Wow, It has been a whirl wind since my last post. We are through the slow times of December and early January and fully getting into quarter one of the new year. It always amazes me how the industry pretty much shuts down for a six week period right before Christmas and then like Spring time starts to rapidly grow again around the end of January!

Every year about this time my phone starts to blow up with eager artists wanting to join the ranks with their favorite artists and dip their foot into the music industry waters – in the deep end – instead of the shallows near the baby pool of their home town. This is exciting for me every year. Why? Because this is when I get to hear all the new ideas, concepts, strategies, plans, or as i like to call it…. the “crazies!” of this big ol’ music marketing misconception machine. Oh – don’t get me wrong – I hear some really good stuff too. The craziest ideas are what has sparked some greatest creative music marketing efforts in the music industry… once they have been ripped apart, molded to real world information, and turned into a well thought out plan of course.

That brings me to today’s post topic…. Single -vs- CD. It’s like the soda wars of the 90′s – Coke -vs- pepsi. On one side of the “taste bud” you had the young, hip, in the moment types – following the super stars like Beyonce’ to the Pepsi machine – and then you had the older, more sophisticated taste snobs going after the smooth talking Surgeons, Teachers, and Fuzzy Polar Bears promoting sophistication in drink…. but really, which was better? Neither! They both have their places in the market. They both continuously grow their brands beyond the original developers wildest dreams…. they both co-exist and what’s more important, they both need each other in order to continue to grow and reach further.

Yes, we are in the new world of music marketing, super fast internet downloads, fans that want instant access to music, and the ability for artists, musicians, producers, and record labels to save a ton of money by utilizing the internet to deliver their music to the masses….. but it is not an end-all-be-all tool. The internet does not mean the CD is dead. It just means we have another marketing tool to get the music in to the hands of waiting fans!

Radio stations still like to give the “10th caller” a free CD during contests. Press reporters still like to get an entire CD to add to their massive “free” collection. And fans still like to buy the actual CD at shows. There is no “single -vs- CD” war being waged in the trenches of the music industry. It is made up.

I am working with one artist right now that has gained a massive amount of fans. He has something like a million views on youtube, has fan submitted videos being uploaded to youtube, and is actually selling about $1000 worth of singles a month to all these fans…. but he has reached out to me because he is stalled right there. This artist is hungry. He studies online every day trying to reach further, he has taken all the steps he knows how, and he still seems to be stalled. After talking to him for about a half hour it hit me….

He believes that an artist today does not need to get CDs pressed up. While talking to him I found out he has about three CDs worth of songs but no CD of any of them. For the record, he is great, very very great in fact. His music hits the commercial main stream of his genre, he looks the part, has a great video, knows how to use social networking to the extreme, and seems to have the complete package…. but he really only has half of the package to take it to the next level…

THE POINT….

Budget, plan, and get ready for the need to press up actual physical product for the music industry and your music marketing efforts… i.e. CDs. It is the next step in marketing your music to the masses once you dominate the online world. It is almost impossible to do a Radio Promotional Tour without having physical CDs, Selling singles at a live show pretty much does not work and you are missing sooooo much money by not having CDs at your live shows, and realize… real fans, the one’s that follow and support you for your entire career really do want physical CDs of your music… not just singles.

Singles are great to get you started, to create buzz, gain attention, and get the industry to take notice….. but don’t get left behind thinking that just because you gained all these things with your first few singles it’s all you need. It’s not, it does not get you to your ultimate goals, and you will be stuck at a million views on youtube without really making the money those million views could have if you only had a CD!

THE MORAL….

As you are making your money on single sales from iTunes make sure you are putting at least a portion of that money aside to get CDs pressed up. The cool thing…. you can CDs for as low as $650 per 1000 now. This is full retail ready CDs, shrink wrapped, full graphics packs and all. Here is my favorite spot for CD replication, check em out!

Learn how to take your music marketing efforts further!

Peace,
Jai
“Love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!”

I am always harping on the importance of making a personal connection while trying to market your music. It’s true – it really works. I wanted to share an email I received from Beth Schafer – if you remember, or have not read yet, Beth contacted me about some music marketing consultations about a week and a half ago and we had a good hour long chat on the phone about how she could really make the difference and get her fan base activated. If you have not read the original blog post go here and check it out – you will see what was discussed and what was suggested…..

Beth’s email from last night:

Hey Jai,

Thanks and be well,
Beth

Folks, this is the real deal. This is what injecting your personality into your fans does for your music marketing efforts. In just a week Beth was able to increase her email list, sell some CDs, and most importantly – get her fans to take the requested action. You have heard me say it before but it is worth repeating: action breeds action! If you can get your fans to take a small step of action -  you can get them to take a large step of action. Meaning; once you get them to take the action of signing up for your newsletter or downloading your free music single – you can get them to take the larger action of buying your music and your merchandise.

