The cost to create studio-quality recordings has plummeted; the cost to distribute music is negligible; music is nearly free; and now the cost of promotion (including effort) is rapidly approaching zero.  Going forward, you will practice and improve; you will be paid for live performances; you will sell physical merchandise and digital stuff; the need for middlemen will continue to fall off; fans will play an integral part in your rise (more so than ever); and the rewards for reaching the apex of the industry will continue to be substantial.  A Promotionless To Popular Strategy is really the only promotion strategy that any unknown artist can economically justify now.

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I have not tested this yet.  To make it easier for fans to find you, the next time you record a song, set the Artist_Name field on your MP3s to the URL of your website (60 char limit).  

The Artist_Name field will not be clickable, but it may help fans to quickly find you within the Internet's URL soup, especially if you do not own the dot-com extension.

The time-space between the stuff we do is as important as...the stuff we do.

The sum total of the space between our goals and activities is equal to, or greater than, the time-space we consume pursuing goals and activities; how we use this space is often the difference between finding the time and energy to add value to the world…or not.

When we put our minds to the task of making the most of the space between, it’s not all that surprising to learn what we can accomplish during a long commute to the office.  What’s really surprising though, is to learn what we can accomplish as a bag of popcorn expands in the microwave.  Small spaces are the biggest part of our days.  

We can use these spaces between for anything, including rest.

And over a lifetime...wasted space can add up to years.

The most successful, happiest, healthiest and the wisest people I know conquered mountains of goals…rather randomly, but all were strategic users of the space between…

The thirty minutes I spent debating music industry outlook and income streams on Music Think Tank last week reminded me that I never plan to utter the phrase “there’s no money in that” to my four kids as they grow up.

There are cycles to every job, industry and career.  Things that look bleak today (after some adaptation) are tomorrow’s growth and revenue engines; conversely, what’s up today, seems to always come down tomorrow.  

Here are a few things that I will tell my kids:
The road to money is a meandering path.
Do what you love.
Don’t spend more than you make.  It’s that simple.
Don’t make adjustments out of desperation.
The journey is the reward.

If you wake up every day and tell yourself that you have to build a fanbase, then you have the wrong strategy in mind.

The Internet is a value delivery machine.  People use the Internet to obtain valued entertainment, information, knowledge, services and products.

Search engines are mechanisms that measure the ability to deliver value.  The more value that a webpage or website delivers, the higher it will rank on a search engine’s index.

Google (via AdWords) even measures the value of the advertisements it places.  Ads that deliver less value (less click-throughs) cost more per click (to the advertiser) than competing ads that deliver greater value.

The mantra you have to hold in your head is:  I need to deliver value.  I need to deliver value.  I need to deliver value.  On the Internet…nothing else really matters.

Related posts: 
Ok, you make great music, but what’s your value proposition?
Three Steps To Inexpensively Winning The Search Engine Game

It’s safe to play the middle, but power comes out of the ends of the battery. 

I use this analogy when I am talking about what to create or how to say it. 

Some creators have an inclination to attempt to appeal to the widest possible audience by splitting the middle.  In my experience, the middle is never as large or as powerful as either end. 

If you are building an audience, consider appealing to the ends.  Power comes out of the ends of the battery, not the middle.

Another great example of engaging, viral promotion... The things you can do (as a marketer) that people talk about...

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