How To Pin Or Highlight A Post On FaceBook

At some point it's worthwhile to transition from a personal Facebook page to a fan page. Here's an excerpt from my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book that outlines a couple of the cool things that you can do with your posts on a fan page - pinning and highlighting.

"Perhaps the two biggest reasons why a personal page is no substitute for a fan page is the fact that a personal page can have a maximum of 5000 friends, plus you can’t access any of the analytics (called Facebook Insights) available. 

Your Facebook Fan Page

The fan page differs from a personal page in that you can have an unlimited number of Likes and access to Facebook analytics, but it also has a number of additional advantages beyond that. These are the things other than the privacy aspect that make a fan page attractive.

• Pinning posts on the Timeline. If there’s a particular post that you’d like to appear at the top of your timeline, the administrator (hopefully you) can pin it there (see Figure 6.1). This will keep the post at the top of the page for seven days, after which it will return to the date when it was posted. This ensures that everyone will see that particular post for a week, at which time it’s probably old news anyway. To pin a post, click on the edit button on the top right of a post.

Figure 6.1: Pinning a post to the Timeline

• Highlighting a post. This is a variation on pinning, the difference being that instead of appearing at the top of the page, highlighting makes it stretch out the width of the page so it’s more noticeable (see Figure 6.2). It still stays in the same place, but it visually sticks out of the page. To highlight a post, click on the edit icon at the top right of the post and select highlight next to the star.

Figure 6.2: Highlighting a post

• A unique experience. The beauty of a fan page is that each fan gets a different experience. If someone visits your fan page, they also see what their friends are posting about you, even though it’s not posted directly on your fan page."

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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The Biggest Spotify Artists Of 2014

#1 on Spotify

Spotify just released it's 2014 most-streamed figures and a lot of familiar faces show up once again. That said, one surprise is the rise in popularity of Ed Sheeran, who comes out on top as the most streamed artist in general, the most streamed male artist, and had the most streamed album. Here's the top 5 for a number of Spotify categories.

Top 5 Most Streamed Artists
1. Ed Sheeran
2. Eminem
3. Coldplay
4. Calvin Harris
5. Katy Perry

Top 5 Most Streamed Males
1. Ed Sheeran
2. Eminem
3. Calvin Harris
4. Avicii
5. David Guetta

Top 5 Most Streamed Females
1. Katy Perry
2. Ariana Grande
3. Lana Del Rey
4. Beyonce
5. Lorde

Top 5 Most Streamed Groups
1. Coldplay
2. Imagine Dragons
3. Maroon 5
4. OneRepublic
5. One Direction

Top 5 Most Streamed Tracks
1. "Happy" - Pharrell Williams
2. "Rather Be" - Clean Bandit
3. "Summer" - Calvin Harris
4. "Dark Horse" -  Katy Perry
5. "All Of Me" - John Legend

Top 5 Most Streamed Albums
1. X - Ed Sheeran
2. In The Lonely Hour - Sam Smith
3. The New Classic - Iggy Azalea
4. GIRL - Pharrell Williams
5. My Everything - Ariana Grande

Spotify is an on-demand service so anyone getting into the Top 5 of any category has a measure of popularity that can't be denied. That Ed Sheeran's brand of acoustic music could be so popular shows that just about any type of artist or genre of music can make it in Music 4.0.

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It's Easy To Lose Money On Tour

Pomplamoose

Every heard of the band Pomplamoose? This duo gained some measure of fame a few years ago by doing ingenious videos of cover songs that made them YouTube stars. The pair eventually landed a number of high profile television commercials as a result, but the band's regular income still comes from videos, where a makes around $6,000 for each one produced.

Pomplamoose recently decided to embark on a 23 city tour to capitalize on its online fame, and leader Jack Conte wrote about it on his blog, covering all of the band's expenses and income. Here's what he wrote:

Expenses
$26,450 for production expenses including gear rental, lights, van and trailer rental, road cases and backline.

$17,589 for hotel and food expenses for the 28 days on tour plus a week of rehearsals.

