Topspin co-founder, Shamal Ranasinghe, recently shared some data on music marketing at MidemNat based on a studies they’ve conducted over time.

One of the most interesting points according to the study is that majority of the revenue for artists comes from items that are priced over $20 despite the fact that majority of sales are from items priced under $10. Furthermore, the impact of physical goods versus digital only is huge–76% of sales for artists include some sort of physical product.

With an Audiolife account, you can easily create and sell physical products for no upfront costs.  With our warehousing and fulfillment service you can even create bundles that include both physical and digital products. For example, creating a limited edition merch item, marking it up and including a “free digital download” of a never before released song.  This exclusivity is a major selling point and very attractive for fans.

Below you will find a slide show presentation of the music marketing study Topsin presented. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Category: Direct to Fan, Marketing | No Comments »

Tags: music industry data, music marketing results, music marketing study, selling music online, Topspin

photo by derekb

In today’s music economy, you need to have a product line in order to create a sustainable business. This includes everything from your music to video, merch to swag to items seen as valuable.

One of the things I love about Audiolife is the ability to create an unlimited product stream, especially with merchandise like t-shirts and hoodies. One of the core principles we teach within the Label 2.0 training is to offer upsells to your fans at different points along the buying cycle. What we mean is that after someone buys your album, EP, whatever, you send them some follow up emails, engaging them into your brand and your culture. You can ask questions, have them follow or friend you on social networks and then offer complimentary products to the one they already purchased.

If you can get your fans to engage in your brand they will start to feel a part of your culture. When this happens you can now start sending them offers to add to your revenue stream. One of the best and most logical upsells is the t-shirt.

One of the biggest road blocks I hear from artists (and one that I see in merch booths) is the lack of t-shirt options, and terrible design, usually no more than a centered logo on a black tee.

When you have created culture with your fans, you need to embrace that and create a world that matches that culture and brand. Musicians do this through their music and their design. If you are design challenged (like me), here are some ideas to get creatives for your merch to start to add unlimited items into your Audiolife store.

Threadless – Here is a quick video I shot that shows you a way to find some great artists with some of the best designs in the world made specifically for t-shirts.

Using Threadless To Source Band Merch Ideas

oDesk, eLance, Scriptlance, Guru, etc – With these sites you can post projects and have freelancers bid on your work. You can look at their portfolio and choose someone that matches your style and ideas. Many of the artists come from overseas, so be sure to interview them diligently and be sure they have experience with band merch designs. Typically you can expect to spend less than $50 for about 10 unique designs.

Craigslist – For those that want to keep the work close to home, look no further than the online swap shop. Post jobs and give business to locals.

Colleges, art programs and trade schools – If you are fortunate enough to live close to some art students, take full advantage. Many need internship or portfolio credit to graduate and they are perfect for this type of work. Think of the perks you can offer from free CD’s to concert tickets and more. Many times they are happy with a shout-out on your blog and a link to their portfolio.

The goal with all of this is to start creating a product catalog. If you are only selling a $10 CD, that is all the revenue you can generate per fan. The more items you add to your catalog, the higher your per fan amount rises.

The next step is to integrate this into your email autoresponders and sales process.

What do you think? Have you looked at getting multiple designs done? What is really holding you back? How can Audiolife help you out? Let’s talk in the comments!

This post was written by Greg Rollett from Orlando, FL. Greg writes about music marketing daily and also has a music business and promotion training site, Label 2.0. Follow him on Twitter if you dare!

Category: Marketing | No Comments »

Tags: design inpsiration, designing CDs, designing merch, music design, selling your music

Artwork Credit: www.budikwan.com

This is a list in the making …

Derek Sivers’ Blog
Alexa Traffic Rank: 42,736
As the founder of CD Baby, Derek has definitely made some noise in the industry so you know he has a thing or two to say about it. An entrepreneur and former musician himself, Derek shares his vast knowledge of the music business and doesn’t hold back.

Category: Marketing, Music 2.0 | 1 Comment »

Tags: best music blogs, Derek Sivers, Hypebot, music industry blogs, music industry resources, Paul Resnikoff, promoting music online

New Years resolutions can be a pain.  You know you’re supposed to follow through but it’s not always easy.  That’s why it’s important to set realistic ones that are simple to achieve but will make you feel accomplished. If you’re ultimate goal in 2010 is to advance your music career, then the following 5 resolutions will help you achieve that goal:

1. Give back to your fans.  This is always important and simpler than you think.  It could be a friendly little email with an exclusive download or even a video of you playing a song about how great they are.

