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You may already have a great web site, a MySpace profile with an gazillion friends and some videos on YouTube. Which is good, because that means people can find you, interact with you and perhaps buy something of you in several locations.
But unless you’re already well established as an artist, record label or online music retailer, your immediate surroundings are still your marketing launchpad. To make your business fly, you must connect your brilliant online marketing strategy to your local presence at concerts you play, parties you go to and people you meet.
Let me explain to you exactly what I mean by that…
01. Share your music
The price of recorded music is plummeting, while live performances are popular as ever. The value of your music as promotion for concerts you play may very well be higher than the value on the price tag. As the guitarist of Anthrax put it: “Our album is the menu. The concert is the meal.” I say you pick from the menu, and you pay for the meal.
If you think about it, no one will ever learn to like you music unless they listen to it a lot. And if they never learn to like your music, they will certainly not give you money for it. But if they already know and love your music, expect them to show up at the next concert you play in town.
NRK Urørt is a nice place to upload your music, with 36 737 registered users and 15 million downloads (22.08.2007). The website has a wide reach, with a web radio channel, radio shows on NRK P3 and a Svisj-style jukebox on NRK2. The “Årets Urørt” contest is an annual event, with a CD release and the ZoomUrørt tour. If you’re a member of TONO, you even get paid when your music is played.
Just don’t expect people to discover you like by magic. With 20 000 bands and 40 000 songs, you will have to fight for the attention you deserve. Marketing is perhaps even more important in todays democratic, online music business. I’ll tell you more about that later.
Beware that TONO places some restrictions on what you can do with your own music if you are a member of the organization. Specifically, you are only allowed to share your works on your own non-commercial web site with a permission from TONO. The agreement specifically excludes websites like YouTube, where you as an artist don’t have total editorial control over your works.
If TONO doesn’t administrate the licensing of your music, you’re free to choose whichever licensing scheme that suits you business model best. Creative Commons offers a wide range of licenses for both commercial and non-commercial use.
Good news is that TONO are now reviewing parts of the regulations to accommodate for the Creative Commons Non-commercial license, giving you the opportunity to give away selected works for non-commercial purposes. Follow the debate at creativecommons.no.
Final words of advice
Some of the things I have just told you are inspired by the excellent writing of Andrew Dubber at New Music Strategies. I encourage you to read his free e-book on “The 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online”.
I wish you the best of luck with your music business!
