0
Monthly Archives

April 2015

Mixtape Cover King
In Music Marketing

Slick Way to Make Money From Your Youtube Music Video

So what are the new YouTube cards, it’s a new YouTube feature that has been widely overlooked when it comes to the in video promotional options, in short terms YouTube cards the next logical step that annotations took in their evolution, and as annotations they are represented inside the video to give more info on the subject video itself. But unlike annotations which are always the same, YouTube cards offer a variety of options when setting up. So correspondingly there are various types of YouTube cards that can be created in your video. Each suited for individual needs of the video owner.

  • Fund raising cards – which are pretty self-explanatory, any musician can use this to increase income, which can be used to produce more high-grade videos
  • Sell cards – commonly used when advertising products, it offers a direct link to the location where the product can be purchased, this includes movies, music and various other products
  • Website link card – provides a direct link to your website, as a musician this can be used to increase your mailing list or to generate an increased online presence on your website
  • Drive video cards – offers the ability to play an entire playlist with one simple click, the reasons how a musician can use this for marketing are obvious.

 

Why use YouTube cards over annotations?

There are several reasons to do so. First of all YouTube cards look better than old plain annotations, and second of all they are customizable. So in regarding with the previously stated, it’s not an uncommon fact that customizing your YouTube cards effectively increases your fan base, make them look represent able, and make them represent your music. Couple of more thing that are worth mentioning. When it comes to YouTube cards in general and how they operate.

  • YouTube analytics – the influence and overall success of YouTube cards can be tracked over the integrated analytics page, this can be useful for anybody that is unsure if their fan base is growing
  • YouTube cards are mobile friendly – weather you are viewing the video in your mobile device or your desktop PC, the cards will always show, this is pretty important due to the widespread of mobile devices in today’s modern world, and let’s not forget the fact that people usually listen to YouTube on these mobile devices to begin with
  • They simply look better – people won’t click what they don’t like, and when it comes to looks, YouTube cards are the best looking thing out there; they are highly customizable and can increase your profits and conversion rates by a healthy margin.

 

Using YouTube cards to monetize your music

This newly developed feature allows musicians to monetize their music  in a number of ways whether It’s a music video are just a song you uploaded that playing over your Mixtape Cover Design. Let’s start off with the fundraising option. The music industry is over saturated at the moment, and there are a lot of quality musicians who simply can’t make a name for themselves, do to this fact. To succeed in the music business you need money, and this is the perfect way to do it. If you feel confident that your music is high-quality and you feel that you should receive donations for your effort, this is the perfect option for you. High quality content will ultimately lead to a high number of fans. And if they like what they hear, a donation of a small amount will be in order, so needless to say that this effect is accumulative and in the long run it can be quite profitable.

 

Another option that I feel that should be discussed is the so called “Sell cards”. As we stated before they offer a possibility to link your music video to an online store which sells your music. This is a perfect way for artists that don’t have their own website to try and sell their music. Think of iTunes and other similar programs which offer the option to sell music when it comes to this.

 

The third option for monetization using cards is the option to link the card to your website. Doing this can monetize your music in more ways than one, considering that the website is owned by you, you can set up an online store in your website, you could set up banners that provide further marketing for your music. So as far as the website goes, the possibilities are endless.

How to add YouTube cards to your video?

The procedure is pretty simple, you only need to log in to your YouTube account, check your video manager for a list of current videos, click edit on the video and click on the “cards” button. From this point onward things can get a bit complicated, due to the high customizability of the cards themselves. So feel free to experiment in order to find out what works best for you, and remember to use YouTube analytics while experimenting to keep track of all the good and bad changes.

 

In conclusion

As we stated before, the music business is over saturated at the moment, and there are more ways to monetize your music than ever before. YouTube cards are just the best from the batch; we highly recommend this feature to anybody that is trying to make a name for them in this industry. Try it out, experiment, find out what works best for you, and never forget to give your fans what they want in return!

