It’s well worth a quick browse, so head on over to Mashable and have a gander.

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So What Is It?

Last.fm is a website that consists largely of user-produced online ‘radio stations’. You sign up, you fill in a box of what artists you like seperated by commas (I literally just copied and pasted the list from my facebook page) and Last.fm puts together your ‘music library’. One that’s done you can download a little application that will play you random tracks from all the artists which are in your library, as well as playing you loads of ‘recommended’ artists based on what artists you like.

I was skeptical of how well this ‘recommended’ stuff would work as all the ones I’ve tried in the past have been pretty poor - but I’m pleased to say that the Last.fm system is absolutely brilliant and really does play me songs which I haven’t heard before.. and like!

I now have the music player open in the background all-day every-day at work and it’s become a staple part of my waking hours.

Why It’s Useful For You, The Artist

Well I’m probably preaching to the converted here for the most part but it’s useful to you because you need to stay on top of the music industry and “what’s hot” - and by that I don’t necessarily mean what’s in the charts at the moment!

Here are 5 good reasons why you should sign up to and actively use Last.fm

1. You can and will discover at least one new artist every day.
2. You’ll broaden your musical tastes and knowledge.
3. You’ll meet and network with loads of other people in the music industry who may be able to help you.
4. You can promote your own music through a personal profile
5. It’s brilliant for inspiration when you’re writing songs.

How Last.fm Can Make You Famous

It can’t. Like anything else in this world it takes a lot of hard work and effort, though I’m sure you’ve heard that so many times by now that you’re sick to the back teeth of it!

It’s basically like a really good facebook that’s just for musicians, once you’ve set up your profile page, people will be able to listen to your music, add you to their library, comment on your page, see your recent activity, upcoming gigs, music which you listen to, most popular songs, and the list goes on and on and on!

Take a look at Reuben’s profile to get a better idea of just how much you can offer your listeners.

Is It Important?

You bet! From what I’ve seen so far (and granted I’m a latecomer) Last.fm is going nowhere but up! They’re doing a really outstanding job with the site and have already launched multiplatform applications to support their software, including the recent iPhone app - which I have to say - is genius.

Sign up now, or regret it later! Definitely some more specific Last.fm posts to follow at a later date.

What Do You Think?

Are you using Last.fm ? Are there any great features I’ve missed out? As an artist what would you say has been the most influential thing that you’ve done with your Last.fm profile? Drop me a line in the comments below!

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What Are Loyal Fans?

Loyal fans are best classified as borderline stalkers, they love you music and you style so much that they are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to help you and to follow you. Loyal fans are the guys who get on a bus in London to watch you play a gig in Dundee, they’re the ones who post on your website messageboard twenty times a day, and buy your merchandise at every gig, not to mention three copies of every bit of music that you release. I won’t bother covering why you want loyal fans, if you haven’t worked that out by now then you’re in the wrong industry.

How Important They Really Are

About four years ago I was part of a pretty large but niche fanbase for one particular band who were just ‘breaking’ at the time. We would do all of the things above, and more. I’ll give you an example, when the band in question released their first UK single we got word that one obscure scottish radio station had picked up the track early but hadn’t played it yet (I can’t remember how or why we knew that). Anyway, we (about 30 of us) emailed this radio station non stop for three hours to play the song, at which point the DJ gave in, and not only played the song, but read off all of our messages, mentioned the band website, and talked about them for a good three or four minutes.

Needless to say this got them instant exposure and by chance or otherwise, the single was picked up by a LOT of national stations throughout the following week. The point here is that a small group of crazy people influenced the media and made something happen. We promoted the band on the most simple level imaginable and it worked brilliantly, the band themselves didn’t even lift a finger.

How You Can Attract Loyal Fans

You need to get these crazy people on your side, and I’m here to give you some tips on how to do it.

