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I'm gonna sell my music online. Would love to hear your thoughts!

by mattrob87
10 replies
Hey guys!

I've been an active reader on this board for quite some time now and there is so much valuable information it's crazy! Thank you for it! I feel like I'm at the right place to get some useful information about my future plans.

So I'm producing music for more than 12 years now and last year I decided that I want to try to sell my music online. I'm going to focus on hip hop since there are tons of rappers out there looking for beats. Yet over the last years I've also produced music and sounddesign for movies, tv spots, games, documentaries and more. So I'm basically able to produce all kinds of music.

The past 5 months I've been researching and I have to admit this whole internet marketing world is overwhelming. Everyday I stumble upon new information about stuff you should do/must do/can't do... it's just mind-boggling yet extremely interesting at the same time.

Anyway so here are some of my plans:
  • create a homepage, where I can sell my stuff (I'm most likely going to use the services of soundgine.) Sell different licences for different prices.
  • include a squeezing page, where I can offer production-information, free-music etc.
  • doing some SEO such as creating good meta tags etc.(my knowledge is limited, I'm learning more and more everyday)
  • be active on all important platforms: facebook, twitter, instagram, stumbleupon, pinterest, google+, tumblr, blogger, youtube, soundcloud etc.

Now I know there is a lot of knowledge on this board when it comes to online marketing, so I just want to ask you guys some questions. I'm still at the very beginning of my online business life, so please forgive me, if some things sound dumb or naive.
  1. Blogging: I read different things when it comes to blogging. Today I read that you should never use tumblr, blogger etc for your main blog, because those are services that could collapse any day and all your followers you gained over the years would be gone. Instead it'd be better to create your own blog. Now I kind of see the point, but don't you think it would rather hurt my business if I'm missing out on tumblr and other blogging services? Should I be active on all of them or should I focus on just one?

  2. Affiliate marketing: A friend of mine owns a recording studio where he records, mixes and masters. He does have a website but I don't think it's his main place for customer acquisition. He's very active on Facebook though. I was thinking about an online partnership. I could offer mix and mastering services on my page, link to his site. I get a percentage if someone uses his services and vice versa. Do you think there is potential there? If so how do you actually approach this kind of scenario? What services do I need and which ones would you recommend to make this happen? (Keep in mind that when I'm going online, no one knows my name/website and no one heard of me before)

  3. Content/Niche: Alright so what I always read is: "find a niche!" I guess when it comes to music a niche would be something like "sample-based-oldschool-hiphop beats".
    Now the other day, someone told me that I would have a really good starting point to sell music online, because I'm able to produce not only hiphop beats, but basically any other type of music as well. So I could reach more clients. I would also stand out from my competitors who mainly focus on hiphop beats. How do you see it? Is it good that I can produce more than most of my competitors? Or is it bad because I have no real target audience, since basically everybody loves "music".

  4. The Start: How would you tackle the first day, first week, first month? Imagine this: My website is online. Music is up there for sale. I'm registered on all social-media platforms and all profiles are ready to go. Now what? Start putting content on my blog and sharing it on other platforms? But who will read it? I'm starting with no followers, listeners, no respect whatsoever. How would you move on from here? Like/follow thousands of people and hope that they follow/like me back? In another thread someone said, that nowadays this doesn't work anymore. Do you think that's true? Any other advices? (I'm also planning to go out into the real world doing some offline marketing as well.)

  5. Organize the social life: Any specific advices about how to keep my social life organized to be more efficient? Any good services that allow me to manage all my social media accounts at the same time? Would you even use it? (any experiences?) Would you post the same content on Twitter, Facebook etc. at the same time or would you spread it over time?

  6. More: Something else you would do? Something you wouldn't do? Any other tips and tricks? Let me know

Ok wow this has become a long post! Thank you very much for reading and I'm really looking forward to what you guys have to say!

Have a good one!
#gonna #hear #love #music #online #sell #thoughts
  • Profile picture of the author astral walker
    You can sell music on cd baby, amazon, iTunes. Make sure your album covers are designed really well.

    Start your own self hosted wordpress blog make sure you choose one of the best hosting providers

    Publish blog posts regularly. You won't get visitors instantly, it will take some months. Slowly and gradually you will start getting traffic. SEO optimize your website.

