Every week, we highlight one of our favorite websites on Bandzoogle.

Who: 5th Projekt
What: Ambient, psychedelic art-rock.
Where: Toronto, Canada
Why their website rocks: What’s not to love about this website? It displays excellent and consistent branding, has a great homepage with calls-to-action for their mailing list and a free download, plus the site features a nice, clean navigation experience. And to top it all off, their online shoppe highlights a nice integration with the Topspin store (one of Bandzoogle’s E-Commerce features), is well organized, and offers everything from a $3 vinyl sticker to a $45 deluxe package for their fans.

Check it out at: www.5thprojekt.com

5 Ways to Get Your Music Noticed by Music Bloggers

This is a guest post by Andrew Zarick. Andrew is the Founder & CEO of StereoGrid, a music delivery network that allows artists to easily deliver music to and gain fans and insights from the dissemination of promotional music to music bloggers and press. He is also founder of rap blog 100BestRapSongs.com.

As both a music blogger at 100BestRapSongs.com and founder of StereoGrid, a music platform that specializes in helping artists deliver and disseminate promotional music, I've witnessed first-hand the good, bad and the ugly associated with artist PR and vying for music blogger and press attention.

Speaking as a music blogger, I often times receive upwards of 30-40 new music submissions a day. Many top tier bloggers receive even more than that. That means that your music submission, assuming you sent it via email, will fall somewhere in between the hundreds or maybe even thousands of other non-music related spam emails that the blogger receives on a daily basis.

There are a number of things that you can do as an artist or artist manager to give your submission a better chance of being opened, being viewed, being listened to, and then hopefully, being written about and shared.

Here Goes...

1) Understand Your Press List

Have the individuals on your press list written about similar artists in the past? Do they only write about pop music or do they also tend to write about up and coming artists? Do they only write about certain genres of music? Does your music fall within that genre?

A quick way to see if a blog has written about an artist you think you're similar to is to do a Google Search with "site:blogname.com artist name" - Google will show you a list of search results from that blog featuring that artist.

2) Have a Detailed Subject Line

If you're going to stand out from the crowd you better have a damn good subject line. Is your song a new release? Say so. Is there an MP3/Video attached? Call that out. Is your song featuring a big name artist that might be more well-known than yourself? Call it out.

Good Examples:

MP3/Video: Fatal Lucciauno - "Big Bro" (Prod. By Kuddie Fresh) + "Flawed" Freestyle
(Music Submission) Smoke - Goin Hammer (Feat. Chalie Boy and Gorilla Zoe)

3) Keep the Description Simple

Remember that the recipients of your song submission receive many submissions per day. They don't want to read a novel when determining whether or not to listen to and post a song. Tell a concise story about who you are and your music. Have you been featured elsewhere? Toured with a famous band? Have a famous cousin? Why are you different? Why should we care about you?

Confusion from Pigeons and Planes says,

"…the pitches that get my most attention are the simple ones that make it easy to check out the music. When it comes to indie/unknown artists, it all depends on the music. If I get an email with 20 attachments, a short story’s worth of writing, and links to everything the artist has ever done, I’m not likely to check it out. If I see a simple message with one song, and if I like that song, I’m going to do what I can to support."

4) Include Essential Song Assets

Music bloggers really like presentation. If you're lucky enough to have a compelling enough subject line to get an email open, further bring the music blogger into your world with well designed artwork.

Winston "Stone" Ford from The Couch Sessions makes the point,

"Any artist at this time needs artwork and presentation. If you actually have really good cover art, that’s what I gravitate towards and click on first."

Ensure that the blogger has all the assets they need to create a solid blog post. This means include links to music videos, external URLs like your website and social media presences in addition to your artwork and song description.

"Always present yourself professionally and keep a very strong brand image. It is all about keeping your brand and product as high quality as possible." - David Reyneke, Potholes In My Blog

5) The Infamous Media Player Embed

The most essential asset to include in your email is a link to your music. This is so essential that I'm giving it its own section. Realize that even successful bloggers sometimes have other day jobs that don't involve blogging. This means that a lot of work is done via mobile phone. Attach your mp3 file (or a snippet at least) to the email itself when sending so that the blogger can listen to your song while on the move. But don't stop there! Also clearly call out in your email where the blogger can go to get the media player embed code so that they can easily publish a media player with your song. If you want to get super fancy, include the actual embed code in your email as well.

The Most Common Mistake

"Spamming. Spamming is the biggest mistake that a lot of independent artists do. A lot of artists ask me, ‘how can I get noticed? How can I blow up on Nah Right? How can I blow up on The Smoking Section?’ Well, you have to create a buzz for yourself on your own. Spamming Nah Right, spamming me, sending me emails, sending me tweets is not going to help anybody. So what you have to do is create noise for yourself. When you create the buzz, I’ll be knocking on your door. Stop spamming. It simply does not work." - Trent Fitzgerald, Beats and Rants

And remember...

