http://www.webradiocentral.com/tune-in.php?h=31306-rac-man-christian-radio
http://tunein.com/radio/RacManChristianRadio-s214180/ http://www.shoutcast.com/Internet-Radio/racmanchristianradio
http://www.streamlicensing.com/directory/index.cgi?start=0&
http://www.spreaker.com/user/racman
http://www.reverbnation.com/racmanradio Also listen to our broadcasts on your smart phone or Pad by downloading TuneInRadio app and searching for RacManChristianRadio, now plug into your car radio and take us anywhere! Please help us continue to spread the music and the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your monthly financial support, as we reach into 60 countries, with 10-12 nations tuning in every month on a regular basis! Contact Us at our studios! Studio Line: 530-643-7222 email: info@racmanchristianradio.org Our mission: The provide eclectic blends of Christian Music and programming from various and prayerfully considered sources. Like our music selections, we understand that some of our selections for ministry programs may challenge your current level of thought.
Incubator Creative Group (est. in 1989) is Christian music's only established incubator organization. Incubator provides a nurturing environment for singers and performers to get started and grow a Christian music ministry. Artists are assisted in achieving their goals through artist development, artist management, ministry funding, recording, market identification and product development.
***** Music Tag Editor (Audio Identification) *****
************ "FATHERLESS" Trailer v11 ************
"Fatherless" is inspired by the true story of Ken Johnson, Chaplain for the Indianapolis Colts. Born in Los Angeles and surrounded by drugs, alcohol and extreme poverty, football became Ken's escape. When football fails to give him what he so desperately wants, Ken turns to the only other thing in his life, faith in God. The film begins as Ken struggles with the remnants of his past including a mother he has not seen for years. His life turns upside down when he encounters a young boy by the name of Jeremy who is fatherless. Ken must confront the ghetto from the dim recesses of his mind as he tries to show Jeremy that people hurt people, because they are hurting.
HERE'S 5 WAYS TO BREAK WRITER’S BLOCK
Composing
has an arch nemesis, and that evil is known as writer’s block. It’s a challenge
to get through especially if you’re just starting to write your own music. Here
are some steps you can take when you feel that you have hit a creative
roadblock in your workflow.
CLICK HERE Or On The Picture Below
For 5 Ways To Help Overcome Writers Block
For 5 Ways To Help Overcome Writers Block
************ SOUL EXPOSED ************
Philadelphia, PA— Stacey Harcum released his debut solo album, Soul Exposed, on July 26, 2013. Stacey Harcum, songwriter, teamed up with Anthony C Bell, producer for Jill Scott, Jazmine Sullivan, etc., to create an incredible Neo-Soul sound, served Philly style.
Many great artist, producers and singers joined Stacey in the studio. James Poyser of "The Roots" co-produced tunes titled Love Never Fails and Truly Free. Monique Harcum, his sister, co-leads the upbeat song Miracles as she introduces her daughter Nayah to the mic. "Stacey Harcum's "Soul Exposed" has been quite a pleasant surprise! I've always been a fan of one of the most multi-talented artistsEVER! For some reason I was expecting an instrumental CD, NOT! Stacey is sangin'!...his heart out with his soul exposed! This is neo-soul, jazzy music with THE MESSAGE, but no sermon. You will be finger snapping, toe tapping and head bopping along to every track!," said Deatrice Isaac, who pre-ordered her Soul Exposed via a crowd funding campaign. She also said, "Stacey Harcum's title track "Soul Exposed" starts out as a prayer/petition, like David's Psalms, asking GOD to search him with his soul exposed. (It also reminds me of Marvin Gaye's, "What's Going On?") It's passionate, soulful and heartfelt. ...and who better to match Stacey's soulfulness and sentiment in lyrics and phrasing than Stacey himself! He echoes back every note as he blows that sax! These lyrics are (spiritually) mature content...& I love it!
INTERDEPENDENT MUSICIANS (Mutual Reliance)
Being an Independent Musician in today's music industry can be very demanding at times. In reality I believe that although we call ourselves Independent Musicians, there is an underlay or unseen INTER-DEPENDENCE and RELIANCE that enables us to become unique in our Independence,
(if you know what I mean).
(if you know what I mean).
MAKING FREE DOWNLOADS WORK FOR YOU
Most independent musicians don’t have large marketing and advertising budgets to spread the word about their #music. You’ve spent most of your money on the recording itself, why not use that as your marketing tool? Giving away your music might seem counter-productive if you’re ultimately trying to sell it, but giving away the right amount, and to the right people, can help you build your email list, learn more about your audience, fuel word-of-mouth marketing, and spur greater sales in the long run. After all, the end goal of any marketing, advertising, or promotional plan is to get people to listen to your music.
How much should you give away?
Usually one free track from your new album will do the trick. It’s hard enough to get people’s attention, so focusing on a single track will help even a small amount of buzz gain some critical mass. If you have older albums or demos, perhaps you can make some of that music available for free as well, but keep the focus on your new material.
How should you give it away?
Just because you are giving away your music for free does not mean you should give it away freely. Employ some strategy, using the following ideas, to make your free music work for you.
