Finding a 'great' music teacher may be like finding a needle in a haystack. What makes a music teacher great? In general, they need experience and understanding in the art of teaching as well as enough patience and knowledge to see that you develop a strong foundation in your music. A great Music 'Teacher' should have actual teaching credentials, as well as loads of experience in numerous areas of the music field. They need an understanding of how people learn; and they must be able to see the 'Big Picture'.
At ThreeGuitarz Music, all lessons and strategies are developed and presented by a licensed and experienced teacher. What’s so special about taking lessons from a licensed teacher? I could go on and on explaining what licensed teachers are trained to do, but to cut to the chase I’ll tell you my story:
As a kid, I grew up with many opportunities to take music lessons and learn to play all sorts of musical instruments. I had taken school band lessons from third grade on, only to learn how to play melody notes from sheet music. Not to forget the general music lessons where you just warmed up the vocal chords and sang songs. I had also taken a couple years of piano lessons, only to learn a couple scales, chords, songs, and how to pivot my fingers. Many years of Guitar Store lessons and guitar magazines helped me read tab and play some songs.
Through it all, I never actually learned any music theory or fundamentals, never gained a real understanding of what I was playing... until, that is, I started teaching school kids (actually after teaching for a few years). Through all those years of lessons I took as a kid, no one ever discussed the importance of understanding and mastering the fundamentals of music. For most ‘teachers’ (most school music teachers were not licensed back then), the fundamentals were just a quick step to getting on to the fun stuff :( singing or playing songs from a book. But the key to being a GREAT musician (or great anything for that matter) is to Master the Fundamentals. Write that down! And remember, mastery of the fundamentals will lead to your own virtuosity in its own time. You don’t need to know everything to play in a band or create music; you do, however need to “Shut up and Play”! (previous post)
Finally, after realizing just how important these fundamentals actually were, I was able to focus my learning and in no time at all I was recording my first songs. Playing music has never been easier! As a matter of fact, I apply these lessons to all areas of my life with great success (future blog?). The trick is knowing what to teach and when to teach it, or rather, what to learn and what not to worry about right now.
In conclusion, finding a great teacher is very important unless you just want to fiddle around. What makes a teacher great? Again, they need experience and understanding in the art of teaching as well as the patience and knowledge to see that you develop a strong foundation in your music.
If you want to hear more about learning how to play music or sing, then tune in to my Blog and subscribe to the feed! Or better yet, visit the website @ www.ThreeGuitarz.com
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Shut Up and Play
A popular misconception about learning how to play an instrument is that you need to learn how to read music. And there is so much to learn about playing your instrument that it might seem daunting or near impossible. Sure, you’ll need to read music and know all the styles, techniques, chords, and scales if you want to play in the symphony, or if you aspire to be a session musician. Otherwise, you just need to know the basics of music notation and theory. Think about how all the great Blues players of yesteryear got their start. They learned the main CHORDS and main NOTES of a particular KEY (scale) and played the song. They didn't worry about the hundred technical skills they could learn, they just played. They didn't read music - they played music.
Sure technical virtuosity is nice, but not necessary. Mastery of the FUNDAMENTALS will lead to your own virtuosity in its own time. In my next posts I will discuss these fundamentals in further detail and you will soon be on your way to playing in a band, or better yet, starting your own band. So while you're waiting for my next post, take a look at any beginner’s music book to learn about your instruments basic techniques, correct posture, basic music notation, etc. I will then assume that you know how to strum the strings or find middle C, and other basics found in all the beginner books. For future posts, I will use the Guitar and Piano for most examples. However, these techniques will apply to all instruments and as a matter of fact, life in general!
