Contrasting your verses and your choruses is a great way to keep your songs interesting. There are so many different ways to achieve contrast from Verse to Chorus to Bridge. You can sing your vocals in a different range than the section before. You can start your vocals on a different beat that you did in the section before. You can play different chords on the guitar. You can play the same chords to a different rhythm. The list goes on and on.

If you really want to improve the experience of your song for your listeners, you can tie the contrast of your song into the meaning of your lyrics.

Let me show you what I’m talking about.

First let’s take a listen to the first verse and chorus of the song "It’s the End of the World As We Know it (And I Feel Fine)" by REM. It’ll come up on a quick YouTube search.

The first thing you probably notice about this song is the fast pace, and craziness of the verses. That’s this song’s "thing." That’s who it is. It’s a big ball of chaos. Well, in its verses, anyway. The chorus (starting at "It’s the End of the World…") is slow, and drawn out. At least compared to the verses.

Contrast between sections is the way we distinguish one section from another. One (of the many) ways to achieve such contrast is to change the rhythm and length of your phrases between sections. This is the main strategy this song uses to achieve contrast between its verses and chorus. The verses are super quick and choppy, while the chorus is comparatively drawn out. It’s a pretty effectively strategy.

If the lyrics in the verses actually hold any meaning, they seem to be about chaos. And if there is no actual meaning, then by definition that still makes them chaotic. So the verses are really about chaos, which of course ties back to the whole "End of the World" idea.

When the chorus hits, it simply proclaims "It’s the end of the world as we know it" three times as a summation of what’s happening in the verses. But the coolest part happens on the fourth line of the Chorus, in the line "and I feel fine." After a crazy, fast paced verse, which gets summed up by the first three lines of the chorus, the phrase "I feel fine" is the most drawn out, with the longest notes of anything we’ve heard so far. What we hear is "and I feel fine," while the mood of the music is the most relaxed compared to everything else we’ve heard in this song.

It’s a strategic use of lyrics married to their meaning. Not only do the verses imply chaos through their words, but they also do so with how the mood of the music makes us feel. In a contrasting way, the chorus slows down and feels more subdued, which is perfectly fitting by the time "I feel fine" kicks in on the last line. It makes us feel fine, when we’re otherwise surrounded by all this chaos.

It’s a great strategy. I recommend you try a similar approach in one of your own songs and see how it feels. Have fun with it.

The joy of music is that it is new every time it is played. There is no such thing as a definitive version of anything. A composer indicates intention, but, whatever the piece, the music only comes to life when it is interpreted. A programme of Romantic violin sonatas by Brahms, Grieg and Franck might, to the uninitiated, appear to be potentially run-of-the-mill. But such an assumption would ignore the potential interpretive contribution of two superb musicians, Joaquín Palomares and Bruno Canino.

The duo performed on 11 February 2012 in the first concert of La Nucia’s Spring Festival in the town’s beautiful Auditori de la Mediterrània. They have played together many times and their perfect understanding was in evidence from the very first notes of the Brahms second sonata. Joaquín Palomares’s violin playing was, as usual for him, supremely lyrical and was able to communicate the long melodic lines of Brahms’s style. And Bruno Canino’s piano playing throughout went way beyond the role mere accompanist. The almost tangible communication between the two players gave both shape and meaning to the music’s narrative.

Less familiar to most in the audience was Grieg’s third sonata, considered the best of the composer’s three works in the form. Palomares and Canino blended the elements of folk song, dance rhythms and northern toughness into a truly impassioned performance of a beautiful work. The contrasts were strong whilst at the same time the performers retained a wonderful balance that made perfect musical sense. Palomares and Canino together led their audience through the tableaux of the work’s scenes, endowing the whole with shape and thus accessibility.

Their final piece, the Franck sonata, is nothing less than a masterpiece. In the hands of Palomares and Canino, the piece played out almost like a novel, sounding like a mixture of confession and personal experience related with some pain but delivered with resolve. The catharsis of the final movement was striking, the virtuosity of the duo’s playing quite breathtaking.

