Sell Your Album Online with TuneCore
If you are a Musician, Artist, Songwriter, or creative professional with something to share, please feel encouraged to use this forum, as we want to hear from you. We receive a lot of comments that inspire us to keep going, and we are oh-so-very grateful for them. If you have a music-related web site you would like to share, don’t be shy. You can post a link to your band’s web site in the “Comments” section, and also use it to network with other musicians and songwriters. If you are a music promotion resource or blog, we definitely want to hear from you.
***Barnes & Noble has the ONLY music promotion book that will show you how to launch a successful music career, REGARDLESS of your age. Don’t want to wait for the book, and don’t own a Nook? You can ALSO order an Instant Download by clicking here.
Like most established music promotion sites, we do get our fair share of spam. People will sometimes write good comments but post a link to irrelevant web site content related to other subjects that have nothing to do with music promotion, Artists, or anything pertaining to music. As much as we would like to cater to everyone, we are a music promotion Forum, and are not interested in turning our music promotion site into a smorgasbord of non-music related material. This will lessen both the literal and the publically-perceived value of our blog as a viable resource of useful information for musicians and songwriters; particularly those who work diligently to their music careers through DAILY music promotion tasks. If anyone is posting irrelevant links in our “Comments” section, they will be deleted.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
© 2010 – Paul Alexander for: www.MusiciansCompanion.net – All Rights Reserved. Paul Alexander Music: http://www.PaulAlexanderMusic.com – The Official Home of Paul Alexander Music.
Music promotion, music marketing, and music publicity should be fully automated. In the cyber-age, this cannot be emphasized enough. If I sound like a broken record at times (no pun intended), be thankful. The key point to remember is that, sources of automated music promotion, music marketing, and music publicity should not serve as a substitute to your own efforts with promoting your songs. They are meant to enhance your music promotion efforts, and help save you valuable time and money. Many companies exist solely for the purpose of promoting your songs to online magazines and media outlets. This doesn’t mean that all companies that do this will benefit you, especially if you happen to be lazy and expect them to make you a Star on your own behalf. You (ideally) need to be playing live or, at the very least, promoting your songs and their message for yourself, with a minimum of one serious task a day (as I continually mention throughout this blog). Make sure you know exactly what you’re getting, and if it is possible to follow up with any company that has received your music. The great news is that you can also ingest a music video these days, and thanks to high definition video cameras available at very inexpensive prices, getting a crew together and creating a WELL-EDITED video (your music video should be very well-edited) should not be difficult or expensive to shoot, copyright, and release.
More to come.
(C) 2010 – Paul Alexander for: www.MusiciansCompanion.net – All Rights Reserved. Paul Alexander Music: http://www.PaulAlexanderMusic.com – The Official Home of Paul Alexander Music.
As you sell your music online, get your music on itunes, and further advance into the digital age, please keep in mind that the entire music industry and entertainment industries are heading in this direction. The idea that the cyber-world will be used “exclusively” to sell downloads is a “space-saving,” (no pun intended) welcome concept, thus indicating that you do, in fact, have to be “in it to win it.” My book provides you with so many different options to be “in it and win it.”
In reference (and as a reminder) from my prior article that shows you another way to sell your downloads, I want to point out that, not only is it imperative that you do sell your music online and get your music on itunes if you want to earn money with your music, but that, the good news is, you have a ton of choices to work with. The choices of how to sell your music online and how to get your music on itunes (in terms of which company to go with) go far beyond the online realm when it comes down to additional assistance you will need, and where to properly obtain it.
I’ve mentioned in the past that you cannot possibly do all this by yourself. Every year around July, Music Connection magazine published their (extremely) valuable (and annual) directory of “everything indie.” There were over 600 contacts in this past issue that go far beyond online music promotion. It expands to include many indie record labels, publicity, promoters, and marketers. Even if you don’t live in California, I recommend getting a copy of this highly valuable issue.
Here is a great way to sell downloads of your new book, manuscript, or even music in the form of instant digital downloads, including full color covers, without having any overhead and still getting paid over and over again. The company is called Payloadz, their “basic” account is free, and they’re programmed to work exclusively with any PayPal account. All you would need to do is convert your MS Word or text file to a pdf file (the kind of file that works with Adobe). If you are a musician, you can sell music downloads (and more) as well, so this applies to you, too.
Here are the steps to creating and selling an instant digital download of your book without spending any money. Now you can sell downloads easily, and from one place, without all the headache:
1.) Go to PayPal and sign up for a verified business account (which is free).
