SONG CONTEST BLOG

::1:: How To Increase Your Fan Base

Jango’s Basic Geo-Targeting feature allows you to hone in on those regions where Jango listeners love your music most.  If you’ve already run a Jango Airplay campaign, simply check your Geographic Reports in your dashboard for this data.  Then, select the cities and states where you have the strongest following before you run your next campaign.  Not only will you turn passive listeners into loyal fans, you will also establish a local presence, leading to more requests for regional showcases and festival appearances.  And the best part… Basic Geo-Targeting is FREE!

::2:: How To Get Free Jango Airplay Credit

Every Jango Airplay artist has a PopScore.  Each week, artists with the highest PopScores receive free credit.  The PopScore reveals how well your music is resonating with Jango listeners based on your campaign targeting. The more precise your targeting, the higher your PopScore.  Obviously, if you are a Scandinavian Black Metal band targeting Dolly Parton fans, your PopScore will be gasping for air, so make sure you target the artists whose fans are most likely to identify with your music.  Remember, free credit means more plays.  And more plays equals more fans.

::3:: How To Get A Live Showcase

Top Jango PopScore artists get booked at the Wakarusa Festival, The Moondance Jam, The Viper Room in LA and more.  If you climb the PopScore charts, you might find yourself juggling phone calls and trying to decide which event is best for your band.

::4:: How To Make A Lasting Impression

Want to get listener attention, lightning fast?  Make an audio intro and attach it to the front of your song before uploading the MP3 to Jango Airplay.  A quick message, five seconds or less, telling the listener who you are and what they’re about to hear.  This is a simple way for you and your music to get cemented in the listener’s memory.

::5:: How To Rise Above The Noise

For artists looking for additional promotion, Jango Airplay offers robust packages though ‘Airplay PRO’.  These promotions include banner ads on Jango.com as well as customized overlay ad units that appear every time your song plays.  Give away an MP3, promote an album or tour; even run a contest, bouncing the listener directly to your own website.  Here’s a 60 second video demo of how the overlay ad units are served:

In addition, you can get a banner placed in Jango’s listener newsletter, sent to over 3 Million registered users each week.  For more info on these packages email: airplay-premium@jango.com

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The internet has made it dead simple to test anything and everything when it comes to your music.  Six music analytics startups are aiming to help you make informed decisions – rooted in data, not a hunch – about who you should market your music to, where, when and how:

Band Metrics

RockDex

Next Big Sound

GigsWiz

Musicmetric

SoundOut

Video is not an option these days, it’s a necessity.  You need to be able to promote your music with video on your website, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and dozens of other social media sites.

Your success depends on it.

You’re probably nodding your head and thinking: “That’s great, but how am I going to make a video?” After all, videos traditionally cost thousands of dollars to make and you most likely don’t have the equipment or know-how to make one yourself.

I’ve found the solution to your problem!

Animoto is a cheap and easy way to make a one of a kind video.  For just three dollars, ANYONE can make a high quality MTV caliber video… and it only takes minutes.  So dead simple and intuitive ─ if you can use Facebook, Animoto will be a breeze.

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Dean Rieck, one of America’s top direct marketing copywriters, writes:

“You didn’t used to see many guarantees for online services and digital products.

But today’s new generation of bloggers and entrepreneurs have discovered that this age-old offline technique can be one of the most powerful routes to more sales.

They know that online buyers are plagued by fears and doubts. And there’s nothing that will kill a sale faster than doubt.”

It occurred to me that I have never purchased a CD or MP3 directly from an artist who offered me a full refund if I was in any way dissatisfied with my purchase.

I wonder if the following guarantee – on the back of your CD case or in red font on your web store – would inspire more music fans to give your music a chance:

I work really hard to write and produce the best songs that I can.  If you don’t absolutely love what you hear, or dissatisfied with your purchase for any reason, I’ll reverse the charges on your credit card for the full purchase price.  No questions asked.

What do you think?

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The Internet has made it possible for us to test everything.  We can put our songs online, gather feedback from music fans in an instant, and use that valuable insight to improve the quality of our songwriting.

Before you spend thousands of dollars recording your album, wouldn’t you like to know how music fans think you can improve each song?  Wouldn’t you like to know which of your songs has the greatest chance at climbing the charts?