Mixtape Cover King
In Music Marketing

How to Get Your Music on BET, MTV AND MORE

The art of making a name for yourself

In the modern world we all live in, music is a business like any other, it has its ups and downs as well as risks that come with it. As such, music can be treated like any other business model, and a constant fact about any business model is the idea that there are more ways than one to promote yourself or your product which in this case is the music you are making. We all watch TV, play video games and watch various YouTube shows and Netflix. So as a musician did you ever ask yourself, who makes the music for all these types of entertainment? It’s silly to think that programmers that make video games produce music, and yet, there is some quality music in the game industry which is made by famous artists like DMX. So what is at hand here? Every aspect of the previously mentioned relies in the hands of Music Supervisors. They generally oversee every aspect of TV show, movies and video games that is music related.

What is a music supervisor?

As we have stated before, Music Supervisors are people in charge of overseeing the music aspect of our daily lives. For example, their job is to negotiate with the director of a certain TV show, this can be very tricky, TV show directors can be quite abstract people to begin with, and sometimes they don’t know what they want. So a music supervisor need to understand the mentality of the director and hand in order to find out what he or she is looking for in terms of music for their TV show. After the Music Supervisor has a general idea what to look for, they will generally look at the resources they have at their disposal. By this we mean that he or she will look at the available bands and music makers that are looking for a job, and which one is suited the best for the job at hand. O needless to say that if you want to promote your music in video games TV shows, music supervisors need to have you on their map. After you have done this, the best thing for any musician to do is not to let the quality of your music drop, a good product is the best marketing that you can afford, and it goes a long way.

What comes after you got a job?

This part of business can often be quite tricky, a lot of money can be involved and the number of involved parties can only make things worse. Some of the involved parties can be song writers, music producer, the artist, Mixtape Makers and record label you record under and many others. So the contract you set up before you start the job at hand can often be quite tricky to set up in terms of trying to satisfy the needs of all involved parties as well as the music supervisor and the director that you are now working for. When doing this we advise that you keep a clear mind and keep all options available, not every deal goes the way you want to.

Contacting a music supervisor

Before you put any effort in to contacting a music supervisor we advise you be aware of the following. Nobody likes spam E-mails, so the same can be said for any music supervisors, this is a good way to kill of your career before you even started it. So don’t go around sending mass E-mails to people that you don’t even know are interested. One thing that we do recommend is the following. Take a look at the music you make in general. What emotions surface when you listen to your music, this is very important when trying to get involved with Music Supervisors, and let’s face it, you never heard “Metallica” play in a soap opera, so needless to say you need to find the right people for the type of music you play. While doing this does sound tricky, it is really quite simple to do in terms of finding the people to contact. Let’sassume you watch TV a lot, which you probably do. The odds are that you heard music that is similar to yours in many TV shows or movies in terms of the overall tone and the emotional response in general. Now comes the fun part. Wait for the credits of the TV show or movie in question and look for the name of the music supervisor, it will be there. After you have achieved this and now have a clear name of a Music Supervisor the only thing to do is some internet research, the odds are that the name of the music supervisor is already registered with a major company and his or hers E-mail address can easily obtained. So by now you have a targeted music supervisor that will almost certainly be interested in the music that you have you have to offer.

Sending the E-mail that will change everything

For starters when was the last time you read a long E-mail with a lot of attachments? The odds are you never did that, the same can be done for music supervisors, nobody wants to read column after column of text in order to find out a couple of key information’s. So it’s safe to assume that Music Supervisors, busy as they are, won’t read a 1000 word essay that you sent them. Keep your E-mail short and say everything in a shortest manner possible. And make your subject line include simple keywords that you know that will work and make any music supervisor open it. For example, “A great song that has 50 cent all over it”. Another thing that is important is the fact that under no circumstance should you attach and MP3 of your song. A general god idea is to simply provide a link of your song to YouTube. Clicking one link to listen to a good song goes a long way than having to download it.

Mixtape Cover King
In Artist Development Blog

How To Make Thousands A Month Selling Beats Online

How To Make Money With Your Beats

It isn’t an uncommon idea for people who have been doing music production for a while to start selling their beats online, it provides constant income, and as you get better your clientele get bigger and with that comes a bigger income.