    Start your own affiliate program. use postaffiliatepro (dot)com , iDevAffiliate . There are many alternatives..

    Promote your music via YouTube and Facebook.

    Join Reverbnation

    Get your music album covers designed by a professional.

    Promote your tweets using JustRetweet

    To manage your social media use HootSuite
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    • Profile picture of the author mattrob87
      Originally Posted by astral walker View Post

      You can sell music on cd baby, amazon, iTunes. Make sure your album covers are designed really well.

      Start your own self hosted wordpress blog make sure you choose one of the best hosting providers

      Publish blog posts regularly. You won't get visitors instantly, it will take some months. Slowly and gradually you will start getting traffic. SEO optimize your website.

      Start your own affiliate program. use postaffiliatepro (dot)com , iDevAffiliate . There are many alternatives..

      Promote your music via YouTube and Facebook.

      Join Reverbnation

      Get your music album covers designed by a professional.

      Promote your tweets using JustRetweet

      To manage your social media use HootSuite
      Just to be clear, I'm not selling myself as an artist, but rather music every artist can use for their own work. I'm kind of like a service provider. I sell different licences. For example one licence would be kind of like a lease, so I can re-sell that music track again and again. Another one would be a licence for exclusive rights, so the buyer can use the music to an unlimited extend an I can't re-sell it.

      Thank you for the advices and links! I'm actually browsing through design.bleepingtech.com right now, since I'm looking for a logo lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Burritt
    Banned
    Another idea is to allow some samples of your music to be used as royalty-free background music for commercial production videos. People search YouTube for music to use in their videos which won't violate a copyright. So offer some free samples on YT, and then let people know they can get the full download on your site. Then on your site, give them one or a few for free, but offer paid package where they can get a lot more for a price.
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  • Profile picture of the author ncmedia
    Been down this rabbit hole for xx years now - sold beats, soundscapes, samples, scored for videos/film, voiceovers, built software, daw's/vsts/au's/etc.

    As much as you've planned for success and have a roadmap - don't limit yourself to just beats/music or just one site. While I can't tell you what will work best, know that your production skills and talents are VERY broad and diverse and can fill in many gaps in the music biz world. Just spamming all the sites/brands listed above doesn't matter if you don't stand out in as many ways as possible including having undeniable raw talent.

    I did an interview a while back for a music marketing course an associate is running - you should absorb this I think it will help you quite a bit in your transition from music to marketing/service provider/brand builder/etc.

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  • Profile picture of the author Francesco Iantorno
    Go for it man! Follow your dreams and be successful!
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    Just spamming all the sites/brands listed above doesn't matter if you don't stand out in as many ways as possible including having undeniable raw talent.
    Give that man a cigar!

    There are a gazillion (yes, a gazillion) people in this game.

    Just like anything else you have to find your niche(s).

    If you have the above mentioned natural talent then you have to do something to draw attention to yourself. Why would I use you when I have sooo many other choices?
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    Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
    All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
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    • Profile picture of the author morg2k2
      I will be quite honest with you (and I am not selling any sort of music), this is a multi billion dollars niche, probably highly saturated even though saturation is not something to be afraid, its just for the best of the pack.


      The main issue is there are a lot of people doing what you do with an huge budget to promote them, so or you can join those well known websites and sell from there or you need to spent a nice amount of cash to build a top notch website, be on the top social networks or hire someone to manage your presence there (will need to post great content 2-3 times a day) you will need to be on your niche forums and engage with people.


      About the business model I believe selling beats the same way as a track its not a good move. Why? because the people are really money with it are selling subscriptions for a small monthly price, this will bring more potential customers but you will receive less revenue for each member that you get.
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      • Profile picture of the author mattrob87
        Originally Posted by morg2k2 View Post

        I will be quite honest with you (and I am not selling any sort of music), this is a multi billion dollars niche, probably highly saturated even though saturation is not something to be afraid, its just for the best of the pack.


        The main issue is there are a lot of people doing what you do with an huge budget to promote them, so or you can join those well known websites and sell from there or you need to spent a nice amount of cash to build a top notch website, be on the top social networks or hire someone to manage your presence there (will need to post great content 2-3 times a day) you will need to be on your niche forums and engage with people.


