Music Flux

Music Trends, Ideas, Resources, Analysis, Discussions on Music Business, and Music Technology.

Music Blogs: Taste or Waste?

By Ryan Van Etten on 08/17/2010

Is The Hype Machine the Lonely Planet of music blogging? “I just feel like everyone tries to do something different, but you always wind up doing the same damn thing.” Our world is a paradox without a crash course. The streets are filled with drivers who supposedly ‘can’t drive’ and writers who supposedly ‘can’t write.’ Perception is all you have. Run with it.

Posted in Discussion, Editorial, Media/Journalism, Music, Music Flux | Tagged 140conf, blog aggregators, bloggers, blogging, blogosphere, change, Chris Weingarten, curating music, denial, drones, Elbo.ws, Hype Machine, meaning/purpose, mediacracy, MOG, MOG Music Network, music bloggers, music criticism, music math, perception, poll, progress, rock journalism, rock/pop, taste, The Beach, The Ramones, travel, traveler vs. tourist, Twitter, unique experience, writing | 6 Responses

Count Clicks To Content

By Ryan Van Etten on 07/27/2010

Mr. Owl, How many clicks does it take to get to the rock n’ roll center of a retail mp3? Let’s find out. A One… A two-HOO…too many! Mr. Owl just BitTorrented right in because it was easier than buying it on iTunes. It took less clicks. It took less clicks. Are you testing your fans’ user experience?

Posted in Design, Music, Music Flux | Tagged Ariel Hyatt, clicks to content, consumers, consumption, content, digital sharing, Disc Makers, Eric Garland, fans, free, Futurehit.DNA, Google, iTunes, Jay Frank, Mr. Owl, New Music Seminar, NMS NYC 2010, OneBox, p2p, package deals, ripping and burning, strategy, streaming, tips, Tom Silverman, Tony Van Veen, UX, What I Learned at NMS10 | Leave a response

One Call To Action

By Ryan Van Etten on 07/27/2010

“Decide an important action + encourage fans to do the action.” There are three phases according to Vinson: Attract fans from social networks a.k.a. “outposts.” Engage them with a “compelling fan experience.” Sell through simple calls to action. Have one concept per page—one call to action. “Artist websites emphasize an artist’s own brand.”

Posted in Design, Music, Music Flux | Tagged action, Ariel Hyatt, attract, band websites, bandzoogle, brands, call to action, Chris Vinson, communication, direct-to-fan, Disc Makers, engagement, interaction, Liz Leahy, mailing lists, music web design, New Music Seminar, NMS NYC 2010, personal brands, resources, retain mindshare, Section 101, service, social media, social music, tips, Tony Van Veen, UX, value-added communication, What I Learned at NMS10 | 1 Response

You Have 10 Seconds

By Ryan Van Etten on 07/26/2010

10 seconds to engage someone. 10 seconds to impress them. In his research for Futurehit.DNA, Jay Frank discovered an impressive trend: Shorter song intros lead to better sales. “2/3 of bestselling songs have an intro that’s less than 7 seconds.” The average intro length for Top 25 songs is 6.6 seconds. “You really have 10 seconds to engage people.”

Posted in Music, Music Flux, News, Popular | Tagged 7 seconds, Ariel Hyatt, attention, attention span, business, consumption, culture, don't make obstacles, engagement, Eric Garland, first impressions, Futurehit.DNA, Google, Gwen Lipsky, impact, Jay Frank, marketing, Mike Doernberg, monetization, MusicBiz, New Music Seminar, NMS NYC 2010, obscurity, people, Ralph Simon, ReverbNation, SEO, song intros, tips, What I Learned at NMS10 | Leave a response

VideoSong Schooled The Video Star

By Ryan Van Etten on 07/14/2010

VideoSong is medium defined by Jack Conte with two rules: 1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice). 2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds). Jack is one half of the indie music duo Pomplamoose, who chose video as their social medium of choice largely due to the magnetic attraction emitted by YouTube.

Posted in Interviews, Music, Music Flux | Tagged anti videosong, band, CDBaby, direct-to-fan, DIY, DIY Musician Podcast, engagement, indie, inspiration, interview, Jack Conte, Kevin Breuner, mp3 sales, music industry, MusicBiz, podcast, Pomplamoose, production, rock/pop, shortform content, social music, video, videosong, viral video, YouTube | 2 Responses

Music Blogs: Don’t Kick This Addiction

By Ryan Van Etten on 07/02/2010

Last month I wrote about five tactics for finding music blogs. Let’s revisit this addiction with three more massive resources and a hit of punk rock. 1. MOG Music Network is a network of music blogs integrated with the social music community MOG. An estimated 800+ external music blogs are now part of MMN—including ours—so MOG it up.

Posted in Music, Music Flux, News, Reviews | Tagged album review, Alkaline Trio, blog aggregators, captaincrawl, Chicago, Matt Allison, Matt Skiba, MOG, MOG Music Network, music blog search, music review, punk, resources, rock/pop, search, This Addiction, video | 2 Responses

Band Apps Get Sound Around [Launch]

By Ryan Van Etten on 06/30/2010

Last week I told the story behind the new band apps-as-a-service startup, Sound Around, whose mantra is ‘iPhone apps for every band.’ Today they rock their full-on launch. Want to get in on this action and try Sound Around free for three months? Well, you’re in the right place because we have a couple promo codes to dish out to bands or musicians.

Posted in Apps, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, News | Tagged app services, bands, CMS, communication, demo, direct-to-fan, integration, iPhone, launch, mobile, mobile music, music apps, musicians, promo code, service, social media, Sound Around | 2 Responses