Devine Jamz Gospel Network
Devine Jamz Gospel Network is the hub for Premium And with four sister websites and Affiliate Partners working together to promote Gospel artists. They also assist Radio Stations, , and related organizations with sales and exposure.
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Midiman's Musician's Online Clinic
Midiman is announcing his own God inspired method of teaching! It is called the G..(Guided)..O..(Online)..D..(Directions) method! I will do all teaching via Skype and I will be posting numerous video tutorials explaining all of the concepts that are taught; music theory; functional keyboard; and music composition! If it is your desire to learn any or all of the areas of music training mentioned here, please fill out the form on this page and contact me with your name, location, training desired, and times that you want your training? I will be looking forward to hearing from you! Also, I ask you to let all know who may be interested to also take this training and I will give you a discount on every person who signs up, 10% off up to 50%! May God bless you!
Take My Hand the Music Video!
Mo Nicole,
I wrote this song at a time when I needed to hear God's voice the most! You know those real alone still moments? Where you are just looking for some sweet comfort? The restlessness before the peace. These moments happen in life y'all. Its all about how we make it through. This is the response I quietly heard Him say..My Prayer closet song in the still of the night! When it's Just you and God. Intimacy and truth. This song truly come from my heart at a time when I wanted to hear God's voice the most. This what I heard Him say and I just added a melody and a video.
I wrote this song at a time when I needed to hear God's voice the most! You know those real alone still moments? Where you are just looking for some sweet comfort? The restlessness before the peace. These moments happen in life y'all. Its all about how we make it through. This is the response I quietly heard Him say..My Prayer closet song in the still of the night! When it's Just you and God. Intimacy and truth. This song truly come from my heart at a time when I wanted to hear God's voice the most. This what I heard Him say and I just added a melody and a video.
This song is the answer to many silent prayers I have. A reassurance of comfort peace and love in a moment filled with worry and confusion, questions for the future.
Published on May 21, 2014 By: Morrissa Nicole
Music Video: Tristan Barrocks and WMF Media
How to Promote Your Music on Twitter: Intermediate Tweeting for Bands!
Promoting your music on Twitter: the next steps
[If you're just getting started on Twitter, check out THIS and THIS.]
So… you’ve been using Twitter to promote your music for a little while now. You’re starting to get the hang of it. You’ve uploaded your profile pic, chosen a sweet background image, and posted a bio. You’ve been tweeting, re-tweeting, favoriting, replying, following, and gaining followers yourself. You’re familiar with hashtags, mentions, and direct messages. You’re using Twitter in order to share stuff that you’ve found interesting, to post exciting news about your own musical life, and to join existing conversations happening in the Twitterverse. (i.e. — you’re not a Twitter spammer; you’re not just screaming “listen to my latest track” every couple hours.)
If the above describes you — congratulations! You’ve graduated to the status of intermediate tweeter. (Sounds like a condition, right?) In this article, you’ll learn a few new tricks to take your Twitter game to a whole new level. And you can do all your tweeting for the week in less time than it takes to cook, eat, and clean the dishes.
Effective music promotion on Twitter in less than 2 hours a week
Monitor the Twitterverse using TweetDeck or HootSuite
The advanced search on Twitter.com is ok for finding people to follow, but it doesn’t let you monitor multiple conversations on Twitter in real-time. That’s where 3rd party platforms like HootSuite or TweetDeck come in.
Imagine if you could graft instant Google Alerts over everything being said on Twitter.That’s essentially what these social media apps/dashboards allow you to do. You can set up multiple “searches” — for instance: your band name, your album name, your genre, etc. — and see who’s talking about the things that matter to you.
When I started my poetry blog (to use a non-music-related example for a minute), I knew I wanted to follow poets, editors, and poetry publications on Twitter — but finding READERS of poetry was equally important. TweetDeck helped me do that by monitoring who was discussing the poets I was writing about, as well as more general terms like “contemporary poetry” and “American poetry.” If someone out there in the Twitterverse mentioned Charles Olson, for instance, I’d see it right away, check out their profile to assess whether they’re actually interested in poetry, and reply to their tweet with a link to a video about Olson I’d just posted on my blog.
If you’re in a Zydeco band, well — add a search for “Zydeco.” Anyone who’s talking about Zydeco on Twitter will appear in the search column for that term, and then you can check out their profiles. It should be pretty easy to tell at quick glance whether someone is a fan of your kind of music, or if they’re complaining about having to listen to Zydeco in their college music appreciation course. If they’re a fan of Zydeco, follow them and reply to their tweets.
TweetDeck and HootSuite also let you manage multiple Twitter accounts from one dashboard. That’s particularly useful for me when I’m managing my personal Twitter account, the account for my poetry blog, as well as occasionally monitoring the Twitter accounts for CD Baby and BookBaby! Saves me from having to leave Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and IE all open at once.
Use Bitly and Google Analytics to track interactions
Bitly — the popular URL-shortening site — also lets you see how well those links you’ve tweeted are performing. Are your followers clicking? When are you seeing the most clicks? This information will help you determine what content is most engaging, and what times of day you’re most likely to see a response. You can then use that information to more strategically schedule your tweets. (More on scheduling tweets below). Knowing what to post and when is key for interaction, and high engagement is more likely to lead to sales.
