Subscribe to our "Indie Music Tips" Newsletter and More!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Featured Indie Music Article: The Advent Of Indie Music And Its Prevalence Today

Hi, fellow musicians.

Here is a popular article (below) by one of our musician friends that you should check out.

Enjoy!

To your music success,

Traci Crowley

http://www.indie-musicnetwork.com/index.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The term Indie music is derived from independent music. It refers to music of any genre,
cultural attribute and style but is perceived as being independent because the artists stay
away from mainstream commercial music and they have a do-it-yourself attitude.

Most indie artists typically record their own albums under small labels, sometimes in their
homes or garages. These are considered by purists as the authentic indie artists.
Many small indie labels have closed down, either because the owners lose interest or as
in most cases, they run out of funds. Some such labels were Sarah Records, Factory
Records and Kindercore Records.

If you were not to take a very purist stand on the issue, then an indie label could be
defined as one which is not a part of any major recording labels such as Sony or
Virgin records. Some labels remain independent and there are some which grow
out of their indie status and become more commercial. Commercial success then
leads to the label being taken over by one of the major labels. An example of this
was Creation Records started by Alan McGee in the 1980’s. It had commercial
success with Oasis in the 1990’s and after that was taken over by Sony.

Indie music over the years became synonymous with alternative music. In the
1990’s, indie music was established as an alternative to mainstream commercial
music. More and more artists were recording with these small indie labels.
In fact, alternative music came to be known as another genre of music.
At present, indie music refers to music that is created separate from the mainstream
establishments.

An interesting point to note is that some indie artists develop a new and different kind
of sound, and major labels sign up these artists as they find them commercially viable.
Soon after, other artists try to copy the same sounds and there are many such groups
sounding the same as the original indie artist had a year back. Therefore, indie music
cannot always be termed as an alternative type of music, but indie labels can exist as
alternatives to major mainstream labels.

Indie artists are more influenced by the idea of self expression. They are not so
concerned about being commercially successful. More than the money, it is the
satisfaction of being able to record their own kind of music on their own terms that
keeps indie labels going. There is a sense of belonging among indie artists from all
over the world. A number of indie artists go on tours of other cities where the local
indie bands organize shows and provide them accommodation. The sense of solidarity
among indie bands often lead to joint shows and tours.

There are different types of independent labels. Some are affiliated to major labels where
they can sign and record artists of their choice. The major label then manufactures and
releases the albums for them. The other type is the purely independent label which is not
affiliated to any major label and records its own albums. These albums are released through
independent distributors.

Al is the webmaster of Concert Ticket Broker

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Fan Email Marketing Made Easy

Hi, Fellow Musicians.

Many artists want to promote their music to the world, but don't take
advantage of a simple tool that millions of music fans use everyday.
If you want to get the word out about your music, the tool you
should be using on a regular basis to reach your customers and
subscribers is...email.

Here is a great article that talks about using emails for
online music marketing. It is written by one of our
musician friends at Ticket Printing.com...check it out!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Using emails for online music marketing proves to be a very
difficult task to master, but a very important one that every
artist must master. Fan club newsletters allow fans to stay
connected with the artists without the added effort of
returning to the artist’s site. I have simplified it into three
key areas for a successful fan club email newsletter.

Perking Interest

One of the hardest parts in compiling a music newsletter is
getting subscribers to read it!

1. Create an interesting subject title. Just like blogs and
articles, no one will start to read the newsletter if the
title or subject line does not generate interest in the
fan to read the publication. “August Newsletter” does
not perk interest in a subject line.

2. Make it personal to the subscriber. Instead of writing a
general “hi,” make the newsletter specific for everyone.
This makes the fan feel important to the artist because
their personal name is used. Similarly, use the band’s
name or specific artist’s name when closing the letter
to add to the personal effect.

3. Write for the reader. The newsletter is not a place to
sell products and promote music, but rather a place to write
interesting content the reader wants to read. Occasionally
mentioning new fan merchandise is all right, but always
keep the reader in mind. Target your content to the reader
and make sure it is relevant to their needs.

4. Personalize it more. Have options the user can choose makes
the letter just for them. For instance, allow them to insert
their zip code for the option of receiving info when the band
is touring in their area. The more personal and specific towards
the fan, the more apt they will want to read it.

  1. Provide relevant links. Hand-in-hand with writing the newsletter
for the fans, provide the fans with relevant links they would want.
Direct them towards other music related sites or services.

Perfecting the Newsletter

1. Find the perfect layout. The design and layout of the newsletter

may need several revisions before finding the perfect look.
Having color and formatting are necessary but can be overdone.
In addition, inserting picture and video that the fans would like make the newsletter stand out more.

