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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Friday, July 31, 2009

Getting paid for your gigs just became easier and safer with Gigpay.Com


Everyone who has ever played a live circuit of any kind has probably encountered the odd promoter that never pays up after the performance.

One of the main focuses in running a band as a going concern is that although you can have great fun getting out onstage and performing, if you are serious about keeping the band on the road and putting petrol in the tour van ( is everyone still using the ubiquitous transit van?) then you have to make sure you get paid.

If you've had a situation where promoters are wary of paying you as a new band upfront, and you're not sure if the venue will pay up after the gig, check out a great new financial service that solves this very problem.

GigPay.Com is a brand new service based in the UK, but available to many countries worldwide. and operates in six currencies, including the Japanese Yen. They offer bands and promoters a secure online 'escrow' style service to safeguard both parties.

For those who are not familiar with the term escrow, basically it is a term for a neutral third party holding money for two parties in the period whilst a deal or transaction is being made.

So in the case of GigPay.Com when you get booked for a gig, the promoter can lodge a payment with GigPay, safe in the knowledge that if you dont keep your side of the deal and show up he gets his money back. When you do show up and play that killer gig are guaranteed to get paid by GigPay after delivery. GigPay release all funds when both parties agree that the services have been delivered.

Agreeing with a promoter to use the Gigpay system takes any financial mistrust out of the equation and shows that the promoter is fully committed to working with you, and also displays a professional image from the band, showing that they are treating themselves as a serious music business. It's also more secure than locking your hundred dollar gig fee in the glove compartment, only to find your van broken into after the event and the nights spoils have disappeared

Having a GigPay account also gives you an online financial record of all your live work, so you'll spend less time trying to work out how much you actually made from your gigs, its all accounted for in one place in neat and tidy transactions.

Another useful service provided by GigPay is live performance contracts. You can avoid expensive legal costs and use their service to obtain agreements that cover items such as performer/hirer event insurance, sound systems and lighting, event merchandising, liability and much more.

It's always important to address these issues before you agree to a gig, so you don't end up with the venue suing you if your bass player's guitar strap breaks mid set and ends up bouncing onto the in house engineers mixing desk, taking a few channel strips with it (odd as it may seem I've actually seen that happen..)

GigPay are charging just $1.40 on a per contract fee (yes one dollar forty cents) and even if you have a legal representative already, you could save some money and time by using GigPay's standard contracts as a starting basis for a custom contract with a music lawyer.

It's free to sign up to the GigPay service, so you can sign up for an account, have a look around the service without any commitment and get a feel for their services.

Gigpay's fee structure is also very reasonable, starting at around 4% on transactions up to £200 GBP to just around 0.6% if you are in a slightly larger league and getting paid £45,000 GBP per gig. Given you are getting cost effective contract advice, increasing the security of your payments, and effectively getting online accounting for your live work this seems a pretty good deal. their fee structure is transparently documented on their website so there really are no hidden surprises with this company.

Importantly it also means as a 'pay as you go' service it fits in perfectly with the business model of your 'micro music business'; you only pay for services when you get paid. A perfect service to ensure you actually make a profit on your musical endeavors.

If you are on the road at any level, from a 20 buck deal in your local bar to a well paid festival headline, I'd recommend you take a look at the GigPay service to safeguard and streamline your revenue stream from live performances.

Check out full details at their website http://www.gigpay.com.
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Keep your CD production costs low with the new Watunes Amazon CD On Demand Service & Amazon MP3

We received news today from online digital aggregator Watunes that they have just partnered with Amazon to provide CD on Demand for artists using their service.

The service provides an excellent opportunity for artists to sell physical CDs through Amazon directly to the public, without any upfront pressing costs. Only when the customer buys the product is the CD produced and shipped directly to the customer, removing the need for artists to invest in CD stock themselves.

Customers who are using the Watunes free digital distribution service will be able to access the CD on Demand for a one time $10 sign up fee per album, but Watunes VIP members will be able to access the service for free. Seeing how it only costs thirty dollars a year to sign up to the VIP service, if you are expecting to deliver three releases or more to online stores it would probably make sense to join the VIP program.

By using the CD on Demand service, you'll also have your releases placed into the Amazon MP3 store, so you'll have a complete prescence to millions of Amazon customers instantly. Finally the Watunes / Amazon link up will offer free proof copies of your CD on Demand forever, which also helps artists lower the cost of entry into CD manafacture.

