Pinkle Music
So it must be Andrew Dubber week, b/c I’ve come across some excellent articles by Dubber through his Music Marketing Strategies blog. His latest blog is titled “Why Give Music Away For Free?”
Here’s the disclaimer (and Dubber says this as well): Giving away free music is not for everybody, but when done properly, it will actually help you – not hurt you. Make sure to read the whole article and skim over the 100+ comments left by fellow singer-songwriters. Also hop over to my “Do It For Free” post for some other thoughts.
The Ideal Situation
The ideal situation for giving away music probably involves the aspiring singer-songwriter or band. If you find that fans especially like a particular song at you shows, consider giving it away. If that song is on your CD, that might encourage people to buy your CD. Personally speaking, this has worked well for me. Throughout the 1st several months of my latest CD release I gave away an mp3 of a song called “Strongman”. It was the most popular song at my shows. Later on, I had a few people tell me that Strongman is the reason they bought the whole album.
Dubber gives some personal examples of how giving away product has also helped him.
If you’re in this for the long run then realize that you won’t always be doing things for free. The basic rule of thumb is that if you are good at what you do, if you are persistent, if you are determined, then you will eventually be successful. This is what I truly believe. And I totally believe persistence and consistency are key! Do what you do well and keep doing it. Don’t let up.
Andrew Dubber says it best…
“Don’t try to make money from your music,
make money BECAUSE of your music”
read full blog
Some Rules for Giving Away Music
- 1.] Don’t give away everything . If you never sell anything, you’ll never make money. Duh!
- 2.] But don’t be afraid to give away a whole CD occasionally…especially if soliciting for reviews.
- 3.] Don’t give away crap! Just because you’re giving people something free doesn’t mean they’ll want it. Give good quality music. That’s what gets people coming back for more. Make sure your music is well-produced.
- 4.] Realize that even if someone doesn’t buy your whole CD, they will at least bring traffic to your website and/or tell a friend about you. Word of Mouth, yo!
Here’s a big shoutout to indie artist Pinkle. He makes music for the pure joy of creating. He gives away all of his songs for FREE at www.pinklemusic.com. And its quality! Head to his myspace to give it a listen.
Grassrootsy 