With the launch of Twitter’s new Tweet button reviewers are now able to promote you the artist via their social network of followers further increasing your potential promotion.

It has already been seen the power and exposure that Twitter can provide and this can be seen when unsigned act Chasing Pluto got retweeted by BBC radio 1’s Reggie Yates. The act were instantly exposed to all of Reggies 100,000+ followers, and this is what we are hoping to achieve with CueTweet, rather than just having our reviewers comment on your music, if they really like you they can share you with there world and you could find yourself exposed to thousands of potential new fans.

Each CueTweet will send out a message on the reviewers twitter say, “Just Reviewed *YOUR BAND* on @CueTracks – check then out at *YOUR MYSPACE*”

If you have any questions just contact the CueTracks team – cuetracks[at]dittomusic[dot]com

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They say that one of the main components of success in a competitive industry is “it’s who you know”, and the music industry is no exception.

The trouble is that most people hear this phrase and get frustrated because it is often implied that one has very little control over who they know, but I couldn’t disagree more. Ok so there may be a minority of musicians who have a slight advantage (rock star families) but that’s no excuse for you to not be proactive in building equally influential contacts within the music industry.

So how can you build music industry contacts?

Leverage social media – Social media sites such as Myspace, Linked in and Twitter are great for building contacts because you get to call the shots on who you want to network with. Unlike attending networking events where who you meet is determined by who turns attends and is approachable, sites like Twitter allow you to find any one who you would find interesting and want to connect with.

However, it’s important to contain your desire to connect with people who you don’t already know within the professional networking sites. Facebook is the main exception here because it is considered more of a personal social network opposed to a professional one. That said, it’s perfectly reasonable to use professional networking sites like Twitter to develop a professional relationship into a personal one over time.

Tip: Run a Google search such as “record label managers in London” to find a collection of targeted potential contacts names, then go ahead and add them on your preferred social media site and start building a relationship with them.

Personalised emails – The trick to building contacts successfully via email lies in how you present yourself, and what you offer the recipient. Similarly to social media sites you can choose who you contact, but unless you offer the person you’re contacting a reason to reply then you’re probably wasting your time. I would recommend spending a few minutes doing some research on the contact to figure out what it is that they would react to, and then offer it to them.

Networking Events
There are so many conferences, seminars, networking events and expos in the music industry all over the world that there really is no excuse to not to get involved.

If you’re a bit on the shy side then invest in developing your people skills to the point where you are comfortable making conversation with almost anyone and everyone who is approachable, if done right attending music events can be an incredibly valuable activity to furthering your music career.

Tip: There is a comprehensive list of upcoming music industry events on the AIM website, which includes some of the most popular ones including Popkomm, SXSW, Midem, ADE and In the City. Becoming an AIM member will also allow you to get discount tickets to these events.

Use Music Services – When you record an album or perform a gig you don’t just walk a way with a piece of recorded music or a few extra quid from CD sales, you almost always build new music industry contacts. Always be sure to talk to as many people at gigs and keep in contact with any one who might one day be vital to your success.

Network all the time – Musicians are in abundance. You can bet that pretty much any Tom, Dick or Harry will know someone musical that might be able to help develop your music career one way or another. Developing your people skills and making a habit of striking up conversations with as many people as possible will help to rapidly increase your number of contacts.

Image Credit: Stephen Mitchell, Pinelife

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He also works with Notthing Hill publishing , signing new talent to the rosta, he also owns and manages The Asylum Venue in the Midlands which is a 600 capacity venue playing host to named touring acts.

He spared a few minutes to talk to us about what he’s looking for in unsigned artists.

You work in a few areas of the music industry. Can you tell us about the different guises you operate under?

“I run the Asylum venue which is a 600 venue, Asylum2 which is 80 capacity. Both are predominantly rock venues paying host to large touring acts. So we are always looking for up and coming support acts. I also run our publishing house which is a subsidiary of Notthing Hill Publishing. Our last signing was Stuart from the Stereophonics and we are always looking for up and coming artists.”

