As promised, ‘So What’ attendees, here are the notes, (with a marketing, self-promotion focus):
I can’t recall where I’ve got all the info from, but would like to thank the Internet and bloggers who helped me collate this info for you.
Blogging for Musicians
Recommended free blogs to use are blogger and wordpress
Pros
A platform for your band/group to talk to your fans (demonstrated by comments function – sometimes the discussions here are more interesting then the blog post itself)
Can meet new/potential fans through search engines – so make sure you tag your blog posts for good SEO
You can build contacts in your sector
Enables you to establish yourself as an expert in your field, niche or work.
Your blog gives the public direct access to you (bar phone/face to face).
Document education projects, (images can be of hands/instruments to protect vulnerable adults).
Can be used as a reflective tool, build up an online portfolio
Initially free to use (once you decide to add more bells and whistles a cost is incurred, not expensive)
Can sell your music on the space/include audio etc.Cons:
You need oodles of motivation
Readers of your blog won’t necessarily comment, lurkers are rife
You should blog at least once a week (but you can be creative with that, you don’t necessarily need lots of text),
there’s not right or wrong, I certainly don’t blog that often
Time consuming, when you’d rather be writing music & securing gigs
Examples of blog posts which have lots of comments, creating dialogue with your readers:
My naively written blog post on community arts (accidentally got a lot of readers and comments. Think there was a link on CIB), be careful what you broadcast!
Jeremy Hunt message Created in Brum
Competition for Created in Brum
Twitter:
A microblogging site, it’s all about real time, knowing what is being talked about right now, like Facebook status updates but more advanced
Some people still use it like that, twitter is different things to many people, but you can utilise it in different ways (and get a lot out of it)
A nice blog post written by music industry top thinker Andrew Dubber
Search engine for twitter (community music results) and music education
One of my favourite twitter usages is by this bakery in Shoreditch, clever marketing!
Pros
A Powerful Tool for Obtaining Information
Re-enforce Your Brand
Marketing Opportunities
Networking Opportunities
Drive Traffic to Your Website – be careful, you don’t want to sound too corporate
Cons
140 character limit
If your readers aren’t online they can miss what you are promoting/discussing
Twitter love:
Twitter basics
How to on reply/twitter mentions for conversation, quite succinct
What is twitter? It’s still being defined
Audioboo.fm
“Social audio sharing site – mobile web application that lets you share audio to online audiences’.
Audioboo.fm is a online app that allows you to record 5 mins of audio and upload it in a short space time, your ‘boos’ then appear in chronological order. When you record and upload your audio file, you can include you can geo-tag (include your whereabouts) like a journalist working from location. You can also post your latest boos on your blog and comment on other people’s boos. You can also upload to itunes and have your own podcast channel.
Pros:
Geo-tagging function, your audience can see exactly where you have submitted your audio
You can use audio boos to replace text blog posts
Can update fans straight after gigs, more personalised fun way to interact with your audience
No limit to the amount of audio boos you can upload
Cons
Restriction on audio time (5 mins)
Flickr
Flickr is primarily a photo-sharing community, owned by Yahoo! You can embed photos into other sites, like your blogs, use it as a search engine, find images you like and use (permission granting).
Useful/Pros
Tapping into a large photo sharing community (that you can potentially market)
Lets you display the best, relevant photographs to advertise what you do
Actively participate in the Flickr community. Find groups relevant to your business and join them
Tag your photographs with terms that are relevant to your work. Provide a link to your Flickr account on your website
Directed for the performing musician:
Facebook And ReverbNation’s MyBand
With MyBand, you can upload, host, & stream your music, create mailing lists, showcase videos, etc.
Bandcamp
You can sell your music virtually here, wen you create a Bandcamp page, you can create virtual albums, not just individual songs. Bandcamp provides useful tools for downloads, selling music online, and more.
Tips for bands
How musicians are using social media
Cool stuff/Other stuff:
Soundcloud – more artists are opting to use this, snubbing our aged friend mysphere.
Showmehowtoplay
Twiturm.com – lets you to share your music with fans and followers on twitter.
Locals who blog about doing music stuff:
Chris Mapster
Scott Evans
Robin and the Friendly Fire Crew
Elixir – local promoters who aim to introduce their listeners to new artists relevant to their music policy
Local alternative music venue
Me
Reggae promoter and DJ
