digital music promotion on the internet: The quick guide

1 THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION

How is digital technology changing the music industry and how soon can we expect these changes to impact the way we can make money from a career in music?

The music industry is fine. The recording industry that has dominated the music industry until now is not.

More opportunites represent more competition.

How Record labels dominated the old music industry:

*Ways music made money: CD’s, Touring, Merchandise, Endorsements/Appearances, Publishing, royalties and licensing.
*Record labels: Controlled recording, manufacture, and promotion (media)

*Music was released in album format to maximise revenue

How the digital revolution is a fundamental shift in the music business

* The physical product of music that was manufactured copies on CD, cassette, and LP now can now be distributed and copied without cost.
* The musical industry was often arbitrated completely by a handful of music corporations known as the “major labels” now artists can connect directly to a mass of fans

* Mass communication and marketing controlled by mass media, now users/fans control online media by choosing what they care about

The digital revolution in the music industry is the first of many digital disruptions to hit major industries.

* dramatically reduced recording and production costs

* need for physical distribution eliminated
* power of traditional media in decline due to growth of online information and networks

The growth of independent music began before the spread of the internet in 1990’s effected by:

e.g. CD Baby, music buyers bemoaning “album filler”, artists bemoaning contractual obligations to labels, Independently successful artists such (e.g. Ani Defranco) and local co operative scenes (Dunedin, Seattle, Jamaica, Detroit) creating niches and the long tail of consumer choice.

Changes and what we can expect in the future:

Important: The digital revolution is inevitably changing the music industry, how quickly the changes are effective is the question.

- Physical purchases still account for 90% of all revenue. But download revenue is expected to surpass that of physical sales in 2012
- All over revenues from recorded music are expected to continue to decline at roughly 10% per annum
- All major labels have cut staff in response to declining revenues. EMI has recently shed 2000 jobs.

So physical music products are still likely to have a market in the future though sales and profit margins will continue to decline.

My personal opinion is that:

- the value of recorded music will continue to decline until it is absorbed as a service
- the traditional label format will decline in favour of independent or loosely affiliated groups of artists and related service providers (like myself)
- the relevance of the album format is tenuous

These concepts are all open to innovation around new ways of creating value for consumers. When someone perfects a better way that works consistently the old model will crumble. What is that better way?

2 HOW TO BECOME A REAL BIG FAMOUS ON THE INTERWEBS

Digital Content Checklist for an online promotion campaign

Mp3’s - Record and encode your songs.

Bio - Words for Google, god of the internet. Who and what and where for fans AND Google to understand.

.Jpg - making a connection as a real person and branding

Video - you don’t have to do video (not “A video” but “video” – ongoing video content!) But it’s just like MTV in the 80’s. Now the digital revolution is underway, they will just like people who have videos more, because videos help fans engage and connect, and fans would rather be engaged and connected.

What is the best way to sell my music online?

- Declining value of music vs. speed of change = selling copies of recordings remains viable.

- www.itunes.com - itunes. Accounts for over 75% of all retail downloads. The future of the download market is currently tied to itunes.

- Online retail is just like physical retail: you can sell your music in as many shops as you like but you can only pick one distributor

Credible choices for online distribution:

www.cdbaby.net CD Baby is great for including physical distribution for unestablished artists

Pro’s: Physical distro, flat fee of $35, reputable company, handles processing

Cons: Have to send 5 physical copies of release to US, take 15% of sale, up to 2 months processing

www.tunecore.com Tunecore provides great online service for artists with established fan bases

Pro’s: 0% commission, single release option
Con’s: Ongoing fees, store by store fee, no physical distribution,

Storefront widgets – E.G. www.nimbit.com 3^rd party applications for retailing across web/social platforms.

Amplifier + Trademe + Local distro: www.amplifier.co.nz , www.trademe.co.nz , www.smokecds.co.nz

- The importance of servicing local niches and local connections

- Building fan relationships on NZ’s most popular local website 1 by 1.

Whats the big deal about social networking and web 2.0?

