Rejection...

[Kreatorkind]

 

You have a fine sound but don't have the online presence that makes promoting you in the magazine successful. If you expand your social networks, please contact us again. Thanks.

 

 

What kind of online presence do I need? I'm on facebook, twitter and several music sites... as well as an album released for digital download on bandcamp.com. Do you think they mean getting on iTunes? I am not really sure what I can do...

[daddymack]

where (what magazine) did this rejection note come from?

[Kreatorkind]

 

where (what magazine) did this rejection note come from?

 

 

Rising Magazine. It's an online music magazine.

[scarecrowbob]

Well, they are probably banking on you promoting their magazine to your audience, and to do that you have to be able directly touch a certain number of folks on line.

 

I couldn't say if it was a good deal. To me, their mag is no big deal- they have a feb. issue and a meh website with no front page. What could they possibly offer you in terms of promo?

[Kreatorkind]

Well, they are probably banking on you promoting their magazine to your audience, and to do that you have to be able directly touch a certain number of folks on line. I couldn't say if it was a good deal. To me, their mag is no big deal- they have a feb. issue and a meh website with no front page. What could they possibly offer you in terms of promo?

 

Ah... makes sense.

 

I guess I should tweet more.

[daddymack]

the online thing is almost always about cross-promo...no one has enough juice on teh web yet to really command a 'presence', so it is a quid pro quo...

[scarecrowbob]

"no one has enough juice on teh web yet to really command a 'presence', so it is a quid pro quo..."

 

I dunno if I agree with that.. though FWIW, I don't think that a placement on a mediocre website is worth much even as a trade for pimping them to your facebook/email list/tw whatever... just like I don't think that a bar without a draw is worth as much to me as I would be to a bar who needs someone who can bring an audience.

 

However, there are plenty of places that folks have enough of an audience or "presence" to make other people pay them for using it. I would imaging that a mention in Justin Beiber's Tw stream is around $10K, but it might very well be worth the outlay to some folks... not us, fer sure, but someone....

[daddymack]

yes, when I said 'no one', the intent was web-based non-mainstream sites..certainly rollingstone.com or BAM.com would, but most of the web-based suffer from the same issues we all do...six billion channels...

[scarecrowbob]

Fair 'nough.

 

Still, though, I think that musicians who retweet other bands can be effective.

 

You're right that folks have a billion things hitting them from a billion directions. But this means that you have either be very targeted about what you do (You don't need a million hits, just the 50000 right ones) or incredibly large in scale (you hit people's eyes a billion times).

 

Believe it or not, there are strategies for hitting the 50k right eyeballs. I just don't think that this specific magazine either offers that or, as with so much crap in the world, that there are 50k "right" eyeballs for it to hit.

 

And you are totally right that it is something that us little fish can't really do much with.

[Orrin]

I agree that this magazine doesn't sound like it's worth it but I think building an online presence is still important. Having a healthy number of fans on a facebook page is a good indicator for the popularity of the music and it's also a great way for the band to keep in touch with their fans.

[Matximus]

 

What kind of online presence do I need? I'm on facebook, twitter and several music sites... as well as an album released for digital download on bandcamp.com. Do you think they mean getting on iTunes? I am not really sure what I can do...

 

 

Why are you asking us? Call the damn magazine. This looks like a stock reply. If you gonna let yourself get brushed aside so swiftly by a hack outlet you ain't ready for the game, my friend.

 

I'ma help you here.

 

So it looks like the person you need to get on the horn with is Janet McCulloch. She's a marketing pro, so she shouldn't mind lending you some help if you go about it in the right way. Just know who she is and stroke her ego - she'll get right back to you.

 

Here is what I could spool about with some simple searches online and tells you a good bit about who she is and what she's all about. This was done on Google in about 10 minutes.

