I finally broke down and entered a song into the John Lenon Songwriting Contest. My feelings about contests like these is mixed- though my viewpoint has been softening. At first, I thought that they must be a total scam- luring already financially insecure muscians into spending money that they will most likely never see a return for. My sentiments are best represented in this article by Derek Sivers.

However, my feelings changed when an acuaintence from back in college won a $10,00 prize in the contest. I started listening to winners' songs and thinking to myself "my stuff is this good". So I took the plunge and spent the $30 to enter myself. Even if nothing comes of it the potential to win is exciting. It's an ego boost knowing that you've entered a songwriting contest and that you may win.

Fellow Musicians and Social Media Enthusiasts:

I was thinking today.

I was feeling a little bit bummed out over the weekend- after my initial burst of activities on various social networks, buffered by my participation in the RPM challenge, my fan base hasn't been growing as fast as I had hoped.

Then I had the following thought process:

1. My music is good. I am proud of what I create.
2. While it doesn't appeal to everybody, it does appeal to some.
3. Every time I play I get complimented on my original songs.
4. Why aren't more people finding my stuff?
5. I'm willing to give it away for free.
6. How can I give more of it away for free?
7. I should use twitter
8. I should use FollowFriday on twitter.
9. Follow friday is FF
10. Facebook Fan-drive is also FF

Bam. It hit me. Fan-Drive-Friday

This Friday I'll be running a Facebook Fan-Drive.

All you have to do is become a fan of me on Facebook. That's it.

But what if they want something in return?
Ask and you shall recieve! Anyone who becomes a fan of me on Facebook and posts (anything) on my wall will receive a code for a free download of my RPM album! I will (of course) be tweeting about this all day on Friday.

I will probably set up a dedicated webpage for this event in the coming days, complete with social-media-friendly buttons and other goodies. I'll be looking to my friends (real life and twitter) to help spread the word on Friday. More to come!

Tags: social, media, fan, drive, friday

1. Write a good bio

2. Get my music blogged about

3. Get my music on independent radio:


What’s on your to-do list?

Tags: bio, marketing, publicity

I am an avid reader of many, many blogs on writing, performing, and marketing music. Sometimes I find myself reading an article nodding my head and smiling because it is so right, or has so much great advice. It is my intent to pass along these nuggets of wisdom to my (small but growing) legion of dedicated readers.

SO.. This week I bring you “10 Online Music Marketing Priorities” by David Rose over at knowthemusicbiz.com

It’s important to have a presence in the primary places where music fans discover new music. The big social networks, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, are good places to start. It can seem like there are endless options available to artists for promoting music online. What’s the best way to prioritize them?

I am particularly impressed with the listing of resources in this article- from registering Metadata for your music (who knew, right?) to internet radio. Check it out and add your suggestions!

Tags: pr, promotion, online, marketing, business

Following an impassioned interaction I had with @matthewebel about SonicBids, I am still without an EPK. I know one thing’s for sure- I’m making it myself. Here’s a rough list of what I’m going to include. Then I’ll zip it up and put it up on my website.

• Artist Biography
• Audio Samples (1-3 of my best recorded tunes)
• Video clip from a live show
• A couple of high quality photos
• A few choice quotes from newspaper articles, plus links and pdfs to existing articles, if available
• Set lists- potentially list the covers we can do (is this really necessary?)
• Schematic of required equipment for a show
• Contact information

I found one basic article on creating EPKs, but nothing comprensive. Honestly, I’m surprised there isn’t more info about this out there. Does SonicBids really have the lion’s share of the EPK market? I could see this being a service to provide to bands- build slick EPK’s for a one time fee and let the bands host and distribute themselves.

Does anybody have any experience doing this themselves? Share your tips/links in the comments below!

Tags: booking, epk