Don't read this post in Isolation...

Just a little note here....if you are interested in my current topic, which, in general terms, you could describe as.. 'Online Music Distributors's, (OMD's), and their role in promoting music on the internet', you might want to read the previous posts I have made on this subject before you read on....

Today, I'm not going to post anything on this topic, but I'm going to get right to the heart of it in the next day or two, and, having described what I see as some things to be aware of, I'm going to try and make some sense of the best way to play the OMD card in promoting your music...

What's next?

Ok, so what ideas do these OMD's have to solve this? Solve what? Oh, yeah, I remember..

When you are new to an OMD website, and you disapear from the latest uploads list, you effectively slip over the potential listeners horizon, on a typical OMD site. Out of sight, out of hearing. So what can you do about this? Actually, not a lot, except upload some more music. Well, the OMD's have an answer...

'Friends'. That's their answer. You need to make some 'Friends'. So, ever helpful, the OMD provides you the facility to make contact with other Artists on the site, usually recommending you visit the pages of Artists similar to yourself, leaving your calling card, a 'Friend request', and a comment or two. The other similar Artists you visit may already have some 'friends', and they probably beaver away during the lonely hours of night, just as you might, making more. The OMD advice is that by making 'friends' you are promoting yourself across the site, and generating interest in you and your music.

Ok, that seems like a good idea. Anything else? Well, yes, join the Forum. Forum? Yup, Forum. OMD's like forums. If you join 'the Forum', the OMD will cheerfully tell you, you can discuss all sorts of things to do with music, make more friends, and promote you and your music. Ok, fair enough, another good idea... and the Website Chat, well, ok, that's self explanatory....Ok, you do those things.

Alright. So let's look at these facilities, one at a time, and see what they have to offer...

'Friends'....Genuine friends are few and far between on these websites, and, though, occasionally, you will find someone who is really interested in you and your music, and with whom you might strike up some sort of mutually supportive relationship, by far the majority of people will add you to their list, simply to wear your name, like a badge of approval, in the list of other 'friends' on their Artist Band page. Often, they will never have heard your songs, and won't be interested enough to bother listening. Whether they say they like your sound and material, or not, you can be sure that most of these folks won't have bothered to listen. Sometimes, they don't even bother to reply.... remember, on an OMD website, other Artists are your competition, and they are much more interested in promoting themselves than they are in promoting you...they are usually so busy doing that, that they don't have time to listen to your music...

'The Forum'.... You join the forum, and you get lots of friendly, welcoming noises, usually from the most opinionated and frequent posters...most don't look at your Band page, and don't listen to your music, whatever they say. If they do take a look, or a listen, don't expect a second visit... Forums are commonly cliquey little places, which often seem to be dominated by, and run, for the benefit of a vociferous few, who seem to regard it as their own special little province. There, they can support each other in maintaining their little empire..The Forum is the perfect 'comfort zone' for the barely motivated and hardly creative...

'OMD website Chat'... The place to be if you want to descend into complete zero productivity. Like the 'Forum', you can distract yourself from the issues you should be dealing with, to your heart's content...

Now, I'm not saying that all these facilties, if used creatively, aren't of value or benefit...they can be used very effectively, if approached in the right way...that right way, however, is another discussion, for another day...

Most Independent Artists will use these facilities and progress a little, pick up a few plays, get heard a little more, and maybe create a slightly more prominent profile on the OMD website. Generally, though, achieving all that takes time and draws the Artist ever more into the website....

So, what are the 'Friends', 'Forum' and Chat room all about?

In a word....HITS..... Unfortunately, not Chart hits, but Website hits....

OMD's sure like to look after us though, don't they?

Another little Quantum....

At this point, I want you to understand something... It is easy to assume that, because your music has not been a massive and instant hit on the internet, there is something wrong with it, that it doesn't cut the mustard, that it just isn't good enough.....Don't make that assumption, because there may be many reasons as to why you are not setting the world alight, immediately, but, in all probability, 'music not good enough' is the least valid alternative of all those you might consider, in the early stages of promotion. You see, before you can make a judgement of that sort, you need to be satisfied that your target audience has had a chance to accept or reject your music...and I would suggest that a handful of plays is not a satisfactory basis upon which to conclude that they have.

