john

What model do you have? Many use 9v batteries

How do you mean "it's not enough for getting anything stable"? Other than that, the good thing is that you have still to do even the basics of marketing, so pronouncing it dead seems somewhat premature lol The good news is there is still a lot to be done. Growing a fanbase takes time and energy, otherwise it would be called "snap your fingers and 'oh wow, a fanbase!'" lol There's a market for almost every type of music. We're in a global market now, so even if the market is not local to you, there will be a market somewhere

We can't really start driving improvement in what we do until we can talk about where we are all at. That was we sot holes, flawed practice, inefficient process, and very importantly ways in which we can collaborate to achieve more. Even the simple idea of sharing what works and what doesn't will help us all improve. Lastly, while this club allows us to discuss concepts and strategies, the marketing critique board allows you to get feedback on practical implementations of those strategies, the effectiveness of plans etc. So please... who will get the ball rolling?

Songstuff Community on SoundCloud provides playlists of some great Artists who also happen to be Songstuff members, alongside some of the best indie music on the internet from people who may or may not be Songstuff members. Coming soon: We will soon be adding a regular music marketing podcast. Songstuff Community on SoundCloud

Hey Gus, nice to meet you! Welcome to the Songstuff family.

@Mahesh @Just1L @geographyhorse @subvibe @Michan @Peggy

Well we should be able to help. Join the marketing and promotion club. It’s been quiet in there so far, but we’re just starting on a push, but more importantly there should be several members going through very similar issues with very similar aims... and one of the key differences in successful indie promotion is collaboration and co-op relationships.

Hey Philip, welcome to the Songstuff family! It would seem like an achievable goal too, Do you currently have much of a fanbase? What do you do to build your fanbase?

Hey gang Are you planning a release? What are you doing to release it? How are you preparing? Cheers John

Hi and welcome to the Songstuff family Wyte

Hey there Dan! A warm welcome to the Songstuff family. I hope it is enjoyable and informative taking part in the boards. I look forward to chatting with you.

Updated the link

Many thanks Ken. We should have quite a bit being added for writers and composers too. There actually will be some right from the start, but yes the balance initially will lean towards artists. Onwards and upwards!

Hi Les Welcome to Songstuff! Good to have you with us.

You could balance it by writing a song about being hypocritical lol Well the trick is to start getting people to your site! Oh and people complain all the time about mobile phones and people being glued to them and tablets... often writing on tablets and certainly not giving up their cell. tbh, in this day and age i very much doubt people would blink or expect you to not use social media. How many songs are there by artists that complain about the demon drink or drugs... yet the singer and writer readily light up a joint or have a drink on a night out? hell you could say the song was a fantasy lol

Yep. Mailchimp are pretty good. Up to 2000 contacts is free iirc. there is a message limit too but it is reasonable. If it becomes too limiting you can always upgrade. It's only spamming if it is unwanted and un-valued. That can be true on social media too... ie you spam friends and family about your music/art/lunches. Fans of your music are not the same.... they want to now about your music. That is why personal pages should not be used for your band. I get why you might not want a personal page on Facebook or twitter, however fan engagement is important, as is recruitment. At some point you need to reach beyond people whose shoulder you can tap. As long as you treat them with respect there should be no feelings of spamming. As for you yourself, you can always engage professionally but not personally. That way you don't get the whole "bombarded with crap" effect. You will need a site too, preferably with a blog. If you won't use social media for recruitment, what will you use? Forums would be too slow. Blogs, maybe but you would need to be an awesome and active blogger to do it on it's own. TBH, once set up, you could use automation to drive your blog posts onto Facebook, twitter etc. That way you don't need to go near it. YouTube has other uses... ie video storage and streaming. Even if that is for interviews of you to embed in your bog

Hi and welcome to Songstuff Tigerzrock!

Hi Gang Our subscriber area, tentatively called Songstuff Indie Artists, is almost there (at last!). We are busy uploading resources and it does have quite a bit about mailing lists (both aspects of growing and warming), fan engagement, landing and sales pages, email templates, chat bots, direct sales, sales funnels, social media, blogs, websites, our ~9,500 music contact database and much more. We will also explore new revenue models for artists. We are looking at $2.50 per month for access. Pretty good for info that elsewhere comparable info would see people paying 20 times more. We plan to add another tier with video training at probably $5 per month. Hopefully it will be a no-brainer for many artists. Better than us having to ask for donations all the time and who knows it might give us a budget! Subscriptions give the site predictable revenue and that allows us to plan. We'll probably offer a discount for the first people to sign up. That reminds me... I'll be looking for some suggestions for questions for a regular podcast, and once we have some budget I'll be looking to add workshops into the mix and maybe even 1 to 1 Skype calls. It should be good fun, and loads and loads to help members move their music goals forward. If you would be interested in being amongst the first subscribers, please PM me or reply here. Cheers John

Hey Randy Why without social media? I ask because you can use advertising on social media... you would still need an account, but it doesn't need to be active. In better understanding why you place that limitation upon it I could give a better answer. Normally, structurally I would recommend an artist to have an artist web site, portals on the main social hubs, and amongst other things, a mailing list provider. Social hubs provide a valuable discovery and engagement platform, so to count them out is not impossible but it is tying your hands behind your back. There are two main aspects to growth... finding prospective subscribers, and retaining subscribers. Finding subscribers means going where fans are and putting compelling temptation in front of them. Retaining subscribers is in part down to the offers you make them, but it is to a large part how you keep them engaged and motivated. Warming people up as subscribers is something different again, but that is more about how many subscribers buy your products than it is about retention. Retaining, welll there are a number of things you can do, but discovery... it isn't about only looking for fans in one place, but these days social media does contribute a sizeable chunk.... though the largest recruitment of the most suitable fans tends to come from advertising. Cheers John

Radiohead have released hours of recordings instead of paying ransom money to a hacker who stole them. Just last week, an unknown hacker stole unreleased recordings of Radiohead. Thom Yorke had recordings on 18 MiniDiscs of music recorded during the recording of OK Computer. Most of the recordings were an hour long. The hacker threatened Radiohead with the online release of the recordings if they didn’t pay the hacker a ransom of $150,000. But Radiohead refused to be a victim. They didn’t pay the ransom. Instead, Radiohead themselves released all of the hacked music, making it available online. Johnny Greenwood, guitarist and keyboard player for Radiohead stated that the hacked music was "Never intended for public consumption” adding “it’s only tangentially interesting. And very, very long. Not a phone download. Rainy out, isn't it though?" Radiohead have made the recordings available on a Bandcamp page for £18 (approximately $23). Climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion will receive all of the proceeds as a donation. Extinction Rebellion lion are one of the Climate Change organisations that helped push for mass public demonstrations, such as activists chaining themselves to a boat in the centre of London. Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion @ExtinctionR https://rebellion.earth/ https://rebellion.earth/2019/06/11/breaking-thank-you-radiohead/ https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/ Jonny Greenwood @JnnyG https://radiohead.bandcamp.com Top Tip #1: If you are a hacker, considering extorting money from musicians, perhaps use a more effective lever than dusty, old, unreleased recordings. Top Tip #2: Target a group that's less savvy, and has less of a chance at spotting an opportunity that gets publicity for the band and their chosen worthwhile cause.

Hey Nathaniel, Welcome to the Songstuff family! Good to have you join us.

Hi Andrew! Welcome to the Songstuff family! Awesome

And Kontakt is awesome

Hey Christopher, welcome to the Songstuff family. Good to have you with us. :)

Hey Emily, Welcome to the Songstuff family!