Derek Webb is a big proponent of data. His site, Noisetrade.com, is built around the premise that data is the most valuable thing that a musician can have, more than money and more than a fan number on social media. That’s why he built a platform where artists can upload their music to give away to potential (and existing) fans in exchange for an email address and a zip code. Musicians can use the zip codes to create data banks of what regions of the country their fans are in, and create targeted touring dates in response. Hear Derek tell you how he built his career using data and how you can too on this podcast episode.
Derek isn’t alone. Big business is investing a ton of resources in the growth of data banks, using information and research as the key indicators of what decision-making choices will yield the best results. Forbes reports that Fortune 500 companies are increasing their workforce to grow Big Data segments of their business.
Be Super Powered: Data and Research For The DIY Musician
What data and research has to do with a musician’s growth has everything to do with saving you time, money, and energy. What if you could tell the viability of your music before you started the submission process to radio, music blogs, or other media? How valuable would thorough data on your individual songs be to you on how likely music fans are to stream or buy your tracks? Incredibly valuable.
Now the ability to see what your potential fans have to say about whether your music is something they will pay for can be had. Introducing Audiokite.
I’m a fan of platforms like this, which is similar to what Fluence.io is, a platform for you to submit your music and find out from unbiased music curators, how potent and powerful your music is. What these curators have to say about the depth of your music, and how remarkable it is, shows you a clearer picture of what you need to grow.
The incentives for paid services benefits musician in exponential ways
Am I also a fan of Audiokite and Fluence because there is a financial incentive for me? Truthfully, yes I am. It’s important for you to consider the reasons for this. It’s more than just financial.
Why should you even remotely consider following either one (or both) of these links and pay to have your music reviewed and critiqued by someone when you can submit your music to online radio and blogs for free?
You never know what you’re going to get when you submit to a site or platform where you don’t have a connection with the creator behind it. They may play your track once or a hundred times. They may contact you for an interview and showcase every single song in your songbook.
Or they may not ever respond to you, and not ever listen to a single note you have recorded.
Either way, when you submit music to anyone’s platform, you’re asking them to give you their time, attention, and professional insight when listening to your tracks for consideration. Surely those three things have value in your world. You can understand why a curator or music platform would be in favor of utilizing a resource that also plugs artists who submit music into a whole network of fellow curators. The result of this network is that you, the artist, gets even bigger and better results from the endeavor.
Why not let your submission go further than just radio or media? Using the data gained from a platform like Audiokite, you gain the insights, research and information necessary to see which niche music audiences are the most responsive to your music. You can then be even more specific with the stations and platforms you contact to get music to. These audiences are the exact people that your data reveals will not only listen, but also buy your music. That data just led you to new sources of income for your music.
See the power of using data and research to get a leg up on your music growth. Then take that information and use it to gain more fans via radio airplay, social media promotion, youtube videos, blog and podcast reviews and other media outreach.
Use data and research to take your music promotion to the next level. Learn how to make it work for your radio submissions in my new book The DIY Musician’s Radio Handbook: How To Growth Hack Your Audience Using Radio Airplay.
You must be logged in to post a comment.