In a long awaited move, Myspace has finally begun letting bands-any band, solo artist, or xylophone enthusiast, in fact – -sell their songs via their uber-popular service by way of a website called Snocap. If you want to take advantage of the technology, now’s the time; the service is new and there’s a lot of proverbial ground to cover. In that spirit, here are some tips for promoting and selling your songs on Myspace successfully.
Post a Myspace Bulletin
The fastest way to say something to all of your fans is a Myspace bulletin, so wait until your store is up and running and release a few bulletins about what your fans can find and how they can go about purchasing your music. Include information such as cost, tracks available, and list some ways that your fans can help you spread the word.
Recruit Fans To Help You Out
There’s no better way to get the word out than to tap other people. They can describe your music in an impartial way, and they won’t be ashamed to rag on their friends to get them to buy your stuff. Message some key fans and explain that you’re trying to get your Myspace store going, but you need their help. Give them something to help you out; free mp3s, a free CD, free stickers, etc., and then ask if they’ll spread the word and put a link to your store on their Myspace profile. The more people you can get promoting your stuff, the more successful you’ll be, so try to develop a viral marketing system that can get a ton of dedicated fans moving your product for you.
Don’t Sell Filler
The temptation is to sell everything on Myspace that you’ve ever recorded, but make sure that everything you’re selling is worth the price you’re trying to charge. If you’re trying to sell a demo you recorded last night that’s missing lyrics and used one computer microphone to make, it’d better be a really great song. More than likely, it’s not something that you want to charge for. You’ll gain your fans trust if you treat them with respect, and you’ll get a lot more repeat purchases if you only put music up that’s quality. Remember, just because Myspace will let you sell anything doesn’t necessarily mean that you should.
Communicate with Myspace Friends
Ask your fans what they want to hear, and what they’d consider a fair price. After all, they’re your audience, and nobody’s going to be able to tell you more truthfully what they’re expecting. Message your most devoted fans, some personal friends, and some people that like you but aren’t fanatic about it. Try to get a general idea from their replies as to how you should be using the Myspace store. If you’re charging a fair price and offering what your fans want, you’ve got a big leg up on the competition.
Go For Exposure, Not Money
You’re not going to make a ton of money with Snocap’s music service-not at first, anyways. They take forty five cents on each song sold, so at most you’re making fifty four cents per song (you should never charge more than 99 cents total for a song). Sure, it’ll add up, but only when you’re moving a ton of digital units, which is why you want to price your stuff as low as you can and really promote the hell out of it-it’s all about using the technology to get more people to your page and more people interested in what you’re doing.
The big money will come with time, once you’ve built up a good base of fans that will do what they can to support you; when that time comes, make sure you’ve got a quality product and be willing to put some work into it.
Ultimately, with some hard work, selling your music on Myspace will be fun and, if you invest some real time, even profitable.
