Promoting Your Playing And Your Music And You!, Tips and Tricks on Getting the word out about you! Options

[Todd Simpson]

I agree The major lables are now offering deal to many folks which amount to "pay to play" just to keep their infrastructure moving along. Since you have nothing to lose, don't be afraid to ask for the Sun and the Moon with Universal As they say "He who cares least, prospers most in a negotiation"

Todd

Great to know about Spotify! We are also on iTunes, Amazon and Deezer with both the 'Seeds' EP and the 'Bloodstream' single.

We are currently discussing if signing with Universal is really a good thing for the band - they don't seem to be offering anything but the distribution and the physical production of the CDs. We can do that for about 1300 bucks - 500 pieces. I wouldn't tie the band up for 5 years with a contract for that kind of money if you ask me... Sponsorship or crowdfunding sounds more likely as an option to me

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[Cosmin Lupu]

I agree The major lables are now offering deal to many folks which amount to "pay to play" just to keep their infrastructure moving along. Since you have nothing to lose, don't be afraid to ask for the Sun and the Moon with Universal As they say "He who cares least, prospers most in a negotiation"

Todd

Thanks for confirming my thoughts man I will act accordingly I have also discussed this with my mates and it's an unanimous decision!

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[Todd Simpson]

Using "BRAND SYNERGY" to get your name out there!!!

I know it sounds like marketing speak and it sort of is But using "brand synergy" is a great way to get the word out about you as a musician as well as get traction for your music. In the online world, the hardest thing to do is just get above the noise level of everyone posting everything all at once. So...

Here is an example. As you guys know I"m a HUGE fan of OVERLOUD TH2 guitar processing software. So when I make a video for a GMC collaboration, I make a note in the vid info as to what gear I'm using. That way, any of the vendors that like the vid, can share it on their facebook page or wherever. They get free demo vid of their product, and I get free eyeballs from folks who look at their page.

In this particular example, eyeball count is pretty small as overloud are a very very small company and compared to AMPLITUDE and GUITAR RIG they represent a tiny fraction of the market. I'd never even heard of them before a fellow GMCer told me about them. But I digress.

I used Overloud on a collab vid and the overloud folks posted/shared the vid on their facebok page! Instant synergy So the takeaway is, tag your videos with whatever gear you are using. The folks that make that gear routinely run searches to find people demoing their stuff. It could lead to more vids or even endorsement. Tag away!!

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[Cosmin Lupu]

Hey Todd - great approach here

Any of you guys owning a piece of gear that you are using and that you like - why not make a video showcasing the ways in which it improves your playing and then, maybe even post it on the producers page If you make a habit out of it, most likely they will notice and if they like the vids... well, as Todd very well stated, the possibilities could become very interesting

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[Todd Simpson]

Yup! Also, TAGGING is VERY VERY Important. When you post something on facebook, TAG IT!! E.G. if you have an IBANEZ guitar in your vid, or picture, or whatev, tag it on facebook and mention the word in your post. On youtube, put the word in the key words section. Make sure it's easy to find Vendors routinely search their own brands on social media.

Hey Todd - great approach here

Any of you guys owning a piece of gear that you are using and that you like - why not make a video showcasing the ways in which it improves your playing and then, maybe even post it on the producers page If you make a habit out of it, most likely they will notice and if they like the vids... well, as Todd very well stated, the possibilities could become very interesting

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[Cosmin Lupu]

Yup! Also, TAGGING is VERY VERY Important. When you post something on facebook, TAG IT!! E.G. if you have an IBANEZ guitar in your vid, or picture, or whatev, tag it on facebook and mention the word in your post. On youtube, put the word in the key words section. Make sure it's easy to find Vendors routinely search their own brands on social media.

Great point here - not only the brands, but also potential fans, who want to see vids featuring their favored brands. Did this on Youtube and Facebook alike since the very beginning and it always payed off!

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[Socky42]

Using "BRAND SYNERGY" to get your name out there!!!