There is no real secret to making a connection with your fans. It is about reaching out and interacting with them, talking to them, and taking an interest in their lives. You want them to do it for you…. but why should they take the time if you don’t? They won’t. You have to participate in your fans daily lives to become friends with them and get them to take action when you want or need it.

Think about this: when is the last time you moved? Last month? Last year? Last week? How did you move? I would be willing to be that you are like most artists, producers, and musicians and really don’t have the cash to hire a moving company… right? I am further willing to bet that you grabbed a couple of your favorite pizzas, some beer, and called up your friends to give you a hand lifting that dresser into the uhaul. Right? Ok, now ask yourself this: why did those friends come to help you? It’s because you take an active part in their daily lives. I bet you didn’t call up friends that you have not talked to in the last three years to help… did you? It is the same thing with music marketing! You don’t ask supposed “fans” that you do not communicate with to help you with your career!

Take action -  a lot of action towards getting to know your fans. When you do, you will see the exact same results as Beth!

Learn how to connect with your fans and create massive music marketing buzz!

Peace,
Jai
“Love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!”

On your road to market your music you have got to plan for the unexpected!

I manage Jeremy Ledgewood (www.JeremyLedgewood.com), an up and coming Christian artist with a great vibe! This weekend we set up a photo shoot for his upcoming album cover in the White Sands Desert in New Mexico. After a week of planning, packing, and going over the list of needed more than a few times – to ensure everything went smoothly – Jeremy and crew set out on the road yesterday at about 7pm.

The plan was to drive all night (from Dallas, TX) and reach the desert around 5am this morning. The photo shoot pretty much had to be today as it is supposed to be around 70 degrees all day and sunny.  The rest of the week and into next week is forecasted to be cold as hell and cloudy! So, Jeremy got on the road with crew and things were going pretty good. Then at about 2am last night I get a call – awaking me – and It was Jeremy on the phone asking me to get online and find out where the jack is located on his new GMC Envoy! LOL. So, I stumble out of bed, head to the computer, and start my very sleepy search while the light from the monitor almost seems to blind me!

In case you ever need to know – there is nothing online telling you where you can find the jack on an Envoy! To make things worse… with the crew, props, clothes, etc. loaded in the vehicle – searching for a Jack, in the middle of a desert road with no street lights and just the coyotes reminding you that you are on their property…. in 13 degree desert night temp… finding a secret, only the designers could figure out, hiding place for the jack seems almost impossible!

As I am searching for the jack online…. about 30 min. later, I get a call say “We found it!” Relieved I went to bed.

The moral of the story: It does not matter how much you plan, what you consider to be important, or what you think could go wrong…. when you are trying to market your music, the unexpected will always present it self. The only way to prepare is to prepare mentally, carry a little extra cash, and by all means… if you are headed into the desert make sure you have the owners manual to your new vehicle!

Jeremy and crew are now safely at the White Sands Desert in New Mexico…. a bit more tired than expected, and still trying to warm up. The little flat tire turned out to be a two hour delay and one cold night with no light changing the tire. All is good, all is well, and the photo shoot will go on!

Just remember when marketing your music, always allow much more time than you think it will take, always have extra cash on hand, and never let the small stuff get to you! The music industry is known for throwing bricks at your head. The only way to prepare is learn how to duck, bob, and weave!

Kick your 2010 Music Marketing Campaign into OVERDRIVE: The Ultimate Online Awareness Campaign!

Peace,
Jai
“Love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!”

Ok, we are a few days into 2010 and as I sat down at my computer with my cup of coffee and favorite artist playing on the little tiny 2″ laptop speaker thinking about what “gem” of information I could share with you today about how to marketing your music better I realized…. maybe I don’t know! Maybe what I need is not what you need. Maybe where I think you should be in your journey is not at all where you are at! Maybe, just maybe…. I need to actually take the time and ask you….

What do you need in 2010 to help you successfully market your music to the masses?

I’m serious here. I want to know what you need to be successful in the music industry. What is your burning questions, what do you need to understand more, what resources do you find yourself trying to find, or what will make the biggest difference in your career? I am listening, I want your input, and I will do my best to answer all the questions I get over the next year.

I want to make this YOUR BLOG about music marketing, promotion, business… or, well, anything you need for your career in the music industry!

I love to share my knowledge about music marketing… but this morning I really realized something great… I love helping artists, producers, musicians, record labels, managers, agents, and anyone else interested in the music industry SUCCEED better than just sharing my knowledge. In order for me to actually do what I love I realized I needed to know more about what you want… not what I think you want!

So, what are you waiting for…go ahead…. click on the comment button below and let er rip – tell me your needs for marketing your music in 2010. Ask questions, tell me what confuses you the most, ask for resources, and tell me your issues.

