GUEST BLOG: Greg Rollett and Gen-Y Rock Stars

Gaming Hip-Hop Bloggers

Press separates the boys from the men, but really it separates a good release vs. one that collects digital dust. In the age of social networks, blogging, twitter and other new media, getting word of mouth and viral traction can produce more hype and push more downloads than an interview in the Source.

Last year an NYU study proved that the heavier the push in blogs, the better the release. If an album hits the round on 40 blogs, sales increased to 3x that of the average. Get 250+ reviews and see sales jump 6x. That’s a damn good jump.

While the posts and reviews are exciting, it’s the conversations that can happen, and the way that messages spread that is really exciting for musicians. With embed codes for playlists, retweets or Twitter music services like Twisten or Blip.fm, your music can spread ten fold.

The key then is getting your music into the influential bloggers hands. No longer is it as easy as hiring a high priced publicist who knows an editor or 2. These days the kid blogging in his bedroom may hit the front page of Digg and be the next big thing online overnight. To stay on point follow these 8 tips to getting to the top of the blog charts.

1. Know where to look. Knowing what bloggers are hot and what writers cover your style of music is the first step. A great places to start is the Hype Machine. Also use Google Blog and News searches to see where your competition is being reviewed.

2. Pay attention and start a conversation. In this day and time everyone is trying to get the attention of music bloggers so you need to stand out from the pack of backpackers who are sending MP3’s everyday with the same story. Get their attention by reading their site, commenting and sending emails that are conversation starters. Build a relationship during your recording phases so when the album is ready to drop you know you can count on the blogger to help you out.

3. No attachments. Upload your music to a 3^rd party service like SoundCloud, Box.net or BandCamp. Make sure the track or album is high quality, even for the Internet.

4. Follow up. We get hundreds of emails everyday, and even if I do remember who you are, chances are that I need a reminder to go back and download the tracks and give you a review. Continue the conversation and be friendly. What goes around comes back around.

5. Volume. The more bloggers and social media pros that you befriend, the better chance of getting more reviews. Seems like common sense, but there are also friendly rivalries and everyone wants to break the next artist, its how they keep traffic and recruit new traffic. If their site pays the bills via advertising, they need eyeballs, or visitors to keep the checks coming.

6. Offer to help them out. Can you bog about one of their articles? Can you send out a RT (retweet) for them? Make sure you have a WIIFM (what’s in it for me) to the author.

7. Links. Bloggers love links. If they write about you, link to them on your site. Send them traffic and your fans. If you send them traffic, they will keep writing about you.

8. It’s all about the stats. Look and see what bloggers send you the most traffic and ignite the most sales. Keep those relationships fresh. It’s easier to keep a good thing going then to start a new one from scratch.

Put these 8 tips to use and get your singles, albums and EP’s on the fingertips of keyboards and into playlists and online shopping carts.

For more music marketing tips, check out Gen-Y Rock Stars by Greg Rollett. Download their free guides and get daily advice on how to boost sales, increase exposure and keep your business intact for the next generation of musician.

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