The audience demanded and received no less than three encores and were treated to performances of the Brahms Scherzo, Tchaikovsky’s tender Melody and the haunting favourite, the Meditation of Thais by Massenet.

Joaquín Palomares and Bruno Canino offered their combined virtuosity to create a superb concert of mainly well-known music. But the quality of their playing was such that the experience became special, even for a listener who came to the concert familiar with the music. It was great music faultlessly played and beautifully interpreted.

While Mahler was inspired in his compositions by Beethoven, Liszt, Bruckner and Wagner, like all of the masters he developed his own style of composing. He was known as one of the world’s greatest opera conductors, but wrote no operas himself. He was more than a passable pianist but left no piano compositions of any consequence, likewise with his chamber music. His instrument of expression was the orchestra, and he was a master of orchestration with a lifetime of practical knowledge gained from his conducting duties and a gift for creating themes that lent themselves to orchestral development.

Mahler’s symphonies 1-4 were influenced by the German folk poem collection Das Knaben Wunderhorn. Each of the first four symphonies used material from songs Mahler had written to the texts of selected poems from the collection, but his symphonies 5,6 and 7 were purely instrumental. The Sixth Symphony is one of Mahler’s most conventional as far as the first movement structure. He sticks to the traditional sonata form with exposition, development, recapitulation and coda. The symphony consists of four movements. There is some controversy as to the proper order of the two middle movements. Some conductors put the Scherzo directly after the first movement, some revers the two. The following video of the symphony has the Scherzo as the second movement, the Andante as the third.

I. Allegro energico, ma non troppo. Heftig, aber markig - The work begins with the orchestra playing the first theme, a brisk march in the home key of A Minor. The first theme is rounded off by a motif that happens throughout the symphony, a major chord played in the trumpets accompanied by a march rhythm in the percussion, and while the trumpets play the home note and fifth of the chord, one of the trumpets lowers the third of the chord and transforms it to a minor chord. The second theme is heard, a soaring melody that Mahler’s wife Alma, claimed to represent her. The exposition begins with a development of the march theme, which is suddenly transformed into an idyllic setting complete with the gentle clinking of cowbells. The march theme reappears with vengeance and is whipped into a climax which leads directly to the recapitulation. The march rhythm persists, and begins a coda that develops the march theme even further. The ‘Alma’ theme reappears in a grand manner and ushers in the triumphant ending of the movement.

II. Scherzo: Wuchtig – This scherzo is one of the strangest Mahler ever wrote. It opens with the timpani beating out a rhythm, almost as if to mock the preceding seriousness of the timpani’s rhythm of the first movement march. The brass also chimes in with slurs and slides after the end of the first section of the scherzo, almost as if they thumb their noses at the preceding drama. Through it all, the orchestra keeps up the parody and the sarcasm until with a few quiet titters, the movement ends.

III. Andante moderato – This movement serves as a contrast to the drama of the first movement and the bitter sarcasm of the second. It also give the listener a chance to breathe easy before the last movement.

IV. Finale: Sostenuto – Allegro moderato – Allegro energico – There is really nothing in the previous three parts of the symphony that prepares the listener for what happens within this movement. The movement begins mysteriously and has a shattering reprisal of the timpani rhythm of the first movement. The orchestra wanders as if it is caught in a maze. It breaks out here and there, but returns to its brooding meditation. The orchestra breaks out in a march similar to what has been heard in the first movement, but it is even more frantic. The orchestra reaches two climaxes, after which the celebrated ‘hammer blow of fate’ occur. The timpani motif of the first movement is heard throughout the final section as the orchestra gets more and more frantic, as if it is struggling to avoid the inevitable. There is a quiet agitation before the end, and the orchestra slowly dies away before a shattering, incredibly loud climax signals that all the energy expended in the struggle has been concentrated into one last ‘big bang’ that creates nothing but destroys all.

