Music & Marketing: URBANIZED!

Six questions you should ask every artist before you start producing any music

1. What are your influences and what music styles do you listen to ?
2. Who are your favorite artists?(now...back then..)
3. How do you see yourself as being an artist?
4. How do you want to be seen by the public ( your music listeners..fans etc.) ?
5. What kind of music career do you wanna have in the future (your dreams plans etc.) ?
6. Do you have any special musical talents...do you play guitar, keys etc. ?

Only if you get some honest answers and can see through an artist if he's serious/professional enough or not you should proceed with making music...


In the past I've been loosing much time and energy by not asking all of those questions. There were singers/songwriters who took their work not seriously enough, didn't know their influences or didn't bring the passion I needed for a project.

from http://themusicproducerblog.blogspot.com/

I just want to share a quick tip with you. When you're in the studio recording tracks with the idea of pitching them to TV and Film licensing opportunities, make sure to also get an instrumental version of all of the tracks that you record. Sometimes libraries and publishers will only be interested in instrumental versions of your songs, even if they were originally recorded with vocals.

I recently pitched a group of songwriter's tracks to a prominent music publisher. All of the tracks I pitched were vocal tracks, but the publisher was primarily interested in signing instrumental versions of songs from several of the artists. Most of the artists in question had instrumental versions of their tracks on hand, but a couple didn't and so they missed out on signing with a great publisher who has placed numerous tracks in feature films and network television shows.

I also suggest having a couple different mixes on hand as well, one with the vocal more upfront and one with the vocal turned down. Sometimes supervisors will prefer that the vocal track of your songs are mixed very low so they don't distract with the scene the song is being used in. Other times supervisors will be looking for songs with more prominent vocals to support the plot of the show or film your song is being used in.

Basically, try to be as prepared as possible with several different mixes, so if one mix doesn't meet the needs of whoever you're pitching to, you'll have another one ready to go that does.

Aaron Davison is a Berklee College Of Music Alumnus who has been working in the music business for over ten years. His songs have been heard on a variety of television shows and he has performed live throughout the world. Visit Aaron's website, http://www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com, for more information on getting your songs placed in TV and Film.

Stoni with Winksound.com explains how to create individual sequence tracks for each instrument within the Combinator in Reason 4.0

Affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to make money online. Twitter is a great way to increase your sales. Just be careful so your Twitter experience is a pleasant (and profitable) one.

Here are 7 tips that affiliate marketers should keep in mind:

1. Be personal with your tweets. Don't send out the same tweet over and over or to different people. If people are tweeting about needing holiday presents, don't send, "Hey! Shop at my site www.blahblahblah.com" to everyone! Tweets should be personal, not canned.

2. Be genuine with tweets. Don't try to be something you are not.

3. If you do send a sales link, send it as a natural part of the conversation. If you chat with people, eventually they will ask what you do (or you can drop subtle hints) - then you can mention it.

4. Don't send a direct link to your product. Send a link to your blog or a general informational website. Don't be so blatant about trying to get a sale.

For example, if a Twitter mom complains about not doing well with potty training Junior, don't send her a link to your ebook on potty training; instead, send a link to your blog post that discusses potty training ideas (that can include your affiliate link to the ebook). You will get a much more favorable reception.

5. Be useful and helpful. Not every tweet has to be about "you, you, and you". Take time to tweet about others and be a helpful part of the community.

6. Listen to your followers. Ask questions, and then help them out. You can get great feedback from tweets. (I get lots of ideas for info products and affiliate products from the feedback I receive from my followers.)

7. Use tweets in moderation. Don't tweet about every single thing you do. (Like "going to the store" - do people really care?) Don't send direct affiliate links. Don't toot your own horn all of the time. Let people hear from you, but don't be too chatty.

Used correctly, Twitter is a great way to add to your profits. Just make sure to use it wisely.