Fire your publicist! New book reveals the secrets of online music promotion

New Book, 101 Ways To Market Your Music On The Web - Available Now!

Free Music Promotion Advice

101 Ways To Market Your Music On The Web, written by MyMusicSuccess Co-Founder Simon Adams is available now in paperback and digital eBook formats.. This 256 page book is the most comprehensive and practical manual ever compiled on digital music marketing. If you are an independent artist, band or label, this is one book you simply must have on your bookshelf

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

MyMusicSuccess dance promotion team push Kandystand to #15 on West Coast Dance Charts.

Independent dance music act Kandystand spend a 14th week on the US Soundworks DJ chart with their hit single 'Love Invasion'.

The track rises to #15 this week thanks to the promotional efforts of Team Hayward Media, the company behind MyMusicSuccess.Com.


This is mainly down to huge club play received across the US and in particular the west coast since the single was released in February.

Lead singer Katy Dee said today 'It's incredible how our promotional team and their contacts at Team Hayward and MyMusicSuccess are working our tracks, and thanks to all the DJ's who are supporting the record'

The full chart is published below:




Soundworks Pool Top 50 Chart
compiled 20 May- 2009

TC/LC/WoC
1---3---10---Lady Gaga * Love Game Dave Aude Remix * Interscope
2---1---8----The Killers * Spaceman Remixes * Island
3---2---12---Gathania * Blame It On You Remix * Hard2Beat
4---6---12---Deborah Cox * Beautiful U R Remixes * Deco
5---9---10---Depeche Mode * Wrong Remixes * Mute
6---11--10---Flo Rida * Right Round * Atlantic
7---8---12---Anjulie * Boom Remix * Hear Music
8---4---12---Pet Shop Boys * Love Etc. Remixes * EMI
9---7---10---Beyonce * Halo Remixes * Columbia
10--18--10---Lady Sovereign * I Got You Dancing * Midget Records
11--14--10---Utada * Come Back To Me * Island
12--15--6----Emma Deigman * Tell You Mama Stonebridge Remix * Storm
13--NEW ----U2* Magnificent Remixes * Island
14--41--4----Black Eyed Peas * Boom Boom Pow * Interscope
15--16--14---Kandystand * Love Invasion Remixes * Team Hayward
16--5---16---Lily Allen * The Fear * Capitol
17--12--10---Kat Deluna * Unstoppable * Universal
18--22--6----India.Arie * Therapy * Soul Bird
19--24--4----Bill Bennett ft. Pepper Mashay * Manhunt * Big Rhythm/West End Studios
20--26--10---Nadia Ali * Love Story Remixes * Direxion Ent
21--19--8----Robin S * Luv 4 Luv * Champion
22--23--4----Tina Sugandh * You Without Me * Hollywood
23--32--10---Pitbull * I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) * TVT
24--21--14---Jennifer Hudson * If It Isn't Love Stonebridge Remix * Arista
25--NEW-----Livvi Franc * Now I'm That Bitch * Jive
26--31--4----AnnaGrace * Let The Feelings Go * Robbins
27--33--8----Andrew Spencer vs Lazard * Here Without You * Capp
28--NEW-----Sharam ft. Kid Cudi * She Came Along * Ultra
29--40--4----Junior Boys * Hazel Remixes * Nettwerk
30--44--6----Madcon * Beggin' Remix * RCA
31--50--4----David Guetta ft. Kelly Roland * When Love Takes Over * Astralwerks
32--NEW-----The Juan MacLean * Happy House * DFA
33--38--6----Yuksek * Tonight * Interscope
34--35--4----Craig David * Insomnia * Warner Bros
35--47--4----Keane * Better Than This * Island
36--34--6----Maroon 5 ft. Rihanna * If I Never See you Face Again Oakenfold Remix * A&M
37--NEW-----Cyndee * I Want To Know (What You're Feeling) * Kult
38--NEW-----Chico Del Mar & DJ Base * Caribbean Queen * Andorfine
39--NEW-----Ono * I'm Not Getting Enough * Astrawerks
40--46--4----Ashley Tisdale * It's Alright, It's OK * Warner Bros
41--36--12---An-ya * Nightlife Remixes * Papa Joe
42--NEW----Flo Rida * Sugar Disco Fries Remix * Atlantic
43--37--8----The 2 Live Crew * Boom * Lil Joe
44--45--4----Jody Wately * Candlelight * Avitone
45--49--4----Chris Cornell * Part Of Me * Interscope
46--NEW-----Offer Nissim ft. Maya * Hook Up * Star 69
47--NEW-----Daisy * Everytime * Robbins
48--NEW-----Randell & Schippers * Love Jam * Music Ave.
49--NEW-----Jesse Saunders * Body Music * Broken Records
50--NEW-----Groove State * Do You Want My Love * Play Lab

The track is available from the Kandystand website at http://www.kandystand.com and all major online download stores.

