The blog Indie Launchpad has up a great article on the possibilities that open up to your group when you have more than one Flipcam amongst your band members. Some great advice.
Often times big opportunities come up fast for your group. If you are in need of a super fast turnaround on postcards
to advertise your next show or perhaps business cards
to show off the URL to download your music for free, the company NextDayFlyers can do you a world of good, with a cheap price.
One of the most powerful but annoying and painful things a group needs to do is open a notebook and get fans to sign up for their mailing list. While copying these emails into a computer can be one of the worst parts of being a group. One of the little things that can make this practice even more powerful is to write down the zipcode of the venue you acquired the email address at. This can help to make your next show at the venue more of a success by using your mailing list provider's geo-targeting feature. Don't be lazy and get a zip code to keep growing your fanbase!
- Carrying CDs Around To Give Out Still? Stop! Use Dropbox!
- Interview With Marty Frascogna On International Touring
- Are Facebook Groups The New Messageboards?
- Avid Announce Pro Tools HD Native
- Band Tip: Practice On Your Own
- PayPal Now Allows You To Deposit Checks From Your iPhone
- Pulley Leaves Beta And Launches Digital Download Service
- Make A GoodReads Book Club For Your Group
- DIY Watermarking So You Can Protect Your Record From Leaking
- Check Out TuneCore's Guide To Using Ping
- Square Goes Cheesy And Shows How Easy It Is To Use Their Credit Card Reader
- Some Cool Ways To Change A Key
- Check Out A Great Interview With Vinni Fiorello Of Paper + Plastik Records
- Facebook Upgrades Insights For Their Pages
- Soundcloud Shows How Its Service Can Make Collaboration Easier
- Letting Go Of A Song/Mix
- Watch The Trailer For Music Doc "Don't Quit Your Daydream"
- Don't Let Your Laziness Ruin Your Merch Profits
- What Good Mastering Does
- Put All Of The Songs You Play Live Up On Your Social Networks
- ReverbNation Teams With APM Music To Give Users Licensing Opportunities
- Why You Have To Master Your Music
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- MakeUseOf Tells The Results Of What Online Radio Their Listeners Use The Most
- Splitgigs Will Help You Find Like-Minded Groups To Play Shows With
- Give Your Merch Person Commission To Increase Sales
- ReverbNation Is Changing The Tab Name Of MyBand
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If you are looking to easily increase your merch sales an easy way to it is to get a credit card reader. Square is one of the readers in that game and they have just released a commercial to show how easy it is to use their service to square up and charge people for anything. A very cool tool that will help many groups.
When going to shows, you still see some groups doing the tired, old practice of handing out free CDs to people in the audience. One way you can stop spending money on duplication, and carrying a bulky CD to shows. Get Dropbox along with their mobile App and send the people you meet your music right on the spot via the App. To do this simply drop your music in a folder on your Dropbox and when you strike up a conversation with someone get their email and share the folder your music is in and they will now be able to download it when they get home. A great way to socialize and make sure people think of your music when they are in front of their computer.
If you are a DIY group that is making money, chances are you are doing a lot of transactions through PayPal. If this is the case you're life just got a lot easier if you own an iPhone. PayPal will now allow you to take picture of checks you receive and deposit them into your PayPal account. This means no more driving around looking for your band when you get checks from the road. Read more here.
Marty Frascogna is an entertainment attorney who specializes in indie
level musicians, international expansion, along with international
marketing and promotions. He is also one of the authors for the much
anticipated book series- "How to Market and Promote Music." The first
released in the series is: How to Market and Promote Music in SWEDEN-
which is available HERE (along with info on upcoming titles). We recently had a good chat with Marty and he gave some wonderful advice on the great adventure of international touring.
Go to nearly any merchandise site that does shirts/stickers for musicians and you'll almost always see the option for a "rush service" (naturally, at a much higher price). Why is this? Because every band needs merch and many are slack on getting it ready before shows/tours. Getting good quality merch and selling it at a decent price is already a difficult task, but adding on extra fees for overnight delivery and "rush fees" from graphics company is certainly not going to help. Passing along a steeper price to your fans is usually going to make you come off like an asshole and almost always result in fewer sales. Check your stock and assess your needs early so that you're not scrambling around right before shows and cutting a huge hole in your profits by paying unnecessary fees. Especially at a time when merch is one of the best ways for bands to actually turn a profit, don't let your slack behavior ruin a potential cash cow.
