A Blog For Millennial Students

Digital music providers are selling music the way fans want to buy it, and you can make profit compared to the traditional route if you tap into the new business model.

That’s power.

So…When you create your Youtube Channel, build it so you can monitize it. If you’re taking the time to create new content, why not set a goal for making money too?

Learn more from Youtube. Read this.

And, as you build your fan base, sell directly to your fans. Link your social media accounts to your partner accounts with these companies so fans can follow the music you make and buy it at the same time.

Use a blog like October’s Very Own does, and, in the process, build a better relationship with the people you want to buy your music.

Visit Online Music Provider Partner Pages l Myspace l Youtube 1 / Youtube 2  l iTunes l Google Music l

© 2012 W. S. Hughes l Image from here.

Creating your brand will shape your image as a musician. You have to look within yourself to find a meaning for what your marketing – yourself. You can use branding yourself to find ways of making yourself relevant to the people you want to love you, and to reveal what makes you unique amongst everyone else. And then you have to communicate that meaning to others. It becomes your trade mark. 

It’s more than just creating a name for yourself, the name you want people to call you, or having a short brainstorming session on how you’ll create an online Youtube campaign showcasing your talent.

You’re an artist and want to create art.

Right?

In making your brand you are making an extension of your art that will represent you visually and in print.

Think about what’s truly unique about you, identify positive things. Write out your weaknesses as well so that you have an idea what to play down about yourself.

Start by writing because the written word is powerful.

Writing helps with conceptualizing things, and it provides a framework for making things tangible. Write what you’re envisioning for yourself.

And as you write doodle designs of your stage name, and designs for your stage style. Explore every thought, idea and emotion that’s guiding you to create these designs and visualize your style. In addition, write about why you’re pursuing fame. Reflect on this, and continue searching within and writing out why you want fame. Who you want to be famous for. What you’ll do with fame, and how you’ll use your fame. Make it into a typed document so you’ll have something, a plan, to look back on. Once you feel like you’ve gotten it all out, next, write up the article you want to read about yourself published in RollingStone, the Source, or your favorite industry magazine.

In the article write about how you came up, who your greatest inspiration was, the name of your album, how many times you’ve gone platinum, where you got the idea for your most popular song, who you’ve collaborated with and who you want to work with in the future.

Feel the success.

Add your picture and frame it. You probably got that tattoo of a star already, right, on your hand or your neck? That’s the trend, so make sure you frame what you just wrote into a star as well. Every time you’ll look at your article you’ll know what you are.

Think about how you want the media to perceive you, and how to protect the image of yourself that you want the world to believe about you. Don’t forget to write that out too.

Determine how you’ll keep your power in order to stay the artist you want to be. How to keep from getting misrepresented by your promoter, your manager, your label.

You have to do this so that, whatever art you release visually or as audio, it represents the best of you, it has integrity, and it will earn you respect among other artists, the public, and amongst your fans.

When you create something distinct and unique, and you record it for the world to experience, it’ll be real easy to know whose taken your ideas without giving you credit – to you, and everyone else.

And by creating your brand you will have formed an image of yourself that you’ll promote on your mixed tapes, the music you release online for free download, the music you sell through iTunes, and Google music, the channel you create on Youtube, and the blog and website you’ll launch for exposure as you work to build your fan base.

As you write out your brand and visually design it, begin to and continue to read as much as you can about the music industry and famous musicians. You’ll learn about what worked best, and what flopped. And get ideas on when to take risks. Read everything you can get your hands on to learn about industry history, contemporary news and stories, current trends in music, fashion and style. Look back at the past and into the future. 

© 2012 W. S. Hughes l Image from here and here.

Musicians are entrepreneurs, possibly the best example of the dictionary definition, “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise”.  In the days of Michael Jackson yes, today even more so. What’s a bigger risk than creating music on your laptop then singing and performing before strangers on Youtube with the hope that you’ll be catapulted into fame and fortune?

To take the risk is to take on the persona, the image, of being confident, talented, attractive and secure in your ability to be a performer. Being selected in a talent search is one way to be noticed, quite possible it’s the outdated way.

Right now, if you want fame and fortune, you don’t have to wait for someone to tell you you’re talented and that they’ll market you.

Simon Cowell gets it wrong.

Fantasia flopped and Jennifer Hudson is the real star of American Idol season 2.

You too can use your desire to fuel your ambition, drive you to market yourself, and make it big.

It’s been done.

Ke$ha and Drake are perfect examples. Soulja Boy too.

For some artists who are on the come-up, the underground music scene is the way to gain notoriety. It’s a way for these artists to resonate with the people they want to love their music.

Today, being self made is respected, and being discovered then marketed by big labels can come across as being fabricated.

That’s what has the music industry scared.

Creating mixed tapes, releasing your music for free online for download, selling your own music directly through iTunes, and Google music, creating your own music channel on Youtube and launching your own blog and website can give you all the exposure you need and help you build a fan base.

You can market yourself. You don’t need someone with a marketing plan.

But before you start creating a buzz, you have to know who you want to be, what you wont compromise about yourself, and you have to figure out what you’re willing to give up to become a star.

© 2012 W. S. Hughes l Image from here.