FroBot's 5 Day Journey To Promote 2 Dance Tracks Without Soliciting

This is a detail of my 5 day journey through the land of promoting 2 dance tracks. As many of you know, promoting a track is a dangerous process, and takes a lot of "assumptions" to decide what you want to do with the tracks, where you want to release them, and by what means you want to go about it. So what I did, over a period of 5 days...was try to promote my brand new tracks...in a way that I saw effective, honest, and at LEAST accountable using google analytics. Sometimes, you can never really tell how well a certain website receives hits to NEW artists without tracking it...so I will explain all of this. Also, in this day and age, with the ridiculous amount of music producers out there...its getting harder to find a label that is ACTUALLY going to push you....and what I am out to prove...is that you can do it through a little bit of hard work, smart marketing, and without being pushy.

The goal of this whole idea...is to feel out all the websites; user-ability, its communities, its features, and keep them 100% updated with high quality audio, video, bio, RSS feeds, downloadable tracks free and pay, all the while tracking its traffic back to google analytics. Also, in no way solicit on these websites besides my own personal uploaded content within my profile. (this means NO personal messages promoting the track, no posts into forums or groups, and no friend spamming)

Also, the long term goal is to be able to work within communities in good websites, and also....with the right RSS feeds....be able to maintain high quality information on many different outlets via smart networking and a few extra hours of work maintaining them.

The Thinking....

OK...so, we all go through our "musical highs" & "musical lows". Its natural. The thing that smart musicians know how to do, is take those "low" times, and turn them into something productive. In my case, since I spend every morning until about 3pm, at home, alone...before work...this is my most productive time each day. Since last March, I have been going "gung ho" on getting some tracks together for summer time...and all that build up to getting them done, and summer now being here...has given me a "musical low"...at least in an electronic sense. Im out jamming at drum circles in the park, summer beach parties, & DJing too much to produce. So anyway, I thought...(since I still have time every morning) why dont I go all out, and try to promote these 2 tracks as much as I can.   ....dangerous....? youre thinking...shit, another facebook pushing asshole....no.....

Heres my opinion on the future of music. Dont push it!!! There is already so much music available for free now-a-days...and so many people pushing it hard on (I said hard-on, hahaha) social networking sites...that you are just going to sink in the flood of other artists...and become more of an "inconvenience" in users minds...which is a terrible approach. I could start throwing around the..."douchebag DJ" slander here...but, I always like to remember...that they are musicians...and really want people to hear their music...sooo bad, almost uncontrollably. This doesnt make me hate them, I just dont want to be like them. It sounds like bad marketing anyway. So, I want to keep my social networking sites pretty clean (especially facebook), which means I can really engage my listeners there and keep my promotion limited, and only on my FAN group & friends only...which I will discuss in a minute. (You guys know how much I hate all that facebook promo shit)

Also...in the future of music....some people will pay for music....some people will steal music....it will always be like this. Some people really feel close to their music, and when music listeners put their hard earned cash into something that really pleases their ears, it feels SO MUCH BETTER than stealing a track and try to feel close to it. I think so at least, just like buying a CD from a CD store, or a unheard vinyl....it just feels good...and different than if it was free. So, I just think this is how the future will be. We cant stop sharing technology...without it...none of us poor ass mother fuckers would even be making electronic music...so, the way I see it....in a promotion sense...you should have some tracks for free....and some tracks to buy...and think about how you want to go about doing that.

Day 1-3

Lets start...but before we start -

***First, go to your favorite internet radio station, and get those speakers pumping...doing all this promotion work is a great time to groove to some nice mixes. I usually go to Oasis radio (our local Osaka DJ station), and groove. I cant stress how important it is to get some funky tunes on...cause this is some hard, kind of repetitive work...music makes you grooooove the whole time.****


Now lets start! So I need to look at what I have ALREADY for promotion. I used tunecore (I explain this later) to distribute to itunes other places, I have a facebook, a myspace (which I dont use so much), a barely used twitter account, a paid soundcloud account, and trackitdown.net is selling my new 2 tracks...so a pay link. I also think I have some old reverbnation account from like a year ago that I forgot about just sitting around (looks like shit and not updated). I have my main homepage which I have had for a year or so....and I also have a blog that focuses on ableton which is nice too. Thats it. Hmmm....ok, its a start. So from the starting point....this is what I started with.

I really STRONGLY believe, that having your music in as many outlets as possible...so people will stumble across you...is VERY IMPORTANT. I love it when I FIND a new artist, and it was not promoted to me...and I know there are people out there who still do it...so that is what I want to do. However, I do want to become part of communities on some of these websites right...after all, just posting and not doing anything on them is really lame...and wont help much. I will have to put some time into updates and listening to other peoples tracks...but right now, I dont know WHAT WEBSITES ARE GOOD! I only get hearsay from other websites....so how will I actually know...without finding out myself. So, I figure...sign up for a ton...feel out the sign up forms...put nice profiles in there...nice links, everything to the best of my ability...then move on to the next. I will have to check periodically after signing up, and playing around with the websites features...to realize if its worth the time and effort. 2 main reasons are...