$11,816 for gas, airfare, parking and tolls

$5,445 for insurance

$48,094 for salaries and per diems

$21,945 for manufacturing merchandise, publicity (radio, venue and Facebook ads)

$16,463 agent commission
TOTAL $147,802

Income
$97,519 in ticket sales
$29,714 in merch sales
$8,750 sponsorship by Lenovo
TOTAL $135,983

That means that the band lost $11,819 on the tour.

If you look at the expenses, it seems like the band thinks it's better known that it is (I bet you can't name one Pomplamoose song) and spent like they were a couple of levels up from where they actually are. For instance, considering that the band was playing mostly 400 to 600 seat venues, bring their own lights was unneeded, and buying new backline and road cases for the tour probably should have been filed under personal musician expenses.

Then the fact that the band stayed in hotels when most bands at this level are still couch surfing, the fact that they seemed to have paid their sidemen and crew above market level, and the fact that the band paid for radio and venue ads (isn't that what a promoter's supposed to do?), and you have a net loss when the tour could have made money.

Don't fret for Pomplamoose though, as this can be seen as more of a promotional tool for them than anything. Jack Conte is the founder of the successful Patreon crowdfunding site, so it seems that ultimately the band can absorb the loss without the bill collector pounding on the door.

It does goes to show that it's just as easy to lose money on the road as it is to make it, so watch those expenses.

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Music Tastes Of Americans

Nielsen's Music 360 report is always a good read, and the 2014 version has some great info on the music listening habits, preferences and tastes of Americans. It's a great way to spot the latest trends and get some meaningful insight in how we consume music. Here are some of things we learned.

• Americans really do like music, as 93% listens to it, spending more than 25 hours a week doing so.
• 75% of Americans would rather listen to music than watch television.

Where do we listen to music most?
   - In the car - 23%
   - While working - 16%
   - While doing chores at home - 15%
   - While doing other activities - 13%
   - While exercising - 12%

• Radio is the top music delivery system, with 59% consuming their music that way.
• 48% consume most of their music from their own libraries
• 41% from on-demand streaming services like Spotify and YouTube
• 36% from radio-like streaming like Pandora or iTunes Radio
• A surprising and important stat is that 18% have purchased a song while streaming it.

The phone is really important when it comes to music delivery, although it only comes in their behind radios and computers when it comes to listening devices. That said, 39% of smartphone owners purchased music on their devices, which was up from 34% a year ago.

Americans appetite for music is not diminishing as many fear, but although streaming and smartphones are coming on strong, it's still good old fashioned radio that we still love the most.

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Bobby O Cyber Monday Specials

It's time for some Cyber Monday Specials that can help the career of any musician, songwriter, artist or band.

Using social media is not the same thing as using it as a promotional too and Social Media Promotion for Musicians shows you how and why. This is a great manual for optimizing your personal or band's brand, your website, email list, and YouTube channels and videos, as well as all other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit.

Special 30% Off The Retail Price (you must register on the Createspace ebook store). Use code 4T9VLP26

Amazon Special Deal - Print Edition Deal or Kindle Edition Deal (only $9.97!)

The latest edition of Music 4.0 Internet Music Guidebook takes us into the world of streaming, as it lays out just how artists and songwriters get paid in this new evolution of the music business, as well as covering the new movers and shakers in the business, as well as the latest in the battle between DIY and traditional record labels.

Amazon Special Deal - Print Edition Deal or Kindle Edition Deal

Bobby Owsinski Courses on Lynda.com. The Black Friday deal continues with a free 10 days of unlimited access to check out all the video courses (there's over 3,000 of them) on the platform.

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Black Friday Special

Get 10 Days Of Unlimited Free Access

To My Courses On Lynda.com

It's Black Friday but I'm not selling anything. Instead I want to give you a Holiday gift by giving you 10 days to enjoy my video courses on lynda.com for free.

If you're not hip to Lynda.com, then you really should be. It has over 3,000 video courses that cover essential training for software like Final Cut, Photoshop, Pro Tools and more, as well as how-to courses in audio (like the ones I authored), marketing and business.

Here are my lynda.com social media courses to check out.

Social Media Basics for Musicians and Bands

Facebook for Musicians and Bands

Twitter for Musicians and Bands

YouTube for Musicians and Bands 

Website Management for Musicians and Bands

Mailing List Management for Musicians and Bands

Blogging Strategies for Musicians and Bands

Google+  for Musicians and Bands

Bookmarking Sites for Musicians and Bands

Pinterest for Musicians and Bands

Selling Music Merchandise

Selling Your Music: CDs, Streams and Downloads

Remember, you can also use the 10 free days to check out all the other lynda.com courses too. Enjoy!

