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Website Design for Musicians

It would be wise for any musician to take full advantage of the promotional and marketing power that the internet can have, and in order to do this, you need a website. True, you can have MySpace accounts and pages on other similar sites, but there is something more legitimate and professional about having your own site. This article will show how any musician can design their own website to feature, promote, and even sell their music.

The first thing that you need for a music website is a domain name, provided that you already have some hosting to put it on. It would be a good idea to try and get a domain name that is, or is close to your own name, or whatever name you or your musical group go by. This will help with search engine rankings later on.

Once you have a domain to locate the site, you will need some sort of content management system. The days of putting together websites one page at a time are over, now there are free software programs like WordPress that will allow you to create professional looking websites that can be updated easily even by people who are not familiar with website design.

A WordPress setup will let you choose the name of your site, and again, it should be the name of your musical group or your name as a musician. You want people to be able to search for your name on an engine and find you as one of the first results, and this will help with that.

There should be plenty of themes you can choose from for the look of your site, and with some modification, you can have one that is basically unique. You should try to modify it a little bit because that will make it look more professional.

The most important thing on a music website will be to have samples of your music in an easy to access part of the site. You want people to be able to listen to your music right away, as that is what they are there for. As a secondary feature, you can add in all the text and pictures you want to complete the information available about you.

These days, having your own website is easier than ever, and there is no reason not to have one if you are a musician. They are the best way to promote yourself and they allow you access to the world music market. The internet should continue to connect musicians to their fans around the world and keep growing with time. Make sure that you are a part of it.

The Dark Secret on How to Sell Songs Online Part I

This is an article to familiarize everyone in the music business with the questions of how do I sell beats online, how do I sell songs, how do I make money with tracks, as well as how to sell instrumental songs. The music industry has changed greatly since the explosion of the internet. Power is now in the hands of individual producers and bands to make a living with their songs with a little hustle, know how, and a plan. We need to take a look about how companies work in order to formulate an approach to garner the attention of decision makers. This will be the first in a series of articles to get you on your way.

Before a band can be signed to a major label, they must be discovered. This means companies are looking for something at the time which is usually based on current needs. The process may take place with a scout or an intern, which I have done, and will present an A&R with a demo after viewing a live show. Now before the A&R heads to the show they will do a little legwork about the possible band. If he likes what he sees, he takes this project back to his department and staff for approval and to contract the band when all agree.

The way you look at a Major Record Label is like a Big corporate bank or loan shark. They are corporate minded and corporate motivated. It is not like the days of Motown, when talent was hard to find and a real possible band or song was a diamond in the rough. They would put all their money and heart into developing a band maybe even selling the house. These days, record companies want to see that you are drawing money. Better yet, they want to know that you are already making money selling cd’s or selling tickets to shows. They want to see a possible business partner already in action. This is the way Rocafella records or Cash Money Millionaires started. They were already a working team unit hustling hard and making money long before they caught interest from a label. Record companies want to tap into possible businesses. If signed, they may furnish you with a budget to record an album or cover your overhead, but this is not free money. You will pay this back out of your royalties. It is very possible to go platinum and still owe the record company money after costs for for music videos, promotion and marketing, buybacks and freebies, and recording cost and advances are recouped. On the other hand, if you are an independent label working out of your garage or basement selling only 10,000 CD’s, that is is $100,000 in your pocket. Not bad and not hard to do and you can now quit your day job cause you are making more than your average physician or attorney for doing something you like.

In order to sell songs online publicity is still rule #1

When deciding to sell songs online you must still maintain and off line approach to getting publicity. You must still be out there getting your songs heard by sewing up your home town. These are the people who know you and are closely familiar with you. Classmates, church members, and community organizations and activities are the way to start building your fan base. Become a hometown hero first to look for your major support, and then branch out from there. Enter as many contests, talent shows, and parties that you can to hone your craft. If you can not do this, then do not think you will have it all of a sudden and step on stage at Madison Square Garden, because it won’t happen. You must video tape yourself and see how you look on stage to fix your show and compare your show to what you see on real live shows of major bands with charisma. Overcoming these fears early is a major step toward your career path. Attend open mics, jam sessions, and wherever else you can find the opportunity to be heard, and there you will find the first people to sell songs to.