1. You dont know what the community is like on any given website or realize if there are many genre friendly users, or whatever.

2. The website just doesnt drive any traffic to your tracks or webpage. Right now, you have no idea which are good...so for now, get signed up...and at least if you do decide to not join a community track hosting website...your page still is there...and google likes to see that. Just dont go endlessly link pushing on those websites, or your an ass.

So, before I get ahead of myself,  here is a checklist I put together of the things I will need to get promoting. This just makes it easier, since you will be signing up for a lot of website, and filling out forms.

***Before doing any of this, ask yourself...are my tracks FINISHED and ready. Mastered, and you are ready to present them. If not, dont do it. Its not worth it. As musicians, we tend to love and hate our music at different times just from hearing it so much....try not to let that happen. You'll "know" when a tracks ready. Its just right!****

Ok here we go -

The Necessities....

1. Have a great logo. Also, be prepared to change it into countless different sizes. Some websites need banners, some need small icons, tons of different things. It really is rough...so be prepared to change them. If using mac, just use preview and go up to "Tools-Adjust Size".

2. Have your tracks in different file formats. Some websites permit only .mp3 128, some allow as high as possible, some only want .wav, some even want .flac. So, convert your uploading tracks into the different formats so you dont have to do it when you start promoting. Nice folders are nice too.

 Also, pick up Switch for converting (Mac) http://download.cnet.com/Switch-Audio-Converter/3000-2140_4-10703967.html

And pick up Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac This program is very useful for many reasons.

3. If using firefox, get the "informeditor" add on. Here - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/673/  This plugin will save you a shit load of time when filling out your user name, password, bio, etc etc on these webpages. It really does take forever...with confirmation emails. This little add on puts a little square beside forms...and you just click it, and enter whatever you want (already decided text). This also assures you dont make typos. Below is the preferences for your inputs. Also, the second picture is what it looks like added to firefox besides inputs.

4. Make sure you have google analytics set up on your homepage to track return hits. If you dont know how to do this...get on it! Its important. http://www.google.com/analytics/

5. Have a good bio. Whatever your opinion of good is. Make sure website links are within it too because sometimes, certain websites have bad homepage finding features....so, toss it in your bio too just to make things safe and be assured people can see your website if they want it.

6. Get some pictures ready that you really like. Accounts all need a few pictures.

7. Make sure you have common social networking sites set up the way you want because many websites offer connection features. Decide which social networks you want to connect with to them. I will mention, in my opinion...think about this step hard. I personally didnt want to connect ANY of them to my facebook account. Facebook just seems like something you really want to have control of, because it is really the best outlet for an artists communication side, along with email... right. So, if some website starts sending out bullshit like you see some people do...that sux! I dont want to be one of those people...due to my own stupidity of letting all sites connect to facebook. So what I am going to do, is connect all to my twitter account...thats it. It will let twitter connect to all that other stuff....and keep facebook clean. Twitter pisses me off because of limits on words...I guess it works for them....im not huge on it...but apparently the world is.

8. Decide if you want to release FREE tracks, or PAY TRACKS. What I decided to do...since, making money on your music is nice...but people stealing it is really inevitable...and even if its pirated, its still getting my music out there...so...I thought....release FREE tracks, and PAY TRACKS. And be smart about my links. Since I made a couple remixes...I dont want to make any money from them. Its not fair, and its illegal, and thats not good. So, using my soundcloud account...I post free tracks, and then everywhere else, only streaming tracks. This way, I can try to make some money if its all possible...but remember, at this stage in the game, like I mentioned before...I HAVE NO IDEA how fruitful this all is...and it doesnt really matter if people are able to find my music (which is the bottom line)....but you have to experiment to find out...and all I am saying, is just be smart about how you put your tracks up on the internet...see if a few dollars come in. If not, you dont really lose anything.....and your music is still out there... and also...PAY tracks are good to have....because, from a user stand point, in its own sense...holds marketing potential just for the mear fact that you are SEEN on pay sites. To uneducated downloaders, that makes an artist SEEM more established (even though, we know its not necessarily the case).

