Keeping Watch on the Music Business: The Digital and Physical Copy and New Promotional Techniques

What do I know about making money from music? After all, I've given all of my own compositions away for free so far. That being said, I have been an avid purchaser of music for many years and grew up in a household loaded with records, tapes, and CDs, so I'd like to think I know a little something about what entices someone into wanting to own an album, physically as well as digitally.

We're living in a time where practically every album you could want can be found in a few minutes' time via music blogs (or more frowned-upon downloading sources), totally free, not necessarily resulting in the downloader doing anything to support the artist later on. Despite the fact that 'pirates' tend to purchase more music anyway (covered in my previous Keeping Watch on the Music Business piece: File-Sharing, You, and Them), and probably attend more gigs as well, I think it's a safe bet that these are albums that are being bought because: 1) they're currently unavailable to download anywhere, 2) they contain some extras that cannot be had in digital form, 3) someone feels duty-bound to support the artist/label monetarily.

If you've spent a few minutes or more at A Future in Noise in the past, it's probably clear that the whole team are digital format enthusiasts. That thousands of songs can be stored on a hard-drive, and a cassette-sized iPod, is something that amazes me still. Music blogs are becoming less of an underground phenomenon and more of a central force in the digital promotion of new music. Whether you've put out everything for free or have it purchasable digitally (perhaps even physical copies as well), this is your best bet to get your content out there and be heard.

If you're an independent artist that has just released a new digital album, one of the first things you should do is carefully select music blogs to send a message to them about it. I'm not talking press release blasts, either (see Are You Still Blasting Out Press Releases... on Music Think Tank for why this can be a waste of time). It has to at least appear personal, and hopefully you have indeed put some time into exploring what music their site focuses on. To draw from my own experience: when I was promoting New Limerent Object, I first sent it out to music bloggers I had networked with previously, as in commenting on their posts, e-mailing them previously about how I enjoyed their articles, or located on Last.fm and discussed music matters with. You likely have more immediate, article-writing connections than you realize! When sending your new album along to a blog you've never contacted before, be sure that it is not a shot in the dark - you can quite easily locate sites that would be more receptive to your music by visiting Google Blogsearch and looking up artists that you enjoy or find similar to your own style of music, and browsing through the blogs that come up. Another method is to look through blogs at Hype Machine, Elbo.ws, and the MOG Music Network and contact your favorites. Since I've received hundreds of press releases and personal music submission e-mails since starting A Future in Noise, I'd like to take a moment to offer some tips to any artist, label, or PR representative looking to contact music blogs for promotional purposes...and get results!:

- Generic PR blasts are not impressive, the exception being if they're about an artist I already know that I like and the message comes off more as a news briefing than an unexpected annoyance. Same goes for being added without permission to an artist or label's mailing list that I've never been in contact with previously! Even if you are using the same basic format for the content of your press release, particularly if you're planning on sending it around to dozens, maybe even hundreds of sites, it helps immensely if you add a personal touch to it, particularly at the beginning - as an example: "Hello (blogger's name) - I've been reading (name of blog), and I really enjoyed your post on (band x) and thought you might enjoy my music too." Despite my name, Marilyn Roxie, being plastered all over everything I'm involved with, I've gotten more than one music submission that un-jokingly began with "Dear Sir or Madam"!

- Thinking about including a .ZIP or .RAR as an attachment...? Stop! Danger, danger! It's more convenient for you, as well as who you're submitting your album to, if you upload your file to a 'non-expiring' site like Drop.io, Megaupload, or Mediafire (as opposed to Sendspace, which will kill a link that goes without being downloaded for too long), after which you get one single link that you can point everyone to, instead of having to upload it and wait each time you're sending it out, so it can be downloaded at someone's leisure. If you have more time on your hands to upload higher-quality bitrate files and customize a landing site for the would-be downloader or purchaser, Bandcamp is a good option as well. Including mp3s as attachments doesn't bother me, though it is probably still better to use an external link instead, which Mediafire and Soundcloud are handy for.

- Make it clear whether you want your entire album to be shared or whether they have your permission to post streams and/or downloads. I've had to ask many of the artists that have sent me their music if it is okay if I post a download or two or if they'd rather a stream instead, since it wasn't specified in their original message. Including "Please feel free to share a track from this album as an mp3" ("a track or two", "the album", or other variants) in your message will take out some of the guesswork for the recipient of your message, and is likely to encourage them to pay attention and listen in the first place. Even if you're serious about selling physical copies, you will absolutely gain more fans by offering at least some of your material for free. This is essential. Never forget it!

