Online Marketing

Will Phalen and the Stereo Addicts.
Photo by Kaitlin Rathkamp.

To say that the way music is produced and marketed has changed in recent years is to say that the weather has been a bit on the warm side lately. The internet has brought down the major record labels as we once knew them and opened up our ears to an array of artists so vast that it would have been unimaginable even a few years ago.

To the independent musician, this can present a problem: How do you stand out in a seemingly boundless, sprawling musical landscape in which anybody (and I mean anybody) can produce and release music?

Many Milwaukee bands are finding that the solution, much like the problem, lies on the web. Every self-respecting band has a MySpace page and a Facebook profile to get their name and music out there. I’m talking about the bands that have truly embraced the internet as a self-propelled marketing machine.

Here are a few of the more useful (and really quite amazing) online marketing tools available to musicians and some of the Milwaukee artists that are truly capitalizing on them.

Bandcamp

What It Is: There are a ton of places for artists to offer their music up for sale online, but none that seem to stand up to the ease and cool factor of upstart Bandcamp.com. Unlike services like CDBaby and iTunes, Bandcamp offers each artist a personalized, advertisement-free, search engine optimized webpage and allows them to select the amount of money they wish to charge. Users can search through genre, location and popularity tags to stumble upon these savvy bands, and with one click can download individual songs or entire albums in several formats.

Who’s Using It: The short answer is everyone. A simple tour of the Milwaukee tag turns up brand new EPs from the likes of The Scarring Party, Canyons of Static and surprisingly enjoyable newcomer Canopies along with a free download of the new Into Arcadia song “Panic.” But nobody on the local scene has drunk quite as much of the Bandcamp Kool-Aid than Listening Party Records. The brainchild of Decibully’s Andy Menchal and Nicholas Sanborn, Listening Party offers up all of its bands (including newest addition Blessed Feathers) releases exclusively via Bandcamp on a “pay-what-you-like” basis.

Blessed Feathers ‘By Song Through The Americas’ from Donivan Berube on Vimeo.

Kickstarter

What It Is: One of the most difficult challenges unsigned artists face is figuring out how to afford the recording of songs, releasing of albums, making of music videos and touring, the lifeblood of the indie band. Threatening to take the place of more traditional routes like pizza delivery and plasma donation is Kickstarter.com. The site is basically a forum for creatives and artists to pitch their projects and profess their need for cash to create said projects. If people like what they see, they are free to donate to the cause and, if the goal amount is met, become a rock ’n’ roll donor.

Who’s Using It: It’s a more select crew of artists than Bandcamp, but there are a few Milwaukee bands on the market for your money right now. The Fatty Acids is looking for some help raising $2,011 to fund the recording of the band’s Leftover Monsterface LP and the subsequent tour. Successful Kickstarter campaigns have recently resulted in the pressing of vinyl versions of Eric & Magill’s All Those I Know and Sat. Nite Duets’ One Nite Only. And with a pitch like this, it’s no wonder they were able to open up so many wallets.

Vimeo

What It Is: YouTube is still king of web video, (especially if you are looking for auto-tuned versions of new stories, weird cartoon monkeys or hilarious nut shots), but Vimeo has become the haven of serious video creators. Better video quality, a sleeker interface, and a more particular group of users make Vimeo the better option for posting and promoting HD video.

Who’s Using It: Many Milwaukee bands have taken to embedding music videos to their websites via Vimeo. Will Phalen and the Stereo Addicts even features a web series about the struggles of recording and releasing its second album. But the coolest local use of this site comes courtesy of video production groups like High Frequency Media who regularly showcase Milwaukee bands in various live and documentary-type situations.