8.2 (Something to keep mind about soundcloud and connecting to your pay site. When using other pay sites widgets and whatnot...sometimes, the sound is lowered to a smaller bit rate so people can stream more quickly. I, personally, do not want my possible fans first impressions of my track to be like that...I want full sound quaility. So, linking your music...either from your homepage, or from another website....I think its best to use your soundcloud, because when you upload a song to soundcloud, you have the option to put a link in the "Buy this track" section of your player (or widget)(where the download part usually is). It sends them RIGHT to your pay website. And they hear the good quality track first before buying it. You can keep your pay tracks in with your free tracks too...so a new listener can quickly get a free track of yours if they arent feeling inclined to drop any cash at that moment. 2 birds, 1 stone. And soundcloud is EXCELLENT for track sharing purposes....so I went in and bought an account. Its just so useful for a producer.)

9. Have youtube ready videos of your track ready to go, and links to them. Luckily, I picked up some video editing skills like 10 years ago in highschool...forgot a lot....but, at least I can toss a picture into a video and toss the track up. Youtube is still a good place to toss a track up. In general, I guess some people worry about people hacking audio from youtube...but I figure...if someone is going to go that far to hacking my track...fuck it, its yours buddy...hope your audio catching program is good...just sux you wanna hear shit audio. Also, you may be asked for these links when signing up for all the other websites. The more links, the better. Also, have your youtube playlist embed codes ready, and a few of your artist video direct links...for when sites allow you to connect directly to them.

10. Have a notepad, or a few text files open for saving notes of all the websites, passwords, track-back links, etc...that you need for each website you sign up for.

11. Last...well, I would say....have your coffee, cigarette, inebriate substance of choice....a fine whisky...whatever it is...and get to work.

Here is what I did....I did not do things in the correct order...so I figured this out as I went a long.

The Process....

First, I searched tons of blogs for good websites to promote music. Luckily....I kept documentation of all that I used. At the bottom of this blog, I will provide you with all the links to my pages with my reviews of the website. Again, I will not be using all of these, but I will be going back a few times to each over the next month....feel out the website, track its results with analytics, and feel out the community and usability of each website. (Look now if you like, but make sure to finish the blog before going nuts!)

Now lets get a few things straight here before we go jumping into signups for these websites. You will run into 3 main different kinds (possibly a couple more) of music hosting websites.

1. Social Networking. These websites may be catered to musicians, but they function on the same principles as social networking. A lot of these websites look really nice, big labels, very easy to navigate...colorful, and using nice widget connections and RSS to facebook, twitter, myspace, and sometimes even more. You will usually have a lot of options over how your song is accessed, nice places for bio, links, etc. But, these will also come with more work. You will most likely need to become a part of the community, join groups, etc...to have your profiled viewed. They look like the future of music...so def try them out, see what works.

2. Musician Hosting Websites. These websites dont have much in the way of features for connecting everywhere, and sometimes say that talent scouts look at them, or are just a main PAGE HOSTING website provided to musicians. A lot of these are using the old format, where a band just needed a page to host their files, bio, etc. Its still good to have your file up here. Some of these have communities within forums...which dont think of as any less than the social networking. Some forums have the BEST communities! So, try them out.

3. Distribution websites. Now be careful here....this is much different than the other websites. A lot of these websites distribute your music to outlets like itunes, emusic, rhapsody, etc. Usually, you have to pay (a very low) fee to have your music put on the major outlets if you dont have a label to do so. I highly recommend making sure that use only ONE of these...because it is smart to have your music on those outlets. Some of the other websites you are about to sign up for, will automatically find your tracks in itunes, or amie street, amazon...and within your profiles on their websites, will show a link to buy your track from there. So, find a distributor that works for you. I use TUNECORE.com. My page is http://www.tunecore.com/music/frobot
This website cost me 10 bucks per release, and my tracks were up within a week on itunes, emusic, etc. They are trustworthy, and reliable...and have an easy way to track the money you have made.

4. There are also CONTEST based websites... and have big promises of A&R viewing. Some are free, some are pay. Some even pay to market analyze your tracks....I kind of laugh at this. I dont pay for these, but free ones are nice. Some make profiles for you too. Fill them out. With free accounts, a lot will let you enter one song a month or something like that into a genre based contest. It cant hurt.

5. Radio airplay station. Now, I havent gotten into this yet, but it has tons of potential. If you are making mixes, and really good tracks...some of these websites are good for submitting onto radio stations and other outlets. Investigate them a little before you do it....if its free, and you dont care about where your music is going...sign up. If you do care, check them out, decide a price that you think is right from a website, and go with it. Im broke as shit, and havent really studied the possibilities of this...but if you are already doing it, maybe its really fruitful.

A few things to keep in mind when signing up to websites. Just stop and think for a second when you are gonna PAY for something. There is a lot of bullshit, and in this market, maybe its mostly bad business models and connections....but, before you take money out for things, just research other options before doing it. Some pay sites work wonders for you...but sometimes, its a rip off. Have a few bucks to put into it....I am doing mine for all under like 50 USD....purchased a soundcloud account, tunecore to distribute, and I forsee maybe one more thing I may buy. Not sure yet.

