Tag Archive for: Content

content-bridge-meme-feature

Your bridge to reaching new fans and getting them to love you and give your music a chance is amazing content.Content Bridge Opener

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m sure you’ve heard that one before.

 

Just like I hear all the record biz people talking about how social media is so important in today’s marketplace.

 

content-yeah-please-meme

Trouble is very few, and I do mean a VERY few people, really know what that means.

 

The ones who know are easy to spot. Simply because you CAN spot them means they’re on to something.

 

Huh? Think about that statement for a second.

 

Makes sense, right? If I become aware of you it requires more than some kind of interruption to my attention or clever introduction (I’m speaking of “me” as any consumer or industry person).

 

That is to say that even after a clever introduction, PR move, or epic interruption to my attention, something else has to happen for an artist to stay in my awareness.content-interruption

 

 

 

Otherwise it’s here and gone.

 

 

 

The difference between those that “do social media” and those artists and companies that know what they’re doing is the work that they’ve done.

 

The more work they’ve done (therefore the more work you do) the more they discover what works.

content-work-theyve-done

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cracking the code requires kissing a bunch of proverbial frogs to find a prince of a strategy and it’s different for everybody because everybody is different.

 

You actually have to start posting content on a regular basis (duh, consistency IS KEY), and then watch what works, what doesn’t work, and what works the best.

 

content-cracking-the-code-frog-meme

The content has to be relevant to the consumer/future-fan, not to you.

 

The content has to be personal to the consumer/future-fan, not to you.

 

 

Hint:  It’s about THEM not YOU.

 

 

If you can manage to create content that is relevant and personal to both you and them, God bless, you’re really on to something.content-about-them-meme

 

If you provide content that is personal and relevant to THEM, they’ll look forward to consuming it and they’ll share it to be cool in their respective communities.

 

 

 

This requires more than just reposting thoughtful quotes.content-quotes-meme

 

 

What can you do, aside from your music, that will provide value to them? If it’s valuable to them, it’ll be valuable to their community so they’ll share it because your valuable content makes their content more valuable.

 

 

 

 

 

That’s a lot of “valuables” but you get the picture, right?

 

Think about the foodie videos. I’ll bet everyone of you has at least watched one and shared one.

 

content-valuables

 

It could be informational, educational, motivational, comedic, etc. If they like it, you’ll know.

 

You have to create content expecting nothing in return. I don’t expect anybody to read these articles, listen to the podcast, and do business with me. The only thing I expect and hope for is that my information helps you improve your approach and find success reaching an audience with your music.

 

But some of you do choose to work with us in some capacity and we are eternally grateful.

 

Get it?

 

When you strike that chord, when you really touch that button, you’ll know it.

content-measurable-reaction

 

There will be an immediate positive measurable reaction.

 

If you are asking the right questions it may not happen right away, but eventually your subconscious will reward you with a big win.

 

For instance, a few weeks ago, I had a client come up from Dallas to do a photo shoot, do some songwriting, producer meetings, and label services meetings.

 

 

content-anime

 

I’ve known that this artist (who is 17 years old) is a huge fan of anime. We’ve messed around with some content that has anime in it whether it’s been images or GIF’s of any combination of these things that we’ve synched to a recording of hers.

 

 

 

Of course, Pokemon is anime.

 

content-pikachu

You’ve all heard of the marketing sensation PokemonGo by now.

 

 

In between the meetings, she was playing PokemonGo.

 

I don’t know why it didn’t click sooner but the important thing is that it clicked.

 

content-pokemon-master-badges

 

 

In an attempt to create images that really express my artist’s personality, my image consultant (Neill Skylar), the artist’s mother, and I were all about the Pokemon obsession.

 

 

 

 

Alora (the artist) is a Pokemon “Master” and has these pins to prove it. (I am ignorant about all this Pokemon stuff but intrigued because it’s so huge).

 

One of the costume changes had her showing off her “Pokemon Master” pins.

 

content-alora-pokemon-badges

She’s a rock artist (think Paramore and Icon For Hire) so I informed Alicia, our make-up artist, that we would build on the look throughout the shoot and the last costume change I wanted some wild over-the-top make-up. I had discussed with Alora a sort of David-Bowie-like-Ziggy-Stardust craziness to the look. Alora’s last outfit was a custom anime, super cute mini skirt with a leather looking rubber bustier that was badass!

