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Internet For Indies 101
By John Foxworthy, MusicDish.com
When on the road to fame, it's natural to
make mistakes. They help us to learn and are native to
achieving success. Sometimes, however, we tend to make
these mistakes without ever realizing it. After dealing
with hundreds of artists I have come to realize that there
are a few oversights that are most common among the community
that may even impede their journey to stardom. I have a
few tips that can help speed up the process of getting
noticed and obtain more substance for your press kit.
Tip #1: Stay organized. This tip will
help make the rest of these tips possible. With all of
the available outlets the Internet provides us nowadays,
it's easy to get lost in the sea of information. Your web
browser provides the capability to save web addresses so
you can return to them later. These are referred to as
favorites or bookmarks. Any site you visit and submit music,
news, or any other form of media should be saved. Create
a separate folder in your browser's favorite/bookmark manager
and store these links within that folder and check back
with the site periodically. This will help you to track
your progress throughout the web with a simple click of
the mouse.
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Press kits are cheaper than they used to be, but they're
still not free. Keep a list of the names and addresses of
the people you send them to as well as the dates they were
sent. Also, follow up about a week after you sent them to
insure that they got to the right person. The post office
charges a little extra for a return receipt, but it's worth
the money to get confirmation that your package arrived to
the right place.
This tip also applies to email. Any and all
correspondence with music web sites should be saved as
well. Your email program should offer the option to create
new folders other than your inbox. Save email from these
sites in that folder for future reference.
Tip #2: Update your contact info. This
is quite possibly the most important tip
on the list. When you submit music to Internet radio, or
register on indie music web sites, you're generally asked
for contact information (i.e. email address, etc). I can't
stress enough the importance of providing correct information.
You never know where you will get discovered and if the "discoverer" can't
get hold of you, they're like to pass you over. If you
have a "junk mail" address that you use to avoid spam to
your personal address, check it often. That magic message
may be waiting. This also helps when you win contests the
web site may be conducting. There are some valuable prizes
you may not receive otherwise. If any of this info changes,
you should go to these sites and update it.
Tip #3: Stay Informed. As the Indie
community news goes 'round and 'round, you'll want to stay
up to date on happenings that may affect you and your music.
From events to scams, you'll want to know what to be involved
in and what not to be involved in respectively. Many, or
most, of the sites you are featured on will have regular
newsletters that will help to keep you in the loop. Some
of it may be immaterial, but some of it can help you to
navigate your career. It's always a good idea to read this
stuff, or at least scan it for articles related to your
situation.
Tip #4: Be responsive. Answer emails
sent to you regarding your music. You may be asked for
interviews, nominated for contests, or approached by a
label. These are all great opportunities that will help
you in the next phase of your career or, at the very least,
add more content to your press kit.
Tip #5: Be proactive. Are you hungry?
It's easy to send press kits and submit MP3s or news to
web sites, but often times this just gets mixed up in the
bevy of information or hectic schedules these sites experience
on a daily basis. Stay involved in the sites you sign up
for. Keep them apprised of new songs, news and upcoming
gigs. Get involved in programs offered by the sites. The "post-it-and-run" method
will only get you added to an "MP3 File Pile" or lost among
the other ten thousand artists that are doing the same
thing. Being proactive. Staying in contact with your favorite
sites will keep you fresh in the minds of the site owners
and will likely make you first choice for events and articles.
Tip #6: There are no stupid questions. The
Internet is inundated with FAQs and user agreements, but
they don't always answer your questions or may even be
confusing. If you don't understand something in an agreement,
or the FAQ doesn't answer your question - ask. A site that
won't respond to your particular issue may not be worth
bothering with.
Following these simple tips can help you
to get more exposure for your music, gain consideration
by those A&R reps that are most likely surfing these sites
for the next best thing, and maybe even help to educate
you more on the business end of the music stick.
 Provided
by the MusicDish
Network. Copyright © Tag
It 2003 - Republished with Permission
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