Jim Markunas

**Readers!!! Today's post is interactive. I'm going to teach you how to manage multiple social media profiles for labels and artists. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to follow my links and instructions.... I promise there's a pay-off!

I can tell you for a fact that one can and should effectively have and manage as many social media sites as possible. A lot of industry peeps and bands have complained that there's too many social media sites and not enough time to effectively manage them all.

A main staple of my New Media Plan is effectively managing social media in a span of 5 minutes. Yes... 5 minutes.

For this exercise, you'll need profiles on Ping.fm, Twitter, Myspace, and Facebook. Follow the links above if you aren't on the aforementioned sites.

First let's discuss Ping.fm. Ping is a brilliant and revolutionary site! Everyone in new media and otherwise should be a member. Ping.fm gives users the ability to manage 30 or so social media sites from one place (or in my case via text message). With the click of a button labels and artists can post news and links all across the internet.

Most importantly, one post can simultaneously update your website (provided you were smart enough to embed an RSS feed), your Myspace blog, Facebook status/news, and your Twitter updates.

Now that you've gotten all your profiles in order. Go to Ping.fm and log in.

You should find yourself in the "Dashboard section. Go to the middle of the page and click on "Add More Networks."

We'll start with Twitter. Find the Twitter icon, and click "Add Network."

You'll be prompted to enter your username and password from Twitter.

Enter the login information, and select the appropriate boxes under the "Use For" section on the right. (Check whichever box or boxes you feel are appropriate.)

Repeat the process for Myspace, Facebook, and any other sites you happen to have profiles on.)

Now... you have 3 different social media profiles set up on Ping.fm. Great! I'm going to explain how to make it all work.

Option 1 - Using the Ping.fm site to update your profiles.

Go back to your Dashboard. You'll notice a giant white box. Click the drop down menu and select "Status Updates." Type a short messge and a link to a website (preferrably yours if you're an artist).

Viola! You've just updated your status on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter.

It's also possible to update your blog using the "Blogs" option, your Myspace blog using the "Micro-Blogging" option, etc. The sky is the limit. Just be sure not to use the same update for "Statuses" and "Micro-Blogging."

Option 2 - Updating via text message, e-mail, iPhone or Blackberry.

Updating by E-mail

Quite the useful function if you're a publicist with a Blackberry or iPhone. You can write a blog article in full HTML and update your sites by sending a simple e-mail.

Each Ping.fm user is assigned a unique e-mail address to send updates to. To find yours go to your Dashboard and click on the "E-mail" link just below where it says "Services/Tools."

Updating by Text Message

If you're a band on the go and you want to be able to update your sites without being tied to one of those pesky laptops, this option is for you.

Go to your Dashboard and look for the "SMS/Text Messaging" link under the "Services/Tools" section. You'll be asked to enter your mobile phone number. Once you've entered the number and established your phone, save Ping.fm's posting number into your phone.

When the urge strikes, text the number your news, and it will update all your statuses.

Updating Via iPhone or Blackberry

Use the internet as you would on your computer.

Or... Get one of the apps found here.

Congratulations, readers! Go out and "network."

Jim Markunas is a music industry futurist and editor-in-chief of Chicks With Guns Magazine. Jim has a decade of new media and music industry experience, he's run highly successful new media campaigns and has worked with James Brown, Miles Davis, The Walt Disney Company, Truckee Brothers, Mick Fleetwood, and Minty Fresh Records. Currently Jim's focus is monetization strategies for record labels and digital business development. He's a free agent available for hire.

Find Jim Online: Twitter - Linkedin - Facebook - Website - E-mail Jim

Written By: Jim Markunas
Photo Credit: Dave Bradley

Every once in a great while a being comes along with a revolutionary idea. The idea itself is ahead of its time, but still exceptionally valid. The messenger of this idea is usually persecuted; 2,000 years ago, it was Jesus, 50 Years ago, it was Martin Luther King, and today... it's internet radio.

Internet radio may hold the key the music industry is looking for. Here are a few reasons:

F*@% The FCC!!! - You can do, say or play whatever you want on internet radio. This instantaneously solves the problem of marketing bands that aren't "radio friendly."