If you want to hear more about learning how to play music or sing, then tune in to my Blog and subscribe to the feed! Or better yet, visit the website @ www.ThreeGuitarz.com
Sure technical virtuosity is nice, but not necessary. Mastery of the FUNDAMENTALS will lead to your own virtuosity in its own time. In my next posts I will discuss these fundamentals in further detail and you will soon be on your way to playing in a band, or better yet, starting your own band. So while you're waiting for my next post, take a look at any beginner’s music book to learn about your instruments basic techniques, correct posture, basic music notation, etc. I will then assume that you know how to strum the strings or find middle C, and other basics found in all the beginner books. For future posts, I will use the Guitar and Piano for most examples. However, these techniques will apply to all instruments and as a matter of fact, life in general!
If you want to hear more about learning how to play music or sing, then tune in to my Blog and subscribe to the feed! Or better yet, visit the website @ www.ThreeGuitarz.com
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Music Marketing Empire
‘Music Marketing Empire’
If you truly want to make it to the next level, you’ll have to put your heart into it, and also your brain, some computer skills, and some friends/fans could help too. Nowadays, up and coming bands have to do more than just make good music, they need to reach out to fans through various mediums such as the ones in this list. If you have a record label/publisher, they can do a lot of the legwork and money work, but unless you land that dream Record Deal, you’ll need to move on extra promotion and engage fans/friends to help as well. A million dollar marketing campaign is nice but don’t hold your breath.
Being involved in one of our compilation albums (www.SaintsAndSinnersMusic.com) can prove to be a powerful source of promotion. On our end, instead of sinking a lot of money into one band for 1 or 2 records, we are putting that same amount of money into advertising and promoting numerous bands all in one economical package. These bands benefit from the extra promotion, advertising, increased search rankings, web presence, etc…. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If each band/artist does their part to promote their own band and albums (with the ‘Music Marketing Empire’), all areas grow exponentially! These areas include sales and royalties, marketing, promotion, making the charts, creating a BUZZ, and making new fans.
The key to this ‘Music Marketing Empire’ is that each band/artist and record label involved is doing their part to gain promotion and exposure. Without spending 6 figures on a marketing campaign, everyone needs to do their part, such as, developing a strong web presence or selling compilation CDs at gigs and local stores. The whole is bigger than the individual parts; there is strength in numbers and collaboration between bands/artists. Here’s to our Success!
Below you will find the details relating to this ‘Marketing Empire’ and what an artist can do to build their own ‘Empire’. {If you don’t fully understand or want to find out more info on a particular topic, copy/paste the text into Wikipedia or Google it.} Of course, some aspects are more important than others (highlighted) and therefore, should involve more time and investment. To get started, divvy up the highlighted topics between band members/willing fans, taking into account their expertise and computer skills (or willingness to learn). Set goals for each team member, and follow up on those goals through meetings, online conferences, e-mail, etc…
Personal Development
Health, Mindset, Skill Acquisition
Time Management & Organization
Vision – where is your band going?
Goal Setting – goals are nothing but dreams if we don’t keep track of them and organize a plan of attack to reach them. And if you don’t have goals..
Long-Term vs. Short-Term goals
Long-term goals may or may not seem impossible to attain, i.e. ‘To sell a million records’. If they are extremely lofty, medium-term goals will be needed. For most of us, they should be realistic and achievable within a few short-term goals, i.e.: ‘to make the Top 200 Country Billboard Charts’, or ‘to make a demo recording’
Medium-term goals may be needed for very far-off Long-term goals
Short-term goals are the steps to reach long-term goals.
Each Short-term goal must be SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-based
If short-term goals do not embrace the SMART principal above, they will not be effective! It’s not the thought that counts, it’s the planning and follow through that will get you to the finish line. For example, if there is no time frame, goals take the backburner and rarely get accomplished. If a goal is not specific, you will not have a clear objective/task to focus on. 100 new MySpace friends is probably not realistic for someone who rarely answers their e-mail. Selling 1000 albums is not achievable if you have yet to record a full album, etc, etc.
