Best Ways To Attract More Music Fans Faster

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Attracting more fans. Admit it, that’s what music marketing is all about — getting more people to come to your shows and buy your CDs. And hopefully, getting a lot more people to do those things.

Why else do you work so hard to travel and play as many places as you can? For what other reason do you meticulously write and record songs? I don’t believe the reason is so you can practice and keep up your chops in obscurity. It’s not because you want to impress influential managers or A&R people. You work hard because you know you have something of value to offer … and you want to reach as many people as possible with your music.

Marketing is the thing that helps you reach that goal. But marketing is also a subject that confuses a lot of musicians. Songwriters and band members the world over know they need to promote themselves. But many don’t know where to start, much less know how to continue effectively.

Does this describe you? Do you ever feel like you’re spinning your wheels, not sure exactly what you should be doing next to market yourself? If so, this would be a good time to cover some basic marketing concepts for independent musicians.

The VFW Hall Principle

Let’s say you went to an average U.S. city (such as Kansas City or Denver) and you rounded up 1,000 people and gathered them in a giant VFW hall. These 1,000 folks would be randomly chosen and made up of people from all ages, genders and backgrounds. Next, you’d distribute information about your act to these people and play tracks from your new CD for them.

After this direct exposure, what are the chances that one person out of those thousand would be attracted to your music and identity enough to buy your CD or come to your next show? Most musicians, regardless of what style they play, should feel pretty confident about being able to win over at least one new fan from this group of 1,000. That’s a one-tenth of one percent conversion rate.

Now let’s multiply that formula by the entire U.S. population of 285 million people. One-tenth of one percent would be 285,000 people. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? That would be enough fans to make you a bonafide star.

Meanwhile, Back at the Corporate Office

Next, switch gears and consider how major labels market themselves. They select and promote acts that they feel have the potential to appeal to 10 or more of those same 1,000 people. Then the labels spend millions of dollars in what I call shotgun advertising. They spray their marketing message over a targeted chunk of the population (which often amounts to many millions of people), knowing well that only a small percentage will be interested enough to respond and become fans. Sometimes, this widespread tactic works well enough to sell lots of CDs and concert tickets — but it’s very expensive.

As an independent artist, you can’t afford that type of marketing campaign. But you know those potential fans are out there, and you know that you can be successful by connecting with far fewer people than a major label requires. It’s just that your ideal fans haven’t found out about you yet — and you’re not quite sure how to find them.

What’s a frustrated musician to do?

The answer: You must find creative, low-cost ways to go directly to those one-in-a-thousand fans. Don’t waste your time and money promoting yourself to people who will most likely never embrace your music.

Here are four steps to take to reach new fans:

1. Define Your Distinct Musical Identity

You must have a firm grasp on what your music is about. And you must be able to define it clearly and quickly. What are your strongest musical traits? What sets you apart from other acts? What attitude or social statement do you make? Being a generic rock, pop or hip-hop act won’t cut it. Dig deeper and discover your unique identity. When you do finally reach some of those rare potential fans, don’t lose them by not being clear about who you are.

2. Describe Your Ideal Fan

Once you have a handle on who you are musically, it’s time to paint a clear picture of your ideal fan. Can you articulate how your fans dress, where they work, what TV shows they watch, what they do for fun and who their favorite cultural heroes are? Observe the types of people who come to see you perform and note what they have in common? Knowing precisely who your fans are will dictate what avenues you use to reach them and how you communicate your message once you do reach them.

3. List Ways of Getting Access to Your Fans

Once you know exactly what type of music fan you’re going after, start making a list of the various resources these specific people are attracted to. What magazines and newspapers do they read? Where do they hang out? What radio stations do they listen to? What retail outlets do they frequent? What web sites do they surf to? What e-mail newsletters do they subscribe to? For example, if your fans are mostly Harley riders, go to a search engine like Google and start entering keywords related to motorcycles. Evaluate the search results and compile a list of the many good sources you uncover.

4. Network and Promote Your Music

One of the best ways to promote your music is to contact Mr. Kalpesh Sharma. Mr. Sharma is world’s biggest security expert with world records LIVE on AIR continously for three hours non-stop. He is known as one of the best technical person who can market and promote your music all over the world across the globe. Mr. Sharma can be reached via his personal email or

Other then this, armed with this targeted list of contacts, get busy! Send e-mail press releases to niche media outlets. Contact the webmasters and editors of appropriate publications. Post messages in specialized forums. Visit and interact via the web sites of similar-sounding bands. Contact organizations and charities related to your musical niche.