Establish a following to sell songs to rule #2

Getting fans on your own is an important part. Major record companies like to pick a band and artist who have already establish a following. This does not just mean having a Myspace with 20,000 friends, but having true fans. These are the ones who support you, comment on your songs and raise you up by talking about you and spreading the word. Word of mouth is still the best form of viral promotion. Create or do something that gets people talking. Set up parties do an open mic, collaborate with a non profit and start to build an email list of possible fans to let them know what is going on with your songs.

Give away freebies in order to sell songs online #3

To sell songs, even the major record companies give away thousands of cds in order to sell millions.

In order for you to get recognized by a label you have to treat yourself with discipline like a label or business. You must be out there performing to be seen, working your craft, and laying down the foundation to build a fan base. Just because a record label signs you does not mean fans magically appear. They will never do this. People are grinding for years before you ever see them in the spotlight

Ads On Youtube Videos

YouTube has been the premier video site on the web for some time now. Other sites may compete with its quality or special features, but no one can match its user base and traffic, which make it the most profitable video site to be a part of. One of the reasons that YouTube is so great, is that they look for ways to let video producers make money off their uploads, and this includes letting the owners of commercial music videos profit from them. Although some people see it as a bad thing that YouTube is trying to legitimatize the online music video business, it will be a benefit to everyone in the long run.

Advertisements in general get a bad rap. People see them as annoying and unnecessary, and they sometimes are, no doubt, but well targeted ads can be both enjoyable and necessary. Advertisements are how people are alerted to the existence of products that they may need or want. More importantly, they allow for many great products and services to be completely free to the consumer, and this includes sites like YouTube and the video content found within.

If you cannot deal with advertisements, the only other option is to deal with actually paying money instead. True, there are illegal methods of getting things online, just as many music videos were illegally uploaded to YouTube and provided for free, but this is a short term gain which usually translates into a long term loss.

If sites like YouTube are forced into banning copyrighted content because the makers of it are not profiting, this helps no one. Just like how torrent sites and the early file sharing sites were shut down eventually, video sites may be shut down if too many lawsuits are filed against them. If advertisements are a way of getting copyrighted content like music videos and films online without having to pay, this benefits everyone.

Makers of music videos and films will not be able to continue to make their products if they are making no money from them. Advertisements allow them to make money while keeping it so viewers everywhere can watch their content without paying. Its essential to the internet that most information be free because most people would not want to deal with paying money to a site to be able to view it.

Music videos with advertisements on YouTube will create a situation where it can be profitable to make them, even beyond the promotional benefits. Anytime you have a profitable product, you will have more competition to produce it and higher quality results over time. For the good of future musical content, viewers should want video producers to profit from their work.

The more that YouTube enables producers of content to profit, the more high quality content will be produced. It benefits everyone for music video makers to profit, and YouTube should put as many commercials on their site as they need to while still maintaining a pleasant experience for the viewer.

Musical Opportunity in New Digital Media

Something very beneficial to all composers and makers of music has been going on as of late. The combination of the internet and decreasing costs of producing various forms of digital media has given rise to whole new areas of demand for music. This is obviously a good thing for the people who make it, but it does not necessarily mean that they will be able to find work and make a living by their art all of the sudden.

New art forms like web videos, visual music, video comics, flash animations, and so on all need music to complete their effects. Composers and producers should be able to step in and fill this void, but there are a few things working against them along with all of these benefits.

One major point is that as it has become more practical to make high quality music on your own, the number of musicians out there has also risen. This means that composers who want to get their music in films or videos face more competition.

It is also a challenge for those composers to become known to the people who need the music. With so many people producing so many types of media, making the right connections can be daunting.

Sites such as thing one can help with these facts, and over time, it should become easier to deal with these problems. In the general sense, it cannot be seen as a bad thing that there is so much more demand for music out there, and more ways of fulfilling that demand should appear.

As things progress, video content and other forms of media that make their way online with continue to require music, this means that composers may find themselves more and more in need if they can master some basic marketing techniques and make their name stand out enough to be seen.