 

Janet McCulloch- Content/Social Media Director : janet@risingmag.com

 

-She's a Red-head, late 30s, early-40s by the look of her MySpace profile. Canadian from Balfour British B.C. This is her phone number: 250-229-5204. Her address is Box 34, Balfour BC, VOG 1CO, Ca. (Her Partner on Rising, Marianna is outta Boise. But Janet seems to be most of the drive of the organization.) She is/was married to a dude named Keith. It looks like she she used to run this Balfor B&B: Murray Pond B&B. janet@murraypond.com, but doesn't seem to be around anymore, unfortunately. She's a dreamer! She's nuts about Balfour, and used to sit on the local Chamber of Commerce, it appears. Done all sorts of write-ups on the sights and wonder of the great district of Balfour. She's an enthusiast. That means you be an enthusiast too.

 

It does look like she started this thing in February. She's a hometown girl, entrepreneurial and either trained in marketing or learned on the go promoting her business and leading some of the marketing of the local chamber. Don't know how she makes her living these days. But Rising is essentially the equivalent of those free hometown newspapers you'll see in the bin at the local Chinese store. But with better art and pictures.

 

It looks like every month she selects 8 up-and-comers to feature with 200/250-word blurbs on about four pages of the magazine, ahead of the main feature. You're goal should be to become one of those up-and-comers. So brush up on them - this will help you make your case to her for why you should be one of these artists. "I have just as many Facebook friends/ Youtube views/ twitter followers as BareFoot Mark from the September issue .. .great issue by the way.. I've got Sara Ault on permenant repeat on my iPod, thanks to discovering her through your great mag..." or some schlock... KNowhati'mSaying?

 

Get all this together and have a very clear idea about why you are great and why she should be writing you up. Send her an e-mail and call her up. She'll get back to you if you make it clear to her how awesome Rising is and how familiar you are with it and what a big dreamer you are too. Can she help you achieve one of your dreams of getting some publicity for your work? Or whatever.

 

Basically if you want people to write about you you gotta become a person to them. I doubt she has some religious quota about who is worth writing about or not. She writes about whom she wants to write about. Work the person if you want to get written about - don't get hung up on the abstractions of what a relevant online presence is.

 

ALSO: ART ART ART. She is running this thing on a shoestring budget, it looks like. The key to understanding any publication - print or online- is how how IMPORTANT GOOD PICTURES ARE to them. They're often more important than the content of the story - a striking & high quality photo is a huge boon. It fills up space and adds to the energy of the work. Paying for a photographer and scheduling it together is a major pain in the ass.

 

What I'm basically saying is have awesome, professional quality pictures of yourself and let her know that she can run them for free alongside your up-and-comer profile. If you have that right there together along with a professional-looking and swift resume of your achievements at-the-handy you just leap-frogged a good 80% to 90% of the MySpace and BandCap hacks vying for her attention. The easier you make it for her to logistically put you in the magazine the less work she has to do putting you in her magazine. This is how you get in her magazine.

[flatfinger]

Epic Matximus!

 

 

It underlines the sea-change that has occured . Just being creative alone won't cut it ; There's to much competition ( level playing field and all that ) so Not only do you need to be a sensitive artist type but you also need to be a hustler ! ( Dual personality disorder becomes an asset !!) Muster the hubris and join the chours of dillitanes who will happily tell you they are the second comming!!

 

 

 

P.S.

 

I you should have a moment or two left over after self-agrandising , go ahead and hone your artistic abilities ..... But only when your'e done with the pimping .

 

 

 

Brave new world!!

[rsadasiv]

What's your Klout score?

[Kreatorkind]

Awesome post Matximus! Thanks!

 

What's your Klout score?

 

I have a Klout score of 35... whatever that means!

[niceguy]

 

What kind of online presence do I need? I'm on facebook, twitter and several music sites... as well as an album released for digital download on bandcamp.com. Do you think they mean getting on iTunes? I am not really sure what I can do...

 

 

So, first of all, you're behaving as if this is 1980 and RCA Records just rejected you. I looked at Rising Magazine's site, and they will not "break" anyone. I highly doubt anyone (other than friends of the magazine's staff) reads their publication in search of new music.

 

Next, if you wanna grow your fanbase, there's really just one way: be exceptional. Then, when you play shows or people hear you on the net, your fanbase will grow. In the modern age, that's all you can do. Really, it just takes a few people to catalyze fanbase growth.

 

I'd suggest you just keep producing the best music you can possibly produce, throw it online, and play shows.