 

We got to the last portion of the shoot and Alicia started showing me pictures in an attempt to drill down on exactly what I wanted. I knew I wanted it over the top but I still didn’t know EXACTLY what I wanted.

content-alora-lips

 

One of the makeup pics that caught my eye was of a beautiful set of cartoon lips; only they were real. Alicia was honing in on something that at that very moment was still lost on me…a look that would exemplify Alora’s Pokemon fascination.

 

 

I said, “YES, let’s do the cartoon lips and what else can we do that would be wild on her face?”

 

She did it and we shot it. (here’s what we came up with.)

content-alora-face-shot

Alora: Photography by Erick Anderson Nashville, TN. Makeup by Alicia Maynard, Nashville, TN

 

 

Here’s my point. After that shoot, I got Alora and her artistry on a whole other level. As stupid as I sound right now (and believe me I feel SO STUPID) I decided to check into this Pokemon craze as a possible “relevant pond” to fish from.

 

What?

 

 

Yeah, man. I’m always asking myself questions like who would like her music? Who would like Alora? Who would feel a kinship or connection with my artist enough to want to listen to her music?

content-pokemongo

 

Maybe there are kids obsessed with this Pokemon thing that would #1, identify with her, #2, respect her for her “Master” rank (is rank the right terminology?), and #3, be more likely to engage with her because of this common ground.

 

 

So I immediately overhauled our targeting strategy to search and connect with accounts (on Instagram and Twitter) that were as obsessed with Pokemon and PokemonGo as Alora was.

 

THEN the moment happened. Lori (Alora’s mom) replaced Alora’s bio pic with the image we shot of Alora showing off her “Pokemon Master” pins.

content-alora-account-image

 

Boom.

 

Her engagement at least doubled overnight.

 

 

 

See what I’m saying?

 

Most of you are thinking this way already in a big picture kind of way when you’re yearning for TV exposure, coveted opening tour slots, radio spins, etc.

 

You want marketing but these big ticket items are not in your budget and frankly, with regards to radio, not nearly as effective as they used to be.

 

Here’s the trick.

 

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Apply this yearning, this drive, these dreams, this plan of attack to your social media imaging.

 

 

 

You need good images.

 

 

Pay for them. Find a way. You’ll need them to set the professional bar in your market. If you get a half day shoot you’ll use those images for a year. That’s a lot of mileage in those images.

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Plus, the pro images will make your iPhone images and BTS images more important and believe it or not will make them look like BTS images rather than the best there is of you.

 

I’ll say it again; you need pro images.

 

Not images from your step sister’s cousin’s pizza delivery guy’s roommate that has a real awesome camera.

 

content-alora-5Ef that.

 

You need someone with an eye.

 

You need hair and makeup.

 

You need a look.

 

You need someone with a studio that can change a bunch of looks.

 

content-alora-3

 

Once you have these images, couple that work with all the searching you’ve been doing for clever, helpful, SHARABLE content and you’ll definitely see improvement on your social media engagement.

 

It takes work people.

 

 

If you do the work, you WILL eventually connect.

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune.

 

If you liked this article, please SHARE it and COMMENT below.

 

 

 

Content Tools Pic Monkey feature meme

Content,Content Tools typorama content, content. That’s what it’s all about people. If you’re an artist you are also a small business. I know that concept sickens some of you and is thrilling for others but it is true.

 

Corporations are learning quickly how to cut through the clutter by “humanizing” their brand via killer, intentional content. If they’re a tire company they’re posting more than “buy our tires”. Yes they may have calls to action from time to time but they’re focusing on different ways to get their widget in front of you in a manner that’s clever, witty, shocking, funny, etc., because that is what ultimately becomes sharable.

 

Here’s the deal: you need to think the same way.

 

Indie artists have similar problems don’t you?  You are desperately trying to get your music heard in a veritable ocean of noise.

 

How do you stick out?

Answer:  Killer content.

 

The best, most unique content is going to orbit around you and/or the members of your band. What I mean by that is the content has to focus not only on your music or art, but also on your other interests. This is where you “humanize” your brand which should be far easier for an artist because they actually are human as opposed to those faceless corporations.

 

In this article I wanted to share with you the tools that I have used to create some killer content very quickly. These tools include, image creators, image editors, typography apps, GIF creators, video editors, screen capture software, and images sources.

