Sympedia
How to Promote your YouTube Videos
YouTube has increasingly become one of the leading partners to engage and get new fans. They have now created a very useful guide on how musicians and labels are able to maximize their use and capture more viewers.
It’s a free guide offering strategies and best-practices on how to build your video audience. You are able to read the guide in its entirely here!
Topics in the YouTube Playbook for Record Labels and Musicians include:
* Optimizing your videos and channel for better discovery
* How to release a song or album on YouTube
* How often to upload new content
* Increasing “watch time” (or how long your fans watch your videos)
* How to make the most of your talents
* Cross-promotion
* Engaging with Fans
To read YouTube’s new playbook for musicians, click HERE.
What partners does Symphonic Distribution distribute music to and where in the world are they available?
Symphonic Distribution is always adding new partners and territories to help get your music in front of more fans! Here are some of the partners that we currently distribute to, along with their territories:
iTunes: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus*, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina-Faso*, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India*, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal*, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan*, Venezuela, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
*Explicit content is not sold in these iTunes territories.
7 Digital: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The United Kingdom and The United States.
AmazonMP3: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.
Amazon On Demand: United States (with international shipping)
Audiojelly: Worldwide
Beatport: Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
Dance All Day: Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Dance Tunes: Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
Deezer: Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Uruguay, and United Kingdom
Digital Tunes: United States, Canada, all of the European Union
Drum and Bass Arena: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
emusic: United States, Canada, all of the European Union
FixT: United States, Canada, United Kingdom
Google Play: Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
HTFR: United Kingdom
JB HiFi: Australia, Newzeland, United States, Canada, all of the European Union
Junodownload: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
iHeartRadio: United States
imusica: Brazil
MediaNet: Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Muve Music: United States
Nowtrax: Japan, United States, Canada, all of the European Union
Rdio: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
Rhapsody: Germany, United Kingdom, United States
Satellite EDM: Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Spotify: Spotify is currently available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.
Starzik: France, all of the European Union
Trackitdown: Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Traxsource: Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Pulselocker: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States.
VerveLife: Canada, United States
XBox Music: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates
Wa3.com: China
Whatpeopleplay: United Kingdom
WiMP: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Poland.
Yandex: Russia
Sony Music Unlimited: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Uinted Kingdom, United States
Explore more of our partners and tools available!
7 Social Media Mistakes Musicians Should Avoid
Building a significant list of fans and followers on our social media pages is a crucial part of our business as musicpreneurs, and sometimes it requires time, work and research.
The other side of this activity is that we have also to keep our fans from clicking the ‘unlike’ or ‘unfollow’ button. At this purpose there are some simple rules to follow and some mistakes to avoid.
Here are seven of the most common mistakes many musicians make.
1. Posting the same content on all networks at the same time.
Tools like HootSuite let us post the same content on multiple pages (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). You think “how cool is that!”… well, it’s not. For three reasons. First of all, every social network has its own way of show things and what works / looks good on Facebook may not on Twitter and viceversa. Twitter, for example, doesn’t show Instagram pic previews anymore and sharing Instagram pics on Twitter can be less powerful than before. The second reason is strictly connected to the first one: every social network has its own typical kind of population, for example LinkedIn is industry-oriented, Google+ is still a marketers’ heaven, Facebook and Twitter are more mainstream, etc. Sharing different links on the different platforms will make you be more integrated within the media of choice. Third reason, more practical than the first two: the tags. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. have different way to tag people: usually, on external social media management tools, if you write a post intended to go on different social media, you can prepare the post to tag for a social media, but chances are that that tag won’t work on another social media.
And posting different content on different social media will work as an incentive for people to subscribe to all your pages. Otherwise, what’s the point in following you in more than a single social media site?
2. Being just a ‘salesman’.
I see all the time, in my social media news feeds, musicians who once per hour ask people to buy their albums, books, etc.
Internet marketers agree on the fact that social media are not the best tools for selling what you have. Newsletters are definitely better in that field. Social media will make you nurture your relationships with fans and turn them in proud ambassadors of your music, but their impact on sales remains low.
