in themselves. What videos show up? What channels, subscribers, comments and playlists are on the first page of your YouTube results?

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