What is your pet peeve when bands come to you with their material?

“The most common mistake is people asking us to go and look at their myspace. Or if they send us a CD,  they never write their name on the actual CD, just the cover. If you can imagine I have a desk full of CD’s, its very hard to keep track of who is who. I think that is why Cuetracks works so well. It comes in the correct format and I can give instant feedback.”

With Cuetracks, what specifically are you looking for?

“We aren’t genre specific, just whatever we think will sell. We are looking for artists across the board. Artists with great catalogue of songs that are marketable, or artists looking for gigs.”

You work with Notting Hill, can you tell us about those guys?

“They are a music publishing company based in Notting Hill. They collect royalties on album and singles sales. So if a band is selling that doesn’t have a record deal they will help them find a record deal. Notthing Hill have some of the biggest catalogue in the world and look after artists like Mariah Carey, Prodigy and Kanye West.”

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Virgin, last year announced that it had partnered with Universal Music Group to offer customers a subscription based streaming service. At the time, Virgin had planned to launch the service by the end of 2009, offering unlimited streaming and mp3 downloads for a fixed monthly cost. They have also stated that they plan to offer an unlimited download service.

An unlimited downloading service would certainly draw the attention of customers and headlines alike. However, with the new ‘cloud’ storage systems, mean downloading has become a secondary option. It is becoming favourable for users to create play lists through streaming services such as Spotify and storing them online, making them available from any mobile or physical unit without the now seemingly lengthy process of downloading and transferring it to a device.

Virgin’s new service will go into direct competition with isp provider BskyB’s new Sky Song system. Offering unlimited, ad-free streaming plus 5 mp3 downloads for £4.99 a month. The battle of the ISP’s is about to heat up once more.

Who will come out on top?

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Online video streaming sites, YouTube and alike have become popular platforms for independent artists to distribute their music. Helping in building fan bases, communicating with viewers and connecting with their followers. Muziic just goes to extend the reach for unsigned artists, offering a new medium in which to promote their tracks and gain exposure.

Since Muziic launched in March 2009, starting out as a desktop application before adding an online platform, it has never been too far away from media attention. Questions arose around the legality of the service and the fact that it’s founder, David Nelson, at the time was only 15 years old. They have already had public spats with Vevo towards the back end of 2009, and there could be more to come.

The app is free and will go straight into battle with the premium music streaming services such as Spotify, We7 and soon to be MOG. It will be interesting to see if Muziic can compete in the mobile sector, as after spending a while playing with the app myself it certainly lacks the efficiency of its premium competitors.

But it is free.

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The news comes after their first single ‘Under Pressure (ice ice baby)’ failed to live up to hype, missing out on top spot to Owl City and after a week in the charts slumping to a dismal 12th position.

Though what did they really expect?

Jedward were at the centre of one the biggest controversies in reality TV history, as they progressed through the X Factor each week the twins became the act the British public loved to hate, as they relied more on props and costumes than actual talent.

As the controversy grew, Simon Cowell rubbed his hands together with glee, having the show splashed across the front pages every day as the nation debated the dwindling credibility of the twins and show itself. He was receiving the best promotion possible, word of mouth. From office workers gathered around water coolers to knitting clubs at Womens’ Institutes across the country, Jedward were all they could talk about, and regardless of subject matter there is no such thing as bad press.

So is there such a thing as ‘over promotion’?

Well of course there is, how can one expect an act that has no real talent and only a few months of public hatred behind them to release a single and be taken seriously? Especially one in partnership with Vanilla Ice, who himself is hardly held in high regard within the industry.

The fact is, no one wants to hear Jedward sing, let alone rap or generally speak. Why Sony ever signed them, is beyond me, and their move to drop them sees a ‘cut their losses and run’ attitude.

