How did you first find out about Facebook? It seems like a silly question, but if you think about it, Facebook and the social wildfire it spawned has given musicians more opportunities than anything before. However, all these opportunities have also brought management nightmares.
Organization is not the strong point of any musician. I consider myself more of an A type than most, and even spend way too much time looking for things. ReverbNation was designed to solve that problem. By creating a profile, you have the ability to update all of your social platforms with new information from one central hub. Add stat tracking and you’ll start to understand how powerful this tool can be.
ReverbNation also acts as a distributor, which means they will make sure your music is available from dozens of online outlets i.e. iTunes, GooglePlay, Amazon MP3, Spotify, etc. Its social part is free, while distribution is available for a nominal fee.
How ReverbNation works:
These guys have a plethora of promotional tools. It is up to you which one is best for your marketing strategy. Again, think of ReverbNation as a train station hub connecting various smaller towns and cities. Do you use Facebook? Have the ability to post and track user statistics from your user profile. What about Twitter? The same thing! Collect emails? Yes, ReverbNation even has a subscription service, much like MailChimp. And less I forget this key factor: publish your music, allowing fans to listen and share it. All this from one place and for free!
premium service:
There are a number of important primo options. Here are 3 of my favorites:
• Crowd Review – The music business is all about exposure, and Crowd Review guarantees you’ll get honest feedback. Get a high enough score and you’ll be featured on the home page! Only $9.95/month.
• Website: I used to think Bandzoogle was the premier website host for musicians until I looked at some artists using ReverbNation. The features that impressed me the most:
• The website is connected to your profile. Any changes made to the profile will be updated on the website.
• High quality design. You won’t find cheap looking screens (unlike WIX).
• After setting the price of your songs, visitors are automatically given the option to purchase your music.
Stat Tracking:
You live and die marketing your music. ReverbNation exists to help you. Discover:
• Where do your visitors come from?
• How many drop-ins do other artists in similar genres get?
• What are visitors looking at on your profile page?
• This is crazy: receive data on how many fans interact with widgets and banners that you place on other profiles (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)