For details on the specific kinds of data Bitly provides, click HERE.
If you’re not already using Google Analytics on your website — do it! Once you are… add campaign tags to to the end of your website URLs before you shorten them with Bitly. Suddenly you have another window into the effectiveness of your Twitter links, since Analytics will provide you with detailed info about the traffic Twitter referred to your website.
Once you know what kinds of tweets have the most reach, and when they get seen by the most eyes…
Schedule your tweets
Ever wonder how some people are just ALWAYS on Twitter, day and night? Here’s a secret: they’re not. They’re actually golfing, or gigging, or sleeping. Those people are using the aforementioned TweetDeck or HootSuite tools to “schedule” their tweets for the day or week in advance. They write a bunch of tweets at once, feed ‘em in, set the date and time that the tweet should go live, press save, and bam! Back to living in the real world.
I highly suggest you create a tweet schedule to simplify things. Here’s one way to begin:
Determine how often you should be tweeting —
I recommend at least twice a day, and as high as 40 times a day (if spread reasonably throughout the day). Remember, Twitter users will usually only see your content if they’re logged on at the same time as when your posts go live — so it’s ok to be highly active as long as you don’t see a bunch of unfollows in response.
It’s also ok to send multiple tweets about the same subject or link throughout the day or week, but it helps if you change the approach or wording each time. For instance, you could post a YouTube video Monday morning and say, “Here’s a new video of me playing a Ke$ha cover song in Miami.” And then later that night, tweet the same video and say ,”Check out this nasty sunburn I got in Miami — and it doesn’t look any better under stage lighting!”
Determine what kinds of content you want to share —
I suggest an even mixture of original stuff from your blog, news and announcements about your music, re-tweets of other people’s content, links to articles you find interesting, follower-engagement questions, etc.
Draw up your schedule —
If you decide two tweets a day is ideal, it might look something like this:
- Sunday morning – Link to an article about the music industry
- Sunday evening – Personal anecdote about your music life
- Monday morning – Link to your album on sale at CD Baby (or iTunes, or Spotify, etc.)
- Monday night – Recommend something you’re currently listening to
- Tuesday morning – Share a review or other bit of news about your music
- Tuesday night – Link to a video of one of your favorite bands
- Wednesday morning – Tweet your latest blog post
- Wednesday night – Complain about something in a funny way
- Thursday morning – Ask a question of your fans
- Thursday evening – Re-Tweet something from one of your heroes
- Friday morning – Announce a special Friday giveaway contest, or post a new Spotify playlist
- Friday evening - Get CRAZY — the weekend’s almost here!
- Saturday morning – Talk about something controversial
- Saturday night – Thank people who retweeted or followed you throughout the week
Look at that; your tweeting for the week is done! Just spend 20-30 minutes on Sunday night writing and scheduling all those posts, and check back in on Twitter once or twice a day for 5-10 minutes of replying and you’ll be set. Easy maintenance!
Use Twitter lists
With every Twitter account, you’re allowed to create up to 20 lists. What is a Twitter list? It’s a curated group of Twitter users. Basically, you can lump people together and view a stream of only their tweets.
Now it’s important to know that lists don’t allow you to target your tweets. They’re used only for READING tweets. But by grouping people that you follow into lists (and even people you don’t follow), you can more easily manage your own tweet reading. You can also subscribe to/follow lists that other people have created. Put bands in one list, labels in another, manangers/booking agents in a third, record stores, your own fans, etc.
————————————-
Hopefully this gives you a few new things to play with while you’re using Twitter to promote your music career. Try ‘em out and let me know how it goes.
For some other resources, check out:
10 Little Known Social Media Tools You Should Be Using — Now
Your Twitter activity as an instant infographic
Also, check out Chris Seth Jackson’s “Twitter Guide for Musicians.” He does a nice job of distilling some of the information above while clarifying with real-world examples.
How Indie Artists and Songwriters Bridge The Money Gap
By Vinny Ribas On May 8, 2014
© 2014 Vinny Ribas
© 2014 Vinny Ribas
Ok, let’s face it. Most indie artists are finding it harder and harder to make a living playing music. You can point fingers at the live music industry because there are lesser gigs these days, or the ‘pirate’ websites for taking royalties out of your pocket, or the record labels for locking up traditional radio. The list can go on and on. Or, you can take a close look at exactly what you’re doing and not doing to be successful. After all, some artists ARE making it! Here are some ways that artists are bridging the financial gap for themselves. - They gear their show is towards venues that pay well. For example, you can perform at a convention for 10X what you will make in a club. Theaters, country clubs, colleges and a host of other venues pay much more than the typical nightclub.
- They don’t let their limited fan bases keep them from touring. Instead, they seek out gigs that already have great attendance and just need their acts to be great entertainers and hold the crowd. Good examples are venues in tourist areas, venues attached to hotels, theme parks etc.
- They find alternative ways to fund their careers. These can include fan funding (e.g. www.kickstarter.com), getting investors, attracting corporate sponsors, recruiting individual patrons, developing a fan club, performing house concerts, performing online concerts (StreetJelly, ConcertWindow, Stageit etc.). Another great idea is partnering with nonprofit organizations that pay money for tour support in exchange for recruiting patrons. In other words, they don’t just rely on gigs and selling CDs or downloads.