In fact, it isn’t that difficult to do, there are no pillars of documentation to be signed, and the process for you to sell beats online can be set up in a matter of 48 hours. This is the right thing to do, every effort you make to make your music better is time well spent and you should get paid for it.

Should you be selling your beats?

Chances are that you have been creating beats for a long time, and within this time frame you given out hundreds if not thousands of beats to your friends, or you just uploaded them to the internet for people to listen and to download in hope that you will make a name for yourself.

The first thing you need to consider is the fact that by giving away free beats to rappers all around the world provides no money income, so effectively you are wasting your time trying to promote yourself while there are many ways for you to promote your beats and to make some good money on the side. Especially if you consider music production to be your primary source for money income.

First of all you need to realize that the effort you put into making high quality beats has value, so the ideal thing for any music producer would be to start monetizing your products as soon as possible. While giving away beats for free is a good way to make a name for yourself, it is generally considered a good idea for you to sell your best products. The business model behind this is simple, give away mid-grade quality beats for hot artist to use on their mixtape, so people recognize your talent, so they could purchase your high-grade material

Where can you sell your products?

When it comes to selling your music material in general, there are 3 primary ways for any music producer to sell their creations.

  • Marketing and selling over your site
  • Selling over dedicated website that already exist
  • Building a dedicated customer list

Don’t underestimate the importance of setting up your own website,you want to have full control over your business.It kills me how many people in this business don’t have a website.On top of everything is you make more money from your beats by cutting out the middlman site. Having a website that sells your beats make you a brand and it makes you standout from all the soundclick beatmakers. You will never take your career to the next level until you start branding yourself as a professional. And you can always feel free to market the website by yourself by linking it on related forums and newsgroups like Facebook. And it goes without saying that setting up a music shop on your website isn’t as complicated as you might think. The best thing about this is the fact that you have total control over everything, you decide which beats to sell and you decide how much they cost.

Another thing that we previously mentioned that you can sell your beats on already established websites like “Neo Sounds”. The benefits of selling your music in this way are vast. For example all of the websites that we discussed already have an established audience. So there are odds that you will start selling your beats even without proper marketing if your beats are good enough. This type of promotion can go a long way as it provides your beats to a lot of exposure.

Now, when building  clientele is involved, there are a couple of things you need to be aware of. First of all you need to have a specific layer of clients in mind. This subjects to change, depending on the type of music and beats you produce. After this you should consider offering this closed group of people free beats in order to build a list of potential customers when you do start selling your musical products.

Beat selling software

Anybody who knows even a small amount of information when it comes to beat selling, is aware of beat selling software. But when it comes to this specific type of software. These pieces of software usually cost a little bit of money but the return is well worth it.After working with thousand of beat makers  the best and most affordable beat selling software all of the music producers are using MyFlashStore.net  This software will allow you to have your own beat player you can add to any site or blog online and you can receive instant payment for your beats from people all around the world.

  • Automatic delivery, nobody likes an unsatisfied customer, its bad marketing in general. So an automatized delivery system integrated in the software where you sell your beats can go a long way in terms of customer relations and establishing a good clientele
  • Payment methods, it obvious which are the modern payment methods. Be sure to have all the common electronic payment methods at your disposal like MasterCard and PayPal
  • Sample music, when it comes to purchasing music or beats, buyers won’t throw away money needlessly, they need to hear what they are buying. So be sure to find software that allows playback of specific segments of the song or beat

Every beatmaker that is getting real money is running their business with the tools mentioned above. If your trying to turn this into a full time career, we sincerely hope that reading the above article helps you on your way to success as a music producer having this software is like having your own personal ATM machine. So are you ready to start getting paid for your hard work? Then click this link Start Making Money With Your Beats

Mixtape Cover King
In Music Marketing

Ensure Music Marketing Success by Getting a Virtual Assistant

Everyone has this common misconception that personal assistants are only for the rich. That only bigwigs and famous celebrities can afford to keep one on-call to handle all their businesses and settle problems. It might be the last thing a start-up musician would expect to do with all expenses dedicated to many other things. You decide you can handle everything on your own and are determined that everything is going to be solved through hard work. Then, you realize the hours of the day seem too short for all the tasks at hand. Instead of working on your next album, you find yourself stuck all day responding to followers in Instagram and Facebook – great.

