Email Catch-22
I love loved email. Now I think it may be the death of me. IMO email has gone out of fashion. Lately when I look in my Gmail inbox I’m a deer in the headlights. I try to reply to everyone who writes me, but, at the same time I don’t want to spend my whole life writing emails.
Communicate Like Drugs
Communication is a drug. Active ingredients: Force, Information, Relevance, Entertainment. Across any medium, from email to blog, newsletter, tweet, text, status, song, or video, when you communicate you want to deliver verbal Valium. Three elements of F.I.R.E. is a gateway drug. Four is mainline euphoria. Full molecular composition and drug facts are detailed within. Warning: F.I.R.E. triggers action.
One Call To Action
“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.”
![Band Apps Get Sound Around [Launch]](http://img.virtualmusic.tv/thumbs/scott-and-steve-on-vimeo.png)
Band Apps Get Sound Around [Launch]
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.
![Skype It Up: Hooked On Data [Infographic]](http://img.virtualmusic.tv/thumbs/skype-in-numbers-150.png)
Skype It Up: Hooked On Data [Infographic]
Call me crazy, but I was surprised to see that only 13% of international call minutes last year were on Skype. I thought that number would be higher—I think it will be within a few years because of the amplifying access to computers both at work and home. Then there’s mobile VoIP. Skype already has apps for iPhone/Blackberry/Android/Symbian, and it’s only a matter of time before the majority of cellphones are smartphones.
Musician Apps—What Do Fans Want? 5 Key Components.
Last year I covered four platforms that musicians can use to build iPhone apps—Mobile Roadie, MobBase, iLike, and Kyte. Sound Around is another one, and is currently in private beta. Discussion from yesterday’s autoplay poll got me asking myself, “what do fans really want in an artist app?” I thought about it for a while and came up with 5 key components.