So why even bother with physical CD when download sales are booming?

Well quite a lot of people still actually like to own the product they are buying. You can create your own cover art with Watunes CD on Demand, so there is an opportunity to add value if you can offer superb cover art on your product. Also as you have little or no cost of entry into this service, it makes sense to maximise the income streams from every source, let the customers decide how they want to buy your music, CD or download - now your customers can have a choice.

Many artists are currently using CD companies like CDBaby to deliver physical stock to customers, and whilst there is no doubt that over the last 5 to 6 years CDBaby has been a market leader in independent CD distribution, their service is looking a little out of date. At $35 per album, thats a big chunk of money for the average independent artist, and it can take sometime to recoup that investment for small bands.

Whilst you can use their discmakers service to produce stock for the CDBaby store, you still have to pay upfront to press the stock. As a micro business it just doesnt make sense for most independent artists to invest upfront. Businesses big or small all work on the basis of keeping costs low and profits high, and as an independent artist, that should be your priority too to make sure you actually make some money from your music at the end of the day.

I know artists who have invested hundreds of dollars in pressing up a few hundred CDs and still have stock sitting in their basement. It's money that could be in their pocket right now, especially in the current economic climate.

The Watunes CD On Demand service pays you 40% of each CD sold, and that may seem a huge chunk that is paid for using the service, but looking at the reality, if you had to press the CD upfront you may save some money in the long term, but it's your cash at risk if the CD doesnt sell. It's economies of scale, individual CDs cost more to print up per unit than 1000, however if you think of it this way, if you sell no CDs theres no loss to be incurred, if you do sell a CD, you get 40% of a sale you would have otherwise never made. Really it's a no brainer, and in the long run will bring a better return than investing in stock.

If you want to put out physical CDs of your music with no investment or upfront fees, I can't think of a better risk free method than using this new service from Watunes.

Visit their website at http://www.watunes.com for more information.

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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Independent Artists - The New Music Business - Its Your Business


As the new world of independent music progresses, artists are quickly realising operating on their own without the support of a record company means that they are having to learn, implement, or hire in a whole range of new specialist skills to get their music off the starting block.

Releasing a track, whether it’s on your own website or through a digital distributor is very easy now, but can also be fraught with pitfalls if you haven’t approached it from a business perspective.

My first advice to any artist who wants to succeed on their own is treat your music as your own start up business from the word go, and operate everything as your own music production company. If you want to sustain a long term independent career in music, this is the single most important piece of advice you will ever read.

When record labels sign a track, they will generally deal with things like registering your track with royalty collection agencies, clearing samples you may have used in your track, tracking down publishers to make sure any cover versions are attributed to the right songwriter, prepare marketing for the track, getting press and publicity, and promoting it to radio and DJs to name just a few things.

Artist now have the power to bypass the record label and release tracks themselves, however the one thing that is absolutely critical to your success as an indie is also having the knowledge of the business areas of the music industry in some depth so you can avoid legal pitfalls.

The repercussions of putting out a track with an un-cleared sample, or not registering the publisher of a cover song, even for promotional purposes, and yes, even on your MySpace page, could wipe out your track for good. Rights owners and record labels will and do go after independent labels and regularly ask sites like iTunes, MySpace and YouTube to take down copyright infringements, and not only are you fighting a battle, you may also be sued for the infringement you have already carried out, and no they won’t take ignorance as a defence. As it’s your business the risk sits wholly with you, no one else.

Personally I don’t think that it’s a productive tactic for the rights owners, they could certainly do better by offering partnerships with talented independent artists that use their material, instead of going straight for litigation but that’s a whole other article in itself…

To support your music, educate yourself on the areas of the music business you feel you are weakest in, whether it’s legal, financial, or marketing, and make sure you get good advice and partnerships for your new ‘record business’.

If there is something that no matter how many books and articles you read on the subject you still find baffling or downright boring, then outsource it. Yes it will cost you money to pay someone to do it for you, but the investment will pay off in the long term, and you’ll get better results by contracting someone in who is passionate about their specialist skills. In the world of virtual working, you can also choose your supplier carefully to get the most cost effective partner.