So, now that we know what were getting into...start going to websites and signing up, filling everything out nicely....typo free...links in the right places....be sure to :

***Label your email account with a folder that you can put all confirmation emails and passwords into. I use gmail, and its easy to make a folder. You will be getting tons of email confirmations, and also, in the future, friend requests and updates if you choose to receive (some websites are automatic). Making labels in your email account will help keep your inbox clean.***

1. Use html links in profile pages whenever possible. For html illiterates out there....if you have to write an html link, look here - http://www.echoecho.com/htmllinks01.htm

That will link your website. Some websites permit html, some dont. Check.

2. Sign up your social networking connections where you can. I am using mostly twitter.
3. Make sure your tracks have all pertaining info. Again, using your auto form filler addon gets useful here.
4. Have a photo for each track...different...and with track info. I just put my track name and composer. I like my frobot logo...but I changed the color of each. If you are good at making designs, have a unique one for each song.
5. Put links in the tracks info when you upload. Some websites only show track info, some show your bio, and this can be important when people are surfing....most websites dont show BOTH "track info" and "bio" at the same time....so its just safe to have them in both.

Something else to keep in mind when filling out all this shit. Do you want your real address and name going out everywhere. Maybe its just me being paranoid, and only reading NEWS from America being as im in Japan....I really dont like my name and address being anywhere it doesnt NEED to be. So, I use my real name for things that are going to be paying me, and an alias if its not. I guess, you can do what you want...but, I prefer to use internet aliases in cases where my info doesnt need to go out. Maybe its paranoia, but, after years of internet scams, stories, and information exchange...hmmm, its how I like to do it.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of the websites that do offer profiles and stuff will also give you an option to sell your music through them. You can decide to do this if you want, but remember the prices are all different everywhere...and, you also really need to keep good documentation of the pay methods and passwords, paypal connections, etc...for each website that will pay you. In the case of being able to LINK to your pay website....I always choose this...but if they dont have an option, and it seems like a good website to sell on...then I save the payment info, let them sell it...and just wait and see. It takes a little bit more time to research your genre of music within their system....to see if its worth its while. If its not, just offer your streaming track, free track, whatever....and hopefully if someone really wants the track, they will come to your homepage and find that link quickly.

One other thing to keep in mind is your USER NAME on these websites. Some will give you a separate section for your ARTIST NAME, but some, especially social networking ones, will use your USER NAME as your main page name. So, if possible....use your artist name as your user name....if that is not possible....you will just have to make due. Lucky...if for some reason FROBOT is taken, I just use DJ FroBot, or something like that.

Well. Thats it for day 1 and 2. Tomorrow...I will be going back into each of the accounts I have made...check out if everything went live, feel out the websites, update blogs on them (connect to my music blog), add some photos, video where I can (since I am just now uploading my youtube video links...and again, did this in the wrong order). But that will all be for tomorrow.

Day 4

So...today, I spent the whole morning from 8:30 (well actually 9 cause I realized I had no coffee cup filters and had to ride my bike in the rain at 9am to get...there was no way I could do this with coffee)so...9am - 2....and got 13 websites updated, video connected, blog connected, links working, youtube playlist embed, twitter connections, etc.....done.

First, I went back into my website accounts, and started to check over all the functions. I realized a few important things when going back into my accounts :

1. A lot of websites have weird functions for anything and everything. You really gotta dig deep in some websites to get your content loaded right. Again, we want to make totally professional, updated to the max profiles....so, finding things can be rough.

2. Trying to get a nice text link on your webpage front is tough. Some websites are great some are not. You gotta test if the HTML works on the page...if not, you want to make sure your website connection is right. I realized...without an HTML link, I cannot really track it in analytics....and kind of beats the point of tracking it. Its about 50/50 on your homepage link being easily to be found on your main profile page.


 3. Uploaders are weird sometimes. Errors and whatnot....its just baffling how many different sizes and picture defaults are on different websites. Get fast at converting pictures. I wanted to upload some photos to the photo albums, and it can be tricky. Some need description and names, some dont....

 4. One really cool thing I have noticed is the ability on some webites to put your youtube playlist right in your video tab. Also ones that let you re-direct your video from a youtube video instead of uploading. If you organize your youtube well, this is really handy.

 5. Some of the social networking type websites have really nice communities of artists who basically share a lot of tracks....and a lot less talking. I found some GREAT music in these groups. So, I joined at least some ableton groups and japan electronic artists....cause it was applicable, and the groups seemed full of high quality...free...and pay....tracks shared by artists (mostly soundcloud links).

6. Some profile blog editors are cool, some are terrible. There is one format...im not sure what it is, but its fucking fabulous. You just copy and paste your blog, photos and all, directly to your profile blog..and put it into the blog editor, and it posts it. It was crazy. Im guessing its google or something.......those are a gem if you are a blogger and want to update your other good blog outlets with your info without soliciting. Some of these websites feature users blogs on the main page too...so, its really cool if you are posting good info especially not pertaining to your music.


