Tag Archive for: how to sell more music

Musicians: Here’s How to Sell More Music with Facebook Live

How to sell more music with facebook live

Facebook Live videos are getting a lot of attention recently. And with good reason – it’s a great way to promote your music. And right now they are at the top of the algorithm in terms of reach and engagement. In other words, Facebook prioritizes live videos in the newsfeed.

There are a ton of articles out there explaining how to use Facebook live, so today I want to dive in a little deeper and discuss how you as an indie musician can sell more music with Facebook Live. Because that’s what we’re all aiming for, right? 🙂

There’s no direct “buy” button that will let you sell through Facebook live videos, BUT you can use Lives as a tool to drive fans to support you financially. Let’s take a look.

Take Donations During Facebook Live Events

One of the most direct ways to make money through a Facebook Live is with a little “tip jar.” This is just a link to someplace where fans can donate some amount of money while they’re watching the live video.

So how do you set this up? First, you need some way to accept donation payments. This is different from a typical store where fans trade money for some physical or digital product. Instead, fans will be giving you “tips” simply because they want to be able to support you or to show their appreciation for the awesome Live you’re doing.

It’s pretty easy to set up a PayPal.me link via PayPal. Just go to PayPal.me to create your link. You’ll be able to customize your link URL and donation experience and in the end, you’ll have a link that you can add to your website and a link that will let you send fans straight to your PayPal.me page.

That said, there are other services like Ko-Fi that have a similar function.

Donation Best Practices

Of course, having a donate link and actually getting a decent amount of donations are two different things, so let’s go through some best practices that will help you make the most of this virtual tip jar.

  1. Write up a description of your live video before you start. Ideally, this should tell fans what you’re doing or what the live video is all about. Create a shortened link if necessary and place the link to your tip jar right in the description of the Live video. Some people also post the link in the first comment as well.
  2. If you want to use a virtual tip jar during your Facebook Live sessions, I always suggest keeping the donation open-ended  – in other words, you should let your fans decide how much they want to support you. There’s always the chance that a fan may want to put in $10, $20, or even $100 (yes, it’s happened before), and if you limit them to $5, you’re limiting your own earning potential.
  3. Let fans know the tip jar is there. You don’t need to be obnoxious about it or overly promotional, but something as simple as saying, “Hey if you guys are enjoying the performance you can click the link in the description and give me a tip,” can be very effective. Don’t beg, just call it out a few times during the live.
  4. Give an incentive for tips. If you don’t feel comfortable asking for tips, do something to give back. Something as simple as thanking fans by name can make everything feel a lot more authentic (set up a notification that will alert you every time someone donates so you can thank them in real-time). Other musicians will even do something special for people who donate like taking a song request.

Try these social post ideas on Facebook:

Use Facebook Live Videos to Promote Other Products

Whenever you have something new and cool available, it’s really easy to do a Live video to promote it. In addition to getting more visibility in Facebook’s algorithm (aka more fans will see it), it also allows you to show fans just how excited you are which can make announcing new products, music, or tours a lot more genuine and authentic. Here are some ideas:

  1. Do a Live on the day your album drops to play through all the songs. Include a link to your store where fans can buy and download the album. In between songs, take some questions from your fans so you have a chance to tell the stories behind your album.
  2. Give Facebook Live viewers a special discount. Set up a secret coupon code that you only share during your Live session. That way, fans feel like they’re part of an exclusive and special group. Plus, there’s nothing like a discount to incentivize a purchase. This could be a discount off your album or merch, or even a code that will get them an extra sticker or pin for free. This is one of the best ways to sell more music with Facebook Live.

Sponsorship

If you have a large enough following, sponsored live events can be another way to bring in some income. In other words, a company would give you money in exchange for mentions and reviews in your live videos.

You see sponsored content a lot in the YouTube space, but some companies are making the jump to sponsor live videos as well since they get so much visibility.

Attracting sponsors is going to be a combination of building an engaged audience, releasing great content, and networking your way to potential sponsors.

Sponsors are looking for an engaged and targeted audience to put their product or service in front of. So the first step is always building your fanbase.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you use a certain pedal all the time and it’s genuinely something you love. Make some videos and posts about it. Maybe it’s an in-depth video review you post on Facebook. Maybe it’s a tutorial on how to get a certain sound. Or maybe you just share photos of your set up. Tag the company to hopefully get on their radar. Some companies may reach out to you if they see you’re already using and posting about their products, but it’s also something you should be working on the networking side as well. Do you know anyone who knows someone in that company?

Sell More Music with Facebook Live

Hopefully, that gave you some ideas of ways you can use Facebook live to promote your music and engage with your audience. While Facebook Live has been around for a little while already, it’s still evolving and new ways to use the platform are popping up every day. So don’t be afraid to experiment and see what works best for you and your audience!

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Top 10 Strategies for Indie Musicians (Part 2)

Top 10 strategies for indie musicians

Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1dCOr9T

One of the best ways to grow is to look at what’s worked for other indie musicians and adapt it to your own career. I’ve compiled 10 great strategies with 10 real examples to get you going. A lot of musicians I’ve talked to think they can’t start making strategies to move their career forward until they’re making money, until they take some business classes, or until they get a manager. The coolest thing about these strategies is that you can start using them TODAY.

