How to launch a rock super group
Chris 
There is a new rock super group on the horizon made up of drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age & other bands) and bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin).
They are calling themselves Them Crooked Vultures and have started creating a bit of stir without an album, without a record label and mainly just using the internet!
You can read more about this story at WebInkNow.com
Music Marketing Your Band Using Google
You should always be building a mail list of people interested in your music.
In Using Google as a Marketing Tool, Bob Baker shares a couple of ideas how you can use Google’s services to help promote your band and they’re totally free!
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Have You Sorted Out Your Band Press Kit?
A really valuable tip I picked from the music marketing workshop I attended the other week was the need to have a press kit available 24/7.
You should have both an online and offline version available for press, promoters, booking agents, etc.
The press kit would include things like:
- Band bio
- Press photos
- Music samples
- EPK or video bio
By having both an online and offline version, if you don’t happen to have any physical press kits on hand for whatever reason to give to someone, you can direct them to your website where they can get all the necessary information they require.
Your website is available 24/7 so put it to work!
Keep your bio concise
Also try and keep all your information current and concise, a bio that’s 10 pages won’t get read. Trim the fluff and just present the most compelling facts you can.
Image thumbnails
When you upload hi-res press pictures, make sure you create thumbnail images for people to preview.
EPK (Electronic Press Kit)
It’s worth the little effort needed to create a 2 or 3 minute video where you can present what the band is all about.
Anything that can help make life easier for the person seeking information on you is a plus and a video can present a bit of personality that won’t come across on a written bio.
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Do You Have A Music Marketing Funnel?
A marketing funnel is a systematic process which people go through in order for you to establish who is seriously into what you or your band does.
The marketing funnel looks like this:
Suspect -> Prospect -> Customer -> Life Long Customer
The Suspect (Unknown interest)
With a marketing funnel, everyone is a suspect until they raise their hand and express an interest in what you do. You can’t be sure who is interested in what your band does until they give you a sign they are interested.
You can’t convince someone to like your music if they don’t, you just want to sort through and find the people who are interested.
The Prospect (Known interest)
As soon as someone indicates they are interested in what you do, they move on and become a prospect. This can be indicated by someone joining your mailing list or becoming friends on Myspace for example.
They have now qualified themselves as someone you should establish more contact with. The point now is to see if they are interested enough to move on and buy your music to become a fan or customer.
The Customer (Fan)
These are the guys and girls who have proven they like you enough to spend money on you. Treat them well and look after them as these are the people who most likely to spend more money with your band buying more music, merchandise, tickets to shows, etc.
The Life Long Customer (Raving fan)
These are the hardcore fans who will back you no matter what. They eat, live, breathe and believe in what you do to the very ends of the earth.
These are the people who are keen to help spread the message about your band, join your street team and want to help promote you. They will support and buy almost anything you do.
Why is a marketing funnel important?
It gives you a way for figuring out who is at what stage and how that can benefit you as an artist. As people move through the different stages, the numbers become less and less but their value to you becomes more and more.
A hundred raving fans will benefit you in so many more ways than a thousand interested prospects. What you need to do is nurture your relationships with people and figure out who is who.
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Youtube Tips For Musicians
Since Youtube is the third most visited site in the world according to Alexa, it makes sense that you get a presence for your band on there asap!
Aside from music videos, you can use Youtube for video messages to your fans, posting live performance clips, showcasing any news articles or interviews you may do or have, basically anything that you can communicate with video.
People like to view the personalities of the people behind the band these days so show them!
What camera should you use?
The cheapest and easiest option would be to use the video option on a standard digital camera. Download your video off your camera through USB and then upload to Youtube and viola, you’re done.
If you feel the need, you can always upgrade to a camcorder later which is certainly handy if you wish to film live performances.
What about editing software?
If you need to edit your video, I’d recommend using Windows Movie Maker or Apple iMovie. They’re free and more than capable of performing the basic editing required, you can even add titles and captions to your videos.
Add your url to all videos
Yes you can place your url in the video description box but it doesn’t quite grab the attention of the viewer as when its watermarked and displayed the whole time throughout the video.
It will help drive interested people back to your website which you should then encourage to sign up to your mailing list so you can stay in touch!
Using Youtube annotations
If you’re too lazy to learn how to use editing software for adding text and titles, Youtube has a feature called annotations where you can overlay text onto your Youtube videos! Handy for adding your band url and extra comments that you wish to convey.
How to make a dirt cheap music video
Find some cool video footage of something and add your song as the ‘soundtrack’ to that footage, skateboarding, surfing, motor racing, whatever!
People searching for videos on surfing, for example, will find your video, if they like the song they’ll see your url and visit your site. Add them to your mailing list, show them what a great band you are and encourage them to buy your music!
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Discover More About Music, Websites & Marketing
FREE Book Offer: Make Real Money On The Internet by Stephen Pierce
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