For a moment, just imagine that you received an email about this very article, and that the email read as follows:

To: WeAllMakeMusic_Reader

From: noreply@noreply555.com

Subject: New Article Just Published!

Hey %$firstname$%,

How are you? Week’s going great here, and hope yours is, too.

There’s a new article up on the site. Please consider reading it, and telling people about it. If you want to excerpt a paragraph, please use paragraph six — it’s cleared for your blog or magazine. And if you want to interview the author, excellent — let us know and we’ll set it up. The article just came out. It’s one of the best articles we have published. It builds on past articles and is written with the existing audience in mind, but it will also definitely appeal to a new audience, and that’s really exciting.

We’ve published a lot of articles, but this is one we’re really proud of.

Let us know what you think. Your feedback is always appreciated!

Yours,

The Editors

Seriously, after reading such an email — presuming you even did elect to read it — would you click through to the article?

Would you even make it past the database error that represented your name as a series of tech-gibberish? Or past the fake familiarity of the opening paragraph? Past the simple fact that there is, in fact, no information in the email explaining what the article is about?

Chances are you wouldn’t. Yet that is how a substantial portion of music PR emails read: blank templates filled with the barest amount of information. They may go a little further than this email and actually hit the who (band name), what (album name), where (iTunes, etc.), when (release date), and how (a wisp of anecdote intended to serve as the album’s “story”) of what they’re purportedly promoting, but in fact they express nothing of substance, let alone of interest. This is equally true of emails sent from desktops in corporate offices as from the laptops of bands self-releasing their own records.

Promoting your own music is difficult — plain and simple. In the age of online promotion, it’s downright Sisyphean trying to get someone who’s never heard of you to (1) pick your email out of the inbox haystack, (2) read something about you, and (3) then make the effort to listen to you. Email is a natural option for most people just starting to get out the word about their music. It’s next step after building a website and stapling a concert poster to a telephone pole. But it’s also an easy way to feel ignored, and to waste a lot of time, not just yours but your recipients’.

Here are some initial tips on ways you can make the most of your PR email when dealing with the press (meaning not just alternative weeklies and newspapers, but blogs, of course).

Email Isn’t Free: It may feel free, but it isn’t. In fancy business terms, wasted time is called an “opportunity cost.” For most people, it’s called a hassle. Either way, by sending out an email you are taking up someone’s time, as well as their bandwidth and their hard-drive space. And if you add over-sized attachments — MP3s, print-ready photographs — you could be eating into their data plan.

Links, Not Attachments: This is worth repeating. Don’t send out 5-megabyte MP3s or 2-megabyte JPGs. Include a URL linking to these resources.

Music PR Email “Conversion” Isn’t Measured in Clicks: The success rate in email marketing is often discussed in terms of “conversion,” shorthand for the emails that, once opened, lead to someone clicking on something. But the thing is: you aren’t selling clicks. If you’re working in music PR and dealing with the press, you are selling the idea of a band (or musician). You’re selling their music. The only true “conversion” when marketing music to the press via email is transitioning from sending out a generic email to getting a response from a recipient — either in the form of a request for additional information/material, or a review/write-up/mention of some sort.

Yes, “Marketing”: As a musician you may cringe at the term, but if you’re sending out emails about your music, you are marketing it. Deal with it. You may make anti-consumerism death metal by night, but during the day you are in fact asking people to buy it, listen to it, or write about it.

Pay Attention to Your Inbox: If someone writes back to you, reply. You only get a few chances at this — everyone is busy, so they’ll cut you some slack — but at some point you stop looking like a person and start looking like a bot.

Don’t Ask the Same Question of Someone Twice: If someone who received your email actually does write back, you’d better remember it. There’s a social contract inherent in your email: you send out a generic one, and if someone writes back, then you’ll correspond with them. If a week later you send them the same generic “Hey, have you listened to this great new album yet?” it becomes clear you are acting sloppily at best, and in bad faith at worst.

When It Feels Awkward, Quote Other People: Sure, it’s hard to summarize what your music sounds like and  it may feel weird complimenting your music or even describing your own music. You don’t have to. Just quote someone else — quote a blog review, or quote a promoter who played one of your concerts, or quote the tweets of some fans.

Adjectives and Comparisons Are Your Calling Card: Whatever you do, remember to describe your music. Very few people are going to click through to listen if they don’t have some sense of what they’re likely to hear.

Garbage Out, Garbage In: If you send out a generic all-purpose email, don’t expect highly personalized responses. Just don’t.

Don’t Take It Personally: I get roughly 400 PR emails a week. And generally speaking I focus on a pretty remote and rarefied area of music, what is (very broadly) described as “ambient” music. Me? I pity the singer-songwriter reviewer, the heavy-metal reviewer, the folk-music reviewer. I can only imagine how much email they get. If you don’t hear back after sending out an email, don’t take it personally. Most email is just passed over, not actively ignored.

