A Musician’s Guide to Creating an Online Presence
For the independent, D.I.Y. musician, establishing a balance between online and offline efforts is becoming increasingly difficult. It seems that every new social networking site that pops up is one more task to add to your overflowing list of things to do. With each website you’re trying to fill the shoes of musician, marketer, sales person and booking agent if not more. It’s a full time job in and of itself–simply too much for musicians who also hold down some sort of job outside of music to help support themselves. How is one supposed to keep up?
This article is not about how to keep up, rather it’s about how to ignore the noise. To be blunt, there are people out there trying to make money from you. This is a classic case of products and services that we didn’t know we needed until they existed. In most cases, we don’t need them. If they’re not trying to sell you something, they’re just trying to get your attention or your internet traffic. I’m not blaming these people; they only exist because independent musicians make a good market. We have only ourselves to blame for all these distractions.
It is entirely possible to ignore most of what’s happening online and still have a large internet presence. The beauty of the internet is that your presence can exist without sitting in front of a computer. Here’s what I suggest.
Create great content, first.
Great music should make up the bulk of your great content. Without a doubt, this is the hardest part, and it should be. Our specialty is music, and we should be better at making music than everybody else. The better you are, the less of the other stuff you’ll have to do. More people will do that work for; your fans will do that work for you.
For example, I have a few friends that recently started a band in New York City. They have MySpace and Facebook pages for the band as well as individual pages, but that’s it. Nothing special, and far less than what a new-media/social networking guru would advise. If judged by their internet presence alone, ignoring their actual content, you’d probably blow them off.
They spend all their time practicing, and several days a week they set up to busk in the subway or Central Park. They burn CDs to sell for $5 and have cards available with their band name and MySpace URL. They also have a notebook for collecting email addresses.
They’re making good money in tips and selling the CDs, but what’s amazing is how many people are taking notice. Simply because they are so good, people stop, listen, and take note of who they are. There are several videos of them on YouTube created by commuters. We’ve found a few blogs where the authors just wanted to share the experience of listening to the band in the middle of their hectic day.
The best content is not even created by the band, it’s created by fans–people who invested their own time for the sake of spreading the word about some great music. That sounds pretty old school, doesn’t it?
The rest of your content should be about music (but not necessarily yours) without talking directly about the music. The best approach is to simply be yourself and write about how music is a big part of your life. For example, if you’re training for a marathon, blog about your morning run and share your playlist, perhaps as an iMix. You can even sidetrack to discuss your hobbies or your favorite TV shows, things non-musicians can relate to. As long as there’s a link to your website or album somewhere on the web page, you don’t need to remind everyone that you’re a musician all the time.
Have a purpose behind everything you do.
If you want to waste your time, don’t have a clue what you’re trying to do. To avoid wasting time, get focused, be honest with yourself and hold other accountable to be honest with you. The next time somebody tells you that you should be doing something that has nothing to do with writing or playing music, ask questions. Find out the real reason why they think you should create another online profile for your band or read a book about the music business.
Perhaps one of the best things you can do for your music is create a blog to hold yourself accountable. Turn it into a journal about something you’re working on musically. You could blog about making an album, or touring, or just write about what you’re practicing. I find that writing about things I’m planning on doing makes me do it sooner than later because I’m sorting it out in my head so the doing part is easier. Simply the act of writing this article is helping me figure out ways to be more efficient with my time online. And we’ve all heard about the stunts that involve writing and posting a recording of a new song every day for a month, or something similar. Sure, those are publicity stunts, but they’re also exercises in creativity. Difficult exercises.
David Rose wrote a great article for this site called Music Marketing with a Purpose. In it, he discusses prioritizing your time so you’re not trying to do it all. This is a great place to start lining up your priorities.
Go to your audience.
Back to the example of my friends’ band–they’ve found the places in the subway or Central Park that make them the most money. They’ve found they do best playing for the locals, not tourists. Just because there are more people that want to spend their money in Times Square it doesn’t mean that’s the best location for them to play their music.
Similarly, each website or social network draws different crowds, and the goal is to find the one or two places where your music appeals to the site’s existing audience. It’s better to find ten people that really like what you’re doing and want to spread the word rather than shouting at 10,000 people that are all ignoring you. Besides, if those ten people can share your content with their friends, via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc., your audience will multiply.
Also, consider the type of connections you need to make. For my type of musician (one with original content), Facebook hasn’t been very effective, but Twitter is. For a musician like Dave Hahn (a contract musician), Facebook is the better networking tool. Figure out where like-minded musicians have the most success and focus on that website.