- They tap into their fan base for ideas, leads to gigs, places to sell their music or post videos, to promote gigs, get reviews, get write-ups, to host house concerts and a lot more. They turn their fan base into an army of proactive supporters, and they reward them for their help.
- They have created multiple streams of income. Many artists make money from licensing their songs to film, TV, commercials and even products. They might use unique technologies such as Music Powered Games to boost their income.
- They sell unconventional merchandise that their fans love. Yes, they have CDs and t-shirts for sale. But they also have unique, branded items that their fans can’t get anywhere else. They know what to sell because they know exactly what their fans like and are willing to buy. They also know how much their fans are willing to spend on merchandise, and offer items that are priced accordingly. For example, you might sell a tee-shirt to a fan for $10 when they would have been willing to buy a high-end polo shirt for $40 if you had them.
- They use available technologies such as BombPlates (web design) andSongspace (song tracking and collaboration), Band Posters and Artist Growth to free up time and money. There stay on top of the newest apps and websites that can make their lives easier. They take credit cards for CDs and merchandise at their gigs by using a tool such as Square.
- Many subscribe to the 1000 true fans concept. They work to identify 1000 fans who will spend at least $100 each year on their music, merchandise, shows etc. That is an income of $100,000/year just from those fans. They treat them royally, making them feel important and letting them know that they are an integral part of the artist’s success.
- They budget wisely. Most importantly, they invest heavily in the marketing side of their careers. Whether they master the marketing themselves or pay someone else to do it, they ensure that it is done properly and effectively. They collect email addresses everywhere and send out monthly newsletters. They submit their music to blogs worldwide. They promote their music where their core fans discover and buy new music. They are or have a marketing machine.
- They differentiate themselves enough to create a demand. Smart artists know that if they are just like everyone else in their genre, they just get lost in the crows. By offering something unique in their sound, their show, their branding, their song choice etc., they create a demand that only they can fill.
- They niche market themselves. Instead of trying to please everyone everywhere, they determine who their core fans are and what they have in common. Then they put a majority of their energy, marketing and promotion into reaching and attracting that demographic.
- They pursue internet, secondary and tertiary radio airplay. Some hire a radio promoter while others use a do-it-yourself service such as Airplay Direct.
- They make sure that they are getting all of their songwriting royalties due them because they belong to their respective performing rights organizations. In the US, they are BMI, ASCAP and SESAC. Most countries have similar organizations.
- They make sure they are getting artist royalties (and royalties for owning the master recordings of their music) from Internet airplay. In the US that means joining Sound Exchange. Outside the US, inquire about how to collect these royalties.
- They learn how to build a solid regional fanbase and then become their own concert promoter. In other words, they put on a show, sell the tickets, pay the venue (or work a deal with them for the food/drinks, pay for the sound and lighting) and make the profits. But they only do this when they know their fanbase is large enough to sell more than enough tickets to cover the costs.
- They leverage online opportunities such as advertising income from YouTube. Some let YouTube sell the advertising for them, and some get their own video sponsors. Of course, they know how to produce videos that will attract a lot of views.
- They don’t do it alone. They assemble a competent team to help them grow. They understand that having a team helps them position themselves for bigger and better things. They invest in themselves by sharing some of the pie with people who have the knowledge and knowhow to take them farther than they can go alone.
This list can go on and on. The truth is that there are no opportunities popping up every day. As the traditional income sources morph and dwindle, artists need to take advantage of as many of these kinds of financial sources and more in order to stay financially stable and profitable. The smartest ones seek out or create their own opportunities!
Vinny Ribas is the founder of Indie Connect, an entertainment management, consulting and training company. He has been a full-time musician, booking agent, manager, studio owner and the Entertainment Director for the Nevada State Fair. He is also the co-founder of Leaderbridge, a business consulting and training firm, the author of ‘CEO Secrets – What They Know About Business That Every Entrepreneur Should’ and has coached over 1000 entertainers and entrepreneurs.
Are You Prepared For Digital Performance & Sales Tracking?
Without This Knowledge - JUST SAY BYE TO WHAT'S DUE TO YOU!
CLICK HERE:
CLICK HERE:
Record Deal vs. Independent Artist
I have been hearing a lot lately that it's better to remain an independent artist rather than pursue a record contract. Is this true? There are many advantages to remaining an independent artist, yet the pursuit for a big record deal remains a top priority for many talented artists.
Honestly, the odds of getting a record deal with a major label is getting extremely harder and harder everyday. When you think of the number of talented musicians and vocalists that you see on television (like the top 10 of American Idol finalists each year) you realize that there is some serious competition...and that's only a handful of people. A lot of the time, the most talented individuals aren't even heard on the latest reality show. Couple this competition with the labels continuing inability to break even, never mind make a profit, and you see why it is getting harder and harder. Record labels are closing...unable to sell their product through conventional means (currently the compact disc). The labels have to move online into the legal downloading community if they want to survive.