Don’t Treat Your Email Recipients the Same: You don’t just have fans and press. You have hardcore fans and occasional listeners. And you have general press, and genre press, and long-time-supportive press, and so on. These different audiences should be receiving different emails.

Read Your Trash: Keep track of substandard PR emails that you yourself receive (not just from bands but from anyone, about anything), and learn from those (generally negative) examples.

Don’t Be Too Consistent: If every email you send out looks exactly the same, it starts to feel like it’s a fully automated process. And if you’re promoting your own music, that reflects poorly on how personally you take your music.

Bcc Isn’t Evil: Better to Bcc a slew of recipients than to put them all in the Cc (or To) line and then have them start filling each other’s email inboxes with complaints. You will get, and deserve, the blame.

Learn Your Tools: If you do use some automated system for sending out emails, know how to use it. Few forms of communication fail as hard as an email addressed to random line of computer code.

Tend to Your Database: Keep track of where people live, so you can send them useful information, like when your band will be playing nearby. Once you start keeping track, be diligent about it. If you need to be reminded three times that so-and-so no longer lives in such-and-such a city, it becomes clear you aren’t paying attention. 

People’s Attention Spans Are Short …: When composing an email, get to the point quickly, and get it over with. Summarize what you want to say, end the email, and hit send. No sprawling essay, no self-involved details.

… But Their Memories Are Long: The more substandard emails you send out (whether generically blank or overly detailed), the more likely that eventually the email recipient will, subconsciously if not consciously, pay less attention to your emails.

Email Is Just One Tool in Your Toolbox: And it isn’t even the main one. Email is a great way to follow up with someone once you’re in touch with them, but in terms of getting the message out, it’s just one option among many, and rarely is it the most effective option. A frequent and energetic blog, a pithy Twitter feed, an active Facebook page, an enjoyable YouTube/Vimeo video series, a healthy Tumblr collection — these should be where your energy is spent.

And, Sadly, Those Aren’t Even All the Mistakes You Can Hope to Avoid: This is just an initial list. No doubt there are other tips on how to be a more respectful and productive user of email to promote your music. Twitter is full of complaints from music critics about the Monday-to-Friday, dawn-to-dusk PR deluge. If you have some of your own tips, feel free to weigh in in the comments below.

Marc Weidenbaum founded Disquiet.com, which focuses on the intersection of ambient music, sound art, and emerging technology, in 1996. He has written for Nature, Boing Boing, Down Beat, NewMusicBox.org, the Ukulele Occasional, and elsewhere. He lives in San Francisco and at @disquiet.

Electronic Press Kits (EPKs) come in all shapes and sized.  There is a right way to make an EPK, and a wrong way.  They can help a band obtain great shows, reviews, and press, but they can also take away opportunities if they are poorly constructed. Here are some surefire tips for making the perfect EPK.

Creation Options
There are several choices when creating an EPK.  You can go through a third party company such as Sonic Bids or Reverb Nation to create your EPK.  The upside to this route is many promoters and talent buyers know how to navigate through these widely used sites.  They also allow for easy updates if you aren’t that web savvy.

The downside is pre-made EPKs are not unique and have certain limitations, whereas building your own EPK allows for full flexibility and creative control.  It may cost a bit more to create an EPK from scratch, as you’ll likey need an experienced web designer, but it is often worth it.

The Look
An EPK portrays your band’s image and style through words, pictures, videos, and of course, music.  A strong EPK will have a cohesive theme throughout.  Everything from the background image you choose for the web page, to the photos of your band, to the words you pick for your bio should all mesh together.

The information should flow smoothly and be laid out in the simplest way possible.  If the average Internet user can’t figure out how to navigate through your EPK within the first few seconds of being on the site, it is too complicated.  Creativeness of the EPK is important, but it should never take away easy navigation.

My favorite EPKs are only one page.  A general rule to follow when working on the web: the fewer clicks users have to make to find content, the better chance they have of finding that content.  A one page EPK means anything a visitor needs is on that page, no extra clicks needed

The Content
These features may seem obvious, but I am always surprised at how many bands are missing some of these elements.  Each is extremely important.

The first piece is your Bio.  Make sure to include examples of who your band can be compared to sound wise, major shows and festivals you have played, recent albums and videos released, and a good story that makes the reader want to continue reading. It doesn’t have to be very long.  A few paragraphs is fine.  The bio should highlight all the best aspects of your EPK.

Next is a listing of all the band members’ full names and which instruments they play.  It is a good idea to keep this separate from your bio, making it easier for someone looking for band members’ names to find them.

A good band photo in your EPK is essential.  I like to place the photo near the bio or band members’ names.  This helps readers picture the band while they are reading through your site.  A good band photo can say a lot about your music and image.