There is no wonder why Mahler’s sixth is among the least performed of his works. Mahler’s world of the Sixth Symphony, in the final cataclysmic climax, shows that it is all for naught. We cannot escape our fate. The world of the Sixth Symphony can seem like a world of senseless struggle, bitterness, heartache and loss. For most people to reflect on this is not an easy thing. It has been noted that on the night that he was to premiere the work Mahler paced backstage, wringing his hands and sobbing. He did not authorize the symphony to be subtitled ‘Tragic’, but the work does fit the title.

Don’t make foolish mistakes while shopping for your acoustic guitar. Follow the guidelines below, and you’ll end up happy with your purchase.

1. Go through the stores and catalogs and narrow down the field of possibilities. My daughter bought a very good guitar — sounded fabulous — but she was just not happy with the look of the thing. So we took it back and threw ourselves on the mercy of the store owner. He allowed us to trade it in for the model that still sounded good (same maker), but looked "cool" in her point of view. Had we narrowed down her choices based on appearance to start with, I’d have saved two hours and five bucks of gas. Lesson learned.

2. Talk to someone who’s owned the model you’re interested in. If you know someone in person, go to them and have them play it for you, and talk with them about their experience. If you don’t know any such person, then go to a competent review site or magazine, and see what lot’s of users have to say about that particular guitar.

Now, a word of warning: you have to ask yourself, "Who is it that leaves reviews?" Well, there are only two classes of people. First is the person who has a real chip on their shoulder. They come in and flame the acoustic guitar victim for any number of reasons. Read these reviews, but if the issue was customer service, that actually doesn’t reflect on the guitar at all; just don’t buy from that vendor. The other type of reviewer is the rabid fan, and if they happen to just be thrilled to finally have an instrument so they can go on America’s Got Talent, they’d write a raving review about a two-by-four with rubber bands attached. Take it all with a grain of salt.

3. If you can, "kick the tires." If you can hold, play, and get a feel for each acoustic guitar on your short list, then by all means do so. Each guitar has a slightly different character. This is mainly true between makes and models, but even in the same model there can be slight variations of tone. If you just don’t have a music store in your area, or the ones you have are all junk mills, then don’t be afraid to watch YouTube videos and eventually order from an online vendor. Again, good review sites can be a lot of help here because they will compiles videos, user reviews and photos into one place for you. Just be sure you get a site ranked in the top three or four pages of Google, and that you visit several, so that you get a more authoritative viewpoint.

In summary, wait to buy the right acoustic guitar, but use these three methods to avoid buyer remorse – Enjoy!

The 90′s saw the development of a number of new audio formats. There were competing companies that wanted their new ways of listening to music to prevail. The early 90s saw the introduction of the MiniDisc and even the initial release of the.mp3 audio file. Phillips unveiled their version of digital audio in 1992 with the high quality Digital Compact Cassette. Unfortunately however, the DCC was an expensive and short lived endeavor.

At the introduction of the DCC in 1992, Phillips had high hopes for a product they expected to take over the role of the standard cassette tape. It was a lofty goal given that every year more than 2 billion cassette tapes were sold and 200 million players were being sold alongside them. It wasn’t necessarily a bad push, but there was stiff competition in the recordable digital market, especially from the MiniDisc.

Companies wanted the attention of consumers and digital music could be made much crisper and free of the quality issues from the wear and tear of analog formats. The problem with the digital cassette tape compared to the analog cassette, however, was that digital audio requires a lot more tape. This meant that unlike the Compact Disc, the digital audio on the DCC had to be compressed.

The music at the time was recorded by sampling it as much as forty-eight thousands times per seconds. Data is stored in binary and in this case, each of the samples is represented by a number written in a 16-digit string of binary (0′s and 1′s). With a stereo, two channels means two signals so storing a single second of music requires 1.5 million 1′s and 0′s.