By taking on board that by releasing your music independently you are in fact starting a business, you’ll set yourself a firm footing for it’s success, and by taking the decision to fully commit to treating your music as a professional product, you’ll find that making it a success will be a much more painless and easier process.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Onyero Spices Up The Dance Floor With His New Blend Of RnB and Dance

Onyero

Dance / Hip Hop / RnB, London, England, Europe


Artist Homepage: http://www.onyero-online.com
Onyero In Japan: http://onyero.musicsugoi.jp
Social Networks: Facebook Myspace Reverbnation

Artist Downloads: iTunes eMusic Shockhound Amazon
Review by: Oliver Springate: MyMusicSuccess.Com


An artist who claims to specialize in dance, RnB and hip hop must have a lot of practicing to do, but none quite so much as Onyero, who combines those genres with his influences from the Far East, Asia, Africa and South America. This talented artist quite literally blends music from all corners of the globe.

The way his songs sound, and his unusual voice, make Onyero sounds similar to French rapper Mc Solaar, but once you listen to his songs you’ll see that there is as much to separate them as there is connecting them. Onyero’s sound really is unique, and that’s become a bit of a cliché in music, but in this case it’s true.

His first single has just been released, and true to form, Onyero has produced a track that is hip hop, sounds RnB, and has a Latin style beat. Sounds a strange combination, but the song is becoming a real hit. It’s had great critical reviews, and is becoming really popular across Europe. And it’s no wonder it’s doing well. Despite Onyero being an upcoming and relatively unknown artist, he worked on the single with former Sony producer Paul Sapiera.

The single goes by the name ‘Your Porno Star’. Not the best thing to buy for your grandmother this Christmas, but the stand-out title has almost certainly been partly responsible for helping this song get heard. It’s been released in three versions, the original mix, the dance mix, and the funky house mix. It’s fair to say that the remixes aren’t quite up to the standard of the original mix, but that’s no bad thing, as Your Porno Star is a really catchy song.

It’s one of those tunes you think is alright first time you hear it, and it grows on you, sounding better each time. I expect that for Onyero, it’s a taste of things to come.

On the stage, his audiences say that he really comes alive, bringing his music to the crowd with an energetic display of his unique style. With more and more revenue in music coming from live shows, this skill will be invaluable for this upcoming performer.

If you like RnB, hip hop or dance music, Onyero is definitely one to watch. If you haven’t heard Your Porno Star before, brace yourself for the explicit lyrics, and get yourself a copy.

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Japan Music Market News: International Repetoire 20% of domestic product, downloads up 20%


Figures released yesterday by the RIAJ (Recording Industry Association Of Japan) shows that the international CD albums form 20% of the japanese music market. Link: http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/monthly/2009/200906.html

Although the total overall sales of physical product is declining, a trend across the music industry worldwide, it is encouraging to see that year on year music downloads are up 20% in the Japanese market. The biggest market for downloads in Japan is through mobile handsets. Link: http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/download/2009.html

If you are looking to access the Japanese music market with your international release, visit our Japan Music Promotion Services page at http://www.musicsugoi.jp
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

MyMusicSuccess Becomes An Official Mi2N Industry Newswire

MyMusicSuccess.Com today became an official newswire of leading music industry press agency Mi2N.com

The announcement forges a strong music press & publicity partnership between the two sites, enabling MyMusicSuccess clients to expand the reach of their news stories to more media outlets through the extensive worldwide coverage of Mi2N media partners , as well as bringing up to the minute breaking news on all the latest music industry developments including band news, latest releases, music technology updates, radio and video news, music business announcements, and much more to the MyMusicSuccess.Com network.

Mi2N (Music Industry News Network) is the largest online daily newswire serving the music industry. Since 1998, Mi2N has kept professionals worlwide informed on the latest developments shaping their sector by covering nearly every facet of the industry, from new business models and technological innovations to up-&-coming artists and emerging trends. Simulatneously, it has become a leading PR resource for major and independent music companies around the world

MyMusicSuccess.Com co-founder Simon Adams said today "This is a great partnership, and we are proud to be linking up with the Music PR industry leader, Mi2N CEO Eric de Fontenay and his team really know how to work the PR circuit for independent artists, and the newswire is going to add immense value to the artists who use our promotional services."

You can keep up to date with all the latest breaking music industry news at http://mymusicsuccess.mi2n.com/. Dont forget to subscribe to the RSS feeds, and you'll never miss a music industry announcement again.