Include a list of your upcoming shows, as well as a list of significant past shows.  The blogger who goes to your EPK to write about your music video might see an upcoming show in his town on your EPK, and as a result list that show in his article.  By having your past shows listed, especially larger festivals you have played, significant venues, or opening spots for larger bands, it makes a strong statement that your band is experienced.

Press Quotes are vital on an EPK.  Even if your band only has a few, it says a lot.  A good list of press quotes shows visitors that people are talking about your band.  It makes press outlets that haven’t reviewed your band more interested.

One of the most vital parts of your EPK is a clearly marked Contact section.  Make it easy for people to get a hold of you.  Include links to all your social networks as well as the different parts of your team, from management to publicist.

One aspect that gets left out a lot on EPKs is a section for people to sign up to your email list.  Many bands think it is sufficient to just have this on their main website.  But having this on your EPK can do wonders.  If press really like your band and the option to sign up is right there, they will.  Having press on your email list is invaluable, so give them the option to sign up.

Every EPK should offer the ability for users to download, stream, and embed music, photos, and videos.   Having all these options on your EPK will save you tons of time, as you can send anyone who needs any of these things directly to your EPK.  For example, writers for magazines and newspapers need pictures files, bloggers need video embed codes, and radio DJs need MP3 files.  Instead of sending each of these people individual emails with these documents, you can just send them to your EPK.

A music video is a powerful promotional tool.  It can help your band portray an image while reaching new markets and fans.  There is much more to releasing a music video than just tossing it up on YouTube.  Here are 8 points to remember when creating and releasing a music video.

Make a Big Deal – Bands spend hours, days, and weeks creating music videos.  The same hard work and effort should be put in to promoting your music video.  Spend time formulating a plan for the release of your video and how you will promote it.  The key is remembering to put just as much work into promoting your video as you did into making it.

Follow Examples – Take a look at other bands and research how they released their music videos.  If you are in a new touring band, don’t start researching Radiohead’s last music video release.  Find bands that have a similar fan base to yourself.  What press outlets did they use?  What social networks did they post their video on?  What kind of write ups did they get?  Don’t be afraid to reach out to other bands for a quick advice call.

Plan a Release Show – A great way to spread the word of your new music video is by screening the video at a “Music Video Release Show.”  Find a venue that has a nice projector to screen the video before your set.  Every time you promote your show by hanging posters, getting blog previews, blasting social networks and so on, you are promoting the release of your video.  Be sure to make it clear on all promotional materials that this is your “Music Video Release Show.”

Contact Press – Work with your publicist, or if you don’t have one do this yourself.  Reach out to local, national, and international blogs about your video.  To create hype, have a “password protected” page set up that allows only press to view your video.  Do this through YouTube, Vimeo or any other websites offering this option.

Exclusive Preview – This is a creative way to get some extra press for your video before it is officially released.  By offering an exclusive preview of your video on a blog, you are allowing that blog to display your video before it is posted anywhere else, including your website, YouTube, and so on.  Be realistic when picking a blog for the exclusive.  Trying to land a huge blog like Pitchfork may be tough if your band isn’t that well known yet.  There are plenty of blogs that would love this opportunity.

Find Some Friends – Make a list of bands you have strong personal relationships with, as well as your super fans.  Get in touch with them about your upcoming video.  Politely ask them if they would put up a couple posts on their social networks linking to your music video.  Having other bands/fans post about your music video can open up the flood gates for exposure.

It’s Not Over Yet  – The day you release your music video is not the day you stop promoting it.  Hopefully by this point you had some nice previews from several press outlets.  Maybe you found a blog to do an exclusive release of the video.  You just played your music video release show, and the video is posted on all your social networks.  The work has just begun.  Over the next 2-3 months, continue to promote your video.  Add the video to your Facebook posts, include links to the video at the bottom of your email blasts, and keep talking about it to your fans.

Put It On Display – Several months ago I was at a show and saw something I hadn’t seen before.  At the merch table, a band had their music video playing on their computer with headphones so people could listen.  They had a sign saying “Watch our Video, get free music.”  Everyone who came over and watched the video got a free download card.  Not only did this get people to watch the video, but it started conversations between the band and potential new fans, building strong personal connections.

In part three of this series, we looked at the three components of acoustic treatment: acoustic panels, bass traps and diffusors. Now I’m going to show you how to put them to use. First, let’s go over the thing that will instantly improve the sound of any room, regardless of its size: the Reflection-Free Zone (or RFZ).

Creating a RFZ is the most critical step in creating a pleasing listening environment. Simply put, the RFZ is an area surrounding the listening position that absorbs the first reflections from the speakers so that they don’t randomly bounce around the room. The idea is that all you hear is the speakers’ direct sound as a result (see above).

In order to create an RFZ, sit in the listening position and have a helper move a mirror over one of your room’s side walls. Every inch of space you see in the mirror’s reflection of either speaker requires acoustic treatment to tame the reflections. Repeat this from the opposite wall and the ceiling, and you’ve defined your RFZ.

