Fans on Facebook: What to Do Next to Engage Your Fans, Increase Sales and Grow the Relationship

By Carl Jacobson, Vice President of Marketing, Nimbit, Inc.

All the news that's come out about Facebook Music has been really exciting for songwriters. When you're on Facebook, the Ticker will now show you what your friends are listening to in Spotify, Rdio, and other music services, and even better, you can then listen to it yourself. That means that more fans than ever before will be able to discover your music. THIS IS GREAT, but what's next? Artists are learning that streaming revenues alone are no way to make a living with your music, so here are a few tips on how to engage your fans, grow the relationship, and increase sales through Facebook.

IDEA 1 - Be Ready to Sell Today!
When is the best time to make a sale? When a fan is excited.
When is a fan excited? When they discover your music.
Where's the best place to make a sale? Exactly where your fan is when they are excited.
That means you've got to be ready NOW to make a sale from your Facebook page. You can't rely on fans going somewhere else to find your music, and the last thing you want to do is ask them to go somewhere else. MORE...http://ascap.com/playback/2011/11/Features/Nimbit.aspx

Launch Of Google Music– What Does This Mean For You?

Get ready to cut the ribbon; the search engine giant Google has just launched the long-awaited Google Music, a platform enabling musicians to connect with their fans. Google Music allows you to discover and purchase new music, upload your personal collection to the cloud, share purchased tracks with friends on Google+, and access your entire collection from the web or any device.  So what does this new digital platform mean for the user? And for the artist?
WHAT IS IT?
Google Music includes an online music store within Android Market that provides à la carte digital downloads of albums and tracks (tracks vary from free to $1.29). When you make a purchase through Android Market, the album or single automatically goes to your Google Music library, which can be thought of as a kind of locker.  In addition to storing downloads from the store, the locker can also hold up to 20,000 songs from your personal music collection.
Once in the locker, the music can be streamed on the web and any device, and even stored for offline listening on a mobile device. You’ll be able to access your songs on up to 10 authorized devices per account.
In addition, artists will be able to create an “Artist Page,” which will feature the artist’s albums for sale, as well as additional information and media such as  band photos and an artist bio.  To upload and publish content for Google Music using their artist portal, users must be residents of the United States (including its territories, protectorates, and insular areas). To edit an artist page, you can be located anywhere in the world. CONTINUE..

Why Everyone But The Artist And The Music Fan Is Doomed

Every business built on gatekeepers eventually fails. At some point some technology comes around, making the entire old school industry obsolete.

It’s a shortsighted model based on greed, ego and false perception of invulnerability.

Take the old school music industry: it was a ticking time bomb of self-destruction waiting to go off. It began with the birth of recorded music. The “artist gatekeepers” with the infrastructure and access to place music on retail shelves decided they would not just charge a fee for the service, but would also require a transference of copyright from the creator to the gatekeeper.

For the “consumer gatekeepers,” they could have chosen to allow more music to be exposed, but they went down the same path as the artist gatekeepers...CONTINUE

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Get Connected Indie Film lovers

The Triad Indie Film Network (TIFN) is an organisation of anyone and everyone that is interested in creating or just enjoying locally produced short and feature-length films, whether they be narrative fiction, documentary, animation, or some clever combination thereof.

TIFN is based out of the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina, which encompasses Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem and the surrounding communities. We have a brand new home at the Greensboro School of Creativity, along with a new committee of officers, and a renewed sense to promote the cinematic efforts of Triad filmmakers.

Membership is open to aspiring and experienced writers, directors, producers, actors, crew, musicians and audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN TIFN!

Top 5 Favorite Music Books

Looking for advice on songwriting, booking, touring, music promotion, copyright, licensing, and music theory?

5. Songwriters on Songwriting- by Paul Zollo
http://www.amazon.com/Songwriters-Songwriting-Paul-Zollo/dp/0306807777
4. The Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory- by Michael Miller
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Music-Theory/dp/0028643771
3. The Indie Bible
http://www.indiebible.com/cdbaby/
2. Tour:Smart- by Martin Atkins
http://www.toursmart.tstouring.com/
1. All You Need to Know About the Music Business- by Donald S. Passman
http://www.donpassman.com/allabout.html

Touring Tip: Play In-Studio and In-Store Shows

          (DIY) Play In-Studio and In-Store Shows. “You can sleep when you’re dead.”
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One Sheets for the Independent Musician/Creating a "One Sheet"

 

So what is a “One Sheet”?  It’s a music term. Literally its one page of information about you, your music, your achievements and anything else that is helpful in “selling” your product.  By selling I mean selling the idea of your music and/or selling physical copies.

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