It’s been a solid 3+ years as a blogger here at evolvor, and because of that I’ve earned a ton of experience not only in the content development side of things, but also in the PR department. As I’ve continued to grow as a respected mind in the ever evolving digital music landscape, I’ve noticed that many still approach sending out press releases in the same fashion that has been used for years. And that approach, in my mind, is rather stupid.

Read more... (1435 words, 13 images, estimated 5:44 mins reading time)

Thirty Seconds to Mars set out to do something that had yet to be done when it came to releasing their latest album, This Is War. Jared Leto and fellow band mates asked their fans to send in pictures of themselves for a chance to be displayed on the cover of their new album.

The forward thinking of Thirty Seconds to Mars has enticed fans to purchase the album not as another CD, but as a collectors item. Fans have been swapping the new Thirty Seconds to Mars album ‘This Is War’ the way people used to trade beanie babies or sports trading cards. Jared Leto told Spinner Magazine, “I heard that one was selling on eBay for $2500 or has already sold.”

Read more... (535 words, 2 images, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

One of the hardest things about working in this business is trying to explain to people what exactly it is that I do. People are always thinking that marketing online is a “magic button” service that they can just pay $50 for and see results.

I worked on creating a new sales page over the weekend and now present to you with the Evolvor music marketing “methodology”. I hope the explanation is clear enough for those who contact me for my services; any input from you the reader would be helpful.

Read more... (1015 words, 21 images, estimated 4:04 mins reading time)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you no doubt have heard about ReverbNation or at least stumbled across an artist using its tools and services. Simply put, no one is helping musicians out more in promoting their work then Reverb is, and here are 16 reasons they’re going about making it happen.

1. Ability to share high quality files, fast and cheap.

Read more... (1385 words, 23 images, estimated 5:32 mins reading time)

Atreyu’s new album drops tomorrow. In addition to checking out their latest webisode, I got a chance to ask bass player Marc a few questions about how they’re label is Congreation of the Damned.

What is your Label doing to market your new album?

They’ve always been on top of the game as far as radio/internet go, and I know that they’re putting ads in the magazines of our genre. They also got us a $3.99 price for the album on the release date through Amazon, so make sure and buy it then!

Read more... (473 words, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

After reading the Word of Mouth Manual: Vol. II by Dave Balter, I have some interesting marketing ideas to share with you.

Home business owners need cost effective ways to market their products and services. Word of mouth is particularly effective in persuading customers to buy, much more so than advertising and other traditional marketing methods. Word of mouth marketing harnesses the power of word of mouth to produce powerful market dialogue for businesses.

If you had a group of passionate brand evangelists who are not on your payroll promoting your products, what could be a more cost effective marketing solution than that?

Read more... (801 words, 3 images, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)

The Flaming Lips are currently on tour in the U.S. and there’s a nice incentive for buying tickets, beside witnessing one of the coolest rock spectacles ever.

When you buy tickets online you’ll receive a code to receive three new songs, three B-sides and a copy of the show you attended. Seriously, what more can you ask for?

Yeah, getting a lot of free stuff is awesome, but here’s what makes the Lips ticket bundle stand out.

Previewing New Songs

Read more... (537 words, 1 image, estimated 2:09 mins reading time)

So Label 2.0 is up and running, and we already have members applying our tactics and participating in the forums!

What’s also cool is, a week into our launch I’m already digging some of our members’ music; this week I’ve been listening a lot to Andrew Hand’s “Slow It Down”, and learning about his “Songs For Oprah” project.

We have some wonderful new content this week for Label 2.0 members:

How to Be a Google Rockstar: An Introduction to Search Engine Marketing

Read more... (449 words, 4 images, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Photo taken by rock star photographer Brook Pifer at the 2009 Florida Music Festival I attended in May. Click the photo to check out Brook’s excellent portfolio on her website.

The digital age of the music business is in full effect. The remnants of music business 1.0 are rapidly being replaced by a new structure that empowers the artists, not the labels.

Music 2.0 is here.

Read more... (426 words, 2 images, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

For years the music business has been in the dumps. Since the beginning of the decade, consumers have stopped purchasing CD’s in favor of much more convenient methods like downloading single tracks from iTunes and stealing their album of choice from the Pirate Bay.

Most of the “old” hats in the music industry have tried to put a stop to these practices, and have failed miserably in doing so. The simple fact of the matter is that technology has affected many industries, and if you’re not going to change with the times, then you will simply be put out of business.

Read more... (1427 words, 3 images, estimated 5:42 mins reading time)

If you’re a regular reader of evolvor, you may have noticed that blogging here has been VERY light over the past month or so. Why? Well, between us debuting our new project, Label 2.0, and it being summer, finding the time to keep you up to date has been little to none.

All that’s about to change very soon – make sure you sign up to the Label 2.0 newsletter as we have some MAJOR announcements coming your way that will change the face of evolvor and provide YOU with the best music and marketing industry resources online.

Read more... (765 words, estimated 3:04 mins reading time)

For those who aren’t too web savvy, do you know why Google blew up a few years back?

It was because of their pay-per-click ad service called AdWords and it makes them a f%$#load of money.

The service is based around businesses that target specific keywords and purchase links that run along the right hand side of search results, and they only pay when someone clicks on an ad.

This is good for businesses, because they don’t have to waste time on trying to sell to people who are not even slightly interested in their product.

I mentioned last week the DMB iTunes pass, and how I think this kind of “paid content” premium membership stuff is going to be the bread-and-butter of the music business for artists struggling to sell CD’s in a thieves’ world.

Now word on the street is that Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins are going to offer their own subscription service. Here are the details:

• $40 (Originally thought to be $20, and with the stipulation that, in the end, the cost is all dependent on how many people would actually pay for such a project)

Read more... (828 words, 1 image, estimated 3:19 mins reading time)

If you follow me on Twitter you might have gotten word that I cleaned out my blogroll over the weekend. Between two new huge jobs and my computer taking a dirt nap, it was the last thing on my mind. Luckily a few weekend hours on the couch and I sifted through 5,000 feeds to bring you some cool stuff to check out.

Take your time checking out these resources – there’s a lot of stuff to take in at once, I know. Grab a few beers and open the notepad, and I promise you’ll have an information hangover when you’re done!

Read more... (709 words, 5 images, estimated 2:50 mins reading time)