Indie Artist Essentials

We are lucky as all accept out to be in this digital age, enabling a deeper level of fan and artist intimacy than ever before. Embracing the digital triumphs naturally means finding innovative ways to up the ante and connect with fans to offer them all you’ve got. Below is a list of individuals and organizations that help you do just that.

This list will expand with time so drop by periodically and feel free to comment below with your own source suggestions. (You can find and follow many of these through the Top Artists & Music list at http://twitter.com/NatalieNicole/top-artists-music/ .)

In no particular order:

@NoiseTrade
www.NoiseTrade.com
This site enables you to post a full project (or a simple single) online absolutely free. Fans can download the songs from your unique url, or via a widget they provide you with for any sites/profiles you wish, simply by offering up their email addresses and zipcodes. NoiseTrade simply takes 20% from any tips fans choose to contribute to your work. The widget and landing page also offer means for fans to tweet and shout about their fabulous free music find. Creating an legend takes all of 15 minutes (including your initial uploads), so you can create an EP in the same amount of time and inaugurate publicizing it pronto. Great for live sessions, demos, previews and customary albums you don’t care to place up on iTunes but do want to share with dedicated fans on your website(s). Founded in part by @DerekWebb.

@AmieStreet
www.AmieStreet.com
Operating on a similar principle to Noise Trade’s ‘Fair Trade Music’ philosophy, Amie Street enables fans to download new albums for free initially. They acquire credit for writing reviews/recommendations. As an EP grows in popularity, a diminutive price becomes involved for the next few hundred people or so who download it, something like 15 cents a track or a little over a buck for the whole CD. By the time a project makes it to full tag, it’s gotten there because enough people fell in love with it and downloaded it to prove that it was worth the listen. You can construct a voice story on AmieStreet, or submit through other digital distributors. The downside of working with a third party distributor in this case is that you’re (currently) locked in to only distributing in the country of your distributor. So if the bulk of your fans are in England but your digital distributor is in the US? You’re out of luck. The UK fans can listen, but will be frustrated when they can’t download, and begin their search for a pirated release online elsewhere.

@MusicForte
www.MusicForte.com
Music Forte has tremendous benefits for both fans and artists, working hard at being a solid community for both. Over the years, I’ve relied on Music Forte as my audio archive – a situation that rarely had restraints when it came to how many songs you can upload or how long the audio streams. Storing much of my audio in one place made it an easy reference point for modern band members who needed access to this or that song, without my having to shuttle mp3s to them via email or ftp. Artists are regularly spotlighted, interviewed, and invited into collaborations on the forums. Encyclopedic in its resource nature, and maintained by a friendly guy who’s an artist himself: Greg Percifield.

@Tunecore
www.Tunecore.com
Tunecore is a digital distributor and stand alone music store that deeply cares about artists participating in the new business model for the music industry. Their forums and newsletter keep you involved in vital, innovative discussions. They distribute indie (and corporately labeled) artists to iTunes, Amazon (for both mp3 download and On Demand hardcopy), Rhapsody, Nokia, eMusic, Napster and a slew of others that grows like a weed. They’re very responsive when you have a quiz or suggestion. Co-founded by @TunecoreGary. Also follow @TCSupport.

@ReverbNation
www.ReverbNation.com
Reverb began as a music profile site that later expanded into distribution (with the main players in its possess hat – iTunes, Amazon and the like). Their primary focus is helping you stay in touch with fans; Though there are some newsletter and fan communications that near standard with your free RN fable, others require a small fee. One of their strengths is offering free downloads of songs you specify for fans willing to sign up for your newsletter. You can upload far more cuts here than MySpace and some others offer, and the fan exclusives offered are entirely up to you. Video links are also an option with your song streams.

@CyberPR
www.ArielPublicity.com
Ariel Hyatt is all about building your fanbase and rethinking your angles. She’s created a great starter pamphlet at http://arielpublicity.com/files/2010/02/IndieMaxExposure2010.pdf. By starter, I by no means insinuate the resource is for the beginner only; It’s simply a springboard for your own ‘what comes next’ as it relates to your music goals and strategies. A great read, quoting some of the best in the new business.