The idea of hiring a personal assistant isn’t very ideal when you think of the daily wages you have to deduct from your already-depleting business fund. But for those who are looking for a cheaper yet equally efficient alternative, a Music Marketing Virtual Assistant can be hired instead. Read on to find out what to expect.

The following are five (5) advantages of having a personal virtual assistant.

  1. You are in control of the work contract.

Unlike regular assistants, virtual ones understand from the start that they will only be paid by the work they render to you. No requests for lunch breaks, paid leave and day off. That’s a 100% of your money dedicated to cater only to your needs! You don’t have to worry about renting an office, providing a work desk and supplying all the office supplies and electronics. They can be called whenever you need them with just a call or chat. You don’t even have to wait for them to take the bus and come to you. They respond immediately and would even be delighted to be called often. Most importantly, gone are the extra periodic expenses (benefits and incentives, health insurance and taxes) you have to pay when hiring an employee under you. You have control of the terms specified on the work contract. Carefully lay out your expectations and policies and you’re good to go.

  1. Let them handle tasks you don’t feel like doing.

You won’t get a chance to boss around people like you can to your Music Marketing Virtual Assistant. One of the beauties of having one is that you can shove all the tasks you don’t like doing – most of which you were never good to begin with or simply don’t have the patience to push through. Imagine how much time you can save by having one other person to handle all the complicated time-consuming tasks that can’t really be skipped since they’re also important for your marketing campaigns. Say goodbye to writing formal letters and making calls to important people. Even ordering your food becomes a luxury now that you have someone else to help. Instead of consuming your time hurriedly posting blog updates and whatnot, you can focus on improving your music.

 

  1. Get the job done without exerting any effort.

Let’s face it, sometimes we like to procrastinate; more so if the work is something you don’t really enjoy. You forget important tasks because you mull over insignificant ones that you are more interested in. Have you ever tried travelling and having your luggage sent to another airport? That’s the kind of stress you’ll experience if you don’t get the job done properly. And then there are the virtual assistants. Professional ones have a knack at multitasking, you’d even wonder if they have extra hands and feet. The best ones will keep a close check on your schedules and bookings to make sure you get there on time and without delays. It’s ideal for you to have a personal way of tracking your performance schedules, rehearsals, meetings, travel dates and personal information. This is expected, but an extra set of eyes can help you find possible discrepancies. Moreover having someone to keep you in-check and on-time with appointments greatly help your career in the long run.

  1. Virtual assistants come in a complete package.

You won’t ever find an experienced VA who’s going to shower you with questions for every task you give. They apply for work knowing the type of job they’re getting into. Some prefer to hire beginners because of lower wages. They might help you save a bit but you’ll be spending a lot of time training them first – which takes time and effort you don’t have. By the time they get the hang of the job, you would have already been done with the things you needed to do. It is a fact that you’ll be spending more by hiring someone tenured. However, this would also mean you’ll get a Music Marketing Virtual Assistant who understands that their job is to lessen your burdens. For anyone who wants to successfully thrive in their own career, a well-informed assistant is a very good investment you will never regret having. The only time they’ll need your attention is when you check the flow of your schedule and add new personal entries.

  1. Expect an all-out supportive partner.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that virtual assistants are like sidekicks. They go where you want them to go and come whenever you need them. You might have other people working for you like managers, drivers and publicists so it would seem a bit of a stretch to get another person. But, it’s not just about the obvious tasks. Sometimes, you will find yourself agonizing over how to inform your manager that you’ll be late just because the driver caught a cold. You can’t ask the publicist to drive for you since that’s not really in his job description. A Music Marketing Virtual Assistant is the one person among all your employees who can handle coordination. They are flexible and can handle several tasks simultaneously. All the while keeping tabs on your other personnel and ensuring your schedule flows smoothly. They can be called for overtime and can temporarily cover the duties of your other employees. You can relax and continue making good music to sell while he handles the rest. This way, no matter what problem arises, you won’t be alone facing them.

