Web Radio, Live Music and Merchandising

Web Radio, Live Music and Merchandising
all part of an Artists Promotional Arsenal.

Web Radio promotion is an extremely important aspect of building a musical career, more than it was a few years ago as some web radio station have hundreds to thousands to millions of listeners and it is growing all the time as internet access becomes easier, readily available on many devices, from the home & work computer to mobile phones and now even motor vehicles. It is becoming the quickest method in which to reach a large listening audience - that depending on the web radio station or stations, the format and the promotional campaign can be anywhere from 10,000 listeners to several million. Getting music to play on a terrestrial radio station is a time consuming project, and very few new bands/artists realize how much dedication and work it takes to get a song on. The general assumption is, once in the hands of the Music Director it will automatically be added to the playlist. Unfortunately, that's only the beginning of the long ride to regular rotation. Web Radio is quite different where the songs can be added and rotation becomes almost immediate once a deal has been made with the Web Radio Station. I have mentioned several Web Radio Stations before in my blogs that have programs dedicated to new or independent artists looking for airplay. WCUT Radio in New York USA, Red Babe in Minsk Belarus, Desert One in Las Vegas USA and London Web Radio in England are some I can think of. KryKey Personal Web Radio lets you create your own Web Radio Station for free, but you have to then hassle to get listeners. Web Radio is the future and the future is here now, get your music on a Web Radio Station before it is too late.

Last year the profit from concerts and other live gigs rose globally by 10% to US$25 billion as music sales dropped. This means that it is vitally important for Artists/bands to get out there and do live shows. The reasons are obvious, one this is where a lot of the income will be for them over the next few years and also as a Promotional tool for the sale of the music. If you're independent and starting off, its a good place to sell CD's or how about MP3's on a USB Drive? or a Memory Card? Promote the Web Radio Station the music is being played on at the live show. Find an online store that will take MP3's for digital downloads to sell. There are many out there that offer this service from iTunes which is one of the leaders, to smaller sites. The choice is how much does the Artist want to pay to the seller? iTunes is reported to take a large commission. KryKey Personal Web Radio is currently creating a store for digital downloads that is located on their site and as their customers base grows over the next couple of years, so will the opportunity for Artists to sell their music worldwide and receive a large percentage of the sales. The music companies can see in a few years where recorded sales will be minimal for them and they are now gearing up for the slice of live shows, merchandising and other forms of revenue from the Artist or Band.

Merchandising is another great way for Artist and Bands to promote themselves and also receive revenue. I mean someone buys a t-shirt and wears it around and in effect is like a sandwich board promoting the Artist or Band. Selling them only, selling them at live shows all helps. Options are numerous, outlets are numerous, but a combination of selling at a live show and sell at an online store like KryKey Personal Web Radio covers all bases. If the Artist or Band as their own web site they can also be sold on there. Buy 25 t-shirts and sell them at the live show - even if they are sold at cost, there is a promotional effect. Walking talking sandwich boards.

Try getting a package of web radio airplay, merchandising, music sales and use it with a live show or two - they are out there! Web Radio, Live Music and Merchanising - it is all part of an Artists/Bands Promotional Arsenal.