Too vague We will improve our web presence
Easy to slack off We will increase our MySpace friends this winter
Correct Each band member will find 100 new MySpace friends by Jan. 30
TIPS: Write your goals on poster board and display them where you will see them every day. Write them down on paper and post them in your office, in your planner, on your refrigerator.. Set up a reward system for reaching certain goals. Put a motivational picture next to your long-term goals. Turn it into a competition.
Your Web Site – build your own and save a lot of money!
Web Site Tips blog (coming soon)
Brainstorming ideas, make a concept map or organizational chart of the good ideas
Site structure – use the organizational chart/map
Net Objects Fusion – mid range web design used for all of our web sites – try the free version, it’s not a trial, it’s free
Get a domain name and server (we use www.1and1.com - $5/mo) - the server is where your site is stored/accessed. Outsource sales through PayPal or merchandise vendors.
Keep it simple, but make it interactive with web 2.0 blogs, widgets, podcasts…
Content is #1 for search engine ranking, have a press release written by a professional
Search engine optimization SEO – tweaking your site to rank higher for popular search keywords and phrases
Keyword research – what are people searching for?
www.Keyworddiscovery.com , www.google.com/sktool , www.wordtracker.com
Google Page Rank (web crawler that indexes all public web sites)
familiarize yourself with how it works
It takes a few weeks for your site to be indexed, you do not need to submit your site to search engines – they constantly crawl through the web and index all public sites
Link Love – get more inbound links and limit outbound links
No Follow tags – add to outbound links so that you don’t lose Page Rank
Title Tag, Meta Tags – add keywords to site structure
Link Text – instead of www, use keywords when possible
Authority Linking – link to the major sites in your area/niche
Syndicated Content – make RSS Feeds from your content
On Your Site:
Content is #1 for search engine ranking, then good keywords sprinkled in
Web 2.0 apps (below) – interactivity
Blogs – your web log, Customer/Fan Blogs, Authority Blogs
Press Releases for your website when appropriate
Point of Contact – easy to find on websites and email
Phone, email minimum
FAQ
Google Site Map (it’s free)
Product Reviews, Company Reviews, Client Testimonials
Comparison Shopping – helps improve rankings (price comparison)
Customers who bought ***** also bought *****
Advertise your site – locally for Touring, larger scope for sales
Promote and manage your site with many tools listed below
Newsletters
Huge marketing tool – squeeze as much juice out as you can
Freebies – Give a good reason to sign up for your newsletter
And a good reason to read/listen/watch – try a newsletter template from Microsoft Word or Publisher and add interesting stuff to engage your audience like:
Video (links), MP3s, content, ads, graphics, contests, sales, recommendations, news, comics, jokes, interesting stories, road trips/gigs gone bad, etc…
Lots of Links
Opportunities to help your band
Links to sign up for your RSS Feeds
Support Sites
Myspace, Facebook,Twitter, Last.fm,Indie 911, …
Update your statuses simultaneously with www.ping.fm, www.OnlyWire.com
Set up a band pages on the major sites, but remember – we want to sell your music and many sites might give it away (great if you don’t have anything for sale).
Have material saved for easy copy and paste
Digital distribution hits over 200 online stores – focus with the big ones – start making playlists and tagging your albums, RSS feeds, social bookmarks, whatever you can do.
Playlists – If your band is similar to Sublime, Bob Marley, and The Dead; make a playlist with their top songs and a couple of your band’s hit singles. This is a great way to introduce your music to new fans.
Web 2.0 (web site development and design that facilitates interactive information sharing) i.e. hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, tagging
Fan Pages (on web 2.0 – social sites, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia.org ….)