Many bands live show is made by fans knowing the material and singing along. One way to get that to happen is to alert your fans on your various social networks that all the songs you play play live will be in your MySpace and Facebook players. This can alert fans to take some time and do their homework to get to know your material before they come out to see you.
SplitGigs is a social network that allows you to find groups similar to you who would be worth splitting a gig with. This can be a powerful tool so that you are no longer playing shows with groups who have nothing in common with you. Sign up with their site and start making your gigs more worthwhile.
Having a merch person who is friendly and really sells what you got can help keep your wallet thick and your group out on the road. The difference between a lazy merch person and a proactive one can reap merch sold, which leads to free advertising and new fans as other people hear your group. If the merch person is proactive getting people to sign to your mailing list it can be the difference between increased show turnouts and diminishing returns. Giving the person selling your merch a percentage of what is sold can keep them being proactive and get them to make sure they do a good job every night of the tour. Give an incentive to perform better and you will see a better job done for a repetitive and boring job.
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- Remix Deadmau5 And Perhaps You Could Open For Him!
Motel 6 has a promotion going right now where if you submit your song and get fans to vote you to the top you can win free lodging. A great chance to cut down on tour expenses. Find out more here.
With the discussion going around the Internet of Better Then The Van's relaunch we thought now would be a good time to point out two of our favorite tricks for finding some place to stay on the road.
The first is to socialize with the other bands, friendships and bonds are easily built with local bands when you stay with them. Not only do you have a place to stay but this often leads to lasting relationships that help both groups. If there are no locals on the show, asking for help help from the stage can often net a good result as well. Be social!
The first is to socialize with the other bands, friendships and bonds are easily built with local bands when you stay with them. Not only do you have a place to stay but this often leads to lasting relationships that help both groups. If there are no locals on the show, asking for help help from the stage can often net a good result as well. Be social!
Let's face it laptops have become musical instruments and their theft is a common occourance. Lifehacker has a great article on how you can use a free App called Prey to track it down if you are unfortunate enough to have someone walj with your musical creation tool.
Many bands often post where they are going to be playing each night of tour. While this is smart, it is smart to also give a 2 day notice to your fans since it will give them time to plan to go to the show. The smart fellas in You, Me And Everyone We Know do this nearly daily and it would be wise for you to do on tour as well.
Every touring band needs somewhere to stay and Better Than The Van is a great resource to figure that problem out. They are about to relaunch their service and we cannot wait to see what they do!
Indie Music Tech has a fantastic list of the many online resources that can help you get better gigs. Getting to know these resources can make the job of booking gigs far easier. Get to know what is available.
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- Bandcamp Now With Awesome Facebook Embed Feature
- Remember Not To Annoy The Fans You Already Have To Get New Ones
- Project Rodney Will Trade Facebook Shares Or Tweets For A Track
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- How To Setup A Root Music Band Page
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- Great Twitter Advice From Mashable
- What Is Mix Cloud?
- Touring Bands Get A Free Meal At Chicago Restaurant Gabba Gabba Hey
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- Storenvy Is A Free Online Merch Store For Your Music
Eating on the road is obviously not one of the most enjoyable parts of touring. Nevermind if you are a real foodie you can come to really miss having an amazing meal. Thankfully esteemed chef James Toland is offering touring bands a free meal in his new restaurant in Chicago, which goes by the name of Gabba Gabba Hey. Check out more details below and let us know how it is.
"Gabba Gabba Hey will unofficially offer touring band members visiting the city, free dinner! (The booze you have to pay for.) The key word there is touring! You have to have a gig in town that week to qualify. Cutting a record with Steve Albini for 2 months will not get you a free dinner every night, Frank! So what about local bands gigging you ask? That is entirely up to my discretion if I like your band and you are willing to let me sit in with you"
"Gabba Gabba Hey will unofficially offer touring band members visiting the city, free dinner! (The booze you have to pay for.) The key word there is touring! You have to have a gig in town that week to qualify. Cutting a record with Steve Albini for 2 months will not get you a free dinner every night, Frank! So what about local bands gigging you ask? That is entirely up to my discretion if I like your band and you are willing to let me sit in with you"
At The New Music Seminar this year we got a chance to look at Next Big Sound's premier offering. The amazing looking interface offers a smooth looking look at nearly every data point you could think of about your music. We all know that the more data you have the better you can spend your marketing budget. With a 14 day trial and packages ranging from $10-65 a month this is sure to become an essential tool for any active group. Check out the long list of their features here.
- To Link To Your Press Or Not To?
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