"Great music will always transcend, but to get it out there and help it in that process, you have to have a lot of things in place. A compelling story, identity, distinctive style, and aggressive personality. Put yourself out there with those bloggers/fans/community respect and engage them with no end." - David Johnson-Igra, SF Critic

It's festival submission time again! Whether you already have a hard copy of your presskit, or you are starting from scratch, it is always a great idea to add a digital press kit page to your website. Sonicbids and ReverbNation provide great options for online presskits already, which you can integrate into your Bandzoogle site easily. Here I'll write about how to create an online presskit through Bandzoogle.

The first step is compiling the information, and add it to the appropriate page features.

• Write a bio: This is probably the hardest part of creating a press kit, and arguably the most important. A lackluster bio will steer festival directors away from your band. Treat your bio how you would a hit song - hooks. You have to keep your reader interested. We have several help articles on this topic, but we can never stress the importance of a good bio enough. Think of it as a cover letter on your resume.
• Add sound and video: Create a medley or select tracks you are best known for. Make sure these are high quality versions; our players allow you to set the quality of all tracks from low to uncompressed. You can use an audio player that will create a unique play list for your EPK page, and even customize the player colour in the Options to match your album or website design. If you have a music video or live show footage with a good sound, you can also add it via the YouTube feature. This works great in conjunction with your players, as it will automatically pause other music on your site when played.
• In the news: Pull together press clippings, blog posts, quotes, awards, nominations, interviews. You can make them available in list form through a text feature, and add download links (for BZ members: search for ADD LINK in your Help section to find out how) for visitors. Try to link to the content within your site; the content may become unavailable on external sites sooner than you notice, and broken links would look unprofessional to A&R reps.
• Image is everything: Take some high resolution band photos to get started. High res photos are key for your band's professional image since they won't appear blurred or pixelated in print or blog posts.
• Current affairs: Have a new album coming out? Touring this Summer? Let media know where to find you next, and that you are actively involved in making music. Add an Event feature to show case upcoming and past shows, or a News feature to keep your information fresh.
• Contact info: This is a good opportunity to use the custom mail form, which allows you to create a list of specific information that is sent to the email address of your choice (like your manager instead of your drummer.)

Creating the layout

Feature titles will help properly label your content and let the visitor know what information they are looking at. I would also recommend titling the page Press Kit and adding it to the main menu, so that it can be found easily. Below are some great examples of Bandzoogle members with really well organized electronic press kits created using internal links, clean layouts and Bandzoogle features. The result is really attractive Press Kit pages that are easy to navigate. Enjoy!

www.maktub.com

www.tylerkealey.com


www.kelseyjillette.com

www.roblutes.com

Every week, we highlight one of our favorite websites on Bandzoogle.

Who: Carrie Johnson What: In addition to performing as a pop/country crossover artist, Carrie is also a private vocal, guitar and songwriting instructor with over 150 songs in her catalog. Where: All over the US; currently writing and recording in Hartford and Nashville. Why her website rocks: Simply laid out and well organized, this site features a very clear navigation, and a great content layout out using columns. The homepage is attractive, with good variety for visitors: great videos, the all important call to action (linking to her Store page), and she engages fans with personal stories in her blog.

Check it out at http://carriejohnsonmusic.com/

New Year’s Resolutions for Musicians From Bandzoogle & Sonicbids Part 4: Tour Tips

So here’s the final blog post of our New Year’s Resolutions series. Now that you’ve got your budget and funding together and your online presence is looking tight, it’s time to hit the road! But before you do, check out these tips from Bandzoogle and Sonicbids.

Oh the places you’ll go: Decide where you’ll play

Before you hit the road, it’s important to map out where you’d like to play. There are a couple of things to consider including your draw in certain regions or cities, how many shows you can afford to play and the location and timing specific festivals or venues that you hope to play.

Draw.

While it’s always great to explore new parts of the country, if you don’t have any fans or connections with bands on the opposite coast, it may make more sense to focus your tour on cities surrounding your hometown. Starting close to home can help build up fans in your region and it’s easier to get back out for extra shows! If you’re ready to hit the road in far off town, think about gig swapping (see below).

Budget.

Now that you have a budget together, it’s important to try to stick to it. That may mean touring in towns where you have friends to crash with (save costs on hotels) or only traveling for 10-days at a time. Get together and talk about the challenges for being on the road, where will you sleep, how much money can you spend on food each day, how will you pay for gas. Once you’ve got a plan, the tour will go much more smoothly.

Special shows.

Playing festivals or specific venues can help put your band on the map – and it’s a great excuse to build a tour around those dates. Before hitting the road this year, think about what larger gigs you are hoping to book and map out your travels with those dates and locations in mind.

Band tip: When you are looking at venues or festivals you want to play consider what level your band is at. If you haven’t played for more than 100 fans, you may not get booked for a festival like Bonnaroo but there are plenty of other festivals that you could be a great fit for. Also, before submitting to festivals, do your research and think like a booker. Will your sound fit in with the likes of the headliners? Will you be able to draw to that location?

