Grimm Factor Music: GFM Money Kit For Musicians In The New Music Industry

Being a musician, band, artist, or composer in the new music industry can be tough considering that your act may or may not have capital backing to dump into your marketing and promotion efforts. The beauty of the new music industry is that, at its core, a huge part of it is online based and like many major and small business, the internet is a life saver for a fledgling business. Take this into account when thinking that the internet holds no weight in commerce for business. Now here's where a split can happen between music acts these days. Some want fans, fame, and fortune. Some just want to make a living without being in the spotlight. As a musician, artist, band, or composer you have to choose. You may not choose your ultimate path at first, but within time you should...and probably will.

Here's where I plan to help. This blog is usually chock full of info about the new music industry, music publishing, and different ways to make money with your music. However, there may be some of you who are just starting but don't know where to begin or which avenues you should consider implementing into your plans. There are tons of ways to go about it. I will attempt to combine a few of the suggestions I've made in the post HOW YOU CAN MAKE MONEY WITH YOUR MUSIC with some suggestions to grow your fan base, create an income stream, and keep the income coming in.

The Basic Setup

This is an absolute basic setup for you, your band, or brand. Even at this level, there is still great money to be made with time and effort. Get someone in the band, or someone who is willing to work for you, to manage your online presence. You'd want to have an online shopping cart/digital distribution because with today's technology, you can make a great song, get an awesome recording/mix and put it up for sale within 24-72hrs using a service like TuneCore. It gives you a product to sell. Or if you have an album project you can promote a few singles for like 2 months a piece. 3 songs to promote commercially for 6 months is not a bad start. Just make sure you have a enough free material as well.

Blog - Blogging is essential. Choose Blogger, Wordpress, Hubpages or any blog that lets you generate ad revenue as a publisher. Though a website is very important, if you're just starting or haven't gained much momentum, you can promote your music with a free blog. Its almost like having your own site. You can change the look with a free template, use each service's built in designers, or create your own if you're decent with html. Do your best to update the blog often and find ways to create a post. Your blog shouldn't just talk about what you're doing, it should also offer some useful information and be a bit personal too. Build a list of keywords you think people will use to search for you or a sound you may compare to and create posts around those keywords but be a competent writer and make sure the post isn't overflowing with the same keywords.
Paypal, Bank Account - Paypal is a free and great option for sending/receiving money. You can upgrade your account to the business account for free. Paypal can be linked to different services as a method of payment. A bank account can work too as direct deposit is an option. If you don't have a regular bank account, open a prepaid debit account with something like a Greendot or Rush Card as they usually have checking accounts with the card.
Google Adsense, Amazon Affiliate - Two free options to generate income from your blog and websites. As a blogger, you can make money joining Adsense and/or Amazon and placing ads on your blog. With Adsense, you get paid when visitors to your blog click on an ad. The amount varies. Amazon will pay you commission for sales of products through your ads.
Social Networking - If you're new to social networks, just choose one of the big 5: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Myspace (yes, Myspace). I suggest Twitter to start with. As you acquire more content from your exploits you have more ways to promote with a blog post and a link to that post on twitter. Use the search option to find people by keywords that describe your band or sound. Read my 34 Essential Tips for Growing Your Twitter Community to learn how to build a quality community around your band's brand using twitter. Experiment with what works for you.
Content Platform - Although blogs and social networks are content platforms, they're mainly used for sharing what people find or do online. Join a few other services that are content specific like Youtube, Vimeo, or uStream for video. Use instagram or flicker for pictures, and use Soundcloud, Spreaker, or apps like Blipme for music and audio. This ensures that you can create and share content among the masses online while building your community and fans.
Copyrights - Doesn't matter if you are selling your music or not, you have every reason to copyright the music you create. The copyright fee is small when you copyright works in volumes. However, if you have one great song already finished and can't wait to get more together and want to sell something right away, I'd suggest getting the copyright process started. Online is the fastest way to copyright, it takes 6months for the process to be completed. As long as you get the process started you can get your registration # later. Learn how to copyright your material properly. Read this post if you want to learn more about why copyrights are important.
Shopping Cart/Digital Distribution - For the DIY acts, there different ways to put your music up for sale. Using aggregators like TuneCore and CDBaby are two options. Or if you'd rather reap more from your product, you can make the song available from your own shopping cart. Services like Payloadz and eJunkie give you options for selling your own digital goods with your own shopping cart. You can set your own price for your products. Payloadz offers its sellers the ability to create an affiliate program so that fans and supporters or other merchants can make a commission off the sale of your product from their referrals.

