Music Business Blog by Jason Feinberg

My third post for the PBS MediaShift blog is now up at http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/04/how-bands-can-avoid-making-7-big-seo-mistakes119.html. It details seven key areas of search engine optimization that often cause trouble for artists when building sites.

The seven mistakes are:

1) Site Built Fully in Flash
2) Site Built With Images Only
3) Lack of Keywords in Content
4) Relying Solely on Meta Tags
5) Poor Link Strategy
6) Overlooking Alternate Search Types
7) Ignoring the Logs or Not Utilizing Analytics

For in-depth details of these issues, and more importantly, resolutions to solve them, visit http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/04/how-bands-can-avoid-making-7-big-seo-mistakes119.html.

My newest article has been published over at the PBS MediaShift Blog.

http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/04/maximizing-the-sxsw-experience-with-social-media091.html

It’s all about using technology and social media tools to get a better SXSW experience. Hopefully something useful in it for everyone – if you’ve never been it’s a major jumpstart, and if you are a veteran you might learn some new tips to get even more out of it.

I am now writing for the PBS Mediashift blog, and my first post is up. It’s titled “Five Tips for Musicians to Engage Their Fans Digitally” and can be read here: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2009/03/five-tips-for-musicians-to-engage-their-fans-digitally068.html

Let me know what you think…

Been insanely busy since getting back from the Murder City Devils tour. They are playing Coachella and Sasquatch too.

As I’ve mentioned, I went out on the road with them for eight days filming the general experience. Was nothing too planned out. Just a dude, on tour with the band, taking snapshots of what that week on the road was like.

The band has posted Day Two (Seattle, 2.12.09) at http://www.themurdercitydevils.com/2009/03/day-two-february-12th-2009/.

A quick note from the Portland airport to let you all know we posted day one of the Murder City Devils video last night. I’ve been getting a ton of footage every day, looking forward to editing more of these and posting soon. The shows have been amazing, I can’t wait to mine the footage to see how well I captured the energy and vibe.

Check out day one here:

http://www.themurdercitydevils.com/2009/02/day-one-february-11th-2009/

So I am sitting in my hotel room in Seattle, preparing to hit the road with one of my favorite bands, The Murder City Devils. Anybody that pays attention to any of my social network profiles (like twitter) know that I have been talking about this band like mad for the past two months. Part of that is because I built their website and am managing the online marketing campaign surrounding the tour and re-issues; the other part is that this band freaking rules and if you are unfamiliar you may want to check them out. Highly recommended if you are into bands ranging from The Dead Boys to Zeke, from At The Drive In to the Misfits.. They were primarily in existence from 1996 – 2001, and have played a handful of shows since.

Until now. Tomorrow starts a 9 show / 8 date west coast tour. And I am going along with the band.

Starting Thursday, be sure to check out http://www.themurdercitydevils.com every day for a blog entry and video update showing video from the road, each show, behind the scenes, and assorted mayhem. I am basically traveling with the band, video camera in hand. As a fan of the band, this is an amazing opportunity, and as a new media marketing guy this is an excellent way to use my skills. Win-win situation.

I’ve had this link open in my browser for a few weeks. STILL working my way through it. The title says it all. Pour a glass of Ovaltine, engage your pocket protector, get in your most uncomfortable carpal tunnel inducing position, and read away…

Categories include:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Personal Branding
Social Media: Strategy for Social Sites
Twitter
LinkedIn

and more…

http://www.techipedia.com/2009/internet-marketing-posts-2008/

I am a statistics monkey, i love them and learn as much as I can by reading any music/internet/tech stat I can find.

This post details out a survey presented last week at MIDEM that details fan preferences regarding digital music. A new notable bits:

What about fans’ interest in artist-based subscription models – subscribing to get cool content and offers. 30% said yes, 56% said it depends on the cost, and 13% said no. So how much? 51% said they’d only use it if it was free, but would accept ads. Those who would pay said they would pay £1-£5 for such a service. So there’s an opportunity for labels and managers to develop these kinds of models more.

Read the whole article here: http://musically.com/blog/2009/01/17/midemnet-2009-liveblog-voice-of-the-fans-survey

Something a lot of savvy bands are doing is providing tiers of products that hit different types of fans. On their last project, NIN certainly understood that they had multiple levels of fans, some that simply wanted to listen to the music (9 free medium-quality mp3s), devoted fans (36 high quality audio files for $5), some fans that would want a CD ($10 2-CD with immediate digital download), serious fans ($75 deluxe pack with CDs, Blu-Ray disc, data DVD with multi-track songs), and hardcore fans ($300 box that sold out in TWO days).

Some of the bands I am working with also get this. The Murder City Devils are issuing a tour-only deluxe box set limited to 275 copies. It will contain 4 LPs on white vinyl (exclusive to the box), be hand-numbered, and each one will be unique in that it will contain one-of-a-kind items such as old backstage passes, photos, band member’s electric bills… They will be only for sale on their upcoming tour. Although they are giving one away. Given how collectible their records are (and expensive on ebay) this is something that devoted fans are going to snatch up in a heartbeat.

The Rentals are taking a different approach. They have just launched a year-long project at therentals.com where each day they are posting a new photo, each week a new short-form film, and every 3 months a finished EP of songs. These will be streamed for free, offered for sale in various ways, and at the end of the year packaged up in a deluxe box set that will offer far more than what has been released on the site (such as undeveloped roll of film taken by Matt Sharp, backstage passes, etc).

In the evolving music economy, it is critical to understand that different fans consume in different ways, and the Internet has given us the ability to cater to each of them on their own terms. Onwards and upwards!

I have a pretty big CD collection. Not big compared to some other music obsessed friends, because I keep it pared down pretty tight, but bigger than a lot of people’s at somewhere around 2500 CDs. Physical CDs.

My CD shelves are split in two sections – most in the living room and then some more down at the end of the hall. Last night I went through the living room section trying to find CDs to demote to the hallway. Needed to make room for the stack on the floor that I’ve acquired lately and that need to find their way into the prime shelving.

You know the drill. It’s one of those things you do at the beginning of a year, or when the stack is so big you have no choice. I’m squarely in the middle of those scenarios.

My music taste isn’t for everybody. It’s certainly not for the general public. But, a reasonably large and musically experienced set of people would agree it’s mighty comprehensive and shows a solid understanding of the past 5 decades of music. I deeply get a specific subset of genres, mostly in the connected corridors of punk, post-punk, hardcore, metal, hard rock, and goth. And I also have amassed what most would agree are the essentials any learned music fan should have and appreciate.

My collection travels seamlessly from Dr Dre’s “The Chronic” to “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” and from Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” to MC5′s “Kick Out The Jams.” Deicide is only a few slots from Neil Diamond; the Swans’ “Cop” is only a shelf away from “Ice Cream Castles” by the Time. Big Black lives near Black Tape For A Blue Girl, and Pavement lives squarely between Parliament Funkadelic and Quicksilver Messenger Service. You get the point.

I often tell people my music selection runs from Neil Diamond to King Diamond. That pretty much sums it up.
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