Announcing The HMJ HOME Music Biz Marathon!

Your HOME Music Biz Marathon

Inspired by last year’s Couch By Couchwest Home Music Conference, this year I decided to host HMJ, The HOME Music Biz Marathon, which I’ll run from the comfort of my laptop from Oct 15-20th, the same time as CMJ Music Marathon comes here to NYC.

So if you can’t come to CMJ’s music biz panels, I’m coming to you!

The HMJ Music Biz Marathon will feature:

* A DAILY telecall series for “The 5 C’s of the New Music Biz”.

* A NIGHTLY Webinar presentation demonstrating music marketing strategies that can be used immediately.

* Coverage of random CMJ events here in NYC

All telecalls webinars are free, and will be recorded. To get the replays, sign up at http://RockStarLifeLessons.com/hmj

MUSICIANS’ POLL: Tell Me About Your FIRST TIME! ;-)

Can we talk about your FIRST TIME???

Your first time releasing your own CD, that is! I’m working on a new FREE eReport for musicians making their first CD, so I’m polling the musician community to learn their troubles and tricks! If you’d like to share your tips in my upcoming eReport, please share them in the short 9 questions survey, along with your website and social media info so I can feature your story!

Survey Questions:
* What best describes what you do (singer/songwriter, producer, etc)?
* How many CDs have you released (as a solo artist, or as part of a band)?
* If you haven’t released your first CD yet, what is your biggest challenge, frustration, or obstacle to making it happen?
* If you are CURRENTLY working toward releasing your first independent CD, how long have you been working on it so far?
* If you HAVE released your first CD already, what was your biggest challenge, frustration, or obstacle at the time? How did you overcome it?
* If you have 2 or more CDs already, how long did it take to complete your first CD?
* If you HAVE released your first CD already, what is your #1 challenge or frustration as a musician NOW?
* How big is your current fan email list?
* If you have released a CD before, what advice or tip would you offer a newbie?

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE SURVEY!

Thanks,
Carla

Photo Credit: Halo Virgin

I’ll be chatting on The School of Music Industry Podcast on Wed, Feb 23rd

This Wednesday morning, Feb 23rd at 11:30am EST, I’m being interviewed on the School of Music Industry Podcast. I’ll be sharing tips from the new book, The Musician’s Guide to Facebook and Twitter, and talking about musicians as solo entrepreneurs.

LaToya “ElectrKPrincess” Jackson

About The School of Music Industry:
Electronic Dance Music songwriter, LaToya “ElectrKPrincess” Jackson, gives an inside look at what it takes to really make it in the music industry with the “School of the Music Industry” revolution through digital media and technology.

The School of the Music Industry is an innovative concept that gives aspiring musicians an inside look on what it really takes to make it in the music industry. Get tips from artists, producers, songwriters and industry executives on the ins and outs of the industry. They all stop by the School of the Music Industry to share their stories, struggles and give insight on making it!

Tune in to the live stream of the show at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/somi/2011/02/23/special-guest-carla-lynne-hall

Visit the School of the Music Industry on BlogTalk Radio

The Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter – Ta Daa!!

Wow! Can’t believe it’s here! The first printing of The Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter: Your Complete Guide to Getting Liked, Followed and Heard by me and Ariel Hyatt is here! It’s really here!

Our first batch of printed books has arrived, and we’re getting it out to the early adopter musicians who bought the first available copies our book at TAXI Road Rally last November.

We’re keeping our eyes peeled for Facebook’s updates, and we’ll revise as needed. The book will soon be available for online purchase, as well as at lectures that Ariel and I will be giving, and we’re so excited!!!

Welcome Video for NOMEX Musician’s Roadmap

This week is the first week of the Nordic Music Export (NOMEX) Musician’s Roadmap Course for Social Media. The countries represented are Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, and it’s always a pleasure to work with musicians from outside of the US, as I appreciate their perspectives.

Similar to the Music Success in Nine Weeks Mastermind Forum, the Musician’s Roadmap Course is the private online course offered by Ariel Publicity for countries seeking to export their country’s music. As the moderator for this course, I answer questions, handle the day-to-day feedback, share resources, etc.

So this is the course’s Welcome Video with Ariel Hyatt and me. It was actually going fine before I censored myself at the end, but we got a good laugh out of it! 😉

Welcome NOMEX Musicians!

Music Success in Nine Weeks ~ Week 4: Social Media for Musicians

This week’s video blog for Ariel Hyatt’s Music Success in Nine Weeks covers social media for musicians. It’s short and sweet – just like me!

Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Musicians

Local SEO for Musicians
by Carla Lynne Hall

Hundreds of people go to search engines like Google every day seeking musical talent in your hometown. While they might not be looking specifically for you or your band, they are using music-related keywords to find a local band or music teacher. By optimizing your band’s website or blog for certain keywords, you can attract new visitors to your site.

After learning this little-known technique, I couldn’t wait to test it out. To find my own local keywords, I began by brainstorming musical categories related to my local area…

Click here to read the rest of my article as a guest blog post on Greg Rollett’s Gen-Y Rockstars Blog

Rock Star Life Lessons is Expanding!!!

As some of you know, for the past few months, I’ve been focusing on my music marketing consulting business. After much thought, I realized that I have two audiences: friends and fans who like my music, but who aren’t necessarily interested in music marketing info, and musicians who enjoy my workshops and articles, but aren’t necessarily my music fans. I’ve finally made peace with this 😉

Tooth and nail, I had been resisting the part of me that is, in fact, a teacher (“I don’t see Beyonce teaching music marketing!”). But teaching runs in my family; it’s in my blood, and I’m damned good at it. So for my clients and musicians who enjoy my music business writings, Rock Star Life Lessons will soon become my second newsletter. This will also enable me to keep both audiences happy, which makes me happy!

I’ve also started working on my first Rock Star Life Lessons (RSLL) podcast, which will be available on iTunes in the fall. The first episode will feature my interview with the fabulous Mary J. Blige, and I can’t wait for you to hear it. I’m also working on a Rock Star Life Lessons Online TV Series, and other cool projects that you’ll be hearing more about in the upcoming months, so stay tuned!

But don’t worry, I’m still making music, and I have a bunch of gigs coming up starting next month. I just needed to get my house in order!!!

Music Success in Nine Weeks by Ariel Hyatt – Week 1

My friend Ariel Hyatt has launched the 2nd edition of her Music Success in Nine Weeks book! To celebrate, she’s starting a new Blogging Challenge today, July 5th, which ends September 6th.

Although I’m one of the contest judges, I still couldn’t help creating my own blog for my upcoming Rock Star Life Lessons internet TV show! Music Success in Nine Weeks is an invaluable guide for any musician wanting to learn about social media, and I highly recommend it!

Check out Music Success in Nine Weeks by Ariel Hyatt

Guguchu is Giving Away a Free iPad for Best Band Page!!

My friends at Guguchu have created some sweet music promotion tools, and this month they’re sponsoring a contest to win a FREE iPad and StudioTrack 8-track audio recording app for creating the best band page!!

This contest for the best band page will run for the full month of June 2010 on the Contests tab of the Guguchu Facebook page. Submit your band page and win an iPad that also works as your recording studio, and other prizes!

Guguchu is on a mission to provide the best online tools for bands and their managers for gig booking, fan development, communication, promotion, distribution, and more. They provide easy-to-use web apps for gig booking, fan development, communication, promotion, distribution, and more.

For more info on Guguchu’s tools for world domination via your music, visit Guguchu’s website or the Guguchu blog.

What Guguchu does for you from Bernd Strenitz on Vimeo.