If you take the time to ask…. I promise I will take the time to find a solution, answer a question, or guide you to the answer you need to succeed in the music industry in 2010!

I look forward to hearing from you…. and giving you what you need in 2010!
Peace,
Jai
“Love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!”
www.jaihutcherson.com
www.IamMusicNetwork.com

Hey Folks,

I just finished up a one hour music marketing consulting cal with Beth Schafer (http://bethschafer.com) and wanted to share one of our topics with you that I feel every indie artist, musician, label, or producer needs to understand a bit better while trying to marketing their music to fans….

First, Beth is an extremely talented artist that has been on the grind for quite a while. She has a solid fan base, great website, and a good start on social networking. Beth called to discuss specifics about how to transform her fan base into an active machine that helps gain new fans, buys more music, and takes the action needed to further her career – like radio requests, live show requests, and beyond. After talking to her for a bit I found that she has been doing all the right things – but just needed a little help in communicating with fans….

Here are the specifics on one topic out of about 12 or 13 we cover in our hour conversation that I felt could help a lot of you on your quest for the “silver bullet” of music marketing strategies…

Jango Radio
As I have discussed here in this blog, as well as in my music marketing books and on I am MUSIC network, I am a huge fan of Jango Radio and all they offer to artists, musicians, labels, and producers. But like anything, you have to take action and then follow through with that action to really see the benefit of the service. Beth told me that she was getting fans and a few comments, but really didn’t feel that she was getting all she could from the service… After looking at her page and discussing what steps she took in the process of aquiring fans on jango it hit me that she was making the same mistakes I find so often from other independents while marketing their music.

Jango tells you on your profile how many fans you have and how many people hit the button to say I like this artist. What you need to realize is that a “like” is a single action taken by someone who hears your song on Jango. When your song is played they have to do one of three things…

1. Hit the little “x” to close the window
2. Hit “I like”
3. Hit “I don’t like”

No matter what, they only have to take a single action, picking which button to hit to get rid of the pop up anytime an independent artist’s music is played.

On the other hand, a “fan” on Jango means that a person had to actually take several action steps to become your fan. They had to first select “I Like” on the pop up, and then they had to take another action of hitting the button to view the artist’s profile, and finally they had to hit the button “Become a fan.” That is three additional steps a listener went through to actually get to your music. In marketing independent music this is huge! Getting people to take action is sometimes the hardest thing you can accomplish. But what next….

Your journey to gaining a loyal fan must not stop with that listener taking three steps. You can not be satisfied with it, no matter how it makes you feel in the moment. These “fans” are golden. You already know they are motivated to take action for the sake of learning more about you and your music. If you simply walk away now you are leaving money on the table… literally! Your first step has got to be to send each person that becomes a fan of your music a thank you note through Jango. Do not use a copy and pasted message. Make each message unique, personal, and address your fan by name. In your note you want to get that listener to take another action. You want to draw them closer in to your circle of loyal fans. With all the myspace.com pages on the internet now a days it is most likely that your new fan has his or her own myspace page…. so, in your note ask them if they have a myspace page. If they do, they will more than happy to give you the address – remember, everyone in the world likes to think they are important and craves attention… it is why there are so many myspace.com profiles!

What you are doing is telling that fan that you are interested in getting to know them better, learning about who they are, and connecting with them outside of Jango and your music. This is making a personal connection. Again… GOLDEN while marketing your music.

Once you get the fan’s myspace.com profile name go to it, actually take the time to learn about your fan, and then send them a friend request… but do not send a generic request. First you want to remind them you have already connected on Jango. Then you want to let them know you checked out there page… how you do this is by mentioning something that you connected with while on their profile. Here is an example….

“Hey Loves Rabbits… This is (Artist Name), we connected on Jango and I just went to your profile here and saw that sunburn you got last week… you look miserable! Let’s connect here on myspace.

Peace,
Your Name”

Realize, There is nothing in this friend request that talks about you, your music, or why that fan HAS to check you out because you are the next big thing… rather, the entire message is about them, where they met you, there profile, and something in their life you found on their profile. Selling your music has nothing to do with you! LOL…. Maybe you missed that…

SELLING YOUR MUSIC HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR YOU!

If you want to gain fans, create demand, and sell your music – you have to realize fans buy music because of what they want or need, not because you tell them anything or talk about you. Again, people crave attention – if you only talk about you – you are stealing all the attention!

When you connect with your Jango fan outside of Jango you are establishing an action oriented relationship. That fan first had to take several steps in Jango, then they had to take the action of accepting your friend request, then… since you took the time to go to their profile and learn about them, they will take another action of actually going to your profile and learning more about your music and possibly you. That is a lot of steps – and steps equal action – action equals buzz, buzz equals demand, demand equals sales of your music and the path to you making your living off your music! Marketing music is a chain reaction.