Schedule and feed your blogs.
There are certain times during the week internet traffic is high and people are more likely to respond to your content. Posting content, or links to your content, during these times is a great way to increase traffic to your website and ultimately get more people to listen to your music. This also allows you to spread out one day’s work over the course of a week or more. Some days I get two or more ideas for blog posts, so I tackle them while they’re fresh in my mind but schedule them a week apart.
I also schedule most of my Twitter updates on Sundays using HootSuite. Many of these tweets are links to content I find interesting, but I’ll also work in some of the “this is what I’m doing” updates. I can do that simply because I plan out my week on Sundays. I’ll go ahead and schedule a tweet for Thursday about the rehearsal I have that day so I don’t have to worry about it later. A few times throughout each day I’ll log into Twitter using TweetDeck and respond to people’s replies and see what’s going on, but I’m never logged in for more than a few minutes. There are many blog posts out there about how to use Twitter effectively, so that’s not what I’m trying to discuss here. Rather, I want to make the point that with a little thought and organization, you can use these kinds of websites to great effect with very little time investment.
Along with scheduling posts, most websites today can aggregate content from other sites. This is a great way to stake out more internet territory without adding extra work. This can usually be done using RSS feeds, and with a little formatting you can make it look pretty slick. Along with writing for Musician Wages, I have a personal blog over at Blogger which feeds into my Tumblr page. I also can easily create links on Tumblr and Facebook to the articles and blog posts I write. It makes my life easy, and it sends my content to a larger audience.
There are some websites and widgets out there that can update multiple social networking sites at once, but I’ve never used them. Instead, all the important information that changes regularly, like my gig calendar, is easily found on the homepage of my website. I prefer to keep things simple and just include a link to my site from all my various profiles.
Use metadata and keywords.
This should be a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how many musicians I see not making the most out of their content with at least minimally optimized keywords. At first, you’re going to have to generate your own traffic, but after a while search engines can do a lot of the work for you. However, they won’t do you any good if your blog posts are full of typos or you just fail to mention in words what is happening on this web page. Search engines look at the text that’s viewable by visitors, so don’t be afraid to brand each page with your full name or your bands name. If you’re out in the world doing your thing and getting people to remember your name, make sure they can find you when they type it into Google.
Experiment.
Unfortunately, the only way to know whether or not something will work for you is to try it out. That takes time, and your time is valuable and better spent working on your music. However, when something comes along that you think might work out for you, consider allowing yourself anywhere from one week to two months to try it out. If you’ve never started a blog, dedicate one night a week to write something for a couple months. This might take a couple hours of work a week, but that’s not a terrible amount of time. And you’ll know whether or not it’s right for you by the end of two months.
I’ve gotten to the point where I dedicate about two hours a week to trying something new online. I don’t view the failures as a waste of time. In fact, I consider it a victory when an idea never gains traction–that’s one less task to worry about. I’ve accepted routine failures as part of the route to genuine long term success.
Keep in mind, this is a long term undertaking. There’s no secret to creating a strong online presence overnight no matter how much time you spend on it in one sitting. Build gradually and purposefully upon your previous content, and make sure it’s all riding on the shoulders of great music.
About the author
very insightful… thanks Cameron. I come to New York often; who knows maybe we will connect down the road. All the best.
4/30/2009
Great article.
Forums, depending on your genre are also a good way to connect with people. I connect with a ton of people via classical guitar forums, and it’s what generated almost all of the beginning traffic to my website.
4/30/2009
Good article.
Sometimes it’s great to be an early adopter of a webtool– a Tila Tequila (or whatever her name is) and a couple others were the first to really work Myspace, and got ‘careers’ out of it…but there are always so many new tools that you can spend a lot of time just on learning to use them properly… (like Reverbnation for ex, seems to have great tools & data, but it just seems too much to do). However, sometimes a site takes off later (like the recent Twitter explosion), or something like Pandora becomes subsequently unavailable in your country (I got on early & put music up which later non-residents of the US weren’t able to do) so still good idea to early-adopt.
Of course which of those 800 plays a day on Last.fm, the 300+ listeners on Pandora, the 500+ views/day on Youtube, those thousands of Myspace and hundreds of Facebook friends, the multitudes of Twitter followers, the hundreds of blog readers, Tumblr-rss, iLike fans, MOGgers –help pay for more music production? Yes, but it would be nice to know which ones are most effective.