No matter how big, or small you are, with the internet you have the ability to create a worldwide audience just like the major labels. The main issue is lack of a huge advertising budget. This is where having a targeted email list can make a million dollars on your next release. With low, or no cost email communication, you have the ability to market directly to the fans that enjoy your music and look forward to hearing from you. It takes a lot of work and time to get email addresses, but using viral media like YouTube can help your friends spread the word for you, get new people to your site, sign up for your email list and purchase your music.
The biggest benefit of a major label deal is a lot of money behind you. They are able to advertise and get you into bigger venues. All of this money behind you comes at a price though. You essentially are owned by the label and are considered an employee. You get paid based on their profits, not on your drive to succeed.
You really don't need a major label to pick you up in order to become hugely successful. Matter of fact, a lot of indie artists are finding it a lot easier to put their time and effort into promoting themselves. With Internet Radio a lot more accessible to musicians than terrestrial radio, you have the ability to get "radio airplay" in your genre of music, even if you don't fit with any mainstream stations.
One of the main reasons indie artists like to remain independent is that there is no contract! They don't have to sell out to what will make the label the most money. They can do what they want, and perform where they want. It's just making a lot of sense now for independent bands to go with their own small business. You can always hire out Promoters and Distributors, should the need arise. You can keep your expenses low, duplicating CD's on your own if you'd like, or have one of the any number of CD duplication houses do it for you.
Once you decide to be an Independent Artist, that's it. "You're Signed"! You can treat yourself as if you are a success and take your career where you want it to go.
Remember that the only ones responsible for your success is you and your band mates. You'll make mistakes here and there, but you'll learn. There is just so much information out there that can help you succeed. Take your time and enjoy the ride!
Honestly, the odds of getting a record deal with a major label is getting extremely harder and harder everyday. When you think of the number of talented musicians and vocalists that you see on television (like the top 10 of American Idol finalists each year) you realize that there is some serious competition...and that's only a handful of people. A lot of the time, the most talented individuals aren't even heard on the latest reality show. Couple this competition with the labels continuing inability to break even, never mind make a profit, and you see why it is getting harder and harder. Record labels are closing...unable to sell their product through conventional means (currently the compact disc). The labels have to move online into the legal downloading community if they want to survive.
No matter how big, or small you are, with the internet you have the ability to create a worldwide audience just like the major labels. The main issue is lack of a huge advertising budget. This is where having a targeted email list can make a million dollars on your next release. With low, or no cost email communication, you have the ability to market directly to the fans that enjoy your music and look forward to hearing from you. It takes a lot of work and time to get email addresses, but using viral media like YouTube can help your friends spread the word for you, get new people to your site, sign up for your email list and purchase your music.
The biggest benefit of a major label deal is a lot of money behind you. They are able to advertise and get you into bigger venues. All of this money behind you comes at a price though. You essentially are owned by the label and are considered an employee. You get paid based on their profits, not on your drive to succeed.
You really don't need a major label to pick you up in order to become hugely successful. Matter of fact, a lot of indie artists are finding it a lot easier to put their time and effort into promoting themselves. With Internet Radio a lot more accessible to musicians than terrestrial radio, you have the ability to get "radio airplay" in your genre of music, even if you don't fit with any mainstream stations.
One of the main reasons indie artists like to remain independent is that there is no contract! They don't have to sell out to what will make the label the most money. They can do what they want, and perform where they want. It's just making a lot of sense now for independent bands to go with their own small business. You can always hire out Promoters and Distributors, should the need arise. You can keep your expenses low, duplicating CD's on your own if you'd like, or have one of the any number of CD duplication houses do it for you.
Once you decide to be an Independent Artist, that's it. "You're Signed"! You can treat yourself as if you are a success and take your career where you want it to go.
Remember that the only ones responsible for your success is you and your band mates. You'll make mistakes here and there, but you'll learn. There is just so much information out there that can help you succeed. Take your time and enjoy the ride!
THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HOW TO
Have You Ever Heard This Expression Before, -
"If You Don't Know, You Better Ask Somebody."
Well, I recommend Music Industry How To. This ultimate online learning resource for all musicians of all levels will effectively teach you how to promote your music, increase your fanbase, make more money from your music and much much more. You can join for free or become a full access member for only $5.00 a month and have daily access to over 130 guides that will enhance your music career tremendously.
How to Promote Your Music on Twitter: Intermediate Tweeting for Bands!
Promoting your music on Twitter: the next steps
[If you're just getting started on Twitter, check out THIS and THIS.]
So… you’ve been using Twitter to promote your music for a little while now. You’re starting to get the hang of it. You’ve uploaded your profile pic, chosen a sweet background image, and posted a bio. You’ve been tweeting, re-tweeting, favoriting, replying, following, and gaining followers yourself. You’re familiar with hashtags, mentions, and direct messages. You’re using Twitter in order to share stuff that you’ve found interesting, to post exciting news about your own musical life, and to join existing conversations happening in the Twitterverse. (i.e. — you’re not a Twitter spammer; you’re not just screaming “listen to my latest track” every couple hours.)
If the above describes you — congratulations! You’ve graduated to the status of intermediate tweeter. (Sounds like a condition, right?) In this article, you’ll learn a few new tricks to take your Twitter game to a whole new level. And you can do all your tweeting for the week in less time than it takes to cook, eat, and clean the dishes.
