2010 November 17th
This is one way on how you are to gain a fan.
The other day was just like any other day. I was on Twitter witnessing a lot of brain dumping and reckless statements. Per my usual, I would humor some of it with a response. On this particular day, I was having a discussion with Burn Rubber Sneaker Boutique and rapper Roland “Ro Spit” Coit about something he said, which led me to the following tweet.
No big deal, right? Of course not, I am just talking with my friend about music and the business of it. When out of the Twitter blue comes this:
Now you may look at this and say, “So?” My response to you would be, similar to what my Mother’s Mother would say in such an instance, “Child, bless your heart,” for you know not of a ground-breaking moment this is. If you remember me bitching about rappers, then you know I think they are the greatest spammers on the planet.
One of the biggest problems with spammers is that they don’t LISTEN. If you read this blog, then you know it’s a secret to success. That is why when an artist, who I do not have a personal relationship, actually responds to something I say in reference to them, a feeling of deep appreciation befalls me.
Read the rest of this entry »
Related Posts:
2010 May 17th
I have developed a set of music industry “secrets.” These “secrets” are designed to develop positive behavior, so do not expect a ton of tactical talk. Strategy will be the ultimate takeaway. In each shared “secret,” we are going to give ideas that should help you make the right changes toward a substantial music career. Be sure you check out the previous “secrets” of “Be Yourself” and “Reach Out” before reading this.
Photo by a_real_horrowshow_devotcha
Today, we wanted to share a small “secret” as we are preparing for major coverage on Movement – the annual electronic music festival in Detroit. In the middle of writing parts one and two for the music industry secrets, we realized there was a prevailing message that needed to be addressed to bridge the two. LISTENING is paramount. If more of us took time to listen more before running off at the mouth or at the keys, there would be less spam. We would not have as many people making tools like seem pointless to casual onlookers, if they understood that people do not really care that “[you] just ate” as if that is compelling information.
While we already told you the key to collaborating with others was to listen first, we want to reiterate that again. If you are not sure how you should engage, take some time to find some successful activity and study how they seem to be making it work. Better yet, try asking them and then listen some more.
It has been said that we were made with two ears and one mouth, so it kind of shows where the focus should be based by that design. Most of us type like we only have one hand, so you can look at the internet very much the same way. Listening will provide you with greater chance of finding opportunities. It could be a music lover looking for new music in your genre or a brand running a competition that might broaden your exposure if you participate. There is one thing that is certain, you cannot do both at the same time. Something is going to suffer, so make the resolve today to make listening a priority.
Not sure what to use to listen? Here are a few free tools that will help you listen better.
- Twitter Search – Want to find folks that are talking about you? How about finding people that are looking to guitar lessons? With Twitter Search, you can search for this in real-time. You can leverage Twitter search in many of the Twitter apps like TweetDeck and Hootsuite, giving you the ability to stay up on the trends you actually want to read. Not to mention, this is a powerful that is FREE to use.
- Google Alerts – Another free tool that bands can use to keep up with what folks are saying about them. It can be used to find bloggers that write about your kind of music. Do you sound like Marvin Gaye? Use Google Alerts to seek websites that are talking about the late singer. Then follow up and see if it is opportunity to introduce yourself and your music.
- Google Reader – Once you have found relevant websites that are of interest to you, this free tool will aggregate all their material through their RSS feeds. Most blogs have RSS feeds, so if you are looking to keep up with your favorite blogs and you do not want to need to visit the site every day – try Google Reader. It will let you know which posts you have not read. Be careful of Google Reader Overload. Make sure you keep relevant feeds in it, so you do not bog yourself down with content.
This week, we want to know, what are some of your success stories in listening? What opportunities fell into your lap because you were openly listening? Share them with us in the comments!
Related Posts:
2009 November 6th
… for me.
MySpace screenshot by Steven Vance
It does not make much sense why I still have my MySpace profiles (all three of them). It is not like I use them anymore. I check them occasionally to remind me why I stayed away for so long.
Yet it was only the other day when it hit me what bothered me most about the once-popular social networking website. As I look at my “friends” on MySpace and I notice that 70% of them are artists themselves; most of them being hip hop acts. At one point, I was get 4-5 requests a day from rappers and producers to check out their music and cop “their hotness.” Whenever I would post promotional bulletins, they were only being acknowledged by those involved with the event, never non-industry people.
Sure, it was me that accepted all these artists, but I do remember being quite discriminatory for a while until I just got bored with the practice. At some point, I just did not feel that the time I was investing on the site was merited by the dull results I was getting. That was when I decided to get my OWN space like you see here. Granted, I still did not know what I was doing, but I knew it had to have been better than my MySpace work. I must say it was the best move I have made in quite a while. My presence is stronger than ever and when I finally get the second phase for Frying in Vein going [which is very soon], I am certain I will see respectable results.
While preparing for this piece, I had to get some perspective from some of my comrades. I knew my incendiary headline was just that, almost to a level of absurdity. The site is still buggy and loads like cold molasses on a lumpy surface with a 15 degree incline, but it is still kind of necessary to have. In terms of owning your brand on the search engine, MySpace always ranks high, so it came as no surprise when my friends were not as supportive of my baseless accusation.
Read the rest of this entry »
Related Posts:
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=96fe8d70-5a1b-42a9-a33a-94efcf5b3577)