Social media is content, and content is promotion. “owning more of the internet”

Social networking for google: remember keywords and keyword rich backlinks

OMD + free mp3’s

Old school daddies

www.download.com
www.mp3.com

www.soundclick.com

www.mp3.com.au

New school laddies

www.reverbnation.com

www.garageband.com (ilike)

www.last.fm

THE MYSPACE STORY

Myspace changed online culture and made the internet (social media) mainstream. internet hasn’t quite overtaken television as teenagers main media source but will do so in the next 2-3 years. Myspace despite it’s recent decline as a social destination is still the no. 1 music website in the world.

Layout: Keep it modest and don’t over reach. Beware pre-made custom layouts. The function of your Myspace is a showcase, a shop window display, an advertisement. Keep it functional and outcome focused – direct your traffic (ie “check out the new video” “sign up for our mailing list to be notified of our next exclusive mp3 giveaway”)

- use your title and display image creatively (think about your vanguard + first impressions)

- bands ramming their downloads and merchandise down your throat doesn’t feel right – build relationships

But what about promotion? What about the getting an edge in Social media?

Promotion: Is content. Is having something to say. That is, hype is dead. Feed out content. Create access. Destroy friction. Syndicate

Spam and promotion: Don’t try this at home - Its about them not you. Permission marketing. www.sethgodin.com

*spam disclaimer: “spam” is unsolicited electronic contact and is illegal. When I refer to “spam” I refer to bots, scripts and software that automate communication tasks. Bands should refrain from engaging in legally dubious attempts to contact unqualified and unidentified targets unsolicited.

You’re not on social networks to Sell your CD. You’re there to make friends, to have fun. It’s about engaging attention and turning that attention into a connection.

Rule #1 of social media: engage your audience where they are. Manage time SM commitments

- but engage highly qualified local niche sites: www.punkas.co.nz , www.bassdrop.co.nz

Social Networking: Myspace, www.facebook.com , www.bebo.com ,

- interacting, engaging and joining the conversation ( I don’t want to buy your t-shirt . . . yet!)
- sub networks and sub communities – engage niches within broader networks

Video: www.youtube.com, www.revver.com, www.megavideo.com,

- the importance of tags in internal searches, links, bio
- automated distribution and tubemogul
- future video revenue?

Microblogging/Micronetworking: www.twitter.com

Social Music sites: www.last.fm, www.reverbnation.com, www.garageband.com , www.Imeem.com

- Aggregation of user data for recommendations (last.fm)

- Widgetisation and 3^rd party tools (reverbnation and ilike)

- streaming royalties (last.fm, reverbnation and Imeem)

Social Bookmarking: www.stumbleupon.com
- Bookmarks your favourite webpages for public use. Aggregates user data. Google juice tool.

Socially organised information: www.wikipedia.com, www.squidoo.com

RSS, P2P and Podcasts

- RSS, content syndication and www.feedburner.com –
- P2P, peer sharing networks, www.limewire.com etc –
- Podcasts, enclosures, Itunes + podcast networks –

Free Blogs: www.wordpress.com , www.blogger.com

Whats the best thing I can do right now for my music? Write another blog post

Little blogging: Owning more of the web

Big blogging: Creating a channel for content delivery and audience engagement

PART 3: CREATING REVENUE ONLINE

YOUR BLOG AND YOUR WEBSITE – WHAT’S WHAT

- building search presence, building revenue sources, building engagement with audiences

Do we really have to write a blog? No. But promotion is content. You engage online audiences by feeding content through your online channel and accumulating online presence and a blog is in many ways a website that has been optimised for regular, frequent and ongoing delivery of content in order to engage.

How can I use my website to build a career?

Your website, blogs and social networks allows you to build contacts, create revenue and build a career without having to gain “old model” industry acceptance.

Being consistent (consistently improving) + prolific is essential, as will engaging new technology give you the edge in digital promotion.

1 - Setting up your website

Domain name – keywords vs. branding: www.godaddy.com , www.1stdomains.co.nz
Hosting – www.hostgator.com – also www.bluehost.com and www.inmotionhosting.com

WEB DESIGN – contact kurbpromo@gmail.com

- issues of control and “independence”

- The digital revolution and evil technocrats who charge too much based on your ignorance

- web designers vs internet marketers (metatags, flash design)

- CMS (content management system)

2 - Promoting your blog and website

- What matters to google: keyword content, age + updates, and backlinks with anchor text

- Social Media which we’ve discussed
- leveraging content for promotion (www.ezinearticles.com, www.scribd.com )
- leveraging secondary services and products for promotion (ie ebook / widget – is for advanced users!)

