October 2009 – Metaverse Musician

new Google music offering — indie musicians face new challenges and opportunities

Google has just announced a major enhancement to its handling of music searches. This change brings new conveniences for average Google users, and new opportunities for musicians. Herein, we’ll let an official Google video speak to the consumer side of things, then discuss what changes are under the hood, and what they mean for music marketing.

So here’s the video, aimed at your average consumer:

Basically, users searching on keywords involving artists, album titles, song titles, or lyrics are presented with a simple means of listening to those tunes for which they are searching. Also presented at the top of the search results is a wealth of similar content that can be played and/or viewed. It is the playing of the material where things get interesting for musicians.

They playing of the songs is actually handled by Google’s partners — currently iLike and Lala. Clicking on the play icon at the top of the search results opens a popup song player, with the song of interest playing, and other songs by the same artist loaded. There is a link at the upper right of the song player to the retail outlet, where one can easily purchase the song in question.

Note that, while others have reported that the partner used to play any tune is random, my limited testing showed a decided bias to Lala. Out of perhaps twenty searches for an artist name, all but one came up on Lala. The last — Mahogany Rush — came up on an iLike player, but had no link to a retail purchase.

It should be mentioned that below the default links in the top search result are links to the artist on other sites — including iLike, Rhapsody, iMeem, Pandora, and possibly others. Note that MySpace bought iLike earlier this year. From my limited testing, however, it seems clear that Lala is a favored retailer.

As an online music retailer, Lala has a rather unusual business model. Users can stream every song on the service once for free. After that, customers can buy the right to stream it for $0.10 or buy the MP3 for $0.89. Users can also upload their own music library to Lala and then stream those songs freely over the Internet.

It is also interesting to note that Lala has recently partnered with Facebook, with an officially connected Lala Facebook application.

Google has also partnered with the major music labels: EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music. I assume this was required in order to smooth over the legal ramifications of being able to preview content in search results.

We all know what a giant Google has become. From it’s humble beginnings, it has risen in a few short years to dominate the Internet. Like iconic brands such as Xerox, the company name has become both a household noun and verb. Even given the central role of search in our daily lives, it has been reported that approximately 6% of all Google searches are music related. This points out how important Google is to all commercial musicians. Now with this major user-facing enhancement, the use of Google by consumers to identify and acquire new music seems certain to multiply.

So what does this mean to indie musicians? It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. From a personal perspective, I am in the middle of evaluating partner organizations to act as interfaces to online music retailers. As of today, I know that I need to re-evaluate my options, with a particular notice to which such organizations partner with Lala.

In a similar vein, I need to learn more about the relationship between Google and MySpace — as MySpace has just announced an ‘artist dashboard’. This is an analytics tool which over time may aspire to much the same functionality as ReverbNation.

In this wild musical world defined by the demise of the traditional recording labels, independent musicians live in a sea of change. One thing is certain — while this constant change requires continual attention, it also brings a steady stream of opportunities for independent musicians to bring their music to new legions of fans.

WordPress avatar — creating one for the blog admin

WordPress allows one to associate an avatar with a user profile. This is a small picture that will be displayed on each post or comment you make to the blog, giving casual visitors a ready means of identifying all your posts. However, it is not readily apparent how the site admin is to set this avatar. There are no settings anywhere in the Site Admin control panels for setting this. Accordingly, the admin is stuck with the default ‘phantom person’ for an avatar.
This Two Minute Tutorial explains step-by-step how to set up a custom avatar for the admin.

However, it is not readily apparent how the site admin is to set this avatar. There are no settings anywhere in the Site Admin control panels for setting this. Accordingly, the admin is stuck with the default ‘phantom person’ for an avatar.

The key to rectifying this is to realize that WordPress does not use a local copy of your avatar. Instead, it uses an avatar that you upload to gravatar.com, and associate with your email address. According to the good folks at gravatar, their name derives from Globally Recognized avatar. By using this service, your avatar will automatically follow you to comments you make on random sites of others. This eliminates the need to upload an avatar to each site upon which you would like your avatar displayed.

Once you realize this, the implementation is pretty simple.

Go to the gravatar.com website
Watch the two minute video to get an overview
Log in with your WordPress.com credentials*
Click on ‘Add one by clicking here’. This will open a screen asking for the source of the picture to be uploaded
Choose from Hard Drive; Internet URL; Webcam; Previously uploaded — as appropriate
Assuming Hard Drive, a new window will open allowing you to browse your file system for the desired picture
Locate the desired picture, then click ‘Next’. This will upload your picture
Crop your picture as desired, then click next
Choose your rating – G, PG, R, or X
That’s it!

Allow some time for the changes to propagate throughout the internet. Clear your browser’s cache while waiting. Refresh your pages, and you should see your smiling face on your comments. WordPress knows your email address, so it goes off to gravatar to grab your picture!

