Networking And The Music Business

You have set up your music business and now you want to get your clients? You do not know where to start? Well there is no other tool better than networking to help you succeed in this business. Below are some tips that you can use to sharpen your networking skills which can help you grow your business leaps and bounds.

Freshen up old relationships. Reach out to old friends. It could be a small telephone call or an email or most innocent of all invite friends through social networking sites like Facebook. The key here is to just start keeping in touch and not start selling your business from day one. Try and find out more about them, their professions, their hobbies etc. Meet them up over a drink if they are in the same town. Revisit old times but do not speak much about your business. Keep in regular touch with friends who seem to have some form of interest in music. Once you have had enough communication with them and both of you feel comfortable with each other, at that time introduce your business. Remember it should never sound like you have got in touch with them just because of your business else you will lose your friends.

Next reach out to local businesses. Offer your services to them for free or nominal fee. Take part in online competitions and community events. Meet up prospective clients in these events. In fact playing in local competitions is one of the most time tested ways of getting clients. If you play well you will start developing a fan base and you can then reach out to them to give you business.

Networking with relatives is another area where you can use your networking skills. In most cases you might be aware which of your relatives are interested in music. You can keep in touch with them and speak to them about your progress and latest developments in the world of music. Once they know that you are genuine and not keeping in touch with them for getting business they will be more than happy to recommend you.

There are some golden principles of networking that you should remember: 
- Keep in touch with your network. Start a newsletter. It is  my favourite and most effective tool here. It takes time but a solid mailing list will be your biggest asset. Take the effort to know them - their likes and dislikes and have common topics of discussion when you meet them. 
- Do not always talk about your business. Business will come your way if you genuinely keep in touch with them. Even if you have to talk business, let that be the last point of discussion. 
- Be courteous. Do not keep on bragging about yourself and how well you play. If you are good they will notice and it is always better to get praise from your customers. 
- Finally take time out for your network and do things for them even if it is not part of your business. When they see that you care about them, they will make sure that they will send business your way.

Subscribe to my mailing list

App Technology For Musicians

Okay, so it's 2013 and I have only recently dived head-first into the world of mobile apps. I did so for the same reason that I enlist myself on certain music sites.....a combination of fan reach and moving along with the times.

If, like myself, you are a musician or a recording artist or entertainer who has your own music or recordings in the apple iTunes store or available on-line then you should be thinking about having your own app or "application" as a useful tool to help promote your music. So what is an app you ask? It is simply a software programme that is designed to specifically operate on a particular device (e.g. smartphone, iPhone, template computer, iPod, iPad, etc). Each app is usually represented by an icon on the devices menu screen.

So how can an app help you find potential customers? Well currently there are 5.3 billion mobile subscribers in the world, in 2009 half a billion mobile subscribers accessed the internet worldwide. Android is expected to become the top operating system for new smartphones in 2011 and top the Apple iPhone. These stats can be seen at the "mobiThinking" website.

In February 2010 the 10 billionth song was downloaded from the iTunes store. So there is plenty of demand for those artists that make it into the iTunes store. An app can provide a vehicle to assist a musician gain exposure. While I am relatively new to the app building industry I can identify the big advantages for the musician in having their own app and the shortage of affordable app producers that can meet the rapidly expanding demand for good, basic affordable apps.

Advantages for a musician in having their own app: -

1. Presence in the market place where your customers go to find music, yet not many musicians so far have an app, (there are reports of 306K iPhone apps and between 150 - 250,000 Android apps),

2. Add credibility to your existing PR portfolio (blog, fan page, social network pages) as your fans want to be able to access your music, videos, etc, anywhere on their mobile phone that goes everywhere with them,

3. Increase sales of your music, promo products, etc, once you connect with more potential fans,

4. Build your fan base, have old fans reconnect with you as well as have new fans find you.

5. Update your fans of your new releases, new products, albums, singles, etc,

6. Have a free app so anyone can afford to have it to use and it can potentially have a viral spread amongst the music community.

7. Be one of the first musicians to have an app in the app market and take advantage of the leverage it can give you.

So as you can see from the above list of advantages there are some valid reasons why musicians and recording artists should have their own app promoting their music. After much research, I recommend utilising 'Apps To Order.' The cost of having an app is no longer an issue. Irrespective of the time taken or complexity of your desired app, the cost varies from $20.00 up to $60.00. Time is no issue. Getting your app exactly as you want it is the number 1 objective. They are well worth giving a look-in. I have heard nothing but compliments to 'Apps On Order' and to me for suggesting them.