This is for a reason: people, on social media, want to relax. If you are there trying to sell all the time, you’ll become annoying in seconds. Use social media to provide value (share your songs, videos from Youtube, blog posts, music lessons etc.), sometimes driving fans where they can also buy your stuff.
3. Inviting people you never interact with to like, retweet, etc. your content.
We all have friends, fans and followers that we somehow exclude from our social daily routine. If you ask them to like, follow or retweet you, they will probably ignore your requests. Cultivate relationships as much as possible with nothing to ask in return, they will support you when needed.
4. Inviting all your friends to your events on Facebook.
Instead of inviting all your friends, target your invites towards people who can actually come to your event. I understand the urge to let people all over the world know that tonight you have a gig in a trendy club in London, but a status or a link on your timeline will be more than sufficient. There’s no need to invite people from Melbourne. Even because they will probably click on the ‘ignore all invites from this person’ button.
It’s not engaging and will not stimulate your fans’ curiosity, whatever the shared content is.
6. Posting too many automated posts / tweets
This is another of those features provided by tools like HootSuite, but also by some email maketing softwares that once per day automatically post on your profiles asking to join your mailing list. The only automated tweet service I use is Paper.li, a webapp that create an online newspaper with contents from sources and keywords of your choice. Every morning it makes your Twitter account tweet the new version of the newspaper along with three sources, that often retweet, reply or favorite that tweet.
Continue Reading here!
A Guide to Clearing Music Samples
Sampling has become commonplace in the music industry, especially in the electronic music and hip hop worlds. These days anyone can buy samples with a flat fee from stores such as Loopmasters, Beatport Sounds, and Sounds2Sample, giving them a guaranteed lifetime royalty-free license to use the sounds in combination with original sounds in their own music. Artists can release the resulting track for iTunes distribution sales or even sync placement deals in film/TV/commercial media without ever owing a dime in royalties to the original creators of the samples purchased. But what if you sample a vocal line performed by an 80s Latin pop star and it sounds perfect as the hook in your progressive house tune? The majors have entire departments dedicated to clearing samples for usage in their artists’ releases, and there’s a reason for that. It’s a complex process that involves gaining explicit permission from both the original owners of the master recording copyright and the original owners of the underlying composition. This usually means finding out the performer’s record label (the owner of the master recording) and the publisher of the song (the owners/administrators of the underlying composition) and getting in touch with them to negotiate fees and gain the license to sample. If you release the track without gaining this explicit permission from both sides, you could get in serious legal trouble with the owners of the original work.
On that note, here’s a great article about the intricacies of clearing samples. This will be important as Symphonic launches its publishing administration service and its full sync licensing program in the coming months. Without 100% cleared samples and informing us of their usage, your music cannot be released, registered in collection societies, or synced for usage in film/TV/commercials and many other revenue-generating opportunities! Read on for more.
The key principles of sample clearance
Sampling is a form of copying someone else’s music (sound recording and underlying composition) Only use a sample with permission of copyright owner. Copyright owner can consider licensing use and decide whether to grant the license or not and determine the fee. Copyright owner is entitled to refuse permission. You will be required to pay a fee and/or royalties and credit (mention) the original writers/ copyright owner from which the sample is taken as a condition of any licence. Music which was made or released within the last 50 years (life of copyright) will still be in copyright and can only be sampled with permission from the copyright owner of the recording. In addition, a license from the copyright owner of the underlying composition (music and words). A license for the composition will not be needed if you RE-RECORD the composition. Sampling will infringe copyright in the music and/or the sound recording, if a ‘substantial part’ of the original and used without permission. Sample considered ‘substantial’ by reference to quality rather than length.
Westbound Records and Bridgeport Music v No Limit Films (2004)
The case centred on the song 100 Miles and Runnin, which samples a three-note guitar riff from Get Off Your Ass and Jam by George Clinton and Funkadelic. The song was included in the 1998 movie I Got the Hook Up by No Limit Films In the two-second sample, the guitar pitch has been lowered, and the copied piece was “looped” and extended to 16 beats. The sample appears five times in the new song.
A US federal appeals court ruled that recording artists should licence every musical sample included in their work even minor, edited, unrecognisable snippets of music. The court posed the question “If you cannot pirate the whole sound recording, can you ‘lift’ or ‘sample’ something less than the whole?” The Court’s answer to this was NO; and the court added “Get a license or do not sample – we do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way.”