It’s a good idea to treat a larger area of the wall than you identify with the mirror. That way, you’ll be free to move around a little without leaving the Reflection Free Zone. If you’re wondering how the heck to slide a mirror around on the ceiling, try attaching a hand mirror to a broomstick with rubber bands. Just by treating this area alone, you can improve the sound of your room by a surprising amount.

The floor of the RFZ can stay reflective with hardwood (which everyone likes because it’s easy to roll your chair around) as long as the ceiling is absorbent. Even if you have a rug on the floor, you’re still better off to have the ceiling absorbent in the RFZ to eliminate any chance of early reflections from the speakers reflecting back onto the listening position.

The acoustic treatment that you’ll use is several of the acoustic panels that we spoke about in the previous installment of this series. You can easily make enough of these panels yourself to cover the RFZ in a typical room for less than $100 if you’re handy (see this video from The Studio Builder’s Handbook to learn how to build your own), or you can buy them pre-made from companies like Ready Acoustics, GIK Acoustics, Real Traps.com, MSR and many more.

Sound panels are very simple to make. They’re based around an absorbent material like Owens Corning 703 rigid fiberglass board (or, to a lesser extent, Rockwool Rockboard 60). Both come in standard 2×4’ panels and in 1- to 6” thicknesses (2” is what’s used the most). A ridged fiberglass panel differs from normal fiberglass batting in that it’s a lot denser because it’s tightly compressed, and although it’s not made specifically for acoustic control, it works perfectly in that application.

It’s also possible to use acoustic foam for treating your RFZ, but it’s a poor choice because it has a limited frequency response, burns easily, and is actually more expensive than the acoustic panels made from ridged fiberglass or Rockwool.

Fabrics like burlap offer the best bang for the buck

The 703 is framed with simple 2×2 or 2×4 inch wood strips, and then covered with a fabric like burlap (the most popular) or Guilford of Maine, which is flame resistant but a lot more expensive. The reason why you might use a 2×4” frame instead of a 2×2” (the size of the 703) is the air gap, which adds to the effectiveness of the panel by lowering the frequencies that it absorbs.

Burlap works well as a cover because it won’t sag and bag over time, it’s cheap, looks good, and is available in a very wide range of weaves and thicknesses. When selecting panel cloth, the best way to evaluate it is to breathe through it. If you can feel your breath on the other side, it’s good to go, because sound can travel easily through it.

There are other products that work as well as 703 for absorption. Owens Corning also makes a model 705 that has twice the density of 703, but costs more as well. Speaking of cost, 703 costs approximately $12 a panel (sometimes more and sometimes less, depending on where you buy it) and comes in packs of 6. Knauf ECOSE, Johns Manville, Roxul Safe and Sound or Rockboard 60, and Certainteed all have the same absorption characteristics or better, and can be even less expensive than their Owens Corning equivalent. Personally, I prefer Rockwool.

You won’t be able to find 703 or Rockwool at your local Home Depot though, so look in the phone book for a supplier of “Industrial Insulation” or HVAC. Sometimes they call it “industrial furnace insulation board,” so be sure that the thickness and density is the same as 703 if you’re not getting the real thing. Then just place it on the walls and ceiling to create your Reflection Free Zone and enjoy your improved listening space.

You can find out a lot more about how to build a home studio effectively and inexpensively by consulting The Studio Builder’s Handbook. You can also read some excerpts from the book on my website.

——————
You can find more music marketing tips at my Music 3.0 music industry blog. For music and production, check out my Big Picture production blog. To read some additional book excerpts from this and other books, go to bobbyowsinski.com. You can also follow me on Twitter.

Bloggers and journalists are usually excited about doing email interviews with musicians, until they get the responses back and realize that the sub-par answers barely communicate anything of interest, much less a useable article.

Don’t let this happen to you.

Pick A Comfortable Setting
“Sent from my iphone” are words that no journalist should ever read at the bottom of your response. Similarly, jotting them down backstage, five minutes before a performance, probably won’t lend to the most creative answers either.

Instead, create a peaceful setting where you can read over the interview questions with no distractions, use your downtime and answer these questions to the best of your ability.

Express Yourself
Don’t treat the interview questions like homework, leaving them until the last minute and quickly typing rushed answers on your way to band practice. Take your time, be thoughtful, and express yourself.

One or two sentence answers don’t help anybody. Try to imagine you are having a conversation with the interviewer in person. In fact, if you’ve got the time, maybe even have a bandmate or friend ask the questions and respond to them out loud. If you want to keep things written, then bring your songwriting ability to bear on your answers, offering honesty or intrigue or images.

Learn To Write
If a journalist e-mails you questions, don’t pass the interview off to the member of your band who never graduated from grade school. Make sure whoever’s answering the email interview is a good writer, and an even better communicator.