Going on Tour: Tips for getting your band booked

So you’ve identified the cities and venues that you want to play and now it’s time to start booking the shows. Here are 5 tips to give yourself the best shot at getting booked:

1. Think at least 4-5 months in advance: Most venues are booked several months in advance, and the more popular a venue, the further in advance you should contact them.

2. Keep it short: When contacting a booking agent, keep it short. Bookers get a ton of emails, so try and keep the email to a couple of paragraphs, and include the following info:

• Your band name & date you want to book, and any other bands who will be performing


• Link to music that they can listen to (if linking to your website, make sure your music is easy to find), or simply link to your EPK.


• Link to a live video, if not already contained in your EPK. Band tip: Unless requested, don’t attach large files to your email. Simply include links to music, photos and videos.


• Brief promo plan: How are you going to get people out to the show? You don’t have to write a full promo plan, but mention things like a media/publicity campaign/hiring a publicist, or if you have data of how many mailing list subscribers, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers you have in that city. Band tip: Use TweepsMap to find out where your Twitter followers are from, and for Facebook, use your page Insights to see what cities your fans are from.

3. Be honest: Whatever you do, don’t lie about your draw. You’re better off being honest with a booker about what your draw really is rather than stretching the truth and disappointing them.

4. Follow-up: Bookers are very busy people, so be patient. If you didn’t get a response right away, chances are they just haven't had time to check out your music yet. Follow-up to see if your message has been received, but whatever you do, don’t try to rush them or sound annoyed that they haven’t gotten back to you. Be persistent, but always be polite.

5. Team up with a local band: When playing in a new city, it always helps to play with a local band who is known to the venue.

Speaking of teaming up with local bands, let’s talk about gig swapping.

Get Swappy: Gig Swaps

Gig swapping is a fantastic way to build your fan base and help bookers build out a night of music, rather than trying to figure out where to schedule you. Here’s how it works:

Research bands: Check out bands in other cities with similar sounds to your band (aka you’d be great on a bill together). Check out their fanbase on social media and the types of venues they regularly play.

Reach out: Connect with the band to see if they’d be interested in opening for you in your hometown in exchange for an opening slot at their next gig in their town.

Band tip: Not only are you making friends in the industry (being friends with bands is better than competing with them) but you are making it easier for a booking agent to fill their bills.

Fulfill your promise: Make sure you promote your local show so the other band has a chance to play to some new fans and make a great impression. After all, you want the same in return. Get some tips on promoting the show below!

Stay in touch: Beyond gig swapping, you never know when you need to borrow gear or have a place to crash so keep the door open.

Getting the word out: Promoting your tour

Once your tour is booked, it’s time to start getting the word out. An entire blog post could be dedicated to tour promotion, but here are some key areas to focus on:

Media & Publicity: If you plan on doing your own media and publicity, start doing outreach to media as soon as shows are booked. You can use resources like the Indie Bible or Musician’s Atlas to find newspapers/radio/blogs/podcasts to contact. Services like StoryAmp and StereoGrid can also help you connect with the media. And if you have a budget, you can hire local or regional publicists, but keep in mind that they can charge anywhere from $500 to over $2000 for one campaign.

Newsletter: Send an update to your whole mailing list with the full list of tour dates, then schedule reminders for each city, targeting only mailing list members from those cities.

Blogging: Keep your fans informed on your tour’s progress with stories from the road, show reviews, show previews, etc.

Video: Create video blogs, post live footage from tour, or even promo videos for each show.

Photos: Post photos on your website, Facebook page, and Twitter from shows. Photos from the road, from shows, photos of fans, fan-submitted photos, etc.

Facebook: Again, entire blog posts can be written about Facebook promotion, but be sure to cover the basics:

• Facebook Events: Create an event for each show and encourage fans to share it with their friends for each city you’re playing on tour.
• Regular updates on your fan page: Post photos from shows, blog posts, and videos on a regular basis to help create some buzz about your tour.
• Facebook Ads: Facebook Ads can help create awareness about shows, but don’t blow your budget doing this. Some bands find it helpful, others not as much, so proceed with caution, it can be easy to spend a lot of money.

Twitter: Post regular updates from the road, show reminders, links to blog posts, links to any press you’ve received, photos, links to videos, etc.

Contact fans individually: Last but not least, reach out to people on your mailing list, your Facebook Fans, and Twitter followers individually with short reminders about the upcoming show in their city. Even if you just do a little bit every day, it all adds up, and this personal touch will no doubt bring a lot of those people through the door.

This is just a quick overview of some of the promo you can do for your tour, but the bottom line is that you’re going to have to hustle and work hard every day, doing whatever you can to get people out to your shows. It’s a lot of work, but the thrill of packed shows and connecting with new fans will make it all worthwhile.

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Another blog series has come and gone but we hope you have found some tips and tricks to making 2012 the best year yet for you and your band. And of course, we are always looking to share more tips so leave your questions and comments below. Here’s to 2012!