Facebook is a great resource, as is twitter, to keep your fans up to date on your gigs, cds etc but there are many other resources you shouldn’t overlook. One is ReverbNation. If you don’t have an account there sign up for one. And UPLOAD SOME SONGS. You would be amazed at the bands who have page but don’t have any songs on them. What’s up with that? Promotion is a 24/7 thing for indies and getting your songs out there is the name of the game. If you have songs on your widget, keep it updated and the more songs you have on there, the more apt you are to grab a listener and turn them into a fan.

Another is cdbaby. Cdbaby is the go to place for fans looking for indie music. For musicians the cdbaby link you want is cdbaby.net. There are a lot of great resources there. The people at cdbaby are great folks and are musicians themselves so they get it. Be sure to follow cdbaby on twitter. They often run specials and discounts for their services.

One of cdbaby’s resources is a blog called DIY Musician. This is one you need to read if you are serious about being in the music business. I have added the link to this blog to our links so it will always be handy.

Another great blog is Tight Mix I have added this one to our links also. They cover everything from getting gigs to getting funding. There is also a free ebook download at the site called How to Really Get your Music on Blogs You would be amazed how many listeners look to blogs for info about music. That is one of the reasons I try to use ReverbNation widgets as much as I can – so get yourself a page there if you don’t have one and upload some songs.

Another resource for funding is Kickstarter The way this works is you propose a project such as a cd and tell them how much you need to raise to cover the cost of the cd – this can include recording costs such as studio time and hiring additional studio musicians, a producer etc as well as actual production costs of the actual cd. Once you have a firm figure you set up your project, then you need to alert all your friends and fans also. Try and get as many pledgers as you can because there is a set time period you have to raise the money. You also need to get enough pledges to cover the full amount or the project is canceled. If you have a large fanbase this would work out well. This would require an actual fan base of people who buy your music and go to your gigs not just facebook fans/friends. Many times facebook contacts are willing to help out with a pledge but they really do need to be actual fans as a rule not just casual contacts.

That is a lot of info to absorb but there should be plenty there to help Indies keep taking that next step. That means new music for the rest of us so it’s a win-win situation all around.

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My pick for the brand new Christmas song of the year this year is by Paddy Nash and the Happy Enchiladas. It’s called It Being Christmas and it ain’t your same old tired -snow-bells-angels fare. It’s also not the Grandma getting offed by an unnamed fella in a sleigh sort of song either. That one was too weird even for me. This one is about the true magic that is often lost in all the commercial hoopla of the season. It is about what the season should be about – daring to believe in human kindness, forgiveness, redemption – the sort of thing we should be able to manage at least at this time of year. Paddy is offering this song as a free download, it being Christmas, and all. You can get your copy here Don’t forget to check out Paddy’s cd When We Were Brave while at cdbaby here

You can also download It Being Christmas and the B Side – the beautiful A Place at the Table at Paddy’s website http://www.paddynash.co.uk/web/music.asp The songs compliment each other beautifully. Diane Greer does such a wonderful job on A Place at the Table that it will bring tears to the eyes of every Bah Humbug type out there. There’s lots of great music to listen to and download at Paddy’s website. Be sure to spend some time there.

The Saw Doctors’ Going Home from the Cure album is still a favorite of mine that I am NOT sick of. It is another people song representing the ties that go deep that lead us back the the places and people we may have left but never left behind.

Going Home (This Christmas) by sawdoctors

Another Christmas Song from The Saw Doctors

Christmas Shade by Sienna is another one I really enjoy. Another people song. I think I see a pattern here. Thanks to myspace music I can let you hear that one right here.

A great video of a classic by Building Pictures. John and his faithful canine companion do the best version of this I have seen in years. Dancing With The Stars – eat your heart out!

John is offering a free download of this song also. You can get your copy here

Another great place to hear Christmas music you won’t hear on commercial radio is Marc Gunn’s Celtic mp3s and Music Magazine. Here is the link to the Christmas show This is special Christmas for Marc – his first as a new Daddy. Congrats to Marc and his lovely wife. Enjoy this one, Marc, before you know it, Christmas will require some assembly

Whatever holiday you end your year with – Christmas, Yule or any of the others, one thing remains the same. It’s a time to remember what’s really important. It isn’t about gifts or what you got or what you gave. It isn’t about the frenzy of the season. It’s about taking stock in your life – the year that is ending and the one that is beginning. It’s about family and friends and the time you spend with them.