The Advanced Setup

I'd recommend this setup for acts with a library of 20+ original songs. It's more advanced in that you have multiple Social Networks to maintain, you blog more frequently AND you have an account with a Performing Rights Organization. At this point, your act should be adamant and serious about the future of your music. Joining a PRO and cataloging your music puts you in a position to collect royalties from any current or future commercial or public performance endeavors. Royalties = Money and with your copyrights you have the ability to enforce the collection of your royalties. Your content platform can include digital aggregators like TuneCore or CDBaby for the distribution of your music. If you've been building your fan base and creating a buzz around your releases the old fashioned way, then you should have very little problem converting the incoming traffic into sales/income. IF you are at this level, THEN you should definitely have all aspects of this setup in place. Including your website.

Blog - At this level, if you have a band, then everyone in the band needs to be involved with creating content for your blog. Also, you should look up blog directories to not only submit your blog to, but to find other music bloggers as well. From there you can contact the blog owners to do a review of your music, ask to be a guest writer for their blog, or get them to write a guest post on your blog. You can even follow other blogs as well. This can give you ideas for your own posts if you see comments and questions from readers that you can create a post from. Actively engaging in the blogosphere can only help your band. Make sure your blog has links to everywhere you are online to make it easier for readers to find you in other places on the web. Your blog should be the gateway to the rest of your online footprint.
Website - Advanced wouldn't be advanced if I didn't include having your own website. So if you have a blog (which has many website features), why have a website? Simply put, a website is your home on the internet. The domain name and URL is unique to you and your brand/music. Your website is fully customizable and allows tons more freedom than a blog. Your domain name usually comes with its very own email which you can customize the addresses. Grimm@Grimmfactormusic.co.cc is an example. Your website should be the gateway to your presence everywhere online. It should offer visitors a clear option for purchasing your music and merchandise. It should have its own pages for photos, videos, and downloads. Your website should have an about section, contact section, press/news section, and a form to capture email addresses to build up an email list. 10 pages is a decent size for a website. Take your time setting the site up. Don't rush it and definitely do not give out your website's URL until the site is finished! Make it easy for your site to be viewed on mobile devices with an auto scale code or create your own mobile site. There are many free options for creating mobile sites, but if you want a professionally designed mobile site there are many designers and companies you can pay for that. Set a date and create an event out of the launch of your website and invite everyone in your network.
Multiple Social Networks - Having one social network with this setup won't be enough. Your band should be expanding across the social sphere. If you're on facebook, make sure you have a facebook fan page for your band and give another member admin access to help maintain it. Google+ should be a part of your social presence and you can create a business page there as well. You can also stream live jam sessions with Google+'s Hangout feature. Join location based networks like FourSquare and/or Yelp. Look for smartphone only social networks like Blipme, Voxer, and TinyPost. Also, try to find some free analytics tools to measure your social growth. Klout, Hootsuite, SocialBro, Grader.com, and Simply Measured are some examples.
Forums, Groups, Bulletin Boards - There are hundreds of thousands of Forums, Groups, and Bulletin Boards you can join to represent your band. These are great ways to drive traffic to your blogs, profiles, and websites. Use directories to find Forums and Bulletin Boards. Most of the major social networks have Groups you can join. It's all about building your band's community while driving traffic to your sites.
Paypal, Bank Account - As with the basic setup, Paypal/Bank Accounts are a must for places to deposit the income you generate quickly and easily. Take advantage of some of the business tools PayPal offers with an upgrade to a business account. One of those tools being a DONATE button. Place a DONATE button in a very visible spot on your website or blog.
Google Adsense, Amazon, Affiliate Networks - Free options to generate income from your blog and websites. As a blogger, you can make money joining Adsense, Amazon and Affiliate Networks by placing ads on your blog. With Adsense, you get paid when visitors to your blog click on an ad. The amount varies. Amazon will pay you commission for sales of products through your ads. Affiliate Networks include Linkshare, Commission Junction, and Share-A-Sale. There are tons more affiliate/PPC services online. Choose the ones that best fit your music.
Content Platform - Although blogs and social networks are content platforms, they're mainly used for sharing what people find or do online. Join a few other services that are content specific like Youtube, Vimeo, or uStream for video. Use instagram or flicker for pictures, and use Soundcloud, Spreaker, or apps like Blipme for music and audio. This ensures that you can create and share content among the masses online while building your community and fans. At this level, you should be posting content on these platforms as often as you post to your blog or other social networks.
Copyrights, PRO - I put these two parts together because they work hand in hand. Copyrights are needed to protect your intellectual property rights and ensures you get paid royalties based on standard rates set forth by the government for the uses of your music in commercial situations. A Performance Rights Organization like ASCAP, SESAC, BMI, and SoundExchange work to collect and distribute those royalties to musicians. With the exception of SoundExchange (which tracks digital and online streams), you can only join one PRO as either a writer, publisher, or both. Read this post about publishing and copyrights to learn more about how PROs work for you.
Shopping Cart/Digital Distribution - For the DIY acts, there different ways to put your music up for sale. Using aggregators like TuneCore and CDBaby are two options. Or if you'd rather reap more from your product, you can make the song available from your own shopping cart. Services like Payloadz and eJunkie give you options for selling your own digital goods with your own shopping cart. You can set your own price for your products. Payloadz offers its sellers the ability to create an affiliate program so that fans and supporters or other merchants can make a commission off the sale of your product from their referrals. To take it a step further with this advanced setup, place links to other artists' music for sale. iTunes has a widget builder that allows you to create a playlist of songs for sale, so if you know a few artists with music on iTunes you can put their songs with yours in a playlist then add the widget to your website or blog. Helping other bands to be successful will only bring you success.

The Expert Setup

If you're looking at the Expert Setup then, by now, you should already have a decent online presence. Consider the Expert Setup as a checklist for your online music business ventures with some suggestions to consider that you may or may not have considered yet. At this level, your music should be penetrating various national and international outlets, or you should be at the point where creating campaigns for your music is more about executing than planning. Note: There is an extreme amount of marketing and promotion elements in place here and I would hope that, at this point, your band or brand is able to handle the sheer responsibility of full blown marketing online. Its a process that never stops, and is hardly light. More time consuming than difficult, the length of time needed to attend to this type of marketing is not for the lazy or unmotivated. You should really think about setting up a team of professionals to oversee your internet marketing exploits if your or your band can't handle it all on your own.

Blog - If you don't have a blog by the time you reach this setup YOU SHOULD CREATE ONE ASAP!! Like yesterday! Granted, I believe there are acts that don't have a dedicated blog, and are still making a huge buzz, but why not give your music an edge over the competition? Start that blog, and use some of the tips discussed in the previous setups. If you do have a blog, great! Let's step it up a notch and do more sharing of your blog posts by using social sharing services like AddThis or ShareThis. Both services are virtually identical and can be implemented on your blog by cutting and pasting the code in each post OR using the built in tools to add the service to any of the major blog services (if you have joined them). Be sure to add your blog's URL to your Band's profile bio across the social sphere. Ask open ended questions at the end of your posts to compel readers to comment. ALWAYS REPLY TO YOUR COMMENTS!! It lets the readers know that you're paying attention to the feedback they're giving you. If a reader asks a question that can't be answered in a few short sentences, use that question as inspiration for a new post. It's that simple! If you have a website, you can install a blog on it using CMS options through your server (if applicable). However, I've found that keeping your blog separate from your site adds to a visitor's view of your independence.
Website - As stated in the Advanced Setup, a website is your home on the internet. The domain name and URL is unique to you and your brand/music. Your website is fully customizable and allows tons more freedom than a blog. 10 pages is a decent size for a website. Take your time setting the site up. Don't rush it and definitely do not give out your website's URL until the site is finished! Use SEO techniques to boost your site's search engine ranking. Though flash is one of the most widely used plugins online, I'd suggest you stray away from it. Flash is fading and it will alienate mobile browsers that do not support the platform. You will double your work and maintenance load having a site built with elements of flash because you'll need to create HTML versions of your site without flash. Do yourself a favor and build your site using HTML5, CSS3, and Javascript. You can still create great web animations visible to mobile browsers and tablets. Also, non-flash sites have the advantage of being search engine friendly. Make it easy for your site to be viewed on mobile devices with a meta viewport tag or create your own mobile site. There are many free options for creating mobile sites, but if you want a professionally designed mobile site there are designers and companies you can pay for that. Set a date and create an event out of the launch of your website and invite everyone in your network.
Email Marketing - Email marketing is probably new to you at this moment so take it slow and learn about the finer points of marketing your music through email. You don't need to use an email marketing company, just use your band's regular email address for now. Emails should be sent to everyone on your list at the same time usually monthly to start off with. Fill each email with as much updates about you, your band, your music, your blogs, etc as you can each month. Once your list grows close to 1,000 subscribers, then you should look into using email marketing companies like Ricochet Marketing, Mad Mimi, or Constant Contact to help with your email marketing.
Multiple Social Networks - Everywhere...that's where you should be online, Everywhere. Do not slouch on the social networks. Join as many as you can. If you find new social networks, join them! You never know when one of these networks will become the next big thing. It's one thing to join all of these social networks but if you're not engaging with the communities you build on each network often, then you're missing the point. If all you do on your social networks is plug yourself and your music...then you're missing the point. Treat your social networks as a way to show your fans that you care about them and what they do. You don't have to be best buds with every user you interact with, just find ways to make them feel special. Create posts about your users and tag them in it. Mention them on Twitter with a #hello, #thankyou, or #shoutout hashtag. Comment on their pics, retweet their tweets, share what they share and give them credit for it. Give your community an insight into your band's personal lives. Get creative with your posts, ask your fans and community relevant questions, feed their thirst for knowledge with relevant info, use polls and surveys, create social media only contests and giveaways. Have a regular conversation with fans whenever possible. Use the 10-1 or 8-2 rule when promoting your music. This means for every 10/8 posts/retweets/shares you make that have nothing to do with your band's endeavors, you create 1/2 posts that does. Its crucial to keep your bio the same across your networks. Share, share, share! almost any and everything you come across online. Invite users in your community to a meetup event if possible. This gives different users the opportunity to meet and chat with other fans of your music.