If nobody in the band is like that, then somebody better learn to write, and quickly. After all, if you’re planning on making a career out of music, this email interview won’t be your last.

Edit, Re-Edit and Edit Some More
Before hitting send, re-read your answers to be sure they make sense and that there are no grammatical errors. Get someone else to double-check your answers as well.

You don’t want the interviewer to have to comb through your sentences, adding words and trying to make out what you had meant to say.

Ultimately, the best thing to do is to try and put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes. Would you rather have one-line answers to your carefully thought-out questions, or answers with thought and depth that form the basis for a kick-ass article?

How do you master your email interviews?

__________

Mike Venti is a musician and creator of the Wayward Musician blog, which provides ideas and advice for atypical artists. You can connect with Mike on Twitter.

A flyer for Wine From the Moon's branded residency, Strip Down at Uncommon Ground

[Editor's Note: This is part two of Ryan Sweeney's series about the merits of securing a residency for your band. We're posting them on his behalf because he's out in the sticks of Brazil with a band right now]

Curating a residency can be great for an artist’s career. If done correctly, it is a powerful promotion tool, a unique opportunity to build new relationships, and a strong way to grow a fan base. Here are 14 Do’s and Do Not’s to keep in mind when curating your residency.

Do…
Find a venue that you can easily fill for every show of your residency, teetering on the point of selling out each show. If 80-100% of the seats have been filled at every show, you picked the right venue.

Do Not…
Rely on your fan base to be the main draw for most of the shows, especially if the residency is more than two nights. The best idea is to have other acts that can draw well. Balance every night based on each band’s average draw.

Do Not…
Invite bands to play just because you know them or you have a friend in another band. Invite bands that have similar fan bases and can help further your career. This is a chance for you to create or further your relationships with numerous bands in a short period of time.

Do Not…
Only invite local bands to play. Use this opportunity to expand your band into other markets by inviting out of town acts to play. Show trading is great, and this is a perfect opportunity to trade numerous shows in a short period of time.

Do…
Use every residency show to promote your band. This seems obvious, but there are lots of small things you can do to increase promotions.

At the bar and on tables, have handbills for your band. Between each act, mention that your band is hosting the residency. Walk around and introduce yourself to people. If multiple bands are playing each night, hand out download cards or CDs with a track from each band. Have multiple e-mail sign up sheets spread throughout the room. Have your posters hanging around the venue.

Even the band's managers should send everybody to a single Facebook page

Do…
Cross-promote with other bands for the residency shows. Make sure everyone is using the same posters and Facebook event. There is no need to create a new Facebook event for every show, list all the shows on one event. Have each band take a certain amount of posters and assign them a certain part of the city to hang them in.

Do…
Brand your series. You can create a name and look for your event.

For example, I recently hosted an acoustic style series at a venue called Uncommon Ground. We had all kinds of bands play, from folk to rock, but the rules were no electric instruments and no drum kits. We called the series “Strip Down at Uncommon Ground.”  All of the promotional material was branded with this name and with images of cartoon drawn cowgirls in panties, bras, and boots. The series lasted for two months, and two weeks into it, people knew what to expect because we did a good job of branding the series.

Do…
Keep your residency consistent. If you have three bands at every performance, your act should play the same time slot every week. If your series happens once a week for five weeks, be sure to keep it on the same night and have the same start time every week.

Do Not…
Forget to be extremely thankful to the venue, promoters, and bands you’re working with. You cannot say thank you enough times.

Do…
Everything you can to make things easier for all parties involved. If the venue asks for you to be there at 6:00 every show, get there at 5:30. If bands are coming in from out of town, help them find places to stay. Every time you are on the microphone between acts, thank everybody involved. This is your chance to show others your kindness, which goes a long way in this business.

Do…
Have back-up plans in case something goes wrong. When you are hosting numerous shows, something is bound to backfire. If a band doesn’t show up because their tour bus broke down, have a back up set you can play. If the sound guy’s iPod breaks between acts, make sure you have yours. I had a night when the sound guy didn’t even show up. I always have someone on site who can handle the board in situations like that.

Do…
Back line the evening whenever possible. Having bands share amps and drum kits is ten times easier than having every act bring their own equipment. This takes a bit more planning prior to the show, but is well worth it. You will be less worried about keeping things on time, making your evening less stressful.

Do Not…
Expect all the bands to remember all the details. Let’s say you book the shows three months in advance and send all the details to the bands. At the two-month point, send a reminder about promoting the show, along with the details again. At the one-month point, do the same thing. A week out, send the final reminder. And when a band still shows up with all its own equipment because they didn’t pay attention to any of your emails, don’t get upset. Just smile, and politely remind them they must use the back line.

Do…
Enjoy yourself at every show.  Keep things loose but organized. If you are relaxed, the rest of the room will be too.