Well done to the team!

Simon Adams
Co-Founder
MyMusicSuccess.Com

Album Of The Month: Alan Lauris - Different Frequency

Visit Ala Lauris WebsiteAlan Lauris: Different Frequency
Electronica Utrecht The Netherlands

http://www.alanlauris.com
iTunes CDBaby


Sounds Like: Pet Shop Boys, Synthpop, 80s Pop

Coming out with his sophomore release to his debut full length Connect Me, Alan Lauris' Different Frequency has painted an aural landscape that's strongly reminiscent of the 80s electronic new wave and pop techno mixed with a small dash of 70s progressive rock sans guitar prominence.

It's comprised of ten full length tracks and three bonus mix edits.

The first track, Time Out is instantly recognizable as something that comes fresh out of the movie The Breakfast Club, sitting side by side with Simple Minds and David Bowie.

Alan's vocals comes close to sounding like David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, especially on Concrete And Steel, which is more of a mantra of repetition addressing the message of industrialization.

Twelve is an ode to the number, referencing it's alleged power. When listening, you can't help but think that you should be viewing a murder mystery movie of some kind.

Throughout the whole album, the synth sounds are basic. Not overly immersed in reverb or effects. There's a simplicity that brings out their tones and timbres as they are layered yet still manages distinctness as they move and coalesce in unison.

The song arrangements move from being upbeat and happy, to atmospheric, to ethnic as it is on Ratrace which can be either Greek or Russian depending on which why you want to look at it.

Overall, Different Frequency takes you on a uncomplicated journey of electronic pulses and lyrical uniqueness that connects directly with its predecessor and could easily be intertwined as part two of the franchise.

Review by: P.R.E.Z. - MyMusicSuccess.Com

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Make It Easy For Fans To Hear Your Music!

After reviewing quite a lot of artist's websites recently, I was amazed at the number of bands making it difficult for themselves to deliver their music easily from their website. This one simple but essential detail could be losing artists thousands of new fans every day.

Some of the artist's websites linked straight to an MP3 which took ages to download, others had complicated javascript code that must be difficult to update every time they want to post a new track, some weren't compatible with most popular browsers, some were in Realplayer format (which I couldn't play) and some just didn't work at all. Operating like this also means that you have to upload a new track to every place on the web where you have music, your MySpace, Facebook, the list is endless.

If people cannot hear your music easily, they'll quickly lose interest in your site and go elsewhere. If this sounds familiar, you owe it to yourself to sign up for a free Reverbnation account without delay. I can't believe more people aren't using the features of this great service on their site.

Reverbnation has been around for a couple of years now and offers many free promotion tools, including a free stylish music player widget which is easily customisable to your web site's colour scheme. There are a choice of styles that not only play your music, but also feature your upcoming show schedule. online releases and much more.


Kandystand
Quantcast

You only have to post the widget code once on your website and social networking pages (for some sites like Facebook, Reverbnation even give you a one click process to publish your widget without having to paste the code). Your fans can share your player on their site too with the one click 'share' button, making it very easy to spread your music to many people very quickly.

Reverbnation's widgets are fed from a single control panel (which I like to refer to as my 'cockpit') and every time you add a new track or video to your cockpit, every single widget you have out on the web gets updated automatically. It's a fabulous way of keeping your content fresh on a lot of sites without spending forever updating each individual page out on the web.

Here are some tutorial videos from Reverbnation, showing you some of the widgets they have available. Particularly recommended is the retail widget that gives you the ability to set up a one stop retail outlet in just a few clicks. Sign up, post your widgets and spend more time making sweet music...