Put it all together with additional memory requires for control and error calculation and a single second of music requires 2.8 million 0′s and 1′s – or about 2.8 megabits. At the time of the product launch, we were still sticking floppy discs in our computers and even the most powerful floppy discs used in personal computers at the time could only hold about 4 seconds worth of digital music.

In order to get all of that data packed into a digital cassette tape, developers realized that it would have to move extremely slowly. If the digital cassette tape moved at a standard speed it would need to be extremely long. Using technology from video cassette recorders, Phillips was able to create a DCC that would move tape slowly however read quickly while carrying a large amount of data.

At the time, Phillips was well respected for their ability to stay on top of advanced technology and create quality products. With the benefit of their development teams, they were able to use data compression to reduce the binary needed to store the digital music. This allowed them to use linear tracks and reduce the overall amount of tape.

A Complicated Technology

Even with compression though, cramming all of that data into linear tracks is far from easy. A standard analog tape has only four tracks – two stereo channels on each side of the cassette tape. The Phillips DCC, using tape of the same width as standard analog cassettes, had 18 tracks with 9 going in one direction and 9 going in reverse. Eight of those tracks would contain the music while the 9th track was all control information.

Because of this, a sophisticated recording head was developed in order to read all 9 tracks in parallel. This sped up the flow of information onto and off of the digital compact cassette. It’s also why the machine was backwards compatible; the sophisticated head could easily play simple analog cassette tapes. With the sophistication of the digital compact cassette however it’s easy to see why a standard cassette player couldn’t read the digital tape.

A Question of Quality

At the time, the biggest concern was whether or not the compression of the data on digital compact cassettes would damage the music. During the launch of the product and the period leading up to, journalists spoke with various individuals in the music industry and many attested that the Philips system sounds as good as compact discs of the time, which used no compression at all.

With the quality being comparable to Compact Disc and MiniDisc technology, what led to the downfall of the Digital Compact Cassette? It seams people were ready to move away from tape and sales of the competing MiniDisc (despite being lower in quality), beat the DCC. It had a short run of only 4 years and was discontinued in October of 1996. What once seemed like a fantastic advancement in technology quickly turned into a niche product for audiophiles.

Music has the power to touch our souls and make us happy. Great musicians like John Lennon, The Beatles, Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Jon Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, and thousands of other musicians have been mesmerizing our hearts from many decades now. Their music has the divine powers of inspiring thousands of budding singers and musicians, who choose music as their preferable career choice.

Various Options for Musicians

If you are a singer or an artist and want to earn some extra money in your free time, then you could find jobs for musicians. Now a day’s many full time or part-time jobs are available in this field. Various companies ask you to work for a couple of hours every day.

Becoming a musician is not an easy job by any means, as it requires years of dedication and practice. There is no end to learning and creativity in this field. Primarily, you will need to take up music classes from reliable sources to understand the basics of performing. Be it learning instruments or vocals, you can develop your skills with the help of proper training.

Beyond a certain learning stage, you will touch the levels of creativity and innovation, and that can be attained only by perseverance and dedication. You cannot learn this part from your tutors, because it is what separates good musicians from average ones. Once you’ve polished your talent, you could start looking for a job as a musician.

There are many jobs for musicians that one can do. All you’ll need to do is look for them either over the internet or consult an agent who could help you find the right kind of job. There are several placement agencies that you could seek help from.

Besides, you could also attend music auditions. Companies that are in need of talented musicians conduct such events. Some of the auditions are closed ones, where only a few people are invited to attend it, whereas others are open to all. Most of the casting directors and judges, advertise for such event over the internet, newspapers, hoardings, pamphlets, and others.

How To Search For Jobs For Musicians?

It might sound a difficult task to find a job as a musician in a good company. However, with the more number of companies looking for talents, it has become a cake walk for people to attend interviews and get employed. However, before you start applying for jobs for musicians, it is suggested that you prepare well for the interview.