 

Content Tools Plan Change

Most of these are free and most are available on both Windows and IOS based devices. I have tried to the best of my ability to inform you when the app is platform specific and when it costs money. Forgive me if I’ve missed a couple, while I’ve used most of them at one point or another, I have my favorites and those are the ones I will speak most intelligently about. I wanted to offer up choices for you to play with.

 

By the way, if you’re just getting into this, let me save you the suspense, your first images will take the most time and be the worst images ever! Don’t let your first experience dictate whether you’ll create content. All these apps are extremely user friendly so once you get your head around them you’ll be FAST. I PROMISE!

It will be foreign in the beginning so promise yourself that you’ll push through the crappy first couple pictures, ok?

Here are 29 killer content creation tools.

Image Creation

  1. PicMonkey – Picmonkey ($30/year also a limited free version) is the tool I use the most. It allows youContent Tools Pic Monkey create collages, resize, add typography (tons of killer fonts) (3D image options), frame the image, superimpose logos, superimpose other images, tons of filters, touch up facial images, rotate, and crop. Play with all the different filters after you have added your text; it’s amazing how a certain filter can make your text “pop”. PicMonkey also allows you to save as different kinds of image files i.e. png, jpg, gif, etc..
  2. Canva – ($10/month) Just like PicMonkey with all the features but I like some of their design items better as they have cleaner shapes and design features. I’ve been contemplating a change recently but it’s obviously more expensive.Content Tools Canva Logo (2)
  3. Designfeed – (Free) is a tool I haven’t used but I wanted to throw it in for choice.

 

 

 

 

Video Editors

  1. Wondershare Filmora – ThisContent Tools Filmora Logo is a free software download that is super simple, super easy, and super cool. It easily allows you to upload a video and create a little movie either via a sequence of images or sequence of videos. It offers some a basic crossfade feature as well. What I really like about Filmora is that is quickly allows you to strip the audio from the original video file and either delete it or mute the volume to make room for an audio file you choose to replace it with. What if you found a compelling, super sharable 15 second video snippet and you replaced the audio with the chorus hook from your very best song? Hmmm that could be interesting exposure. Learning curve on this tool is ridiculously fast.Content Tools Final Cut Pro
  2. Final Cut Pro – ($300) this program is expensive but far more sophisticated to the point you can make actual music videos with it. I try to keep the content creation as clever and unsophisticated as possible because there is so much to create. This is called sustainability. You want sustainability.
  3. Windows Movie Maker, iMovie – Both of these are free in your PC or Mac. They are basic but can be really effective for repurposing content from a lengthier video down to sharable, 15 second snippets for Instagram and Twitter.

 

GIF Creation

  1. Giphy.com – This is pretty neat site that is free. It allows you to upload any video and create a GIF. How Content Tools Giphyinteresting would it be to post GIFs that were created from live shows, studio time, crazy antics backstage, road breakdowns, etc? GIF’s grab more attention.
  2. GIFMaker.me – This site allows you to reduce size, resize, reverse, merge and split GIFs. You can crop, rotate, and compress animated GIFs as well.

 

 

Screen Capture –Content Tools Jing

  1. Jing – Jing is a killer free software tool for screen capture that has a few handy editing tools like the ability to highlight, add arrows, add boxes, and change image size.
  2. Snagit (Mac & Windows) ($49.95) – Snagit is the older brother of Jing more features like creating videos of your screen (say for online tutorials) and clearly a cost.
  3. Skitch (IOS only) ­- I haven’t used this, provided for choices.
  4. Print Screen – Windows + PrntScrn on a PC and in Mac Command + Shift + 4 will allow you to screen Content Tools Snagit Logocapture. Both of these are free, of course, but they don’t allow editing.

