Things You Should Do: Youtube

well i'm gonna go ahead and bet there's not a single person reading this who doesn't know what youtube is. a lot of you probably already have accounts too, it's just something people do. well, good. a youtube account with videos of your music is somewhere between a decent and an incredible way to get exposure.

if you don't have one, start one now. they're free and even if you never use it, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right?

my music account on youtube is available here (www.youtube.com/deadplant155). if you don't feel like checking that out, i have around 30,000 video views total, with three or four in the thousands. that's not that high by youtube standards, but it's a heck of a lot more people who've heard my songs than would have if i didn't have the account.

anywho. once you've got an account, what do you upload? well, video of your songs obviously. i upload both videos taken at shows and videos recorded in "the studio" (i.e. my garage). in the studio videos if you take the time you can get much better sound quality, but there's a quality the live videos have that i much prefer. you don't really wanna be one of the faceless multitude who upload videos of them in their bedrooms playing their favorite cover songs out of tune.

not that there's anything wrong with uploading cover songs, songs that people recognize are much more likely to get noticed on the tube and they can serve as a gateway to original content. there's also nothing wrong with recording in your room or your garage, just take a second to think about the camera angle, the lighting, the sound quality. try closing windows and doors to cut down on outside sound, get an external mic if you're using your computer to record, and turn on some lights. on digital video darkness doesn't look moody, it just looks grainy and distorted.

now this next tip is one i found out the hard way. don't upload a batch of twenty videos all at once. if you've got a dozen or so vids from a recent show, do maybe one a day for a few weeks. it's more likely that videos will get lost in the shuffle if you're uploading them in chunks. the other reason to spread it out is that while it's all well and good to upload fifty videos in a week, if you don't have any new content to offer after that for months on end, people will lose interest. a steady stream of content is much more important than just dropping a ton of videos all at once. it will bring in new views more consistently and it will keep your subscribers and repeat visitors happy as there's always something new to see.

this is actually a good overall tip, any online presence you maintain should be updated as regularly as possible. now i'm not saying you have to make a news post on your website or blog twice a day, but two or three times a month might be a good guideline to shoot for. if people check your website every day for a week and there's never anything new then they might not come back and you've just lost a potential fan.

one last thing about youtube. i don't actually know if this is helpful at all, but it's something i try to do to be polite. whenever i receive a comment on a video i reply to it personally. most of the time it's just a simple "thanks for taking the time to comment, i'm glad you like my video!" but if they ask me a question i'll do my best to answer it. i don't know if this gains me any views or if people maybe dont' even like it, but i feel like if they can take the time to let me know they like a video, then i can take the time to properly thank them. now, when you become infinitely more famous than me and start getting ten thousand views a day it'll become impossible to read let alone reply to every comment. i think it's an important part of indie music, however, to interact with your fan base and to be aware and appreciate of the fact that they're what's going to decide if you make it as a musician. respect your audience, it can't do anything but help you in the long run.

and that's about all i've got on youtube, hope that's a helpful post, thanks for reading, and good luck!

-loren

p.s. don't do any of that stupid youtube stuff like steal someone else's content or spam people or lie in your video's tags to try and increase your ranking in search results. that just pisses people off. seriously. don't do it.

getting discovered - thesixtyone.com

ok. my first post is going to be about getting your music heard. now everyone knows that the internet has been breaking down barriers and making it easier and easier to get your product (be it music, art, or recycled popsicle sticks) out to the masses. knowing where to start can still be tough. most people know the basics, get a myspace or facebook account, maybe throw a video or two up on youtube, but beyond that, what are your options as far as socially promoting your music? well, i found a great site a few weeks ago that is dedicated to just that.

www.thesixtyone.com is a website that is all about promoting and discovering independent music. the interface is incredibly user friendly, the community is unbelievably supportive, and the quality of artists is surprisingly high. anyone with an e-mail address can join for free, so there are a few rare stinkers, but the site's rating system is extremely well thought out and it usually weeds through the garbage so that good music can get more exposure.

when you first go to the site, click "free account" towards the top right of the page. a popup window will appear and you just have to select whether you want to create an "artist" account or a "listener" account. artists can upload music, while listener accounts can "bump" (see: vote for) music that they like. when you select "artist" you'll agree to their little warning to only upload your own music, and then you get to specify your band name, the url you want (mine, for example, is www.thesixtyone.com/lorenradis), and an e-mail address (which they never spam!).

after you've got your artist account setup all that remains is to upload some music. this couldn't be easier, simply click the big "upload music" button above your profile towards the right. this'll take you to the upload page where you specify the name of the track, whether or not it's a cover (and if so, who wrote the original) and where the source file is. you can upload directly from your computer or from another website if you've already got your music online somewhere. at this early stage you should be able to upload three songs.

now is where the fun starts. it's a little bit slow going at first, but people will start to find your music and after they've listened to it they have the option to "bump" your song, which will cost them a few points and give you a few points. points are the key to getting heard on this site. as you accrue more points you gain higher levels, and as you hit higher levels you're allowed to upload more songs. the faster your songs gain points, the higher they climb on the "what's hot" list. i've had two songs on the front page and am currently level 13. the better your songs are, the more bumps you'll get, and the more people will hear your music.

so that's about it for this post i think. i've been on thesixtyone for a few months now and a ton of people have commented on my page, my songs, etcetera. it's been a great experience and in my opinion it's one of the better ways to get some online exposure. also, it's still a fairly young site, so now is a great time to get on board before it gets all oversaturated!

thanks for reading, i hope that helps :)

-loren