You could record your music and work on an impressive portfolio. In order to do so, you could take help of professionals and get your work done in a very systematic manner. There are many agencies who offer their services to train people for the music auditions and ensure that they successfully clear it.

Going prepared for a job as a musician could make sure that you crack the interview in your very first attempt. There are a few chances that you may fail to meet company’s requirements and in this case, you could ask for their feedback and work on overcoming your weaknesses. Any positive or negative feedback should be taken in a constructive manner to be a success in the near future.

Actress Asnakech Worku was an actress and a musician for many years. She was amongst the first female pioneers of her generation to step on the theater stages, but also get national recognition for her Kirar playing skills. Asnakech, born and raised in Addis Ababa, always delighted and entertained her fans with impeccable and extraordinary skills in Kirar and her voice in Tizita songs.

Asnakech Worku’s musical career began when she bought a Kirar for 25 cents in her early childhood years. Kirar is an instrument similar to guitar with five strings used, among others, in traditional Ethiopian Amharic and Tigrigna music. She is a self-taught Kirar player – it was clear from the very beginning that her voice complimented the beautiful kirar sound. It was a match made in heaven.

Asnakech began performing in cabarets and bars in Addis Ababa as an Azmari at a very young age. Talented and beautiful queen of Kirar, Tizata Asnakech Worku remained a sensation for a half century in the Ethiopian music industry. The last 10 years of Asnakech’s life she struggled with deteriorating health – and she spent part of her years in bed due to nerve damage. She appeared in media and she was well in the minds and memories of Ethiopian people by giving various interviews to the local media. She repeatedly demonstrated her passion for the music, even when she was sick and in bed. Her fans played a role in keeping her musical spirit.

Asnakech Worku was also an actress who made her debut in the 1952 at the City Hall Theatre in Ethiopia. She was extraordinary for the generation of 1950′s and she played a role in changing the drama stages with her unforgettable romantic roles in the theaters. However, her roles also raised a few eyebrows of the rather conservative society of the time. Apart from being an entertainer, she was also an icon of beauty and fashion – many still remember her for her impeccable hairstyle and dressing, because of which many of her fans used to compare her with Elizabeth Tyler, another Hollywood diva and superstar.

She spent 30 years on the theater stages of at National Theatre before retiring in 1980s. She was amongst the very few ladies who actually dared to step in the industry and managed to win the hearts of millions of Cinema goers in Ethiopia. Despite the fact of her being among the very first female actresses, she was still more popular in Ethiopia for her music and Kirar for the last fifty years. Mary Armede and Asnakech to this day are the only female singers to get national attention for their Kirar guided music.

Asnakech died at the age of 76 on September 14th 2011 ending her incredible journey of music and theater. Asnakech Worku took her last breath at the Bete Zata Hospital in Addis Ababa. Many government officials, her family, friends and various Ethiopian celebrities attended her funeral ceremony held on 16th September 2011 in Addis Ababa at the St. Trinity Cathedral. She will be missed.

Neko Case isn’t just a pretty face with a gorgeous voice. She writes lyrics that are imaginative and poignant, but at the same time playful and singable. Often she recalls scenes from her peripatetic past with references to Vancouver, Seattle, and Chicago. Truly unique is her ability to weave snippets of Ukrainian fairy tales from her ancestry. I’ve been listening to her since the first album, The Virginian came out and I’ve followed and enjoyed her music ever since. A friend and I recently debated our favorite Neko Case lyrics the other day and it got me thinking: What are the best lyrics Neko Case has ever recorded? So, here there are…

"When I was young, I knew a girl who wouldn’t love god as a test or gamble with her happiness and so led astray." First line from the first track of her first album. Neko knows how to tell a story. And like the best songsmiths, she draws you in with a killer first line. She’s got your ears perked. Just wait to hear how the rest of the song unfolds. This promises some amazing writing for her young career.