How Not To Clear a Sample
You cannot clear the underlying composition in a sample by re-recording the sample. If you choose to re-create the use, you still need the publishing clearance. Altering the sample (even to the point of making it unrecognisable) does not get you out of clearing it. Sampling a track which already cleared its samples doesn’t get you out of clearing them.
Sample Clearance FAQ
How much of a song can I use before I need clearance?
It doesn’t matter how long the sample is. It could be two seconds and you’d still have to clear it.
How do I approach a Record label or Publisher in regards to obtain a clearance?
Give information about your planned releases e.g. label the tune will be released on and how many copies pressed. Record company or publisher may say yes, ultimate decision is sometimes up to the musicians.
Sampling from a small label artist
A small record company may want a flat fee, known as a ‘buy-out’.
If you’ve sampled a relatively unknown tune and it’s quite a short release you might end up paying just around £500 but they may build in a condition that another fee is payable if you want to press more records.
Sampling from a large label artist
A larger label or bigger artist may want a royalty – usually 1 to 3 per cent.
They’ll probably want an advance against that – which, for a major artist it may be several thousand pounds. You may be able to reduce the royalty by paying a larger advance or reduce the advance by offering a larger royalty.
What difference does it make if the of the sample is used little or a lot?
If the sample is extensive and underpins your tune to such an extent that the track won’t really work without it, you’re in a weak bargaining position. In such case, a Record company can demand a much higher royalty – as much as 50%.
How do you get clearance for published samples?
Publishing companies will typically want a royalty but not an advance. For light usage of a minor artist this can be less than 10%. For a larger artist it may be 50% or more – up to 100%.
How does sampling affect my royalties?
The royalties for samples will be deducted from your record sales share of royalties and publishing royalties. You may also have to give up some of your Performer’s Royalties to the people who performed on the record you sampled.
What if I cannot find the copyright owner?
Do not proceed with use until you have obtained clearance in writing from all copyright owners concerned and all clearance terms and conditions agreed. To proceed without all necessary clearances in place will equal breach of copyright.
Can I approach the band/writers directly?
Clearance must be sought and obtained from the copyright owners. In most cases this is the record label and publisher.
How long will it take to get an answer to my request?
Publishers will often discuss the clearance request with writers of the composition that has been used. If writers are recording, touring or working on other projects the clearance can be delayed. If the composition that you wish to use is not U.K copyright, the publisher may need to liaise with a foreign publisher who in turn may need to liaise with the writers.
What can I do if my request is denied?
You must remove the sampled/re-created use from your work. To proceed without all necessary clearances in place may well result in action being taken against you for breach of copyright.
What’s a Publicist and Should I Get One?
I was going to write an entire post about the world of music PR and discuss when it’s time to get a publicist and what you should expect to pay and WHAT THEY DO (most musicians have no idea), but I figured why not just interview a successful music publicist (and one who I have worked with in the past). Amy Draheim is the founder of Shatter PR, a Los Angeles based PR firm. We sat down for an interview about the elusive world of music PR.
Ari: Give us a little background on yourself. (What have you done inside and outside of music? What lead you to start Shatter PR?)
Amy: I studied Journalism and Mass Communication in college and had planned to work at an ad firm until I realized that I didn’t really enjoy it all that much and the ad firm life wasn’t for me. I fell into a job as a tour manager for a singer/songwriter traveling around the country managing the day to day tour details while also helping promote the tour. I met some other musicians and bands along the way who asked me to help promote their tours. Thus began my entrance into the world of music PR.
I’ve helped develop bands’ online presence and was a full-time manager for one band before getting a job at a Hollywood PR firm. I started Shatter PR after leaving the Hollywood firm last year.
The world of PR is awfully elusive to most musicians. Can you give us a breakdown of what most music publicists do?
Generally speaking, publicists manage a band’s image. They are essentially like brand managers and work to generate media interest in the band, the music and the shows. Publicists write press releases, pitch stories to journalists and set up interviews and is the band’s spokesperson and liaison between the band and the public/media.