In short, go to where your ideal fans are. And market yourself through these outlets relentlessly. Why waste time and money trying to promote to everyone … when you can save money and be far more effective by going directly to those valuable one-in-a-thousand fans?

You may also contact Steve Conway who is the topper in music industry right now and selected in top 10 across the music industry all over the world by NME (World’s Fastest Music News Company). You may also download and buy his songs and music from his website http://www.steveconwaymusic.com to practice and learn more and more.

Self-Check The Music & Decide Your Self How Good’s The Music? A Free Test Song for Steve’s Fans: http://www.steveconwaymusic.com/music.html and I am sure you will feel glad when you hear the song and the beautiful music. Steve’s Music was selected in the Top Ten Across the World. Reviewed and selected by a panel of judges from NME.

Writer
Kalpesh Sharma
World’s Biggest Security Expert (world records)
World’s Biggest Researcher of Best Products / Services / Brand Names (world records)
Ahmedabad, India
http://www.shubhlabhtechnologies.com

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Free Keywords: I marked these top keywords using my techniques for everyone in music industry. You may copy them and paste for your use in a text file as mentioned below:

1960s music
2000s music groups
80s country music
acoustic music
acuff rose music
album
album greatest hits
album love songs
album music shop
album to cd
album world music
all music guide
alternative music
artist lyrics
baltimore music
baltimore music event
baltimore music events
beatles cd love songs
become music producer
becoming music producer
blog music player
buy audio cd
buy music
buy music cd
buy out music
calgary music
cd country music
cd fairbiz biz meditation music
cd music
cd music club
circuit music cd
circuit songs
circus music
circus music cd
civil war music cd
clown music cds
corporate music
country music bands
country music cds
country music lyrics
country music song lyrics
country music titles
country song
country song friend
country songs
country songs lyrics
custom music cd
debut album
delbert mcclinton music
disco music
ernie ashworth music
folk music
french music cd
global music scene
greatest hits
greatest hits music songs
indie music
indie music artist
instrumental music
journey hits cd
june music
listen to country songs
listen to love songs
listen to music cd
listen to songs
live music
live music calendar
local music
love lyrics
love songs
lyrics
lyrics goodbye
lyrics i love you
mark norman music
melbourne music scene
memphis music
merle haggard album
merle haggard artist
merle haggard mp3
merle haggard music
merle haggard singer
merle haggard song
merle haggard songs
metal music
music agent
music album
music album reviews
music album song
music album songs
music album track
music album tracks
music albums
music artists
music artwork
music career
music catalog
music catalogue
music cd downloads
music cd fosse
music cd lot
music cd producer
music cds
music cds new
music collectors
music events
music festival calendar
music music music cd
music photographers
music players
music producer
music producers
music producing
music productions
music promotion
music record label
music recording studios
music recordings
music records
music remade
music reviews
music royalties
music songwriter
music songwriting
music studios
nashville music
new cd
new indie music
new music
new music album
new music albums
new music cd
new orleans music
new song
norma jean country music
now music cd
original music
original music services
pop music producer
portland music
portland music event
portland music events
portland music scene
promo music
promotional music cds
publishing song
purchase music cd
r&b music
raffi music cd
rap music cd
rare music album
recommended music
record label
recording music
records
rem music
secret garden music cd
sell music
sell music online
song
song lyrics
songs
soul music cd
surf music
tagworld music player
toby keith music
top music album
various artists cd
view 2006 calendar
washington music event
willie nelson album
willie nelson albums
willie nelson artist
willie nelson artists
willie nelson band
willie nelson bands
willie nelson guitar
willie nelson hits
willie nelson merle haggard music
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willie nelson singer
willie nelson singers
willie nelson song
willie nelson songs

How an Audio Interface Can Help Your Music Career

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Everyone who loves making music and wants to make a career out of it needs to record their music. The only way to truly record your own music so that it sounds professional is through the use of an audio interface. An audio interface has come a long way over the past several years, making it more compact and much more affordable so that just about anyone can have their own studio.

When you want to record music, a USB interface can plug directly into your computer so that you can download what you’ve already recorded. The interface itself is very small and contains storage on the machine so that you can take it everywhere you go. If you want to record a live session at a night club, you can do so using the interface.

Once you get home, you’ll use the USB audio interface to plug into your computer and download your jam sessions. Most of these interfaces come packed with their own software to make the downloading very easy. After you’ve downloaded the music, you even have the option of modifying the sound waves, adding techniques, voice overs and much more to customize the sound. You can also designate what kind of file you want to save the music as to make it easier to share online, burn to CDs or send to potential agents.

