Clear Channel's Post 9/11 Banned Songs List

This week has already seen a bevy of tributes/stories/thinkpieces about what it means that 9/11 happened 10 years ago. I'm not here to do that: Instead, Daily Swarm has hipped us to the fact that in the days after 9/11, Clear Channel had a list of banned songs sent to all of its stations, mainly to keep us from thinking about how AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" relates to buildings being hit by terrorists. The full list of songs is at Wikipedia.

 Read more for the full list of songs and artists.

Using QR Codes to Promote Your Music

By: Kevin Bruener

If you’re not familiar with QR codes (quick response code), they are the little black & white checker-box images that are popping up on posters, kiosks, signs and just about everywhere else information is displayed.  You’ve probably already seen them in use and just didn’t know what they were.  When you spot a QR code, simply scan the code with a scanning app on your iPhone, Android, or camera-enabled smartphone.  The QR code can initiate a number of smartphone functions, from linking to digital content on the web (like your music on CD Baby) to triggering a text message.  One of the more useful functions for QR codes in music promotion is to link directly to digital content that enhances the message on your show poster or flyer.

So how can you actually draw people into your music with a QR Code?

For my band’s recent album release show, we embedded a QR code in the concert poster that took people directly to a mobile-optimized site that immediately played a track from our yet-to-be-released album.  This not only allowed the user to instantly hear new music, but also gave them the opportunity to take info about the band with them to check out later at their own convenience.  QR codes turn your postering efforts into a multimedia experience that leaves a deeper fan impression.  See the images below.

8 Reasons Why You Need to Have Your Own Website

Michael Brandvold recently posted a very important blog on why it is important for a band/solo artist to have their own website. Due to the popularity of various social media networks, musicians have forgotten and ignored how important and imperative it is to have your own site that generates attention and value to your brand, rather than forwarding traffic to another entity. Here are 8 reasons why you need to have your own website:

It’s 2011 and you would think it is obvious why you need your own website. I can’t tell you how many conversations I have had where the other party says “I have a MySpace page, or I have a Facebook page or I have a Reverbnation page… I don’t need a website.” Or how many people have their own website, but spend all their efforts driving everyone to Facebook. All they seem to care about is how many Likes they can get. You should care about how many visits you get to your website. Some people don’t look at a website as a significant part of their business or brand. They may see it as a afterthought, something they guess they should do. If you were to open your own restrauant is the building and location that last thing you would think about? It is your future, everything you hope to achieve depends on it. Your website is your bit of real estate on the internet and it will be yours potentially forever. Make sure you treat your online presence with all the seriousness you can.

Here are some important items to keep in mind.

1. Own your domain and site

Easier said than done, but you should make every effort to retain ownership of your domain name and website. Don’t change the Administrative Contact for your domain over to someone else unless you absolutely must. Try to avoid signing contracts that when they are terminated leave your domain and website under the ownership and control of another party. If that occurs you will have no control over what happens and you won’t see any revenue from a website with your name on it. During a contract you can let someone else manage and operate your website, but do not let them own it.

2. Do not redirect your domain to MySpace or Facebook

You should be using Facebook, Twitter, Reverbnation or any of a dozen other social network sites to generate traffic to your website. To redirect your domain to a social page is to give your traffic to somebody else, for them to monetize and you to not share in the revenue. Traffic on the internet is money. When you are finally ready to launch your own website how do you plan to get everyone who is going to Facebook or MySpace back to your site? You have already conditioned them to just visit Facebook or MySpace.

How Bands Can Make the Best of SXSW 2011

TrueDIY Panel: Make The Most Of SXSW from Indie Ambassador on Vimeo.

We’re kicking off the new year with a table discussion on the quickly approaching South By Southwest 2011 with Luke Garro of Antler Agency, Steve Theo of Pirate! Promotions, and Tim Luckow of G-house Management. As usual, Ben will host the panel and lead the discussion. 

BandSoup will be there! Who's coming with us?

Why My Band Left Myspace & Facebook For Good

Photo from: Vacuum 3d


Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter remain pillars of fan interaction and discovery for musicians, but are they necessities like most say they are? Check out this interesting interview with Musician/Director/Producer Robin Davey from Hypebot.

Recently I spoke with Robin Davey who is a musician, director, and producer. His bands include The Hoax and most recently the eclectic pop duo The Bastard Fairies.

Davey has directed music videos for Buckcherry, Jet and Drowning Pool and his documentary The Canary Effect won The Stanley Kubrick Award for Bold and Innovative film making at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. In this interview Davey talks about his bands exodus from MySpace and Facebook and why the music industry has changed less than we think. Most things are still the same.

At a time when artists are being encouraged to get even more involved with social media and networks, your group did something radical. You left.

You maintained an e-mail list and created discussion with fans. That's it.

Hypebot: What motivated you to leave Facebook and MySpace? How did you establish a more secure connection with your fans through e-mail as a result?

How Artists Can Profit from File Sharing

This article gets a little technical, but covers a very important topic that I try to tell artists about CONSTANTLY-- stop giving control of your free music away and start driving traffic to YOUR website and YOUR brand. Jim Grobecker's article from Music Think Tank below does a great job of explaining why. -And this is exactly why BandSoup uses the artist link: to drive traffic to your site! 