Of course, it is possible that you have got it wrong, that, no matter how hard you try, you will never make your current songs into chart hits, but, before you reach a judgement of that sort about your material, first consider this very simple point. If no one hears your music, how can they convince themselves that is good enough to buy? They can't hear it, because they don't know it exists, and no one knows what they don't know....

I have described a pretty depressing scenario, so far, I think....However, fear not, Musical Pilgrim. The OMD's, a pretty resourceful lot, have a way of overcoming this 'I'm not being heard enough' problem...and, of course, that's simply because they want to make you a star....

I should be famous now, what went wrong....

The thing is, if you believe everything people tell you, uncritically, and without close examination or thought, you will not progress much in this life. I'm not saying that most people are, at heart, cynical deceivers, because that would be a little unfair. Most people are sorta decent folks, and do mean well. Just because they mean well, though, is not to say they are actually helping well; none of us are perfect... No, what I am saying, is that whenever someone, (or an organisation), wants to encourage you to do something which they see as mutually beneficial, they tend to emphasise the upside of their argument, and barely mention the downside, or ignore it altogether. Now, as a sweeping generalisation, the internet, is, in many respects, a microcosm of the world at large. Accordingly, because OMD's are run by people, they tend to follow the natural tendency of most folks, to put a mostly positive spin on their potential benefit to you. As far as that goes, that's ok, because OMD's do offer potential benefits. Those benefits will always remain, potential benefits, however, if you are not alive to, and aware of, some basic realities of life on the web.

So, lets go back to to your OMD website, the one you built a Band Page on, and uploaded some music to, only to enjoy a very brief moment of glory, and then not much else...Lets try to see what the 'reality' actually is, and why you are not on your way to the top of the charts....

You created a band page on the OMD of your choice. You told the world what is so good about you, your band and your music, and you uploaded a song or two...That's fine and dandy, that's what we all do. So far, so good. Your songs appeared in the 'latest 50 uploads' list on the site's 'Home page' or 'Genre page' for your music. Yup, fine, been there too, done that...

Ok. Your songs got some brief attention from random surfers or website subscribers. Why? Because they were briefly at the top of the 'latest 50 uploads' list, you and your songs were new, you were an unfamiliar name, in the list of 'usual suspects'. Our random surfers were curious, and took a listen. So, you got a play or two. In a short while, more uploads came in, and you began to slip down the list. Now, new or not, you are getting less attention from the people clicking in, because you are mid list, and surfers tend to click the first thing they see as new and interesting. Sadly, because most surfers are basically lazy, (er, me too!), and 'click happy', that's often the songs or bands at the top of the list...As time goes on, and more uploaded music comes in, you slip further down the list, and become, first, less noticeable, and then, almost, if not invisible....

So, you had some slight interest on day one, which slowly tailed off.... A couple of random surfers actually liked your music, and, maybe, played it a couple of times, perhaps even over a day or two, so, you get a few more plays, then the tailing off line goes completely flat....Nothing.

You are, now, nowhere to be seen on this OMD website. Yes, your Band Page still resides, in all it's glory, somewhere on the Website's servers, and if folks knew where to look, they might be able to find it. The odd random straggler might, actually, find it, but most web surfers will not know your name, or the titles of your songs, and, therefore, have no way of knowing that you and your wonderful music exist....

That, my friend, my fellow Indie Artist, is reality, on a typical OMD. It is why your name is not yet on the list of planned stars for Sunset Boulevard, why you aren't famous. It's what went wrong....

OMD's and the Independent Artist....Continued...

So there you are. You have your Band Page on Myspace or Soundclick.Com, or somewhere like that, you have a few of your best MP3's posted and ready to play, you've told the world what a wonderful Artist you are, how fantastic, original and different your music is, and, maybe, you have a CD ready to sell. Now, all you have to do is wait, while you watch your music climb up your chosen website play charts. Naturally, when that happens, your entranced public will be desperate to buy your record, the orders will flow in, and Artist Management and Record Companies will be falling over themselves to sign you up to lucerative deals, guaranteeing untold wealth, fame, fortune, and an assured future in the music business....That's what you have been encouraged to believe, and it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect it to happen, in just that way...So, a with backward, admiring glance at your band page, you click away to the website's homepage and peruse the latest upload listings, and smile with quiet satisfaction, when you see your songs are listed...