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Monday, July 20, 2009

Star in the next music video from Kandystand at their newly launched VIP Experiences Store.

The Kandystand VIP Experiences Store Is Open! Book Your Place To Star In their Next Music Video at their website.

Celebrating 5 years producing the hottest dance music, Kandystand are now offering our fans the opportunity to book a place to star in the next music video for Open Your Heart at the Kandystand VIP Experiences store.
The video is to be shot in Paris, France. They have also put together some very special box sets and limited edition packs of their music, these are strictly on a first come first served basis, there will never be any produced again so once they are gone they are gone!

Also at midnight BST (UK Time) 20th July 2009 the latest Kandystand single OYH (Open Your Heart) will be released on Junodownload.com marking the band's 7th release over 5 years. Check out the Juno site to get your copy of this hot hot single...


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Alan Lauris 'Second Life' Remix by DJ Alodis


Recently reviewed artist Alan Lauris teamed up recently with leading dance music producer DJ Alodis to put a new spin on his new single 'Second Life'.
DJ Alodis has produced an electro dance mix of the singer / songwriters original track, taken from his album 'Different Frequency'.
Alan has made this track the free download of the month for July, so if you feel like shaking your booty to this you still have a few days to head on over to alanlauris.com and grab your free copy...
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Get Free Music Review Content On Your Website From MyMusicSuccess.Com








If you are looking for great new free independent music review content for your website or blog, it's now available in the form of a brand new 'Artist Review' widget from MyMusicSuccess.Com.

By copying and pasting the widget code on your site, you'll receive fresh content automatically from top review writers, who cover the latest and best bands in Pop, Rock, Country, Dance, Jazz, and many more genres.

Every time a new artist review appears on the MyMusicSuccess site the widget will be updated automatically on every site it appears on out on the internet, and users will be able to simply click on the artist's picture to be taken to the MyMusicSuccess artist feature, where the viewer will be able to read about the music and click through to digital download stores to buy the tracks.

Artists are rotated randomly in the main window, with every artist featured in the Thumbnail bar, so users can scroll through all artists and view more.

Look out for the MyMusicSuccess featured artist widget coming to a music site near you soon!

The Common Denominator Of Success

In a great essay by E.M. Gray titled "The Common Denominator Of Success", he contends that one common denominator of all succesful people is not hard work, good luck, or great communications skills, though those are all important.

The one habit that transcends all others is discipline.

Successful people do what the average person doesn't like to do. They probably dont like to do these tasks either, but their purpose and goals drive them on. They exercise their most valuable muscle called discipline.

Gary Player, one of golf's greatest atheletes, is a great role model for the discipline necessary to build resilience and achieve musical success..

Once when being interviewed, Player said, "Throughout my career, people have said to me, 'I'd give anything to hit a golf ball like you'". Gary, who has always been known for being polite and dignified, said that on one particularly tough day, his politeness failed him when a spectator repeated that statement. Gary said he lost his cool and responded, "No you wouldn't! You would love to hit a golf ball like me if it was easy! Do you know what you have to go through to hit a golf ball the way I do? You've got to get up every morning at five o'clock, go out to the range, and hit 1,000 balls. Your hands start bleeding; then you walk back to the clubhouse, wash the blood off, slap on bandages, and then go out and hit another 1000 balls. That's what it takes to hit a golf ball the way I do."

Gary player was resilient enough to endure hardship day after day, because his courage and discipline formed an attitude that would not quit.
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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Maxmus: Nu Jazz Project Brings Artists Together From Across The Globe


Max Makin : Maxmus
Nu Jazz / Instrumental Luzern, Switzerland, Europe

Artist Homepage: http://www.maxmus.ch Reverbnation
Artist Downloads:iTunes

Sounds Like: Elektrotwist, St. Germain,

Review by: Tara Isabella Burton - MyMusicSuccess.Com

Guitars echo, the sound growing and vanishing much like ripples in a pond. Drums hint at their presence in the background. Shrieks, whispers, and scratching disks all appear and then disappear.

The soundscapes created by Maxmus, the Luzern-based collective music group headed by guitarist Max Makin are extraordinary in the way they manage to combine ambient sound - the sort of chill-out music you might hear in a particularly trendy Parisian lounge bar - with a slightly eerie, even otherwordly vibe and even a bit of straightforward, accomplished jazz.