Effective music promotion on Twitter in less than 2 hours a week
Monitor the Twitterverse using TweetDeck or HootSuite
The advanced search on Twitter.com is ok for finding people to follow, but it doesn’t let you monitor multiple conversations on Twitter in real-time. That’s where 3rd party platforms like HootSuite or TweetDeck come in.
Imagine if you could graft instant Google Alerts over everything being said on Twitter.That’s essentially what these social media apps/dashboards allow you to do. You can set up multiple “searches” — for instance: your band name, your album name, your genre, etc. — and see who’s talking about the things that matter to you.
When I started my poetry blog (to use a non-music-related example for a minute), I knew I wanted to follow poets, editors, and poetry publications on Twitter — but finding READERS of poetry was equally important. TweetDeck helped me do that by monitoring who was discussing the poets I was writing about, as well as more general terms like “contemporary poetry” and “American poetry.” If someone out there in the Twitterverse mentioned Charles Olson, for instance, I’d see it right away, check out their profile to assess whether they’re actually interested in poetry, and reply to their tweet with a link to a video about Olson I’d just posted on my blog.
If you’re in a Zydeco band, well — add a search for “Zydeco.” Anyone who’s talking about Zydeco on Twitter will appear in the search column for that term, and then you can check out their profiles. It should be pretty easy to tell at quick glance whether someone is a fan of your kind of music, or if they’re complaining about having to listen to Zydeco in their college music appreciation course. If they’re a fan of Zydeco, follow them and reply to their tweets.
TweetDeck and HootSuite also let you manage multiple Twitter accounts from one dashboard. That’s particularly useful for me when I’m managing my personal Twitter account, the account for my poetry blog, as well as occasionally monitoring the Twitter accounts for CD Baby and BookBaby! Saves me from having to leave Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and IE all open at once.
Use Bitly and Google Analytics to track interactions
Bitly — the popular URL-shortening site — also lets you see how well those links you’ve tweeted are performing. Are your followers clicking? When are you seeing the most clicks? This information will help you determine what content is most engaging, and what times of day you’re most likely to see a response. You can then use that information to more strategically schedule your tweets. (More on scheduling tweets below). Knowing what to post and when is key for interaction, and high engagement is more likely to lead to sales.
For details on the specific kinds of data Bitly provides, click HERE.
If you’re not already using Google Analytics on your website — do it! Once you are… add campaign tags to to the end of your website URLs before you shorten them with Bitly. Suddenly you have another window into the effectiveness of your Twitter links, since Analytics will provide you with detailed info about the traffic Twitter referred to your website.
Once you know what kinds of tweets have the most reach, and when they get seen by the most eyes…
Schedule your tweets
Ever wonder how some people are just ALWAYS on Twitter, day and night? Here’s a secret: they’re not. They’re actually golfing, or gigging, or sleeping. Those people are using the aforementioned TweetDeck or HootSuite tools to “schedule” their tweets for the day or week in advance. They write a bunch of tweets at once, feed ‘em in, set the date and time that the tweet should go live, press save, and bam! Back to living in the real world.
I highly suggest you create a tweet schedule to simplify things. Here’s one way to begin:
Determine how often you should be tweeting —
I recommend at least twice a day, and as high as 40 times a day (if spread reasonably throughout the day). Remember, Twitter users will usually only see your content if they’re logged on at the same time as when your posts go live — so it’s ok to be highly active as long as you don’t see a bunch of unfollows in response.
It’s also ok to send multiple tweets about the same subject or link throughout the day or week, but it helps if you change the approach or wording each time. For instance, you could post a YouTube video Monday morning and say, “Here’s a new video of me playing a Ke$ha cover song in Miami.” And then later that night, tweet the same video and say ,”Check out this nasty sunburn I got in Miami — and it doesn’t look any better under stage lighting!”
Determine what kinds of content you want to share —
I suggest an even mixture of original stuff from your blog, news and announcements about your music, re-tweets of other people’s content, links to articles you find interesting, follower-engagement questions, etc.
Draw up your schedule —
If you decide two tweets a day is ideal, it might look something like this:
- Sunday morning – Link to an article about the music industry
- Sunday evening – Personal anecdote about your music life
- Monday morning – Link to your album on sale at CD Baby (or iTunes, or Spotify, etc.)
- Monday night – Recommend something you’re currently listening to
- Tuesday morning – Share a review or other bit of news about your music
- Tuesday night – Link to a video of one of your favorite bands
- Wednesday morning – Tweet your latest blog post
- Wednesday night – Complain about something in a funny way
- Thursday morning – Ask a question of your fans
- Thursday evening – Re-Tweet something from one of your heroes
- Friday morning – Announce a special Friday giveaway contest, or post a new Spotify playlist
- Friday evening - Get CRAZY — the weekend’s almost here!
- Saturday morning – Talk about something controversial
- Saturday night – Thank people who retweeted or followed you throughout the week
Look at that; your tweeting for the week is done! Just spend 20-30 minutes on Sunday night writing and scheduling all those posts, and check back in on Twitter once or twice a day for 5-10 minutes of replying and you’ll be set. Easy maintenance!