The next day, you check the listings again. Sure enough, your songs are still listed, and, hey! you've had a play or two...Ok, not all of the songs were played, but a couple were, that's good, and, it's early days, anyhow, so no worries...Hmmmn...you aren't top of the upload list now, you are at number 12 in the 'latest 50 uploads' list, but, well, that's ok, a song or two was played.... good progress, let's just see what tomorrow brings. Tomorow brings another play or two, two songs have had 5 plays between them, but all the others show a big fat zero.
Another day or two goes by...7 more plays for your first two songs, good, somebody likes them, but no other plays...still, early days, huh? You notice that your songs left the 'latest 50 uploads' list, days ago...A week later, when you check, no plays at all...

Tomorrow.... I should be famous now, what went wrong?

Helping Other People....

I mentioned in yesterday's update that one of the things I'm looking to do with my music is to help other people. Why would I want to do that? Well, it's mostly for altruistic reason's, but it does carry certain benefits for me, and I'd like folks to know both sides of that particular coin.

I have been involved with music, as a listener, for as long as I can remember, certainly, since the early to mid 1950's, and whenever I was low, or down, the world of music was always my first refuge. In music, I was always able to find a source of comfort, and listening to a record or two, or the radio, I would soon find myself becoming enthusiastic about life again, and find the inner strength to deal with my problems, whatever they might be. In short, music would simply make me happy, at a really fundamental emotional level. Eventually, passively listening to music wasn't enough, and I found I wanted to play the songs that inspired my sense of well being, myself. But, when I aquired my first Guitar, in 1958, or so, I really struggled to learn how to play it. There was no one that I knew, personally, who could help me, I had to find out what to do, from reading books, listening, practising, trial and error, and watching my heroes play. I found it really hard to master, and there were many times when I gave up and lost heart, but, somehow, I found a way to overcome my early fumble fisted efforts, and reached a stage of reasonable competence. I did it the hard way, and taught myself.

Encouraged, then, by my family and friends, I began to play in local bands, and have done so ever since. Although, as I often say, 'I am not the world's greatest Guitarist', there are some things I do reasonably well with my chosen instrument, and I have found that playing Guitar creatively and well gives me an immense sense of satisfaction, and, as my competence has grown over the years, a degree of personal confidence, derived from knowing that, of all the things I have learned to do well in my life, learning to play Guitar was the hardest, for me, but, the one thing that I did, completely on my own. My ability with that instrument is all mine....knowing that small thing has gotten me through many crises of confidence in my life...

A little while ago, for reasons far too complicated to explain, here and now, and despite the above, I became very depressed, depressed to the point of complete demotivation with just about everything in life. I was just barely getting through a series of endless days and nights, wracked with an unfocussed hazey emotional pain, feeling that my life was no longer worth living....for a time, I was no use to anyone, my family, my friends, and, certainly, not to myself. Something had to give, and one day, I simply woke up to the fact that I had to do something, or allow myself to simply slip away. I had a long talk with myself, and decided that my life needed to change, and radically. What I really needed, was to start again, to embark on a new adventure. I found myself writing a song, then another and another...eventually, without even realising it, I had a Cd's worth of original music, and alongside it, the germ of an idea of how to make my new life... I would become an Independent Recording Artist, a full time musician...I have embarked, now, on the implimentation of that plan, and it has been my saviour...

Now, today, I am as happy and optimistic about my life as I have ever been. At first, when I contemplated this turn around in my attitude, I thought I was just lucky. Lucky that I was able to help myself, because I had the inner resources and innate ability to do so. There are so many people in the world, I thought, who are not so lucky as I, people in trouble in their lives, nowhere to go, no way out of their despair. It then occurred to me that, maybe, what I had done was not so remarkable, that most people could do something similar, if only they realised it, and knew a few of the things that I had discovered for myself. But, what exactly had I discovered, really? Simply this, a level of creativity I didn't know I had, a resource I could 'exploit' to change my life.

So, I want to help people, and, by that, what I mean, is that in the process of making my new life work, I can offer encouragement, along with positive, constructive advice about what most of us can do, how to discover our own creativity, and to exploit it, in terms of positive life changes....

