|
|
|
Howdy folks. If there's anything that really needs to be added here, please write to checklists @ fatchuck.com. You'll be credited and I'll also be glad to link back to your site.
|
- Promotion singles. Select 2-4 complete songs and create MP3s for distribution. Good, free MP3 creators can be found here: CDex for Windows, iTunes for Macintosh and MP3 Convertor for Linux.
- Post your music to the web. I strongly recommend posting your music to a web site where it can "chart," or give you free publicity based on its popularity. DMusic.com or IUMA.com are excellent. Also, if you want to make time, submit your music to BeSonic.com, GarageBand.com, Soundclick.com, or Ampcast (Ampcast charges $95).
- Create links. If your act has its own web site, remember to link from your site to where your music is at IUMA, DMusic, etc. Examples: Check out our music at Dmusic.com, or Song#1, Song#2, Song#3 at IUMA.com.
- Why's this important? Now people can become aware of your music if they've never heard of your act or web site. This is one of the reasons why Top 40 charts are so important - it's big, free publicity.
- Free Space. Are you leveraging your words to the world?
- Create a mailing list. Fans sign up for your e-mail list to know when your next gigs are.
- You'll need an e-mail account. You probably already have an e-mail account through the Internet provider who connects you to the Internet. If not, get a free one at Yahoo! or from these free e-mail providers.
- Where? You can get your own free web-based mail list at Yahoo! Groups or any of these services. Plus: Free, accessible over the web using any computer, not just your own. Minus: Each mail list service like Yahoo! Groups attaches ads to your messages to pay for their costs.
- Your List on Your Computer. For an ad-free list, run one of these free, easy-to-use list managers on your own computer: Group Mail Free for Windows or Outlook Express for Macintosh. Plus: Ad-free. Minus: If you're on the road away from your computer, you will not be able to send your list any e-mails.
- Friends or flying solo. It's smart to have a friendly person get e-mail addresses at your gigs so that you can play and they can help you between sets. Otherwise, do it yourself.
- Every 3-4 Weeks. Generally speaking, you should send a note to your list every 3-4 weeks. Less than that and they'll lose interest. More than that and you'll annoy them.
- Unsubscribe instructions. It's very important to make it easy for fans to unsubscribe in case they are going to be gone for a few months. Note: The free web-based lists under Where? usually include unsubscribe-instructions with each e-mail so that your act doesn't have to deal with it.
- Create a web site. Your web site allows people to find you knowing nothing more than your name. IT DOES NOT NEED to be sophisticated, it just needs to help new fans learn more about you and your music.
- No Help? If no one can build a simple web site for you, get your own free web site at Dmusic.com, IUMA.com or Soundclicks.com. I highly recommend Dmusic.com or IUMA.com first since both support yourname.dmusic.com or yourname.iuma.com instead of something forgettable like http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/213/your_name_here.html.
- Custom Domain Name. If you decide to have your own custom web site instead of using Dmusic.com or IUMA.com, you will need a domain name (like fatchuck.com). Registering a domain name costs $9-14 per year, and you can search for your domain name here.
- Cheap, reliable web hosting. If you have a custom domain name (YourName.com), you will need to have a company host it for you. I personally use HostForWeb which is $9.95/month and comes with great options and a lot of bandwidth. However, artists may wish to seriously consider checking out Hostbaby or DMusicHosting for plans that are very tailored to musical acts. If you want free hosting and don't get a lot of traffic, look at DotEasy.
- Register your web site. When you get your web site up, make it easy for people to find you by registering it with Yahoo!, the Open Directory and MusicMoz.
- Flash Alternatives. If your web site is nothing but Flash, please provide text links for people who cannot use Flash (namely, Anyone with Disabilities) so that your site can be used. If Flash is so great, why do Yahoo!, Google and dozens of other top sites avoid using it?
- Include Reviews! For the love of God, if a radio station, music critic, fan or anyone else has something good to say about your music or your performances, put it on your web site! As an Indie, you don't have $50,000 to promote yourself, so point out the good things said about you.
- Online CD sales.