Mixtape Cover King
In Artist Development Blog

Indie Artist Stopped Getting Pimped By Promoters

Indie Artist Stopped Getting Pimped By Promoters

Music in general is a business like any other, you exchange your services for money and that someone that you exchange your services to tries to make money off your service that is the general rule. But needless to say that the rules change when it comes to music, the music industry is oversaturated with various Graphic Artists that differ in quality, and when you have an over-saturated industry like the music industry there is a lot of room when it comes to foul play. It is a fact that a lot of people want to become Professional Musicians, and why would they? You get a lot of money for doing things you generally like. So the general interest in becoming a musician is fairly high, which is absolutely understandable because of the previously mentioned factors. Dishonest people take advantage of this, promising that they will promote your band at various events, for only a portion of the profit. The people I’m talking about are of course the so called promoters, but their name is a false representation of their interests in general.

What’s really going on?

If you have a good band that has a chance of making it in the big world of Musicians, odds are you already tried to promote your music in many ways. Some bands upload their songs to YouTube or Myspace, in any case your music is out there. These are the common places that the so called promoters look for bands that are trying to make a name for themselves. And like any good promoter they will offer you their services. Now it’s important to say that there are a lot of legit promoters out there, but keep in mind what you are signing up for when you are in the process of discussing the agreement. The general idea behind false promoters is that they will offer you a percent of the ticket sales, but only if you as a band sell twenty or so tickets. Good deal isn’t it? Well it isn’t. The twenty tickets you as a band purchase will roughly cost you 15 $ per ticket. So after and if you manage to sell them you will get about 3 $ per ticket sold. So where is the logic in that? It’s totally non profitable, well not for your band in any case.

Should you do it?

No way, no how, that should be your immediate answer. Its isn’t an unknown fact that promoters all around the world take advantage of naïve bands that don’t really know what they are doing when it comes to finances. And the sad part in all of this is the fact that the so called promoters actually get away with it all. After they do so, they simply move on to the next band they find. An interesting story of mine is that my friend actually had a band that has been promised a time-frame at a local revenue. The only thing they needed to do was sell thirty tickets. Which is what they did. It’s important to state that the show was a total success with over one hundred tickets sold. And after a good night of fun, the bottom line was they invested about 300 $ and their return money that they actually earned was 250 $. And the total amount of the money that the sold tickets accumulated was above 1500 $. Needless to say that is exactly what the promoter did. And he got away with the money. The next thing that we will be discussing is how things are done the right way and what you should be looking for.

How is it done professionally?

There are normally two methods of conducting this type of business professionally. Let’s say you are a rapper and you want a small performance in your local revenue. The organizers of the revenue set the prices and if they accept you as a performer they should negotiate your price and the ticket price. The promoters are only there to keep you and the organizer in contact and according to this they should be paid a small fee. When the money that you will be paid come to question the two most popular business models come in to question. A ticket sale percentage or a split price. The first is needless to say the most common, and best one if you feel that you will put up a good show. You get a small fee that is negotiated with the organizer and is directly correlated to the numbers of tickets sold. The split price is something that people do when they are not selling tickets, and it is most commonly referred as a fixed price contract where all the terms of payment are discussed before the show actually takes place so you know exactly how much money you will be making in the end.

How to do it in the right way?

You need to keep a sharp mind and eye, look for people that know what they are talking about, if you even as sense that foul play is at hand adjust your actions correspondently. For example, don’t be ashamed to ask some money in advance or ask the promoter or the organizer to cover your travel expenses before you start making the journey to the destination where you will put up a performance. Another thing that you should be aware is the fact that people quite often deceive and lie when it comes to payment, what we are trying to say is that people or promoters will quite often tell you that you will receive your money tomorrow or the day after, if you encounter this type of conduct ask for your money immediately because most of the time these people are stalling and don’t plan to give you money at all, so keep this in mind, it will help you a lot on your way to success in the music industry in general.

Contact Us


Close Bitnami banner
Bitnami