If you take these steps, with each new fan, you will fast see the huge benefit of taking the time to get to know your fans on a personal level.

This is only one subject Beth and I discussed to further her career in the music industry. If you want to learn more about what I can do to help you kick start your career in 2010 off with a bang drop me an email or give me a call… 972-510-5244.

Music Marketing Consultation packages starting as low as $50 per week!

Peace,
Jai
“Love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!”

Ok Folks…..

It’s 1st quarter 2010 and it’s time to dig into the back of your filing cabinet, pull out those business and marketing plans that have been sitting there collecting dust, and start updating them so you can have a successful 2010! But wait, don’t do anything if you are going to do the same thing you did last year; take the time to write a new plan – to just throw it in the filing cabinet… and watch it get pushed further and further back each time you put something new in your filing cabinet. Don’t waste your time, effort, or intention on something this year that you are not going to follow through with…

Ahhhhh, there it is… If you write a business or marketing plan for 2010 you have to make the decision to follow through with it…. NOT write it and think you will, or know it well enough that you don’t need to place it in the top drawer of your desk for daily, weekly, or monthly reference… But really commit to following your plan down to the last detail! What good is a plan if it is not followed? How can you reach your goals set in a prepared plan if you are not using it to run your business? How can you stay on budget from week to week – month to month – if you are not following the budget you set out in the plan? You can not do any of these things including take the easy road to your planned success without referring to your music marketing or business marketing plan!

What your music marketing or business plan does for you:

1. Sets goals
If you do not know what you are aiming for how are you ever going to get to your target? Before you create your 2010 music marketing or business plan you need to sit down and determine what it is you want to accomplish this year. Be realistic, if you are new to the music industry don’t set yourself up for failure by creating goals too far advanced to where you are currently at. This is not to say you shouldn’t set high goals… just be realistic in your goals and what you have the capabilities or budget to reach.

2. Do your research
Research is key to any music marketing or business plan. You need to know what is hot right now, what the trends say will be hot in six months, and what has stopped working. The riaa is a great resource site for statistics, sales information, and last years trends. Billboard.com is another great site – it allows you to see what the majors are doing for their marketing efforts, and of course… www.IamMusicNetwork.com will keep you up-to-date on what is working in music industry!

3. Plan for your future
Once you have your goals and research completed you should have a better idea for what you will need to do to reach your goals. Now it’s time to plan for your future. What will you need over the next year? Include team members, money, resources, songs, videos, equipment, office space, studio, and anything else you can think of that will be needed to help you reach your goals.

4. Make a plan
Writing a music marketing or business plan does not have to be fancy and perfect. It all comes down to effort. The more effort you put into your plan the clearer the road map you will have to follow. Take your time, plan everything down to the last detail, and include your goals, research, and planning for the future to develop a stated plan of action to get you where you want to go. Think about today, tomorrow, next week, next month, and beyond until you reach next year. What steps will you take every moment and day of your journey? This is what planning is about. If you run into trouble or need help send me an email: jai@jaihutcherson.com. I am here and I do like to help indies reach their goals!

5. Stick with your plan
Writing a music marketing or business plan and then not following it is simply a waste of time, effort, and resources. You will find, if you take the time to write your plan, that you get excited, energized, and motivated to work harder, longer, and be more dedicated. But this newness will fade… if you don’t look at your plan often. It is so easy to get off track, side tracked, or simply forget about the plan you created all together if you don’t make your plan a part of your everyday music business life. Keep your plan in a top drawer of your desk, share your plan with your team, refer to your plan in team meetings, and by all means…. follow your plan.

6. Be prepared for the unexpected
Once your plan is written you must remember it is not written in stone. The music industry may change, your team dynamics might change, your budget may change, or you may learn something new that you didn’t know about when writing your plan. You have to constantly evaluate where your business is at, how it is doing, how much closer or further you are from reaching your goals, and if in fact your plan is working. Be prepared to update your plan as needed, but don’t make changes easily. Meaning, just because you here one thing or another may be working for someone else…. does not mean it will work for you. As you evaluate your plan and progress you will know if you are on track, do not change much of anything is what you planned is working. If you hear of new concepts take the time to research them for sure, but don’t be too ready to adopt them into your plan until you see how it will affect your entire plan…. not just how it will affect today or tomorrow! Another words…. don’t get caught up with “keeping up with the Jones.”

A music marketing or business plan is your road map to your success. It is the most valuable asset you own. Protect it, baby it, keep it in arm’s reach, and by all means follow it! If you take the time, effort, and energy to create a solid plan you will be better off this time next year!

If you need help with writing a music marketing or business plan reach out – I am here to help!!!

Peace,
Jai
“Love the MUSIC in Yourself, Not Yourself in the MUSIC!”