2. Be creative. This is obvious but crucial to really focus on and remember at all times.  As a musician, it’s your job to be creative. But it’s also important to think outside of the box and be creative in other areas of your music career as well. Such as what you’re going to do for your fans in #1.

3. Create a bank account for your music career.  If you want to have a music career then you have to treat it like a business.  Take it seriously by setting aside some money to invest in merch or better equipment. And remember, there are some great ways to promote and sell your music and merch for little to no costs (like Audiolife)!

4. Embrace technology. Seriously guys. If all you have is a MySpace profile, it’s time to focus some of your efforts elsewhere too.  There is a slew of great resources out there JUST FOR YOU! Embrace them. Love them. Use them!

5. Have fun! After all, I did say it’s important to be realistic. [:

I’d love to hear some of your own New Years resolutions in the comments below!

Category: Marketing, Music 2.0 | 3 Comments »

My mom is very proud of me.

I gave her a CD of my music last Christmas.  Whenever her girlfriends come over, she slides out the inlay card and points to the credits where it says, “Thank you mom for being my greatest supporter!”

I know my music is not exactly her cup of tea.  But she’s always been my biggest fan.

And there’s my dad.  He’s my number one follower.  When I told him that everyone’s using Twitter, he went to Home Depot looking for one and came back with an alarm clock. He says it works just fine.

My mom and dad are at the top of my fan list.

Who are YOUR biggest fans and what are you doing to make them feel special this holiday season?

Leave a comment

Happy Holidays!

Category: Audiolife, Direct to Fan, Marketing | 17 Comments »

Tags: artist to fan relationship, building a fan base, Direct to Fan, DIY musician, Holiday Promotion

Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Sean Holland, Director of Artist & Label Relations at  Jango Airplay.  If you haven’t heard of Jango Airplay, it’s a great tool for emerging artists to get discovered by millions of online radio listeners.  Continue reading the interview below to learn more about Jango Airplay …

How did Jango Airplay get started?

Jango started in 2007 as online radio, very similar to Pandora. In early 2009 we launched Jango ‘Airplay’, our promotional platform for emerging artists to get guaranteed airplay right alongside all the big name artists to our 7 million monthly listeners. There was a big gap in the market for emerging artists to get a real voice in online radio. We have the listeners coming to hear everyone from Jay Z to Bob Dylan, Arctic Monkeys to Willie Nelson and figured it would be great for artists and listeners alike to get these new bands some exposure.

Do artists that sign up to Jango get to decide who they want to be played next to?

Absolutely. In your artist dashboard you can pick up to 30 ‘Similars’ which are the artists you want to be played alongside. You can change these anytime you like as well for more targeting. We also deliver to each artist a report, the ‘Fan Overlap,’ that gives them a list of the artists most liked by their new fans on Jango. This can really help in re-targeting.

» Continue Reading

Category: Marketing, Music 2.0, Social Networking, Technology | 1 Comment »

Tags: getting your music discovered, Jango, online radio, promoting music

In today’s music environment many indie and small bands think they have a long term business by selling their CDs to fans online, in stores and at shows. This has been the traditional model of music marketing and sales strategies created by major labels over the past century and it did work pretty well. This system created household artists like Elvis and Michael Jackson. It is even proven for the new school of large pop acts such as Britney Spears and Nickelback.

With the creation of file sharing and the unlimited possibilities of discovering new music, it is very difficult to make a large amount of money by selling a $10 disc. The ideal situation would have musicians creating a catalog filled with backend products, upsells and cross sells, getting their fans prepped to take full advantage of their credit card limits.

For most upstart bands this is not the case. They do not have a back catalog and have a hard time funding the recording of a few solid tracks to burn on a disc. They are also in a hard spot to manufacture thousands of CD’s and hundreds of T-shirts, hats and other merchandise items.

With this objection from most musicians, there is another option to creating new streams of income and joining the new music economy without breaking the bank and the hassle of putting in countless hours to create new products. The answer lies in affiliate marketing.

» Continue Reading

Category: Business, Marketing | No Comments »

Tags: affiliate marketing, new music economy, online musicmarketing

It isn’t news that the music industry is different than it was 20 years or 2 years ago for that matter.  It has been affected by both modern technology, as well as, our world economy.  In this article I will discuss what important elements you must have in order to become not only a professional musician, but a well paid one at that.

