Vine Migrates To The Web

Vine, Twitter's answer to Instagram, has released it's latest version complete with some new features that may be of interest to artists, bands and fans. Vine is known for its 6 second videos, which is a lot longer than it seems and can be used in surprisingly creative ways.

Until recently, the network was only available through the Vine mobile app, but the service has now launched a website that allows browsing through a desktop computer. The new website (vine.co) also features enhanced search functions that weren't previously available, allowing the user to browse the entire network for specific videos, all without having to register.

The user can search by not just by video title, but by location, user name or tag. The site has also divided its content into "channels" that are very specific, such as animals, places, people, trending, most popular, and more.

The one thing that you can't do from the site is upload a video, which is still reserved for the mobile app.

Vine can be an interesting tool for an artist or band, enabling brief video snippets of shows, behind-the-scenes, back stage, rehearsals, studio recording, and more. Some find that Instagram has more features, but Vine's proponents say that it's simpler to use.

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Twitter To Try Music Again

Music artists have been one of Twitter's major attractions, commanding 7 of the 10 most followed accounts, so it was a bit of a surprise when its #Music service failed as mightily as it did. The platform wanted to center around music discovery, but no one seemed to care. That was simply not enough of a hook to even get people to try it, let alone switch from one of the major services like Spotify or Pandora.

That said, rumor has it that Twitter hasn't given up on a music and will soon announce a second attempt. This time the company has come to the conclusion that it's better to have an existing music platform as a partner instead of trying to go it alone. It's been reported that the service is in talks with other streaming services, as well as music video service Vevo.

While there's no hint of how Twitter might deliver music even with an audio streaming partner, there's some speculation that it might try to deliver short tweet-sized music videos with a video partner. Of course, one of the unknowns is if anything less than a full song would be a satisfying experience for a listener, but that could be said for 140 characters worth of text as well, and we know how that turned out.

Twitter as it is right now can be a powerful promotional tool for many artists and bands, and a workable partnership to deliver music can make even more attractive to the music community. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement.

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YouTube's Affect On The Music Business

If you don't think that YouTube is important to the music business, then you're not paying attention. In a new survey by Edison Research and Triton Digital, it was found that YouTube was the top source for 12 to 24 year olds to keep up to date with the latest music, even more so than radio (although that's at odds with other recent studies). Streaming service Pandora and word of mouth by family and friends are next in line.

The most surprising data item is the influence that music television channels and point-of-purchase displays in stores had, coming in at 35 and 33% (see the chart).

The rest of the population is much less influenced by YouTube than the 12-24 year olds, but still influenced all the same.

One has to wonder how much these numbers might change when YouTube introduces its streaming music channel sometime in the near future.

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The Secret To A Fast Loading Website

One of the things that everyone hates is waiting, whether it's in a line at the supermarket or Apple store or accessing a website online. If you want to make sure your fans and potential fans have a good experience on your website, it's imperative that it loads quickly. Here's an excerpt from my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book that describes just how to do that.

"Site load time can be critical to the user experience, which is why so much attention is taken to optimize the images on any site. As an image file size gets larger, it becomes slower to load, which is why ideally most images are kept well below 100kB in size. 

Optimization is a trade-off between image quality and a small file size. At some point, the image quality will suffer as the file size is decreased. Finding the ideal point is where the image detail remains sharp but the file size is sufficiently small. Here are some things to consider when optimizing the images for your site.

• Make sure that the resolution of the graphic is set to 72 dpi. 300 dpi is the standard for print (although it can go as low as 150), but that’s overkill on a computer monitor. Newer monitors display at 96dpi, so you can consider using that resolution, but anything higher currently provides no advantage and just makes the file larger.

• Save your graphics in a jpg, png or gif format. Any other format may not display and natively will have a file size that’s too large for a quick download.

• Decrease the number of colors to 32. Most color graphics won’t lose all that much even when decreased from a million colors, yet it can make a big difference in file size.

• Decrease the quality to an acceptable level. Sometimes the difference between a jpeg quality level of three and ten is so small that you can hardly tell, yet it makes a big difference in the file size.

TIP: File sizes are cumulative to a page. Remember that seven 100kB images equals 700kB, which will load much slower than if they all were half that."

To read additional excerpts from Social Media Promotion For Musicians and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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Your Audience Versus Your Fanbase

Modern Music 3.0 marketing strategy talks about building your fanbase, which is essential for ongoing success. But how does a fanbase differ from an audience? They're both groups of people that consume the entertainment you offer, but each has a different mindset.

An audience consumes your music or sees your shows and then moves on with no lingering effect. They don't buy your merch, seek out your music, or add you to a special playlist. Their involvement is temporary. They can be classified as "casual" fans.

Using a television analogy, an audience tunes into a television show, but doesn't engage in social media around the show or seek it out online if they miss an episode. They don't talk about it to their friends, or even think about the next episode. It's passive consumption.

On the other hand, a fanbase is rabid in their following. They're interested in everything about the artist, even down to the smallest trivia. They own merch, try to make every show, watch every video, and follow closely on social media. They're more commonly labeld as "super fans," "uber fans," or as marketer Seth Godin calls them, "your tribe."