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If, however, making great music your own way is your goal, becoming an Indie Musician is the way to go. As with any artistic endeavor you need to really learn your craft. Immerse yourself in music of all kinds, learn to play as many instruments as you can. If you are so driven by music that you forget to eat or sleep, you may just have a chance in this game. It takes dedication, drive and hard work as well as talent, in fact those qualities might even be more important in the Indie world. Not that you don’t need talent just that you need so much more than just talent to make even a modest living.

The internet has leveled the playing field for Indies in every field. In the old days, you needed a record deal with a major label to have any hope of distribution or air play. Now you can take your music directly to the music buying public by passing both record stores and radio stations. As an Indie, without the support of a major label, you will need to show a sales record before record stores or radio stations will be interested in you but you may just not need either of them.

There are a lot of tools available to you online. There are social networking sites like myspace, facebook & twitter. There are music sites like lastfm, bebo, Limewire, Grindstop, bandcamp and ReverbNation to name just a few. You can post your music at all of them and most of them have a way for you to sell downloads. There is no reason not to have a presence at all of them. The name of the game, for an Indie, is exposure.

The site you simply cannot do without is ReverbNation. The ReverbNation widget allows you, your friends and your fans to plaster your widget all over the internet where your music can get real exposure. It allows sites like this one to add your widget to a write up about you so people can hear you right away and not have to truck over to myspace or someplace else where you could lose their undivided attention. There is no better promotional tool for an artist or a band than their own music. Even though record companies have their knickers in a knot about “pirated songs” the best thing you can do is forgo the few pennies you will make on any given song and offer a song as a free download. Put a little promo for yourselves on a tag at the end saying something like – “This is band x thanks for downloading our song. You can get our new cd at cdbaby (or ITunes, your website or wherever) We really appreciate your support.” You can’t buy this kind of good relations. Fans are your customers and keeping them happy with a gift goes a long way toward growing a fanbase. Promoters and venues often check the friend and play count at these sites before booking a band so you do need to have a healthy fanbase. That doesn’t mean spending every waking moment at Facebook. 2,000 Facebook friends/fans does not translate into 2,000 cd sales.

A note about gigs. The gig doesn’t end at the close of the show/set. That is when the real opportunity begins. Get yourself to your merchandise table, be available for audience members to talk to or take pictures with or sign the cd they just purchased. That can transform interested onlookers into lifelong fans who want to support you. This is what you must have if you have any desire for a lifelong career. Even if you have no merchandise or cds to sell, make yourself available to people; smile, make eye contact, be friendly. You can still sell yourself and make a good impression on your potential customers. If you are too busy for your customers you won’t have them for long. Can you imagine going into a shop and having the clerks behave like they were too good to talk to you? How often would you go back to that shop? Schmoozing with the audience is part of the job. Take it seriously. Statistically every fan you make will tell two other people. Every fan who feels they were snubbed will tell ten. Do the math. There is no such thing as too many fans but there is such a thing as too few and that situation has ended many a career.

Once you get to the point where you have that cd to sell. You have to get it on cdbaby. It doesn’t matter what country you live in, cdbaby is the place to sell. If don’t live in the US it is even more important that you have your cd there because the cost of international shipping and currency conversion will lose you a lot of sales to US customers. If you are as busy doing gigs as you hope to be, doing order fulfillment takes a lot of time and effort that is much better left to cdbaby so you can do music. To learn more about getting your cd or ep on cdbaby go to www.cdbaby.net This is an indispensable resource for the indie musician. Cdbaby is the go to place for people looking for indie music. Through them you will get actual international distribution for your music. Shoppers worldwide know and trust cdbaby. For more info on cdbaby check this post

Cdbaby has many resources for the Indie Musician, aside from selling your cd. They have forums where musicians can share info and network, blogs giving you priceless information and insight into the business, they offer cd duplication and can get your music onto ITunes. They have podcasts and can help you with promotion. The best thing they offer to the Indie musician, from the point of view of a professional seeking info about a band, is Sonicbids. The online press kid is a godsend to the media because this is not something most Indies think to put together but it is what is needed to do promotion, show and cd reviews etc. For Indie bands and musicians it is a way to get yourself in front of a lot of promoters and land some gigs. Check it out here This is another link supplied by cdbaby for those wishing to get to the college market http://www.shmeknation.com/ Cdbaby is a resource you can’t live without even before you have a cd follow them on twitter and at facebook. They have a lot of great info that you can learn about through them instead of the school of hard knocks.