Don't forget to also keep up to date with the best independent music promotion techniques over at our website http://www.mymusicsuccess.com. Whilst you're there download our free eBook 'The Secrets Of Independent Music Success' for more free tips and tricks on result driven artist self promotion.

Simon Adams
Co-Founder
MyMusicsuccess.com
http://www.mymusicsuccess.com

Monday, May 18, 2009

Dirty Mittens: Pinky Swear EP Review

Dirty Mittens: Pinky Swear
Indie Rock Portland Oregon USA

http://www.dirtymittensmusic.com/
CDBaby iTunes

Sounds Like:
Feist, Broken Social Scene, Architecture


Portland, Oregon has always been known for producing great bands from Pavement to The Decemberists. One of the newest names to be added to the lineup is The Dirty Mittens, a five piece indie rock outfit that make the most infectious music you will ever hear.

The Dirty Mittens have recently released the 'Pinky Swear' EP independently via Cdbaby.com.

The album opens with 'The Small Things' which is an upbeat tempo song that will have you dancing before you even get out of the first verse. This is only the beginning of what is to come. 'Time Forgiver' is a brilliant track that mimics Feist but the band manages to make it their own.

The intensity of sounds that blend in this album from horns to pianos make for a perfect performance that is truly unique in the indie rock world. The Dirty Mittens not only reminds one a bit of Canadian rockers Broken Social Scene but also of Architecture in Helsinki, both flattering comparisons.

Singer Chelsea Morrisey has one of the sweetest voices in indie pop as it glides flawlessly from song to song. 'Amelia' is a very dramatic but dreamy song filled with haunting melodies as Morrisey sings 'We're all going down, and so are you', an unforgetable lyric.'Ten Feet Deep' is the softest song on the record but still manages to fit right in with the rest of the tracks.

The EP ends with 'The Dock', a song filled with catchy guitar riffs, a xlyaphone and the incredible horn playing that has been throughout the record. The Dirty Mittens are highly recommended and once you start listening to them you'll never want to stop. The band may seem young in years, but they sound like old pros.


Review by: Melissa Nastasi - MyMusicSuccess.Com

Friday, May 15, 2009

Give The Dog A Phone, New Mobile Music Services From iLike And GigDoggy

This week has been another interesting week for independent music artists looking to leverage the use of mobile technology to interact more closely with their fans.

On Wednesday social music network iLike announced they were adding a new mobile application to their artist dashboard application that allows any artist to extend their music promotion to their iPhone.

Leading music blog Hypebot unfortunately incorrectly reported that iLike’s iPhone application was free (and I can see why as I couldn't find a price mentioned in their press release or on their website), but after speaking with iLike’s office, it transpires that unlike the site’s other dashboard applications this one will cost you a $99 setup fee, and if you want to sell your iPhone application you will be charged a 50% fee from all sales.

With all new technology developments, costs are usually high for early adopters, however after going through the process of building my own iLike application it’s a little unfortunate that i couldn't find a mention of the $99 fee anywhere on their site until I got to the submit page.

As all of iLike’s other dashboard features have so far been free and the iPhone app is marketed within the dashboard without a price it’s easy to understand why their users would assume that it’s also free.

ILike's Chief Technology Officer Nat Brown confirmed to MyMusicSuccess.Com that iLike hadn’t made the charges clear on their site.

“I had read the Hypebot article but missed that title saying "free iPhone app". That is more than a little bit confusing, you're right. I hear you about the $99 cost being at the end being irritating, I'm going to work on making that more clear.

The cost is in a few other places as well, but you are right that it's not as clear as it should be in this area and we do want to be up-front about it.

Since we feel that as a promotional opportunity versus other things bands do for $99 -- making + posting posters for shows, filling up their van to drive to gigs :) etc -- this is really a great deal since we build and will maintain the application and keep it running smoothly when they post photos, videos, blog-posts, concert information, etc.”

Despite this confusion, the application appears to offer a good feature set, smoothly integrating the band info, photos, songs gigs and videos you publish on iLike into a one stop application for Apple mobile equipped fans. I did experience difficulties using the build process though as iLike's site seemed painfully slow on 3 different computers and browsers. Firefox seemed to be the most compatible browser with the site.


I really hope that iLike can sort out their teething troubles as our readers well know MyMusicsuccess is always looking to champion innovation in the independent music promotion market and iLike’s offering could be another useful addition to the indie artist’s toolset.

