Current "best" ways to market music??

[Drummerbones]

Years ago it was mp3.com, garageband.com etc. Then it was CD Baby, though CD's literally seem to be dying...so my question is this: What is the best way for me to get my music out there. I just completed a run of 1,000 CD's, I've got a myspace account and my own website, though the number of hits I receive are not piling up and I'm not selling many CD's.

All that being said, what is the "current" method most artists/songwriters are using? I just picked up this year's Songwriter's Market and will be submitting material to companies that way, but what can I/we do on our own?

Thanks for any input.

http://www.myspace.com/thebackroadbandit

http://www.backroadbandit.com

[IainDearg]

CD Baby and OMDs (Sounclick, et al), your own website with a store page are still the primary store fronts that most folks use. However marketing your music is a whole other skill set. The detail are outside the scope of this post ()but your should research internet marketing in general - and deeply. Very importantly (and just as one example) you should SEO (Search Engine Optimise) your website so that when people search with Google for your type of music on CD, your site comes top of the search results (SERPS - Search Engine Results Pages.) since people don't look beyond the first page or results, or even scroll down the first page!

You should participate in as many forums as you can with your site URL and your CD Baby page in your signature (my secret's out).

Get as many backlinks from other websites to your website - this improves your google, yahoo, ask, etc...rankings.

Submit your site to website directories

Set up a blog (Wordpress is best) and tell the world about your music! Here's my blog:

Dave Keir's Blog... sort of

... and get your blog listed on music blog directories.

Here's a useful site for Internet marketing articles, esp. SEO:

http://www.seochat.com/

Be prepared to spend weeks and months at this. Be patient and think in terms of seeking out your audience.

Good Luck.

[Drummerbones]

Excellent info Iain. Thank you

[mikeyhasnobones]

get off the computer and go play some shows. i don't want to sound like a prick but it's true. steve albini once did a q & a type thing on a poker forum and someone asked him if it was possible to be a successful musician. he answered that that was lazy and impossible or something to that effect. although i don't necessarily agree with impossible it IS just lazy. bands get fans by playing out as much as they can, anywhere they can and although an internet presence is TOTALLY necessary, it can't be the only thing up your sleeve. know what i mean?

[TerraMortim]

yup...a healthy dose of the truth.

[vanillajack]

good point, but how would a songwriter go about doing live gigs if they cant sing?

ive been in a few bands as lead guitarist/keys and occasional vox, but im so crap at singing that ive focused most of my energy on the songwriting side of things. how is the best way to get my songs to a singer, who is likely to be able to sell records? i cant just stalk michael buble or rhianna in the streets and threaten em if they dont take my cd!

[Drummerbones]

Well, I've got almost fifteen years of touring the midwest under my belt so I don't think lazy applies here! That aside, I totally agree with your point. My aim at this point in my career is to try to reach a broader audience than I've been able to in the past. Live performances are great, but over time unless you're very successful as a live act you end up playing the same joints for the same crowds. Been there, done that. I'm from Wichita, KS so I don't think any record exec. or music publisher is going to see me playing live any time soon. And to top it off, I'm a solo artist for the first time in my "career". I don't have a band. I played almost all the instruments on my album which leaves 2 options. 1) Karaoke my own tunes with backing tracks or 2) play acoustic shows. I'm debating both right now depending on what the clubs want. Nonetheless, good advice for those who sit on their backsides wondering why they're not famous yet.