"My love I am the speed of sound. I left them motherless, fatherless, their souls dangling inside out from their mouths. But it was never enough. I want you." Another first line, off the first track, This Tornado Loves You from the Middle Cyclone album. Seriously, one of the best lead off lines I’ve ever heard. And I defy you to find a better love song written from a tornado’s perspective! Or even, another song written from a tornado’s perspective. There’s a real love story in there too though. And a convincing one at that. It tells of love’s earnest desperation and destruction. And you really buy into it. I particularly like how the lyric unfolds too. And, that’s where Neko’s maturity as a writer comes through on this one. You’re hanging on as the sentiment exposes itself a few syllables at a time.

"God blessed me, I’m a free man with no place free to go. Paralyzed and collar-tight, no pills for what I feel." She ruminates on loneliness, desperation, and isolation then offers it up in a powerful line from "I Wish I Was the Moon." She explores the crippling feeling of freedom when you’ve felt real love. She goes on to say there are no pills for what she feels. There is no cure. The only way to get beyond her broken heart is to be imposibly far away from where she is. The moon…of course!

"The most tender place in my heart is for strangers. I know its unkind but my own blood is much too dangerous." Neko has said that this is her most autobiographical song. On an album that explores and employs references to obscure Ukranian folk tales, this song stands out. It is a particularly poignant moment. And its starts with this powerful revelation and exposition.

Many people have aspirations of becoming a singer, but have no idea how to learn to sing. Whether it’s to sing in a band, or the church choir, to win the prize on Karaoke night, or just to sound better in the shower, taking the time to learn how to sing with good technique will improve your results and keep your voice healthy and strong. Unfortunately, some people give up the notion of ever learning, because the task seems to daunting.

Like most things however, if you take the time to break big or intimidating tasks down into manageable chunks, they can become less of an obstacle. So, if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to sing, but had no idea how to go about it, read on.

In this article I’m going to break down the concept and show you how to learn to sing in five basic and actionable steps taking you from wishing you could, to doing it. And it starts with a commitment.

1. Commit

Learning to sing is a commitment. It takes hard work and dedication to become proficient. Like anything else in life, the more time spent on the task, the better the results will be. Therefore, it is important to understand that it won’t happen overnight. Because learning how to sing usually involves a monetary investment, it’s best to decide early whether or not you’re willing to put in the necessary time and effort.

In the beginning, learning about the techniques and methods involved in singing will most likely seem fun and exciting, as if you’ve uncovered the mysteries to an unknown universe. That euphoria will fade. Trust me, it won’t be as much fun singing lip trills on a major scale the 200th time as it was the first few.

Of course, the great thing about singing is, there is no better feeling than having a break through moment. That one day when something you’ve been struggling with clicks, can motivate you for many months to come, just from seeing the possibilities. If you want to learn to sing, commit to it.

2. Decide On a Method

Once you’ve decided that you’re ready to get serious, you need to decide on a method. What’s the best way to learn how to sing? Here is where things can get overwhelming quickly. The answer will depend on a number of things.

What can you afford to invest in the learning process? How do you learn best? Are you the shy type? Do you need someone to keep you accountable? These are the types of questions you should ask yourself, to make the decision process easier.

If money is not an issue and you have no social phobias, maybe hiring a personal vocal coach is the answer. This will undoubtedly be the most expensive option, but also the most tailored to your needs and capabilities. You may find it easier to stay motivated as well, knowing that you may be held accountable for your actions by your coach.

If money is tight, or you are more of an introvert and uncomfortable with the idea of singing in front of someone who will be critiquing you, perhaps a home study course is more within your comfort zone. There are some very thorough and excellent programs available online, with more coming along all the time. Some careful reading of reviews, and money back guarantees should allow you the opportunity to find the right fit.