[Editor's Note: The following is the first in a series of articles by Ryan Sweeney about getting a residency for your band]

A residency is a phenomenal opportunity to give fans something unique. Though they come in all shapes and sizes – three or four shows on consecutive nights, one show a week for several weeks; promoter pays a guarantee, venue gives you a percentage of the door – residencies are, at their heart, a chance to show off a new side of your music to current and potential fans.

These opportunities come with their own special challenges, though. A residency needs to be promoted differently, coordinated differently, and performed differently. Here’s a brief overview of the things you need to remember when angling to land a residency for your band:

Different Expectations (And Different Calls to Action)
Obviously, it is much easier to pitch the possibility of playing a residency if you have a good relationship with a venue or promoter(s), or if you have a history of delivering what you say you will. But you have to remember that all of your fans won’t come out to every single date. Don’t hurt your relationship with a venue by over-promising and under-delivering.

Let’s say your band draws an average of 75 people to a regular show. When pitching the idea of a residency to a venue, tell them about your normal draw of 75, but also tell them you’re expecting 25-30 people per residency show. This will show them you are appropriately evaluating your draw.

Also, it will help if you mention to the promoter you are doing something special to draw fans. This can be something related to your music – maybe you are playing all acoustic versions of your songs – or related to your promotional efforts, like securing a drink sponsor or partnering with a local promoter to coordinate the show and help draw an audience.

Up to this point, most of the tactics you’ve honed have centered on one-off events – one show in one venue, on one night. You need to promote your residency slightly differently.

Artistic Chances (And Risks)
Typically it is a good idea to consider a residency only when you have enough material to play new songs at every show.  This allows you let your fans know that every show you play will be unique, which increases the chance of the same fans coming out to more than one show.

But it can’t be all about repertoire. Get creative on how you bring in your audience.  I have seen other bands play two or three night residencies where they only performed songs that they’d never played on tour before.

Whether your band is producing the entire residency or just showing up and playing a slot once a week for a month, changing up your set is still a good idea. The only time a band might not want to do this is if there is a built-in audience at the venue. In that case, always play your strongest set.

More Power (And More Responsibility)
The best residencies allow a band to coordinate the entire series.  When a band can handpick opening acts, set the ticket price, organize promoters and sponsors and other aspects of the residency, it gives them a chance to make the series exactly what they want it to be.

That said, it is a lot of work, and without meticulous attention to detail, the residency will fail. If any of the bands don’t draw, it comes back to you. If the promoters aren’t given enough information about the bands or there’s a miscommunication about how many people they can comp, it comes back to you.

If you’re organized, though, coordinating a residency represents a huge opportunity. You get to play with new bands, both local and out of town, and create strong long-lasting relationships with them. And if you pull the whole thing off, all the bands, promoters, sponsors and presenters you’ve been working with will come away respecting you.

If you are expected to draw 50 people per show, do not be afraid to ask the venue or promoter for at least some input (if not outright control) on variables like booking. It can lead to great things.

If your music is being used by DJs to enhance their sets, you want to make sure you’reit would be nice to know you’re getting paid to be as well as played.

That’s where DJ Monitor comes in. Since 2005, the Dutch organization has been working to ensure that artists are compensated when their work is used during live performances and in DJ sets.

“We’re kind of the Robin Hoods for the independent artist,” says founder and CEO, Yuri Dokter.

DJ Monitor “was an idea born out of necessity,” Dokter says. “If you perform a work in public, for example if a DJ plays a record and 20,000 people are listening to it, someone has to pick up the tab.”

Under current public performance laws, event organizers are obliged to pay a percentage of their profits to performance rights organizations, which are then charged with compensating the artists whose music was played at the event. Before DJ Monitor, according to Dokter, this process was a mess.

“The bureaus had absolutely no idea who to remunerate,” Dokter says. “They would look at dance charts, CD sales and airplay charts and say, ‘Ok, we’re going to remunerate these people.’ It had no coherence whatsoever, it had nothing to do with who was being played and who was supposed to get the money.”

Artists that wanted to fight their corner faced several obstacles. “There were a lot of lawsuits,” says Dokter. “People couldn’t prove to the courts that their music was being played.”

To change things, Dokter created a piece of kit – the digimonitor – that’s got the power to change everything .

“It’s hooked up to every mixing board on every stage to record everything from A to Z,” Dokter says. “Then we publish playlists on an online playlist management system. It allows the rights holders to take a look at what’s being played.”

Performance rights organizations can then analyze these playlists and adjust the amount of money they send to artists  remunerate artists accordingly. Thanks to DJ Monitor’s technology, the right people are starting to get paid for their work.

“Artists will be added to what’s being called ‘reference repertoire,’” Dokter explains. “We’ve identified that they’re being played out there.

“Now, it’s going to be undoable and too expensive to monitor everything and everybody. So, performance rights organizations will take an average of what’s being played and then make remuneration. You don’t get paid for one instance. Because we’ve monitored you, you’re on the radar and you will be remunerated from other sources as well.”