7. Almost every website wants to sell you something....its funny to see where the profits are coming from for each of them.

Well anyway, I got the day off tomorrow....so I will be working at this...its still fuckin rainy season in Japan....its longer than ever this year.....still rainy days outside. Tomorrow I hope to finish this all up....have everything running and well connected...then its party time at the beach! Great DJs in Kobe on the biggest beach party of the summer in Hyogo. Other side of japan next week! Phew.....

Day 5 

Ok...well, last hardcore day of really getting all this stuff updated. I am exhausted. I just finished up the last of the accounts, and documented them all into my reviews. 8 hours it took today. Im totally sick of looking at this computer screen. One lesson I learned from doing all of this -


Make sure 100% if you dont want a song to be downloadable...to make sure the website doesnt upload it anywhere else. One of the websites I found put torrents up on bittorrent, in .ogg format. That was really dumb, and all you had to do was go to google and seach "frobot" "torrent" and its first. Shit....anyway...just watch where your stuff goes. Also, check some key terms like torrent, free download, + your artist name. See what starts coming up.


Also, now that I have everything up....I can start checking my google analytics stats over the next few weeks, update my accounts when I release a track...and if I get bored...go play in some of the communities. I will be able to start getting a good idea of which websites are driving traffic...getting page views, and soundcloud traffic. Also, by checking google...you can see if you've gone up in rankings. After this week....I went from 11th (when searching frobot) to 6th. I have this Wii game that is called FroBot....that takes the top spot....but, at least i'm working my way up. Also, you can see if anyone else has posted your info anywhere.

So as a recap...now I can actually track all my websites....and not send out any soliciting ads on forums, groups, or anything. If I actually want to become part of communities...then I can choose to and work from within them. But this just goes to show, that with a little bit of work....and smart marketing....you can generate good traffic by providing great content...and without soliciting. I will be doing a part 2 of this, detailing a few more websites, and letting people know some stats of how the websites are working out. But that will be in a a week or more. Its party time! Shower, and off to the beach!


Share the knowledge please!!!

Peace!

FroBot

 Reviews of all the websites.

Please be aware, that I may have made some mistakes when going through, and by all means, search deeper into these websites. Due to compatibility issues with my computer, add ons, mac vs windows, etc....things can go wrong for me, but erroneous for you. These links will go straight to my profile page.

1. Last.fm

Review : This one has a nice RSS feed. Make sure to clean out your favorite artists after making it because it automatically puts favorites based off of keywords from your BIO and profile info...and its almost never correct. It looks bad to have all these favorites of bands with 0 hits and not even music uploaded. There are tons of great groups to join. I found some cool ones about ableton, and funky house...other good stuff too. When I looked through the groups, some had some really cool conversations going on too, and totally underground tracks. Also, this website seems to hit really well even after 2 days...one of the best actually. So I would really recommend checking out other artists on this website, and working from within here. It seems hopeful!

2. Artistserver.com 

Review : This is another nice little website. It has a nice place to upload pictures. You cant use HTML links on the main page...but there is a button that says HOMEPAGE at the top, so it can get you to your main page. It also has a place to blog, so if you are running a blog, you can post some of your blogs on your own webpage, and its just a quick copy and paste from your website...pictures included. This was really handy! Its a good place to meet other self releasing artists, and not so much in the way of groups. They do have a charts section, which has their best electronic music based off of really specific genres...which is nice for finding exactly what you want. They also have a forum sections, and it looks like the category called music has some cool mixes in it too...but not much conversation going on. This also has some RSS feeds, I connected Twitter.

3. Soudclick.com

Review : This is a nice little website which returned a couple hits right after opening the profile without doing much...so, it seemed hopeful. This has a nice little feature where you can point youtube videos straight to your account, and then even decide which one is on your main page....like an inpage video playlist. This was neat. I was able to direct a bunch of videos. It also has photos. There arent groups or favorites or anything but you can subscribe to artists. They have a charts list where you can check on small genres...and always have a top list of each genre. You will also have a USER account and ARTIST account when using this website.


4. Reverbnation.com

Review : This website is really great. I knew about this one before, and has all the tools you could ever need to promote yourself. This however is not a dance based site, so it is filled with a lot of indie bands...which is still cool. They can help you distribute if you like, however I have never used their system so I cannot vouch for it. It has a great way to connect straight to the artists facebook account just via a link...and only to an artist page...which is nice. If you want RSS they got it. You also can become fans straight on reverb nation, I am just not sure how many artists besides HUGE artists are using this for their fan connection. It looks really nice though. This one does provide nice hits, I had it set up a little before but never used it. Somehow, I already have 195 fans, and I never did anything on it for like a year....but I am not sure how many of those are click spammers or not...anyway, seems good. 