@DiscMakers
www.Discmakers.com
DiscMakers remains the top company for hard copy replication and duplication. (Their friendly reps will be joyful to explain the difference to you.) Whether you need just 25 super simple CDs for a demo or family or a elephantine package with graphic design, EPKs and the works – they’ve got you covered. They also have a free newsletter that’ll fill you in on what music convention they’ll be at next, sometimes offering you 10 free CDR copies of your latest project when you stop by their booth. I dropped into one of the events they mentioned in a newsletter and met a ample guitarist/producer who’s now a friend and collaborator for life. They also have packages available with a philosophize shipment to CDBaby (for those 5 hardcopies they require to get you off and running in their distribution setup), so you can check one more thing off your to do list when you order. Imprint up for their (free) seasonal catalog to drool and dream.

@BMI
www.BMI.com
I was pleased to find, when I attended a BMI orientation, that back when the other PROs (Performing Rights Organizations / Royalty Societies) were shunning artists of color, BMI was happy to sign up the world’s brightest jazz, blues and pop artists of any ethnicity. They also presently carry the (slightly larger) majority of artists on their roster, which enables them to ask for a bit more when licensing with venues, stations and others. BMI offers great showcases and career building sessions across the US and in the UK (sign up for their free newsletter for the latest), and also monitors and samples 4 full weeks a year per station (as compared to the three days of monitoring done by their main counterpart; Working as a reporting Music Director at a radio station, I can back that up). Signing up as an artist to receive your royalties is free; Being listed with them as a Publisher requires a one time fee of roughly $175.

@SonicBids
www.SonicBids.com
Sonic offers mountainous access to top festivals and venues looking for quality talent that can draw a crowd. Check with your PRO of choice; You may be able to grab your first 6 months of SonicBids membership free. Your musician profile essentially acts like an EPK, but enables you to be found in a collection of EPKs, helping bookers easily access the info that matters most. Their stage plotting feature is a fun and time saving tool that helps you communicate your setup easily to anyone in the event planning plot. They’ll also keep you up to date on songwriting competitions if you sign up for email alerts.

@BroadJam
www.BroadJam.com
Hoping to glean your music licensed in a film or TV show? BroadJam is like the music supervisor want ads. Films and shows of all varieties (even webseries) send their fervent and detailed requests for tunes – some broadly asking for pop/dance tunes, others asking for any song about hope or family, etc. – straight to your inbox. Alerts and newsletters are free. Submitting requires a nominal fee per project, but it’s a favor to you in the long run, because it adds a threshold; Only the more serious artists will take the time to pay the five bucks, so it keeps supervisors from being inundated by joe schmo who’s willing to send in his homegrown country demo for every single audio interrogate. The fee acts as quality control.

@iLike
www.iLike.com
iLike is thankfully the go between for @Facebook, @Twitter & @MySpace. Post a concert on iLike and (with your settings decisively permitting) it’ll broadcast to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and iLike itself. (ReverbNation can also receive your Twitter feed, so the resulting tweet will also construct it into your RN status update.) Songs posted on iLike also post to your Facebook Music tab (on artist/music profile pages), but you’ll still have to upload MySpace audio directly. iLike also has a great sidebar for iTunes that enables fans to be alerted to unusual songs, concerts and videos you’ve posted while they’re using iTunes. Fans do have to download the add on, but with some encouragement from you….. iLike also enables Facebook users to dedicate your songs to one another on FB.

@Pandora_Radio
www.Pandora.com
Pandora is the online radio station that listens to you. Playlists are guided by your preferences and the song and artists ’seeds’ that you plant in your customized stations. (Thankfully, these require no watering.) It’s a great way to sample indie artists while listening to the artists you already know and worship. Best yet, indie artists with a UPC code attached to their projects (easily attained when you release an Amazon On Demand project, for those of you who don’t care to preserve a tangible inventory on hand;) can submit a couple of their songs from a project for consideration. If accepted into the Pandora roster, you’ll be contacted to send in your full project. Buy links accompany every tune played for listeners who love what they hear. http://submitmusic.pandora.com/