2. Choose the correct day and time. Fans need to expect the newsletter in a consistent manner, whether it is every week or every month. EmailLabs reports the best day to send emails is Tuesday or Wednesday in the morning hours when people regularly check their email. After picking a day, stay consistent with that day and time.

3. Encourage word-of-mouth marketing
. Add a “Send to a Friend” button where your fans can easily send the newsletter to anyone they believe would enjoy it. Word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective, so encourage it as much as possible.

4.
Check the newsletter before emailing it to fans. Based on the type of server your fan uses, (Hotmail, Yahoo, Google, AOL, etc.) the newsletter may show up differently. Sign-up to all the major email servers and send the newsletter to yourself to check the formatting in each before sending a faulty newsletter to all your fans.

Track Email Stats

Track all statistics relevant to the email campaign.

Valid metrics include:

  • Click through rate
  • Open rate
  • Click to open
  • Bounce rate
  • Referral rate
  • Unsubscribe rate

If these statistics do not meet standards, chances are
the design format or content is not relating to the fans.

Start by asking these basic questions:

· What are your fans not getting out of the newsletter?

· Why do they not find it valuable?

· Does the content need to be more targeted?

Email campaigns are an ongoing process requiring constant
attention and direction.

Email newsletters are important for maintaining a constant
fan base. To gain more subscribers, refer to the newsletter
as a fan club and offer exclusive offers to fan club members
only, like pre-sale tickets or discounts. Your band will instantly
see a bigger subscribing list / fan base after implementing
these techniques.

By Lance Trebesch

lance@ticketprinting.com

www.TicketPrinting.com




Friday, November 9, 2007

Check out the musician featured at our site...will you be next?

Hi, everyone.

In case you haven't heard..."Double FF" has been selected as the first artist to be featured in our IMN Hotlist area of our site.

http://www.indie-musicnetwork.com/imn_overview.html

******************************
CONGRATULATIONS Double FF!
******************************


Visit our IMN Hotlist area at the following link for more information on Double FF,
learn where to pick up his CD's and More!

http://www.indie-musicnetwork.com/imn_overview.html

You can also learn more about Double FF at this link:

http://www.indie-musicnetwork.com/how_to_promote_music.htm

To your music success,

Traci Crowley
Founder,
Indie-Music Network

P.S. If you still want a chance to promote your music or band on our website,
Click the "Give Us Your Feedback" Link at the bottom of
the following page:
http://www.indie-musicnetwork.com/imn_overview.html
and tell us:
1) Why we should feature your band or music site
2) What other information and tips you want to see at our site
3) Your email address...so we can let you know if we decide to
select your music site for free Ad placement...That's it!


Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Something You Must Have to Successfully Sell Your Music Online...

Hi, to our fellow musicians.

Hopefully you've made the decision to use the power of the internet to your advantage
to sell your music online.

You may be ready to upload your mp3 files to your website, are prepared to take orders , then the unthinkable happens...

YOUR SITE GOES DOWN, and you get the dreaded Page is Not Available message when a prospective customer comes to visit your site...or buy your music!

While your website is down, you may have to kiss music sales goodbye. Whether it's your 1st sale, 100th, 1000th...it doesn't matter. If someone is ready to buy your music...they need to be able to do this whenever they choose.

If you are fortunate enough not to have experienced your website going down at a critical time, congratulations...because this is something I assure you that you never ever want to go through, especially if you don't want to risk losing out on your mp3 or CD Sales. After all, if someone can't get to your site to buy your music when THEY want to, they may look for an artists in the same genre and buy music from their website instead.

To avoid losing potential mp3 and CD sales, the bottom line is you MUST have a reliable web host that you work with.

There are a lot of web hosts out there, and after working with an extremely unreliable webhost who is apparently out of business now, we found an excellent web hosting company called Website Source that you may want to consider hosting your website with.



You can check them out through the link below.

http://www.indie-musicnetwork.com/TopWebHosting

Their service is very reliable, and they have some of the best technical support representatives
we've ever worked with. You can also contact them 7 days a week, so you know they'll always have your back if you need assistance.

http://www.indie-musicnetwork.com/TopWebHosting

To your music success,
Traci Crowley
Founder, Indie-Music Network
Create Music, Produce Music,
Sell Your Music Online

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Who Else Wants to Sell Your Music Online?

Hi, to our fellow musicians.

Are there any musicians out there who want to learn how to successfully sell your music online...the right way?

