jeff

The web has unlocked an incredible amount of options for artists to take control of their careers and well, do-it-themselves. The challenge, however, is that self-promotion is still a boatload of work and requires a fair amount of diligence and perseverance. Web marketing can have incredible results due to the viral nature of word-of-mouth - now because of capabilities to tell more than one person at a time, there are exponential growth opportunities. And, more importantly, it's virtually free of costs (other than time).

I like to divide online artist marketing strategies into 5 specific areas:

1) blogging
2) podcasting
3) vodcasting or viral video
4) "brute-force" online guerrilla marketing
5) RSS (sort of a repeat of #1 & #2, but I'll explain)

BLOGS
It takes time to build up enough credibility via a blog to get people to pay attention. I think the key question is WHERE you as an artist should be focusing your time. When you have a moment, check out some of the music blog aggregators such as the Hype Machine at http://hype.non-standard.net, http://www.marathonpacks.com, http://www.fluxblog.org, and http://www.3hive.com. At a minimum, you'll have a chance to review a bunch of sites that have blogs that are relevant to your ideas or genre of music. When responding to blogs (or even starting your own), you gotta pay your dues. Make sure that you are adding value to the discussion and NOT just pumping your own agenda (c'mon, these are things you should be doing anyway, eh?). Other readers will eventually respect what you have to say and will want to learn more about you and yes, your music - remember that as an artist, you are still part of a community and it's important to be a contributor.

PODCASTING
Podcasting hasn't taken off the way that we all expected. For starters, check out http://www.voxmedia.org/wiki/How_to_Podcast - there are a couple of good links to some articles on strategies - be sure to check out the article on Engadget. There are a couple of good podcasts that folks use to discover new music - IndieFeed and Next Big Hit are two solid podcasts to target.

VIRAL VIDEO
YouTube has created an amazing platform using Flash to stream video creating billions of pageviews per month. My favorite example here is what Maldroid managed to accomplish on YouTube via the Underground Video Contest. (By way of full disclosure, Maldroid has been signed to Fuzz's label). In total DIY spirit, the band produced it's own music AND the accompanying video which incorporated some pretty heavy-duty animation. The results were amazing: over 2 million plays on YouTube over a few weeks, radio play, press coverage, and even an interview on Good Morning America... This is an extreme example of the payoffs that could happen, but even taking the time to put out a clever DIY video can have pay-offs. It's so easy to do now, that it couldn't hurt to try. Video production is becoming easier and easier that it's practically a necessary piece of an artist's promotional package.

BRUTE-FORCE GUERRILLA MARKETING
Sure, pounding every friend that you have on MySpace is a strategy that might yield results. However, it's generally more effective if you can get a loyal fan (OK, or maybe your girlfriend) to reach out to their friends to promote your show or an upcoming album. Artists should not only think about real world street teams where fans go out and plaster the town with stickers and fliers, but also, VIRTUAL street teams that will tell the world about your music via blogs and social communities. Keep in mind that some of the most successful artists have created ways to 1) effectively communicate to their fans, 2) monitor progress, and 3) provide REAL incentives that give the best rewards to those fans that do the work. Keep in mind that incentives or rewards don't need to have a high monetary value. Fans often want one thing - access to YOU. T-shirts, stickers, and music will often do the trick at the outset. But you may want to consider doing a private show for that one fan that has worked his or her butt off to make you known to others. The payoffs could be bigger than you'd expect. Shit, I'd support practically any band that would actually take the time to say thank you by doing a free show for a house party...

RSS FEEDS
This is really an extension of some of the previous social networking tools as RSS feeds include various forms of digital content such as blogs and podcasts. I view RSS as a "pull" technology since, as a user, I'm requesting general categories of content to show up on my homepage. In many ways, RSS just expands the reach of blogs and podcasts to users who want to be spoon fed information. This probably makes it even more important for artists to spend time focusing blogs and podcasts that have large subscriber bases. Check out http://elbo.ws/ which is music-focused blog aggregator to check out blogs that people care about it in your area of focus.

OK, so there are numerous ways to use the web to share your music with the world. While there may be minimal monetary costs, there are certainly opportunity costs involved, so it's important you know how to budget your time. It's truly important to enlist others and their social networks to help with your cause. The most successful artists find compelling ways to get their fans to do the work for them. It creates a more loyal fan base and gives you as an artist, a closer bond with your most important constituent.

Anyway, I hope this post has been useful. Please hit me with any comments or any areas where I may have missed the boat...