 

 

 

 

Typography

  1. Picmonkey ($30/year) – Again, PicMonkey allowsContent Tools Over logo you to add text to any image and play with fonts, colors, overlays, etc. Great tool and I’m quite happy with the price.
  2. Over – I didn’t add this in the Image creation section only because Over is an app for your mobile device. It also allows image creation and over-lays.
  3. Phonto – this app is super user friendly, man. There are a ton of fonts and it allows you to upload to Instagram directly from the app which is cool.
  4. Typorama – Ok, this is a KILLER app! Not only does it have different fonts but it offers many different creatively laid out fonts for super-fast content creation that. Each fContent Tools Phonto Logoont and stylistic layout will automatically change with one tap of your finger. FYI, some of the fonts require a purchase to unlock them but there is an awesome selection of free styles but they do come with a watermark. Definitely worth checking out. YES, you can share right from the app.
  5. Wordswag ($3.99) – I haven’t tried Wordswag. Provided to give you options.
  6. Studio – Cool little app that is mainly all about adding text. Check it out, you’ll master it in 30 seconds.
  7. Brandr – Brandr has all the typography elements but it also has a library of 1000’s of quotes already to share so that can save you some time as well.Content Tools Typorama logo

 

 

 

 

FREE Image Sources ***NOTE*** make sure you are aware of the license. On Google Images, Flickr, and sometimes Wikimedia Commons there are licenses that require you to attribute the photographer. On Google Images there are images that are owned by huge companies like Getty Images and these companies will sue you if you haven’t paid for the image license.Content Tools Search cc Logo

  1. creativecommons.org – This is probably my most used source for images. I go to Pixabay first, then to Wikimedia commons second, then to Flickr third.
  2. Pixabay – This is my favorite image site for the last few years. It is totally free and accessible via search.creativecommons.org.Content Tools Pixabay Logo
  3. Wikimedia Commons – Almost all the images here are free and you can use them however you want. You won’t typically find people on Pixabay so I go to Wikimedia Commons for that. Lots of vintage photos too, so that could be pretty cool branding DNA.
  4. Flickr – Flickr is an awesome site but be prepared to have to shout out the photographer. Usually their pretty good with that but you need to be aware.
  5. Unsplash – I JUST became aware of this site (by listening to an educational podcast…but I digress) and it is quite impressive. Have fun with these amazing hi res images. Instagram is ALL about images so they have to be compelling.Content Tools Wikipedia Commons Logo
  6. Google Images – I will use Google images a lot but usually for public domain type stuff like a meme, logo, record cover art work image, etc. BE CAREFUL with any other images.

 

 

Image EditorsContent Tools Afterlight Logo

  1. Afterlight – is a cool app with a suite of old timey filters and overlays that can definitely be used as a DNA “fingerprint” of sorts. A good way to separate yourself from all the other images out there with some filter “hook” that you dig.
  2. Hipstamatic – (IOS only) Apple’s first App of the Year. This app was a killer gift so I’m unsure of the cost but there is a cost. It’ll allow you to do multiple exposure shots for cool creative results. Also, you can manually control focus, white balance, exposure, shutter speed, ISO, and aspect ratio. It has a Classic Mode that makes your digital image look analog. Super COOL for creating your own visual voice with your content.Content Tools Hipstamatic Logo
  3. Framatic – (Free with a watermark) this cool app allows you to create quote MEMEs superfast and change the text design with one tap of your finger. Really worth checking in to.
  4. Squareready – (Free but there are Pro features that require payment) this app quickly formats your images to be ready for Instagram.

 

I hope you find some value out of this. Hit me up on social media and let me know which ones are your favorites and why!

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

If you like this content then please SHARE and COMMENT

 

 

 

 

Content Magic Glass FEATURE

If you’ve read my first book Music Marketing On Twitter: How To Get 1,000 Loyal Fans Every Month In Just 15 Minutes Per Day (whContent 1 Gift From Johnnyich I give out for free just click through if you don’t already have it) you have figured out how to identify your audience, target them, and connect with them on Twitter. You’re growing your audience. The next steps will require you to assemble a content strategy that will begin to deepen these new found relationships enough to monetize in the future.

First off we need to set some realistic expectations here. You Content Datingreally have to think of this like dating.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, there is a magic equation of content out there that will deeply connect you with your audience to get them interested in you enough to listen to your music.

 

Content Wizard

 Hopefully you and your music are compelling enough to persuade them to buy it, but all this doesn’t happen on the first date.

 

If you’re ready (y’all think you’re creatively ready and your product sounds competitive but most are not yet which is why you need help developing in that department…but I digress), they will respond but it will take more than a couple tweets to make that happen.

 

When you’re dating someone with the intention of beginning a relationship, you can’t expect to close the deal on the first date or the second date if you want it to be worth a damn.

Content Takes Time

Content marketing A.K.A. Permission Marketing takes time.

