Music Branding 2.0

So this past Wednesday, I went to an event called Music Branding 2.0, hosted by the awesome Dan Schawbel. I took  a bunch of notes on my cell phone, but like any true social media novice, I accidentally deleted them. So, most of this post is from memory (with some details from other sources – you can find those at the end).

Anyhow, the event featured a panel of really interesting people from the music industry. Here was some of their advice/comments:

- These days, there’s so much free content out there that an artist really needs to find a way to stand out. One of the panelists, Andrea Johnson, a Berklee professor and A&R veteran, cited Gnarls Barkley as an example – they received a $30,000 advance for their album and spent all of it on buying copies of “Crazy” on iTunes. Doing so pushed their song up on the download charts, which spurred more downloading, which created a big media buzz.

- Everyone basically agreed that MySpace is dead. But there doesn’t seem to be a clear replacement, though the panel seemed to really like Pandora and last.fm.

- There was some talk about funding your album through Kickstarter – what you do is offer different incentives to get people to donate money. For example, you could write that if people donate $10, they get a copy of your album. If they donate $30, maybe they’ll get a copy of your album and you’ll agree to give them a free live performance at the venue of their choice. If they donate $100, they’ll get the album, the performance, and maybe spend the day with you while you feed them grapes. You get the idea. I actually purchased a book through there last month.

- Another panelist, Amanda Caswell, who runs a music marketing and publicity firm, said that one of the best things that up-and-coming musicians can do is to try to connect with similar bands and musicians, particularly those who are doing a bit better than them, and try to get on their tours/shows. It’s like the equivalent of a blogger doing a guest-post for a bigger blog.

- It’s also useful to tie your band to a cause. It makes for some good cross-promotion, i.e. you might get to play at one of their events, get your name mentioned on the organization’s web site, etc.

- Put your music everywhere. Pandora and last.fm are probably the most popular sites right now, but the panelists also liked Bandcamp, Nimbit, and ReverbNation, among others.

- Try auditioning for NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) – it could lead to booking a college tour. On a similar vein, the panel also recommended seeking out independent filmmakers online and offering them use of your music in their movie.

That’s the gist of what I got. It was a very interesting and informative event, so kudos to Dan for putting it all together. You can find a clip on YouTube, plus Cambridge Day has a really good recap (featuring a quote by me at the end!).