In the olden days of the music industry, a band recorded an album under the supervision of a producer and a staff A&R guy. The album was plucked of 1-4 "commercial-sounding" songs. Said singles were played in order of appearance ad nausea on terrestrial radio stations throughout the world. This over-saturation caused consumers to run out to the local Best Buy or Tower Records to buy the album containing said single, or a 3-track disc of said single. Voila! Everyone from The Beatles to Korn sold records this way.

The great bands that didn't have "radio friendly" songs were shelved, haphazardly thrown on the market, or in RARE instances... carried on without help from radio.

Sometimes, albums that would have been a huge hit were thrown by the wayside because radio said "No!"

Example: Nada Surf's sophomore album (would have been HUGE!!!), 311's "Music," God Lives Underwater's "Up Off The Floor," and especially Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American" album (Passed on by Capitol/EMI and eventually released under Dreamworks/SKG under a self-titled guise to a multi-platinum success.)

Internet radio solves this dilemma, and in addition offers unique promotional opportunities. San Diego-rockers, Truckee Brothers released an internet radio exclusive MP3 in spring of 2007 not only to help the cause to save internet radio, but also because the song's title, "Mayday," could not be said on terrestrial radio.

Portability and Flexibility - Yes... We all know I'm a fan of the iPhone... Along with the rest of the world. This device has made internet radio all the more beneficial in the days of Apps. With the internet, listeners of internet radio aren't limited by range. Los Angeles' main internet radio stations, Kill Radio and Little Radio boast a global audience of thousands.

Famous radio stations across the pond, Virgin Radio and Capital FM, not only broadcast online, but have their own nifty little iPhone app. Pandora also has an app. Why listen to KROQ in the car and be subjected to the same Silversun Pickups song over and over for years when one can listen to anything they want on Pandora (Provided their car is iPod or Bluetooth enabled)?

Most importantly, there's a station out there for everybody! Like death metal? There's a station for you. Blues? Shoe-Gazer? Bird Sounds? There's a station for you too!

Affiliate Ads - Labels can align with stations to drive profits. Some stations have "click to buy" links, and further ad-sharing deals could be worked out to a mutually beneficial end.

The Hullabaloo Over Songwriters - Songwriter are emotional... That's why they write great songs. Nowadays, they're emotional about the fact that the internet has put them out of a job (And rightly so!)

When internet radio kills terrestrial radio, and it just may, it has the potential to become very profitable. These profits could be made to trickle down to songwriters, artists, and labels alike.

The Main Reason Every Label and Person Should Have Their Own Station - I can't think of any reason why one wouldn't have their own internet radio station.

Labels! Imagine a streaming station with thousands of listeners. You own the station, it plays exclusively your artists, and you sell ads. Smells suspiciously like money, doesn't it?

People! Rise up against those "evil" labels and play indie artists. This way, the old balance is restored and everyone's happy : )

Jim Markunas is a music industry futurist and editor-in-chief of Chicks With Guns Magazine. Jim has a decade of new media and music industry experience, he's run highly successful new media campaigns and has worked with James Brown, Miles Davis, The Walt Disney Company, Truckee Brothers, Mick Fleetwood, and Minty Fresh Records. Currently Jim's focus is monetization strategies for record labels and digital business development. He's a free agent available for hire.

Find Jim Online: Twitter - Linkedin - Facebook - Website - E-mail Jim

Written By: Jim Markunas
Photo Credit: James Worrell

Not To Beat A Dead Horse, But...

They did a scientific study, and it turns out that prosecuting illegal P2P file swappers is bad for the music business as a whole.

Check out the article.

To further buttress my point, let's do a rough crunch of the numbers:

The Cost of Litigating P2P

* Staff Attorneys (Studio/Label) - $100,000 - $150,000 annually X 6 staffers X 4 labels = $2.4 M - $3.6M

* Bad Debt (As Reported in A Corporate Financial Report) - $1M per lawsuit X 6 = $6M

* Lost Record Sales - 690,000 songs per day, 250M songs per week, and 13B songs per year are downloaded illegally. This is a yearly loss of $13B.

Debt that is won in court is more often than not, unpaid by litigants (on the defendant end). However, this "income" will show up on a company's financial report. But... If the debt goes unpaid, it shows up on the annual report as a loss.