*If you have a WordPress.com account, you also have a gravatar account. You are using akismet to fight blog comment spam, right? Akismet required you to create a WordPress.com account in order to obtain your API key.

so what’s all this Second Life stuff, anyways….

Second Life is an immersive 3-dimensional digital world, where one acts out a character (“avatar”), in an online environment with other people. This environment provides numerous opportunities for musicians to present their music to new audiences, and make some money in the process.

…or ‘why does he keep talking’ about performances, when all the photos are of just a bunch of cartoons?’

OK, back up the bus. Looks like I need to step out of character to frame the discussion again.

First, in real life, I work with computers. All day, every day. In fact, I can confidently say that, if it were not for my work, several small internal details of your computer would operate differently than they currently do. Yes, the computer you are using to view this blog – be it a PC, Mac, Sunfire, IBM mainframe, or whatever. Not that it wouldn’t work, just that it would work differently.

Why do I tell you this? Merely to frame the point that, after working with computers, I have no desire to play with computers. Computers are the bane of my existence. Accordingly, I have always stayed far away from computer games. Sure, I had an intense but short lived addiction to the original 8-bit Zelda and Link Nintendo games, but that’s it. I have tried things like Lesire Suit Larry, Doom, Myst, WoW, etc. Bored to tears in five minutes flat.

With that out of the way, Second Life is an immersive 3-dimensional digital world, where one acts out a character (“avatar”), in an online environment with other people. In this, it bears a superficial resemblance to MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games – I think I got that right). However, there are several key differences that make it so much more –

1) There is no universally defined goal to SL. Once inworld, what does one do? What do you want to do? I am inworld in order to perform my music for others. Others are inworld to build things, to program things, to go clubbing, meet others, have cyber sex, whatever. There are even those in SL that are inworld to engage in standard MMORPG activities (kill or be killed – though this is limited to certain identified areas). Like real life (RL), the goals are as individual as the people who have them.

2) Almost everything inworld is created by the residents themselves. Ordinary people like you and me. Landforms, critters, dances, cars, buildings, wings, clothes, lighting sources, sounds, games, etc. There is almost nothing you will run across inworld that you could not create yourself from scratch (given enough time and study).

3) SL has a real functioning economy. There is an inworld currency (the Linden Dollar, or L$) that is freely convertible from and to US Dollars. True, the L$ is a fiat currency, created out of nothing by Linden Labs (the RL originator of SL). However, this currency creation follows strict rules on how much currency can be created, and at what time it will be created. In this regard, the L$ is actually a more stable currency than the US$, which is created out of nothing by the FED according only to their whim. This currency system enables many real people to support themselves in RL strictly from providing goods and services in SL for L$, and converting these L$ for US$.

So after gigging in RL for longer than I care to mention, to people in my geographic vicinity, for little money, I now bring my music to SL. Hopefully, I can entertain a handful of people, and make enough RL money at it to cover guitar strings and a microphone or two.

Oh – one other aspect. A couple of blog posts back, I spoke of Kazzabee Runningbear helping me with my first stream inworld. Just so happens that the human who is the alter ego of Kazzabee was in Australia at the time. So picture this – in RL, I am sitting in my house somewhere in the USA, performing my music for someone who is literally half a world away. In real-time. If not for SL, I would not have had an opportunity for Kazz to hear me. First performance. Half a world away. How cool is that?

free VST plugin — spl giving away their Attacker for a limited time

VST plugins are software effects devices for digital audio workstations (DAWs). There are a plethora of eqs, reverbs, compressors, etc. available to extend the functionality of your DAW. One of the more unusual of these devices is the Attacker from SPL (Sound Performance Lab). For a limited time, they are giving this unique processor away for free.

This unique processor is ideal for adding presence and ‘oomph’ to selected signals. Try it on a wimpy-sounding bass drum to add some real meat. Or if your dirty guitar is loud, yet still indistinct, you can use the Attacker to bring it to the foreground.

Simple to operate, one need only instantiate the Attacker as a VST plugin on the channel to be enhanced, twist the attack dial to achieve the desired amount of emphasis, then trim the output gain control to set the overall level. Simple and effective.

The spl Attacker is available for download, in both Windows and OS X versions, at spl’s website. It is provided in VST, RTAS, and AU plugin formats, and is compatible with most mainstream DAWs. But act fast – this is a limited time offer (expires 2009 November 15).

becoming a Fan of your favorite band on ReverbNation

In addition to hosting Bands, ReverbNation also has Fan profiles. By becoming a Fan of a given Band on ReverbNation creates a new link between your profile and the band’s. This Two Minute Tutorial demonstrates how to create the link between you and your favorite band.