Use Twitter lists
With every Twitter account, you’re allowed to create up to 20 lists. What is a Twitter list? It’s a curated group of Twitter users. Basically, you can lump people together and view a stream of only their tweets.
Now it’s important to know that lists don’t allow you to target your tweets. They’re used only for READING tweets. But by grouping people that you follow into lists (and even people you don’t follow), you can more easily manage your own tweet reading. You can also subscribe to/follow lists that other people have created. Put bands in one list, labels in another, manangers/booking agents in a third, record stores, your own fans, etc.
Word of warning, though: lists are public unless you set them as private, so don’t create one called “World Class Jackasses” and put a bunch of music critics in there who might review your album one day.
For more information on creating and using lists, click HERE.
————————————-
Hopefully this gives you a few new things to play with while you’re using Twitter to promote your music career. Try ‘em out and let us know how it goes.
For some other resources, check out:
10 Little Known Social Media Tools You Should Be Using — Now
Your Twitter activity as an instant infographic
Also, check out Chris Seth Jackson’s “Twitter Guide for Musicians.” He does a nice job of distilling some of the information above while clarifying with real-world examples.
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MARKETING ON THE INTERNET - Learning To Manage Frustration
When marketing on the internet there is one
guarantee you can count on and that is there will be times, perhaps
even days and weeks you will want to pull your hair out.
When you chose to become an entrepreneur online you also probably
figured success would come overnight and without the trials and
tribulations. It is important to realize and remember however you are
building a business which takes time and is a process. There will be
mistakes made which is a normal and expected part of the process. It is
how you react to them that will determine how successful online you
become. You must learn to work through the difficult times so that you
will be able to enjoy your future successes.
Here are 3 highly effective ways to deal with the frustrating times you will encounter when building a business.
Look Elsewhere
When you are feeling frustrated sometimes it is simply wise to defused the situation by focusing your attention elsewhere. If what have you encountered appears to be something you can not quickly resolve and your are feeling increasingly stressed then step away! Situations like these can be toxic if you allow your anxieties to mount. It is recommended therefore to divert your attentions elsewhere so you can continue building a business in a productive manner.
Remember Your 'Whys'
Another effective tactic to use for 'sidestepping' lingering feelings of frustration and to stay productive is to recall why you wanted to become an entrepreneur in the first place. Remember what it is you are working for and the benefits you will enjoy when you finally do become successful online with your business. This should help brighten your mood and renew your vigor and motivation allowing you to blast through any obstacles that have presented themselves.
Know Thyself
Become familiar with the 'symptoms' you feel when discouragement begins to set in since this also signals the start of stress and anxieties.
You want to learn to quickly diffuse these feelings before they become
too disruptive in your efforts or more importantly, to your health!
Seek out something that brings you joy, makes you relax or allows you
to be productive in some way.
Marketing on the internet teaches you not only about what is involved in building a business but also quite a bit about yourself. Part of what you accept when you become an entrepreneur are the frustrating times you will inevitably encounter. This is a normal part of the building process and one that is necessary in order for you or your business to grow. How well you learn to manage these 'trying' times and work through them will ultimately determine how successful online you become. The 3 suggestions for dealing with your frustrations offered above should help you keep your focus when you are feeling challenged, disillusioned or discouraged. By always keeping your 'eyes on the prize' you will maintain the motivation and encouragement needed to keep you moving forward. It is all about progress, no matter how big or small, and this is what will make you successful online!
When you chose to become an entrepreneur online you also probably
figured success would come overnight and without the trials and
tribulations. It is important to realize and remember however you are
building a business which takes time and is a process. There will be
mistakes made which is a normal and expected part of the process. It is
how you react to them that will determine how successful online you
become. You must learn to work through the difficult times so that you
will be able to enjoy your future successes. Here are 3 highly effective ways to deal with the frustrating times you will encounter when building a business.
Look Elsewhere
When you are feeling frustrated sometimes it is simply wise to defused the situation by focusing your attention elsewhere. If what have you encountered appears to be something you can not quickly resolve and your are feeling increasingly stressed then step away! Situations like these can be toxic if you allow your anxieties to mount. It is recommended therefore to divert your attentions elsewhere so you can continue building a business in a productive manner.
Remember Your 'Whys'
Another effective tactic to use for 'sidestepping' lingering feelings of frustration and to stay productive is to recall why you wanted to become an entrepreneur in the first place. Remember what it is you are working for and the benefits you will enjoy when you finally do become successful online with your business. This should help brighten your mood and renew your vigor and motivation allowing you to blast through any obstacles that have presented themselves.
Know Thyself
Become familiar with the 'symptoms' you feel when discouragement begins to set in since this also signals the start of stress and anxieties.
You want to learn to quickly diffuse these feelings before they become
too disruptive in your efforts or more importantly, to your health!
