Day 1: Future of Music Coalition's Policy Summit 2010
posted in: Music News
In 2000, The Future of Music Coalition was formed as “a national nonprofit organization that works to ensure a diverse musical culture where artists flourish, are compensated fairly for their work and where fans can find the music they want,” by Policy Director Michael Bracy, General Council Walter F. McDonough, Executive Director Jenny Toomey and Technologies Director Brian Zisk. Over the last ten years, the non-profit organization has held a variety of events”including its annual policy summit”which gathers together music industry professionals, musicians, thought-leaders, entrepreneurs, lawyers and US legislators to discuss the music industry and the changes that come into play thanks to the ever-evolving and maturing Internet. For more information, visit Future of Music Coalition.
This year, OurStage is front and center in DC and will be bringing you daily updates, tips and tools from the Summit. Enjoy!
It comes as no surprise to musicians any more that they need to manage their own careers in a different way than they used to. Instead of making great music, then trying to obtain a manager, a publicist, an agent, a record deal, etc., events like FMC’s Policy Summit help educate musicians about how they are going to manage their own careers. To paraphrase Amaechi Uzoigwe of Definitive Jux Records on Sunday, “being a musician today is like running a small business.” At OurStage, we want to encourage musicians to use our platform and various tools to advance their musical career so that they can grab hold of another rung and move up the ladder of success.
This year, FMC’s 10th anniversary kicked off Sunday, October 3rd with a mix of panels and discussions including marketing, copyright, health insurance, analytics data and direct-to-fan campaigns. You can view the full schedule and speakers online, but OurStage also wanted to share some specific links for today’s musician. As they say, knowledge is power, so we want to empower you to take control of your music career!
Copyright and Register Your Work
1) Register your work with US Copyright Office
2) Register your work with Soundexchange for digital performance royalties
3) Learn more about the Music First Coalition
Read and Stay Informed
1) Read Donald Passman‘s book Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business
2) Read daily newsletters and music business web sites like Hypebot, Digital Music News and Sandbox.fm
3) Join the Pho Listserv
Marketing
1) Grow your numbers on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube and OurStage (of course!)
2) Write a blog about your work on Blogger, Squarespace or WordPress
3) Read Mashable to stay informed about trends and news in social media
4) Capture your audience’s mobile info via services like Twilio
5) Make your music available via services like Soundcloud and Bandcamp
6) Learn from online marketing and publicists like Ariel Hyatt (Here’s an interview with Ariel Hyatt about online marketing and publicity)
Manage Your Audience/Email Lists”and Treat Them like Gold!
2) Nimbit
3) Topspin
4) Bandzoogle
6) Mailchimp
Manage Your Projects
2) Basecamp
3) Things (for Mac)
Track Your Online Marketing and Success
1) Use Google Analytics on your site; it’s free and easy to use
2) Use bit.ly to track click through traffic from your tweets
3) Try and explore online tools such as Next Big Sound, Soundscan and Shopify
4) Track your iTunes numbers
Get Health Insurance!
1) Artists Health Insurance Resource Center
3) Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight
We hope this helps you as you manage that “small business” of your own. Stay tuned for news and updates on OurStage.com’s Marketplace, a new suite of tools for working musicians to help you manage your career.
Find more links and insider info on the Summit follow us live over the next two days at The Future of Music Coalition’s Summit 2010.