        About the business model I believe selling beats the same way as a track its not a good move. Why? because the people are really money with it are selling subscriptions for a small monthly price, this will bring more potential customers but you will receive less revenue for each member that you get.
        No, you are right! I know that. But to be honest I'm not expecting to get rich here. I'm producing music anyway you know. I've been producing music for so many years now cause I love it. Made a few bucks here and there, but nothing serious at all and it was just never about that.

        It's just that I've seen so many producers selling their music online and they are not even that good, in fact some of them suck! Some people will buy that music anyway cause they don't know better. So I just thought I'm gonna give this a try you know. For me it's a win win situation. If I sell some of my stuff, that would be awesome, and if I don't, I at least learned some stuff about this IM thing, which might help me sooner or later. I have to say though...I want to do it right, or at least try to do it right, cause otherwise it would be a waste of time you know. And when it's about doing something right on the Internet, that's when this forum and you guys come into play
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  • Profile picture of the author Nytshade
    haha... The posts above are just pure comedy

    WOW it was fun to read haha...

    Take it from a record label owner, dj, full time blogger, internet marketer, producer and remix artist for various record labels. Forget about focusing on selling beats, you can do that on the side but it shouldn't be your main focus.

    The video interview shared above is good is you're selling your own music, not when you're making beats to sell.

    All the people who posted above know that to make money online you need to solve a specific problem, it's that simple. So the best way to make money online with your skills is to teach my friend, that's the best advise I can give you.

    I also offer mastering services, sell music on itunes, amazon, beatport etc. but the big money is in teaching. I went to music production school so I'm really good with a rare skill and as a producer you might also be struggling with it, and that is mixing.

    My mixing guide is generating loads of cash more than anything I do. My blog gets tons of traffic daily from Google, social media networks and forums I'm not even part of. For instance, go to youtube and search "buy beats" or "sell beats" and you'll see that videos with those keywords get crappy number of views.

    But go and search "how to make beats" and you'll see that there's tons of people who want to learn, I hope you can now see the power of teaching. Teaching is the way you can turn your passion into money my friend.

    I don't teach beat making I'm just giving you a typical niche example, but I know you also know a rare skill that you can blog about and create a youtube channel with. It's much easier to promote video and blogging lessons that teaches musicians as compared to selling beats to them. Promoting a website that sells beats will require a lot of cash, but if you teach you can start generating traffic for free from the next hour, literally.

    I won't go into too much details here but think about it
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    • Profile picture of the author mattrob87
      Originally Posted by Nytshade View Post

      haha... The posts above are just pure comedy

      WOW it was fun to read haha...

      Take it from a record label owner, dj, full time blogger, internet marketer, producer and remix artist for various record labels. Forget about focusing on selling beats, you can do that on the side but it shouldn't be your main focus.

      The video interview shared above is good is you're selling your own music, not when you're making beats to sell.

      All the people who posted above know that to make money online you need to solve a specific problem, it's that simple. So the best way to make money online with your skills is to teach my friend, that's the best advise I can give you.

      I also offer mastering services, sell music on itunes, amazon, beatport etc. but the big money is in teaching. I went to music production school so I'm really good with a rare skill and as a producer you might also be struggling with it, and that is mixing.

      My mixing guide is generating loads of cash more than anything I do. My blog gets tons of traffic daily from Google, social media networks and forums I'm not even part of. For instance, go to youtube and search "buy beats" or "sell beats" and you'll see that videos with those keywords get crappy number of views.

      But go and search "how to make beats" and you'll see that there's tons of people who want to learn, I hope you can now see the power of teaching. Teaching is the way you can turn your passion into money my friend.

      I don't teach beat making I'm just giving you a typical niche example, but I know you also know a rare skill that you can blog about and create a youtube channel with. It's much easier to promote video and blogging lessons that teaches musicians as compared to selling beats to them. Promoting a website that sells beats will require a lot of cash, but if you teach you can start generating traffic for free from the next hour, literally.

      I won't go into too much details here but think about it
      Thank you! Some great advice! To hand out production tips was part of my plan. Haven't thought of it as my main thing though. More like a way to gain some traffic to my music selling site. I will definitely think about what you said. Would it be ok, if I'd PM you at some time in the near future? I'm sure you could help me out with some things.
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