Musedash » English

DIY in practice: a Q&A with Zoë Keating

Hilke — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:09:49 +0000

Zoë Keating is one of the poster childs of the so-called new DIY artist middle class. She only plays the cello (with a lots of effects and loops, though), makes some some sort of hybrid form of classical and experimental pop music. She has no manager and no label, but she manages to make a living from her art. She only started working with an agent after she gave birth to a child last year and she didn’t longer have time to make all the arrangements herself. Her sister helps her with sending out the CDs.

Last week she gave a Q&A talk during the Midem Conference in Cannes. It is an inspring video to watch, even if it will take you almost an hour. Watch and learn:

New features: easier to reply, retweet and rephrase updates

Hilke — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:29:54 +0000

We have been working on some new features on the Musedash dashboard. The changes should make your life easier when you want to write replies to more people at the same time and if you want to retweet or rephrase status updates. Watch the video below to get an overview of the new features.

I hope you will enjoy the new features. Feedback is always welcome.

Artists meeting techies: Doktank Music & Tech

Hilke — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:13:53 +0000

On Thursday December 15th I will be hosting ‘Doktank, music & tech’ at the DOKkantine in my home town Ghent (Belgium).

Dok Gent is a ‘working place for recreation and creative maneuvers’ and one of their many initiatives is DOKtank, a platform for inspiring ideas and subjects, presentations, talks, brainstorms and networking… while having a drink.

This issue of DOKtank is meant as a kick-off meeting to build a platform or meeting point for creative people from the music and the technology industry. We want to bring artists, music managers, software developers and hackers together to think about the future of music and internet, to be informed, teased and inspired. It would be our aspiration to build the right environment to host a Music Hack Day next year. Thomas Bonte from Musescore will testify how the Music Hack Days changed his life and how it became the best place for inspiration and networking in the music & tech business.

Snoop Dogg’s personal recipe for social media

Hilke — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 08:01:08 +0000

This week Snoop Dogg was featured on Hypebot. His personal recipe for connecting with fans is “being me”. This quote is particularly interesting:

“You must stay consistent and cohesive. To be most effective, you have to have a real commitment to putting up content and messaging on a regular basis. You also must have real interactions with your core audience and customers. In a way, social media allows you to build a voice and a persona for your brand — a personification that can work to build your brand’s message.”

The video of the team around Snoop is also interesting to watch. Read the full article here.

3 Major Reasons To Drive Fans To Your Website Instead Of Facebook and Social Media

Hilke — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:47:38 +0000

On Musedash we work hard to make your life easier when managing social media. However, we can’t repeat enough that is very important to maintain your website at your own url. ‘Social Media only’ is not the right communication strategy. There is a post on Hypebot which explains very clearly why.

You own the address: your fans will always be able to find you at your own url. This is not the case with your social networking profile. They can get bought out, lose out to competition, or simply become un-cool. We all know what happened to MySpace and we don’t know where Facebook and Twitter will be in 5 years.
You own the experience: no distractions (advertising, links that you don’t want,…), no design limits, a better buying experience.
You own the data: you can gather more detailed data about your fans, not only the data that the social network provides. Furthermore, you can keep the data for years, while it’s rather impossible to take your fan data from one social network to another.

However, social media is still important. They are like billboards that can drive traffic to your own hub: your own website at your own url.

Read the full original article here.

How can we improve Musedash?

Hilke — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:47:11 +0000

Running a band and running an internet startup are often quite simular. You need to communicate with your users/fans to improve. We are currently thinking about adding new features to Musedash and we want to hear your opinion. We made a 2-minute survey (you know we treat your time as very valuable) with a couple of questions. You can go to this link to fill in the survey, or if technology doesn’t fail, you can see it right here below.

Your participation is highly appreciated! Spending 2 minutes on this survey can help you and other artists to gain many hours in the future…



Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

What’s the most important tool: Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube?

Hilke — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:14:40 +0000

This week Ariel Hyatt asked a couple of her colleagues music marketers which of the three big social networks is most important: Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube? Of course, there is no clear answer. I advise you to read the whole post, but I highlighted the bits that I found the most thought-provoking.

The truth is these three work in concert with one another and it is vital to use all of them.

Get really good at using the one that you like the most and make the most sense to you. Mastering one Social is better than doing all three half-way.
(Ariel Hyatt)

I do believe that Twitter is only half as powerful without blogging. At 140 characters Twitter is made to send people to links – these may as well be links to your content situated some place where you get the most benefit.
(Rick Goetz)

The first step in deciding which tool is most important is figuring out what you want to achieve. If you are unable to tend to all three platforms named above, the best way to figure out which platform is more important to you is to spend some time using it – without promoting yourself.
(Corey Denis)

A lot of my developing acts view Twitter as a priority because a lot of early adopt/hardcore music fans live there. However, Facebook moves the dial more than Twitter for most of my established acts.
(Cassie Petery)

(Go here for the whole article)

Think outside of the box

Hilke — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:59:35 +0000

This week I read a great article that you also should read. I would like to quote in full this well-formulated insight by Zaque Eyn on Music Think Tank.

Most musicians and artists think of only one or two aspects of their career: music and social networking. I find most musicians just go through the motions not really giving it their all, especially when it comes to social networking. In order to improve your skills as a musician, get more gigs and make more money you have to think outside of the box. Improvisation is a key asset to your bag of tricks and can pay you back ten fold. If you always practice what you know you will never learn anything new or improve your craft and skill set. Trying new things out and getting out of your comfort zone forces you to expand your mind…

In fact, the post sums up 10 guidelines to improve your networking skills. This is: offline networking skills. Then, Zaque further elaborates how you should use these guidelines when approaching online social networking. I advise you to read the whole post.

10 simple things to check before your next email blast

Hilke — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 07:42:37 +0000

A handy list brought to you by Hypebot and Pure 360:

Do all the links work and are they going to the correct places?
Do you have a plain text version? Is it the same as your HTML content?
Do you have alt tags and do they show links?
Do all your pictures have links and are they going to the correct place?
Is your email personalized and are the names formatted and present?
Do you have a clear unsubscribe button and does it work?
Do you have trust earning text at the top?
Are you tracking your links using Google Analytics?
Have you cleaned your distribution list of opt-outs?
How does your email look in different inbox clients?

Choosing a good manager

Hilke — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:18:39 +0000

This week I want to draw your attention to a post by Andrew Lewis where he asks the question ‘Do I Really Need a Manager?’.

First, he makes a valuable point that the first important relationship that you should make as an artist is not with a manager, but with an entertainment lawyer. Because: who will assure you that you make a good deal with your manager? Indeed, a lawyer. If you choose a manager, you should do it slowly and carefully. You need to ask yourself what areas of services are needed from a manager, what are your short term and long term goals in the music industry. He sums up a couple of things to consider:

Does your manager have other clients? And if so, how many and in what genre? This is important to know how high you will be on his priority list.
Is the potential manager related in any way to your publishing or recording company? (He would better not)
Does your manager understand your short & long term goals?
What kind of reputation does the potential manager have?

I advise you to read the whole article.