A Guest Post by Bas Grasmayer

To the readers of the Make It In Music blog, I would like to present my paper looking into some of the best practices of the online promotion of new music releases.

The paper identifies trends at play in the online practices of music promotion, looks at five different case studies and draws some observations and conclusions based on these case studies.

With the great, and some times not so great, examples set by Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, DangerMouse & Sparklehorse, Mos Def and Groove Armada, the paper aims to show very simply what works well when promoting music on the web and what does not.

Are you familiar with the phrase ‘freemium’ yet? Where you give something away for free, only to give yourself more opportunities to sell your premium content (fan packs, high quality versions, bundled packages, etc.).

Something else the paper discusses is that when you give something away, you should really give it away. So no DRM (copy protection), no sub-par quality versions (anything below 128 or 192 kbps), or other things which might actually disappoint people expecting to be delighted.

Without further ado, I present to you my paper about the online promotion of new musical content, click the link to download: Online Promotion of New Musical Content by Bas Grasmayer

This article was written by Bas Grasmayer, an International Communication Management student at INHOLLAND University Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He’s currently writing his thesis about successfully using the web for monetizing music and wrote this paper as a side-project.

As part of his studies, he’s completed an internship with the Bulgarian National Radio in Sofia with excellent results, studied new media and PR at Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey for a semester and has combined two of his biggest loves, new media and music, into one research objective for his thesis, which will be finished and made public somewhere within the next few months.

Bas regularly tweets about innovation in the music industry on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spartz

Bas’ contact info can be found on his blog: http://www.basbasbas.com/

You can also find him on LinkedIn, FriendFeed and Facebook. Be sure to check out his Google Reader shared items for many more interesting articles about the music industry and web 2.0!

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A Guest Post by Fraser Smith

What makes a great song? It’s a big question, and one that has been written about endlessly in an attempt to unravel the “formula” for creating a world dominating smash hit record. Sure, there are some basic rules and if you were to examine a handful of the most successful or popular songs of the last four decades, they do have certain things in common. Intro, verse, bridge, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, middle 8, chorus, chorus etc springs to mind!

We can examine things like structure, melody and production very easily but for a greater understanding of the “smash”, we need to look at concepts. Have you ever wondered why some songs seem to “connect” with people and others don’t? When asked why people like a song, they will usually say something along the lines of “I like the tune” or “it’s got a great beat”. Very rarely will the average music consumer tell you they love a song because of the clever way it’s been written, or because the music sounds like it was really hard to play. People simply aren’t interested in that stuff. They’re interested in the elusive combination of a great melody and a lyric that they can relate to, and preferably sing along to.

Of course this isn’t true of all genres of music, but for the purposes of this piece I’m referring mainly to pop music, as this is the domain of the hit single! Yes, there are lots of brilliant, intelligent musicians and songwriters out there whose music isn’t even near the radio and probably never will be. Whilst the music industry is partly responsible for this, it doesn’t change the fact that (generally speaking) if you want to have a big song, you have to be able to connect with lots of people. And that means delivering a message that is clear, simple, catchy and easy to relate to.

This means thinking very carefully about what you’re song is actually about. It can be so easy to get wrapped up in the details of the music itself, such as which chords to use? How the melody should go?  How should the snare drum sound? Sometimes the central concept of the song can often end up as an afterthought.

As a producer and songwriter, I get to hear lot of demos from new artists, some of whom are quick to tell me very confidently which of their songs are the singles, or “radio friendly”. More often than not, the song they point out is the one they’ve laboured over the most, or the song with the lyrics about their ex girlfriend / boyfriend. Sometimes this can mean their lyrics are so personal to them that they’re in danger of not meaning anything to anyone else! So it helps a lot if you are able to step back from your work and ask yourself – if I had never heard this song, what would I think about it? Do I know what it’s about? More importantly, do I care what it’s about?

Let’s look at a couple of recent example of the smash hit song. Love him or hate him, James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” was undeniably one of the big pop songs of 2005, launching a multi-million selling worldwide career for the artist. Cynics will point out that there was a major label and some powerful marketing behind him, which is also true, but they were marketing something that was already going to be relatively easy to sell, because of the simplicity of the concept, the music and the lyrics. I don’t think it’s too unreasonable to suggest that without this song, the level of his success wouldn’t have been as great, and it certainly wouldn’t have happened as quickly.

The sentiment behind Blunt’s song is extremely simple. Perhaps this is why people connected with it? It’s essentially a “grass is greener” song, where the main character is imagining a relationship with a stranger he’s just encountered. It’s also very memorable, even from a first listen. You may not know all the words to the verses straight away, but the chorus is instant. There is never a moment where you’re not sure what the lyrics are because “you can’t hear them properly”.

Now imagine the same music, but with cryptic, clever lyrics that only you understand. Does the song still have the same ability to connect with a large audience? Or just to you? (This can lead us into a whole other area – who are you writing music for, but that’s another topic in itself!) Now try it the other way around; take the lyrics and sing them with a new melody over some complex chords in a clever time signature – is it still a hit? it’s very unlikely!