 

Let’s dive into some ideas to get you started on how to think about crafting YOUR content.

Content is about revealing who you are inside; it’s about your story.

 

Content Whats Your StoryAs a person.

As an artist.

As a musician.

As a fan.

As a music lover.

As a parent.

As a party animal.

As a comedian.

Your dark side.

Your funny side.

Your sad side.Content DNA

Your hopes.

Your dreams.

Your fears.

 

Get the picture?

 

I believe that every artist has a unique story to tell which will make them stand out.

 

This is the DNA to your brand.

 

Content Share Yourself

 

Sadly, most artists won’t be that vulnerable, or take that much time to dig down and bring all this “personality gold” up to the surface.

 

Wait, isn’t that the job description of an artist?

 

 

 

Here’s some soothing thoughts to take the edge off the quest to expose your inner artist soul.

 

Your beehive is out there no matter how crazy, weird, or controversial you are.

 

I love to tell my artists if your music only resonates with pale, young, Asian boys under the age of 14 with freckles, bad acne, and one leg, that club is out there and you can find them.Content Beehive

 

Small as that Universe may be, they ARE out there.

 

If you want to connect with them, you can.

 

So go for it.

 

 

 

Here are some content angles you should be considering:

  • Be interesting.
    • This should be easy if you consider yourself to be an artist. Your talent should be interesting or you need to consider a career change. We have had amazing success exposing our artist Bailey James’ talents on YouTube with Content Who You Areconsistent cover content. This now 13 year old has over 300,000 views and 3,250 subscribers. All completely organic without promotion (that’s about to change now that her debut single and EP are being released)
  • Be funny
  • Be controversial
  • Be an authority
  • Share discoveries and experiences
  • Be Weird
  • Introduce people to new things
  • Fascinate people
  • Be obnoxious
  • Surprise people
  • Be unconventional
  • Foster your uniqueness
  • Be curious

 

Here is a great example of artist content that capitalizes on MANY of these points. The artist is Social Repose. This dude is OUT THERE and I think he’s brilliant. He looks and acts outrageous and obnoxious. He’s unique, he’s humorous, and he’s controversial.

Content Social Repose Tour

 

 

Love him, hate him, be baffled by him, he has encapsulated so many sides of himself on several social media platforms that he is COMPELLING to watch.

 

On his YouTube channel he has a mixture of funny Vine-like videos (that were originally Vines originally and were repurposed to YouTube), cover songs (where he definitely puts HIS artistic interpretation on the track), interesting talent spotlight videos (where he will cover a song in 13 different vocal styles showcasing his vocal [and engineering/auto-tune] skill set), Interactive type videos (where he responds to haters, truth or dare tweets, and prank calls his fans).

 

 

Brilliantly, he has his own original material videos up there as well.

Content_Social_Repose_1

 

Note how some videos are very raw and some videos are more produced. Richie is extremely resourceful here and has conquered social media and found his audience.

 

I promise this kid is making a good living being a creative.

 

You should study this channel.

 

Now, I know what you’re thinking, (insert snotty 5-year-old voice here) “I’m not going to put on a headdress, crazy Goth makeup, flaunt some insect-like wings and act like a moron to get heard.”

 

Content_Social_Repose_Vocal_Cover

 

You’re missing the point.

 

See how he worked so many different facets of his personality into his social media content?

 

This is really him!

 

The question to ask yourself is, “what makes you compelling?”

Are you funny?

Are you controversial?

Are you angry about certain things?

Are you elated?

Tell the world and be clever about it.

 

If you’re a killer guitar player, play guitar. Post 15s videos on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube and make them feel something.

 

Get it?Content_Guitar_Player

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s another example. We have a client, who is a very fascinating individual.

 

Patience Reich is a female jazz singer (who is creating a pop record), Physician of internal medicine, Christian, and a humanitarian who regularly travels to Africa and Haiti to help children.

Content Patience 2

 

I look at all her attributes and see a tremendous amount of “Brand DNA” to work with. The content we create involves connecting with people who orbit around her same interests in and outside of music.

 

We put out humanitarian quotes and content. We encourage Patience to post real life images of her work when she is on a mission.

 

Patience regularly posts content of her religious interests like pics of her at church with different people, etc. Never preachy, just inspirational content and to a degree, voyeuristic in that we get to see into her real life occasionally.

