Category: WebsitesCategory: Websites

When you share your super cool DSP playlist placement on socials, you know like maybe just 2% of your audience sees it, right?

I’m not saying don’t share it on socials.

I’m saying you should also put it on your website.

Next week you might not be on that playlist, and then no one will even know you got such a cool placement.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Start a new post
2. Embed the audio player (here’s how with Spotify & Apple Music)
3. Make sure people know they can pre-order your new album, or buy a shirt, or see you on tour.

Once you’re done, send a newsletter and link to the news post.

Drive your fans to your platform, not a 3rd party site.

When you drive your fans to that cool playlist you’re on, they see this (as of Tuesday, August 29, 2023):

This is great for Asking Alexandria, Avenged Sevenfold, Corey Taylor, Nita Strauss… but, oh wait… you’re #62 on that list? Ooops.

And hey – if you’r a photographer, a writer, a crafter, an artist, whatever – this applies to you, too!

Own your wins. Keep a record of them. These wins are leverage to get more fans to your site and hopefully buy merch, your music, or tickets to your next show

As is the case with most people that give advice, I’m good at telling people to have websites, while seriously neglecting my own.

So today, Monday, August 7, 2023 I’ve come full circle, having a fresh WordPress install (thanks Tom at I Heart Blank), and ready to get back to it.

Why have a website for your creative project? Why not just have a Bandcamp, or set up several social media accounts?

Well, you can have everything on Bandcamp, but as we saw earlier this year, there was some friction from ownership when their employees moved to unionize. Things worked out, I guess, but still.

And social media platforms are about as stable as crypto currency these days. Hell, Twitter is now X, even though their domain name is still Twitter. Instagram is a half ads, half people you don’t know, and Facebook? Dear lord.

Set up a website. Put all your press and accolades on it. Like I said in ‘DON’T MAKE SOCIAL MEDIA YOUR TROPHY CASE,’

Don’t spend all your effort on the “billboard,” then neglect your own establishment.

Playlist placements are amazing. All that hard work. The song writing. The recording. Years on the road.

All posted on platforms we don’t own, just so 10% of our social media followers can see it.

Websites close. DSPs will fail. Magazines will fold.

So make sure you got screen shots and photos of some of the big cool “earned media” on your own websites, set your domain name to auto-update, and pay for hosting every year.

Ally Crowley-Duncan plays the bagpipe.

She posted a video of herself playing some Metallica songs, and of course an internet ding dong left a comment saying “bagpipes don’t belong in Metallica.”

Then Metallica leaves a reply, saying “this guy doesn’t speak on our behalf. You’re awesome.”

That’s magic.

What I’m getting at is this; don’t leave all that magic on social media, because (ahem) these sites sure didn’t.

Each one of those sites sold ad-impressions against that story. They made money from that magic.

That ain’t wrong or bad, it’s just how the internet works.

And it’s why you should be doing the same fucking thing.

Put your magic on your website, then arrange some of your merch items around it. Or tour dates.

Get enough people to your site, and people will buy something. Fans buying things is good, because then you can pay the rent.

Fill your website and newsletter with your magic; the videos, the wit, the sass, the live photos from sold-out festivals.

Your social media feeds are the party. Loose and free, filled with witty rants, spontaneous photos, lengthy captions.

The likes pour in, and the replies.

Party in the back.

Then you subscribe to a band’s newsletter and get their “email blast,” which is just a few vinyl mock-ups of their album, some text, a button.

No lively text. No attitude. No swagger.

Business in the front.

Don’t fall victim to mullet marketing – make your email newsletter and website as riveting as your social media feeds.

Every time a band makes a tour announcement, the replies pour in:

What, no Louisville?
Skipping Columbus again?
Come to Brazil!
East coast tour?

But every artist, band, and performer is making a deal; on this night, we’re playing this venue in this city.

Show up or don’t.

I believe the same to be true online.

Build a website and a newsletter. That’s your venue and city.

Then you drive traffic to both with one or two social media “billboards.”

Put on a great show.
Make a great product.
Offer a great deal.
Maintain a great website.

They show up or they don’t.

Someone told me this decades ago, when I was running my first music blog;

“I know I can come back to the site in an hour and something new will be posted.”

The websites we visit most frequently are updated frequently.

When I ran Noisecreep for AOL Music there was a time when we posted 20+ times a day.

That got a lot of people to the site.

Your social media feed is updated basically every second.

We post to social media several times per day, or at least a few times a week.

Meanwhile, our websites collect dust.

Then, when a casual fan finally visits your site, they see old products and out of date photos. Then they bounce.

Why am I harping on websites so much when I mostly talk about email newsletters? Because getting people to your website on a regular basis makes it easier to get people to sign up for your email list.

Instead of freely giving Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk all your “exclusive” content (which they monetize, then turn around and charge you to reach your followers), publish the bulk of your work on your own website.

Don’t ask for an email address on the first date.

Show off your fine qualities on your website. Update it often. Feed it your videos, your quips, your rants from Twitter.

Get someone to visit a few times. Maybe they buy something and opt-in to your email list.

Then you can reach that fan without worrying about social media algorithms.