What Google does to the online world is the last thing on your mind. The fact of the matter is that their moves affect everyone trying to market themselves including independent artists.
Who cares? So what?!
You should care about the online trends that are evolving the “Interwebs.” From the SOPA & PIPA bills to the changes Google has implemented, you need to recognize the importance of the news and changes that occur.
“Hang Out” with your fans on Google Plus. Really, you can… Not only can you share and create “Circles” for certain fans, you can also select a group of fans to live chat with.
All you need is a working camera and mic set up for your pc to have a live conversation with some lucky fans.
Generating an online presence is something that has been ignored by bands that we search for when we look for information on new independent artists. Indie bands and artists generally have one or two sites that they have signed up on, but there’s a lack of vital information.
Since all of the social media sites are free, why aren’t artists taking advantage of this free marketing opportunity?
Your band’s website should be dominating the first page of search results for your project’s name. All of the social media and music websites should be right under it, fighting to take up the first page.
Reports are a brewin’ about a new “social network” called Google Me after a tweet was posted by Digg’s Kevin Rose. That’s right, Facebook, you allegedly have a competitor being released into the social media realm soon.
It brings me to ask questions about the upcoming social network…
Will it be artist friendly? Is there going to be a music player for bands and artists? Are they going to take aspects of Myspace to help the cause?
When people ask me what Google Buzz is, I simply say it’s a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter. You apply live updates to your profile for your followers, similar to Twitter, and then add links or photos. You also have the ability to make your updates public or private.
Why should indie bands or artists use Google Buzz?
It is another excellent way to gain exposure for your band or project. You can apply custom links and have your profile showcased during Google searches of your project’s name.
Having a link back to your Web site is a solid reason to create a Google profile. Google also gives you the ability to add multiple links to your other social media sites, store, blog, etc. For instance, I currently have five links on my profile to the sites I want my followers to visit.
Never believe in overnight successes. They’re like the tooth fairy. They’re make-believe. How many times have you heard about the struggling actress who moves to Hollywood and bumps into the guy at the coffee shop who happens to know a producer at Miramax? Then bam! The next week, she’s on the set of the next Quentin Tarantino flick.
Or how about the starry-eyed rapper who’s desperate to be the next MTV sensation? So he starts free-styling on the street one day at just the moment that the head A&R rep at Jive happens to be walking by. Next thing, he’s working on his own major label album.
You’ve probably noticed already that in the real world, things don’t usually happen that way. The overnight success is and always will be a myth. The big reason is that there’s too many layers of complexity between an idea and a real world end result.
I read an article on Billboard.com [awhile] ago which said that Coldplay is going to give away their live CD “leftrightleftrightleft” to all fans attending its Viva La Vida summer tour. Brilliant!
“Playing live is what we love,” says Coldplay. Exactly! It should be. Surely, a day doesn’t go by where you don’t hear about how you should be giving away free music, right? You should be. As I’ve mentioned before, music as a product doesn’t have much value anymore because it’s too common. It’s basic supply and demand.
Ok, so now, instead of hoping in earnest that somebody buys your tracks, you should be hoping that as many of them as possible download them for free. But does that mean you’ll make a penny off of your free downloads down the road? Well, it depends. Coldplay does. And they’re making lots of it. So why can’t you?
One thing that the traditional music labels have always been good at doing is making money. One thing that the indie music world has always been good at doing is connecting with fans. In this day and age, I would say that the indie world has a definite advantage over the major labels.
But only because the labels are so stuck in the 20th century. They built themselves up on one model and that model is now obsolete. The indie world was always largely about the music. About the fans’ emotional connection to it. And that’s the right way to do it.