Even some of the biggest names in dance music are taking digimonitors with them on the road. Artists and organizers of renowned live music events around the globe are approaching Dokter with a view to using his technology.

“We often go with Armin Van Buuren or Tiestö on tour,” says Dokter. “We record all their shows, provide the playlists and publish them for foreign rights organizations. It means we will get some of the money back for the artists and the composers who are actually played.”

But, if you’re a DJ, then why agree to have one of DJ Monitor’s devices on your mixing desk? Don’t you value the aura of mystery that swirls around your sets? “We actually have a long waiting list,” says Dokter. “DJs play a lot of their own stuff; stuff from their own labels. They will have a tough time getting proper remuneration if they don’t have the proof that it was being played.

For the DJ/producer/label owner hybrds, there are other benefits to utilizing DJ Monitor’s devices. Consumers can access a database of tracks via a series of tweeted live playlists. If your track forms part of a live set, it’s automatically at the fingertips of music lovers.

“One of the biggest difficulties that a lot of clubbers have is that they’ll love a record but they have no idea what the record is,” says Dokter. “People can see via our tweets what’s being played and they can order it right away.”

DJ Monitor has deals with various record companies and music platforms that allow the company to maintain a large database for music recognition. According to Dokter, his database is far larger than that of Shazam or similar companies.

Those same deals prohibit Dokter from saying exactly how many of his devices are being used globally due to a confidentiality agreement. In his opinion, the number could be higher.

Image by: Libertinus Yomango

“Connect With Your Fans!”

If you regularly visit any music industry blogs you likely read this all the time. It’s important advice, but there’s another step that’s just as important: helping the people in your fan base connect to each other.

Once you start to have any sort of success, you won’t be able to create meaningful relationships with each fan. There simply isn’t enough time in the day. Connecting them to each other, however is the next best thing: it uses your music and personality as a foundation for meaningful relationships, which further enhances the meaning of your music amongst your fan base.

This is not a new concept. In fact, major label bands have been doing this rather effectively for years.

When to Start
You should start connecting with your fans the second that you release your first song, but you may want to wait until your following has grown large enough to constitute a community before you really focus on bringing people together.

Fan Clubs
A fan club is an exclusive membership that can create a great sense of community among your fan base if properly maintained. It should not only give fans access to the artist and free goodies, but it should also be an opportunity to connect fans with one another. People who buy into exclusive clubs are already part of your group of super fans. Help establish  connections by holding meet-ups, not just at shows, but during touring downtime as well.

For example, the Dave Matthews Band not only gives fan club members access to direct presales, exclusive music and chances to meet the band, but they’ve also created a members-only message board to help super fans connect with each other.

Image by: Björn West

Through the process of keeping things exclusive, the DMB can be sure that their hardcore fans have their very own place to congregate.

Forums
A healthy message board is yet another avenue for dedicated fans to gather and discuss the latest news. Your own branded forums give fans a place to get together and debate lyrics, album releases, and more. Not to mention that it constantly drives more traffic back to your website.

Unlike the DMB’s members-only forum, the benefit of an open forum is that anyone can lurk and explore the community before signing up. Many casual fans can be eventually converted into super fans if they end up engaging on the message boards in any kind of consistent basis.

Other super fans are your greatest influencers for bringing even more people into your fan community. Handpick your most reliable fans to moderate the boards and keep the peace. And make sure to visit the boards yourself, answering questions from fans, and announcing big news from time to time.

One major label act that does this fairly well is the band Billy Talent. Members of the group will post without warning, answering a fan’s question, or giving updates on their next release. By making personal connections with fans and giving them a place to come together, the band is able to build a stronger fan-base as a result.

Collaboration

Have dedicated fans get involved in different aspects of your career. You can have them vote on merch they’d like to see manufactured and sold on the next tour, or even help you promote and book gigs in towns you don’t usually stop at.

Why not open source your shows and allow fans to come together and create their own DVD?

Trent Reznor used this concept to great success when he “leaked” 400 gigabytes of concert footage to his fan-base. The end result was a concert DVD, made by the fans themselves, that rivals any professionally produced concert film. It proved to be both a great way to connect with some super fans, and gave every other fan (casual or not) the opportunity to enjoy the end result.

Social Networks

Social networks usually contain a mix of hardcore fans, casual ones, and the occasional hater, making them great places for sharing updates, yet slightly more difficult to connect with your fan-base. But don’t let that stop you.

A social network can still be a great place to introduce individual fans to the rest of the fan-base. To connect fans, have them email their info and a picture to you with details about their forum name, favourite song, album, show etc. Pick a new person every few days and feature them on your network. Besides being thrilled that they’ve been selected, this is also a great way for fans to get to know each other, and perhaps even recognize each other at shows.