Jedward have had their 15 minutes, which is fine. Now please, for the sake of humanity let this be an end of it, panto season finished a long time ago.

Whats that Louis Walsh?

“I’m completely committed to Jedward and I know they still have a great career ahead.”

“The boys have a sell-out tour in Ireland straight after The X Factor Tour in April and I’m in talks with a major record label about a new deal for them.”

Oh for fu…….

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Bristol, which has produced artists such as Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky beat the likes of London, Liverpool and Manchester to top spot. Known for it’s ‘Trip-hop’ scene in the 90s, Bristol clearly has music running through it’s soul, with local cider-house Coronation Tap being named ‘Music Pub of the Year’ two years running.

PRS chairman Ellis Rich said: “Bristol has been a long-standing contributor to the British music scene, constantly injecting its unique pizzazz of trip-hop and rock bands.

“The city has always warmed to all types of music, pioneering some of the country’s greatest venues and producing a hotbed of talent.”

The survey, which compared musicians generated with population size of city used the PRS’ 65,000 strong database to conduct it’s research. The top ten cities are:

1. Bristol
2. Cardiff
3. Wakefield
4. Glasgow
5. Cheltenham
6. Edinburgh
7. Manchester
8. Paisley
9. Doncaster
10. Londonderry

Despite having the most musicians living there (though not born), London could only muster 26th place. Liverpool also failed to impress by scraping into the top 20 in 18th place.

One contributor to the thriving Bristol music scene may be that hit E4 teen drama ‘Skins’ is based in the West Country city. Skins predominantly uses independent and unknown artists in it’s episodes, and as a result inspires the youth to pick up their instruments and see if they can hit the big time.

E4 have now commissioned the production of two more series of the hit show, so bands everywhere will be chewing at the bit for an opportunity to have their music featured.

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On the one hand, reviewers will be pleased that they will have a reduced stack of CDs on their desk come Monday morning. However, others believe anything digital can be too easily overlooked and ultimately forgotten about.

It’s hard to argue against the idea that a physical copy will have a greater impact that a digital one. Physical copies can be the perfect accompaniment to any song. Though the way that music distribution is going, surely it is only a matter of time until the whole process is digitalised?

When asked about the move Ged Doherty (CEO at Sony) is quoted as saying “Digital promo is set to become an industry standard as other major and independent music companies also make the switch. Physical stock is expensive, difficult to store and environmentally unfriendly. The digital e-card system that we have developed and tested in-house will provide all our partners across radio, television, press and retail with the same sound quality you are used to as well as artist images, pack shots, press clippings and other content to give you a complete picture of each release”.

This all sounds terrific and very much up the CueTracks street. With a major company supporting digital promotion gives us hope of a bright future, though the system is not without its critics.

Davd Hepworth (Music Journalism Guru) responded to the announcement by saying on his blog “I know all the arguments about the decline of physical product but this move shows that record companies don’t understand what goes on in the head of a hack who gets scores of new records every day, most of them by people he’s never heard of. I’m sure there are lots of good reasons for Sony making this move. Should send a shiver through the Jiffy Bag business for a start. I also predict that within a year when they want reviewers to take notice of something they’ll start sending out copies again”.

This is one prediction to keep a close eye on, if Sony were to backtrack on their move to digital promos it may put off the other major players and put a major doubt in the future of digital distribution and promotion.

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…Facing a year behind bars for ‘gun charges’ Lil Wayne has taken action to protect his image by filming seven music videos within a 24hour period. This coincides with him filming nine music videos over a 48 hour period in early February to support the music he has been manically recording over recent weeks, so that he can stay active while he sits tight in his 6×4 concrete cave.

Lil Wayne is clearly out to keep his fans in the loop while he spends some time out of it. With the world of Hip Hop moving at such a pace it is easy for an artist to get left behind. Although jail is probably not the thing that Lil Wayne intended to do this year it has worked as a type of ‘Shock Tactic’ Marketing which is sure to keep fans and press alike chewing at the bit for the 5′6 rap wonder.