Per year, labels are losing (this is just a rough estimation) $14B on P2P lawsuits and illegal filesharing.

That's quite a loss!

Here's what would happen if labels stopped litigating and instead negotiated with ISP's for a $1 per month music fee

If the 1.6 billion internet users world wide were charged an extra $1 per month for internet access in return for unlimited music files the music industry could stand to make $19 billion annually.

Enough said.

Jim Markunas is a music industry futurist and editor-in-chief of Chicks With Guns Magazine. Jim has a decade of new media and music industry experience, he's run highly successful new media campaigns and has worked with James Brown, Miles Davis, The Walt Disney Company, Truckee Brothers, Mick Fleetwood, and Minty Fresh Records. Currently Jim's focus is monetization strategies for record labels and digital business development. He's a free agent available for hire.

Find Jim Online: Twitter - Linkedin - Facebook - Website - E-mail Jim

Written By: Jim Markunas
Photo Credit: Thomas Northcut

The revolution has come and gone, now it's time to talk about money. In this multi-part series, I'll be focusing on positive solutions to the music industry dilemma. My first discussion is how to maximize DIGITAL touring income.

"What's digital touring income?" you ask. Good question!

We're all familiar with traditional touring income, yes? (Band goes on tour, sells tickets to fans; said fans purchase tickets, money trickles to band, promoter, venue, label (if applicable under 360 deal), etc. Maybe said band also secures some sponsorship dollars from Vans or Winterfresh gum as well - This is how it's been done since the beginning of time, and the model still holds up today.

I'd like to discuss how the digital sphere plays into touring income.

Traditional New Media - In the internet age, the press has moved from print to online. New Media departments, in addition to securing band and record release write-ups on blogs, zines and social networks, are now able to post tour dates in real time with links to buy tickets from Ticketmaster. This has been going on since the inception of the artist website and is nothing new. It's effective (more so than sending fans to the venue to buy tickets) and makes ticket purchase easier on concert-goers.

How we can add to this...

New Spheres of income - What if tour dates could be further leveraged to generate digital income?

Bible-belt band, Hinder, came up with a physical way to leverage tour income - They record their live set from the venue's sound board and offer a free burned CD of the live show with purchase of their $15.00 UMG release. Brilliant! It's a "free" (but not really) give away that stimulates sales.

However... physical records are pretty much dead. Therefore, bands should use this same concept in a digitally appropriate way. Let's say Papa Roach decides to do the same thing:

They record their live set via the venue's soundboard; they've also brought with them a few computers with iPod docking stations. The deal then changes to: Fans purchase a digital download of P Roach's live performance for $10.00. The performance is put onto the fans iPod right then and there along with a free copy of "Metamorphosis."

Global Broadcast - What if I live in Guam and I want to see Papa Roach perform in Los Angeles? Better yet! What if I'm in Chicago and I want to see Papa Roach perform in Los Angeles?

I'm basically screwed unless I wanted to pay for plane tickets to L.A., hotel, and car rental fees. Bummer, right?

Picture this...

Papa Roach goes on tour, as usual, but PRoach Riot members (members of Papa Roach's fan club) have the option of purchasing what's called a "digital season pass" that allows them to see every Papa Roach concert appearance via the internet in a live and/or "on-demand" fashion.

This would be uber-cool on many levels! Imagine never missing a single show from your favorite artist; you would be in heaven. This transforms a local concert in Los Angeles to a global concert across the world. As an added bonus, this solution will enable labels and artists to squeeze yet more money from sold out concert dates.

Yes, this solution can significantly increase your profits bands and labels. You're very welcome!

Jim Markunas is a music industry futurist and editor-in-chief of Chicks With Guns Magazine. Jim has a decade of new media and music industry experience, he's run highly successful new media campaigns and has worked with James Brown, Miles Davis, The Walt Disney Company, Truckee Brothers, Mick Fleetwood, and Minty Fresh Records. Currently Jim's focus is monetization strategies for record labels and digital business development. He's a free agent available for hire.

Find Jim Online: Twitter - Linkedin - Facebook - Website - E-mail Jim