OK, so you’ve joined ReverbNation as a fan. As it so happens, you want to become a Fan of a particular band that is a member of ReverbNation as well. This will allow you to have expedited access to that band’s RN profile, and build a closer relationship with that band. Here’s how to go about doing so.

First, open a browser and navigate to ReverbNation.

Then enter your ReverbNation profile name and pasword, and click the ‘login’ button:

This should take you directly to your profile page. This is where you enter what others would see when they look you up by name. We’ll cover some of that in a future installment. It’ll look something like the following – though the fan profile used for this example is ltb-rn-example – not you.

ReverbNation Fan Profile

Now we need to find the band of which you are interested in becoming a fan. Enter the band name in the ‘search’ box, and click the ‘GO’ button:

You should be taken to a list of likely matches for your search:

Hmm… there’s a likely match. I wonder if it is the band I’m interested in? The photo looks like it could be them. Hey – there’s one of their songs. I’ll click on the ‘play’ button and see if it sounds like them. (Go ahead – click on it). A new window opens with the ReverbNation song player, playing the sample song:

Cool! It certainly sounds like them! And now you have something to listen to while you complete your registration.

Click on the band name, and you will be whisked to their profile page:

ReverbNation band profile

Hey look – up near the top – they have another song available! Click the play arrow next to it, and this second song will cue itself up in the song player. Now when the first song ends, this second one will start.

OK – now to do the deed. Below the band’s photo is a set of buttons:

Click ‘become a fan’. This creates the link between you and your band in the ReverbNation servers:

Awww – we love you too!

Note that in this example, both the ‘become a fan’ and ‘join the street team’ buttons have been clicked. This also gives you a quick way of checking if you are a fan or street team member of a given band. Note that you may be a Fan without being on the mail list, or on the mail list without being a Fan. Likewise, Street Team and Fan are separate relations.

Well, that completes that. However, maybe you need something to do while the songs are still playing. How about leaving a comment on the band’s profile? Click the ‘comments’ tab, then click the ‘add comment’ button:

This will open a new window for you to enter a comment. Fill out the form, enter the captcha, and click OK:

You’ll get a confirmation:

Your comment will be put in a queue for review by The Moderator (the band’s RN page maintainer). Upon approval, it’ll be posted on the band’s profile for the entire world to see!

Well, that’s about it! I hope this brings you and your band to a new level of intimacy. I am most certain that they are grateful for your support. And both your act of registering as a fan and your playing of their tunes contribute to their rankings! You are helping your band achieve international fame and fortune! Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

singing up on ReverbNation as a fan

ReverbNation is a wonderful site for discovering new music, and helping to promote bands in which you are interested. This is a Two Minute Tutorial explaining how to sign up to the service as a fan.

First, make your way to the ReverbNation website (you can click on the image below to navigate there):

Click the ‘signup’ on the upper right:

This will navigate to a new page where you will specify what type of signup you wish to do:

Assuming you select ‘fan’, you are met with a form into which you can enter your data:

Note that the form provides a shortcut if you are a member of Facebook or MySpace. Essentially, this will use your profile info on these sites to fill out this form. This is merely a minor convenience. In order to keep this general, we will ignore these shortcuts. The long form process works whether or not you are a member of one of these social networking sites.

It appears that much of this information is optional. However, it would be encouraged that you fill in as much information as you are comfortable in yielding. In this manner, it is unlikely you will receive a concert announcement for a Nome gig when you live in Sarasota. Also, ReverbNation implies that the Birthdate is required – likely in order to ensure the signee is at least 13 years of age. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that singup works just fine without this information.

After filling in the form, click the ‘sign up’ button. You will be directed to a confirmation screen:

Within moments, a confirmation email should arrive at the inbox corresponding to the email address you entered in the signup form. It should resemble the following:

From: reverbnation@reverbnation.com
[mailto:reverbnation@reverbnation.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 3:38 PM
To: ltb-rn-example@LeeThomasBand.com
Subject: Welcome to ReverbNation.com

ltb-rn-example,

Welcome to ReverbNation.com!

Here is your log-in info:
    LOGIN: ltb-rn-example@leethomasband.com
    PASSWORD: ******

Please click on the following link to confirm your registration:
http://www.reverbnation.com/<inscrutable key>

If you didn't sign up, please click the following link to deactivate this account
 http://www.reverbnation.com/<inscrutable key>

Sincerely,
Your Friends at http://www.reverbnation.com

________________________________________________
You can view our privacy policy at http://www.reverbnation.com/c./cms/PrivacyPolicy.  Physical inquiries can be sent to: 501 Washington St. Suite J, Durham, NC, 27701, USA.