 

It’s clear she’s human, just like us.

Content Patience leastmedicines

 

 

 

We post funny, interesting content that revolves around Medical Doctors.

 

 

 

We post content about her favorite jazz artists and we make it attention-grabbing. Here is an example of a jazz music factoid that has had some great engagement.

Content Patience 1

 

 

Of course, we post clips of her live performances to introduce her vocal talent and connect her social media following with her artistry.

 

Patience DILIGENTLY responds to EVERYBODY that engages her and we are growing her account and most importantly, deepening these relationships.

 

 

 

They like herContent Patience 3.

 

They will buy from her.

But it takes time.

 

It takes time to find your voice but you HAVE TO FIND YOUR VOICE or you won’t stick out.

 

I promise if you approach your marketing and/or your artistry half-assed, nobody will care.

 

When you’re writing or performing songs, as an artist, you must hope to connect with your audience on some level, right?

 

You want them to be moved.

 

If they can relate to your story, you win.

 

Just approach your social media tactics in the same manner as you approach songwriting.

 

Bond with them emotionally.

 

Relate to them.

 

Here are 2 great books I would recommend to further your education on this subject.

Content Advanced Music Marketing

 

 

The first book is my new Advanced Music Marketing On Twitter release. This book teaches the next steps on how to cultivate your new audience relationships. It is a logical progression after you have absorbed the first book. There are a ton of tricks, techniques and strategies in this book to show you how we do what we do at Daredevil Production including the tools we use to make us as efficient as possible with our precious time.

 

 

 

Content Cracking The Content Code

 

 

 

The second book is The Content Code: Six Essential Strategies For Igniting Your Content, Your Marketing, And Your Business by Mark W. Schaefer. This book will help you formulate some purpose to your content. It will get your creative juices flowing.

 

 

 

 

 

These books (and any others you may read) can’t tell you EXACTLY what YOU should be doing with YOUR content because you are a unique person

 

You are a unique artist.

 

So you have to attack this with the idea that these books will help you connect some dots, using that big brain of yours, and help you apply solid strategies to your specific personality that will resonate.

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

If you thought this article was helpful, SHARE it please!

 

The Climb 200x200

 

P.S. You might also like my new podcast called The CLIMB with my cohost and hit songwriter Brent Baxter. We discuss the business of songwriting and of course, we talk about marketing music for singers, songwriters, and artists. You can download this podcast for free on iTunes or by clicking through.

 

Hope You Are Your Only Hope Feature

This is the absolutely most exciting time in the history of the music business. It’s unprecedented because you can create any kind of art you want and bring it to the world with the least amount of roadblocks. If you choose to, as an artist, you can create without a committee. Some of you areHope Exciting Time probably scoffing at that but most of you inadvertently create by committee because you’re too focused on emulating what is popular instead of finding your own voice.

 

What is popular these days whether it’s good or bad in your subjective opinion, was created by committee.

Finding your own voice is mission critical to true originality.

 

Finding your own voice is important to me mostly because, like you, I care mostly about ME.

 

Hope Relating

 

That is what will make you stand out from the crowd. Your own voice is truly interesting because somewhere in your own story, there are a couple threads, gestures, stories, experiences, downfalls, victories, struggles, and failures that I can relate to.

If I can relate to your reality, instead of a concocted image or alter-ego, our artist-consumer bond will strengthen.

 

 

That’s real.

 

The music business has always been about relationships and most of you are aware of this to point of it becoming a cliché. You think about these relationships in terms of business relationships. However, I would take it a step further and tell you that the music business is now all about relationships with your fans. Deep relationships at that or at least far deeper than a “follow” or a “like”.

 Hope Like Strength Equation 2

The music business used to be about B2C or business to consumer. Now it’s about P2P or people to people.

 

The artist that focuses on how to do that, how to make the fans feel as if they have a relationship with said artist, is the artist who cracks the Hope Code Laptopcode for success in the NEW music business, You will be the artist that fans will pay money to see live, to download your whole record, and to be a part of your tribe.

 

 

Today is so freaking exciting because YOU have the power. YOU have the strength, YOU have access to all the knowledge you choose to seek out, YOU have the ability, YOU have the talent and as long as YOU are willing to do something about it, there is hope.

 

Hope You Have the Power MEME

 

Hope that your music will become the soundtrack to a specific beehive of people.