If you do, we have to introduce you to an amazing resource that is
written by a successful indie musician, David Nevue, called...

How to Promote Your Music Successfully On the Internet

We want to show you an example (below) of just a FEW of the areas
that are covered in David's book that can really help you
if you want to successfully sell your music online.



Hopefully you can start to see that this IS NOT your
typical resource that claims to teach you how to
sell your
music online, then feeds you useless
information that won't help you reach your music goals.

Yes I want to Sell My Music: How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet

If you want David's great book, AND a free copy of an exclusive interview I had with him (where he spills some great tips on how to successfully promote your music on the internet):

Just visit the following link for details on how to get the book AND the free interview while the offer is still available: Sell Your Music Online!

To your music success,
Traci Crowley
Founder, Indie-Music Network
Create Music, Produce Music,
Sell Your Music Online

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Tips to Help You Sell Your Music Online

Hi, fellow musicians.

I have yet to find a musician who isn't interested in learning how to sell more of their music.
Many artists are even embracing the reality that they can sell a lot of their music online.

What is surprising though is how many bands have websites on the internet that have clearly not been updated in a very very long time.

So why does this matter? Well, for one....if someone goes to your website and sees your next upcoming gig actually happened more than a year and a half ago, it's more likely that your fans won't visit your site as often...since they see it hasn't been updated in a while. This is bad news for you, because if your fans aren't encouraged to see what's new at your site, that gives you less opportunity to get more promotion for your music, and increase your music sales.

So what can you do to fix this problem?

Here's a simple solution....frequently add fresh content to your music website.

If you're thinking that you don't have the time and don't want to be bothered with writing a bunch of new content for your site, you can have others create the content for you.

You can let others know that if they have a good music related article to give you, you'll post it on your site.

You benefit by getting fresh new content to your website for your fans and website visitors to check out, and the person providing the article benefits because they could include a link back to their website from the author biography at the bottom of the article they provide you.

To check out some great Royalty Free music articles you can publish to your website for FREE visit the following link:

IMN Indie Music Articles: Create, Produce, and Sell Your Music Online!


To check out some great new articles to help you create a successful blog for your band, visit the following link:

Indie Music Articles: Sell Your Music Online!


To your music success,
Traci Crowley
Founder, Indie-Music Network

P.S. Remember to visit the following link indie blog post BEFORE THE OCTOBER 1ST DEADLINE to learn how to win free advertising for your music site!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

Attention- Bands and Music Websites: Learn How to Get FREE Advertising at our New Indie-Music Network Website!

Hi, to all of our musician friends!

We decided to offer ONE band or music website with some free advertising at our new Indie-Music Network website...in our IMN Hotlist area.

If you'd like to feature your band or music related site just do the following:

1) Provide a comment in our blog, that includes your website address and the reason
why we should feature your site in our new IMN Hotlist area...found at the following link
Create Music, Produce Music, Sell Your Music Online

2) Cast your vote in our blog to let us know what you need the most help with...Creating Music, Producing Your Music, or Selling Your Music Online. The poll is located in the right hand column of our blog.

That's All!

We will be randomly selecting the winner of the free advertising on November 5th, and will keep you posted if there are any updates.

To your music success,
Traci Crowley
Create Music, Produce Music, Sell Your Music Online

P.S. We are going to throw in some bonuses to the winner as well, so make sure you get your entry in. Thanks!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Welcome to our New IMN Tips Blog!: Create, Produce, and Sell Your Music Online

Our IMN Tips blog is created to help musicians successfully Create, Produce, and Sell Your Music Online from the comfort of your Home.

We also hope to get your opinions and comments on our blog posts often so we can make this blog more interactive and as useful as possible to all musicians, so you can receive some great tips to take your music to the next level.

Also, in case you haven't heard...we re-launched our indie-musicnetwork website.

You can check out our press release by clicking here:


Here are some changes that you will see at our website or in our blog

1) Indie Music Related Product Reviews:

You'll find more detailed reviews on hot products and services that can help you with your music career

2) Indie Music Tips:

Helpful tips for creating, producing, and selling your music successfully.

3) Interviews:

Access to interviews from successful music experts who provide great tips to help you sell your music online

4) IMN Hotlist:
Featured Indie Music Related Products, Services, and Bands you want to check out.
Stay tuned to learn how your music website or band can be featured on our site for free.


5) Tell Us How We Can Help You:
Easily tell us your opinions, comments, and suggestions so we can better help you reach your indie music goals.


Stay tuned!


To your music success,

Traci Crowley
Founder, Indie-Music Network
IMN Tips Blog