When I first meet with artists I often ask this simple question: What did you do for your career today? Because I’m well aware that by the time they talk to me, many feel overwhelmed and have already retreated into a mindset of excuses–I only have so much time so it’s not worth it or it’s already late or I’m burnt out. But excuses don’t help you at all.

That’s not to say feeling overwhelmed is unreasonable. The music business is intimidating once you begin to look at the business aspects and everything that you need to do to become self sufficient as well as effective and productive, but there’s a little secret people don’t know: the little stuff can be just as important as the big stuff. It’s about forward motion, and forward motion can take place in the smallest snatches of free time. Whether you’re waiting for someone else to do vocals on a recording before you mix or you’re waiting on a tech guy or girl to set up your website, there’s always stuff that can be done.

A simple checklist can include:

Updating a networking site.

Adding friends to a networking site.

Researching new venues or contacting a new venue.

Researching new review sites or magazines and/or sending to them.

Researching booking agents and/or contacting them.

Researching new management companies and/or contacting them.

Researching hotels or places to stay for tours and adding them to your database.

One rule people:

The Size Of Your E-mail List = The Size Of Your Income

So, how big is yours?

Myth: I don’t have any shows to promote. Therefore, I’m not going to do a newsletter.

Reality: 50% or more of the artists that I work with don’t have any shows to promote. Zero, zilch, none…and they still want to be artists in the world getting their music out and heard and liked and listened to (why in the heck would you hire me if you did not want your music out there?).

1. The Definition of Publicity - First, we are going to start out with the very basics–some definitions of what publicity is exactly. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Publicity – “An act or device designed to attract public interest; specifically: information with news value issued as a means of gaining public attention or support. Also: The dissemination of information or promotional material.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Publicity is EXACTLY these things.

A music publicist is hired as a member of your team to represent you to the media. Media is defined traditionally as editors and writers at newspapers, magazines, dailies, weeklies, monthlies, college newspapers, and television. Some publicists may also cover radio for interviews on tour stops, but if you want to get on the radio charts (like CMJ), you will need a radio promoter. Some publicists also cover Internet PR, like my company, but not all traditional publicists do! A publicist’s job is to liaise with the press. They are not hired to get you a booking agent or gig, a label deal, a distribution deal, or any other type of marketing deal. That is what a manager is for. They will not get you played on radio, either. This is what a radio promoter is for. A well-connected publicist, however, may be able to hook you up with all of the abovementioned things, but it is not in her job description.

First of all, I am not saying that you should go and join a “networking group” (although Meetup.com is a great place to do that). I’m pointing out that simply leaving your house can be looked at as a networking opportunity.

There Are 3 Reasons Why We Network

To find a direct target or a customer. For example, a fan who will buy tickets, music, or merch and support you.

To gain a sphere of influence, and therefore a source for referrals (i.e. the people who like the people who know & support your band).

Unfortunately there are loads of musicians around completing for increased music downloads. If you type in “dance mp3″you get about 3 million web sites that fit that phrase. So we have a slight problem attracting visitors to our site.

There are people that make web pages that fit “unsigned dance mp3s”. Now can I ask one slightly simple question…why would I want to search out someone who is unsigned? Unfortunately “unsigned” is just too general. You see we have to put ourselves in the down loaders mind. Or better still…stand back and become a web surfer. What would you search for? I don’t regularly put in “dance mp3s”, I know for a fact that I don’t put in “unsigned music”.

I have actually figured out something that not a lot of free rating MP3 websites are going to like.

WHAT:  “A few years ago, we started imagining these nights that could be more than music, nights where you could fill a room with hope and honesty, nights where you could also point to community and treatment,” said Jamie Tworkowski, founder of TWLOHA.

“Heavy and Light is sort of a dream come true for us. We’re given the keys to this amazing venue, to basically put whatever and whoever we want on that stage. The goal is something truly unique. It’s not a “benefit show”. It’s an attempt to challenge and inspire and encourage. More than anything, Heavy and Light is an attempt to move people, with songs and with stories and with a taste of community…” said Jamie.

5 Questions: Answers from Charles McEnerney, Host + Producer for Well-Rounded Radio and Founder of Musicians for Music 2.0

Q) Tell us a little bit about your IR station. What initially inspired you to start it?

A) I started Well-Rounded Radio (really a podcast, but I named it before podcasting started!) because I grew up in Queens, New York City listening to a lot of really great disc jockeys like Vin Scelsa on commercial and college radio who used to do fantastic interviews. But as the years went by and radio changed all over the country, I felt like the only place I was hearing music interviews was on NPR and some syndicated shows. And as much as I love NPR, I felt their in-depth music interviews were with people that were somewhat predictable. I like to be surprised by music and I wanted to do a series where what was coming at you would be a little more unexpected.

The typical musician spends much of their time being musically creative and so a lot of musicians that should be using Twitter to market their music just aren’t sure where to start or how to use it to its full potential.

So, to help out those that could be using Twitter more effectively I’ve listed some things you could be doing to market your music, whether you are a DJ, band, music producer, promoter or even if you have a podcast to promote.

Luckily, Twitter is simple and easy. The only work that really needs putting in is a little thought and some time on a regular basis. Hopefully that makes you feel a little better.

Branding yourself both online and offline will really set up this coming year to be a break through one for your musical career.

To do this you must start with the most fundamental aspect of you as an artist: Your Pitch!

Two things happened recently to inspire this article.

Scenario #1: I was out at the Mercury Lounge seeing music and between bands I was standing at the bar talking to some friends and someone handed me a show flyer. I was taken with him immediately, I always appreciate anyone who is self -promoting because its not easy to do and it’s especially not easy to do at a crowded bar on a Wednesday night in downtown Manhattan. So, I looked down at the flyer and my heart sank. It said the following:

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?

Free stuff! Everybody wants it. Getting free gear and being able to say “I endorse so and so” is a very interesting topic, and one that is often approached from the wrong angle with the wrong intentions that deliver the wrong results. First of all, a lot of people talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. These people claim to endorse companies that have no idea who they are. There is a fine line and a fine, keen difference between a musician that exclusively uses a product and that musician actually endorses a company. I find it completely foolish when people lie about their endorsements, or overly advertise that they are endorsed, but do not mention any of the elements that are involved in endorsing a product.

Simply put, whether we speak of you endorsing a product or a product/company endorsing you, we are talking about you as marketing avenue connected to that product/company, an avenue from which they can gain exposure and revenue. It is the endorsers’ responsibility to exclusively use a given product, of course, but also to use it in a way that showcases the quality of that product and the quality of the player (ie: you!) that is now associated with the product. An ideal endorsement is more than the sum of its parts: both sides gain.

It’s not all about a free ride

Contemporary Pianist/Composer, Ann Sweeten, (www.Annsweeten.com) has crafted a signature sound over the course of 8 chart-topping albums and 2 Italian compilation albums over the past 13 years. Often placed in the New Age genre, her style is decidedly unique, embracing not only the classical realm, but aspects of jazz, film scoring, and popular music. Sweeten’s music has aired and been reviewed across the world to wide critical acclaim. Her music is also played on Internet radio, DMX/Spafax Music, Muzak, Clear Channel, AOL Music/XM Audio Visions channel, XM Satellite, and Music Choice (Soundscapes).

Musical Achievements: