Idol Finalist Anwar Robinson Croons New Life Into Romance With New Release “Exceptional”

New Release From Idol Finalist Anwar Robinson, “Exceptional,” Enchants Brides To Be

Trouble Selling Your Music? How to put that “Shake, Rattle, and Roll” into your website!

Here’s a staggering fact for you to ponder.  Netcraft reported there was a 6 million…yes, an increase of  6 million websites from March 2009 to April 2009.  Even more shocking is that there are well over 231 million active websites all trying to get your attention.  Think about the odds.  You have a 1 in 231 million chance to get noticed on the web.  Where do you think that puts you on a search engine …?

I’ve done some research to help you get your music noticed and looked for ways for you to stand out in a very crowded e-market.  I want you to be noticed because you’re taking a big risk.  Music is a window to your soul and you’ll need a tough skin combined with an open mind to reap the rewards from all the blood, sweat and tears you’ve devoted to your art.

The tips are listed as shake, rattle and roll. There is no particular order for taking action.  You don’t need to shake before you rattle or roll.

SHAKE

It’s the music – not you – that potential fans are interested in.  I know…I know…you want a website with your name on it and you definitely need one.  Music is what you want to sell, yes?  Then tell people about your music.  Before you select a name for your CD, do a domain search to make sure you can register a domain just for your CD.  Do this for every CD you release.  Here’s an example of a CD title,  ”Thundering Turkeys Burning in Hell”.  I checked on the name and amazingly, this name hasn’t been registered.  Congrats!  You’ve accomplished your first step.  Differentiation.  You’re already more noticeable.

Next,  you’ll need to identify your sound.  Of course, no one sounds like you or has ever written anything that sounds like your music, so let’s stipulate that’s a given.  Give people who haven’t heard of you or your music get a sense of style by how you describe your music.  Your potential fans need a reason to compel them to click.  Imagine looking for new music and seeing this description, “You’ve never heard anything like this!”.  Is it rock, classical, jazz, pop? There are millions of Cd’s to choose from and I know I don’t have the time to fish for something I’ve never heard before.  It could be alligators mating.  I don’t know what an alligator sounds like while mating and I’m not anxious to find out.   So, I skip right past the unknown and move on to a description that grabs my attention.  You’ve got your shake on.

RATTLE

If I were the musician that recorded “Thundering Turkeys Burning in Hell”, I would come up with a few words that capture the essence of my sound.  Try this on for size,  ”Thundering Turkeys Burning in Hell” is an in your face Marilyn Manson meets Joni Mitchell album.  Now I’m curious.  I may not like Marilyn Manson’s lyrics, but I love Joni Mitchell.   This is a combo I need to hear and definitely worth a click.  A music critic/editor/blogger may pick up on the title and say something like:  ”Thundering Turkeys Burning in Hell” is devilishly clever and written as profoundly and poetically as any Joni Mitchell song.  Regardless of a music lover’s musical taste, you’ll definitely get more clicks. Don’t get stuck in the “there’s nothing out there like this” rut.  It’s the carpool lane to invisible-ville.

Invite reviews or comments rather than a simple 5-star rating system. I say give away 100 downloads and instead of payment, ask for an opinion.  Maybe even 150 downloads.  A common measuring stick for live performances says that if you can get at least 150 people to show up for a gig, you have reach.  Reach that’s beyond, family, friends, and associates.  Those 100 or 150 downloads is your launching pad.  If you can get 100-150 people blogging, writing and talking about you, your reach will expand.  If you do this consistently, your next release will go much smoother.  If word has gotten out that you give away the first 100 downloads for opinions, fans will be waiting at their screens for the track to appear.  Cost to you; $97.50 in advertising that you didn’t have to reach into your pocket for.  That’s assuming you gave away 150 downloads and would have earned $0.65 per download.  If the tracks had been streamed, your cost would be $4.50 assuming $0.03 per download.  Again, not out of pocket and dramatically less expensive than typical advertising.

When the reviews start coming in, don’t take the bad opinions personally.  If someone took the time to write, it means they’ve clicked and most importantly, listened.  Those opinion writers will talk about your music to others.  My take on bad reviews is they may be just constructive criticism written poorly, so read carefully and with an open mind.  Even if the review is mean-spirited, you can use it to get attention.  ”Here’s what people who hate my music have to say about me”.  There’s going to be a buzz about you and the tweets will start flowing. People will want to listen just to see for themselves if it’s really all that bad.  You’ve got your rattle on.

ROLL

How often do you reach out to your fans on a personal level?  Is it daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, every 6 months, once a year, whenever the mood strikes you?  There’s nothing better than an authentic consistent connection to your fans.  Why?  Sustainability, loyalty, tolerance.  You will produce more than one CD.  They may not all be as popular as “Thundering Turkeys Burning in Hell”.  How can you keep your fans from thinking you’re a one hit wonder and drop you like a Polaroid picture?  That’s where consistent contact comes into play and remember the authentic part.

Sustainability applies to you, your sound and your ability to produce music that people will buy.

Loyalty is built by developing relationships and loyalty allows for tolerance.  What if your follow-up CD,  ”Ant Eating Flesh”, where you’ve experimented with an electric harp, doesn’t quite make the grade?  The reason isn’t important for this example.  You need tolerance to experiment with an album or to have a bad idea so that your fans will buy it even if they know it’s not your best work.  That’s not to say you have license to get lazy and produce bad music, it does mean that you can have a rotten egg and not fall off the radar.

When you reach the part where your shake and rattle are on, then you’ll need to keep on truckin’.  Google adwords is a great free place to look up the traffic on keyword searches.  You’ll need to keep attracting new visitors to your site. First, keyword your name and the Cd’s title.  But, the remaining keywords should be relevant to you and your music and rank highly in the keyword search world.

Let’s suppose that your focal instrument is the electric harp.  Before using up my keyword space, I’d check it out on Google adwords or any other free keyword look-up website.  I did a keyword search on electric harp and it didn’t make to the top ten searches. However, there were 1 million searches for the word “harp”, so I’d drop the electric.  Use this logic for your keywords and you’re sure to increase traffic and bring curiosity to your site.  You’ve got your roll on.

These tips are just to get you started. Now get down to business and shake, rattle and roll!

Hasan Smith Interview on Blog Talk Radio

If you’re in the mood for a lift, listen to Musician Edition on Blog Talk Radio.  This week’s program features Hasan Smith, a Gospel, R&B, Hip Hop, Playwright and Comedian.  Thirty minutes was not enough time to delve into all of Hasan’s talents, but we did chat about his influences, motivations, and his new track called “The Deal”.   In “The Deal”, Hasan sings a tribute of thanks for the support and love his wife has shown him as he chases down his dream.  “The Deal” is a warm, sweet story of love, devotion and dreams with a beautiful melody and is sung with passion and desire.  Joining Hasan on “The Deal” is Jose Ecchevaria on keyboard and bass, Jacob Velasquez on drums, mixed and engineered by Paul Middleton and produced and sung by Hasan Smith.

To get your limited time free MP3 download of “The Deal”, visit Rising Mega Stars and sign up for a free membership.