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With the upheavals in the music industry of the last ten years, and the more recent economic downturn, it can be difficult for many artists to see where their next paycheck is coming from. An increasingly open and volatile environment means that artists today must be creative, opportunistic and willing to deal with uncertainty to survive.

It’s not all bad news though – the “democratization” of the music industry has meant that there is more opportunity than ever to connect directly with fans, cutting out the traditional middle men of old – record labels. Social networking sites such as myspace and facebook have become direct marketing tools for artists, enabling them to sell directly to fans.

Social Networking

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Myspace is still most definitely a great marketing tool for musicians. Any self respecting artist should have a myspace page, it is the perfect format for presenting music in a digestible, succinct form with music, images, news, blogs, biography, and the ability to interact with other myspace users through messages and comments. Recent developments have made it easier for merchandise and music to be sold directly on myspace, creating that extra income every artist needs. There are companies that can provide the transaction tools, making it easy to sell product and collect money.

Facebook is a more mainstream social networking site, and you can reach a lot of people with it. Associated “widgets” or tools can be utilized to sell directly to your fans, and also to manage things like mailing lists, blog updates and biography. It’s almost like you have the music friendly features of myspace, but with the mainstream audience of facebook.

By building a buzz about yourself, and then using that buzz to sell music/shirts etc over the internet, you can get yourself a steady income of sorts. Building a buzz on the internet doesn’t happen by itself though. There are a few habits you need to get into to make things happen, and create traffic on your page.

1. Update regularly, and make it readable.

People like to know that there is something happening in your world, so regular updates are important. Try to make it interesting though. If you put one too many updates about which kind of frost you had on your mini wheats this morning, you will start to sound trite, and people will tune out. Make every post worthwhile – think about what you want to say.

2. Comment on people’s profiles, make it personal, and set up a response.

It’s important to have personalized traffic on your page. At least make it look like people are interested enough in your page to leave a comment, hopefully a positive one! You can do this by commenting on someone else’s page, and setting up a return comment. Ask a question, give them a compliment, give some insight, something interesting, and MEAN it. There is nothing worse than contrived web marketing or generic mass postings that leave everyone with a sense that the band or artist thinks they’re above them. Do this every spare moment you have. It’s all about the little habits that create a snowball effect.

3. Always have something happening.

Always try to make sure there is something happening to write about. A good web page will always contain regular updates about new shows, new songs, giveaways, tours or anything else that make people want to keep up with what’s happening n your world. You need to make people feel like they’re missing out, in order to make them want to keep up, and buy into your art.

4. Make it pretty.

The look of your page is important. Keep improving the images, backgrounds, photos and general feel of your page. There is always something that can be done to make it better, even if it means taking something away. People are visual creatures, and will be heavily influenced by their first impression of your page – make sure it’s a good one.

5. Have great songs

Have great songs and make sure they’re recorded well enough. Songwriting covered in another article – it is the all important element, and it means that your internet buzz is no flash in the pan. A professional sounding recording will mean that people take you more seriously.

Connect in person

As well as internet marketing, you also need to be seen live. Play as regularly as you can, but not too much in the same place – tour. This can not only provide a source of income in itself, but it will increase your web traffic, therefore hopefully increasing or kick starting your income there. Also, the more people that see what you do live, the more chance you have of getting a paying opportunity such as a bigger tour, selling a song or appearing on TV. It’s a numbers game – just make sure your live show is good – that’s covered in another article.

Networking is another important tool for musicians, for many reasons. Not least of which, it can introduce you to people that can potentially help your career, and this can mean pay. It’s not absolute fantasy to think that there is someone out there who can:

• Get you a traditional record deal that can mean an advance, record sales or more touring.
• Get you good tours with bigger bands. This does not always mean big $$ straight away. Sometimes you sacrifice money for exposure, but the right tour can cover your ass for a few months.
• Expose you to opportunities for having a song bought for TV, Film, video games etc. There is a huge demand out there in both traditional and new media for musical content, and there are people who’s job it is to find it. If you are meeting more people, in the right circles, then there is more chance of you meeting the right person.

I could go on forever. It’s important when networking to be yourself, be kind, and offer something to people. A genuine people person is always the best networker. If you really want to help people out, you will get it in return. There have been countless books on the subject of networking, but much of it can be boiled down to 2 main ingredients:

1. You genuinely want to meet new people, help in their careers/lives/journeys.
2. You are making people aware of what it is that YOU do, therefore making it possible for people to help you out in return.

The best kind of contact is a genuine friendship. It doesn’t have to be for life, but it does have to be real. If you have friends, not only do you have people who may be able to help your career, but you have people who’s couch you can crash on until it gets better!

Lastly, be creative in your quest to make enough money off music to survive. There are opportunities all around the fringes if you look hard enough. Be prepared to do anything within reason to earn that cash to survive. Not only will it allow you to continue doing what you love and what you set out to do, it will equip you with much needed survival skills – these skills will prevent you from ever having to have a shitty desk job ever again.