When a band is on tour I reach out to the newspapers, magazines, radio stations, blogs and TV stations in the cities they are playing to generate buzz leading up to the show. I usually try to get a a featured preview of the show, an album review or an interview with the band. For TV and radio, if the band has the time, I’ll get them into the station for a live performance and interview in the city they are touring through. Occasionally I’ll get journalists out to review the show as well.
When do you think bands are ready to hire a publicist?
It all depends. In general, if a band has only played shows in their hometown, doesn’t have any music recorded and isn’t ready to tour, then it’s probably not a good time for a publicist. If a band has built up a decent following in their area, is gearing up for some bigger shows and needs some great press for a successful tour or to promote a big event (like a CD release), then it’s the perfect time to hire a publicist. There are also the rare occasions when a band’s YouTube video goes viral and their single sales skyrocket. This is the time to hire a publicist to get you on Ellen.
What do you look for in a band when you’re taking them on? Does genre matter?
Genre doesn’t matter, but I usually only take on bands if I like their music. And they have to have a website and a decent social media presence.
How can bands get in touch with you if they feel they are ready to hire a publicist?
Email me. Include links to your website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and let me know if you have anything big coming up like a tour or a new album release. I get back to everyone who emails me.
+Don’t Be Afraid of the Phone
How does payment work for most publicists? Can you give us a price range for music publicists?
Instead of working off a percentage (like most agents and managers), publicists will generally work for a monthly fee from their client. Superstars will usually keep a publicist on retainer for a few thousand dollars a month, but the range is really all over the place for most music publicists. If you are an independent musician on a budget, don’t hire a big time publicist who charges $4,000 a month- you’re probably not at that level. But also, don’t trust any publicist who promises you the world for $100. They will put 10 minutes into writing a press release and then send it to their entire media list in a mass email and tell you that Rolling Stone read your press release.
Dress for Success: Marketing Yourself as a DJ
So you’ve spent years practicing your skills, you’ve got the tunes, and you think you’re ready to hit the big time. No matter how talented you are, every DJ needs to carefully examine their marketing strategy in order to be successful. Due to the increase in digital DJ technology, today there are more DJs than ever before. It takes more than just good music and tunes to stand out in today’s music industry, and you’re going to have to carefully develop a solid marketing strategy in order to succeed.
What’s In a Name?
Choose your DJ name wisely; if you’re just starting out as a DJ, it’s a good idea to choose a great name right from the get-go. If you’re not sure what your name should be, have a brainstorming session with your friends, and get creative. Your best friend may come up with the perfect name for you! While many well-known DJs go by their first and last names, other DJs prefer nicknames or names that have personal meaning to them.
Once you choose a name, do a google search to ensure that no one else has the same name. You don’t want to run into any legal issues when you’re just beginning a new career. Make sure your name is relatively easy to pronounce and spell. The more complicated you make it, the more the likelihood that a promoter will mis-spell your name on a flyer or an emcee will incorrectly announce it on the mic.
Creating a Logo
These days, many of the most successful DJs have branded themselves with great logos that are synonymous with their names. Unless you’re a multi-talent and a vector graphics wizard, you should consider hiring a professional graphic designer. Your logo should inspire trust, admiration and loyalty, and be instantly and uniquely recognizable.
While it might cost a little to hire a professional designer, a logo is an investment that you will be able to use for many, many years to come. You’re going to be using it on all your mixtape covers, tshirts, stickers, website, and business cards, so it’s a good idea to have it done right the first time. Logos really make a DJ stand out from the rest on flyers and give you the professional edge that many promoters are looking for.
We actually wrote an older full article on chosing a DJ name and DJ logo back in 2009!
Picture Perfect
You’re going to need some amazing photos to use to promote yourself as a DJ. This is where having a great creative team really comes in handy. First of all, you’ve got to choose how you’d like to present yourself to the industry, in terms of personal style. Take your time to carefully consider how you would like to be perceived, and make sure that the images you choose complement your musical style. It’s helpful to begin to build relationships with local designers and stores at this point in time. Think of ways you can be creative, and help to cross-promote each other on your online media and/or at shows.