[Kreatorkind]

So, first of all, you're behaving as if this is 1980 and RCA Records just rejected you. I looked at Rising Magazine's site, and they will not "break" anyone. I highly doubt anyone (other than friends of the magazine's staff) reads their publication in search of new music. Next, if you wanna grow your fanbase, there's really just one way: be exceptional. Then, when you play shows or people hear you on the net, your fanbase will grow. In the modern age, that's all you can do. Really, it just takes a few people to catalyze fanbase growth. I'd suggest you just keep producing the best music you can possibly produce, throw it online, and play shows.

 

I wasn't taking it THAT hard!

 

I'm gonna get out and play more. I just bought an Acoustic/Electric and I'm gonna hit every place I can find.

[The 615]

I wouldnt promote you either. Its not personal, its business. The music just isnt good enough. It doesnt stand out and make me want to listen. If my business were selling music I couldnt sell yours. Its that simple in the music business. Not being smart or mean im just telling you how I see it. The songs just arent there.

[Kreatorkind]

 

I wouldnt promote you either. Its not personal, its business. The music just isnt good enough. It doesnt stand out and make me want to listen. If my business were selling music I couldnt sell yours. Its that simple in the music business. Not being smart or mean im just telling you how I see it. The songs just arent there.

 

 

Except that wasn't the basis of the rejection. She actually liked the songs.

 

That being said, the music is most certainly good enough. It's better than good enough. It's damn good as a matter of fact.

 

Anyway, this thread is about online presence, not quality of the music.

[niceguy]

Except that wasn't the basis of the rejection. She actually liked the songs. That being said, the music is most certainly good enough. It's better than good enough. It's damn good as a matter of fact. Anyway, this thread is about online presence, not quality of the music.

 

Where else do you post your music online? I suggest you try Last.fm, Grooveshark, YouTube, for starters. I'm not one to write off anyone's music, because there's an audience for almost anything. Just cuz it's not my cup o' tea doesn't mean that others won't like it.

 

But the only way to find out if you have a potential audience is to put it out there, in an objective arena, where people can savage you or love you. Ultimately, most people think their own compositions are sublime.

 

Good luck

[Ronan Murphy]

 

What kind of online presence do I need? I'm on facebook, twitter and several music sites... as well as an album released for digital download on bandcamp.com. Do you think they mean getting on iTunes? I am not really sure what I can do...

 

 

Its not about the number of sites you are on but how much of an audience or fan base you have. At the time of writing this post you have 44 followers on twitter and 6 people like your page.

 

You have got to find ways to build up a fan base (a real one, not one you get by those "I will get you a million followers" businesses.

[Kreatorkind]

Where else do you post your music online? I suggest you try Last.fm, Grooveshark, YouTube, for starters. I'm not one to write off anyone's music, because there's an audience for almost anything. Just cuz it's not my cup o' tea doesn't mean that others won't like it. But the only way to find out if you have a potential audience is to put it out there, in an objective arena, where people can savage you or love you. Ultimately, most people think their own compositions are sublime. Good luck

 

yah, I'm on youtube, lastfm, bandcamp, musicxray, facebook, twitter, soundcloud, soundclick and some other places.

[A. Einstein]

Depends on what product you have to offer to the market, and what you wanna achieve.

 

Before this two initial questions are answered, no one can give you advice.

 

 

 

What kind of online presence do I need? I'm on facebook, twitter and several music sites... as well as an album released for digital download on bandcamp.com. Do you think they mean getting on iTunes? I am not really sure what I can do...

 

[Kreatorkind]

 

Depends on what product you have to offer to the market, and what you wanna achieve. Before this two initial questions are answered, no one can give you advice.

 

 

The product is 12 songs. I want to achieve album sales.

[3shiftgtr]

 

Depends on what product you have to offer to the market, and what you wanna achieve. Before this two initial questions are answered, no one can give you advice.

 

 

 

The product is 12 songs. I want to achieve album sales.

 

 

Einstein, here's your chance to really help someone, out of the kindness of your heart. To really give some one the benefits of your experience and success in the business.

 

Work your magic, breaux.

[daddymack]