Music Promotion and Marketing tips for Indie Musicians
Heard the Buzz about Google Buzz? How about the case of the disappearing music Blogs on Blogger? The Podcasters discuss these topics, share some stories from their own music adventures and revisit last weeks interview with Brian Mazzaferi from I Fight Dragons. Plus your calls and emails AND a very special offer from CD Baby just for our Podcast listening audience.
Brian is a member of the Band I Fight Dragons, who after their first year, find themselves signing a major label record deal. What’s interesting is the events that led them to that deal were very focused DIY tactics that built an enormous amount of buzz and started generating consistently strong sales for their music. We’ve talked to numerous solo artists in past episodes that have built a full time career going completely the DIY route, but in Brian’s opinion it’s still tough as a band that might have 4-5 members to generate enough income on their own to sustain a living for that many people with out some sort of larger machine behind them. He highlights that for bands we might still be in a middle area between the old music business models and the models of the future. I think you’ll find Brian’s insights to be thought provoking and possibly a slightly different take on where things are in the industry. Plus he shares some great DIY tips that has helped them make strong connections with the fans.
You can hear I Fight Dragons on CD Baby here -Â http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ifightdragons
We’ve been making our list and checking it twice!  Let the CD Baby Podcasters fill your stockings with indie tips and tricks.  In this episode, Kevin, Chris and Bolton discuss the impending holiday season, and how to best position your music to take advantage of the shopping blitz.  The tips come from CD Baby’s Artist Holiday Planning Guide that you can download here.
What are your plans for this holiday season? Â Trying something new or doing something out of the ordinary? Â Please share in the comments section below!
Watch Christopher Weingarten’s Twitter rant here.
In the News: The RIAA wins it’s case, The New iPhone 3.0 is finally released and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor bows out of social networking (or so he says). This week’s episode focuses on a video by Rolling Stone music critic Christopher R. Weingarten. Click the link below to watch. As always, calls, emails and now tweets, from our listening audience.
Mentioned in this episode. Robert’s (AKA Chris Bolton) Storylife Podcast
Bruce Houghton (Founder of Skyline Music) is a long time industry veteran who has been booking music talent of all shapes and sizes for over 20 years. Â As the shift in the music industry became apparent, Bruce started a blog as a way to keep the artists on his roster informed on new developments in the business. Â His blog, called Hypebot, has grown in popularity and become one of the leading music business blogs that pays special attention to the growing indie music community, or as Bruce likes to call it, the musician middle class. Â His experience and insights make his blog a must read for the indie artist who is serious about moving their music forward.
Check out Bruce’s blog Hypebot here – http://hypebot.com
Pandora adds a paid subscription option with perks. Walmart gets rid of its DRM’d songs. Emusic moves beyond the indie market and stirs controversy. File-sharing is now a part of the Twitter-verse. The podcasters revisit last weeks interview with David Gray and discuss how pop music plays into the world of indie music for better and worse. Your calls, tweets, and comments. Plus in unexpected power outage leaves Kevin, Chris and Robert in the dark. They finish out the podcast in a battery powered fin-alley with lots of laughs.
Recommended in this podcast: Anvil: The Story of Anvil
David Gray has done it all. He’s been a musician, songwriter, publisher, producer, A&R rep and worked for some of the most renowned record companies in the world. Currently he’s head A&R for Simon Cowell’s Syco Records label. You’ve probably seen some of the music reality shows they produce like, “America’s Got Talent, X Factor, and American Idol.” After the show is over, it’s David’s job to continue the artist’s development and help them create their albums. In this interview, conducted by the president of CD Baby, Brian Felsen, David shares his experience as a musician as well as an insider in the mainstream music business.