• If 40 or more blog posts were made before an album's release sales ended up being three to four times the average for both independent and major label releases.
  
  
• If blog posts crossed 250, album sales rose to six times the average regardless of label."
  
  

Full report here:
http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2008/02/blogs-more-than.html

Um, Oh My GOD – this is HUGE NEWS. For the past few years everyone in the music business has been scratching their heads and asking: How do we sell more records?

And blogs are the answer! (and academically researched no less)

So, what does this mean for you my dear artist?

It means it's time to get your album blogged about!

But how in the heck are you going to do that?

Bloggers are unapproachable. People that live in ivory towers expunging and eschewing their amazing knowledge and opinions about music. They are snarky and they are untouchable (Is this the conversation going on in your head at this very moment?) Shut that little voice up and read on…

Here is a guide that will help navigate you through how to get your music blogged about:

As a recovering traditional publicist with a background in writing press releases, announcing things, and blatantly pitching my clients, I had to relearn from scratch everything I thought I know about how to promote music when I decided to take my company digital.


A Bit About Bloggers

Statistics say that there are currently 80 million active bloggers today.

Blogs as you know can be about any topic. A few dozen people read some blogs and some are read by millions. A vast majority of all bloggers create blogs for no financial gain whatsoever, in fact it usually costs a music blogger money to host his files and maintain his blog. A blog is an extremely personal and private endeavor. Most bloggers create their blogs as a personal outlet. It’s an outlet where they talk about their lives, their opinions, the things that they like and dislike, it's basically and online diary.

Bloggers are a quirky lot. I know this, because I've spent the last couple of years observing bloggers, interacting with bloggers through my business, and attending some of the most notable blog conferences on earth. To top it off, I live with a blogger. Yes, I sleep next to a real live music blogger every single night and so; I can speak from that experience as well.

So, how on God's green earth are you supposed interrupt and say: Hey blogger, come write about me in your personal diary!?

There are a few ways to do this here are your options:


OPTION #1
Start Your Own Blog
My number one piece of advice, if you're trying to get known in the blogosphere, is do like they do. Start your own blog. This is a good idea for many reasons aside from attracting other bloggers. If you don’t know the big secret already: Bloggers read other bloggers blogs! But aside from this, having your own blog has many benefits for you as an artist:

9 Reasons Why You Should Blog As A Musician

1. A blog allows your fans to get more of you.
   
   
2. A blog allows fans to go backstage, into your life and see sides to you they may not be aware of.
   
   
3. A blog is a great way to create fresh new content aside from recording music.
   
   
4. A blog encourages a two-way conversation between you and your fans.
   
   
5. Fans can subscribe to your blog using an RSS reader and get new updates sent directly to them without having to visit your site over and over.
   
   
6. You can syndicate your blog all over the Internet: MySpace, Reverb Nation, Facebook and your own site are just a few places where people may see it.
   
   
7. Blog posts are indexed in Google making topics you choose to write about findable. This could bring you more fans who were not out to hear your music but are interested in whatever your your blog posts are about and become fans as a result.
   
   
8. Other bloggers are more likely to read your blog and post comments – a sure fire way of getting mentioned on even more blogs.
   
   
9. You can add other bloggers who acknowledge your blog onto your blogroll – this is critical in blog world to associate yourself with other blogs and communities of people that you would like to connect with and who will want to connect with you.
   
   

I don't care what you're blogging about, you don’t only have to blog about your music – you can talk about your home life, your TV habit, your favorite foods, your day job, your fitness routine – anything! The key here is you must post regularly and consistently. If you are in a band having each band member contribute 1 post a month is a great way to keep new content flowing.

TIP: Don’t over think! Just post! I know how musicians can be. Do NOT treat this like a rehearsal perfecting every sentence. The point of a blog is it is an informal endeavor. Just get posting don’t stress about it and tweak it to death (I would however recommend spell check).

TIP: You cannot have someone blog FOR you (tempting right?) this is something you must undertake! A lot of artists ask me if they can hire someone to blog for them – I do not recommend this. People will see right through this if posts are not coming from you.


Identify 50 blogs you want to be reviewed on

So, once you have your own blog, up and running. The next step is to identify which blogs you would like to be included on and start reading them and posting comments on them. Remember the NYU study shows that if 40 or more blog posts were made before an album's release sales ended up being three to four times as high.

If you don’t know how to search for blogs here is a way to get started: Search all blogs (use the search engine links listed below).

TIP: Make a list of your 50 targets in your Blogroll – the NYU study showed that some of these blogs should be the bigger and more widely read blogs like Pitchfork and Brooklyn Vegan. These are great targets but I suggest you target blogs that are more likely to cover you based on what they are already writing about – The most popular music blogs that everyone constantly mentions tend to be indie-rock centric so if you do play indie rock then you may not have a chance of getting included.