A fanbase is essential to success because they are the fans that will always be with you. They are they fans that will support you, buy your product and see your shows. They are the fans that allow you to continue to make music because they demand that you do so.

In Music 3.0, the smart artist caters to the fanbase because it's easier to determine what they want. While you'd like to turn your "audience" into fans, the fanbase are the ones that ultimately pay the bills.

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Record Store Day Another Big Hit

Record Store Day 2014 was again a raging success as sales at independent record stores represented 19.4% of the US music sales volume last week, which many say is the highest share since Soundscan began tracking such things in 1991. Many record stores proclaimed it their best day ever, with some stores actually having a line of several hundred waiting to get into the store!

As a result of RSD, vinyl sales were up a whopping 57% as its resurgence continues, with over 329,000 sales for the week. So what titles were hot? Here's how Billboard ranks sales for the week:

Vinyl Albums
1. Childish Gambino, "Because the Internet" (Glassnote)
2. The Afghan Whigs, "Do To the Beast" (Sub Pop)
3. Notorious B.I.G., "Life After Death" (Bad Boy/Rhino)
4. Bruce Springsteen, "American Beauty" (EP) (Columbia)
5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Live At Monterey" (Experience
Hendrix/Legacy)
6. Grateful Dead, "Hampton Coliseum: Friday May 4, 1979" (Grateful
Dead/Rhino)
7. Tame Impala, "Live Versions" (Modular/Interscope/IGA)
8. Joy Division, "An Ideal For Living" (EP) (Warner UK/Rhino)
9. The Flaming Lips, "7 Skies H3" (Lovely Sorts Of Death/Warner Bros.)
10. The Ramones, "Meltdown With the Ramones EP" (Sire/Rhino)

Vinyl Singles

1. Nirvana, "Pennyroyal Tea" (Sub Pop/Geffen/Interscope)
2. Devo/The Flaming Lips, "Gates of Steel" (Live) (Warner Bros./Rhino)
3. The Cure/Dinosaur Jr., "Just Like Heaven" (Fiction/Elektra/Rhino)
4. David Bowie, "1984" (Parlophone/Rhino)
5. Love/Rush, "7 and 7 Is" (Elektra/Rhino)
6. Frank Zappa, "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" (Zappa/UMe)
7. Poison Idea/Pantera, "The Badge" (East West/Rhino)
8. Paramore, "Ain't It Fun" (Fueled By Ramen/RRP)
9. Fleetwood Mac, "Dragonfly" (Reprise/Warner Bros./Rhino)
10. Garbage With Brody Dalle, "Girls Talk" (Stun Volume)

Record Store Day continues to be a yearly hit, and vinyl sales continue to surge, now at 3.2% of all music sales. The indie brick and mortar record stores should be all cheering loudly, and rightfully so.

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The 7 Most Essential Bio Elements

A biography is an essential part of telling your story to your fans, bloggers and journalists that might want to write about you, and prospective clients.  That said, many artists, bands and musicians often have trouble creating a bio that really works. Here are the 7 most essential elements that every bio should have.

1. Just the facts

• No superlatives unless it’s a quote
• No personal info, only professional
• Stay with information relevant to music only

2. List your music skills

• Not everything, just the ones you use most or are noted for

3. List your significant milestones

• Who you played with
• Work with a significant musician, manager, producer or agent
• Significant credits

4. List your music and videos

• Your most recent releases
• Only the most significant that have received acclaim or great social engagement

5. List your online info (with links if the bio is online)

• Website address
• Facebook fan page
• YouTube channel
• Twitter handle
• Any other social network where you have a significant presence

6. Create two bios

• One long (3 to 5 paragraphs)
• One short (single paragraph - 3 to 4 sentences)

7. Update often!

A Note For Bands:

• Do a separate short bio for each member as well as a band bio
• Keep it on a single page if you think it might be printed

If you'd like to learn more about all of the things that you need to get to the next musical level, check out my free 6 Keys To Musical Prosperity Crash Course.

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Today's Teens And Their Networks

Research company Piper Jaffery just released a new study on teens and concluded that their tastes continue to change, although not as much as you might think. For instance:

Teen now consume music by:
  MP3 Player - 35%
  Pandora - 26%
  Local Radio - 21%
  CDs - 7%
  Streaming Media - 11%

If you listen to the media, you'd think that teens only get their music exclusively via streaming, but MP3 players and even CDs still are more widely used that expected.

When it comes to social media, the top platforms for teens are:
  Instagram - 30%
  Twitter - 27%
  Facebook - 23%
  Tumblr - 5%
  Google+ - 4%
  Pinterest - 2%
  Other - 4%
  Don't Use Social Networks - 5%

What's interesting here is that Instagram is now the top teen network, while a full 5% say they don't use social networks at all! Check out a PDF of the entire survey.