5. Acidplanet.com

Review : A much more simple website. Doesnt allot much in the way of content upload besides audio & video. Still, there are some really cool artists on this webpage...and you can search by exact genre. There seems to be a lot of uploading going on, but many people dont have profile pictures...which leads me to believe less real activity...but I cannot be sure. There also looks like a blogs & pictures section, but only on the pro account. Also, HTML does not work on the main page...but there is a link to get to your webpage.

6. Mp3.com (no page made)

Review : I had uploading troubles with this website. This website has been around since the beginning of the mp3 revolution. There is a pending approval that seemed to take a while for me to receive. Also, maybe it was my time of day, but the website was running bloody slow when I was working within the artist section. There is a blog sections, and also forums for communities. It also has charts, but is pretty saturated.

7. Besonic.com

Review : This is a german/english website. It has some nice features like a nice page, photo uploads, and some other good stuff. The community is more on a buddy system, where you becomes friends with people. They have charts and a star rating for tracks.  They also have a forum however its not very specific, and pretty open to everyone in the community all on one forum. Which means a lot of release posts. But, still a good website.

8. Artistopia.com

Review : Small little independent website for uploading music. For free accounts, 3 uploads and 3 pictures max. A lot of the features of this website need to be accessed be a pro account, which I am not sure is really worth it until I feel it out more. This website has forums that are moderately sized but are pretty well organized into groups so you can get into discussions. However, they are not very active...sometimes a month goes by without posts in certain topics. They do offer charts by genre, however the electronic chart is just that...electronic.

9. Audiostreet.net (still pending)

Review : Seems like a pretty big website. It took a while to receive my pending approval...but that could be a good thing...checking for real artists. It has a nice place to upload pictures, up to 20 of them. It has a blog place to write blogs. Has a video upload section, but no connection to youtube. You must be a premium member to be featured in the featured artist part of the website. The forums are pretty inactive except for the promotion forum...which goes without saying. I also ran into a few problems with the audio uploader, but I did manage to get one track on there. It may have been me, but some script errors came up a few times. You can connect to other people by friend requests to user accounts. No html allowed in certain parts of profiles and blogs.

10. Soundlift.com (awaiting approval)

Review : This website offers different languages besides English, so hopefully that means a nice international crowd. It took a while for tracks to get approved and my profile to be put online. It really only offers a band photo and not much for uploading besides video and audio..and video looks like its still under construction. You can rate tracks, but not really favor artists. There are some pretty active forums though.

11. Unsignedbandweb.com

Review : This is a nice little website that makes a nice page for you. Has a nice photo section, and an easy way to upload your music. It is important to put your WEBSITE in your TRACK LISTINGS on this site, because when if shows your main page, it shows your bio in a small scale-able box, and then shows your tracks below it. More info is pertaining to your tracks on your main page than your actual bio. Also, it lacks a MAIN PAGE connect to your homepage. This website also gives your band its own little forum. The main forums are pretty much full of song promotions, and not much talking really. This website also has a cool little UNSIGNED radio stations section. It also has a charts section with moderately large genre selection per chart. In a couple of days of just leaving it sit before I came back, I had 21 listens...so that was interesting.

12. iSound.com

Review : This website seeming really promising because literally within hours of signing up, I was receiving friend requests. There is a 5 picture maximum. It has a great way to connect your youtube playlist embed code straight to your videos section, which means if you are using youtube to keep all your videos inline for your homepage or something like I am, its super easy to add the whole playlist right to your videos section. There is no HTML permitted on site for free users, but there are nice links to your homepage right on your main page. Within a couple days of making a profile, I had 34 views and 19 plays...which is pretty fast without uploading much content. This website really looks promising for promotion. Connection to people seems to work on a FRIEND basis, where you can find other LISTENERS & Artists. Genres are a little bit broad, but still pretty good. 

13. Ourstage.com

Review : This website is an MTV partner, and is a little less electronic based...but still has an electronica genre. You can enter 1 track into a contest each month...which is fun. This website is getting a lot of publicity on the web recently. The pictures section was a little glitchy with firefox, I had to readjust the window screen to get certain things to fit....maybe because the website is so flashy. There is a place to post your blogs or general posts. You can also vote for other tracks on this website in the contest sections. A neat little thing about fan clubs, you can listen to the OURSTAGE audio radio...and then add them as a favorite or rate the track directly from the player...and also buy the track directly from the player. I couldnt really find a way to listen to only a certain genre on the radio...so, its full of rock and stuff which I dont wanna hear...so I would probably never use it...but cool idea. It would be nice if there made the player genre specific....because this seems like the future of music. You can also allow ourstage to sell your music...but I did not. It just didnt seem very electronic specific to do that.

