When your music is online, you want to collect as many email addresses from your fans. I had some tracks that I wanted to use to give away as a free promo. If you don’t have a mailing list setup then this will give you an idea of some free options. I needed a way to collect emails from fans in exchange for some free music. Once they sign up I could inform them with some newsletters with new releases and free music. I chose two different options:

1. WordPress Double Opt-In Manager Widget
2. Bandcamp

Wordpress Double Opt-In Manager Widget

The WordPress Double Opt-In Manager Widget allows you to add a widget to your blog and collect emails. Here is a list of some of the great features:

1. Subscribe to your mailing list from your blog
2. Send a welcome email to each new subscriber
3. Saves the subscriber details to your Wordpress database
4. Customize sign up form
5. Schedule your emails to be sent weekly, monthly or whenever you update your blog
6. Users can update their subscription and unsubscribe easy
7. Can automatically delete users who don’t confirm their subscription within 7 days

Our free music strategy we worked on the other day now comes into effect. Stimulate some sign ups and create some website exclusive music that can be downloaded if they sign up. Great way to provide a unique piece of work exclusive to those who sign up. Download the plugin and upload it to your plugins folder. Activate it and customize your message.

Bandcamp

If you don’t use Wordpress but want another way to give away some free music and gather emails then I would suggest using Bandcamp. Upload some of your free albums, ep, or singles and Bandcamp takes care of the rest. They provide you with free promo codes for you to share your music on various social networks. In exchange for downloading music, your fans have to give their emails to be sent the link. Quick solution to building a free mailing list. Bandcamp even allows you to export that email list to whatever future email software you plan to use.

Here is an example of a free ep we uploaded. We are currently testing its online results.

Free marketing options don’t have to look cheap and spammy. You control the messages, and appearance with these great tools. There is no reason why any band that wants to sell music online can’t begin their mailing list campaign. These new sign ups express interest in your music and are a valuable asset to your music operation. Reward fans and give yourself a better chance of selling your music.

Bandcamp provides you with a free home for your music and gives you all the tools to promote it in this Web 2.0 world. Their approach to promoting music on the internet has made me question how good our band’s approach is on various topics such as: search engine optimized track pages, quick streaming and downloading of music, clean album layouts, and stat tracking for music plays.

Upload your music, cover art, and custom header graphic to your page, which is clean and ad free, unlike Myspace. Your discography is displayed while fans can stream your music and read your track description, lyrics, and links to your other websites or band blog. Check out their video below.

Bandcamp Screencast from Ethan Diamond on Vimeo.

Say you want to learn more about a particular track, you click on it and it goes to the track page, where your can describe your individual song more in detail. Then you can download the song in various formats and charge your own price. When the music is downloaded it is tagged correctly with artist name, song name and song art. Their example shows an artist giving away a free 128k mp3 version of a song and letting fans name their own price for a higher quality version such as AAC or FLAC. This is great because I always hear DJ’s complaining about low quality mp3’s and not using them in their sets. Give consumers options.

The stats look awesome, and the buzz section shows all the places on the web where your code is embedded and how many plays per track. Great way to join in conversations about your music. Connect with fans, acknowledge their effort.

The feature I enjoy the most is the ability to promote your music with their “Share” option. Choose where you want to share your music on sites such as Facebook, Myspace, Wordpress, and Twitter. Within a click you will be provided with a link or code to promote your music on various sites.

Even if you have distribution, I think Bandcamp can be a useful tool. Promote free songs, EP’s or mixtapes. Each track gets it own URL making it great for search engine optimization. Your music is your content and the more music you make and describe thoroughly, the better your fans can find you when doing searches on Google or Yahoo for instance.

My only question is how long before this service is no longer free. They offer great utilities for indie musicians which makes me wonder how long it will remain free. Their site says they are “experimenting” with revenue models and might charge in the future by taking a cut of download and merchandise revenue from artists selling over a certain amount per month. Until they decide, the service is free and I plan to try it as an outlet for future promos.

Establishing your online presence in a Web 2.0 crazed world is critical for any music operation and their success. This list provides different avenues each artist can tap into to increase their visibility online. These different target areas allow you to focus your marketing energy towards different social networks and forms of music promotion.

Developing a marketing strategy is easy. With all the tools out their for independent musicians, all it takes is some effort.

Web Hosting

Purchasing your own domain hosting and establish your brand name. Your own hosting gives you more flexibility to customize your site and expand by creating forums or blogs. I prefer Bluehost because of my experience with their customer service and control panel. Bluhost gives you all the scripts to setup a Wordpress blog in minutes.

• Bluehost
• Dot5Hosting
  
• HostMonster

Free Blogs

Promote your music by any means. If you choose not to buy your domain name and hosting then you should take advantage of any FREE blogging platform. Establish your brand name. I like Blogger because you can start a blog for free and use your Adsense code to make extra marketing revenue while blogging. Nice to see out of a free blog site.

• Wordpress
• Blogger
• Weebly

Music Distribution

Upload your music to major online retailers such as iTunes, Napster and Amazonmp3. Choose distribution service if you currently have no marketplace for your album then promote over various social networks. I prefer Songcast because of its unlimited album upload, free profile page, widget/link maker and 100% royalties.

• Songcast
• Tunecore
• Catapult
• Routenote
• CD Baby
• Watunes

Mailing List

Setting up a mailing list is essential for your music operation. You can manage a small fanbase and create a better chance of selling your music to your list. They signed up so they are interested in your art. I chose Aweber because of their track record and awesome features allowing your readers to stay tuned to all your news.

• Aweber

Music Profiles

Upload your music for free. Create profiles and add friends, allowing them to hear your music and read on your band news and tour info. Bandcamp is my favorite. They have a clean profile page to upload your music, collect emails, allow fans to download album fully coded with cover art, and it is all for free. You can sync up your page with your Paypal account and sell the music for whatever price you choose.

• Bandcamp
• Myspace
• Ourstage
• last.FM
• Soundclick
• Facebook

Social Bookmarking/News Sites

Write a post on your blog and then submit them to these news sites. Great way to promote your band and get free traffic.

• Friendfeed
• Digg
• Delicious
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• Propeller
• Reddit
• StumbleUpon
• Technorati

Music Licensing

Submit your music to these sites and they help connect you with placing your music in television and film projects.

• Sound Exchange
• YouLicense
• RumbleFish
• Pump Audio
• BeatPick

Online Music Collaboration

Collaborate online and network with fellow hungry musicians. Work on music together and have twice the promotion. Network!

• MixMatchMusic
• Bojam
• Valooza
• TuneRooms

Music Resources

Participate in different music arenas and find your comments leading to great unique visits later. Share your knowledge and market.

• Music Think Tank
• Audible Hype
• Know the Music Biz
• Future Producers
• Taxi
• Hypebot

Article Traffic

Display your expertise, write articles and create free profiles. Great for backlinks to your site and generating extra unique visitors to your site.

• Ezine
• Squidoo
• HubPages

Create Free Widgets

Free widgets are great. Spread them across your music profiles and promote your content. Add one to Myspace and get fans to your website.

• Clearspring
• Sprout Builder
• Widgetbox

Free Press Release Sites

Creating a press release is a great way to establish your credibility. Press releases are great to add to your Press Kit and help spread your name online.

• OpenPR
• Express Press Release
• Free Press Release

As an indie label partner and musician, these websites and services have made it possible for me to sell albums in a digital world. The key to this is finding a nice mix of promotion. Once you develop a consistent plan of attack, your marketing will become an asset instead of an obstacle.