Click on the confirmation link to complete the process. This will send you back to ReverbNation. You will be prompted with the optional step of entering a profile photo:

ReverbNation profile photo prompt

All done! Enjoy your ReverbNation membership!

using a ReverbNation Fan Collector widget to sign up for a band mailing list

One of the features ReverbNation provides is an integrated mailing list, with widgets that allow interested parties to opt themselves in. This Two Minute Tutorial explains how easy it is for a fan to sign up for a band;s email list, using the Fan Collector widget.

OK! You’ve run across a Fan Collector widget for a band you really like. You would like to join their mailing list, such that you can stay informed as to their doings. Here’s how easy it is to sign yourself up.

First, an example of a webpage, with the widget embedded within. The widget is the item outlined in red:

To sign up for the mailing list, simply enter your email address…

…and click the ‘submit’ button. After a few moments, you should receive a confirmation:

If, rather than simply receive the postings from the band, you would also like to help to promote the band, then you probably would want to join the Street Team while signing up for the mail list. This can be accomplished by clicking the ‘join the Street Team’ checkbox after entering your email address and before clicking ‘submit’:

Again, this should lead to a confirmation after a few moments:

Whether signing up for the mail list, or both the Street Team and the mail list, your enrollment is not active util you acknowledge an opt-in email. Within moments, you should receive such an opt-in in the inbox corresponding to the email address you entered on the form. Here’s what to expect in that email:

From: Lee Thomas Band [mailto:joe@LeeThomasBand.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 1:23 PM
To: ltb-ml-example@LeeThomasBand.com
Subject: Verify your email to join the Lee Thomas Band mailing list

ltb-ml-example@LeeThomasBand.com,

Thanks for joining the mailing list!  To complete the signup process, click on the link below
http://www.reverbnation.com/<inscrutable key>&action_code=opt_in

If you didn't request to join the mailing list, please click the link below and we won't bother you again.
http://www.reverbnation.com/<inscrutable key>

Thanks again for joining the mailing list!

Lee Thomas Band
Longmont, CO

Privacy Policy: http://www.reverbnation.com/c./cms/PrivacyPolicy
More Information: http://www.reverbnation.com/fanreach.
Physical inquiries can be sent to: 501 Washington St. Suite J, Durham, NC, 27701, USA
Unsubscribe: http://www.reverbnation.com/<inscrutable key>
Report Abuse/Spam: http://www.reverbnation.com/<inscrutable key>

Click on the link in order to complete the signup process. If you are already logged into ReverbNation, that’s all there is to the process. Yay! You’re done!

If you are not logged into ReverbNation, your browser will be opened, and it will navigate to an information entry screen:

It appears that all this information is optional. However, it would be encouraged that you fill in as much information as you are comfortable in yielding. In this manner, the band is unlikely to spam you with a concert announcement for a Nome gig when you live in Sarasota. Also, ReverbNation implies that the Birthdate is required – likely in order to ensure the signee is at least 13 years of age. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that singup works just fine without this information.

Note that this is another opportunity to sign up for the Street Team.

That is all there is to it! The next time your favorite band sends a notice to their mail list, you will receive a copy!

add a wordpress blog to a ReverbNation profile

Social media tools provide a platform for musicians and bands to expand their fan base. Wordpress is a widespread blogging platform, and ReverbNation provides a comprehensive toolset to market musical endeavors. But who has time to duplicate their blog posts to both platforms? You don’t have to! You can set these tools up to synchronize with each other!

This article explains how to add a wordpress blog to a ReverbNation profile.

ReverbNation profiles have a blog tab on them. This blog tab can reflect content from RN’s internal blogging system. Better yet, it can accept an RSS feed from a wordpress blog — such as this one. Here’s how to set up RN to accept an external blog.

Go to the Profile page within which you wish to embedded the blog.
Slightly down the page is a row of approximately ten tabs. Select the one entitled ‘BLOG/BUZZ’.
On the upper right of the BLOG/BUZZ tab is a button entitled ‘Blog Preferences’. Click it!
Select the Blog radio button for Default View.
In the Blog section, select the radio button entitled “I would like to show a blog I maintain on another site.”
In the text box entitled “The URL for the blog RSS feed is “, enter the URL of the blog RSS feed*!
Click the ‘Save’ button.
Watch your RN blog populate itself with the source blog’s contents! Cool!

*Bonus section – what is the URL of the RSS feed of the blog in which I am interested?

There are several correct answers to this question. Perhaps an example would help to illustrate. In my case, I just wanted to use the entire blog contents, and I did not care in which specific format it was published. My blog is located at http://www.joebear.net/blog/. In this case, the proper feed to be typed into the text box for Blog Preferences was http://www.joebear.net/blog/feed . Simple, hunh?

To see how it looks, compare this blog with its RN representation at this link.

Note: this post was copied from joebear.net. You’re reading this at metaversemusician.com. Conseqently, these blogs are likely to be out of sync. Compare the RN Profile with this other blog.