All of this, and you still have to find time to do what you got into this in this in the first place to do -- make music.

Lots of people ask, “So, what can I do? How can I help you get your music out there?”

Glad you asked!

Here are 10 things you can do that will be very much appreciated by any independent artist.

1. 1.Buy a CD.
   It’s pretty basic, but nothing makes a musician feel all warm and fuzzy inside more than someone actually liking their music enough to put down $10 or $15 to hear it.
   - Buy at the artist’s Web site (I use a distributor called “Kunaki,” and it is a very safe, secure place;  
     no problem using a credit card. And, btw, I never see your credit card info.)
   - Buy at CDBaby
   - Buy at Amazon
   - Buy at iTunes (or other legitimate download site)
   
   In this day and age, a digital download is as good as buying  a physical CD (actually, the artist usually will get a bigger slice of the sales price for a digital download).
   

2. 2.Don’t overdue the free sharing.
   Go ahead and share the artist’s music with friends, but if you find yourself giving out multiple copies of the entire CD, it would be much nicer to buy another CD or download.
   

3. 3.Buy (and wear/use) artist’s logo items.
   This is, of course, assuming the artist has merchandise that is worth wearing. Not everyone wants to wear a t-shirt with a big yellow dog on it.  If you’re the kind of person who puts bumper stickers on your car, do that. Put their coffee mug on your desk at work. Whatever helps get the name of the artist into the public eye helps. The goal is for someone to ask, “what’s that?” Then, you can give a 30 second sales pitch for the artist (don’t forget to give the Web site address).
   

The rest of this stuff doesn’t cost you anything, but it can be as important (if not more so) to the artist’s success than buying a CD. If you buy a single CD or two, that’s great (and much appreciated). If you do some of the following, you could help sell dozens more CDs, help introduce the artist to people who might otherwise never find out about them or even help create a buzz that helps the artist with booking dates.

4. 4.Go to Amazon and leave a review.
   This is really important. The more reviews a CD gets on Amazon, the more likely a new fan is to buy the music.  Don’t overdo it with the superlatives. An honest, fair and positive review will help convince others to take a chance on the CD.  (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026PI07C/ )
   

5. 5.Go to CDBaby and to the same thing. (http://cdbaby.com/cd/davidmaguire)
   

6. 6.Request the music on radio.
   There are hundreds of radio stations across the country that play the kind of music your favorite artist plays. In my case, that would be all of the folk stations or stations that have a folk program or two that they air once (or more) each week.  Call, email or go to their Web sites and request the music.  It only takes a few requests before the person who puts together that show or programs the music for that station will start to say, “hmmmm, I should know about this guy.”  Don’t flood the station with numerous, anonymous requests (email and Web site hits can be traced back to at least the general area from where you’re entering the Internet. If five requests all of a sudden show up from the same Newark ISP, they’ll assume they’re all coming from the same person).
   

7. 7.Request the music online.
   There are lots of indie music sites on the Web. Find out the ones your favorite indie artist has been accepted to and drop a request. Even if your friend’s music hasn’t yet been accepted by that station, a couple of requests will get the ball rolling.
   

8. 8.Support the artist at other online music sites.
   There are lots of sites out there where, for free, you can sign up and set up your own little online radio station. Some are just indie artists, but many mix the indie guys right in there with the big stars. At these sites, each artist has a page where you can learn more about them and hear their music (in some cases, you get free downloads, too). You can then rate their music, leave a message and/or a review, add the artist to your playlist, etc. Everything is tracked and as an artists gets more attention, it can start to snowball, until they’re starting to get some real notice. Some of these sites allow the artists to buy a certain number of random plays, targeted to people listening to the same style of music,  in the hopes that you will hear a new artist, add them to your playlist and go and buy their CD.
   A couple of places I recommend you check out:
   - http://www.last.fm 
   Very well done site. Put together a playlist of your favorite, big name acts, and add your favorite indie artist, too. The site will suggest new music, based on what you have said you like. You can rate artists or individual songs; add them to your list (or ban them); go to the artist’s page and leave a message, get ringtones, etc.  (http://www.last.fm/music/David+Maguire)
   - http://www.jango.com 
   Another well done site, along the same lines as last.fm. If the artist gets 50 listeners to vote for their song, jango will add the artist to the regular, streaming playlist (indie artists can also purchase certain amounts of random plays, in the hopes of discovering new fans).  (http://www.jango.com/music/David+Maguire)
   
   

9. 9.Be a “friend.”
   Support your favorite artist on the big social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter).
   (My fav is Facebook; I’m registered as “David C. Maguire.”)
   

10. 10.Support their live shows.
    If they’re playing in your area, grab a bunch of friends and go see them. Believe me, it sucks playing to a half empty (or all empty) room.  Also, if you know of place where your favorite artist could or should be playing, a) let them know, and b) let the club/venue know that you would like to see that artist.  Be careful, and know your artist. If they only play their own, original music, don’t recommend them to a place that wants their performers to play cover tunes. If your favorite club only books bands, don’t recommend your favorite, solo folksinger.

<< Previous

Next >>