Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Hip Hop Marketing in the 21st Century - Facebook Youtube Twitter

How to step your game up in the new marketing age. Facebook - Youtube - Twitter - Instagram - Blogs - Websites



Importance of Internet Promo - Times Have Changed, You Should Too!

Importance of Internet Promo - Times Have Changed, You Should Too!

In the past 22 years I have seen music marketing go from flyers, banners, billboards, and videos into a worldwide internet pandemic. From Myspace, Facebook, to Twitter thousands of music artists have been under utilizing these mass marketing tools just hoping that the right person will view their profile, wrong! Without proper promotion you are not going to get anywhere. It's like a chef without the right ingredients. First of all you need a plan of attack, simply creating a page and posting things is not going to help you at all. 

Content:

What are you promoting? This is the number one question you need to ask yourself. Are you using your social networks to be social and promotes your music, or are you using them to promote yourself and try to score dates which is a very big mistake. No one is going to take you seriously as a music artist if you are always trying to hit on potential fans. It just causes friction and potential fan loss. What you post is very important too. Your post don't always have to be about music, you do have to show your fans there is a human side to you rather than a music robot. My point is your post have to remain neutral in some sort of way. Just remember you always have the freedom of speech. A little controversy doesn't hurt either, just don't get into heated arguments online, it's pointless. We all have our views, just have respect for other peoples views as they should yours. If they don't then ignore them.

Do's:

  • Use as many social outlets as you can to spread your music and word. Sites such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, ReverbNation, and Instagram have really helped pave the way for many artists in the industry. You can also create a blog or website and post links or music players with your music
  •  Invest money in your craft which is your music. Instead of saving to buy the next pair of Jordan's or an 8th of weed, use that money to buy an original beat or for studio time. Now you can make a hot song to promote on the internet.
  • Be original, yes it's cool at times to rock on another artists beat. But invest in your own, there are many producer out there selling great quality original that you can have partial rights to. Of course the producer does retain some rights but that's standard.
  •  Ask your friends to help you promote your songs. If they are truly your friends and believe in what you do they will help you unconditionally.
  • Use professionals to help you with promotional material such as mixtape covers, promo banners, and photos. Pictures in your bathroom, dark photos, low quality photos just won't cut it. This is where you have to invest a bit in yourself as well. Get a professional EPK done, get a photo shoot done, have a DJ host a mixtape for you.
  • One major important to to me in the music industry is Gmail. If you don't have a Gmail account, please get one, it makes sharing music and beats with artists and producers so much simpler. Gmail comes with a built in music player, so when a producer sends you a beat, or an artist send you a song, you can play it right on the spot before downloading it. It does have to be in mp3 format though.

Don't:

  • Don't use your social networking sites as a dating site, use your real name then. Otherwise you're probably going to start detracting or losing potential fans.  
  •  Don't think promoting one hot song, once a week is going to help you become a star. It's not, chances are it's not really going to be heard.
  •  One thing I urge artist not to do is pay for plays or fans. You have many sites that offer plays and fans on Youtube and Reverbnation for a fee. Yes they will get you plays, but no, no one is really listening and the fans really don't care about your music. You are just over inflating your stats, and you really don't know who is listening to keep track how you are really doing.
I really hope some of these things bring to light the importance of using the internet to go viral. If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below.


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