In today's market, as a music artist, singer-songwriter, or band, you've got to be your own manager, your own publicity agent, and sometimes even your own booking agent.  Being just a musician is not enough.

You  must interact with fans.  Use MySpace and Facebook , with your videos posted on Youtube . Put yourself on the top five musician websites .

According to music insider Bob Lefsetz , "you must familiarize yourself with music sites and blogs.  If you don't know what Pitchfork and the Hype Machine are, chances are you're not going to make it.  Furthermore, you've got to know what's hot.  That iMeem is streaming more music than not only Yahoo , but MySpace (http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/05/imeem-unseats-y.html ). 

Stop concentrating on acting cool and start tracking cool.

You must have a Web presence.  A front door to your music, your career.  It must be more about information than flashy graphics.  It must run fast and feature an extensive bio, that is not cookie-cutter, but unique, written by you, and a plethora of photos, not only studio shots, but candids, to humanize you.  At least stream your entire new album.  And give away at least one MP3.  Your music is your calling card.  If you can't give your card away, how is someone going to remember you, how are they going to spread the word?  And, if you're really lucky, the word will be spread via the P2P mentioned above.  Or via instant messenger.  You do know you can speedily transfer files via IM, right?  And you must post new content, preferably the story of your career, your struggles and heartbreaks, to your site every day.  At least three times a week at least.  So people will keep coming back, so they can bond with you.  If you're not willing to answer all your e-mail, quickly, put up a forum/message board.  Or, do both. 

No one will come to see you live if they don't know who you are.  Create a frenzy online then give a concert. 

Use Eventful.com to book shows.  Go where the demand is, don't think just because you set up your gear people are interested.  Maybe you're in New York, but your fan base is in Wisconsin.  You can track not only the location of the demand via Eventful, but you can use Google's stats to find out about who's coming to your site, and just this week YouTube announced they're delivering a ton of info to video posters.  Use this data!  It's the new SoundScan.  Cliff Burnstein is the master of SoundScan, this almost math Ph.D. uses this information to plot and steer careers.  Utilize this new information to your benefit.  You don't have to be a math major yourself, this information is not that complicated to understand, but you must dig in!

You're the retailer.  And the wholesaler.  And the manufacturer.  You've got to sell stuff on your site.

It's about satiating the core more than scouring for new fans.  They want to download your music for free and buy a CD and/or vinyl record.  They want t-shirts.  They want autographed photos.  All of this is easily provided.  Maybe your spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend has to do the heavy lifting, but they love you, right?  It's a way for you to get closer!  That's the focus, on the core team, not looking for some heavyweight to rescue you.  How can they, they just started reading their own e-mail, they can't type at all, they're not net-savvy, they're going to save you?  Save yourself!

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