5 ways to promote yourself outside of the internet

It's very easy to find yourself stuck inside the box these days - the internet is so big that you can be forgiven for thinking it's the only worthwhile method of generating new fans!

But back in the days before the internet, people had to do other things to get the word out...

Here are a few suggestions for how you can expand your fanbase without getting RSI!


1. Take to the streets

The original and... well, maybe not best, but it can still yield some good results if you pick your places and people correctly. Just like those flyer-handing-out people you find in all the city centers, find somewhere to set up shop for the day and chat to people that look like they're from your fan-base.

Well, some of you might say this is stereotyping, but to that I say that stereotypes exist for a reason! If you write trance music and see someone in a Tiesto Tee walk past, chances are they're more likely to enjoy your tunes than the kid in the Slipknot hoodie. Approach people, play them some mp3 clips and tell them where your nearest show is.

If you leave them with a business card they can put straight in their pocket with your web details on, then you can continue the fan-artist relationship online when you log on upon returning home.

2. Go to Gigs

When possible, instead of going to the streets, find out where some big artists with a similar sound to you are playing, then hit the queues outside the venue.

Again, chat, make friends and don't forget to mention how awesome your latest tune is!


3. Networking events

There are several musical events around the country - go to them! Talk to everyone. Make fans out of the gear manufacturers and the website developers. Everyone there is passionate about music, so they're a really receptive audience!

It's also a great way to keep up to date with what's going on in the industry. As with all the methods, a great way to make new fans is to make friends! Friends help you out by coming to shows and buying music.

If enough friends do it, the fans will eventually follow - friends of friends are probably going to be the first wave of fans that you don't actually have in your address book!


4. Arrange flash-mobs

Here's one for the more adventurous of you - A Flash Mob is where you organise a bunch of people to do something unusual at an allotted time in a public place.

Check youtube for examples - there are instances of thousands of people freezing in position, a group of pirates appearing from nowhere and having a fight in a town square, and even a dinner party on a tube train.

If you can organise your fans and friends to do something obscure to promote your tunes, not only will it make them feel more tied in to you as a musician, but it will no doubt raise awareness, so long as you leave the people thinking "Uh... What just happened?".

If you can also leave them with a business card explaining where they can find out what just happened, so much the better!


5. Contact local Radio

Local Radio stations are a great way to practice your interviewing technique and to get your tunes out to the people down the road without going door-to-door (though you could try that too - if it works for the Mormons it could work for you!)

Just give them a call and remember - make friends. I've previously had friends in local radio that have moved up to bigger and better things in more popular radio stations, taking their willingness to assist a local mate with them! Very handy.


I'm sure you can come up with plenty of other ideas, but here are 5 to get you started. So get out of the studio for a while, rest your eyes and build your social network!

Promote your music online

So, you've got your hit songs, you've sorted your image and you're ready to tell the world about what an amazing musician you are - but where do you start?

This quick guide will give you a few useful starting points for promoting your music online!

Social Networking

Probably the most useful place to start would be making some pages for your music on the more popular social networking sites.   This will be where people can come and get a good idea about your music, image and what you're about, so it's important to make it look nice and read well.

So have a quick search and find some social networking sites beyond just MySpace and Facebook - there are loads out there!   Remember not to clutter things up on you pages - keep it easy for potential fans to find the information they want!


Online Music Charts

Get your music onto some of the many user-submitted music charts online - this is a great way to grow your fan base to a load of people who genuinely enjoy new music.   It's also an exciting way to get the fans you've made more involved - rallying your cause and saying "Let's make it to number 1!" (Sites like Reverbnation are awesome for this) can be a fantastic method of generating hype!

Internet Radio

With literally thousands of radio stations available, it shouldn't be too hard to find some to submit your music to and get it out to a new audience!   Even the smaller radio stations are useful to promote to - if nothing else, the DJ who plays it could become your new biggest fan!   Just remember to keep in contact with the DJs, send them your new material and, where appropriate, ask for bigger features, like interviews or performances.


Forums

Find a forum that discusses your genre of music... and get involved!   It's not just a case of posting a single thread about your music and leaving it there - if you can keep talking, make friends, and help people out then you're much more likely to grow your fan-base that way than hoping that your lonely thread does the trick!