14. Overplay.com

Review : This is a great website that allows you to put HTML in your bio. Good for your links. You do need a banner on this webpage that is 405 pix X 110 pix....so you need to make one if you want your main page to look nice. 5 song max for free users, and they will distribute if you upgrade accounts....however I did not. Something GREAT about this, is since it allows HTML on the first page, you can upload your youtube playlist right to your MAIN profile page, and it fits really nicely and balances out the page. Be sure to get pictures on here because they show on the main page just below your videos....its a beautiful layout! Even with your video taking up your bio, there is still a homepage link on the very top, clear to see! I really really like this websites layout. They also have a lot of other features like overplay radio....the message boards are mostly full of promotions....but they have some other genres where labels are looking for artists, and artists who need artist. This looks really cool...chances can be taken here! Watch out for mass marketers with sign up fees though when dealing with forum posts. There are also awards and contests on this page. You can favor artists, and they show up on a tab on your main profile. I would really try out this website. 

15. iLike.com

Review : Another great website with some GREAT RSS features. You can directly connect your youtube, twitter (both ways) and myspace. Check your account settings to make sure you add your social network links....they have a nice section for it. The photo uploader was a little quarky...in that when I uploaded a picture to it....and refreshed, it didnt show my photos there. So I tried a few different times, still nothing. Then I came back after playing with other features....and my photos were there. So be patient sometimes to see your photos. I did get them all up though. It has a nice place to blog right on the website too. They also distribute if you want them to. As with a lot of music based websites, you can LIKE bands, become fans, send messages, and buy their music...directly from this website. Seems really clean, and nicely put together. It seems a little more based on staying connected with artists rather than groups of artists sharing tracks with eachother....but, it is REALLY big...and easy to keep updated with RSS.

16. MyMusicStream.com

Review : OK. This website is a little weird in how to get your main website pointing to your homepage link. They seem to want to sell you a domain name....and even after emailing them personally, and getting a response back how to change it, I did exactly as said...and cant find anywhere to add my already made domain. I dunno shit. But what was nice, since they allow links in your BIO, its easy to get a couple links up there. The video section only really permits uploads....and I didnt want to go all uploading videos everywhere....its a little rough. And full HTML is not totally allowed in the bios, so I couldnt load a youtube playlist. It has a NEWS section which is a nice place to blog if you want...but no real RSS feeds or anything. The forums arent REALLY active, but there are some underground tracks sitting in there.

17. mp3unsigned.com (did not use)

Review : I did not like this website, and had a lot of trouble with it.

18. Jamendo.com

Review : WARNING. I realized after signing for this, I could not shut off my free downloads, and found torrents of .ogg files via bit torrent. So if you are using SALE links...be careful with this website. If you dont mind free download torrents...go for it. This website is really hoping for you to work in within them for your updates, blogs, etc. You can RSS to different outlets OUT...but no IN. But, you can add links within your bio, and they also show your website on the very top of the page. Theres no real way to show tons of social networking connections unless you connect within your blog. Also, no photos or video sections. The blogs section makes a unique blog direction based off your artist name. This website does have groups, and had a few tiny little groups going on. Im sure there a little communities hiding in there...small....but sometimes great. I checked out a group about synth nuts...and it seems like it had some good content. And something really interesting here...the forums are full of ALL KINDS of talk. Website errors, a little promo, and technical info! That is really cool to see! Its like a free for all on the forum...and full of the most interesting topics.

19. muzic.com

Review : Had trouble uploading mp3s, even with different formats. I will try back later.

20. AirPlayDirect.com

Review : This company is a little different. They help you get airplay. Im not sure how well this website works...and I could only upload 1 song to it with a free acount, and 5 pictures. But, it gives you a profile page, with a homepage link right on the front. Within a day or 2 of signing up, I was getting a few emails about airplay contests...so, maybe its something to play around with. I will have to wait and see about this, I just dont know.

21. TheMusicHutch.com

Review : This website makes a cool jukebox out of whatever genre of music you want to listen to. The genres are very indepth, so you can listen to underground music in a jukebox of only a certain genre...of all user uploads. The profile is VERY basic...and being that im colorblind, setting the colors for this was a bitch for me. HTML is OK in your bio page. This page is like super underground...and it really only has a community of PEOPLE (no groups or anything)...the thing its best for is finding uploaded video and music from users...and putting it in a nice radio player to listen to. Kind of a neat idea!!!

22. Muziboo.com

Review : Good webiste. It allows links in the bio but, I could not embed a youtube video player. You can upload photo albums...however to upload a few in a row, maneuvering the website is a little funky. There is also this HORRIBLY ugly ad that shows up above your name on your profile. Its gone with a pro account, but....for an add, its just terrible to have on your profile page. It will only show a TINY little photo of your main picture, a GIANT ad, then your tracks and bio on the side. I mean, it is what it is, but....its really ugly. The connection to your social networks is mostly OUTGOING...so check your preferences. If you leave it just regularly connected to twitter...it will automatically send a twitter post when you LIKE a song...which can be really annoying. So check your settings.