Content Platform - The content platforms mentioned in the previous setups remains the same just more integrated into your social stream. I should point out that even though you can connect almost all of your network profiles together, you shouldn't. It just looks tacky to see your most recent post on twitter show up on facebook, your blog, myspace, and linkedin at the same time. Please use this type of sharing sparingly. The upside to linking your accounts is that you can do an update that goes out to every network connected. The downside is that it makes you look lazy by having the same post show up everywhere at the same time and if you spend too much time in one social network over the others, your community will feel as though you neglect them on that network. Use the connect feature for special posts that have to go out to multiple networks...like an album release date or concert updates.
Copyrights, PROs - The information about Copyrights and PROs essentially remains the same. Though at this level you're hopefully a master at copyrighting and cataloging your material. More than likely you've joined a PRO as a writer/composer. If so, take things a step further by joining the same PRO (or a different one) as a Publisher. I will explain publishing in brief shortly.
Online Radio/Digital Music Play - Part of being in a band or creating music recordings is the push for radio play, either broadcast (AM/FM), online (AOL Radio), or digital (Satellite, Cable, Streaming). So with your Expert Setup a push for radio play is a grand part of it. Sticking to the online format for the basis of this post, you can still make money off your online and digital spins. Once you've joined a PRO (one of the big 3 and SoundExchange) you're ready to generate income from Royalties. In order to find stations that will play your music, you should do a search for a list of online radio stations. Some of this info can be found in this blog but a search will do you better. For online radio stations, look for a submission link or contact info for the person who handles new music submissions. Find out if they pay royalties to SoundExchange or one of the big 3 PROs.
Merchandising - The Expert Setup considers that your band is generating a buzz and capitalizing on the exposure you're receiving online and off. What better way to connect your fans and community to your music and band than by creating merchandise for them to purchase. Fortunately there are sites like Cafepress that allow you to create your own clothing, apparel, merchandise and accessories , for free, without any overhead. The only cost to you is the time to create designs and the effort to drive traffic to your products. It's a great start if you've never had your own line of merchandise...did I mention it's free?
Publishing - Let's say you've joined a PRO as a writer/composer and a publisher. Good, what's next? Well, on top of you getting paid more Royalties for your radio spins/streams, public performances of your material, and sales of your songs, you can also license your music for commercial use in TV, Film, Video Games, Ads, and more. Not only will you receive a fee for licensing the use of your music in these outlets, but you also get Royalties as well. There are plenty of music publishers, music libraries, and music licensing companies around that you can contact to add your music to their lineup. It's a great start for music Publishing. Just be sure to learn how to correctly setup cue sheets with your PRO.
Crowd Funding - When Barack Obama was elected to sit in the oval office, he passed a bill that allows people to raise money for their needs through the public. It's called Crowd Funding, and it's a way to call on the masses for monetary support. Sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo offer a platform for people to raise money through Crowd Funding. For musicians, crowd funding is an excellent way to get the capital for travel, studio time, music gear, or anything else you might need to make your next project a success. Do a search for Crowd Funding sites and learn what you can about raising money through each platform.

These setups are just part of the framework for something more. Your offline music exploits should be created to work in tandem with your online campaigns. You don't have to follow every setup to a Tee, but you should at least follow the setup as close as possible for your needs. If you already have an online strategy in place, then I hope I have provided a suggestion you may not have thought about. I wish you all much success in the new music industry!

Grimm

iTunes - Music - Always Grinding - Single by The Grimm_factor

grimmfactormusic@gmail.com

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http://www.grimmfactormusic.co.cc

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