Authority Hubs i.e. Yahoo music, I-tunes, etc. – make a playlist with a couple of your songs and similar songs from big name bands like Sublime, Metallica, BB King, …
Band/genre web sites – be wary of spending money here unless they are providing some specialized service
Podcast or blog – www.Podbean.com Your Blog + RSS Syndication and podcast
www.Widgetbox.com – turn your blog into a widget/blidget
Ping.fm (post to multiple social networks simultaneously)
Forums (yours + related forums – links & comments)
Comments (yours + related forums/blogs/etc – links & comments)
Groups – join web groups and post discussions/links/blogs
RSS Feeds – did I mention RSS Feeds – talk about staying in touch with fans – you can’t beat it. Create feeds from any web content and people can subscribe to it and read it in explorer, outlook…
Social Bookmarking (Social Tagging) let millions of Internet users help spread the word
www.OnlyWire.com - Post your blog to all social bookmarking sites with one click
www.StumbleUpon.com
Linked In, Sphinn, Delicious, Digg, Subtopic, Technorati, Plaxo, Orkut, Squiddo, etc… Google it!
Tagging your sites & pages (separate from social tagging)
Add tags wherever your music/content is found, to help people searching
Don’t forget to add metatags to your website pages as well – usually under site management – and your promo sites – usually under settings
Link – tag your links with keywords if possible
Text – Well written and contain some of your keyword metatags
More info under Search Engine Optimization above
Social Media
Video sites – create playlists here too, viral embedding,
You Tube, yahoo/google video, internet archive & concerts
Post to podcasts, post to social bookmarking sites
Pod Casting
www.Last.fm, Reddit Music
RSS, again with the RSS, check out these sites:
Squidoo, Mixx, Newsvine, Slideshare, Yelp, Flickr, brightkite, Mahalo, Propellor
Press Release
Have a professional write this.
Try www.Elance.com For under $100 you can get a well-written Press Release for your websites and more.
Affiliate Marketing
Advertise on your site… www.cj.com
Marketing Circle
A publisher/label can only do so much – be proactive. Nowadays you need to do more than just make music. You have to connect with the fans and this requires some time and effort on your part.
Publisher/Label – the other half of the circle
Goal Setting – same as above
Website – same as above
Prospecting
New talent
New suppliers
New innovations
New web services
Project Management
Chain of Command
Acceptable Goals
Time Tables
Resource Allocation
Team Collaboration
Milestones
Plan B
Product Creation
Industry Gaps and needs, Market analysis
Song selection
Song order
Contracts, cover art, promo materials – pics, videos
Mastering
Manufacturing
Graphics design & artwork
Liner notes
Promo Materials
Mastering
Replication
Bar code
Product Fulfillment/Distribution
Digital Delivery
From mastered album, 320 kbps
Web 2.0 promotion (same as above)
Physical Delivery
Shipping
From manufacturing/replication
To vendors/ direct sales
Returns, Policies, RMA
Return faulty product for replacement & get a promo coupon
50% off the next CD, Free MP3s not available on CD’s
Warehousing
Inventory Management, Loss Prevention
On Demand, Standing Inventory
Distributors, Sub Vendors, bands/artist on CD
Soliciting new distributors, vendors, fundraisers
Lead Generation
Small Stores
Specialty shops
Online stores
Charitable groups
Solicit Large Distributors
Strategic alliances
Secondary Sales
Marketing, Promotion, Advertising
Press Release – Schedule the Release, lead time
Press Release distribution & Associated Press – www.ap.org
Lead time – 1 to 4 mo.
Web 2.0 promotion (same as above)
CDs to local/college Radio, National Magazine + Ads
Local Ads for local distribution centers
Displays, Posters, Contests
Special Offers
Newsletter sign ups, coupons, contests, blogs, RSS feeds
PPC pay per click advertising
Tracking
Google Analytics
Research, Budgeting
Ad Writing – Headline, Body
Targeted advertising
Websites
Magazines
Local radio/ web radio
Publishing
Publisher or not? – do you need a publisher? Start without one, but register your works with ASCAP – www.Ascap.com , then you still have that option for someone to offer a sizeable advance.
