Christian Music Marketing A to Z for Bands

Your Guide to Marketing Christian Music with Social Media for Bands

Marketing your Christian music whether it be independent or more mainstream Christian worship music, is increasingly much easier and inexpensive with the increasing ability to leverage social networking and consumer word of mouth. With the rise of web 2.0 technologies and social networking, now is a critical juncture to push your music marketing strategy forward as the music 2.0 proliferates.

Music 2.0: Behind the Looking Glass
Of course artists are flocking in droves to networks like MySpace, Facebook, and You Tube in an effort to gain an affordable platform to spread their music to the masses. With the global 24/7 distribution the internet allows its fertile market waiting to be tapped by creative, passionate, and entrepreneurial bands. However, the world of social media marketing for musical artists and creatives of all types is far, far more complex. Opening up the world of Music 2.0 is mushc like opening the world to find out what is behind the Looking Glass, as Alice did in the story Alice in Wonderland.

Tweeting Music, Melodies, and MP 3’s
What should we start with first? Perhaps, Twitter. Increasingly with major media outlets covering Twitter and both NBC and CNN twittering regularly, Twittering is not the fad some once thought it would be. In the context of music marketing and creating relationships, Twitter is an interesting place to connect with fans, but for the uninitiated can be hard to navigate.

So how do you use Twitter effectively? Two key ways to connect on twitter is to tweet about related artists and keywords around your artist. Also, Of course an equally direct method of reaching out on Twitter is using the @, which will show up in the person’s Tweet stream. The great thing about Twitter is it has mobile integration, so you can use it to connect with fans in a one to many in a way that other web platforms don’t allow you to do as readily. Finally, adding a creating and unique avatar and background to your Twitter profile can really help it stand out and get lots of visitors. Please realize, this is not an opportunity to follow 300+ people, because some folks may think you’re a multilevel marketer, or worse. On the flip side, people on Twitter are generally nice if you strike up a conversation or ask a question. However without directly engaging individuals, you may feel like you’re in an empty room.

Blogging the Music Experience: Behind the Music 2.0
Blogging is also getting very big, with seeming exponential growth in the last two to three years. Here are three quick technical tips about blogging. There are a couple ways to leverage blogging from a technical perspective. You will likely want to choose a WordPress or blogger blog. I happen to prefer WordPress, because it provides an easy to use content management system. You want to connect your blog to to a lifestream platform like Friendfeed, which will make it easier for your fans to follow you. You can even have your blog posts automatically to your Twitter, although not all people agree with this policy. Some find it to be a bit spammy, however it does make your life much, much easier.

Video Sharing Killed the Radio Star
However, to stop there is to miss the boat on the rise in Music 2.0 with video sites like Last.Fm, Vimeo, Metacafe and Viddler. In addition to mainstream music video sites you have God tube, which recently became Tangle, which has a section just for music artists. Artists are using these websites in innovative ways to connect with music listeners in a deeper and more meaningful way. And consequently, if the fans like the music, they can easily spread it and share it with their friends.

Music Innovation 2.0
One website thats intended to be a platform for spreading and selling music is Noise Trade. Noise trade was founded on the principle that most music is made via concerts and most music available online is free already. Noise trade allows you to download music for free, if you share it with your friend. This ensures the artist is happy because they gets social capital and a wider audience and the fan gets free music.

Music Marketing Meets the Real World
If you’re in the Christian marketing business, you will probably be checking out:

Teachers and speakers include: Indieheaven President, Keith Mohr, Sue Ross of The Inner Vizion, mainstream music guru Bob Baker of The Buzz Factor, Rick Cua, Tom Jackson, Robert Beeson of The Kindred Group, Eric Copeland of Creative Soul, Brad Mathias of Infinity Music Distribution, with many more to come!

Also planned for the days leading up to the CIA Summit, Tom Jackson will share his vast knowledge of live performance tips in a special one day seminar on March 26, 2008. On March 27, 2008, CMS Productions will hold their 2nd annual Nashville Songwriters Bootcamp, with Charlie Peacock and representatives from the CCM industry including EMI, Provident, Integrity and others. Songwriters will have their songs critiqued, and learn about the craft of writing from a seasoned panel of industry pros.

This should be a great opportunity for learning, networking, and enjoying the Music city. If you want to learn more about music social media, feel free to contact me.