2.) Go to www.pdf995.com and download the free pdf converter (it installs in two parts, and it gets loaded as a printer on your local hard drive, which you designate when you want to change any word processing document into a pdf file so that people cannot edit or steal your content in any way). It “prints” to your screen (instead of on paper), and then you just save it as a pdf file on your desktop. Also, if you pitch your writing project to any companies, you can (and should) send the book as an attached pdf file. It’s completely professional to do so when you upload your work to sell digital downloads (plus saves time, money, and trips to the Post Office) when you sell downloads instead of mailing physical copies of your work.
3.) Once you’ve converted your file, go to the www.payloadz.com website, sign up for an account, upload your book in pdf format, set your price, and then you’re good to go using their buttons on your existing web site (which work with any existing PayPal account).
Wishing you luck with your latest masterpiece!
I would feel a bit more than discouraged if I did not reference an upcoming song I produced (a song I love very much) that came about from a tediously needless post-production process that I devote this article to you in hopes you WON’T have to go through this same acoustic-perfecting nightmare I went through and which I too could have avoided. If you absolutely must bring back an analog song from the dead, read my past article: Music Producer Software: Get Your Songs Off Those Dusty Shelves, With Or Without Using It. In terms of productivity in the song production and completion process (particularly if you like to make a lot of beats and add wonderful percussion and instrumental melodies, with or without vocals), you’d likely be far better off if you invested in an inexpensive beat maker software or music making software that you can work on from your laptop, at home, at the studio, or at the airport, etc. They are fun and they are relatively cheap these days. Music production software (and technology in general) has come a long way in automating music production strategies. If you’re a solo songwriter, you could probably speed up (tremendously) your own finished or skeleton productions to vocally record over. If you are an electronic musician, this should be vitally important, considering all the far more expensive equipment you have invested in. The music is digital from this type of music software, and is easily downloaded to MP3 with crystal-clear sound quality.
**Please note the HUGE differences in prices by clicking these two links: Sony Creative Software ACID Music Studio 8.0 – 2011
In terms of an electronic music career (specifically), you could work with one of hundreds of software programs and save time and money, OR you could consider a course or program in electronic music production if you want to learn to make electronic music. An example of a school that has this (rare?) type of program is www.SAE.edu. They have campuses all over the world with one particular specialty in electronic music production. They also have programs for every other aspect of media production.
We are still in times of brilliance, despite all the things that have changed around us, though we are continuously masked with “fear against will,” along with a fluctuating economy and employment rate, “boy-who-cried-wolf” statements from the media regarding nuclear threats that ultimately prove to be “spun out of proportion,” scaring the heck out of people anyway, with the ultimate consequence of making many feel “powerless” and, therefore, “obedient.” People often forget that they have the freedom to “turn it all off” with the push of a button. We still (thankfully) have the luxury of owning the remote control along with the television set. Yet, we are now required to “pay” each month for many irresponsible messages on the airwaves.
Regardless of your age or the status of your music career, you need a place to escape to and clear your head. The first thing you should focus on is your finances. I realize that it’s not much fun but, if you don’t save yourself economically, you could fall prey in the future to a situation you might deem “horrifically unwelcome” down the road, since you would have to “rely” on public assistance for help if you don’t secure your own finances today. There is no way you can expect to have security and, therefore, inner-peace, if you haven’t managed “your” American dollar. If your music career is moving along at a glacially-slow pace, remind yourself of the wisdom behind the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare, remembering that “movement” is “movement,” so long as that’s what you’re doing, and you’ve mapped out a game plan that works for you (individually). More on this later and, yes, I can help you, but let’s get back to finances. There are things you can easily do right now to ensure your long-term financial survival. Click here to read my past article: 3 Easy Steps To financial Freedom For Musicians and Songwriters. This article will create a financial game plan for musicians.