3. Practice

Once you have picked a method, the next step is an obvious one. You can’t learn how to sing without practicing, so prepare to spend time honing your skills. Most likely, a lot of time. This is where commitment comes into play.

Some people don’t realize that learning to sing is largely about concepts and techniques in the beginning. You will be focused less on singing songs, and more on things like breathing, posture, soft palette placement, registers and much more when you first start to learn.

In fact, while learning the fundamentals, you should be prepared for the probability that you may not sing at all. What you will be doing is vocalizing. This entails lots of sounds, (but not necessarily words), and scales as opposed to melodies. Although not as sexy or fun as belting out your favorite song, it is a necessary part of the process to learn in order to train your voice properly.

4. Be consistent

Along with practice comes consistency. To really speed up the process and develop a strong foundation, developing a consistent routine is highly encouraged. The goal of learning the fundamentals is so that they become second nature to you, and you no longer have to consciously think about them.

You do this by being consistent. Eventually, the things that required a lot of mental effort in the beginning will become natural. You will develop muscle memory and find that singing becomes much more effortless. This is the ideal way to sing.

One you reach the point where you no longer have to think about singing properly and your body adjusts and naturally performs its necessary functions automatically, you can begin to focus on the fun stuff.

5. Be Persistent

Lastly, it is important to be persistent, and don’t give up. It won’t always be fun, and at times it may feel like the last thing you want to do, but if you stick with the practice routines, and continue to put in the work, it will pay off. Remember what you are trying to achieve, and try to find the motivation to stay the course and stay focused.

Being able to sing well is one of the most rewarding and personally satisfying experiences a music lover can have, and virtually anyone can do it. Just remember, there are no shortcuts to mastering anything. It is a process. Now that you understand the process and know how to learn to sing, the next step is to actually get out there and do it.

You have to admit: when you do online music promotion, you are basically on an advertising campaign rage. It is part and parcel of getting your music out there, so you can get noticed, gain a fan base, and make a dent in the music world.

But musicians, as they scour to find innovative ways how to sell songs, could make fine mistakes that could annoy fans and eventually, lose their favor entirely. We don’t want that.

So here are ways not to annoy your fans and say goodbye to them forever. Get the most out of your online music promotion efforts, find ways and means how to sell songs, and keep your fans engaged.

1. Use social media sparingly.

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Google+, Instagram – these are all additional tools to boost exposure for your music, engage in online music promotion But you cannot rely on it to do all the work for you. It is always better to have your very own website, a domain that is solely dedicated to anything about your brand. You have control, the master of this universe, so take advantage of it.

2. Say no to spam.

The mere typing of ‘Buy our album’ on your Facebook wall post is already a practice of spamming the people on your friends list. Doing this could prove to be a music promotion disaster. Whenever you entice people to give you their time and attention, give something back for goodwill. It can be a free MP3 track or merchandise.

3. Update your website.

Nothing says ‘My career is over’ than a music artist or band’s website without any signs of life. There’s a definite purpose for the creation a musician’s official website. When there’s activity, you’re still pursuing your careers. When there’s not, what, you gave up/broke up or something? It should be the go-to site for everything that your music fan needs. However, if all it has are Jurassic information from the year 2000, might as well shut it down. Always keep your website up to date, from gigs, appearances, photos, and/or musings of the day. It may seem like a lot of work, but that’s the point of online music promotion.

4. Have a mailing list.

Just because you have an official website, are signed up to the most popular social networking sites on the Internet, and have teamed up with a reputable digital music distribution agency, you still have to maintain a mailing list. Not everyone is signed up to a social networking site – but all have emails, even multiples of them! Sending emails to fans is still the most personal way to connect with them.

5. Be nice.

Your fans can either make or break your career. They love you, love them back and more.

Still in the dark on how to sell songs? For top-notch music distribution that could also help you get a headstart in music promotion, choose a digital music distribution partner that has a reach of over 750 retailers and mobile partners across 100 countries.