Have your own website. This is another must do as soon as you possibly can. Having a presence at myspace, ReverbNation etc is necessary since they have the traffic you need. But only having your own place on the web says you are a serious business and sets you apart from all the wannabes. You want your website to be a place where people can come to find out about you, your music, your gig schedule and your cds and other merchandise. It is also where you can collect your reviews in one place. (Clear it with the reviewer first but most will agree as long as you give credit and add a courtesy linkback – I always do)

Finally – this link will tell you exactly what not to do. This is a blog that is an absolute must read for Indies. If you are a rock band this one’s for you. It isn’t geared specifically to indies but the advice here would serve you as well.

So there you have it. Being a millionaire Indie artist probably won’t be in the cards, but being a working Indie artist is an attainable goal. Be patient, keep your nose to the grindstone, use the resources like those mentioned here and with luck, in 10 or 20 years you might become an overnight success. Don’t be discouraged just being a working musician for that long sure beats being stuck in an office cubicle, factory assembly line or flipping burgers. The freedom of doing your own music your own way is really worth more than the entrapments that come with fame and fortune anyway.

If you found this post by way of a search engine, please click on the word HOME in the upper left hand corner to visit the rest of the site. Welcome to Fanrealm!

If you found this post by way of a search engine, please click on the word HOME in the upper left hand corner to visit the rest of the site. Welcome to Fanrealm!

If you found this post by way of a search engine, please click on the word HOME in the upper left hand corner to visit the rest of the site. Welcome to Fanrealm!

Fanrealm's temporarily headless marketing maven with Marc Gunn's CD

On a recent trip to Portland, OR the intrepid Fanrealm staff was invited to take a tour of CDBaby, the center of the Universe in the Indie Music world. From the minute we walked in the door we were impressed with the atmosphere.  That same fun feeling that goes into their famous emails was in the air. It was clear that the people who work at CDBaby love their jobs. They are all enthusiastic about music.  This may be because so many of the employees are also musicians and have their own CD’s for sale at CDBaby.

During the course of the tour, the whole process of what happens to a CD when it arrives till it is placed on sale at the CDBaby website was explained.  When a CD arrives the first stop is the digitizing dept. Here the digital copies of the songs are created.  These are used as samples so the customer can hear a bit of the CD before purchasing it. Also, if the artist wishes to sell mp3 versions of his songs the files are created here. One copy of the CD is kept in this department to serve as a master copy.  Next the info is sent to the web wizards so they can put all the info about the artist and the samples onto the CD’s page at the CDBaby website so we can purchase it.

The CD is then added to the collection where it can be “gently taken

This is where the CD's are gently removed from shelves to fill an order

from our CDBaby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow” and delivered to you when you order it.  As anyone who has ordered from CDBaby knows, the shipment notice emails are hysterically funny and one of the best things about ordering from CDBaby.  Another great thing is the fact that CDBaby really supports the artist and wants each one of their artists to succeed. To that end they have entered into a corporate partnership with iTunes and give their artists the option of selling through that venue as well. CDBaby helps the independent artist level the playing field in terms of getting the artist’s CD’s into the hands of customers. They can offer the artist more exposure than most artists can afford on their own. It is a win-win situation both for artists and for music lovers looking for something other than the often over produced and carefully handled music the major labels are turning out. I know I, personally, prefer music the way the creator of it intended over the decisions made by some focus group.

More CD's ready for new homes

CDBaby had CD’s from 300,000 to 500,000 artists in stock and that number is steadily growing.  Because they stock so many artists they can only ask for a small number of CD’s from each artist until they know how well the CD is going to sell. In order to know that, they need to understand the demand for each of the CD’s from each of the artists.  If your favorite artist is out of stock be sure to contact CDBaby via their website and let them know that you want to order the CD but it is out of stock. Just click the contact us link in the footer at their website.  This will take you to a page where there are several contact options including homing pigeon but that one might take a while.  As demand picks up, CDBaby will ask for more CD’s at a time from the artist and be out of stock less often which will make everyone happy.

If you want to support independent artists and get some great music in the process, be sure and go to the CDBaby website http://www.cdbaby.com and jump right in.  It’s likely you will find several must have CD’s, and if you order several at once, CDBaby will erect a statue in your likeness as you will find out when you get the email from them.

