Stop Trying To Sell Your Music

Hey guys, Dezz Asante here from the Techmuze Academy for the Artist Promotion Blueprint. Today’s tip is a little bit of a strange piece of advice but I want you to flow with me if you will. And my advice to the DIY musician who’s trying to make a name for himself, in particular on the internet which is nowherely the focus of our conversation at Artist Promotion Blueprint. My advice to you is this, and that is to stop trying to sell your music on the internet. As counter-intuitive as that may sound, let me explain what I mean by that. I see this over and over again. I’ll see a new artist. They look interesting. They sound interesting. I’ll follow them on Facebook, on Twitter or wherever. And what I see over and over all day long everyday is check out my tune in Itunes. Check out my new video. Check out this. We’re playing this date. Come and see  us. Cha, cha, cha, cha, cha! It’s important to get that information out there but not necessary in those forums. We think of social media as a platform to promote ourselves when instead we should be thinking of it as a platform to be social and engage with our audience, our potential fans. Turn them into fans ideally. You see the theory is this. If you have lots of fans, sales happen all by themselves. You don’t even have to try. For example if you are Inich Sales fan and the thread releases a new album, do you need somebody to knock on your door and sell it to you? No you don’t. You’re a fan. So, you just go and get it when its available. It’s the same approach you to take when you’re considering your approach online in particular with a focus on social networking and social media webistes. Instead what I recommend that you do is focus on growing your fan base. That’s the reason why people are there. They want to be social. They want to interact. They want to know about you. Open your kimono. Let them into your world! Tell them about the things that make you….hmmp… interesting anecdotes or stories that may have come up on the road touring or during the recording session or anything like that. Any type of interesting engaging content that’s going to allow an audience member, a potential fan to really get to know you as an artist, as a band whatever the case maybe. If you are able to do this and do it well and engage in answer, questions and talk with your audience on those channels instead of trying to sell your records you’ll find counter-intuitively as it may sound that your sales will actually increase because your fan base is increasing. So, all you need to remember is this. The one thing you should be doing online, the most important thing that you should doing online to promote yourself as an artist is actually not promoting yourself but instead engaging with people, developing relationships. Developing and audience and turning those audience members into fans. Once you’re able to do that sales happen all by themselves.

So, a little food for thought for you and we’ll see you in the next video.