- Advertising (Is for advanced users)

- offline crossovers (engage them!)

3 - Developing your website

- your website is a channel

- brand for engagement

- unique propositions create engagement

- foster community and interaction

engaging fan relationships: Email Lists: www.aweber.com, www.fanbridge.com, www.phplist.com
- building a unique value proposition around an emailing list (or; is the future hard?)

How and when are we going to get money from the internet?

We know the music industry is moving online – how will musicians profit and when will technology make new income streams viable?

- is the music industry converging into a greater digital content industry (e.g. rock star, guitar hero)

- What and where is the value of music going to be in the future + how can I capture this value

Diverse products, services and price structures
- Nine Inche Nails
- Korean/Asian Music Industry
- ringtones (www.myxer.com )

Really really get open minded about leveraging what you have to create new services and added value

Monetizing Ad supported content: www.adsense.com , www.problogger.com, www.we7.com

Brand expansion
- merchandising
- endorsements
- sponsorship

Leveraging Email lists, affiliate marketing and monetizing relationships
- fan supported models
- affiliate offers and niche storefronts
- high value commissions vs. low value music copies

Building and monetizing online communities
- web 2.0, c2c, facilitating access and community interaction, user generated content
- 1000 true fans
- gated communities and flat fee service access

- Licensing, publishing, royalties and synch fees
www.rumblefish.com , www.pumpaudio.com

- online publicity (not officially endorsed by Matt @ Kurb!)
www.radiodirectx.com , www.musicsubmit.com , www.sonicbids.com

My favourite blogs:

http://www.sethgodin.com – this one is a marketing one but its so good!

http://www.newmusicstrategies.com

http://www.musicthinktank.com

http://www.mediafuturist.com

http://www.bob-baker.com

http://www.sivers.org

Don’t forget to check out the new kurb artist community @

www.newmusicmarketing.com

www.kurb.co.nz for online marketing, budget cd and dvd services, budget postering services

And stay up to date with my blog:
www.kurbpromotion.wordpress.com / www.musicmarketingmanagement.com

Ad supported music revenue rampage: Amazon associates etc.

Interested in making money off your music or other digital content? Kurb provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally And the best value fast turnover physical media services in New Zealand including CD / DVD printing and duplication and poster services.


I WAS waiting to post about a bunch of stuff thats going on including youtube promotion and stuff but coming off the back of my big time $10 Adsense earnings this month as a blogger I've just embarked on an ad supported revenue rampage. I'm sure me being proud as punch of my $10 raised a few sniggers of indifference but now I've got my foot in the door I'm going for the jugular!

I earnt this money doing nothing other than what I'd do otherwise. Write on my blog. I'm wading into this big time to help musicians and other content creators get paid for what they do.

It's a brave new world.

Monetizing free content people. That's the name of the game. No money changes hands between you and your fan base theres no hard sell because theres no sale! Attention is the value that artists and creators offer advertisers.

So my first effort in ramping up my ad supported revenue earnings as well as knowledge and experience was taking the next step - into affiliate marketing, and signing up as an Amazon associate, so I can run their ads on my sites and blogs, and if any one clicks through the ad and amazon makes a sale I get 10% as commission!

you can check out my ad units here:

http://kurbpromotion.blogspot.com/

http://www.kurb.co.nz/

Now this code is 3rd party javascript which a lot of sites like myspace won't allow, not only because its easy to slip in something nasty but also the last thing myspace wants is YOU making advertising revenue of their site, because their site is designed for them to make revenue off you!!!!

And so similarly now AGAIN we're having a problem on wordpress!!!! Blogger is an immensely popular, useful and basic platform which allows pretty straightforward integration of this advertising stuff but all the action is on wordpress!

What's to be done? What I've done for myself and most of my clients is signed up for a free wordpress blog, when what I really need to do now is learn the free wordpress software platform and the technicalities of maintaining wordpress blogs myself because by using the software platform instead of the free online platform it allows you acces to a endless host of awesome free designs and plug in applications - just like facebook - yknow - that will allow you to add all kinds of functions to your wordpress and all importantly java boxes for us to ram full of ads!!!! arhahaha

Okay so back to these ad units.