FWIW, here’s my quick rundown of sites that ‘work’ (that is, non-touring musician), with lots of namedrops for those who might not yet know of these sites:
I’m convinced Youtube works– I’d attribute more sales of a) my downtempo music and b) european sales to youtube videos. Have seen (good) tracks selling that never got the traction they deserved, after including them in videos.
iTunes, definitely works; Rhapsody, Emusic, Napster, no. Amazon, not yet, but that may change.
Last.fm, Pandora, other free-streaming… doubtful, but surely all those plays can lead to some sales? Or… as I’m beginning to suspect, cutting in to potential sales? Maybe good for building fan base in other cities you may tour to, or ones you may not –like Slovakia.
Podcasts– yes, if you get on a big-name one, (BBC, CBC, etc etc) otherwise minor.
Online reviews– again, yes, if they are the big or influential ones, i.e. Pitchfork. Although even reviews in traditional media don’t lead to sales (as some bigger indies have stated.)
Forums– maybe for connecting with people and networking, but often the communities that are best (most in your niche) are quite small and only have a handful of active participants…
Myspace, who knows– mostly bands self-promoting, but it still is the biggest social networking site, so might lead to new fans/sales. Facebook is very good if you already know the individual in some capacity…
Twitter I’m not convinced– I use it to inform of a new song/album/video etc., but so many people use it too many times a day for personal updates (as the song says “No milk in the fridge? Let me twitter that”) that it may have a reverse effect, like turning people off. (like those Facebook feeds of friends where one ‘friend’ is always posting, or sending ‘invites’ to events multiple times a week. buh-bye!). Also not convinced that pointing out cool things works, cuz everybody, even ‘civilians’ (non-artists) are doing that…
So… sounds like busking may be the most effective tool of all…
@Cam– have you noticed via Twitter-ing, more fans at concerts/sales of music/click thrus? Have you noticed the more you twitter/what you twitter, having an effect?
4/30/2009
I guess I see it a little differently?
#1 I would def not use auto tweet services.. people want to interact with humans on twitter… in the studio I usually have tweet deck open on one monitor.. along with my DAW, and who knows what else.. and I have just found a process of integrating it into my working on stuff.. and you know.. you carry around some kind of smart ish phone.. its very easy to twitter on your down time.
#2 It really doesn’t take that much of an effort to create a new profile on a new service.. you should probably already have you’re bio, and whatever else, as a part of your press kit..
#3 Any marketer worth his or her salt will tell you about the importance of measuring stuff.. so you know where you’re efforts are having there pay offs.
#4 I do think its important to be active online.. not just for putting out you’re message, or just as a part of you’re promotion strategy.. but I mean.. well for instance it can be a great tool for learning about stuff.. I mean I found out about this article because I was watching twitter!
You want to know what its like to be there as someone who’s just there, you know? Kind of have a better idea of you’re audience so to speak. I think its important to be active and know about the space.. and the thing about twitter and blogs and social media more generally is.. you build this network, and you learn from that network.. and there is no better way for keeping up on what’s going on.. whats new..
I would say.. go play.. I mean play with all these tools.. or like.. you should probably say something like “this percentage of my time and energy ought to be spent on getting the word out on what I’m doing,” and in that mix.. there’s the online stuff.. and somewhere in all that you need you’re experimenting time..
#5 I think there’s a lot of skill sets one probably wants to really be effective online.. For instance.. if you’re blogging.. you should probably know about Search engine optimization and search engine marketing.. how to do your keyword research, etc.. how to integrate keywords into you’re writing in a natural way… you might want to know something about inbound marketing.. conversions.. setting up landing pages.. etc
I would argue that making videos… is a good thing to explore.. it doesn’t have to be a major production.. but it can be. And it can be a very powerful tool.. I see some musicians just doing screen casts of there DAWs.. some musicians live streaming themselves as they play.. like in the garage or something.. an internet show where people can kind of interact with them as they play.. from around the world.. in real time. Why not get quik for your phone?
#6 I think email marketing is really really important for bands.. set up something like blue sky factory on you’re blog.. and whatever.. I think building that data bass is key..
#7 Back to twitter, sorta.. go to tweet ups.. get to know the local scene.. these folks are a lot of bloggers, podcasters, independent content developers.. #1 This means they are the press.. #2 They are a community of people who are smart about the internet stuff.. #3 There’s a lot of video people.. who can help you with this.. perhaps its a good barter economy possibility? Perhaps they could could use there music in there videos? #4 It’s fun..