I want you to have enough money down the road “regardless” of how much money you earn through your music. Please clear your head for a moment to (meditate) on these upcoming suggestions. We are living in times when solo artists, songwriters, and bands can do very simple things to secure their financial futures, regardless of age. Due to the circumstances of a fluctuating marketplace (which most musicians don’t have the time to pay attention to, especially if there is money in one’s pocket “at the moment”), there is an opportunity to just understand and accept these volatile times in the stock market and in the fluctuating employment rate by making a decision to just focus for a single day on setting up an IRA or IRA Roth retirement account, even if the idea seems preposterous to you, given your present income (or lack thereof). You can always stop a contribution during any month if you need to, but the account “still stands.” My goal is not that of a financial advisor, nor can I take any legal responsibility for any advice you take from this site, but I can tell you this much; companies like Fidelity.com and Schwab.com (among many others, I don’t play favoritism) make it easy to start with fixed, automatic monthly deductions from your checking account, investing in national and international funds designed for an individual’s “personal life cycle,” with one not needing to know “anything” about investing if you choose an IRA or IRA Roth “life cycle” account, some of which require as little as $200.00 to get started. Your contributions are carefully managed by the investment firm each month on your behalf.
While a savings account with an interest rate as high as you can get it is more important for you right now in terms of six months living expenses (easily do the research on interest rates at bankcard.com), try your very best to cut any corners on any spending you do daily that, if you stop for a moment, can successfully “qualify” in your mind as an item you can do without, if for nothing else, with the effort of supplying your own “private” retirement account, especially if you don’t get retirement through your employer. People can get themselves crazy each day if they take all the messages of “fear” to heart regarding economic catastrophe on day one, followed by hope on day two. Things are most often “pre-planned” by the media to be presented to you over time, not unlike spoon-feeding a baby. Thankfully, as musicians and songwriters, you already know better than to “eat it.” Creativity is the antidote to partially-administered facts. What choice does one have (anyway) but to fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle of information we receive and, better yet, why not make sure the puzzle, once completed, ends up looking like the way YOU envisioned it to look, since they intentionally left pieces out? The above financial steps are the most logical and “safest” steps you can take for your financial future (in addition to tuning out a lot of the fear around you).
In addition to the fact that a substantial portion of your music career can be marketed online today, also true is the fact that, if you are so inclined, you can set up your entire IRA online (though I recommend speaking with a specialist first). I talk a lot about the concept of “automating” one’s life to work for you, and not the other way around, in my book: “The Musician’s Companion.” Automating your finances is just a start, so go take care of your finances first. I will talk more about creative ways to automate your music career.
(C) 2010 – Paul Alexander for www.MusiciansCompanion.net – All Rights Reserved. Paul Alexander Music: http://www.PaulAlexanderMusic.com – The Official Home of Paul Alexander Music.
First of all, I got a flood of comments for some older posts I wrote before the holiday and, THANK YOU SO MUCH to readers who have taken the time to actually read and truly listen with their (inner) ears. I am very grateful. By the way, I dug up this URL for you to visit: www.famewizard.com.
Now, let’s get on to some quick specifics about publicity for your music! I have to stress that you really can’t do “all of this” by yourself. If there is any way you can get a publicist to help you (especially solo artists and songwriters), this would be very helpful. Music Publicity ranges greatly in price, and you get what you pay for. Having a Publicist run a music campaign is generally expensive, but a great publicist can really amp up your exposure. My thinking is that anybody who needs a publicist should find a great one with a steady track record of success who is (ideally) in the same city as you live in (or very close to it) so that you can establish a working relationship, and the publicist knows that you are doing your part too by performing or at least having new songs to push. There are great publicists, there are horrible publicists, and there are also thieves in this world. Therefore, paying someone you don’t know that much about who lives in a different state than you do is the easiest way to get screwed. That’s not to suggest that you can’t have one in a different city in the future, so long as you are also living/working in multiple cities across the country as a “working act.”
The true spirit of independence is not found within the realm of fragmentation between the independent and major music industries. It is a singular industry because music is music. You have the freedom to promote your music and sell your music. It’s the only way to get your music out there.
One band of musicians helping each other in the macro sense is the real virtue behind any real music artist or artists. Again, this is not a singular concept, nor is it a new one. You must be promoting your music everyday. Start with one or two daily tasks that enable you to stop at nothing until those tasks are completed.
It’s nice to know that our sense of national pride is still very healthy and in full swing. I got to celebrate the holiday outside CBS studios to watch the fireworks. As Artists, we are on a global mission to change the scope of thinking and feeling throughout the human race. Yes, our goal really is that big and that important. Do you include yourself within this mission?
The New Years holiday is not the only time to come up with worthy resolutions. Independence Day is the perfect time as well to get serious about renewing or modifying your resolutions (and revolutionary vows) through music. Music promotion means you must sell your music. It is not a crime. Make sure your music is available for sale on your music website. Accomplishing this is a means to an end, with the end serving as the means (since the process never really ends at all). We are a free country, and a free market economy. We work each day towards a free world, regardless of whether or not all people among the human race agree. Most secretly agree. Believe these words. By the way, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!