Licensing – one stop licensing – music supervisors, Solicitations
Mailing Lists – contact first before sending solicitations
Tip sheets – which artists are looking for what material
Distributor Solicitation
Publisher may perform tasks of a record label also
Legal
Accounting - Quickbooks
Human Resources
Vendor Relationships
Customer Service – website
Point of Contact – easy to find on websites and email
Phone, email minimum
FAQ
Product Reviews, Company Reviews, Client Testimonials
Comparison Shopping – helps improve rankings (price comparison)
Customers who bought ***** also bought *****
Blogs
Customer/Fan Blogs
Authority Blogs
If you truly want to make it to the next level, you’ll have to put your heart into it, and also your brain, some computer skills, and some friends/fans could help too. Nowadays, up and coming bands have to do more than just make good music, they need to reach out to fans through various mediums such as the ones in this list. If you have a record label/publisher, they can do a lot of the legwork and money work, but unless you land that dream Record Deal, you’ll need to move on extra promotion and engage fans/friends to help as well. A million dollar marketing campaign is nice but don’t hold your breath.
Being involved in one of our compilation albums (www.SaintsAndSinnersMusic.com) can prove to be a powerful source of promotion. On our end, instead of sinking a lot of money into one band for 1 or 2 records, we are putting that same amount of money into advertising and promoting numerous bands all in one economical package. These bands benefit from the extra promotion, advertising, increased search rankings, web presence, etc…. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If each band/artist does their part to promote their own band and albums (with the ‘Music Marketing Empire’), all areas grow exponentially! These areas include sales and royalties, marketing, promotion, making the charts, creating a BUZZ, and making new fans.
The key to this ‘Music Marketing Empire’ is that each band/artist and record label involved is doing their part to gain promotion and exposure. Without spending 6 figures on a marketing campaign, everyone needs to do their part, such as, developing a strong web presence or selling compilation CDs at gigs and local stores. The whole is bigger than the individual parts; there is strength in numbers and collaboration between bands/artists. Here’s to our Success!
Below you will find the details relating to this ‘Marketing Empire’ and what an artist can do to build their own ‘Empire’. {If you don’t fully understand or want to find out more info on a particular topic, copy/paste the text into Wikipedia or Google it.} Of course, some aspects are more important than others (highlighted) and therefore, should involve more time and investment. To get started, divvy up the highlighted topics between band members/willing fans, taking into account their expertise and computer skills (or willingness to learn). Set goals for each team member, and follow up on those goals through meetings, online conferences, e-mail, etc…
Personal Development
Health, Mindset, Skill Acquisition
Time Management & Organization
Vision – where is your band going?
Goal Setting – goals are nothing but dreams if we don’t keep track of them and organize a plan of attack to reach them. And if you don’t have goals..
Long-Term vs. Short-Term goals
Long-term goals may or may not seem impossible to attain, i.e. ‘To sell a million records’. If they are extremely lofty, medium-term goals will be needed. For most of us, they should be realistic and achievable within a few short-term goals, i.e.: ‘to make the Top 200 Country Billboard Charts’, or ‘to make a demo recording’
Medium-term goals may be needed for very far-off Long-term goals
Short-term goals are the steps to reach long-term goals.
Each Short-term goal must be SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-based
If short-term goals do not embrace the SMART principal above, they will not be effective! It’s not the thought that counts, it’s the planning and follow through that will get you to the finish line. For example, if there is no time frame, goals take the backburner and rarely get accomplished. If a goal is not specific, you will not have a clear objective/task to focus on. 100 new MySpace friends is probably not realistic for someone who rarely answers their e-mail. Selling 1000 albums is not achievable if you have yet to record a full album, etc, etc.
Too vague We will improve our web presence
Easy to slack off We will increase our MySpace friends this winter
Correct Each band member will find 100 new MySpace friends by Jan. 30
TIPS: Write your goals on poster board and display them where you will see them every day. Write them down on paper and post them in your office, in your planner, on your refrigerator.. Set up a reward system for reaching certain goals. Put a motivational picture next to your long-term goals. Turn it into a competition.
Your Web Site – build your own and save a lot of money!