Seek out something that brings you joy, makes you relax or allows you
to be productive in some way. Marketing on the internet teaches you not only about what is involved in building a business but also quite a bit about yourself. Part of what you accept when you become an entrepreneur are the frustrating times you will inevitably encounter. This is a normal part of the building process and one that is necessary in order for you or your business to grow. How well you learn to manage these 'trying' times and work through them will ultimately determine how successful online you become. The 3 suggestions for dealing with your frustrations offered above should help you keep your focus when you are feeling challenged, disillusioned or discouraged. By always keeping your 'eyes on the prize' you will maintain the motivation and encouragement needed to keep you moving forward. It is all about progress, no matter how big or small, and this is what will make you successful online!
Music Marketing Manifesto
See How An Out Of Work Musician Managed To Rebuild A Thriving Music Career Using Nothing But The Internet.
Learn How To Create Your Own Success In The Music Industry. Anyone Can Do It. You Just need To Know How! http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1563550
Learn How To Create Your Own Success In The Music Industry. Anyone Can Do It. You Just need To Know How! http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1563550
The 4 Biggest Mistakes Artist Make OnLine:
Promoters, bookers, venues and fans - they all know the difference between a free web page (MySpace, Facebook, Bandcamp, Tumblr) and a professional artist website (www.YOU.com
). Social media sites are super-important, but they are not your home base on the web. Get your own domain name and build a website where you have complete control. It's one of the first steps to becoming a professional musician.
2, Spamming Fans
You can scream "Buy my album!" from a rooftop all day long, but you'd have better luck politely knocking on doors with a piping-hot apple pie and a smile. Every time you approach someone online and say, "Buy my album" or "Check out my music," you are essentially spamming them. On the other hand, if you first build a relationship with your online followers by offering something of value (friendship, information, free stuff, apple pie) then you establish a relationship--a relationship that will lead to many selling opportunities down the line.
3, Not Staying Up-to-Date
The quickest way to get ignored online is to let your website gather dust. Nothing says, "My band broke up, or I don't care about self-promotion" like an out-of-date website. Make sure your last blog post wasn't in 2006. Make sure your gig calendar is up-to-date, and make sure your photo gallery is filled with recent pictures. This way your fans can get to know you and your music better.
4, Not Maintaining a Fan List
Your fans want to connect with you. They want the inside scoop. They want special offers and they want to feel a part of something. Give them a chance to sign up to your newsletter on your website. A Facebook post might only reach 2-5% of your Facebook fans, but an email newsletter will land in almost every email box you send it to. Email will always be the most personal way you can communicate with your fans.
A Post By: Cornelius White
HELLO
SAINTS!!!!!! Im working on my website, looking for artists who would
like to share their videos with the world!!! Christian MUSIC ONLY!!!! www.KLEENATION.com please comment with your youtube video URL!!! We Support!!!! if you
would like me to post your digital album on sale as well, inbox me the
album title (you must be registered with CD BABY!!!) May God continue to
Bless what ever it is you put your hands to in Jesus Name AMEN
HELLO SAINTS!!!!!! Im working on my website, looking for artists who would like to share their videos with the world!!! Christian MUSIC ONLY!!!! www.KLEENATION.com please comment with your youtube video URL!!! We Support!!!! if you would like me to post your digital album on sale as well, inbox me the album title (you must be registered with CD BABY!!!) May God continue to Bless what ever it is you put your hands to in Jesus Name AMEN
Hello Blogger Family and Friends, I know it has been a while since I've posted a blog. I just want to let you all know that I am still on the grind and in Ministry. All is well with me. However some of you may know that I was recently in a car accident. The car was totaled, but thank God I am still alive. As I stand firmly in my faith, I trust God's word which says in Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose". We might not understand why he do what He do at times, but I know that He has a purpose for me and I have yet to fulfill that purpose. I want to personally thank you for your prayers and your support through this time and season of my life. God blessings to you all.
Are You Promoting Your Music Enough?
Promotion, possibly a musician's worse enemy? I say this because it's the part most people get wrong, intentionally or not. I've seen people take time to record the perfect CD, pay to have an excellent cover done, get it into shops worldwide, then just sit down and wait for their CD to sell. But it hardly does. Why? BECAUSE THEY HARDLY PROMOTED IT!! You can't just expect people to walk into a record shop and buy your music, you have to let people know it's there and give them a good reason to buy it! Now I know you may not have yourself down as a sales person. And that's OK, most musicians don't. But I'll tell you now, without including some form of promotion in your campaigns, your music won't get very far. So how much promotion do you need to do for a successful release? Well, that would depend on the size and type of the project. One thing's for sure though, you should be promoting your release between 2 and 4 week prior to the release date. You start out mentioning it without too many details, then as the date gets closer give more details and making a bigger deal out of it. Creating anticipation is a great way to pre sell your music, and if done correctly will mean that a nice portion of your sells should come within the first week. Once you've released your CD, you should carry on promoting and spend all your time on it. Where possible you should be doing radio appearances, live shows, interviews, online promotion, flyering, and anything else you can fit in. Simply writing a one off post on a music forum won't get you the amount of sales you'll need to even cover the cost of making your music, so think bigger. Even a one off advert in a popular magazine often isn't enough, people react better to buying when they've seen your promotion in a few places and are more curious about your product. That means for the next month or more after your release you need to be EVERYWHERE your customers turn! Please don't make the mistake of under promoting your music, if you're going to put the effort in to recording and releasing your music, the least you could do is let it reach it's full potential. To your success.
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