• Talk To People! - The number one most important thing of the lot, there are lots of people at your gigs who like you, but are too shy to talk to you (sounds silly, but is true). Try and pick them out of the crowd when you’re on stage, and talk to as many people as you can after you’ve played. Tell them about your website and your music, and take some interest in them personally too.
• Show Some Respect - The easiest way to pick up fans is by playing gigs with other bands with the same musical style as you, the idea is that their fans become your fans. Don’t EVER say things like “we blew the headline act away!” it’s not a fucking competition! Respect and praise the artists who you share the stage with, even if you don’t like them or their music. Respect might make their fans like you.
• Have A Forum - Crazy music people love talking to crazy music people. Some of my best friends in the world to this day are crazy music people who I ‘met’ for the first time on band forums. Give your fans somewhere to talk to eachother and soon they will be arranging meetups and grouping up together to go your gigs. Make sure that you post on the forum regularly too, and appoint a good team of moderators to keep stuff under control.
• Have A Mailing List - And only use it for decent information! Don’t spam your loyal fans with gig dates or useless news, tell them about new merch that isn’t available yet, tell them about your new tracks and give them information that’s not available anywhere else. Make sure that they have a reason to be on your mailing list and that they want to stay on it!
• Make Them Feel Special - Take notice of what people show up consistantly to all your gigs, even if it is only friends and family to start off with. Once you’ve done that, thank them! At every opportunity show your appreciation for their support, drop forum-member names into radio interviews, dedicate songs to them at gigs, and mention people because you can guarantee that the second they feel like you don’t care… they’ll stop caring too.

Once You’ve Got Them…

Keep them! Don’t ever let them go, these guys are your most important asset, they are your most loyal customers and often your biggest revenue stream. The great thing about them is that they will likely recruit more of their own kind, but only if you make it worth their while (so make sure that you do).

What About You?

Do you have, or have you been one of these hyper-loyal fans? Or have you seen any that have really gone to far? Let me know and leave me a message in the comments section below.

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What Is MySpace

For anyone who’s been out of the loop of global news for the last 5 years, MySpace is a website that allows its users to create personal profiles, and allows musicians, comedians, and film makers to do the same in order to showcase their work and connect with their audience. This is where you come in, MySpace is a central place to connect with your fans, it’s a way of keeping in touch with everyone who enjoys your music and of letting them know the next dates of your tour, and release dates for you latest material.

MySpace Is A Tool

It isn’t the be all and end all of online music promotion and it certainly isn’t the only place that you should focus all your efforts, as a lot of bands seem to do these days. In addition, MySpace is a tool in the sense that it’s only as effective as the person using it; a really great artist can do really badly on MySpace and visa-versa.

What You Can Do To Build You MySpace Profile

Invest time into it, if necessary assign a member of your band or team to it and make it their full responsibility to constantly work on and update your profile. Here are some things that you should constantly be doing.

1. Add friends - constantly seek out friends of musicians who are similar to yourselves, and send them friend requests. This can sometimes be considered spamming, so be careful how much and how often you do this.
2. Keep your profile up to date - post every new gig date as and when you get it, update your profile with every review and piece of news that you get.
3. Respond to messages - every single one! Even if it’s simply another band doing the same as you and trying to get exposure, talk to them, build up a rapport, who knows - someday you might need to ask them for help and they will remember you for being friendly.
4. Treat everyone with respect - it’s very very easy to get into petty internet arguments, particularly on social community websites. Try to steer well clear of confrontations like this and remember that you have a reputation to consider.
5. Send bulletins - but not too often! No one likes constant bulletins filled with useless information so only update everyone as and when you need to. For example to promote a new release, tour, or item of big news. Not to remind everyone that you’ll be playing the local pub this Friday.
6. Hold Competitions - give away CD’s, merchandise, guest-list places, backstage passes, hell even a dinner invitation is something! You don’t need to be famous to give away great prizes, people who like your music are happy to receive almost any freebies that you offer them.
7. Have a GREAT profile designer work on your ’space’ - there are so many band profiles out there, you need to stand out, and look professional. Have a look for a band with a great profile, get in touch with them and ask who designed their page for them, see if you can get that person to do some work for you. It may cost a little cash, but you can guarantee that it’ll be worth it in the long run.

Don’t Forget

MySpace is full of musicians, record label scouts, pr companies, booking agents, and many many other people who can help you. Be nice to everyone and take a little time out of your day to respond to as many people as you possibly can. It may seem like a bit of a chore but it’s well worth it if you get a new contact somewhere along the way.

What Else?

Who have you met on MySpace who has helped you out? What other tips would you give to people looking to succeed on MySpace that haven’t yet been listed here? Leave me some ideas in the comments and I’ll add any good suggestions to the article itself!

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