Web Site Tips blog (coming soon)
Brainstorming ideas, make a concept map or organizational chart of the good ideas
Site structure – use the organizational chart/map
Net Objects Fusion – mid range web design used for all of our web sites – try the free version, it’s not a trial, it’s free
Get a domain name and server (we use www.1and1.com - $5/mo) - the server is where your site is stored/accessed. Outsource sales through PayPal or merchandise vendors.
Keep it simple, but make it interactive with web 2.0 blogs, widgets, podcasts…
Content is #1 for search engine ranking, have a press release written by a professional
Search engine optimization SEO – tweaking your site to rank higher for popular search keywords and phrases
Keyword research – what are people searching for?
www.Keyworddiscovery.com , www.google.com/sktool , www.wordtracker.com
Google Page Rank (web crawler that indexes all public web sites)
familiarize yourself with how it works
It takes a few weeks for your site to be indexed, you do not need to submit your site to search engines – they constantly crawl through the web and index all public sites
Link Love – get more inbound links and limit outbound links
No Follow tags – add to outbound links so that you don’t lose Page Rank
Title Tag, Meta Tags – add keywords to site structure
Link Text – instead of www, use keywords when possible
Authority Linking – link to the major sites in your area/niche
Syndicated Content – make RSS Feeds from your content
On Your Site:
Content is #1 for search engine ranking, then good keywords sprinkled in
Web 2.0 apps (below) – interactivity
Blogs – your web log, Customer/Fan Blogs, Authority Blogs
Press Releases for your website when appropriate
Point of Contact – easy to find on websites and email
Phone, email minimum
FAQ
Google Site Map (it’s free)
Product Reviews, Company Reviews, Client Testimonials
Comparison Shopping – helps improve rankings (price comparison)
Customers who bought ***** also bought *****
Advertise your site – locally for Touring, larger scope for sales
Promote and manage your site with many tools listed below
Newsletters
Huge marketing tool – squeeze as much juice out as you can
Freebies – Give a good reason to sign up for your newsletter
And a good reason to read/listen/watch – try a newsletter template from Microsoft Word or Publisher and add interesting stuff to engage your audience like:
Video (links), MP3s, content, ads, graphics, contests, sales, recommendations, news, comics, jokes, interesting stories, road trips/gigs gone bad, etc…
Lots of Links
Opportunities to help your band
Links to sign up for your RSS Feeds
Support Sites
Myspace, Facebook,Twitter, Last.fm,Indie 911, …
Update your statuses simultaneously with www.ping.fm, www.OnlyWire.com
Set up a band pages on the major sites, but remember – we want to sell your music and many sites might give it away (great if you don’t have anything for sale).
Have material saved for easy copy and paste
Digital distribution hits over 200 online stores – focus with the big ones – start making playlists and tagging your albums, RSS feeds, social bookmarks, whatever you can do.
Playlists – If your band is similar to Sublime, Bob Marley, and The Dead; make a playlist with their top songs and a couple of your band’s hit singles. This is a great way to introduce your music to new fans.
Web 2.0 (web site development and design that facilitates interactive information sharing) i.e. hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, tagging
Fan Pages (on web 2.0 – social sites, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia.org ….)
Authority Hubs i.e. Yahoo music, I-tunes, etc. – make a playlist with a couple of your songs and similar songs from big name bands like Sublime, Metallica, BB King, …
Band/genre web sites – be wary of spending money here unless they are providing some specialized service
Podcast or blog – www.Podbean.com Your Blog + RSS Syndication and podcast
www.Widgetbox.com – turn your blog into a widget/blidget
Ping.fm (post to multiple social networks simultaneously)
Forums (yours + related forums – links & comments)
Comments (yours + related forums/blogs/etc – links & comments)
Groups – join web groups and post discussions/links/blogs
RSS Feeds – did I mention RSS Feeds – talk about staying in touch with fans – you can’t beat it. Create feeds from any web content and people can subscribe to it and read it in explorer, outlook…
Social Bookmarking (Social Tagging) let millions of Internet users help spread the word
www.OnlyWire.com - Post your blog to all social bookmarking sites with one click
www.StumbleUpon.com
Linked In, Sphinn, Delicious, Digg, Subtopic, Technorati, Plaxo, Orkut, Squiddo, etc… Google it!