 

Hope that your song will become my jam.

 

As long as YOU embrace the challenge of reaching the fans through marketing as seriously as you take the challenge of reaching them through your music, YOU will be successful. There is HOPE

 

YOU will live your dream.

 

Hope Dreams Come True

 

 

 

 

Or at least there is hope that you will live your dream.

 

 

 

 

 

I want you to read this excerpt from an amazing book I am reading called The Content Code by Mark W. Schaefer.

 

This is a marvelous, inspiring period of history when you can shed the traditional burdens of authority and build true influence on the webHope Content Code through your own merits. On the web, nobody cares where you went to college or how much money you have. The color of your skin or your body mass index don’t keep you from connecting to people on your own terms. Your ability to walk or run or even speak doesn’t matter because you can publish.

 

Yes, you can bring your work of art to a targeted audience of people who are predisposed to liking your style of music.

 

You can learn the psychological steps a consumer needs to take to internalize your music and make your song their jam.

 

You can find 1,000 Superfans that will pay $100 per year to experience you in all your glory.

Hope Superfan Meme

 

 

The music business will be better for it.

 

 

 

Gone are the days where a couple radio Program Directors decide what you will listen to, what you will like, and ultimately what music will become the soundtrack of your life. Now you get to choose.Hope No Board Of Directors

 

Gone are the days where a committee of corporate executives get to decide whether you’ll get a record deal and a shot an entertainment career. Now you get to choose.

 

 

Taylor Swift said “Today artists get record deals because they have fans, not the other way around.”

Hope Taylor Swift MEME

 

 

The internet holds the power of the radio times the whole world. The power to influence is more sophisticated but also more powerful and longer lasting.

 

It’s more sophisticated because the internet is decidedly NOT broadcasting which is how we are all used to being exposed to new music. The language has to change from what we know and what we’re used to. That will require innovation much like your music.

 

 

 

Playing an instrument well is extremely difficult.

 

Writing a really good song is extremely difficult because it requires simplicity and economy of words.Hope Guitar Lessons

 

Singing really well is astoundingly difficult and rare. This is why we are so impressed with musical talent. This is why we put rock stars on pedestals.

 

They make us feel.

They make us think.

They make our lives better.

Sometimes they make our lives tolerable.

 

So marketing in the NEW music business can be done well. It has been done well. One has to approach it like the burden they took on to learn to play guitar. I’ll bet most people spent MONEY on lessons, practiced for hours, spent MONEY on guitars, they spent MONEY on amplifiers, straps, guitar stands, cords, pedals, strings, and seasonal maintenance.

Why not marketing?

 

Hope Guitar Gear License Germanium

 

Why not approach marketing the same way one would approach learning a new instrument with all the costs and time involved in acquiring the necessary gear and attention to learning how to make it work correctly?

 

What would happen if a bunch of artists took on the challenge of reaching fans and treated it like the art form that it is?

 

What would happen if these forward thinking artists truly understood the difference between the art of connecting with someone through music and the art of connecting with someone through the internet?

Hope Code

 

What would happen if they spent the same amount of time and money learning to master music marketing as they did to master their instrument?

Connecting with fans is easy and sadly, most artists ignore that.

 

Deepening the relationship is more challenging.

 

Once an artist master the art of creating Superfans, they will own the world.

 

The internet is more powerful because one video can be seen by fans all over the globe as opposed to restricted to one market like a radio station or one country like MTV.

 

Never before has the music industry been more pregnant with opportunity for any artist who is smart enough to see the writing on the wall.

Hope the Unheard

 

Since most artists either can’t see it or choose to ignore it, the performers that do embrace the learning and master marketing will easily rise above the din of the abundant unheard.

 

I just giggled at that.

 

Separate yourself from the unheard.

 

There is hope for the artists who are smart enough, driven enough, and that really work towards getting their music heard.

 

This is the most exciting time in the music business but code you have to crack has changed, man.Hope Dreams flag

 

I say it’s exciting because you are the only one standing in your way; just you and your excuses.

 

You have access to all the tools, all the education, and all the methodologies you need to find your real voice in your music, create that music, and master the art of exposing your music to a targeted audience.

 

Hope Access

 

You are your only hope.

 

The artists that become aware will become successful.

 

The artists who choose to remain naïve will disappear amongst the unheard.

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

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