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Sony's Direct Deal With SiriusXM Could Be Bad For Musicians

Right now a lot of publishers are leaning towards doing direct deals with digital distributors rather than letting ASCAP or BMI (the performance rights organizations or PROs) take care of it as they traditionally have. The idea is that the data is easier than ever to collect since it's all digital, and the PROs can take a long time to pay and then take a piece of the revenue as well.

This might take a while to play out on the publishing side, but on the label side, Sony-owned distributor The Orchard is making a play to cut the middle man out of the picture by making a direct deal with SiriusXM. In what could be the first of many deals, this removes the collection agency Soundexchange from the revenue picture.

Remember that when it comes to digital airplay, there are actually 3 parties that get paid - the songwriter, the label, and the artist (the latter two don't get payed for traditional terrestrial broadcasts). Soundexchange is the designated PRO for collecting this revenue, but The Orchard will now bypass them.

On the surface this sounds great for artists in the it appears there will be 4.5% more money in their pockets (that's the fee that Soundexchange charges), but don't forget that this is a company owned by a record label and labels are especially good at finding ways to not pay the artist all the royalties they've earned. Also, this is just another way of recouping advances so the artists won't see any money at all in end.

Soundexchange has done a great job in collecting and distributing royalties in the past, and based on its track record to this point, seems to be much preferred to a label when it comes to paying artists. Only time will tell how this will work out. If you're not signed up with Soundexchange, you should do so now if your songs are being played online.


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Why Is Pop Music So Repetitive?

Many people are besides themselves about the current state of music today, claiming that it's far too stale and repetitive. While the pop charts have always had their share of the bland and formulaic, many think that today's music goes far beyond what used to be the norm.

And that actually appears to be true, according to a 2012 study by the Spanish Research Council. The study found that pop music is louder and less varied since any time since 1950.

Once upon a time you could blame this on the labels and their tastes, but now these same labels rely more on numbers to determine what they'll sign and release. That is, they look at Shazam searches, music streams and listening tendencies online, then use this behavioral data to predict who will be the next big thing.

In other words, fans shape the hits by essentially demanding the same songs over and over.

The study found that the reason why we like to listen to the "same" song over and over again is that the brain finds it easier to process. The less effort it takes to think about a song, the more we tend to like it.

What's more, broadcasters now play fewer songs and keep a hit in rotation longer than ever before. Now that program directors have more accurate electronic data to rely on, they've found that listeners are less interested in novelty or variety than they say they are. When something new comes on the radio, they're more than likely to turn it off.

So if you want to blame someone of the state of music today, blame the listeners and not the labels or artists. They're just giving you what you want.

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6 Reasons Why Music Entrepreneurs Fail

Recently Digital Music News posted a great list of 14 reasons why music entrepreneurs fail. You should read that article, but here's my take on some of the article's points. Music entrepreneurs fail because:

1. They think people will pay for something they can get for free. When it comes to music, people pay for convenience in relation to what they listen to. Vinyl was more convenient than shellac because it didn't break as easily. Cassettes were better than vinyl because they were portable. CD's were better than cassettes because they were random access. MP3s were better than CDs because they were even more portable and you didn't have to pay for songs you didn't want. Streaming is more convenient than MP3s because you don't fill up your hard drive and don't have to pay for it. In other words, it's pretty easy to listen to whatever song you want for free now, why should you pay anything if there's not a compelling reason? Saying that, "An artist should get paid for their work," falls on the deaf ears of the public.

2. They overestimate people's love for artists. People that love music don't necessarily love the artists that make it, unless you're talking about teenage girls. Most people don't care if the artist can pay rent or not.

3. They still think piracy's a problem. When was the last time you read anything about piracy in the news? Streaming killed it dead. There's no need to steal something that you can get for free.

4. They underestimate the importance of music licensing. Getting music licenses is a difficult and costly process and it's not getting any easier as record labels become more digital savvy.