Definitely; and you can extend that idea to any brand, not just products. Did this cover last year of another guy on youtubes song and got it shared with 100k people on facebook and another 300k of his youtube subscribers.

Ended up with over 200 new subs and 40k views.

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This post has been edited by Socky42: Aug 2 2014, 06:10 PM

[Cosmin Lupu]

Definitely; and you can extend that idea to any brand, not just products. Did this cover last year of another guy on youtubes song and got it shared with 100k people on facebook and another 300k of his youtube subscribers.

Ended up with over 200 new subs and 40k views.

Very nice man! Tell us a bit about your Youtube channel - how many subscribers do you have right now and which video is the most popular - do you know why?

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[Todd Simpson]

Nicely done!! This is a great example of what I"m talking about

Definitely; and you can extend that idea to any brand, not just products. Did this cover last year of another guy on youtubes song and got it shared with 100k people on facebook and another 300k of his youtube subscribers.

Ended up with over 200 new subs and 40k views.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[Todd Simpson]

THE EVOLUTION OF THE MUSIC BIZ IN THREE CHARTS

In the "Old Days" Tapes/Vinyl Ruled

Then the CD took over

Now look at the fragmentation

The modern music industry is defined by it's "fragmentation". Monolithic formats are history. So getting your music in as many outlets as possible is your best bet

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 29 2014, 01:17 AM

[Todd Simpson]

GOING GLOBAL!

I wanted to share a recent facebook analytic. My recent share/post from FACXEBOOK. I always try to focus any "Paid Posting" in areas of the world where I"ve gotten some traction in the past. In this case, all the countries in this list have worked for me in the past. Notice the breakdown between countries.

The united states is entirely absent.

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[Todd Simpson]

REVERB NATION STATS

If you don't have a REVERBNATION.com account, GO GET ONE It's free and a great way to get your music online and ready for folks to hear and gives you a place to point folks to go hear your stuff and to help promote it.

A big part of it is your STATS. They help you track the statistics of your "reach". Who are you reaching, how many, etc. Being able to even roughly understand this is a very handy way to help you focus your effort and reach more folks.

I know, your saying "i hate marketing, I want people to find me." I hear ya Wanting is free. It's everything else that costs time/effort/etc .Anyhoo, here is a recent screen grab of my stats. Login and see how your music is doing!

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[Todd Simpson]

GETTING YOUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL GOING!
Leveraging Your Youtube Channel Part 1
Your channel is a place where viewers can go and find something they want to watch now and later. You will want your viewers to subscribe to your channel so they’ll come back and watch the content you’re uploading.Here are some tips!

*Subscribers watch more

Subscribers are your biggest fans and are critical to your success on YouTube! If you create original content, gaining subscribers can be the best and fastest way to increase watch time and views.

Subscribers spend more time watching videos on YouTube than your casual visitor or someone who watches embedded YouTube videos through other sites. They also tend to be responsible for many more views on a new video than non-subscribers, especially right after you upload that video. This is a critical moment for a video to increase its watch time.

So how can you get more subscribers? You will want to set up your channel in a way that helps people subscribe and create content that keeps them coming back for more. In short, always be on the path of increasing the quality of your vids in terms of how they look, how they sound, and how they grab and keep audience. If humor is your gift, make use of it. If technique is your thing, make use of that. Make your channel unique. Give people a reason to subscribe and give them reminders often with SUBSCRIBE buttons and such

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jan 1 2016, 04:35 PM

[Todd Simpson]

Watch time is golden :
Leveraging Your Youtube Channel Part 2


*How long people watch your vids, determines if more of yours get suggested to them
In the past, the number of views on a video drove its discovery and rank. Videos getting the most clicks were rewarded, rather than those that held the longest viewer attention. Now, YouTube looks at watch time - the actual amount of time people spend watching your videos - rather than only the number of views, as a more accurate gauge of how a video performs. Views only show the number of times a video was accessed, but not how much of the video was watched.
YouTube suggests videos in search and recommendations that are likely to increase how much overall time a viewer spends watching and uses watch time to improve the ranking of videos in search and recommendations. If people click on your videos and stick around to watch, your videos are more likely to appear more often in suggested and recommended videos and growth in new views could increase. If your videos drive more watch time or inspire your viewers to check out a related video (either yours or someone else’s) your channel gets an advantage!

