Power of Music

I first started publishing my band newsletter during the Summer of ‘98. I tried the snail mail route. It was exhausting. Electronic newsletters (aka ezines) were the way to go.

I must’ve tried it all too. I promoted gigs, told of our latest accomplishments, gave away a free mp3 every month. Some of it worked. Some didn’t.

Here are some tips I’ve learned about running my band newsletter:

1. Give away something for free. It can be as simple as an MP3 download at MP3.com. Or a sticker. A free CD once a month. Well worth the cost for their loyalty. And it can be a great promo tool to draw people into signing up for your newsletter.
2. Hype your band. Tell your fans about all the band news. Who’s reviewed your latest CD? Post rave testimonies by your fans. Post them on your website too. Be positive and let them know you are the best!
3. In the two years I’ve managed my fan newsletter, I’ve had scores of fans write, saying, “Wow! I’m glad you’re doing so well.” We weren’t. And I didn’t lie. But our many small successes sounded like big ones to our fans. That is what hype is all about.
4. Keep it short. Write as if you were writing for a newspaper. Compose brief paragraphs about your greatness. Use headlines that make your fans want to read it. Provide frequent links to your website where you can post articles or more “further info”.
5. Publish every 7-10 days. This depends on how much info you get. But as long as the content is short and informative, people won’t mind. If you add a little drama, like how you’re doing on MP3.com, and how they can help, you’ll keep the fans reading. But if you’re not gigging much, and don’t have much news. Don’t publish. Give your fans what they deserve, the best.
6. Don’t get upset if people unsubscribe. It happens. If you lose half your list, consider adjusting your publishing schedule. But expect that some people can’t deal with a newsletter every 7-10 days. Perhaps every two weekes is better. I was doing every two weeks until I realized how much more effective a 10 day schedule was for our fans. But less than two weeks, and you are no longer on the fore front of your fans’ minds.
7. Choose a great inspiring name. Something that has meaning and is fairly informative. Certainly you can can get by without one, but a good name could attract people just out of curiousity.
8. Make it visually appealing. Keep lines short–60-65 characters followed by a hard return. Have a decent amount of space between sections. Add a table of contents at the beginning of the newsletter. Text newsletters work best, at present, but if you decide on an HTML ezine. Make sure you test it out extensively beforehand. Graphics need to be attached to your message. But keep it visually interesting on all accounts.
9. Content is King. You hear it all over the internet marketing circles. Make sure the info you provide is useful and relevant. My biggest problem is that my newsletter has subscribers worldwide and until we got hooked up on MP3.com, it was useless telling our fans about gigs in Austin. So have info that is interesting for EVERYONE!
10. Reward your fans. Give discounts for their loyalty. Have your CD on sale to newsletter subscribers.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000’s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE “how-to” music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

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If you’ve been playing piano for some time, you may come upon periods where you forget yourself and only the music remains. You might even have had a spiritual experience. A phenomenon where emotion and intellect become one and the outside world disappears.

This experience is what we all want, whether we admit it or not. This is a very important part of making music - especially new age music. We want that moment where we can stop thinking and start feeling.

Of course, there are times when we create something for a specific purpose such as dance music, rock and roll, etc. But when you are attuned to your feeling and letting the music flow from your fingers the wonder and magic of it is enough to make you want to come back again and again for more.

To get to this place does not require any special ability. It only requires that you know a little about chords and how to use them. Then, you place your fingers on a chord and off you go.

What makes this complicated for some is their indecision about which chord or notes to play. After all, there are thousands of choices. The solution for this problem is limiting your choices. In the free lessons, I give you a scale to play and a few chords from that scale to improvise with. This is enough material to get the imagination going. Some students thrive on limits while others fight them. I fought them too until I realized that my goal was to feel good about music making - not to create a masterpiece.

As soon as I thought about creating anything - I froze up. Technically, I knew a lot but it did me no good. I reexamined my reasons for making music and came to the conclusion to keep it simple. Simple, in my mind at the time meant boring. But I finally let go of the need to please others and as soon as I did, I began to experience music making as a spiritual experience.

Now, there is nothing that heals me so much as just being at the piano - letting the notes fall where the will within the limitations I set for myself. First, I allow myself to gravitate to any sound that calls me. For example, it could be a minor chord. It might be the pentatonic sound that calls to me. Then I simply stay within that sound or tonality and all is well.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

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Boy, I really detest how some people do websites. Bands are some of the worst. Seems like any band that wants to look “professional” feels they must create a website using pop-ups and flash. Why? Cuz that’s what the Majors do?

I tried to go to a friend’s website today to find his email address. He’s in a band. “Click here if you have a pop-up stopper.” Now is that a stupid way to start a website or what?

So I clicked… dreading the outcome… For the next minute the minute flash loaded… A MINUTE!

Meanwhile, I was enjoying some wonderful music by Angelo Branduardi, a wonderful Italian world folk musician. Then “BLLAAAAARRRR.” The frickin flash program was trying to play music that was causing problems with the music I was enjoying… All I wanted was an email address, not a headache!

I find it intriguing. Do you really WANT to alienate journalists?

I publish this newsletter and the Celtic MP3s Music Magazine, and I have to steer clear of Flash websites, because they cause problems. I skip them. NO Band is so good that I’m willing to put up with that crap!

Not to mention Flash websites hinder my ability to review the band. You see, when I start researching a band, I go to their website, copy and paste some info about the band, finish my comments, and voila! There is NO copy and pasting available with Flash. Again, you’ve cut your opportunities for getting decent reviews in half.

I know you want to take advantage of the cool technology available, but technology is useless unless it is used with intelligence. So seriously folks, lay off the Flash websites!

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000’s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE “how-to” music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

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