In 2007, Rihanna’s “Umbrella” had a similar impact on the world of pop. The song is built on an infectious beat and very few chords, and again there is a strong concept behind this song. If you look at the lyrics it’s more than just another “I love you baby” type thing, but it also has a very simple main hook, which hits you the first time you get to what I call the “pay off”,  the “ella – ella – ella – eh – eh – eh” bit, an infuriatingly catchy modern pop moment!

Would the song stand up without this hook / gimmick? Yes I think it would, because the gimmick sounds like an addition to the concept, not the concept itself. In other words “Umbrella” is already strong without it, but as a pop record this hook puts into a whole other league. 

What I’m getting at here is the importance of considering exactly what it is you’re saying in your songs. It’s not usually enough just to have a great beat or a great riff, try and think of these things as the starting point!

It’s also important not to confuse “simple” ideas with “dumb” ideas.  Writing complicated pop lyrics is relatively easy compared with writing good simple pop lyrics, and great lyricists will write on several levels providing you with deeper meanings if you want to look for them. This is a skill that is harder than it sounds and can take a long time to develop.

Early Motown records are a good example of this sort of thing, where the writers provided a catchy “surface” meaning that sounded like great pop music, but underneath there was often another motivation (sometimes with social or political overtones). Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye were among those who dabbled with this sort of writing, and were responsible for creating some staple pop hits that were accessible to everyone, but often had a second “layer” of meaning.

So you don’t have to “dumb down” your masterpiece to get your message across, just try disguising it a bit, and you’ll be adding depth to your work and you’ll be in good company!

Of course the most important part in focusing on the concept of your song is having a concept to begin with. What do people want to hear about? Themes of love and loss are the most popular; anecdotes about feeding your cat will not grab people’s attention the same way. If you spend a bit of time considering what you’re actually saying, and how people will interpret your “message”, you should be able give your work a better chance of connecting with your audience.

Instead of spending three hours on the snare drum, spend three hours on making your central idea something people can relate to, as generally people don’t listen to songs because of how the drums sound! And you never know, you may even be giving yourself a greater chance at that world dominating chart-topping success in the process…..

Fraser Smith
Fraser Smith is a record producer, songwriter and musician. Currently signed to Notting Hill Music, he has written, produced and mixed records for many artists worldwide, as well as enjoying top 40 success with his previous band Shed Seven. 

A version of this article has previously appeared on IXL

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A Guest Post by Juanita Appleby

I know what you’re thinking…”oh no not another social networking site”, right? But just bear with me.

LinkedIn’s appeal has widened beyond pocket-protected IT geeks to boasting over 39 million members across varying industries globally.

So how can you use this more upmarket social tool to advance your music career?

Simple.

Display a professional profile

Because LinkedIn works on a different platform of a CV-based profile you don’t have to be embarrassed to forward the link on to an industry exec.

It also allows you to display up to three links on your profile so it can be a portal to your other websites.

LinkedIn is well ranked within search engine results, which means that you will get the free organic traffic to your profile page and referrals to your other websites with minimal effort.

Network with others in the industry

This is the key benefit to getting up close and personal with LinkedIn. Once you are set up with a profile, then do a group search for “music”. Then sit back in amazement at the 25+ pages of networking groups with members from all walks of life in the music industry – management, media, publicity, marketers and other fellow musicians.

Mark Carras (in his post ‘If LinkedIn isn’t fun, why should my band care?’) touched on this subject and this is the feature on LinkedIn that will help get you out of that garage you’re practising in and closer to a money-making journey in music.

The important thing to know about LinkedIn is that you must demonstrate that you know the contact you are adding to your network in some way be it through a common group membership or say an ex-colleague.

So you may want to start with using LinkedIn’s contact import tool from your existing email address book to lay a foundation of connections.

Second to that, you can use the question and answer features of groups to enhance your reputation and raise people’s interest in connecting with you.  I touch on how the question feature can help later but don’t be afraid to answer people’s questions too. 

Networking may be uncharted territory for you so be patient, ooze intellect, swap “virtual” business cards and always keep in mind that in business a one-sided pitch will almost always fail.  Be prepared to forge relationships on LinkedIn that are beneficial for both parties.

Promote your news

You can post your own news in groups and even link those news items back to any other websites you might have. Many members have weekly or even daily updates of group activity so your news will get delivered straight into their inboxes. Can’t get better than that.

Get advice from those that know

Trying to find a recording studio in your area? Need some tips on publicity? Request for reviews of your latest demo?

Yeah, LinkedIn can help. Once you’ve joined some groups and been accepted as a member, then you can start discussions in that group and other members can comment back or contact you directly via the website’s internal mail system.

Remember, don’t spam! That’s the quickest way for you to get your account banned. Stay topical and humble and you’ll find the help you need.

Find opportunities for your music

You’ll find that people will post job listings on LinkedIn and in music industry terms those are requests for songs for licensing deals, films, TV, you name it.

So while other social networking sites may be the platform to building a fanbase and getting your music heard by a wider indie audience, LinkedIn helps you focus on gaining visibility with the business contacts and advice to actually make it in music.

Good luck and keep rocking.

Juanita Appleby
Juanita Appleby, born and bred in America, has over a decade of experience in marketing and promotions.  She is currently studying music and arts writing with the London School of Journalism. 

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