Altruistic? Well, sure, a bit. I'm turning my life around and I'm grateful that I can do that, and, I feel, maybe, I can put a little back in the community chest. I also said, earlier, that there are benefits to me from helping others, and that's true. By doing that, I'm giving myself more purpose and resolve, and, maybe, with a little thoughtful development, what I might have here is the basis of a community effort, which in the end may well benefit us all...we'll see...

A blog Quantum or two...

As you may know, if you've looked in before, I've been banging on about Internet Marketing for musicians, as my current main theme here. It occurred to me that, maybe, before I make my next post on that subject, I ought to mention a couple of things, just to keep the record straight, as it were.

First, let me clarify my position on this Internet Marketing business. If you read through my previous posts, you may form the impression that I consider myself some sort of expert on the subject. If you did form that impression, it's wrong, because I don't. I'm as much in the dark as anyone on this stuff, but what I'm hoping to achieve is some sort of clarity of thought, both for myself, and, for anyone else who cares to follow my cognitive journey. I'm developing an internet marketing plan for my own recorded material, right now, and I'm still a little 'woolly' on the precise detail of what I'm actually going to be doing, when I start Internet Marketing properly. However, I figure that if I work logically through the things I've learned about the internet in the last couple of years, by studying how things seem to work, in a logical, objective way, then, maybe, I will reach a position of better clarity and confidence about what can be achieved, and a more clearly defined set of objectivess and methods. In other words, a clear, definite plan, with measurable parameters. My aim, in reproducing that process here, is to help anyone else who might, currently, be in a similar position to me. Maybe, if I get lucky, someone following my faltering steps, might even be able to offer an insight or two that I have missed....

Secondly, as an Independent Recording Artist, I'm not looking to be a big star, I'm not looking to be a millionaire, I'm not looking to sell Platinum. Mostly, I'm not looking to get a 'record deal'. I'm simply looking to be very good at every aspect of the thing I love to do most...making my own individual and unique music, and to do it independently of the mainstream music industry. If I can do that, and make a modest income in the process, two things will be possible. I will be able to make music whenever and however I choose, and I will be able to help other people to achieve things in their lives they never dreamed possible.....more on that second aspect another time..

Back to the OMD thing, and getting closer to the point...

Anyone who drops by to see what cud I'm currently chewing, will notice that this blog doesn't follow a precise pattern, but, nonetheless, pattern lovers, there is a pattern of sorts...to paraphrase Winnie the Pooh, who was explaining the vagaries of his spelling to Piglet one day, it's a good pattern, only it's a little wobbly. The pattern works like this; I pontificate on a subject, usually in small chunks, guess you could call them sort of blog quanta, and intersperse little pieces on other subjects among the main theme... The idea is to present a slightly different way of looking at things of importance to the Independent Musician, in bite size chunks...to provide a different perspective from the conventional wisdom... and break up that dry old stuff with other bits and pieces, sort of random noise, from my life and the Universe at large, to try and keep this place a little more interesting and alive.

The current main theme, (he says, recognising that you may soon lose the will to live, if I don't get on with it), is Marketing Music on the Internet... where I am, at the moment, is looking at the role of OMD's, Online Music Distributors, and what I think they really mean to Independent Artists, rather than what most Independent Artists think they mean. Follow that? Good, almost confused myself...

Ok, if you read my previous posts on this subject, you'd have seen that I am making a couple of points. They are: If you are an Independent Artist and you put music on the internet, you will almost certainly be doing that through an OMD. The OMD hosts your music and provides you with a number of facilities, in order to help you gain 'exposure' and market your music and act, maybe even get 'discovered' and get a record deal. At least, that is the impression they give you. The truth is, they want to host your music, need to host your music, because that is the way in which they attract visitors to their website. By attracting visitors to their website, gaining a high internet profile and visitor hit rate, they enable a number of income streams, in order to fulfill their actual objective, Income Generation. So, far, so good, nothing wrong with that. The Independent Artists relationship with the OMD is simply a business relationship, and all good business relationships produce benefits for both parties... You get your music played, you get your exposure, they get Listeners and more Artists, their website 'hit rate' rises, they get advertising and other income...Like I said, nothing wrong with any of that. It's legal, it's moral, it's ethical...and I have no complaint with any of it, as far as it goes.