#8 Do influencer out reach.. This breaks down like.. who are the most influential bloggers or podcasters who cover you’re genera.. but also doing influencer mapping to get an idea of there community.. and how stuff propigates through the related communities.. on every one of these sites.. from twitter to youtube to seesmic.. there are influencers.. people whom.. you probably ought to try and have some sort of a relationship to.. and if they like you’re content.. that can be a big part of what makes it go viral
But yeah.. you know.. set you’re priorities, goals, and what not… be strategic about it..
I think if you’re serious about music.. and the business of it.. you really need to do all you can to set up you’re life in such a way that you can really maximize the time and energy you have to put into it..
I think you need to be entrepreneurial about it.. get good, build that fan base, do you’re product cycles, do what you can.. when you get to the point that conventionally you’d be looking to team up with a label.. look at that.. see if what it has to offer you.. or maybe see if what you really want is some kind of a marketer to help you or.. A manager to help you manage this stuff? I don’t know.. but you get the idea
4/30/2009
@newph “have you noticed via Twitter-ing, more fans at concerts/sales of music/click thrus? Have you noticed the more you twitter/what you twitter, having an effect?”
Yes all around. I could list specific examples, but I don’t think they’re necessary. I basically just followed the example of people I thought were interesting, tweaking things to match my own style and schedule.
When it comes to the links you share or tweeting about things that aren’t your music, realize that you are in fact talking about yourself indirectly. You’re telling everyone “These are things I find interesting. This is something I identify with.” That’s how you find common ground with people, and that’s when they start to be more interested in what you’re not telling them.
4/30/2009
great article!
very inspriational for an upcoming, new to the scene musician
5/7/2009
Great article and discussion. This struggle to find the best mix of online promotional tools is definitely something I struggle with daily. Plus there are so many new sites for artists launching every day that it’s becoming a full-time job just keeping on top of them and evaluating them. I like to try new sites out and I tend to find that within a week or so or using it I can tell whether or not it is going to be something that works or not. So I guess my advice is — try everything and stick with what works and shows results for you.
5/9/2009
What site(s) do you recommend for blogging? I use LiveJournal, but I don’t get much traffic.
5/12/2009
Hi Dar –
As Cam might tell you, he’s on both Blogger and Tumblr and I know he gets some good quality traffic. Personally, I’ve seen some good communities of musicians and fans start to grow in Tumblr. I’d be curious if other people have seen that.
Also, there was a poll recently on ProBlogger.net about which platforms are best for bloggers. I’m not sure if it’s exactly what you asked, but interesting anyway.
What Blog Platform Do You Use Most?
Also, it might have something to do with where you’re promoting the blog. In my experience Facebook is lousy for getting traffic to your website. Twitter is better by far.
5/12/2009
Hi Dar.
Dave’s right about Tumblr and Blogger. However, when it comes to search engines, Tumblr doesn’t do anything for me. It does seem to send some extra traffic to my site.
If you just wanted to start a basic blog that could link back to your website, I’d use Blogger or WordPress (which has some more advanced features if you need them).
5/12/2009
Great stuff Cam
I wonder whether all of the above contributors and authors realize; they are actually contributing to the evolution of the music industry. As we all shuffle around trying to find firm ground to put our creative feet on the landscape shifts and sways like a 10 foot dingy rounding cape horn. However we are all part of a very exiting time and this era will be looked back on as where the new model was moulded. I can see a community of independent artists growing in volume and only the true survivors and creators will likely survive this time.
My Band has recently enjoyed great response from internet presence and everything Cam says although not exact for us is relative. For instance we all juggle the time issue and no one can guide you, you will have to work that out your self. We have toured relentlessly for five years, calculated numbers show we played to over half a million people in two years. This did sell product on hand but did not drive traffic to the cd stores or itunes. We made thousands of overnight friends and fans that probably never came back because we couldnt make it back to their house for a drink or after party spontaneous performance. However online we have grabbed a great new audience that we can service ( for lack of better word) everyday/ week/month etc and they actually have become loyal friends and fans. They have become like an army. two blogs have been built for us , articles written and videos uploaded on you tube. So the moral from our perspective seems to suggest that Cams ideas are all on the money. ou must be online and have a presense or you become a distant guitar twang in peoples minds, you must be out in real world so people can film you and put on you tube etc and finally your content must be rock solid so if people help you others will understand why they took the time to recommend you.
Go get em guys – drop by and say hello would love to interact
Regards
Damien Cripps Band Perth – Western Australia
7/20/2009
I read a post on Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls (indie alternative music) and how she used Twitter to raise thousands of dollars in one night… check it out, it’s really interesting :)
http://www.ourstage.com/blog/2010/7/28/behind-the-mic-talking-to-the-twitterverse
8/24/2010
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