Video upload sites

Now it's all well and good putting your songs up, but if no-one is searching for them then you won't get any views!   Try thinking about what people are searching for - try putting the title as your genre of music.   A video entitled "The BEST Electro House for 2010" is probably going to get more views than "DJ Randomguy - funky beat mix" since no-one knows DJ Randomguy (yet)!


And that's just some of the many things you can do.   Be imaginative, think about where your fans will be and go forth and show the world your tuneage; itís all up to you now!

5 Methods of Making Money from Music

A lot of musicians find themselves out of pocket, wishing they could profit from their talents.

While the conventional route of becoming a famous musician in the charts is a difficult one to profit from, there are several other methods you can try that are perhaps less conventional!

Here are 5 of those methods you might want to look into...

1. Video Game Music

If you have some knowledge of computer programming to accompany your musical composition skills, chances are you'll be able to get a job working on writing music for video games!

It's the single biggest entertainment industry, beating movies and music, meaning they have the cash to pay you top dollar for your productions.

Perhaps trying to work for an independent games company is a good way to start here - there are plenty of jobs going!

2. Beat Making

The world is full of vocalists who wish to share their lyrics with the world but are incapable of producing to save their life - that's where you come in!

There are a bunch of websites that pay producers for their beats - just have a quick Google and I'm sure you'll discover a whole world of profitability from producing that you'd never previously perceived!

3. Jingles / Audio Branding

This is a great one for the "hours of work: profit" ratio - a short, few seconds long jingle can earn you hundreds, perhaps thousands.   If you can get the work, this is a brilliant place to make some amazing money.

4. Teaching

If you're qualified, there are still loads of people wishing to learn instruments.   Get yourself a website and start promoting your services locally in music shops.   A bunch of music teaching directories exist online as well, which can be a great way to promote your services.

5. Covers

If you're musically talented in the live arena, perhaps starting a covers band or a tribute band is a good idea!   Many pubs pay hundreds for each performance - meaning you get to have fun playing the songs of your favourite bands (so long as your music taste isn't too obscure - a "Cannibal Corpse" cover band may not find too much work...) and you get some top Wonga to do so!

New Tutorials for June....

I know it's been a while since we posted some tutorials, we have been concentrating on some new products, but we have'nt forgotten the tutorials....and now we have a string of over 10 Tutorials ready for Ableton, and Garageband coming Early June...


The Ableton Tutorials were so popular that we had to bring some more...these are more in depth, and more specific - so get your teeth in....

This months Free Video Tutorials?

Oh Yes! You requested it and we delivered! We are really happy that you like our Studio Techniques section...so far we have Ableton Tutorials, Reason Tutorials, Logic, MPC and many more...and now...we caved into the heavy demand for FL Studio Video Tutorials! On top of all that, we also added some more step-by-step Reason PDF Tutorials!


Studio Techniques

If you don't know already the Studio Techniques section of our website is fast becoming a solid area of inspiration, with 60+ Tutorials showcasing different techniques, styles and music program tips & tricks. You can view these online, or download them and watch them when you want!

The best part is they are absolutely free, this is our way of saying thank you, and we hope that all levels of producers, artists and musicians can draw some inspiration, and hopefully learn something along the way!



FL Studio!

Ok...so now that’s out of the way...what have we got for the FL Studio heads...well the first video focuses on making a Hip Hop Drum Beat in FL Studio, the second video takes that beat, and adds compression and EQ to suite. We also go into some of the science of how th compressor works for those of you who requested it!

Keep checking back this month as we have quite a few more FL Studio Tutorials on the way this month...

Here's the first 2....

CLICK HERE For the videos!


No! No! No! It doesn't! In the coming few weeks we have Free Tutorial Videos for Garageband, and also we will be studying some non-software specific topics like the science of Reverb, and many others...we're just getting started, and look to take the videos into more advanced areas as we progress, so join us on the journey (alternatively you could hitch a ride!)

Check out all the Tutorials, Tips and Tricks here

Video Tutorials section goes live!

You'll be happy to know our Video Tutorial section in the Studio Techniques area of the website is now live!

We now have lots of Ableton Live Tutorials and also have lots of Reason, FL Studio, MPC & Technique tutorials coming over the next couple of months!

Below is a demo of one of our Ableton Live tutorials....enjoy!