Google serve thier ads based on relevancy to the content on your page and the demographics of the person viewing the ads it's all very clever, I guess it's why they're the biggest generators of ad revenue in the world - theyre very good at it, and of course they have all the data.

We have to recognise the expanding role that such data will play in connecting users and consumers with content and products. Yes big brother is watching. But he's really only interested in selling you something.

So like Google, Amazon offers a whole range of ad unit options and I chose the "Omakase" unit because it runs on the same premise of responding to the content and the user in selecting which products to display, and also like Google, you have to cross a $100 threshold before you get your first cheque, so if you're starting from scratch thats a good 6 months away as they only pay directly on $10 threshold to US based partners.

This was the point I started rampaging and adding google adsense and amazon associates to every blog and decided with the Kurb site doing so well as a result of my SEO work, it was time to tool that up too.

You see it's important to build and mainatain your relationship with your "true fans" over time but for every true fan - especially if I do my job well - theres going to 10 or maybe a lot more people who are only passing through or who are casual fans, who are not there to make any kind of investment in what you're doing, and if while they're checking you out there's an opportunity to make 20c, I'd suggest thats opportunity, because its only a matter of perserverance over time before thats happening 100 times a day.

That way the work I do, and other promotion spends you employ to promote your website - such as adwords for example which has become a marketing staple here at kurb - not only builds your exposure and brand, not only gives you the opportunity to connect with those few rare fans who will support you directly by purchasing your music and other related products and services, but allows you to recoup from less accurately targeted traffic who click away through ads.

Now Google is what I'll be using on my website because theyre excellent at connecting your traffic with little ads just for them, but for Amazon, and Ebay which also has a similar program which I will be checking out - to make you money its about connecting your audience with stuff theyre actually likely to want to fork out for and in the future I think smart bands working with smart people (like me! haha) are going to be able to put together offers featuring the kind of products (I mean just imagine anything on ebay) that the kind of people who love your music are just going to be snapping up!!!!



Andrew Dubber from new music strategies has just gone and opened his own online music store - why wouldn't it be an excellent idea for you to sell other music from your site and recieve a commission? THEN what you're actually doing is creating value as an OPINION LEADER!!!!

This is basically ad supported revenue madness!!!! Let's crank that content people, lets get thos platforms rockin' and lets monetize!!!

Now that we're stepping up the ad supported revenue onslaught delvinging into the affiliate game, you gotta realise theres still much more to come! Learning about CPM and CPA adds, lets not forget about paid leads like myfuncards that I discussed earlier that could be used to seriously leverage a committed fanbase into a decent earn.

I still don't know what a chitika minimall is nor have I checked out clickbank but once you can show decent data for the traffic on your site (100+ unique visitors per day) even more options become available from using more specialised and high reward programmes like and even selling advertising space on your site or blog to a locla business or auctioning it online!!!

Okay. I'm excited. I'm not saying cover your sites and blogs in huge ugly ads so they look cheap and nasty. I'm not saying ad supported revenue will create a windfall.

But for musicians who are willing to persevere with creating regular consistent content it might just be a lot more rewarding and a lot less painless than pushing those little plastic discs or hauling your show around every watering hole that will take you.


AD SUPPORTED MUSIC REVENUE IS SO HOT RIGHT NOW!!!

For more, check out Marc Cohen's Ad supported music central:

The Ad-Supported Music Central blog provides news, analysis and opinion about the market for free, listener selected, recorded music that is supported by advertisers. The blog is written by Marc Cohen, founder of Lirix, Inc., www.lirix.net, the developer of on-device dynamic ad insertion and a pioneer in the field of advertising supported music.

He JUST blogs about ad supported music. His bag is more about integrating and including advertising into the download of digital products such as mp3's but i'm telling you, it just shows the scope of this new paradigm!!!




Kurb is a media promotions company providing a regular blog on digital music promotion, marketing digital content and creating revenue from new media online.

Kurb also provides online promotion and revenue management services for musicians and artists internationally

And the best value fast turnover physical media services in New Zealand including CD / DVD printing and duplication and poster services.Our physical media services come with free graphic set up and support, free delivery, and free promotions advice and support for musicians.

All the best with your project, from KurbFor direct enquiries get us on gmail as kurbpromoDIGITAL COACHING AND ONLINE MANAGEMENT STARTS @ $NZ250