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Prince Comes Back To Warner Bros And Shows The Boundaries of DIY

The rallying cry of many musicians today is “Do It Yourself” or DIY, meaning that it’s now possible to do so much of the grunt work necessary to make it without the help of a record label. For instance, you don’t need a label to act as a bank to supply money for recording any more, since most every musician has a studio at home these days that’s far more powerful than what The Beatles used in their heyday. You don’t need the label to manufacture your product, since it’s now possible to print limited runs of CDs if necessary, and virtual products cost very little to distribute. As far as promotion, social media and YouTube play such a big part in getting the word out, and so much of that can be done directly by the artist.

DIY is indeed a viable option until the point where the artist rises to the level of star, then all DIY bets are off. In order to break on through to the other side of international superstardom, the marketing infrastructure provided by a major record label is almost a necessity. A DIY artist can opt to try to reinvent the wheel, or go to a label with experience and expertise to make things happen on a larger scale. 

This is exactly where superstar Prince finds himself, as his recently announced new deal once again returns him to the Warner Music fold, a surprising move that many industry observers thought could never happen. Warners was the label that originally launched Prince into stardom, but the falling out between the parties became so vile that Prince labeled himself a “slave,” then changed his name to that unpronounceable insignia as to create a new trademark that would not promote his previous Warner releases. Read more on Forbes.

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Social Media Can't Defeat The Law Of 250

It's been speculated that because of social media, we'll all have far more friends than ever before. This was expected especially of the Millennial generation, who have been far more connected in their lifetimes than all previous generations combined.

But a new Pew study has found that even for Millennials, the median friend count on Facebook is still 250, just like it's been for other generations.

250 has always been a magic number. People would like to invite 250 or so to a wedding, and an average of 250 show up to a funeral. In sales, 250 is seen as the number needed for a sales or business career. Joe Girard, who's been billed as the world's greatest salesmen, has long contented that 250 prospects or referrals are required for sales success. The number has cropped up time and again, but it was thought that social media would transcend it.

But it looks like despite all of our hyper-connectivity, we just can't get away from that 250 friend count. Sure, many of us are way beyond that number on various social platforms, but how many can we really count as true friends? My bet is that you're lucky if you get to 250.

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Are People Actually Using Twitter?

It's one thing to be on a social network, it's another to actually use it. That seems to be the case with Twitter, which seems to get a lot of people signing up, but only a small percentage remain as active users.

This is illustrated in an infographic put together by Statista using the data published by Twitter analytics firm Twopcharts. As you can see, of the 284 million accouts created in 2013, only 37 million were actively tweeting in February 2014.

There are almost a billion current Twitter accounts, but only a small number are active. There have been almost 2.5 billion Twitter accounts total over the history of the platform.

What does this mean to you for promotion? Some people get Twitter and some don't. If it feels comfortable for you and you find a lot of your fans are using it, it's definitely worth adding to your social arsenal. If it doesn't seem to fit, there are other platforms that you'll find can be more useful to your social promotion.

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A Strategy For Sending Out Gig Reminders

Artists, bands, record labels and anyone doing a show needs to make their fan base very aware when they're doing a gig. You can't rely on just a single email to get the word out, it takes a more comprehensive strategy. Here's an excerpt from my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book that outlines such a strategy that has proven very effective in getting people to your show.

"Gig reminder emails fall into a different category in that they can be a lot shorter and a lot more frequent. While the email sequence below may seem like a lot of emails, remember that for true fans, you’re doing them a favor by keeping them informed, and you’re marketing yourself for other things at the same time. A potential reminder strategy is:

• The day a show is announced or tickets go on sale. As soon as you know that you’re playing at a venue, send out an email. This could be to the entire list if it’s announcing a tour, if it’s the monthly schedule for a cover band, or if you believe that people will travel to see the show.

• A week before the show. Send out a reminder but concentrate more on the band, regarding a new part of the show, new songs, a music video, or something that you want to the fan to see.

• 3 days before the show. Send out a reminder and include more information about the club and who else is playing.

• 1 day before the show. Once again, remind the fan about a a different feature of the show or the music that’s unique and won’t be seen or heard any other way than attending. You can change the headline to “You don’t want to miss this,” or “See our new show tomorrow night.”

• The day of the show. Send out a short reminder in the late morning to just the portion of your list in the general area of the club. Use a headline like, “Can you make it tonite?”, or “Last chance to buy tickets!”

• The day after the show. Send an email with backstage pictures, pictures of meet and greets with fans or just fans in the audience, as well as links to videos. This is a nice shout-out to those that were there, and a prod for those that weren’t not to miss you next time you’re in town.

Of course, if you’re lucking enough to have sold out your show, you won’t need to send as many reminders. That said, you might send one headlined “Sold Out!” that either announces another gig or another way for the fan to hear your music or buy your merch. A contest for two last minute tickets (put them on your guest list) also works well.

TIP: In every reminder be sure to include all the pertinent gig information, including the name of the venue, the full address, the phone number, the time you’re going on, and other acts on the bill. Consider including a map or a link to one as well.

Artists and bands are sometimes timid about sending out so many gig announcements, but fans that ordinarily would attend really do forget. Remember, you’re doing them a favor by reminding them.

TIP: When sending out multiple emails in a short space of time, be sure to continually change the headline and the email contents." 

You can read additional excerpts from Social Media Promotion For Musicians and my other books on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.