Unique Apps for Musicians
With smartphones and tablets increasingly making everyday life easier for the individual, it really feels like there is an app for everything. This is no exception for the music industry. The days of carrying lots of equipment to practise such as a tuner, metronome and chords are increasingly numbered. There is a wealth of apps out there for both iOS and android devices and they can really enrich and enhance the music-making process. With so much on offer it’s hard to know where to start. To help you, here is a list of the top 5 unique apps available for artists:
Songwriter’s Pad
Got writers’ block? Look no further than this app! Created by songwriters, it really understands the struggle that many artists face when trying to write unique lyrics. It has a rhyming dictionary, as well as helping you find the words you need depending on emotion. It also has a built-in audio recorder and allows you to add chord notation to your lyrics as well as importing backing tracks to help you with the writing process.
- MetroTimer
Timing is everything, and this app claims to be the most accurate digital metronome to help its users keep in time. It also provides handy audio and visual feedback.
- GarageBand
This app hardly needs an introduction. Above all it acts like a digital music studio, allowing artists to record music. It also comes with an array of audio effects making the music-making , but its most interesting feature is its ability to allow you to virtually jam with your friends who also using the app.
- TonalEnergy
This is a unique app which is really easy to use for new artists and established artists alike. Encompassing a tuner, metronome as well as support for rehearsal, it allows you to improve every aspect of your sound. It has become a firm favorite amongst professional artists around the globe. For the more advanced musician, it also come with a range of more complex features to really help fine-tune the end result.
5.MuseScore
Gone were the days of carrying piles of sheet music to practise, this app allows you to create sheet music. The app is really user-friendly and versatile, as well as having a great playback software. It also allows you to save the music as both an audio file and a PDF file, if you wanted to print it out.
Conclusion
With so much technology out there for musicians, these apps can really help make music writing process a lot easier and fun for both new musicians and established artists.
Bridging the Gap: Creating Your Brand as an Artist
As an artist, it can be difficult to transition from a creative mindset within the music industry to the business aspect. Selling your brand as an artist to the public is just as important as writing or playing songs for them. The most talented of artists can fall short due to sloppy marketing. If you’re looking to increase your success in the wonderful world of music, here are some things to keep in mind:
Cultivate Your Brand
A mistake a lot of new artists make when presenting themselves to the public is a lack of congruence. As you begin to develop as an artist, be sure to take time to decide how you would like to brand yourself. What do you want people to automatically think of when your name is mentioned? Whatever you decide, keep to it. When creating music videos or merchandise for a new project, pick a color palette, style, fonts, and tone of message — and stick to it. People recognize sloppiness. Be on the same page with your bandmates and manager so that your message and image is consistent. People will be watching you and building credibility among fans is essential. Keep this in mind when posting on social media. If you want people to take you seriously as an artist and get to the next step, cultivate your brand and master it.
Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms are one of the easiest and most beneficial ways so market yourself as an artist. Having a strong online presence is essential for growth among the public. Platforms like Twitter, give you the opportunity to connect with fans or reach out to people who can help promote your music and give feedback. As much as social media allows unlimited branding for your music, it is only as helpful as the effort you put into it. If you want gain the full advantages of these platforms, be sure to stay on top of managing your social media by posting to your profiles regularly and responding quickly to anyone that interacts with you.
Networking
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” Although this phrase may be a bit overused, it has strong meaning behind it. Making connections, especially in the music industry, is such an important part of growing your brand as an artist. Send emails. Shake hands. Remember names. People will have a positive impression of you, or at least remember who you are, simply for taking the initiative to reach out. Again, the internet can play a huge role in your networking endeavors. Reaching out to people in the industry via email to review your music can help get you to the next step. Be sure to include links to your music and social media when asking for a review. Publicity and promotion is key.
These areas are key steps to take when marketing yourself as an artist. If you’re not sure where to start, The Record Shop Nashville is here to help. We’re passionate about supporting the vision you have for your music and helping you reach your goals as an artist.
YouTube Marketing Tips for Musicians
YouTube Marketing Tips for Musicians
With over 1 billion users, YouTube has become an invaluable recourse for both new and established artists to get their name heard. However, every minute of every day over 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. With this in mind, there is a lot more to successfully marketing your music through YouTube than simply just uploading a video and waiting for people to start watching. Here are some top tips on YouTube marketing to get you started:
Network, network, network!
Research successful acts of the same genre and collaborate with them. If you are new to YouTube then consider asking them to upload your video to their channel as well. Your music will get out to a lot of people a lot quicker this way, as they will have more subscribers than you.
Be Present
This should go without saying, but make sure you engage with your audience. Take any opportunity to interact with your fans such as responding to their comments or thanking them for subscribing.
Hold a competition
Hold a competition to give away tickets to a show or some cool merchandise. What’s in it for you? If you make the terms of the competition that they have to subscribe to your channel and share your video, as well as making a buzz, the competition entrants are helping to market your channel!
Upload a Cover Song
If you have a really interesting cover of a song, maybe even a new twist on something popular, then make sure you upload it. Many YouTube users may come across your video because they have searched for the original, or want to check out covers of their favorite song. A great way to attract new listeners.