- See also bigMETHOD's article on The Golden Rules of Blog PR: 12 Music Bloggers Set It Straight for more tips. Meanwhile, or preferably before a craze of blog submissions, make sure you set about establishing yourself in on-line music/social-networks (see also my article on Independent Musicians' Tips at SleepWalking Mag) - it's all about spreading the word.

Alright, so you've informed people about your material, but how do you get them to then buy your album? For the starting artist, I think scarcity and exclusive content are key. Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor made an excellent post in July on his thoughts on what to do as a new / unknown artist, which included points about how important it is to give your music away from the get-go, offer limited and special editions ("make them by hand, sign them, make them unique, make them something YOU would want to have as a fan"), get your music on iTunes and Amazon, provide merchandise, and offer files in a variety of bitrates and formats.

Since the music business has changed so rapidly in the wake of the on-line music community, new ways have got to be sought out to keep the commercial aspect exciting. Making merchandise is as easy as getting a free Zazzle account, which allows you to offer nicely made custom clothing, accessories, mugs, posters and more with your own uploaded designs. Think of how you might be able to tie your other talents into promoting your band and allowing for purchasable items as well - are you an artist? Set up a DeviantArt shop (small one time fee)! Place emphasis on your album art, and have large-size versions available as prints. Do you make short films? Make sure fans of your music know where to see what you've done on YouTube or Vimeo or purchase DVDs! Many users seem to not be as savvy about how to find and download video content for free as they are with music, plus it takes up considerably more space, so consider the video component of your music as a viable product option, sold separately or as a bonus with your album. Make sure any additional efforts involving other media types supplement the music, instead of distract from it!

Getting fans to purchase digital mp3s is as simple as the right kind of promotion (and the general music fan prefers individual tracks), and Amazon and iTunes are the first destinations of many, but what's the real incentive to buy whole albums digitally, instead of physically? For starters, iTunes' new iTunes LP digital store addition "provides music listeners with an expanded media experience similar to buying an LP record, with the music featured along side album art and photography, liner notes and other material" (thanks to alvareo on Tumblr for the heads-up on this!). Fans appreciate extras like high-res cover art and insert images, maybe even a PDF booklet, or a password that allows them to access otherwise hidden content on your website. Get creative and think: what would you like to see your favorite bands release along with their new albums (or what have they done already)?

Moving on to physical copies, I honestly don't believe that they will ever die out entirely. Holding an album in your hands, owning it is quite another thing from downloading. Apart from cheap physical copies to sell at gigs and on-line (keep it under $15, and $10 if you can manage it), homemade, limited copies, as well as standard releases with extras similar to those I suggested for digital downloads earlier, also add to fan excitement.

It's no surprise that vinyl is on the upswing; see also Wired: Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin and RIAA Admits Vinyl Sales Are Climbing. For many in their 20s and younger, vinyl records have a sort of retro-cool appeal, and seem like a more substantial item to possess than the mere tracks on your computer or mp3 player, accompanied by a JPEG image. Record Store Day is a lovely global effort to get people out to support their local record stores and rediscover (or in the case of many younger listeners, discover for the first time) the joy of hunting and browsing around a shop and conversing with fellow music fanatics, elements that are sadly missing from the realm of the digital store...at the moment. I envision a future where there's a digital storefront with a Gaia Online-esque interface that involves using a customizable avatar, chatting up with clerks and other customers in real-time, and looking through virtual record racks all around, divided up by artist name and genre!

In conclusion, people have strong feelings about purchasing music - they're more likely to do it if they feel attached enough to the artist/label to make a financial contribution, as well as if they're getting something extra out of it that's not possible to acquire otherwise. You wouldn't buy just anything, right? I'm aware that many artists might be resistant to the idea of having their music as 'a product', preferring it to remain free, but as someone who has allowed listening, making, and writing about music become the greater portion of their life's work, I feel that there gets to be a point where you might want your efforts to be appreciated to a greater extent, and seen, and held, and made real! In the challenging atmosphere of the music industry, this can appear tricky at times, yet all the while there are more new options and opportunities to be creative with making music available to the public than ever before.