Exceptional Songwriting

The single most important thing your songs must contain are hooks, hooks, and more hooks.  A hook is simply a catchy melody combined with a lyric (often times the song title) that is the focal point of the song.  It is always that part that you get stuck in your head and just can’t quit singing in the shower.  Oftentimes, artists are inside their music for so long it is hard for them to tell if their song has a catchy enough melody to be considered a hook.  The best thing to do is to try it out on people, in front of your band mates is perfect.  Then, step away from the song and see if anyone gets the song stuck in their heads.  If it does, you have a hit. If it doesn’t, the chances are no one other than you will like it.  Toss the song and try again.

After your songwriting skills are where they need to be you must become tight as a band.  You need to practice until you don’t feel like practicing anymore.  Believe it or not, you can have a great song, with a great hook, and all of the talent in the world, but if you aren’t rhythmically tight as a band, your song will not come through to the listener.  And for the solo artist that plays guitar or keyboard, I cannot stress enough that you must be at complete ease when singing and playing at the same time.  Even if your listener knows nothing about music, he or she will be able to tell something is not right and therefore they will not enjoy your music.

Colbie Caillait was discovered on MySpace because of the large amounts of play that she received on her MySpace page and she received those plays because her songs were melodically stimulating and hooky.  In fact, once she signed with her label they only fixed a few things in post production on her self-produced CD.  Her songs were that good.
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Category: Marketing, Music | 2 Comments »

Tags: becoming a successful musician, live shows, Music Industry, songwriting

Live music is what holds this business together. Not only is it one of the only consistent revenue sources remaining these days, it’s also the single best opportunity an artist has to connect with listeners and fans. Social media is a great tool, recorded music is important, merchandise can be fun, but performance and face to face contact are irreplaceable.

The most important question that artists should ask themselves is this: how do you plan to use those performances to connect with your audience and convert them into fans?

1. Stage presence

The performance itself is the biggest piece of the puzzle. If you have an engaging stage presence, perform your songs skillfully and dynamically, and put on a good show your audience will be much more likely to want to know more about you by the time you step off stage. Hopefully you are already putting in the time and energy to ensure that you’re performance is the best it can be.

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Category: Direct to Fan, Marketing | No Comments »

Tags: building fan base, concert merch, connecting with fans, stage presence

photo by arellis49

In marketing and sales for companies and brands, you need something to set yourself apart from the competition. In the music business, this is no different.

When you are a local band playing a show on a Friday night at a dive bar, and you have 10 dive bars in town all hosting rock shows, you need something that is going to make the kids come out to your show vs. the others. In the marketing world we call this your USP, or Unique Selling Position.

In your promotion, what is the benefit to the fan? How does buying your album or seeing your show make the fan feel? What is different from the millions of bands on Myspace all making the same banners, fliers, event listings and wall posts? What sets your Facebook invite apart from the countless others they receive.

Now is the time to begin brainstorming. Get out all your ideas, everything. No holds barred. Get out the whiteboard, chalkboard, notebook paper, some beers, wine or sodas and start kicking around smart ideas as to why your band, music or show is worth your audience’s time and money.

Here is some food for thought:

• Guest appearances – leverage off someone else’s popularity and fan base
• Drink specials – As unfortunate as it is, everyone loves cheap beer
• The line-up – Start creating a group of band’s that are equally as hardworking and create a synergy together
• Free product – are you giving away a free MP3, CD, shirt, etc – everyone loves free crap (hat tip – look for stickers and buttons, low cost items that are a keep sake to fans and promote your band long after the show)
• Limited editions – if you are selling a special product, say live show or DVD, why not limit it to increase demand and create nostalgia.
• Meet and greet – Even if you’re the new band in town, someone will want to meet you, snag a photo and have a beer with you at the venue. Besides, what do you really do between load in and show time?
• Personal items – with sites like Audiolife, you have the option to personalize one off items and ship them directly to fans. What can you do to create value t your fans by personalizing merch?

This is by no means a complete list, just some ways to brainstorm. Now let’s turn the tide to you. What are you doing to separate yourself from the rest of the noise your fans are facing? Let us know in the comments.

This post was written by Greg Rollett, author of Gen-Y Rock stars, a site dedicated to online music marketing. Greg is also a teacher in Label 2.0, a new interactive based marketing training school for musicians.

Category: Marketing | No Comments »

Tags: online music marketing