Sorry, I’ve been so “non-productive” since October - been busy in the real world!

I have got a couple of ‘biggish’ posts about bands’ websites and marketing music to fans up my sleeve - I’ll do my best to get them both out in Jan :)

I hope all the readers of this Band Promotion Blog have a wonderful and peaceful 2012.

Love Ian xxx

I was contacted by Dave Long of The Skarlets asking a video marketing related question. I visited The Skarlets website and was very pleasantly surprised by its high level of professionalism, it is one of the best band sites I’ve seen for ages - well done Roy Evans of Kaboodle Creative. Here is a little narrative for you!

UBP: Hi Dave, great to meet you. In my experience it’s unusual for a band to have such a polished website, what’s the story behind it?

Dave - The Skarlets: Cheers Ian, well we started out like most bands with just a MySpace page, but we found it so difficult to manage that no band member could be bothered with it! Not long after I met the singer from a Queen tribute act at the airport, he gave me the advice to create our own website. He also suggested that we include some quality video footage, preferably multi camera, of the band on the front page - which we’ve done.

UBP: Solid ritzy advice from ‘Freddie’ as per usual ;)

Dave - The Skarlets: Lol, yeah, of course the initial outlay is not cheap, but I would recomend this to any covers band if they want to progress. We also usually spend about £35 a month on a Google add campaign, this is a great help for potential customers who are looking for certain types of bands and it’s well worth doing, it increases your profile and brings great gig offers.

UBP: I think that you’ve hit the nail on the head, if a band (or a business) wants to progress they must have the confidence to invest in themselves, it’s not only about those long rehearsal sessions!

Dave - The Skarlets: Well it’s also about people, a huge thanks goes to Roy Evans for all the help he has given us with designing and managing the website!

UBP: Thanks Dave - The Skarlets are a dynamic and entertaining seven piece ska band from Reading, Berkshire. They play some of the very best ska and 2 Tone hits from the ’70s and early ’80s by artists such as, Jimmy Cliff, The Pioneers, The Specials, Madness, Bad Manners, Desmond Dekker and others - you’ll be up on the dance floor all night long. They are available for weddings, beer festivals, private parties and corporate events. And you can even Like them on Facebook - like I did :)

 How’s this for shyte:

buy facebook poker chips

I’m extremely impressed with your writing abilities neatly as with the structure in your weblog. Is that this a paid subject or did you modify it yourself? Anyway stay up the nice quality writing, it’s uncommon to see a nice blog like this one nowadays.

—-

What the fuck… I’m speachless

Ow.ly - Shorten urls, share files and track visits - which is handy, I like :)

I’ve just got back from talking with Jeremy, an old friend, about his music career, web promotion and monetizing his website; coincidently, I’ve also just received a question from a band that asks, “We are looking for help to get noticed so we can earn enough money to do this full-time.”

It’s my strong opinion that if an individual musician or band wants to ‘make it’ on the music scene and make a living from their music, the most important area to get right is their musicianship and stage act (Music and Performance). Fundamentally, how good at ‘doing it’ are you? This is The Core Essential and best indicator of whether you are going to make it or not. Nine times out of ten, if you are having trouble getting noticed and making money out of your music, then you probably can’t ‘do it’ - seek criticism and advice from an independent and qualified person whose opinion you value and trust. Then act on their advice.

To make a money out of your music, you also need a Business Plan - talent is sometimes not enough! “How much money do you want to make/earn?” Have a consultation with a music industry accountant, see: UK music business accountants list on Vocalist.

Here are my potted thoughts: if you want to make £24K gross (that’s without deductions) per annum from your band’s/artist’s website, you’ve got to take about £480.00 per week. And that is five times more than I’d expect an average band/artist to make from their website with: ad. space, affiliate marketing, donations, Google Adsense, merchandise, downloads and CD sales! Which is why I say, “Don’t concentrate on your website in isolation to everything else.” But, it Is important that your website is a part of your overall business, marketing and promotion strategy; look at the big picture and be open-minded - you need an aim and a plan. The usual ways of earning a living as an independent artist are: Performing (sessions, gigs and touring - I’m not too sure about busking Jez?), Selling Music and Merchandise (CD physicals, downloads, T-shirts, button badges etc.), Publishing (see: PRS for Music (formerly the Performing Right Society) a ‘not for profit’ organization). Also: have a gander at a blog post I wrote in July 2009 Make Money From Your Band’s Website.

If you are having trouble getting your music noticed, revisit Your Core Essential Music and Performance, and take a second look at your Business Plan.

Hang-on, there is a third element, Connectivity. You’ve got it, “How you connect with people.” And Oh My God, this is also where it all goes wrong. You come over as a Tosser and you can’t write a fucking sentence without thinking of yourself first, in fact you can’t write a fucking sentence, why would anyone just say “CHECK OUT OUR MYSPACE” and not give their MySpace address In An Email? Would even the most desperate, half-arsed, alcoholic band promoter bother to scratch around trying to find out who you are? <UNDERSTAND>Delete Button</UNDERSTAND> Noone cares about you, actually, they don’t like you, so don’t fuck them off even more with shitty, egoistical emails.

It’s all about how You come over. How people see you. How They interact with you and how You respond. Yeah, respond. Maybe, how well you listen! Artists need to listen as well as project and promote their point of view. What does your address book/database/mailing list look like? Up-to-date is it? Have you got it sorted, categorized, cross-referenced? No? Well you’re wasting your fucking time then. Because if you don’t know who your talking to, you may as well be talking to your MySpace friends - who don’t give a fuck because they’re twats like you.