And see if anyone has written about you already. With 80 million blogs out there it’s possible you have been mentioned somewhere already!

If you find a post PERFECT! Post a comment back thanking them for their post and say something about their blog – the idea here is create a two-way conversation by talking about THEM. Use a sig file identifying yourself so they know where to visit you online.

Here’s what mine looks like:

Ariel Hyatt
CYBER PR
Digital Music Campaigns
Ariel[AT]ArielPublicityDOT…
http://www.arielpublicity.com/blog

TIP: Add the blogs that mention you to your blogroll. A blogroll is simply a shout out to other blogs. You see them on every single blog you go to (they are the big lists of other blogs and sites in the margin of the blog).

TIP: Comments should never be self-promotional at first they should be entirely about the blog and the blogger. Add comments, comment on how you like their blog. Add feedback. Disagree, agree; but participate in the blog. When you are a blogger, it's all about how many comments you have and how many people you are engaging on your blog. This part is critical.


Find your community - Artists you know & play with

If you do not find any posts about your music a great way to start is search blogs for other artists you know and play with then you can reach out with a personal reference and say something like:

I just read your post about Elizabeth and The Catapult. I couldn’t agree with you more they put on a great live show. In fact we played with them just a few months ago and I was blown away etc.

TIP: DON’T ask for a review on your first contact with a blogger – just make an observation about THEM and comment on what THEY are writing. There will be plenty of time to make yourself known later – this is a process that takes some time.


REMEMBER bloggers are people too and all PR is about connecting personally with the blogger – They will sense it if you are full of BS and just trying to get something – I’ve made this mistake and the results are not pretty.


Search by sound alike & comparison

Another way to identify appropriate blogs is find posts about bands that you get compared to and that you sound like.

TIP: Stay away from the huge names like Bob Dylan and search for more niche artists you get compared to

The next thing to do is go visit these blogs and take a peek. Is this the kind of the blog that would write about you? If so, add this blog to your RSS reader and return to and comment on this blog often. Add this blog to your blogroll, so that the blogger can see that you are visiting their blog often, and start posting comments.

TIP: In order to become sticky you will have to post comments on other people's blogs regularly and get to be known by the blogger before you make your first pitch.

After a few weeks of tracking and posting, you could write a simple hello to the blogger, mention that you have a blog, a music that you would like for them to check out, and then subtly see if you can encourage them to check out your music.

After you get your first review remember to link back to your blog and thank the blogger.

Like I said before bloggers read other bloggers blogs. Soon, you will begin to spread around the ‘net!


OPTION #2
Become An Avid Blog Reader & Comment Back

OK – Option #2 is a bit less time consuming because you will not have to build and maintain your own blog but you will still have to create personal relationships with bloggers.

Follow all the steps above but skip the create your own blog part. At the very least microblog using Twitter.com a wonderful easy to use site that I am obsessed with.

View my profile here: http://www.twitter.com/cyberpr

If you are going to go this route, I suggest you build a links page on your website or on your MySpace / Facebook page to link back and send shout outs to other blogs so that you are still somewhat in the link back game which is critical.


OPTION #3
Hire A PR Firm To Handle Blog Placements For You

I suggest that you do your research thoroughly and make sure you are very clear what it is you want before you go down this path. There is a guide I wrote called “The Musicians Guide To Choosing The Perfect Publicist” and it is available for free on my site.
http://www.arielpublicity.com


OPTION #4
Attend Conferences and Meet Bloggers Face To Face

This is a great way to get into the blogging community. Rumor has it that this is how Tim Ferris launched his wildly successful book The 4 Hour Work Week. I can’t confirm this but it makes perfect sense.

Here are a few I suggest:

SXSW Interactive
http://www.SXSW.com
Takes place in: Mid March, Austin TX

BlogHer
http://www.blogher.com/topic/blogher-conferences
Takes place in: San Francisco July 18 – 20, 2008

New Media Expo
http://www.newmediaexpo.com/
Takes place in: Las Vegas August 14 – 16, 2008

Gnomedex
http://www.gnomedex.com
This is an amazing conference that focuses more heavily on trends and technology but it is perfect if you like to learn about new things
Takes place in: Seattle – August 2008 – TBA


So there is!

I would love to know how much progress you are making
come post your comments on my blog ;)

- Ariel


Blog Resources:

Start and set up a blog:
http://www.Blogger.com
http://www.Wordpress.com
I’m not going to go into the details about how to set them up because this article will go on forever, but, both of these sites are wonderful, and you can get going within minutes of signing up.

Get blog entries you want:
RSS Readers
http://www.google.com/reader
Google Alerts will also send you an email when search terms you are interested in pop up on blogs
http://www.google.alerts.com

Search engines for blogs:
http://www.google.blogsearch.com
http://www.technorati.com
Use these sites to identify blogs that are blogging about topics you may want to follow