Once you’ve got your look down pat, practice posing behind your decks (or with your Midi Fighter), and then search for a good photographer in your area. Before the photoshoot, send them a few reference photos that you like, so you’re both on the same page about the final result that you’d like to achieve. Make sure to bring some tunes that you like to the shoot, to keep the energy high on set. Have the photographer (or a photo editor) edit the photos afterwards to make them shine even more.
Push, Don’t Shove – Music Marketing That Actually Works
A common argument in the digital music era involves whether the Internet has empowered artists to control their own destiny. Now more than ever, there are incredible opportunities for artists to distribute their original work directly to their fans, with the goal of acquiring new fans and taking their act global. However, piracy has made it difficult for artists to sell their music, and the vast sea of young and buzzed-about artists has made it even harder to break through the noise so live performances are more important than ever for artists to make a living.
So how do musicians reach audiences, and where are they? Long gone are the days when music fans would pick up a copy of Time Out or City Guide to see who is playing near them that weekend. We know fans are shifting to online services like Spotify and Pandora to stream and listen to music, but the main question is how to engage them and alert them when artists are on tour?
To begin, it’s essential to understand the two basic forms of music marketing: Push Marketing and Pull Marketing.
1. Push marketing requires you to create demand by actively distributing your music and events. Push marketing helps musicians both new and established rise above the fray, whether for recorded music or for tour dates.
2.Pull marketing effectively pulls fans to your website or band page who may already be looking for new music and hoping to “discover” you. Pull takes advantage of pre-existing market demand.
Fortunately, musicians are beginning to control the means of distribution through the Web, mobile and social networks allowing them to market directly to fans relatively cheaply and easily. And concertgoers are responding, preferring direct communication from artists where information is “pushed” to them rather than searching it out themselves. Given that social media provides a layer of data and analytics about fans like location and musical preference, artists can target their fan base as they never have in the past. This solves a critical issue in music marketing — your most dedicated customers need you to find them, not the other way around.
It’s important to note that what we call music “discovery” is actually a passive activity for consumers. Streaming music sites like iHeartRadio and Songza are great examples of this, since listeners simply click on a station and let the service do the rest — providing hours of endless curated entertainment. The same way the discovery of recorded music is a passive activity, so too is the discovery of live events.
In the fall of 2012, Bandsintown commissioned a study of American concertgoers to better understand what brings people out to shows and how to reach them. The results determined that music fans prefer to receive “push” notifications, such as Facebook posts and email blasts about upcoming shows, rather than “pull” notifications from artist or event websites. More than 80 percent of music fans surveyed said that Facebook posts and email blasts inspire them to purchase concert tickets, compared to more traditional outlets like magazines, newspapers, or even blogs. The survey also found that the majority of all fans buy concert tickets in advance when notified — about 75 percent of the time — because they don’t want to risk missing the show. That’s guaranteed revenue since artist’s most dedicated fans have paid up front, and there are still countless artists in and out of the mainstream that are ignoring this tactic.
Musicians typically believe that because push marketing requires an investment of their time it will get in the way of what they love most — make great music. It’s true that with today’s virtually unlimited choice of music, interacting with fans is now a part of the job if you want to be successful. However, there are inexpensive online tools available — from Mobile Roadie and Bandsintown to Sonic Notify — that effectively utilize social networks and automate the push marketing process, freeing up valuable time for other important things.
3 Ways To Improve Your Performances
One sign of a great live performer – DJs included – is that they are constantly looking to improve in as many areas within their skillset as they can. No matter how good you get at DJing, producing, or playing out – if you fail to improve, you give opportunity to others to surpass you. This article offers tips separated into three topics: ergonomics, organization and experimentation – read on to find out how each applies to your DJing, production, or live performance pursuits!
Expanding in these three areas is critical – for ergonomics, physical user interaction with DJ and production equipment is key, as it is fundamental to perform in a comfortable physical state. Organization is widely regarded as one of the most essential characteristics for success. Finally, without experimentation, music would simply not be as we know it today. Results of experimentation also means putting a personal stamp on your performance and standing out from the crowd – something that promoters and punters alike look for in artists.