Connectivity is being on the same wavelength as the person with whom you are talking, it’s empathy, rapport. As a band or musician, you are going to have to connect with a lot of different people, fans, friends and family (when was the last time you said thanx with some flowers or a box of chox for all the hard work they’ve done?) - are you talking with your local: Pub Landlords, Venues, Gig Promoters, Press, Radio and DJs about “Strictly Come Dancing”? How many hours have you lost, squandered and wasted on FaceSpace this week? …it’s not easy - nobody said it’s easy.

I came across a helpful blog post by Vinny Ribas, Measuring Your Success - that may help you a little Jez.

Music and Performance, Business Plan then Connectivity - imperceptible bollocks logic, one thing follows on from another.

Unsigned Band Promotion (me) play a microscopic part in all this, I help musicians and artists to get their websites noticed by fans, search engines and the music industry in half the time they could do it on their own, and I’m the best.

The Queen’s on Facebook!

Are You?

There have been a couple of incidents recently when I have looked for a band’s website and have discovered that they do not have one. Then I find out that they do not even own their own domain name! Odd. Buy your band’s domain name now, before I do. I like Network Solutions - use the search box above. I am an affiliate, so I will get a small commission, but don’t be put off by that as Network Solutions are excellent value for money.

This is a first for me - Google checking to see if I’m a human or a bot! While using google for some research, up popped a ‘We’re Sorry’ message. It appears when Google feels that a computer on your network is sending them automated traffic, and automated queries are against Google’s terms of service. All is soon resolved and service returns to normal after typing in a bloody CAPTCHA. So, Google now think that I’m a human, everyone else thinks I’m an arse!

Video Drum Head Are Copycats

Video Drum Head Have Copied My ‘Old’ Home Page!

…And the reason Video Drum Head are copying Unsigned Band Promotion is because, I am number one in Google for “Band Promotion”. Video Drum Head just don’t get it. And yes, I did send Video Drum Head an email. And no, Video Drum Head did not reply or remove the content! And do you know what? At the bottom of the Video Drum Head page is, Content copyright 2009-2010. Video Drum Head. All rights reserved. Video Drum Head Are Video Dick Heads - I wouldn’t deal with them or trust them. God Help Me.

Cutting The Crap,
Unsigned Band Promotion
UnsignedBandPromotion.com
~ helping musicians and artists get their websites noticed by fans, search engines
and the music industry in half the time they could do it on their own ~
http://www.unsignedbandpromotion.com/

I’d like things to change around here in 2010!

I am sure my strap-line (Helping musicians and artists get their Websites noticed by fans, search engines and the music industry in half the time they could do it on their own) will not change, UnsignedBandPromotion will still be sweet music for your website, and be the worlds best free website promotion resource and service for musicians and artists - I just want it to be better!

It all started with Matt posting a link to a website that calculated how much ones website is worth. What’s my website worth? I asked, £28,000 came the reply. Yeah, right! I didn’t believe it, but it did get me thinking. Of course there are a whole range of variables to be considered when determining the worth of ones website: How much is the domain name worth? What are the monthly or annual earnings and is there a history of profits? How long has the website been up and running? How much traffic does the website get and are the sources of traffic reliable - is the website itself reliable? How does the website compare with other websites of its type? Does the website have potential to progress? What are the running costs of the website? ect… Then I took a cold, hard look at UnsignedBandPromotion.com, and I came to the conclusion that it’s worth about £8000 at best. Wow, not much for all that effort and what it offers. I also realized that it is I who makes this website and gives the free service, and therefore it is I who will have to change in 2010 and give a better service.

Over the last ten years or so there’s been lots of whingeing from the music industry about piracy, file sharing and profits. And there’s been bounteous and gleeful criticism from the industry commentators telling us that the music industry isn’t keeping up with technology or the mood and temper of the times. But, I really don’t feel sorry for either parties especially the multinational conglomerates like EMI, News Corp., Sony, Universal, Warner and Apple Inc., who have such an influence and massive hold on the industry, their fingers are in so many pies the little indie band doesn’t stand a chance - no change there then!

My simplistic understanding of the music industry is that it falls into two distinct groups, 1. the musicians who create the music, and 2. everyone else in the business!! Why is it when these two groups don’t make their expected profits they blame each other AND The Consumer - never themselves? I know it’s a complex industry but isn’t the customer always right? Ah, the consumer and the customer are two different entities (I’m being ironic)! I believe that a man who takes a business risk is entitled (not guaranteed) to make a profit as a reward, i.e., make a profit by giving customers what they want. And maybe that’s one of the problems, the music industry isn’t heading in the same direction as the one the customer would have chosen for himself?

One of the big changes over the last ten years has been the way musicians are able to create, market and promote their music and themselves. New technology has enabled completely useless and incompetent musicians to stand shoulder to shoulder alongside the idols they admire, follow and emulate (yeah of course I’m talking purely on a ‘Website’ basis here), independent musicians have never had it so good! And yes, that’s another problem for the music industry, sorting out the wheat from the chaff for the consumer. Marketing (the art/business of selling) is about customers, not producers; demand, not supply.

I do not differentiate between musicians good or bad, useless or talented I aim help anyone get their websites noticed by fans, search engines and the music industry in half the time they could do it on their own, as I said, that’s my strap line (BUT, you must have a website. I do not help bands to promote MySpace, PureVolume and profiles in general, or FreeWebs, Yahoo! GeoCities, LYCOS.tripod and other free webhosting type of pages. You need a real Website*). …Which is a pretty big call, but true, and I do it for free. Pound for pound I offer the worlds best free resources and services to help with website promotion for musicians and in the next decade I’m going to do it even better.