Word on the street is that there could also be an similar iPhone app coming from new online music startup Jamwee.com but no details have been announced officially yet.

Speaking of innovation, there’s another useful way of utilising the power of the mobile device being developed over at GigDoggy.Com.

GigDoggy’s ‘Mobile Fanteraction’ service promises to give fans attending your concerts the lowdown on your band whilst they are at the bar, and communicate things like a gig set list, artist bio to an iPhone, Blackberry or any other 3G enabled device.

Fans can visit a custom GigDoggy mobile URL whilst at the gig which is a great way to leave a footprint on their mobile device before they drink too much to remember your website address. Fan’s will be able to find out more about you again long after the beer soaked flyer has been thrown away and the hangover remedies have worn off.

GigDoggy is in its very early stages at the moment, and appears to be focusing whole heartedly on content for mobile use, rather than being a one size fits all website which seems like a good strategy. Keep an eye out for this one, and head on over to http://www.gigdoggy.com/ for more information about the service


Tuesday, May 12, 2009

WaTunes helps independent artists ride the crest of the digital distribution wave...

The last 10 years of the Internet have brought great opportunity and empowerment to independent musicians, and the momentum we've seen in the last few years with companies offering new services is incredibly exciting.

Let's take digital distribution as one example. In the early days it was impossible to even get your foot in the door when it came to delivering your track to companies like iTunes, and start ups such as CDBaby and Tunecore quickly jumped into the frame to solve the problem.

Both these companies defined a change by opening the doors to the online stores enabling independent artists to distribute to the masses for the first time.

Of course in the Internet age things don't stay static for long. Whilst one problem was solved, so another was created. The business models of most of the early distributors meant that musicians had to put in the upfront costs of delivering to digital storefronts, and until you made back your initial fee from track downloads, you were out of pocket.

Some of the distributors also take a percentage of your sales too. Their business does have running costs so it's understandable, but for the artist digital distribution was still 'not quite there'.

Whilst this business model worked at the beginning, now so many companies have deals with the online stores it's hard to choose an online distributor, and that means it must be time for some more innovation...

So as we ride the crest of digital distribution, it's refreshing to see a service bringing a different perspective and bringing back that feeling of excitement and empowerment to the arena.

Whilst Detroit based online distributor WaTunes has been around for a while now, it's been taking on board the development of the digital distribution market and is now offering artists a way onto iTunes for free, no upfront costs and no percentage of sales to pay.

This is exactly what artist's need right now, a no nonsense digital distributor who will grow as the artist grows, encouraging bands to start their venture into the new world of do it yourself retailing to the masses.

You can now get your tracks on iTunes for free, grow your sales through promotion, and only invest in distribution expansion to other stores and markets when the money comes in.

That's one of the privileges all of us share by being in the music scene right now, there has never been a more exciting time to witness the changes to the independent musician's tool set.

My advice, share your music, get it on WaTunes, tell the world and enjoy the ride.


Simon Adams
Co-Founder
MyMusicSuccess.Com

Monday, May 11, 2009

Swim with the dolphins...

Do you want your music to swim with the dolphins, or just feed the goldfish?

Do you make music for recognition, are you on a mission to entertain the masses, is music a great way to express your creativity? Do you know how many people you affect with your music, how much support there is out there for the music you make?

Music is a medium that lifts people, moves people, brightens their day, and you are the one that gives that pleasure - that's awesome!

So why oh why do so many people hoard their gift of music making and songwriting to themselves?

You owe it to thousands of people to share your music, don't hide it away, you could be moving so many people, lifting their spirits, making a difference to their lives....

Your music deserves a bigger audience, it should be played far and wide, it should not be held back by any pre-conceptions you might have about your music. You are the creator of some great work, dont judge it yourself, get it out to everyone who wants to listen, and suprise people who have never heard you before.

After reviewing many music bands over the years, we've seen that either through lack of confidence, lack of time, or just lack of effort thousands upon thousands of new artist fail every day because NO ONE HAS HEARD OF THEM!

Are you depriving people of one of the greatest gifts you can give, make the decision now that you are going to swim with the dolphins and make it your mission to tell as many people as possible about your music.

You owe it to them, it's why you were blessed with your talent, its your music, and it deserves success...