---

The bottom line is that youtube has changed how it ranks your vids. It now matters quite a bit how much of a given video of yours was watched. If someone watches most of a given video of yours, you get higher rank in terms of another video of yours being suggested for the viewer to watch next. So dig in to your "YOUTUBE ANALYTICS" and find out how long each video is being watched. If you have a lot of 5 minute videos, that are only being watched for 2 minutes, you can actually LOSE position and not have your other vids suggested to viewers

https://www.youtube.com/analytics

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Jan 1 2016, 04:36 PM

[Todd Simpson]

Get that click: Part III


Check out a few ways that you can entice viewers to watch your videos and subscribe.

Create a compelling channel trailer to encourage those unfamiliar with your channel to subscribe.

Update your branding to ensure your channel looks good across all devices and that you are sending a consistent message about your content to potential subscribers.

Tell a story with your thumbnails, title, and description so your viewers know what your video is about.

Include a call to action in your video encouraging viewers to subscribe (both using a verbal cue and visual cue). Take advantage of annotations.

Review your YouTube analytics views report to find out where your traffic is coming from, who your viewers are, and how long they’re watching.

Experiment. Try cross-promoting with other channels your subscribers are interested in.

Remember that you still need good content. If you don’t have anything people want to watch, well, people won’t stay. And, longer watch time does not mean you need to make longer videos - if you have a four minute video idea, keep it four minutes long and make sure to follow best practices for making engaging content. By making videos that your viewers want more of, and by optimizing your channel to help viewers find and watch more of the content they like, you’ll likely see increased subscriptions, recommendations, and more!

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[Todd Simpson]

KNOW YOUR YOUTUBE ANALYTICS!!

Youtube is a great way to find out who is enjoying your creative work. I'd say put EVERYTHING you've ever done on youtube. Take your songs, put a picture with them if needed, and export them as video and upload them. Do this about once a week or so. You can then use the youtube analytics page to see who is watching and from where and for how long. This info can help you tweak your videos to gain a pinch more exposure to a Global audience.

People will be able to find your music from all over the world which is just a wonderful thing Here is an example vid of a review I did for a micro amp. Reviews do tend to do better, for many, than just songs, so I'd say do both!! One can benefit the other. Here is the analytics breakdown. Notice how many countries around the world are watching this one little vid.

As a result, they end up clicking on my other vids as well. So they end up watching music stuff as well as review stuff. But as they say "you gotta get them inside the tent" so to speak. So making some review vids might be a good way to introduce you and your music to a wider audience.

Here is the vid in question that the analytics are pulled from.

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[Todd Simpson]

Our resident wiki God FRAN has taken all the info from this thread and condensed it in to a Wiki Page!!! Much easier to read through IMHO. Here is the link and Fran, once again you RAWWWWKK!!


https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/inde..._And_Your_Music

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[Fran]

Anytime Todd

Edit: I'll add some more interesting stuff from this thread into the wiki article. There are loads of great posts here.

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This post has been edited by Fran: Aug 4 2016, 11:17 AM

[Storm Linnebjerg]

Good work, Fran

I still wonder why the wiki isn't more present in the website layout. Or am I blind?

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[Todd Simpson]

Good point! It used to be linked on the front page but now I doing see it either?

Todd

Good work, Fran

I still wonder why the wiki isn't more present in the website layout. Or am I blind?

Thanks much As Ben mentioned, is the wiki no longer linked on the front page? I don't see it?

Todd

Anytime Todd

Edit: I'll add some more interesting stuff from this thread into the wiki article. There are loads of great posts here.

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