Here's the 'however'. However...the problem with OMD's is that most Artists actually derive little real benefit from this arrangement. You will note that I say most Artists. There are some Artists who benefit a great deal, but they are very much in the minority; the vast majority of Artists derive little real benefit. The real winners in the OMD/Artist business arrangement are the OMD's, themselves. They are, in the main, achieving their objectives. If they weren't, they'd all be paraphrasing Hannibal Hayes and Kid Curry... 'There's one thing we gotta get Hayes', 'What's that?' 'Outta this business!'

There are many reasons why the current situation is as it is, and, in the next couple of days, I'll be working through that aspect of the OMD/Artist relationship, and pointing out what I see as the core of the problem with current Internet Marketing strategies for most Indie Musicians...

Thank you Anonymous!

Helloooo... Anonymous! Thank you for joining me, in my lonely vigil, as one of the last bastions of internet altruistism, in my heroic regard for the Independent Artist! Although it didn't come on a postcard, your comment is not only stunningly and unerringly accurate, but most welcome.... more of the same, everyone....I'd really like to encourage a little audience participation round here...as it is, I sort of feel that Anonymous ought to be rewarded in some small way, which, as an Independent Artist, myself, is about the only way I could reward anyone...in a small way...(anything I can do for you, Sir or Madam, please let me know)...because he or she has the distinction of being the first active contributor to this blog. Fact is, and, this is kind of sad, really, about the only thing I possess in abundance, at the moment, is Cucumbers and Tomatos..so, Sir, or Ma'am, if you plan to toss a salad or two in the next few days....

Seriously, thanks for leaving your contribution...it shows, at the very least, that someone read this stuff...

Shades of Grey

'Shades of Grey' are the band I play live with, here, in and around Bristol, England. We play in a variety of styles, covering favourite songs, always trying to give them a new edge, while retaining an authentic feel for the music.

I'm very proud to be a member of Shade's...

As, probably, the world's laziest band Guitarist, (I hate rehearsing, and prefer to play everything spontaneously, right out of nowhere), but my good friends in the band, keep me sorta in line, and make me behave...I must be doing something right, I guess, 'cause they keep asking me out to play, and I'm so very proud that they do...if only I could get the Bass player to quit catching me out with the same old jokes, and motivate myself to learn a couple of fancy chords, my life would be complete..... ;o)

Shades of Grey are: (l to r), Pete Ross - Keyboards/Vocals, Les Giles - Drums/Vocals, Mel Wood - Bass/Vocals, George Bolam - Guitar/Vocals, Paul Martin - Guitar/Vocals

OMD's - that's what I was talking about

There is, of course, absolutely nothing wrong with posting music, or interacting, in any way, with OMD's. I do it myself..my music is all over the internet, Myspace.com, Soundclick.com, EzFolk.com, iSound.com, etc...where would we be without these places on the internet to promote our music? Further, some OMD websites offer exceptional facilities for the Independant Artist, and a number of them offer terrific additional, and, very useful advice on many aspects of songwriting, recording, music production and music marketing. No, I'm not advocating that OMD's are ignored or ruled out of anyone's online activities.. Actually, I'm all in favour of OMD's. What I am most definitely saying, however, is that you need to be aware that an OMD's primary objective is 'Income Generation', so, inevitably, your objectives and ambitions are actually secondary, in most cases, except in so far as your satisfaction with a particular OMD is likely to keep your activity centred on it. That's reasonably important to an OMD, because your music, and your activity on the OMD website, attracts visitors..in turn, large numbers of visitors provide the impetus driving an OMD's online status upward, upward in terms of attracting clients, who provide them with revenue and investment.. a classic, though, simple example of which, is advertising revenue...The higher a websites 'hit rate' is, the more attractive it is to advertising clients, looking to gain the attention of a particular visitor demographic...advertising, however, is the simplest, and, actually, in many ways, the least sophisticated income stream for an OMD to develop...

What I'm doing with all this, and I'm sure you were wondering, is simply setting down the obvious, though rarely thought about, aspects of Marketing and Promotion of music on the internet through OMD websites..rarely thought about by the Independent Artist, who is so deeply immersed, as they are, in the hurly burly everyday business of creating and perfecting original music recordings...

More in a little while...

George Bolam