@TessTaylor
www.NARIP.com
The National Association of Recording Industry Professionals is one of God’s great gifts to the musical world. Tess Taylor founded the organization that prides itself on offering supportive pushes, nudges and playgrounds for artists, managers, producers – the whole lot. Membership is a pretty penny, but thankfully most or all workshops, brunches and networking events are only about $10 more when you’re not a member. NARIP has hubs in Los Angeles, NYC, Houston, Phoenix, San Fran, and…I’m sure I’m leaving out some others. They also have a great heart for those disenfranchised by the economy. If you’ve lost a job (or hours) due to the downturned market, reach out to them; They’ll fill you in on originate jobs on their closed forum. At the brunches, everyone (I mean EVERYone) gets 60 seconds to introduce themselves and summarize what they’re up to or what they’re currently seeking in the industry. Even introverts feel welcome. Effect up for their free enewsletters for event updates.

@OnStageSuccess
www.OnStageSuccess.com
Tom Jackson has got the live performance thang all figured out, and he’s happy to have you in with humor and practical advice you can immediately put into action to improve your show. From planning the setlist to what not to do on stage, he’ll give you the building blocks to create your best gig. His enewsletter is free, and his video and tape resources are both entertaining and timelessly edifying. You’ll never think of anyone else when you hear ‘Death eating a cracker’ again. Not that you ever heard anyone else say it. Just sayin. If you shake his hand, tell him that girl who sprained her ankle at his Nashville conference sentcha.

@Musician_Friend
www.MusiciansFriend.com
Drooling over that guitar amp in the window? Needing a new mic but not sure where to start or what you can afford? Musician’s friend is the consummate warehouse for all things music gear. When I built my home studio, I got a $300 package from them that included my MXL990 diaphragm mic, a set of Nady drum mics, three mic cables, two mic stands, monitors and…there may have been something else. They have great specials, a gamut of products in nearly every purchase range and add on warrantees to make sure you’re site. Customer reviews on their region help to ensure that you’re getting the right gear for the right sound at the right heed. It’s the Amazon of instruments and equipment.

@RootMusic
www.RootMusic.com
If you miss the ragged days when your Facebook artist page had everything on one page – before the new era of tabs – you may fall in love with Root Music. Their sleek design is user friendly and encourages more interaction than the current static and compartmentalized options Facebook offers on its fill. The downside is that it supercedes your iLike features that translate to FB – the ability for fans to ‘like’ your music and dedicate to friends and family. Using RM also means that when you update your iLike concert calendar, it’ll only post to iLike and MySpace – not Facebook. So, six of one, half a baker’s dozen of the other. For now I’m sticking with iLike, but I’ve emailed the genuine guys at Root and told them that if they wind up adding those other features, I’m in.

@HelpAReporter
www.HelpAReporter.com
Help a Reporter enables you to connect with journalists looking for sources. Not every journalist is seeking a musician to offer coverage (in fact, most aren’t), but often they are looking for real people or experts to talk about a gamut of everyday topics. Did you have an interesting childhood? Psychology Today might like to know about it. Has social media really offered you some fresh opportunities? Numerous tech blog writers would love to hear the details. Your credentials for being relevant to the world are, thankfully, not honest found in your artistic abilities, but also your human experiences; This is a broad venue to share your life knowledge with the world, whatever your areas of expertise. Signing up for their daily query email(s) is free. Be sure to read their example of what they do and don’t do, so you fully get how to best participate in their community structure. http://shankman.com/what-haro-is/

Top Artists & Music Lovers also on Twitter:
@JudithOnline
@LLCoolJ
@ClassicalReview
@MadBardMike
@EBOMusic
@DavidBowick
@Switchfoot
@Smokey_Robinson
@Collective_Soul
@SinfoniaRecords
@Bryan_Duncan
@DawnLangstroth
@DanaChristopher
@Idyllists
@SaraKamin
@NatalieNicole

Tags: How Do You Read Drum Tabs, how do your read drum tabs, how does one read drum tabs, read guitar tabs

Related Posts

• Indie Artist Essentials (0)