Advertise
Last but not least, if you really want to get your music out there, a small investment in YouTube’s advertising feature could attract thousands of new viewers in a very short space of time.
SEO Tips for musicians
SEO Tips for Musicians
In the digital age, where new information is accessible with just a click of the mouse, it is important that bands and artists ensure that they’re constantly on their fans’ or potential fans’ radar. For new artists this can be especially tricky as potential new listeners are not apt to just discover you by chance by Google unless you have some clever SEO content on your website and other social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
What is SEO?
SEO (“search engine optimization”) is the term for some clever tricks and techniques writers use to increase traffic to a website, particularly when it is searched for on Google. This mainly involves deliberately using keywords and phrases that would likely be commonly searched for by a prospective customer, client or fan.
Why is SEO so important?
For any serious band or musician, having a strong and engaging online presence is incredibly important, and maintaining that presence is even more so. In an age where people are constantly connected to the internet, whether it be on their mobile or computer, SEO is an invaluable technique for artist music promotion. While many bands and recording artists are fantastic at selling themselves through their music, many often fail to see that there is a huge pool of potential new fans on social media who they do not reach because of the lack of great Search Engine Optimization on their artists’ website or Facebook page. With the internet becoming increasingly the audience’s preferred method of discovering a new artist, it is absolutely essential that clever SEO-focused writing is part of an artists’ website. Without this, you are potentially missing out on getting a huge amount of new fans.
Where to get started with SEO?
It may seem daunting at first, but SEO really is essential in helping your fans find you. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time, but a few tweaks your website can massively increase traffic. Here is a run-down of some basic tips on how to get started:
Search engine optimization really is an essential link between your band and potential new fans and, of course new sales. In order to survive in an evolving music industry, investing just a small amount of time in it can have a huge payoff.
Unique Apps for Musicians
Unique Apps for Musicians
With smartphones and tablets increasingly making everyday life easier for the individual, it really feels like there is an app for everything. This is no exception for the music industry. The days of carrying lots of equipment to practise such as a tuner, metronome and chords are increasingly numbered. There is a wealth of apps out there for both iOS and android devices and they can really enrich and enhance the music-making process. With so much on offer it’s hard to know where to start. To help you, here is a list of the top 5 unique apps available for artists:
Got writers’ block? Look no further than this app! Created by songwriters, it really understands the struggle that many artists face when trying to write unique lyrics. It has a rhyming dictionary, as well as helping you find the words you need depending on emotion. It also has a built-in audio recorder and allows you to add chord notation to your lyrics as well as importing backing tracks to help you with the writing process.
Timing is everything, and this app claims to be the most accurate digital metronome to help its users keep in time. It also provides handy audio and visual feedback.
This app hardly needs an introduction. Above all it acts like a digital music studio, allowing artists to record music. It also comes with an array of audio effects making the music-making , but its most interesting feature is its ability to allow you to virtually jam with your friends who also using the app.
This is a unique app which is really easy to use for new artists and established artists alike. Encompassing a tuner, metronome as well as support for rehearsal, it allows you to improve every aspect of your sound. It has become a firm favorite amongst professional artists around the globe. For the more advanced musician, it also come with a range of more complex features to really help fine-tune the end result.
5.MuseScore
Gone were the days of carrying piles of sheet music to practise, this app allows you to create sheet music. The app is really user-friendly and versatile, as well as having a great playback software. It also allows you to save the music as both an audio file and a PDF file, if you wanted to print it out.
Conclusion
With so much technology out there for musicians, these apps can really help make music writing process a lot easier and fun for both new musicians and established artists.
Importance of royalties for performers and studio musicians
Importance of royalties for performers and studio musicians
Song writers, artists, and musicians are parts of our daily musical lives. Can you imagine life without music? Pretty dull, isn’t it? However, one of the most neglected rights is the rights of artists and musicians. This is why sound exchange has been established – to protect the rights and future of musicians we have today.
Sound exchange as defined
Sound exchange, is a known non-profit organization for performance rights who’s responsible for collecting royalties from musical digital transmissions like radio, in behalf of song owners, record labels, and artists. Commonly mistaken from digital royalties, sound exchange covers far more beyond what digital royalties cover. Digital royalties are just part being paid to Sound exchange.
Importance of sound exchange
Sound exchange is an important organization, both for digital stream royalties and artists in many ways. Among these importance include the following:
Coverage and limitation of sound exchange
Who’s eligible for sound exchange?
Any artist, song writer, singer or performance artist can apply for a license under sound exchange. As a return, sound exchange makes sure that those royalties collected are properly distributed among the appropriate person through the Claims Department.
As an artist such as performers and studio musicians, it helps a lot if one applies for sound exchange – not only for your craft’s legitimate protection but your welfare as an artist.
You Tube Content Marketing Tips
Establishing Online Presence
All kinds of marketing strategies should be applied properly as to have an effective social media campaign. Not only do businesses post contents on social networking sites and their web sites to establish their online presence and gain a follower or client base but so do too using videos which can become viral once they get to attract prospective purchasers or customers.