23. uPlaya.com

Review : Great and easy to use website....well put together. However it is mostly promising that your song gets heard. It kind of puts together a press kit for you. The site is SO easy to navigate, and easy to understand. Make sure to update everything related to UPK. This is your profile really. It connects right to all social networking sites on your main page, also a straight connect to your youtube account under video gallery. I was able to upload a bunch a photos no problem. They do offer pay things on their site like entry into contests, and bigger accounts....but, I didnt sign up. I really really like the layout of this site though. Its very user friendly!

24. mVine.com

Review : Hard to navigate. Freeze ups all over the track viewing part. Couldnt get my pictures uploaded. Forums are kind of dead. I dont know about this website.

25. MusicForte.com

Review : Another nice and easy to navigate website. Lets you connect to twitter and facebook. Lets people add you as a friend on twitter right from your page...and then works outgoing after that. NO HTML on the bio page, but a link to your home page sits at the bottom of your bio. It was a little bit hard to find...but its still there. I was also getting emails within a day of signing up of people viewing and adding me as a friend. They have an internet radio station, but it looks rather broad genred. They also sell your music too. There didnt seem much in the way of communities though. But they do have charts and whatnot.

26. RecordScout.com

Review : Easy to use website. Lets you upload pictures too. No HTML on the bio page and also I had a  terrible time finding a link to my homepage....which I never found...so this will be hard to track really. I just put text in the bottom of the bio. The forums are dead...so I dont know how this website will be.

27. HitLab.com

Review : This is an interesting website that analyzes your tracks using DHS (Dynamic Hit Scoring) to see if your track has potential. I dont know how real this all is, but the account is free. It lets you upload pictures, and link your blog and even embed a youtube video in your blog. You gotta pay 30 bucks to see if your tracks a hit...I dunno how well this works for us dance producers. So, I dont know how much I will use this site. The profile is there though.

28. JukeBoxAlive.com

Review : Small little website. Allows pictures, and video uploads...although no real connection to youtube or social networking. It does show your details on the front page...so make sure you fill it out or it looks bad. You can add your LINKS to social networking on the main page nicely on the right. Now the cool thing about this website, is that it has a radio player per genre. A little more broad...electronic is just electronic. Good idea though! The homepage makes a nice little slideshow out of all your photos....starting with your main one. Really easy to navigate.  This did however have that AWESOME blog feature where you can just copy and paste your blog. Mine worked perfectly! This is great for bloggers. When you post a blog, it comes up on the PEOPLE main page as long as its new. Communities seem to be in the way of commenting on tracks, blogging, and becoming friends.

29. iJamr.com

Review : A weird little website with very little features. Small community. I didnt really understand the point...they sell your music...but its really limited. I dunno. I probably wont use this website. It does let you show your links on your main profile page...so link HTML is ok! It does show them at the BOTTOM of your bio, but if its long, you wont see it on the main page unless they read your whole bio. You can connect to facebook and twitter and view your twitter tweets right on your profile page...but within a tab. Its community also has GROUPS.

30. DJTube.com

Review : A cool website dedicated to electronic music a little more than others. A great photo uploader that can do a few photos all at once. I had a little trouble getting a video up...some script error. I dont know what that was about. It has a blogs section, but I couldnt just copy and paste. But still good for text. This website doesnt have ALOT going on...but, we will see how they build their site.

31. BandCamp.com

Review :  This little outlet basically sells your tracks right on a homepage. No real place for pictures besides your track pictures. PUT LINKS in your track info for this, because it shows up beautifully on the main page. Also make sure to have good track info because that shows up on the main page, rather than a bio or anything. Tags are good to have too. People can share your tracks on many outlets if they like it. I will have to track the links to see how this works. They also have a big blog directly connecting to wordpress....so wordpress users will like this. 

31. MusicSubmit.com

Review : To activate this, it looks like you gotta pay.

32. Artists-First.net

Review : This website just basically sells your music. I gave it a shot, because it doesnt cost anything, and this is all an experiment. Its not a community at all. Not sure how it works. Make sure you have your tracks updated, and your store updated under admin. Tracks are under products (either single or album, however you uploaded it).

33. RecordUnion.com


Review : This website basically only publishes your tracks if you plan to get a UPC through them. If you are already distributing your music....then this wont really be needed. If you want to distribute....this webpage has this funny quirky DOG who tells you all about the website. Obviously who ever is behind this operation has a sense of humor....which is really smart marketing. I would be inclined to try this website just because of its attitude.