Maxmus's instrumentals are multi-layered, complex, but at the same time utterly listenable; this is not the screeching and crackling of Aphex Twin or other similar electronic bands. Rather, Maxmus's music is more akin to the work of Elektrotwist and the classic St. Germain, two European bands that manage to combine instrumental electronica with a classic Paris-jazz sound.

Of the songs sampled in the review, "Hexagon" is by far the more accessible. Featuring the wailing of a tenor saxophone, played by David Angel, "Hexagon" wordlessly evokes 1920 synthesized into 2010 - as the dominant sax appears to have passed through many stages of reverb and flange and whistles and scratches threaten the simplicity of the sound in the background.

"Deadline" is also listenable, with a sleek and sexy sound combining keyboard, drums (Andy Mejuto, thanked in the liner notes as "music personified" is behind the programming and keys on ths one) and various sampling with a slightly exotic melody reminiscent of something further East. Neither is exactly danceable, but both seem to inspire at the least a gentle swaying in line for a cocktail at the bar.

Less straightforward is the more experimental soundscape series, entitled "Elements." Combining various sampling created by Verena Sollinger and featuring singers Estella Benedetti and Mary Wunderlin and the bass clarinet talents of Christoph Erb.

Slower and more fragmented than the other pieces, "Elements" is something of a Proustian mix: moments of sound that appear briefly, and vanish, and then are echoed again - memory "flashbacks" of sound. Whether it's entirely successful is debatable.

It's interesting on an intellectual level, and certainly haunting, but certainly less "listenable." That said, Max cites his arrangement as a nod to his "own momentary perception of it." If capturing such momentary fragments is indeed his goal, then Maxmus succeeds admirably.

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Watunes delivers daily iTunes trending reports, a first for an independent digital distributor.

One of the biggest problems independent artist face with digital distribution is gaining feedback from the online stores about how their releases are selling.

Normally it can take up to 3 months for some distributors to feedback their reports, but not any longer...

Leading online digital distributor Watunes, announced today that they will be making a new daily iTunes trending report service available to all their customers.

It was announced by Watunes CEO Kevin Rivers on the company's blog today.

"Wow what a day! Been creating and developing here and there for WaTunes New Experience, it's becoming a handful...No I'm just kidding. Anyways, we got some very great announcements.

As of today, WaTunes is among the first offer iTunes Daily Trending Reports to both Free Users and VIPs for just $1.99 per report. Now you'll be able to see how your sales are doing on a day-to-day basis. No longer do you have to wait a week or even a month to see your sales.

So how do you get started?

Simple. Login to your WaTunes account at http://www.watunes.com click on our new 'Sales/Trend Report' page which will take you to the sales page. Finally submit your $1.99 fee and request to receive your iTunes Daily Trending Report from up to 7 days. So for example, today is July 17th, you can request your Trending Report from as early as July 10th. So why wait? Request your daily reports and see how your sales are doing on a day-to-day today!"
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Monday, July 6, 2009

Jafeezie Hits The Japanese Domestic Market With MyMusicSuccess.Com

Jafeezie, the US Rap artist from Cedar Hill, Texas is the latest artist to target the Japanese domestic market through the Japanese music promotional services of MyMusicSuccess.Com.

Visit can visit Jafeezie's Japanese web and mobile site at the following URL http://jafeezie.musicsugoi.jp/

Jafeezie's CD 'Hustle Or Die' can now be downloaded by Japanese consumers from their computer or mobile phone directly from their localised digital stores. Translation of the web page means that Japanese consumers will feel more comfortable finding out about the artists music as it is much more targeted to their needs than an english language website

According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan over 90% of music fans in the region use their mobile phones to download single tracks from the digital online music services.

The number of digital music sales is increasing at the rate of over 200% a year, thanks mainly to the easy accesibility of technology in the asian region.

MyMusicSuccess recently launched it's MusicSugoi (Awesome Music!) Japanese Promotion service, which includes a japanese language mobile website with links to your iTune and other digital stores where Japanese fans can buy your music.

If you are not in the rapidly expanding Japanese music market, the MusicSugoi service can get your music direct to Japanese consumers. For more information check out http://www.musicsugoi.jp