Finding Obscure Indie Music Online

Have you ever had the classic experience with a close friend who tells you about a great song and is very confident that you will love it just as much as he or she does? Upon listening to it, you begin to question the trust you have in them, and no longer have faith in their musical opinions. I've had this experience one too many times and I say let modern technology succeed where friends have failed!

Finding Music Online

There are several online resources available which are much more intuitive than a friend, and can "learn" your music preferences and make suggestions for new music suited to your tastes. These suggestions are tailored to your musical preference history and are pulled from some of the world's largest online collections of tagged music. Radio stations almost always have to play corporate-backed bands with label restrictions, which makes them a bad avenue to find more obscure music.

Online sources are you best bet for finding the best music available. Pulling from a huge compilation of online music, you have access to tons of new music in the genres you want and based on your listening history rather than getting a random suggestion from some weird friend who has an obsession with a local Rush tribute band who couldn't hit the right notes even if they were sober. The music-bots are smarter than your friends, and have a slightly different learning capacity. Looking for indie music? Up and coming local and underground musicians get suggested and listed every day and with good ratings from other users, you can use these tools to be introduced to bands and musicians through a new avenue.

What Are My Options?

Pandora is a free online radio project that generates music suggestions based on a profile you create, where you list your favorite artists and genres. Pandora uses a comprehensive database known as the Music Genome Project, to find and match user music preferences with related music. Just go to http://www.pandora.com, create a profile, and start listening.

Last.fm also has a unique way of gathering preferences to suggest new music to a listener. Users download a plug-in application that will make suggestions based on your listening history. It keeps track of the music you listen to (your current favorite artists) in a process called "scrobbling" and creates your individual music profile based off of that information. The profile is then compared with the music listening history of millions of other Last.fm users to find listeners with similar tastes, and suggestions for new artists and bands are given based off of that comparison. Last.fm already has over 15 million+ active users to base suggestions from. Visit http://www.last.fm and let them expose you to the best new music.

Yahoo!'s LAUNCHcast has a similar structure to Last.fm, but lacks a comprehensive music profile list because it has a smaller network of users. LAUNCHcast also seems to offer a more limited library, with more mainstream music than Last.fm does. This seems quite similar to the way that corporate-owned radio stations provide music.

Another resource features unsigned or independent artists that would not be able to reach their potential fan base unless they ended up getting a major record deal and/or corporate sponsorship. Try Pure Volume to get into the online indie scene and of course, MySpace always works too.

Most of these sites also make it very easy to purchase your recently discovered music once you decide you like it, so you can add it to your ever-growing collection of music and turn it up!

Written by J. Sheppard - avid music lover and writer also known to frequent music blogs.
Indie Music Reviews
Jon Sheppard

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Indie Music Marketing - Why Indie Musicians Are Struggling to Sell Music

If you are an indie musician and you are struggling to sell your music, if you are struggling to get publicity, then it is probably because of at least one of these three reasons:

Reason # 1. Indie Musicians have forgotten, or are not aware of, the true value and power of music.

Indie musicians have to think more like entrepreneurs. Every successful entrepreneur ask this question: What is the value of the work that I do or the product I make? In other words, for your music, what problem does your music solve for my target audience? If you can answer that question, then you have the mind of a music entrepreneur.

The music industry has cheapened the value of music and reduced the value of it to entertainment, to a catchy beat or hook, to packaging. These are all features and not benefits. All marketers know that in order to effectively market your product, you have to focus on the benefits that your product delivers to the consumer. You shouldn't focus on the features. The value of your product is not in the features but in the benefits. The value of your music is not in your hook or your beat but it's in how people receive your hook. It's in how your hook/beat/lyrics solves the problems of others.

Music is more than entertainment for fans. It has more value and more power. When you as an indie musician begin to focus on the real value and power of your music, you will build a successful business model that allows you to connect with your fans and give your fans a reason to buy your music.

People do not just want to be entertained. It is true that people buy music to be entertained, but real entrepreneurs dig deeper to find out the real motivation behind why people buy music. Why do people want to be entertained? Why do people want to be entertained with music? When you can answer those questions, then you will know the value of music and can give people a reason to buy it.

So why do people listen to music? There are many reasons. One reason, people use entertainment as escapism. People turn to music to get their minds off of the struggles they face everyday. It helps them deal with their struggles and problems. People listen to music when they are happy and when they are sad. Listening to music is an emotional experience for so many people. People love the way it makes them feel. It has the power to change our moods. Music inspires, motivates. It is so much more than entertainment and a catchy hook.

If you don't understand the value that your music has in the lives of fans, then you will have a hard time marketing, promoting and selling your music. If you don't know the problems and challenges that your fans have, then you are not a music entrepreneur. If you don't know the problem that your music solves for these people, then you are not a music entrepreneur. If you have not created music that solves their problems, then you are not a music entrepreneur.

Reason # 2. Indie Musicians do not communicate the real value of their music This reason aims at how musicians market and promote their music. In your marketing and promotion, you have to emphasize the value your music has to your fans. In other words, how does your music impact your fans? How are the lives of your fans transformed because they have listened to your music?

Reason # 3. Indie Musicians do not deliver the value of their music to their fans. This is all about distribution, how your music is delivered, received, and experienced by your fans. This is about how your fans experience your brand. Did you deliver what you promised? If you marketed your show as the best live show in your city, then was it the best live show your fans have experienced?

For more tips and strategies on how you can market and promote your music, go to Indie Music Marketing

Author Angela M. Carter is a Music Success Coach and Music Marketing Strategist for Campaign You Strategy Group. Ms. Carter helps indie musicians develop creative and strategic music marketing campaigns. She helps indie musicians get more exposure and sell more music. Ms. Carter is also the host of Music Success Radio, a radio show that offers listeners practical tips on music marketing, branding and promotion.

Currently, she resides in Austin, TX where she is a music attorney.

Music Success Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/musicsuccess

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.