5. They think musicians, artists or music consumers want to do something that they really don't care about. The latest fad is online collaboration. Ask any musician which he'd rather do - play in the same room with real live musicians, or play with them over the Internet. One is considerably more fun than the other.

6. They think their social platform will revolutionize music. Social media is important for today's artist, and Facebook and Twitter are making it increasingly difficult to use those platforms as promotional tools, but a new startup with shallow pockets and few users provides little when it comes to helping artists reach their audience or build a new one. Besides there's so much more that an artist needs to be successful beyond social (branding for one, the good old fashioned basics of your website and mailing list for another). Providing just some of the tools isn't enough.

For more on that last point, go to Social Media Promotion for Musicians, a guidebook for using all your online resources to increase your audience.

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Billboard 200 Album Chart To Incorporate Streams

You have to hand it to Billboard - the company recognizes that it has to change with the times and does so on a regular basis. The latest update will come on Dec. 3 when the Billboard 200 album chart will incorporate on-demand streaming and digital track sales as well as the Nielsen Soundscan point-of-sale data that the chart has been based around since 1991.

The Billboard 200 chart will now consider all major streaming services, including Spotify, Beats Music, Google Play and Xbox Music.

In determining the chart, the company will equate 10 downloads to equal 1 album sale, and 1,500 song streams to also equal 1 album sale.

Billboard will continue to publish a traditional equivalent to the former Top 200 chart called Top Album Sales that will rely on traditional Nielsen data to determine rankings.

It's been estimated that there have been more than 100 billion (yes with a "B") streams that have been listened to this year so far. It's great that those streams can now be figured into actual chart rankings.

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Apple Beats/iPhone Bundle Tries To Counter Music Key

The Financial Times is reporting that Apple plans to bundle its newly acquired Beats Music service into an upcoming version of iOS, making it instantly available to hundreds of millions of users. This news should come as no great surprise, since the company originally bought Beats with the intention of doing exactly that. What is interesting is the timing of the leak, however.

As I wrote in my last post, a beta version of YouTube’s new Music Key service has just been introduced, and that provides a far greater threat to Apple’s position in the music business than other services like Spotify and Pandora ever will. Considering that YouTube is the number one online source of music consumption, and that Music Key provides audio and video (with no adverts either) as well as the full Google Play library, Apple’s iTunes service faces a clear and present danger of being majorly usurped as far as market share goes.

For Apple, the real threat is that Music Key will hit the market in full stride before it can roll out the next Beats-baked iOS. Guess what? If too many people get a taste of Google’s offering, they’re not coming back to iTunes any time soon.

Apple suddenly finds itself in a dilly of a pickle in that even though it has those reported 800 million credit cards on file and a built in audience in iPhone and iPad users, the music side of the iTunes is shedding sales faster than even CDs. Read more on Forbes.

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The Pandora Effect On Music Sales

A study by Pandora earlier this year has found that the more a song is streamed on the service, the more actual sales it will generate. If that's the case, it turns out that Pandora is a radio-like service in more ways than one, as radio plays have always lead to sales as well.

The study, which was outlined in a Billboard article, found that the average positive effect resulted in a 2.31% increase in music sales for new music, and 2.66% for catalog in something they called "track equivalent albums," which is a metric that counts 10 tracks as an album.

This ratio really changed between music released by major and indie labels. New music from the major labels played on Pandora resulted in a 2.82% positive effect, but only 0.62% for indies, who fared much better on catalog at 3.85% compared to the major's 2.36%.

The study also looked at how the number of streams affected sales as well. It found that if the streams were at least 25 times the sales, the positive effect was around 5%. When the streams to sales ratio was 150, the positive effect grew to 15% (I'd like to see the methodology for this, as the results seem dubious).

As a result of all this info, the researchers could put a value on each Pandora stream that was higher than the actual royalty paid. For instance, new music was valued at 0.265 cents while the actual royalty paid was 0.13%. Catalog music didn't fare nearly as well though, being valued at only 0.135 cents for only a 4 percent increase.

While the numbers look impressive, it's important to remember that the study was sponsored by Pandora in the first place, and these numbers will be used in the various upcoming lawsuits and hearings that the service is involved in. That said, there have been previous independent studies in the past that have found similar results, like this one from the NYPD Group.

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