To learn more strategies that you can be applying to your music career right now, signup to get our most popular ebook, Hack the Music Business for free. 

Here’s strategies 6-10. (You can find part 1 right here.)

6. Find Your Niche as an Indie Musician

The best way to get a really dedicated fan base is to start small. Start local and move up from there. Just focus on your town or city and build up a strong following. Stay after your gigs to get to know your fans. Give them something really valuable and unique. Once you’ve conquered your local scene, move on to the next city. Its a long process, but in the end you’ll have a lot of people who are very excited about your music.

In the same way, you should really focus in on a niche. This can be anything you want – a genre, a attitude, a belief. Aligning with a niche creates the opportunity for a connection – chances are there’s a lot of other people out there who are just as excited about that niche as you are!

Eileen Quinn, is a songwriter, indie musician, and sailing enthusiast who combines her two passions into one by writing sailing songs. She targeted a market that isn’t already saturated with music – the sailing market – and was able to really be the star. It may seem like she limited themselves in terms of audience, but in the mainstream music industry they would have been just another artist. In their specific niche, however she was able to really stand out!

7. Get Your Fans Talking

As an indie musician today, you’re most likely in charge of your own marketing. Music promotion can seem like a completely daunting task if its just you trying to get the word out, but you actually have a whole team of marketers just waiting to share your music – your fans!

With the constant presence of social media and the internet, most music fans today are bombarded with more information than they can possibly process. As a result, most music fans look to recommendations from trusted sources for new music. These trusted sources could be a good music blog but more times than not it comes from a friend.

The Wild Feathers were a group of indie musicians out of Nashville, TN. In the week leading up to the release of their self-titled debut album, The Wild Feathers made the album available early at their live shows. On top of that, the band gave their concert-goers a little surprize. Every album sold included two CDs – one to keep and one to share with a friend. (Source) By selling the album early they are specifically targeting their superfans – the ones who would travel hours just to get their hands on the album before everyone else. Because they are so passionate about the music, superfans are also most likely to tell their friends about The Wild Feathers. Giving them an extra CD to do just that really empowered their superfans to share.

8. Develop a Brand Strategy

“Branding” and “artist image” aren’t new concepts at all. Since the beginning of music artists have been defined by genre and personality attributes. Especially today, there are so many people out there trying to make it as a musician that you really need to consider why people would buy your album or go to your show instead of someone else’s.

There are two common approaches when it comes to defining a brand. Some indie musicians like to list every single genre they draw influence from. On the other end of the spectrum, some artists are afraid to even approach the task of labeling themselves. No brand is just as bad as a confusing one.

You don’t have to confine your brand to just musical style. Weave in elements of your personality, your beliefs, and your attitudes. Before  Sum 41 made it big, they had a hard time getting a record deal because many labels thought they were just another Blink 182 imitation band. The labels only heard one dimension of the band – their sound. It was their image, personality and attitude that really set them apart and got them the deal in the end. The band took camcorder footage of them goofing around and edited it into an audio-visual EPK. The resulting seven-minute hilarious video showed the labels that they were more than just punk music. They were characters and they were very good at projecting their character through media.

9. Find a Balance Between Free and Paid Content

Your music is valuable, and you can ask people to pay for your music in a variety of ways! Remember that money isn’t the only form of payment that has value. Information can be just as valuable or more than cash in many instances. Free music is one of the most effective ways to grow your fanbase. Even big-time musicians like Radiohead and Trent Reznor have used free music to their advantage. The key is to have a reason for free.

When trying to navigate the realm of paid content don’t let yourself be restricted to the typical music products like the CD and tshirt. Services like BandPage Experiences allow you to sell unique products and experiences to your fans. The sky’s the limit, and the more personal the products and experiences, the better. Rock Camp used a BandPage Experience to host a contest, allowing guitarists to purchase entries to win a spot at the Ultimate Musician’s Camp. Anberlin used a BandPage Experience to sell all access passes to their tours.

10. React to Opportunity

In music, opportunities pop up when you least expect them, and it’s your job to be ready! These opportunities could be anything from a pick up gig, to a publishing deal to a chance to collaborate with a local musician. Either way, the indie musicians that can react quickly are the ones who succeed. While you want to take the time to weigh your options, remember that overthinking an opportunity can be just as bad as under thinking. There comes a point where you need to just decide to take the leap or not!

Amanda Palmer made $11k in two hours by jumping on an opportunity. (Source) Palmer was tweeting with her followers about how she was once again alone on her computer on a Friday night. Fans joined in the conversation and a group was quickly formed – “The Losers of Friday Night on their Computers.” Amanda Palmer created the hashtag #LOFNOTC and thousands joined the conversation. When a fan suggested a t-shirt be made for the group Palmer ran with the idea, sketched out a quick shirt design and threw up a website that night. The shirts were available for $25 and two hours later Palmer had made $11,000!

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