GrindEFX

If you’re reading this site, then you are probably in the business of selling music in some way, shape or form.

As most of you will know, trying to get an audience to part with their hard-earned money is no easy task, and when sales aren’t as high as you would have liked it can be discouraging.

But before you set fire to your songbook and sell your equipment, are you sure you’re doing everything you possibly can to get your music out there?

Here are 5 possible reasons why nobody is buying your music, and what you can do about it.

1. Does anyone know?

One of the most common problems independent artists face when releasing an album is exposure. Trying to make your product stand out from the millions of other aspiring musicians is a very difficult and daunting thing to do. There is so much music around these days that consumers have an infinite choice when thinking of making a purchase, the chances of them even knowing about your project, let alone choosing to buy it, are extremely slim.

So what can you do to let people know about your music?

First of all you should be promoting the release heavily on your website (if you don’t have a website, stop reading this article and go register your domain!), let everyone on your mailing list know that your album is available to purchase and make sure that when anybody visits your site it’s the first thing they see.

Use social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Myspace to tell your fans about your album. If someone has chosen to follow you on one of these sites that means they are interested in what you do and want you to update them on your music, so don’t be afraid to send them messages.

Contact websites that could help you reach a new audience, ask them to review the album or interview you. Make posts in forums and have a link back to your website in your signature. Make a video and upload it to YouTube, make it interesting and unique so that people are more likely to check out your music.

Don’t solely rely on the Internet, market your album to your local audience too. Your local fans are much more likely to want to support you because they have a real life connection with you, that’s half the battle already won.

Announce your album during gigs and make sure you hand out business cards with your website on it so that people know where to find you online. If you have hard copies pressed up, sell them on the door along with your other merch (you do sell merch at your concerts right?). Contact local press and see if they’ll cover one of your gigs and plug your record, do this with your local radio stations too.

Do something interesting and different that might get you some press coverage. I’ve discovered quite a few artists just from hearing about some wacky business model they’ve created.

I will go into more detail on this in a later post as the subject is too vast for this post, hopefully you get an idea though.

2. Is your music up to scratch?

This probably should have been first, because no matter how hard you promote your record, if people don’t like it, they ain’t buying it. If you’re expecting people to pay for your music, then you have to make sure your music is worth paying for. Spend some time crafting your album, make it personal to you, not a knock-off of someone else’s music.

Get it recorded properly, pay for studio time or invest in some good quality equipment so that you can record at home. If you don’t know how to mix, pay a professional to do it. If the record sounds horrible sonically then people will hate it and they won’t know why, making your product sound clean and professional is very important. Ask people for feedback before you try to sell your music, release a track or two for free and see how your fans respond.

Beyond the music, make sure the album is nicely packaged. Book a photoshoot and hire a professional designer for your album artwork. The artwork should be unique and stand out. A photo of you sitting on a sofa holding an acoustic guitar isn’t going to excite anyone. If someone comes across your record but has never heard your music, they are going to judge it solely on the way it is presented, if it looks amateur then they will assume your music is of the same standard.

3. Are you giving your fans options?

People consume music in so many ways these days, it’s important to give your fans options. By just selling a CD on your website you’re excluding a big percentage of your market, the same applies if you just have your album on iTunes. Your music should be available in a variety of different formats at a variety of different price points.

“Why?”, you ask? Well think of your fanbase like a pyramid.

• The bottom level of the pyramid is your basic fan; they’ve heard a couple of your songs, kinda digged them, and now they want to check out your album. These basic fans are the type who will just buy the songs they like on iTunes, and if you’re lucky; they might buy the whole album.

• Then you have your mid-level fans. They love your album. They come to your shows, know the words to your songs and have your name etched in their pencil case. Mid-level fans are likely to buy all of your music, they will also buy merchandise, concert tickets and possibly a deluxe or limited edition of their favourite album.

• Finally you have your hardcore fans, or as I like to call them; “Amanda Palmer fans”. These guys are verging on stalkers (but in a sweet way). They have a deep connection with you and your music and will buy pretty much anything you offer. These are the people who will buy your limited edition box set for $1,000, or your sweaty, unwashed t-shirt that you gigged in last night for $500. But don’t get too excited, you have to work VERY hard to earn this kind of loyalty.