In the late ’90s, before social networks existed, Green Day was already doing this on their website. Every month a new fan would be named “Idiot of the Month” and their picture would be featured on the site.

If you have the means, try to own your social network.

The San Francisco Symphony went the route of creating their own social network in an effort to connect with their fan-base, and more importantly, give people a place to congregate and connect with each other. Besides seeing updates and videos from the musicians, the fans can also create their own posts, upload photos, and connect with other registered members.

By creating spaces where your most dedicated fans can congregate, it is easier to get them involved in different aspects of your career. You can have them vote on merch they’d like to see manufactured and sold on the next tour, or even help you promote and book gigs in towns you don’t usually stop at.

Connecting your fans together is a great way to forge lasting relationships between people who already have common interests… your music.

How do you help connect and grow your fan base?

__________

Mike Venti is a musician and creator of the Wayward Musician blog, which provides ideas and advice for atypical artists. You can connect with Mike on Twitter.

As more and more artists try to go it alone in this do-it-yourself music era, they are taking advantage of web apps that let them create and share their tracks in ways they never could before.

The app gallery at SoundCloud—the popular outlet for musicians to share their work directly with fans, other artists and industry folks—is filled with hundreds of apps for artists on multiple platforms: mobile phones, tablets, desktops and browsers.

For Henrick Lenberg, vice president of partner integrations at SoundCloud, there is an egalitarianism to all of this. The apps on SoundCloud are geared toward both professional musicians, and what he calls “casual music makers”—those who, say, just make music with their iPhones.

“This area is definitely going to be huge,” he said. “The social elements of the web will play a key role for both serious artists and casual music makers, and we will help both groups.”

Regardless of what group you fall into, we’ve sifted through the riff raff and compiled a list of the five most useful apps available in the gallery. Lenberg declined to give exact numbers regarding the most downloaded apps, but here are some favorites.

Music X-Ray
Music X-Ray began an integration last week with the launch of a new SoundCloud app. The app is a “brand new ecosystem for A and R” that seeks to connect artists with industry professionals, said Mike McCready, the company’s CEO. When users link their SoundCloud accounts to the app, software analyzes the music and matches it with an industry contact—a producer, music supervisor, publisher, etc.—who might be interested in using it.

If the contact decides not to use your music, the site promises written feedback from the professional within a month and a half. Membership is free, but Music X-Ray charges a $4 transaction fee, and some professionals charge submission fees on top of that, which brings the total to $10 to $20 on average.

Another way artists can use the app is to begin a mentoring, back and forth relationship with some of the more well-known, Grammy-winning industry professionals—who are not seeking song selections. In those cases, artists are paying for the feedback and the submission fee is much higher.

KORG iMS-20
This iPad app, available for $32, is a recreation of an actual Korg synth that allows users to produce tracks on the tablet. It works with SoundCloud in a particularly innovative way, said Lenberg. Users can share their music and browse other artists’ tracks on SoundCloud, but this app’s real gem is a feature that lets users share entire project files. That means users can collaborate on tracks, all from within the app.

“More and more apps are moving in the direction of deeper social integration where creation, sharing and collaboration happen within them,” said Lenberg. “I think it’s super exciting to see how music making is developing into a large-scale social process, beyond producing tracks with your friends.”

Scup
Short for SoundCloud Uploader, Scup allows users to import several songs onto their SoundCloud pages all at once. The idea came from the SoundCloud staff itself, after artists had been complaining about the difficulty of uploading entire albums at once.

That batch uploading function is the only purpose for the app, said developer Dorian Roy, who wanted to keep it as simple as possible. But there is a useful “copy to tracks” button on the right of the window that allows users to apply the same text to every track, saving some time.

BerkleeMusic
We all know we could always practice our scales a little more. With the BerkleeMusic app, musicians can work on those fundamentals as well as get instruction in sound engineering or music business management from the respected music school.

The free video samples—exclusive to SoundCloud members—are worth checking out, and users can connect their SoundCloud accounts to their Berklee accounts, making class music projects instantly available to your followers.

But slackers be warned: this web app is an actual 12-week curriculum—complete with instruction and feedback from professors and, of course, homework.

TakesQuestions
Musicians are supposed to make noise, right? This app allows you direct correspondence with fans. But instead of reading a question then writing back with a reply, TakesQuestions lets fans record their query, then lets you answer with your own voice—letting you practice interview skills for when MTV comes knocking.

Users set up their own page and are given a URL. The interface is clean and inviting. A fan records a question for you, and within moments, it’s on your SoundCloud page, awaiting your reply.

There is even an option of synching it with your Twitter account, so an automatic tweet is sent whenever you are asked or respond to a question. The process of responding to a question is not as intuitive as it could be. You need to make sure the subject lines of both the question and answer match, and it would be nice if that step was automatic. Still, it’s a good way to interact with fans, and the voice-to-voice contact is a nice personal touch.