This whole situation has certainly stoked the Lil Wayne fire and will certainly keep the press warming their hands while he’s away, and the news that his court appearance has been delayed yet again will certainly add more fuel to the some what coincidental  fire.

Taking another approach…

…The Smashing Pumpkins this week have come out and spoilt fans by making their new single ‘A Stitch In Time’ a free download, following the ‘technical’ release of their new album ‘Teargarden By Kaleidyscope’. I say technical as just to be innovative The Pumpkins are releasing the album one track at a time. Front man Billy Corgan is said to be writing some forty songs, so we could be waiting sometime for a completed release.

It’s not the first time that The Pumpkins have taken advantage of Guerrilla Marketing techniques. Back in 2000 they made the odd decision to release a studio album via the web. Though this is not an uncommon decision nowadays, back in 2000 the majority of us still associated the web with eight legged critters. It is yet to be seen whether this stagnated release tactic will prove to be a success. Though it’s fair to say their loyal fan base will be keeping a close eye on the release dates for new material.

To download their new track for your self click here.

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The signs clearly point to this assumption. Spotify now have over seven million users in over six territories with plans afoot to introduce the system to the US market. Where as We7, Spotify’s biggest competitor in the UK has over 2.5 million users with their mobile app going live today (01.01.2010). MySpace has recently launched their own music streaming service and word on the street is that Apple is in advanced talks to introduce some form of a streaming service to their iTunes Store.

With the big players in digital distribution now waking up to the potential of digital streaming, surely it won’t be long until we drop the downloads and were all paying monthly subscriptions for music?

Well actually, no.

The problem streaming services face, is that they are still to overcome the obstacle that people are not paying for the premium subscriptions (where the money lies). Currently the majority of revenue generated by streaming services comes from advertising, and lets face it, if its free, then we can put up with a 30 second ad every 5-6 tracks. This poses a major problem for the streamers, as the money generated from advertising is not enough to pay artists, labels and music producers. This does not sit well with the major labels, who are hesitant to give away their artists music for free.

However, the streaming sites do have an edge. For the price of a monthly subscription you get access to unlimited music, you can forget about paying for tracks and the frustration of downloading, and most of all it can be all accessed straight from your mobile, therefore replacing the need for multiple gadgets and gizmos, something that may appeal to the streamlined folk of society.

However, the major labels potentially have the power to make or break the world of digital streaming. Most recently Warner Music ceased licencing for their artists on free music streaming services stating the services were “clearly not positive for the industry”.

The dream for companies who stream music, is for the music to be accessible to consumers in every aspect of their lives. To be able to move from you PC, to your phone, car and TV system all the while accessing the multiple artists and albums without having to switch CDs, turn a wheel or plug in. This vision, if the likes of Spotify and We7 are to be believed is not too far away.

But, despite the optimism the question still stands, will people pay the monthly subscription?

While the free option still exists, then it’s safe to say the consumer will continue to take advantage of it. That’s just the way the younger generations are these days, they will always settle for the freebie. With young people these days growing up illegally downloading music they believe that it is a victimless crime and changing the way a generation thinks is hard. However streaming allows another option, so will we see less illegal downloading and the youth of today switching to streaming instead, hopefully.

From the artists point of view for small acts and bands there is a huge benefit of being involved in streaming sites. Granted, not much money is going to be made, however what streams allow you to do is freely make yourself available to a mass market. As people do not have to pay to hear your music on Spotify or We7 what is stopping them from checking you out. They have nothing to lose. These services help to hit a market that has previously been inaccessible. The market of the ‘passive’ consumer.

So as a promotional tool streaming sites allow unsigned and small acts to open up all kinds of new markets, so you may not make millions, but what you miss in money you fully make up for in market exposure!

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