ERGONOMICS
Like musicians, DJs & live performers can benefit highly from ergonomics. This knowledge both greatly improves performance on the short term and will aid your health over years of performing. Stretching, equipment height, and laptop access all fall under this category:
Stretching
As with many physical activities, stretching can lead to prolonged endurance and keeping yourself injury free while improving your peak performance. You would be surprised how quickly you can improve with simple muscle stretches before and after practicing compared to practicing alone. The recommended muscles to stretch are your upper chest, front neck muscles, shoulder muscles, and forearm muscles. Stretching these muscles for about thirty seconds is recommended. As with all stretching it is important to make sure you don’t strain yourself and if you have any physical constraints, consult your physician.
DJ Equipment Height
While it may not seem like a big deal now, the last thing you want is to have back trouble in your old age. Adjusting your equipment to a comfortable height can not only save your back but also improve the level of your performance over a short period of time. In order to achieve a neutral position for your wrist in relation to the control surface/record platters, their tops (records/ jogwheels / faders) should be approximately even with your navel. Using an adjustable table or road-cases is a smart way of raising your equipment to this level.
Laptop Access
The placement of your laptop is an important factor as having easy access can improve your performance workflow. While there is no one correct placement of your laptop, there are a number of things that you should avoid. If you have to bend down to read the screen your laptop, consider:
Increasing font size on your DJ software
Upgrading to a laptop with a larger screen.
Investing in a laptop stand (DJTT’s store crew recommends the Crane Stand Pro, but there are many options)
Top 7 Pinterest Tools to Market Your Music
Pinning can become music to your ears, if you play your strings right! The online pinning board, Pinterest has become a phenomenon of sorts in last couple of years. With an ever-expanding user base and a visually vibrant interface, Pinterest has opened up many doors of opportunities for creative artists.
Why Should Musicians Pin?
Pinterest lets you paint pictures of your music and create your unique online brand identity. Here’s how it works:
* Pinterest pages are ‘Public’ by default, this improves your chances of being found by fans interested in the kind of music you make.
* It’s a great tool to share videos and images of your tours, events and gigs and let interested Pinterest users find you.
* You can use it as an attractive digital resume complete with videos, graphics, images, album covers, etc.
* Most users visit Pinterest for entertainment, thus taking your music to Pinterest is like taking water to the horse’s mouth.
Pinterest allows people to follow boards based on their interest, the platform therefore allows for laser-targeted marketing.
Top Pinterest Tools To Market Your Music
Even the best marketing strategies can fall flat on their face without the right tools! Thankfully, there are some very useful ones out there that musicians can use to create effective Pinterest marketing campaigns. Here’s a look at the most recommended tools:
* Pinstamatic: This is a multipurpose tool with which one can create quotes, sticky notes, calendar notes, and much more to pin to their profile. With regard to music, the ‘Spotify’ feature makes it easy to make pins of songs, which can easily be found by other users through a simple keyword-based search.
Continue Reading here.
Running a Contest on a Facebook Page & Apps to Use
You want to run a contest on your Facebook page, but there is one big mistake so many Facebook pages make when they run a contest. You might think it makes sense and is so easy to just say enter the contest by clicking like or leaving a comment, but you can’t do that. When running a contest on Facebook you can’t ask people to click like to enter to get details on how to enter. It’s against Facebook’s Terms of Use to use a feature of Facebook itself to enter. This also means, you can’t enter by leaving a comment.
Here the specific terms you should be concerned with, read these carefully:
Promotions on Facebook must be administered within Apps on Facebook.com, either on a Canvas Page or a Page App.
You must not condition registration or entry upon the user taking any action using any Facebook features or functionality other than liking a Page, checking in to a Place, or connecting to your app. For example, you must not condition registration or entry upon the user liking a Wall post, or commenting or uploading a photo on a Wall.
You must not use Facebook features or functionality as a promotion’s registration or entry mechanism. For example, the act of liking a Page or checking in to a Place cannot automatically register or enter a promotion participant.
You must not use Facebook features or functionality, such as the Like button, as a voting mechanism for a promotion.
You must not notify winners through Facebook, such as through Facebook messages, chat, or posts on profiles (timelines) or Pages.