The audio interface will go wherever you go. It is a fairly small device in most cases – smaller than a shoebox. This allows you to keep it in your backpack, set it in your garage or take it anywhere that you plan on making music. You can plug microphones and instruments directly into it or have the device record from the amp or speakers.

There are many USB interface systems available in the marketplace, so you need to determine which one is right for you. Some will give you a screen so that you can do playbacks right from your interface without plugging into a computer while others depend on the computer for playback. You may also be able to adjust pitch and other parts of the music with controls directly on the interface.

Ultimately, you need to determine how much you want to do with the USB audio interface. If you plan on tweaking the sound in the field, then you will need to spend more money on one of the higher end interfaces that will give you more control. This doesn’t affect the size much, but it will give you more controls and a screen to be able to adjust your settings easier.

The USB interface can help you with all of the digital changes that you’ll do from the computer, too. The software bundled with the interface should be stand alone, meaning that you don’t need to buy additional software. Read through the features of each software program to make sure that you’re getting everything you need to produce the right kinds of sounds. Some programs feature background tracks and synthesizers to adjust your recorded sound as needed.

Once you have the USB audio interface of your choosing, you can start to record the sounds that you or your band are capable of. The only way you can improve your chances for success in the music career is if people hear what kind of music you’re playing. You will be able to create electronic files to share across the internet and send out to anyone so that you can be heard.

The Midnight Funk Association, The Last Great Radio Show

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The Midnight Funk Association was the 12 a.m. segment of the legendary late night Detroit radio DJ Electrifying Mojo, a.k.a Charles Johnson.
An entire generation of faithful fans and listeners from the late 70’s through the early 90’s recognize the radio show for shaping the musical tastes of listeners in the Metropolitan Detroit Area, Northern Ohio, and Eastern Ontario Canada.

Mojo broke many artists in the Detroit market including Prince, The J. Giles Band, The B-52’s and turned audiences on to classic legends like Pink Floyd and Peter Frampton, artist previously unheard on radio stations that were labelled as “black”, or “R and B” .

Nightly at 12 a.m., Mojo called to order The Midnight Funk Association, an homage to some of the great funk bands of the day and of all time. He frequently played original long versions, and entire sides of albums by George Clinton and Parliament / Funkadelic, Prince, Rick James and many other all time great bands and artists, as well as local groups like Ready For the World.

At the top of the show, Mojo opened membership to the MFA, and members new and old were asked to stand up to show solidarity.

* If you were driving you were to flash your headlights.
* If you were at home, you turned on your porch light.
* If you were in bed listening to the show, you were required to dance on your back.

And every night for years, people did it !

To become a card carrying member of the MFA, listeners wrote in the radio station and would receive their official MFA I.D. card.

Electrifying Mojo, and the Midnight Funk Association was one of the last great radio music shows of our time. Many fans of the radio show credit Mojo for being fans of music that they would have otherwise never heard of. He was a huge influence in turning millions of listeners into Prince fans, and many say was responsible for a six show sell out at Cobo Hall in Detroit in the late 80’s.

It is common to speak to fans of the show that will credit him for turning them on to Peter Frampton, The B-52’s, Pink Floyd, and many other artists that were never heard on Detroit’s “R and B” stations, yet he also supported emerging rap artists like Eric B and Rakim, Run DMC, Whoodini, L.L. Cool J, and the many styles of music heard of the show fit together semmlessly as if they were mean to be enjoyed together.

The Godfathers and Originators of Detroit House and Techno Music, Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, now known and respected around the world as groundbreaking, credit Mojo and the Midnight Funk Association as an early influence in their musical development and he frequently supported and played thier early and history making tracks that launched Detroit techno to the entire world including Inner City’s “Good Life”, Derrick May’s “Strings of Life”, Cybotron’s “Cosmic Cars”, Model 500 “No UFO’s”, “Technicolor”, “R9” and so many others.

Mojo was known to support and embrace electronic music in it’s early stages and frequently played artists like Africa Bambaataa, Kraftwerk, and New Order as part of his nightly radio show.

Common segments of the legendary radio show included:

* 10:00pm – The Landing of the Mothership. This was the intro to each show with spaceship sound effects and related dialog. Sometimes the music heard during the first hour was indicative of what you’d hear that night; sometimes it would be completely random.
* 11:00pm – Awesome ’84, ’85. In the mid eighties, Mojo played an hour of brand new music (hence the year in the title) and a lot of new songs were introduced.
* 11:30pm – Lover’s Lane. A half an hour of “slow jams” for lovers.
* 12:00am – The Midnight Funk Association. Consisted regularly of Parliament-Funkadelic, The Gap Band, Zapp and other funk bands of the era.