The Evolution of Content Marketing through You Tube
Using You Tube for social media campaigns is considered as the next big thing to happen in content marketing. If you are into an e-business and haven’t jumped into the bandwagon yet, it’s high time for you to join this evolution. You Tube claimed to as one of the most influential promotional and marketing channel gets to reach a very wide range of different audiences worldwide.
Effective You Tube Content Marketing Strategies
What are some effective You Tube content marketing strategies which we can apply to optimize our contents and reach our target audience?
Importance of Effective You Tube Content Marketing Strategies
The Importance of SEO for Artists
Modern Technology and the Artist
In this age of modern technology and digital marketing, it is beneficial for every business to own a website, blog site, and other social media platform accounts to be able to reach a wider audience to help promote their products and services. Same goes for writers, artist, photographers who are also considered as entrepreneurs selling their creations and masterpieces to their targeted audiences.
The Artist and His Target Audience
There are different kinds of artists like digital artists, painters, sculptors, cartoonists, illustrator, etc. and almost all are showcasing their works online. With a diverse array of artists coming from across continents, their online presence is a must as it is also highly competitive in the cyber world as it is offline.
To be able to reach the artist’s target audience who are art enthusiast themselves, individuals who buy and sell artworks, businesses who are in search for creative people to make up their team, among others.
Reasons Why SEO us Important for Artists’ Websites and Blogs
There are many talented and creative artists around but it’s not enough that one is good or the best for his website or online art gallery to rank higher in search engines.
Artists and Their Online Portfolios
It is important for any kind of artist to have a well-structured website design and contents as well as should be visually-appealing to lure fans and prospective purchasers. An artist’s website portfolio should not be limited to these features mentioned above but should also take into consideration the keywords used in the contents so as to help in the page optimization. Distinct keywords being typed in the search engines help in directing to your online portfolio to increase your visitors.
Social Media Marketing Tips
Importance of Social Media Marketing to E-businesses
Social media marketing is essential for e-businesses as this helps in the promotion of your products and services in different social networking sites. Online presence has become vital as it increases traffic to your site as well as attracting prospective clients or customers. There are various social media campaigns being launched for a range of different commodities available on the internet. As with any other businesses online or offline, there would be high competition as well.
Connect with Your Target Audience
To be able to reach your prospective buyers or customers, you must build up and efficient social media marketing campaign. Companies and different brands these days know how to effectively make use of this marketing tool to increase their sales.
Effective Social Media Marketing Tips
Here are some effective social media marketing tips which can help you build up an effective online reputation and thus increase sales on the long run:
Relevant Contents Give You the Following Leverage:
Selling Your Music The Good Old Way
Selling Your Music The Good Old Way
Now that we know how to sell our music online, let’s find out how to get more exposure outside the cyberspace. Of course nothing beats the power of the Internet, but back in the days when there are none of these, some of our music idols have pulled off the classic way of promotion.
Show up LIVE
You know your type of crowd already. Be there and pre-arrange gigs with fellow musicians and get real life exposure on these events. Some big concerts even allocate a few numbers for aspiring artists to perform LIVE before they do or in between breaks.
Get on the Radio
This has been working since the radio was the only medium for entertainment. Give radio stations a copy of your song and let them play it on air. Many radio stations are into the mainstream as well as budding new artists.
Get Interviewed by the DJs
During radio promotions, some DJs welcome new artists for a quick one on one conversation in between commercial breaks. Let loose and grab this chance to be heard.
What We Think
Although it’s a lot easier now to get noticed just by going online, but the competition is tougher than before. We have to get moving and come out and be seen in public places, mingle with the crowd and establish real-life connections to stand out. Perhaps balancing both online and outside promotions can do just that.
Powered by the Internet: How to Sell Your Music Online
Powered by the Internet: How to Sell Your Music Online
Not long ago, our ability to sell music greatly relies on the music label’s way of distributing the album. But since we have entered the digital era, we can already use the Internet to reach our fan base and get them sold out quickly. Let’s read on.
Hit the YouTube
Becoming the next Internet sensation has never been so easy with the power of self-made videos uploaded via YouTube. In fact, the video sharing platform has almost all the music video content of our favourite artists. Use this as a means of advertisement and get the best exposure without the cost.
Use Facebook for promotions
You know the drill. Create your very own Facebook fan page and get your fans altogether. You can also use this to get in touch with fellow musicians worldwide. With social media, your connections will just multiply and before you know it, you’re enjoying an exclusive social clout like never before.
Update via Twitter
Whenever there are up-to-the-minute events, a 140-character tweet would definitely serve you well. You can reach out to your fans and promote your new music right over there. Just make sure you have all the exact details so they won’t miss the upcoming release, promos and event schedule. Don’t forget to tweet what’s happenin’ LIVE.
Pause for a dose of Instagram
There’s no better way to say it all than with pictures of you behind the scenes. Show them that you’re livin’ it up whether while recording at the studio or doing the final touches. Be everywhere wherever there are fans out there. Just being visible all the time (not to the point of creepy) can help you stay relevant so your music can reach all the right places without traveling across the world.