Home Recording: Thy daunting task before thee
It was miserable for me, really. Actually, it was misery mixed with painful hope. I had something “good” for a musical recording I was working on, but I did not have something “great.” Well, maybe some will disagree, but after 10 hours playing doctor at the mixing board and 100,000 variations of percussion (okay, I’m exaggerating by 50,000 or so), I have to say that I did accomplish something: I went from the realm of “good” to “better.” Here is my point:
Whether you’ve come to this conclusion already on your own, but tend to forget or lose sight of it, I’m here to remind you that the very best thing that you can do is “take a break” from it and listen to it the next day when you are a whole new musician with a different blend of musical creativity in your head.
Yes, I’ve been close to disgusted and unusually hard on myself (which really isn’t all that unusual). However, I did actually “have to” utilize “a slant on the strategy” I wrote about in this previous article as a method of slowing down an analog track that could not be slowed down anymore within its current mode. It took hours. This was one variation on a prior lesson I wrote about that I hoped I would NEVER have to do again. One thing is certain though: it works; so should you. The only way to make it happen and turn that “good” into “great” is to take the time and “spend the time,” finishing your soon-to-be polished recordings in an ergonomically comfortable environment designed for the “short attention span.” Dale Carnegie would even agree, despite the arduous or frustrating circumstances you might be working under. The very greatest of accomplishments have been completed during the worst of times and circumstances. By the way, I am not saying you have a short attention span , but many creative people do, and I have my own moments.
Again, thank you for these continued comments. It is really my hope that musicians and music-related websites leave genuine comments from their actual “craft” of making music and writing songs. I am grateful you have taken the time to read.
© 2010 – Paul Alexander for www.MusiciansCompanion.net – All Rights Reserved. Paul Alexander Music: http://www.PaulAlexanderMusic.com – The Official Home of Paul Alexander Music.
I have just finished recording an instrumental; a very cool instrumental. Actually, an incredible instrumental, at least by my ears, and there’s a reason that the song turned out so successfully. Yes, the fact that I happened to be brewing with creativity at the time of recording is, in fact, a key variable, though had little to do with the ergonomic comfort of my studio I “recreated” before getting serious about finishing up new and existing jobs “on a time line.” I reorganized my home recording studio and office, using some principles of Feng Shui. Let’s talk about you doing the same, but not in the way you might typically do, once in a blue moon. Here are some quick home recording studio tips and suggestions.
**For starters, SIMPLIFY your home recording studio efforts by clicking here: Tascam DP-03 Digital Portastudio (SD/CD)
In keeping with the concept creating an ergonomic recording studio, we are a going to follow a quotations written by Henry David Thoreau: “Simplify, Simplify.” Get the equipment that saves you the very most room (and money) when home recording, but make sure it can do the same as the highest calibar digital home recording studio, including burning a CD of your FINISHED musical masterpiece. The simpler the set-up of your home recording studio, the better, especially if you’re on a budget.
Seeing that we are near at the new moon of June 2010, I want you to start thinking about “ergonomics.” The literal definition of “Ergonomics” is: human engineering. The specific (self) instruction of applying ergonomics, as it pertains to your home recording studio or recording studio and office/workspace, goes like this: You need to take your mixing board, musical instruments, laptop computer (which you’d better own), all music files you have (preferably organized neatly with lyrics and contact information on your desktop and backed up on memory sticks you take VERY good care of), get them organized in a comfortable way within the room that you work in. What is the point of having your computer stationed on an (ergonomic?) computer desk, complete with your mixer, effects processors, and instruments/microphones in place, if you have ignored the fact that the CD burner is on the opposite side of the room (though connected by a trusty chord, that you must get out of your chair to travel to it when you need to use it)? Why ignore that one variable? There are countless other little inconveniences that add up to a HUGE inconvenience on your body if your studio is only set up ergomically at 90%. We want to strive for COMPLETELY (self-human-engineered) approaches to complete body comfort and efficiency of movement (aka “freedom”) as you go to work, undisturbed, on all your projects. A lack of ergonomics in any home recording studio will DEFINITELY break your concentration with regularity, make you get up out of your chair (and your chair had better be COMFORTABLE and GOOD FOR YOUR POSTURE), only to break your focus and waste valuable time.