- Shipping Your Own. If you're responsible, accept orders over the Internet and keep 75-90% of the money (the other money goes to your payment processor) while self-shipping to your fans:
- 2CheckOut charges a one-time fee of $49 (no monthly fees) and they keep 5.5% and $0.45 per transaction. They accept orders from anyone in the world by credit card and for U.S. customers only, e-checks.
- PaySystems also charges a one-time fee of $49 (no monthly fees) and they keep varying amounts of each purchase (see their chart here). They accept orders from anyone in the world by credit card and for U.S. customers only, e-checks.
- PayPal is free to join, has no monthly fees and keeps 3-5% and $0.30-50 per transaction. However, it requires anyone who buys from you to also be a PayPal member and they don't accept payments from anyone outside of these 37 countries. They also have major issues that have been highlighted at paypalsucks.com and paypalwarning.com.
- CCNow charges $9.95/month (inside North America) or $11.95/month (everywhere else) and 9% of your sales. They do accept orders from everyone in the world.
- CDStreet charges a one-time fee of $29.95 (no monthly fees) and they keep 25% of the total sale. They accept orders from anyone in the world.
- Selling Through Others. Don't want to ship your own orders? Sell through other online stores:
- CD Baby charges $35/album and keeps $4 per album sold. They pay as often as once a week and do accept orders from anyone in the world. Also, if you have DiscMakers or Oasis manufacture your CD, CD Baby waives the $35/album fee. You can also tell customers to call 1-800-BUY-MY-CD (800-289-6923) and CD Baby will accept orders over the phone for you. If you have a barcode, they will report your sales to SoundScan. They do not sell any other merchandise besides music albums.
- CD Street charges a one-time $29.95 fee and keeps a flat 25% per album sold. They pay once a week and also accept orders via phone at 877-692-7999. If you have a barcode, they will report your sales to SoundScan. Last, they sell not only your music, but also any other merchandise you may have.
- World Party Music charges $95.00 for the first two years and then $30/year after that. They keep $1 per sale and the rest goes to you. They pay once a week but don't accept orders via phone. They do not report your sales to SoundScan and they only sell music (no merchandise).
- UPC barcode for each CD.
- Show Schedule. Flyers are good, but give yourself a freebie.
- Register your shows with Mojam.com. Your web site is nice, but Mojam gets much more traffic than you do. Let potential fans there know you exist.
- Your own site. When a concert is booked, add it to your web site. If possible, tell us the date, venue name and address, cover charge and ages (All Ages? 18+? 21+?).
- Your mail list. Remember your e-mail list from #2? Every 3-4 weeks, e-mail your fans and tell them about your upcoming gigs. Include the shows in the e-mail or include a web site address where your gigs are located.
- Submit to local free or paid newspapers. Just like Mojam.com, tell the local newspaper about your upcoming shows once a week. This way music lovers in your area can know you exist.
- CD Registration. For your fans and family.
- Register your CD. Put your CD into a computer, start your Internet connection and start up Winamp for Windows or iTunes for Macintosh. The program will automatically go to the Internet and try to find the names of the songs on your CD. If it doesn't find your CD, take the time to type in the names of each song on your CD. When you're finished, submit your results to FreeDB.org or CDDB (you should find this under a program menu). Now, whenever your CD goes into a computer, the track names will be auto-listed!
- Sell through CD Baby. If you sell your CDs through CD Baby, they will automatically do this for you once your CDs arrive there.
- Get filtered. Or suffer in anonymity with thousands of other unknown Indies.
- GodsOfMusic.com. It's free, so follow the instructions and send in your music so that you stand out for all the GOM visitors who are looking for good, new music.
- GarageBand.com. It's also free, just walk yourself through the steps and if your music is well done, you'll pop out for all the GarageBand visitors who are dying to discover good Indie music.
- The Indie Bible. "3500 publications from around the world that will REVIEW your CD." It's $25, so try the first 20 that most appeal to your style of music and see what they say. If your music is likeable, you'll stand out from the 100,000+ Indies around the world who aren't doing what you're doing.
|
None. I pulled this from my post-1986 experience as an Internet techie so that musicians might benefit.
|
|
|
|