If content syndication and distribution is the hottest topic on this blog at the moment, then music metrics is a close second.  Over the weekend, I played with a new service I read about on Hypebot called RockDex.  More like Google Alerts than Google Analytics for measuring music buzz, the free point-and-shoot service leverages the API’s of several social networks to measure an artist’s volume of mentions on Twitter and Blip.fm, content on YouTube and Flickr, and fans and listens on Last.fm and iLike, producing a score out of one hundred for each category.  Third-party ‘how-to’ recommendations are placed strategically next to each score in an effort to help the artist raise his social buzz and, in turn, score on RockDex.  I am not quite sure how useful or even representative this service is.  I am guessing that it is intended as a snapshot of a broader service to come or marketing collateral for Music Arsenal, the company’s paid web-based CRM solution for artists and record labels, reminiscent of ArtistForce.

This is an update follow-up on one of the most promising enterprises in music tech at the moment.  ArtistData is attempting to solve a ubiquitous problem: today, an artist’s online presence consists of several social network pages among other web assets which, unfortunately, are not connected with one another.  As such, gig schedule updates and other content must be ‘updated’ manually on each network.  This is time consuming.  ArtistData addresses this problem by translating and syndicating a single update to all of the artist’s network pages.  More about this topic here.

In addition to ArtistData’s core offering, the company developed some nifty side-features based on geo-specific attributes such as where to get a cup of coffee or new set of guitar strings near the venue.  Not a huge selling point but certainly a nice-to-have.  The “Local Listings” feature is more compelling, serving as a local press distribution platform for live show promotion.  Anyone who has had to manage a PR campaign, hire a publicist, or distribute through PR Newswire will appreciate the value of such an application.

Local Listings Tour:

While every leading and emerging artist service is selling “self-promotion” as its mantra, ArtistData has beautifully positioned itself by focusing on the necessity of syndication: making data quick and easy to manage.  Simple and brilliant.

Full Product Tour:

ArtistData has spruced up its website and it’s looking great.  I got a heads-up today that the company is calling for new sign-ups.  More on this to come…

Related post: Gig Schedule Syndication

ArtistData caught my attention a few months ago as an excellent solution for updating your gig schedule across numerous platforms, saving much time and ensuring consistency across the board.  The service currently supports the major music-oriented networks, including ReverbNation, Virb, PureVolume, Sonicbids, Indie911, and, soon, facebook, by importing your gig schedule from your MySpace page and publishing the data simultaneously on all of your registered network profile pages.  The service also syndicates the data across a number of concert databases, including Jambase and Last.fm, which serves as a swift and effective live music marketing solution.  ArtistData is limited to gig schedule syndication but reports to be working on other data publication solutions for artists.  Ping.fm, which I learned about on Hypebot today, also provides a data syndication solution but focuses on message posting across multiple sites as opposed to gig schedules.  However, the two services combined may serve as a very powerful set of tools to notify all your fans, regardless of how they are connected to you, in one single blast.