FACT: people download music for free.  

Sean Parker of Napster fame recently stated in an interview, “you look at the data, somewhere between 4 trillion and 10 trillion songs are illegally downloaded every year.  And we’re looking at maybe 4 billion or so legal downloadeds per year.”

Music will always surface on file sharing platforms and consumers will continue to download music for free, but recordings are even more important for artists than ever before.  There is a new purpose for recorded content; artists will no longer generate revenue directly from recordings, instead this will be the entrance point for consumers into a the brand.  Great music will generate revenue through merch or ticket purchases, or lead to sponsorships as major brands seek out artists to enhance the value of their own product.  The solution to file sharing is for artists to better manage their recorded music by creating a dedicated landing page on their own website, housing a free album download.

Industry Article: The New Rock Star Paradigm

OK Go’s Damian Kulash wrote a very interesting article for the Wall Street Journal about success in today’s record business. I’m sure you read at least three of these types of articles a day, but this is one of the best that I’ve read in awhile. It’s full of great insight, quotes, ideas, and examples from highly successful artists.

Music is getting harder to define again. It’s becoming more of an experience and less of an object. Without records as clearly delineated receptacles of value, last century’s rules—both industrial and creative—are out the window. For those who can find an audience or a paycheck outside the traditional system, this can mean blessed freedom from the music industry’s gatekeepers.

Read the Article Here


* Leave your thoughts and comments if you have any. We would love to hear and discuss with both fans and artists.

13 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Bandcamp

via WM

I’m surprised that more musicians aren’t taking advantage of Bandcamp. After all it is one of the best places to sell your music on the web, and it’s simple to use.

You can basically think of Bandcamp as a personal digital music distribution system for musicians. If you don’t have the money–or know how–to be able to sell your music directly from your website, then Bandcamp is a great option for you. And here’s why:

Selling Out Your Shows Every Time

By Mike Venti @ The Wayward Musician

A sold out show is a day that every artist looks forward to. Nothing’s better than a packed house where the energy emanates from the audience to the stage and back again.

Unfortunately, many artists don’t get to experience sold out shows that often, if at all. Perhaps, only at the occasional CD release show, or a coveted opening spot for a more established act.

Thankfully, there is an easy way for you to change this and begin playing sold out shows more often. It’s quite simple in fact.

Fanbridge.com

In the land of DIY one of the toughest things to do is organize. The geniuses at Fanbridge.com have come up with a fantastic idea to help you with just that.

Fanbridge  helps artists build valuable fan relationships.

We do this by making it fun, easy and effective for artists of all sizes from around the world to leverage our Fan Relationship Management platform to engage with their fans.

Powering over 70 million valuable artist/fan relationships and counting!

Any band or solo artist with a substantial fan base looking to grow and maintain their fan connections and communication need to check this out ASAP! Make sure to tell them BandSoup sent you.

Why Music Should Never Be Given Away for 'Free'

The music industry has changed DRASTICALLY. The latest trend: artists giving out their music for free, usually with a zip file link posted on their website, blog, twitter, or facebook account in hopes that the freebie will give their music more exposure or an opportunity to go "viral." MicControl founder Jon Ostrow explains to artists why they shouldn't give their music away for "free" and gives fantastic tips on how to receive e-currency for all of their hard work.  [Via TightMix]

How to Really Get Your Music on Blogs

Personally, I find it unbelievable that there are artists out there that still don't know what promotional blogs are. Over the past few years, these little websites have set the world of DIY independent music promotion on the internet on fire, making it easy and affordable (free!) for up and coming artists to promote their new music, album, and videos to a hungry audience of obsessed music fans. I recently read a free e-book by a college student by the name of Chris Bracco called "How to Really Get Your Music on Blogs," and as a long time indie hip hop blogger, I believe Chris' ideas, attention to detail, and ways to organize your campaigns are well thought out and show you exactly how to organize your online blog promotions the easy way.

I highly recommend this quick read to any up and comer that would like to expand their listening audience.

Download the FREE e-book here!

[via. tightmixblog]

15 Critical Marketing Mistakes That All Musicians Must Avoid

Since most of the artists on Bandsoup are DIY rising stars, we felt that there should be more discussion about strategies, networking, and modern industry ideas to help independent musicians through their blossoming career. Below is a great new article from MicControl's Jon Ostrow on a few critical marketing mistakes that you should avoid.

Musicians are entrepreneurs whether they want to believe it or not. By writing music under a band name, pen name or even just their own name, they have effectively created a brand that must be properly marketed if it is to thrive and flourish. But there-in lies a major problem: not all musicians know everything about marketing and they will eventually make some critical mistakes that lead to the demise of their short-lived venture. It is, however, the musicians who take the time to learn from past mistakes made by other musicians, and furthermore learn to correct these mistakes, that are the ones who build up the kind of influential brand that has lasting power.

These are 15 potentially crippling, yet ultimately avoidable marketing mistakes that are all too commonly made by the emerging music community, along with tips to help you as an artist to overcome and succeed in the best way possible: