The music industry is not immune to basic economic principles that affect every other business venture. When a band is first formed, an identifying name is chosen. Brand building for bands works the same way as it does for typical small businesses; it is important to help the audience become familiar with the name of your band.
However, the online world also allows you to associate your band name with specific pieces of content and a wide variety of related keywords. Through these types of technology partnerships, you can get your band name in more places and reach new people faster. Let’s take a look at some specific tech tools and tips that can help your band build a following.
Social networks, content distribution and iPhone applications for bands
Before the internet, the only way to get songs to the end consumer was to hand-press pieces of physical media, make a music video, or promote singles on radio stations. Obtaining these formats can be expensive. Many social networking sites now offer a simple content management system for bands that can be used to upload new songs, photos, music videos, bios, and other forms of content instantly. Fans can consume and share this content with their friends. This ease of distribution has drastically reduced the costs associated with promoting a music project.
Through social networking services, you can add friends during your free time and use those efforts to gain more name recognition. More content distribution tools can help outside of the online world. For example, if you were to get a custom iPhone app for your band, you could encourage anyone to listen to your music when you’re at shows by promoting in a traditional way, like handing out flyers. If you offered a free mobile phone app for the iPhone 4, most users of the popular cell phone would be able to listen to your band instantly on a device they already own.
Feel free to ask someone to develop a custom Android app as other smartphones like the Droid X are also very popular. In fact, band apps for iPhone can be transferred to Android Market quite easily.
For musicians, an artist website is not enough
You can’t just select a dotcom name and feel like the job is done. When you’re promoting new music, it’s important to be available on as many services as possible. Let the end user decide where to put their music.
Whether you are looking to become more well known in your local scene or gain a following on a global scale, there are technological tools that can be used to reach new fans faster. It is advisable to make some of your music available for free so that people can try it out without having to risk their money on a whole CD. Mobile apps for bands allow musicians to post free songs and download albums. Fans will appreciate the content available. Even if you don’t want to offer free downloads of new songs, you can always provide free streaming content on an iPhone app, mobile web page, or social media website. This would allow new listeners to try without letting them download the content on other devices.
However, with that being said, the availability of free downloads has not been shown to discourage people from paying for albums. Consumers who buy albums are often collectors. They buy records largely on principle and will likely continue to do so even if you make the songs available for free download.
There are many ways to post a band name on the internet. Keep these tips in mind when you sit down at your computer to promote your new album.