Music Never Dies From Exposure

Nowadays, many new bands have access to very sophisticated recording equipment, and production costs have dropped so much that creating an album is very much within reach of the artistic masses. The problem then is not the creation of the musical masterpiece, but getting it into the ears of the appropriate audience.

This issue has been raised in several posts here (see the ‘sales and promotion’ category). Zoomstart have an article which contains essential advice in its title – you must market your album any way you can. Whilst the Internet does provide many new avenues for viral promotion, there is no magic formula which will propel you to superstardom. A clever low-budget video on YouTube can bring phenomenal traffic, such as this offering from OK Go, but that requires ample amounts of both perspiration and inspiration. If there were a quick fix, everyone would be doing it…

Some eminently practical advice can be found on Derek Sivers’ CD Baby tips page. Basically, anything you can do that allows someone to hear your music, see your photos or read about what you’re doing is worth investing a bit of time in. There are lots of sites (and by lots I actually mean quite a bit more than that) where you can upload your music for people to listen to – I compiled a list of 17 such music sites here.

I came across another variation today – theplayers.fm. This site is aimed at DJs, but is also a great way for anyone to discover new music. DJs can upload ‘mixtapes’ they have made, and users can search these mixes using a number of parameters. For example, you can find all mixes that feature a particular artist – then you just tune into any one that strikes your fancy, and enjoy an uninterrupted flow of music.