Every label, publisher and promoter would love to have this information.

SoundOut offers musicians the immediate insight they need to write better songs and promote them effectively.  Click here to review a sample report.

Go To SoundOut >>

As an artist growing your business, you’ll often reach out to publishers, labels and prospective fans who may be interested – but not necessarily expecting – to hear from you.

I’m talking about a cold email (or unsolicited email) composed and sent in a personal, professional and transparent manner.  Don’t confuse this with bulk email sent to recipients who did not directly opt-in to your list.  That’s spam.

From my experience, a cold email will get answered when your message addresses the recipient’s urgent need.  Easier said than done, right?

Over the years, I developed a simple check-list to ensure that my cold emails rise to the top, get opened, read and responded to.

11 questions I ask myself before I click the ’send’ button:

1. Is my email subject line personal, compelling and distinctive?

2. Does the message in the email body list and persist the benefits of communicating with me?

3. Have I included all the facts (not the fluff) about me for the recipient’s reference?

4. Have I demonstrated that I sincerely care about the recipient?

5. Have I clearly expressed what action I would like the recipient to take after reading my email?

6. Can my message be shorter, clearer and more persuasive?

7. Have I strategically timed and conceived my follow-up emails in advance?

8. Is my persistence justified in my follow-up emails or am I coming off as pushy?

9. Do I have a response email ready (at least in my head) if and when the recipient replies?

10. Am I primed for resistance and emotionally prepared for rejection?

11. If the recipient doesn’t reciprocate after several attempts, do I have a plan B?

The next time you reach out to a music manager, music supervisor or venue owner, try running through these questions before you click the ‘send’ button.  This small extra step may help you rise above the noise and get you and your music heard.

Please share your own tips >>

Whether you’re tricking out your MySpace page or performing at your local venue, you should always consider the things you can do to collect more email addresses.

Believe me, there is nothing more important than your email list…

…Except what you do with it!

Using an online newsletter service allows you to create gorgeous newsletter designs yourself, turn new fans into subscribers, track how many of your readers are actually reading your message, and schedule promotional campaigns.

It’s powerful marketing on autopilot, simpler than you thought possible and more potent than you probably realize.

Of all the newsletter services I’ve used, Mad Mimi is the friendliest.

But for good measure, here is a list of some other newsletter tools, some that I’ve tried and some that I haven’t:

Campaigner
ConstantContact
Emma
FanBridge
FanReach
Graphicmail
iContact
LetterPop
MailChimp
MyNewsletterBuilder
Newsberry

You’re probably not having any luck getting your songs on the radio, right?

That’s because terrestrial radio doesn’t want you.

You see, record labels have a full staff of professional radio pluggers whose full-time job is to pitch their clients’ record catalog to station managers, playlist programmers, DJs and program producers.

They are insiders − they know all the politics and all the rules.  Their rolodexes are packed with every name, number and email in the industry.

So how are you supposed to compete?

Almost 70 million Americans tune into online radio each month.  Overall listenership exploded by more than a third last year alone.  Online radio has become the single most powerful source of music discovery, which is why up-and-coming artists are falling over themselves to land even a few minutes of airplay on music services such as Jango.

Share your thoughts >>

Can your current music sales really support you?

Probably not, but you’re definitely not alone.  The days of artists earning their income through the strength of song sales alone are growing dimmer by the day.

Music fans don’t want to pay for music anymore, and they’re getting less willing to do so all the time.  Teenagers today have grown up in a world where they can download, stream and share anything they want, and all for free.

And they’ve never known anything different.

If even the most recognized artists in the world are having their songs downloaded for free, how are you supposed to make any money?

Believe it or not, you already have everything you need to make money.  But even though your recordings are the least likely commodity to generate a strong income, there are plenty of other things you can sell.

We’ve teamed up with our good friends at MusicCareerMasters.com to show you exactly what you can to do to drive your income outside of music sales.

MusicCareerMasters is a website created to help independent artists make a living from the music business.  It is run by Mark Smith, a veteran band manager of over 13 years.  He teaches musicians time tested and highly effective strategies to truly make it in today’s rapidly changing music ecosystem.

For We Are Listening members only, Mark has created an exclusive 6 minute video that walks you through exactly what you need to know to make the maximum money for your products.

Let Mark Show You His Instant Money Making Ideas >>