So what does this have to do with options?

Well think about it for a minute. Does it make sense to offer ONE product for all 3 levels of fans? Putting your album on iTunes is fine for your basic fans, but what about your mid-level fans or (if you’re lucky enough) your Amanda Palmer fans who are just waiting to throw their money at you?

You need to cater to all of them. Give your basic fans CDs and mp3s, but find out what your more serious fans want too and put together exclusive packages for them. Don’t just try and flog them crap, talk to them, find out what their interests are and give them something they genuinely want.

Giving you fans options on how they can purchase your music will make them feel appreciated. You’re not forcing them into buying one product, you’re letting them choose how they listen to your music.

One strategy that has been proven successful is to offer your album for free download on your website as well as having it available to purchase. Nine Inch Nails did this with their 2008 LP “Ghosts I-IV”, it grossed $1.6 million in its first week and was Amazon’s bestselling album that year!

Cory Smith, a virtually unknown artist in 2001, made $4 million in 2008 while giving his music away for free. He even did an experiment where he stopped all free downloads and his iTunes sales actually went down. When he brought the free downloads back; iTunes sales went up.

And what about Radiohead’s “pay what you want” experiment? They allowed fans to choose how much they paid for their 2007 release “In Rainbows” and the album went on to sell over 3 million copies.

Free music doesn’t have to be a substitute for fans buying. To quote Chris Anderson; “Use free to reach a mass audience, and use paid to monetize the people who value it most.”

4. Are you giving your fans a reason to buy?

Music doesn’t sell like it used to, we all know this. Fans can get music for free. They can listen to what they want, when they want and not pay a dime. As a result of this artists need to give fans a reason to buy.

We talked about producing music packages targeted at specific fans, and while this gives them options, it also gives them a reason to buy. We’ve seen artists like Josh Freese, Jill Sobule and Amanda Palmer achieve amazing results using unorthodox methods to make money from their music. Each of them found a unique strategy that worked for them.

Connecting with fans is very important, but in order to seal the deal they have to want to buy the product.

NIN gave fans a reason to buy their “Ghosts I-IV” album by giving them something of value beyond the music. They offered a Deluxe Box Set for $75 which included CDs, a DVD, a Blu-Ray, a book etc. They also offered a Limited Edition Super Deluxe Set for $300 which included even more stuff such as vinyl and some nice prints. There were only 2500 of these Super Deluxe Sets made and each one was personally signed by Trent Rezner, making it a real collectors item.

Sure they are a big band with a huge fanbase, but there is no reason why you can’t adopt a similar model. At the end of the day it’s all about making your fans want to support you.

For more examples check out Mike Masnick’s presentation on the “Music Commerce Frontier” from NARM this year.

5. Are your prices reasonable?

I was in London the other night and saw an extremely talented musician busking in Covent Garden. We stood and listened to him play for nearly an hour along with probably a hundred other people. Everyone loved him, he was an extraordinary guitar player and a great singer. In front of him was a briefcase, inside were postcards with his website and Myspace printed on which he was giving out for free, and some CDs which he was selling for £10 ($16).

In the time I was watching him I only saw one person buy a CD. He had the whole of Covent Garden dancing, clapping and singing, but because of his unreasonable pricing only one person went home with his music that night. If he were selling those CDs for £3 I don’t think many people would have left without one.

I see this a lot. Especially on the Internet where artists believe every Myspace friend = a sale. Sometimes you just need a reality check. You need the fans more than they need you, so treat them right. Make your prices attractive to your audience.

Conclusion

Don’t be discouraged if nobody is buying your music. If your music is genuinely good then you just need to update your business model. The business of selling music has changed. Music sales may be down but music consumption has never been higher. The demand for music is bigger than ever. People WANT your music. There is no one strategy I can give you, what works for on artist probably won’t work for another, but hopefully the points above have given you something to think about.