If you are an artist and would like to get your CD onto CDBaby you can get more info about the process at http://www.cdbaby.net

We toured the main facility. There are also two satellite warehouses in which more CDs are stored. We found the people at CDBaby to be both dedicated to the artists and a lot of fun to be with.  I know I will continue to support Indie artists and CDBaby.  If you have never been to their website it’s a great time to go.  Music makes a great Christmas gift.  I’m sure you will be able to find something for everyone on your list in their inventory.  They are also a great source of Christmas music to get you into the mood.  When I went to the site today I was happy to see Paul Byrom’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas CD on the front page. This is one I highly recommend.

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Widely-regarded for their stylish arrangements of traditional Celtic tunes, the duo have performed at various Celtic and Scottish festivals, and community concerts, as well as Mt. Vernon and the Smithsonian. They frequently are hired for weddings and private parties and also play at restaurants and wineries. They continue to delight listeners  with their new CD release, Silver Lining, an engaging mix of traditional Scottish and Irish tunes.

Bill is a self-taught player and was inspired to play after his first experience of hearing a hammered dulcimer. He is particularly noted for his strong accompaniment skills that incorporate the full range of his hammered dulcimer from the shimmering sparkle of the highest treble notes to the depth and power of the lowest bass notes. He is also a composer of tunes in the Celtic style. Several of his pieces are included on each of Peat & Barley’s CD recordings.

Becky was classically trained on violin as a child and began playing again after discovering Celtic fiddle music. She is known for the rich tone of her playing and her sensitive emotional connection to the music, whether that is a sorrowful Scottish lament, a majestic march or a driving reel. She is a long-time Board Member and Treasurer of Potomac Valley Scottish Fiddle Club, a nonprofit group promoting Scottish fiddle music. Becky also plays regularly for Scottish and English country dancing and teaches Scottish fiddle lessons.

For more information on Peat & Barley, visit their website here :  http://www.peatandbarley.com/

For a sample of their music, their CD’s are available at CDBaby.

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We want this to be a place where Celtic music fans can discover new music to love and where musicians can get their music out there in front of new fans. To us, Celtic music covers a wide spectrum from traditional Celtic music, Irish tenors to rowdy drinking songs and also contemporary music made by musicians in today’s Ireland. We won’t all like the same thing but from the classically beautiful to Celtic Rock and everything in between, Celtic Music fans can find something new and exciting out there. Our goal is to cover as much as we can and post it here so it’s easier for fans to find.

Generally speaking we tend to like Indy bands who don’t have the backing of a major record label to help them. Not that major record labels are really all that helpful to a lot of acts that have been signed these days either but Indy bands are really on their own. It is hard for new bands to get established. It can be hard to get gigs and when you do, you seem to spend most of your time on the road so you don’t have time to record or promote a cd. Sometimes real talent can slip through the cracks. Since our niche is Celtic music we want to try and promote great Celtic musicians to fans who might not otherwise find them. As fans, we are always hungry for more great music so hopefully this is a win-win situation.

So we ask you to take a few minutes and click on that Join Fanrealm link and become a member. Members can participate by commenting on posts, suggest bands and events for us to cover, take part in polls and be eligible for periodic drawings to win cds and other prizes. We will not sell or give away your private information. We have no clue how to do it to begin with and as spam haters ourselves we would never inflict that on anyone. Bands should also feel free to join. It’s the best way to keep us updated on your gigs, appearances and upcoming cds.

We have a lot of plans for the upcoming year. We will be putting together a page for Celtic Festivals and we will try to organize a battle of the band videos open to all Celtic and Irish musicians so stay tuned for more info on that. We have a few more events planned also so keep checking back and join up to participate. The more fans we have registered the more tempting it is for bands to participate in our events and the more music we all get to share.

If you are on the staff of a festival or just know of a good one please send info on it to fans @ fanrealm . com (remove the spaces) and we would be happy to include it on our page. If you own or know of a great Irish pub, especially one with live entertainment let us know that too. If you are in or know of a Celtic band or solo act let us know about them especially if they have a cd and it is for sale at cdbaby so we can link to it and sell a few copies for them.

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Paul’s first album Velvet is also available at cdbaby

If you found this post by way of a search engine, please click on the word HOME in the upper left hand corner to visit the rest of the site. Welcome to Fanrealm!