Tagging your sites & pages (separate from social tagging)
Add tags wherever your music/content is found, to help people searching
Don’t forget to add metatags to your website pages as well – usually under site management – and your promo sites – usually under settings
Link – tag your links with keywords if possible
Text – Well written and contain some of your keyword metatags
More info under Search Engine Optimization above
Social Media
Video sites – create playlists here too, viral embedding,
You Tube, yahoo/google video, internet archive & concerts
Post to podcasts, post to social bookmarking sites
Pod Casting
www.Last.fm, Reddit Music
RSS, again with the RSS, check out these sites:
Squidoo, Mixx, Newsvine, Slideshare, Yelp, Flickr, brightkite, Mahalo, Propellor
Press Release
Have a professional write this.
Try www.Elance.com For under $100 you can get a well-written Press Release for your websites and more.
Affiliate Marketing
Advertise on your site… www.cj.com
Marketing Circle
A publisher/label can only do so much – be proactive. Nowadays you need to do more than just make music. You have to connect with the fans and this requires some time and effort on your part.
Publisher/Label – the other half of the circle
Goal Setting – same as above
Website – same as above
Prospecting
New talent
New suppliers
New innovations
New web services
Project Management
Chain of Command
Acceptable Goals
Time Tables
Resource Allocation
Team Collaboration
Milestones
Plan B
Product Creation
Industry Gaps and needs, Market analysis
Song selection
Song order
Contracts, cover art, promo materials – pics, videos
Mastering
Manufacturing
Graphics design & artwork
Liner notes
Promo Materials
Mastering
Replication
Bar code
Product Fulfillment/Distribution
Digital Delivery
From mastered album, 320 kbps
Web 2.0 promotion (same as above)
Physical Delivery
Shipping
From manufacturing/replication
To vendors/ direct sales
Returns, Policies, RMA
Return faulty product for replacement & get a promo coupon
50% off the next CD, Free MP3s not available on CD’s
Warehousing
Inventory Management, Loss Prevention
On Demand, Standing Inventory
Distributors, Sub Vendors, bands/artist on CD
Soliciting new distributors, vendors, fundraisers
Lead Generation
Small Stores
Specialty shops
Online stores
Charitable groups
Solicit Large Distributors
Strategic alliances
Secondary Sales
Marketing, Promotion, Advertising
Press Release – Schedule the Release, lead time
Press Release distribution & Associated Press – www.ap.org
Lead time – 1 to 4 mo.
Web 2.0 promotion (same as above)
CDs to local/college Radio, National Magazine + Ads
Local Ads for local distribution centers
Displays, Posters, Contests
Special Offers
Newsletter sign ups, coupons, contests, blogs, RSS feeds
PPC pay per click advertising
Tracking
Google Analytics
Research, Budgeting
Ad Writing – Headline, Body
Targeted advertising
Websites
Magazines
Local radio/ web radio
Publishing
Publisher or not? – do you need a publisher? Start without one, but register your works with ASCAP – www.Ascap.com , then you still have that option for someone to offer a sizeable advance.
Licensing – one stop licensing – music supervisors, Solicitations
Mailing Lists – contact first before sending solicitations
Tip sheets – which artists are looking for what material
Distributor Solicitation
Publisher may perform tasks of a record label also
Legal
Accounting - Quickbooks
Human Resources
Vendor Relationships
Customer Service – website
Point of Contact – easy to find on websites and email
Phone, email minimum
FAQ
Product Reviews, Company Reviews, Client Testimonials
Comparison Shopping – helps improve rankings (price comparison)
Customers who bought ***** also bought *****
Blogs
Customer/Fan Blogs
Authority Blogs
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