From 1:00am to 3:00am (2:00 am on Saturday nights), Mojo’s show was different every night. Sometimes, the MFA would stretch well beyond 1:00am, other times Mojo would introduce segments such as:

* Star Wars – A classic “artist vs. artist” set, where Mojo would alternate selections from two different groups or artists, and the listeners would call in to vote for their favorite.
* Journey – Sometimes a multi-night segment, where Mojo played songs by a single artist or group, spanning their entire career. This usually included a mix of hits and obscure songs by that artist.
* Shout-out – Everyone that called into the station during his show was the recipient of a “shout-out”. He would go on for as long as it took rattling off the first names of every single person who had called in to the show.
* 35-35-35 – Mojo would take suggestions from listeners about their favorite artists and bands. He then would choose the three most popular groups that night and play thirty-five minutes, commercial-free, of each group. This segment often gave airtime to groups that no other radio station in Detroit played.

At other times, Mojo would spend the last 2 hours of his show showcasing live mixes on two turntables, by bringing in local DJs to do the same. One such DJ, Jeff Mills, began his career with Mojo as “The Wizard.” Mojo also would air music by local groups at this time.

In the Metro Detroit Area, The Midnight Funk Association was more than a nightly radio show, it was an event that listeners looked forward to every night for years.
It was common to see cars flashing thier lights at midnight and horns honking on the streets all over town at Midnight.

Mojo crossed color lines and did not adhere to a play list like today’s prepackaged radio stations and while broadcast on stations marketed toward the African-American market, his programming was an inspired blend of the best soul, funk, New Wave, and rock that defied standard radio industry formats and genres.

He believed that good music had no color, and should not be packaged into “Black” stations, and “White” stations, a concept still lost on today’s radio station owners, and program managers.

Electrifying Mojo and his Midnight Funk Association was the last of the great radio shows, and the last show that had any originality, and independent thought outside of a prestructured play list or carefully crafted demographic studies.

By following his love of music and adhering to a standard of just playing what was good, Mojo accomplished something that radio has been unable to do since. Capture a cross section of music lovers that encompassed every age, race, and finacial demographic, and create listeners andloyal fans that tuned in simply because they loved the DJ and the music.

Most recently, Mojo is serving as Program Director for a handful of Detroit radio stations – he does not publicize which ones – and he was in negotiations to bring his show to XM satellite radio in 2006, but so far nothing has been heard about it.

Fans from all over still speak of the legendary radio show, as well as, others who have heard about it and what it meant to so many, for so long.

For those of us that were there, The Midnight Funk Association will live in our hearts forever, and we will always be card carrying members.

It was truly one of the last great radio shows of our time.

Download Music Online To Satisfy The Appetite Of Listening Quality Music

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Downloading online music in recent years has increased than ever before. You can download online music through various websites. People, especially youngsters, download online music to satisfy their appetite of listening various types of music. Since 2000, the concept of online music gained enormous popularity, and the membership and subscriptions have also been increased manifold. In fact, today, more and more people are banking upon the online stores for the latest and quality music. In order to accomplish the demand of growing number of online music listeners, the number of websites is also increasing which has huge collection of songs and albums of all genres.

Online portals offering latest and quality music

www.in.com is one of the popular web portals offering the latest and quality music online. In fact, the portal is popular for arranging numerous types of songs and music videos of users favorite pop star and artistes. One of the important features of such a portal is that individual can listen music before placing order for it. In this competitive world, all leading portals offer the facility of listening music online. People can also create their play-lists by choosing songs and listening them via online. All recognized web portals have a wide range of categories with different music classifications.

Subscribing online to music portals

Nowadays, users can easily download songs online for free of cost or by subscribing online to music portals, like www.in.com. This way of listening music saves you from the hurdles of buying CD. In fact, most of the leading online music stores offer you the facility of buying a CD you wish for. Their products and services are come up at the best prices.

Online music stores

The internet is flooded with a number of web portals offering the facility of downloading unlimited number of songs. You can download all types of songs from old to the latest, pop to romantic and sad to hip hop ones. Today, downloading music online has become common as an overwhelming selection of web portals available that offer all the latest music tracks with ease. So, why are you thinking? Just register and see results.