SheviMarch 6th, 2010 at 6:19 pm

As the music industry has changed and artists are no longer dependent on the big record labels of yesteryear, musicians are much freer to work independently to sell their music on the Web. This book does a nice job of showing the history of the industry in the Cyber Age and the paths available for the independent music artists of today.

The book starts with how the industry developed and the current state of the market, and it continues with information on how artists can bring their music to the Internet. It’s full of information and tips from industry insiders, and each chapter includes a glossary of terms for easy reference. The author has thoroughly researched the topic and lists all his sources. Unfortunately, I found the book too overwhelming in its scope and would have preferred something more focused and easier to apply to what I want to achieve: creating a website that will best help me sell my work.

I have built simple websites in the past, but the idea of creating a professional, commercial site for my audio work seemed overwhelming, which is why I chose this book. The book does go into website design and much more. However, it does not give me enough information to give me the confidence to build such a site on my own, a site that may make or break my career. I am now more convinced than ever that this is something I will have to hire someone else to do. In that way, the book is a disappointment. Yet Hutchinson did open my eyes to the many forms of marketing and social media artists can use to sell their work.

Amazon has over 50 books on the music business, but very few appear to cover web marketing. While I’ve read another fascinating book on the evolution of the music industry (The Future of the Music Business: Music Pro Guides (Hal Leonard Music Pro Guides) by Steve Gordon) and several on social media and Internet marketing, this is the first book I’ve read that deals with both the music industry and Internet marketing. I was hoping for something more along the lines of one of the best–and simplest–social media marketing books that I’ve read (like Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day by Dave Evans) but specific to the music industry. This isn’t the book I hoped it would be. It gives me an overwhelming amount of information, but not enough of the tools that would let me take that information so that I can use it to sell my own work. Perhaps the book I’m looking for has yet to be written, or perhaps I set my expectations too high.

Rating: 3 / 5

Grant PeeplesMarch 6th, 2010 at 9:16 pm

Reading this book has renewed my focus as a musician. The “State of the Market Chapter,” is and account of the reality that the music business itself doesn’t want to address, and that all players need to understand. I disagree with the writer that you really need to learn HTML (sorry, not going there) but what he says about strategy got me fired up and swinging. Its a Brave New World out there. I think this book does a good job of defining it and what musicians need to do to survive in it. It’s going to be a Bible to get’r done.


Rating: 4 / 5

Calamity JaneMarch 7th, 2010 at 12:09 am

I ordered this book because my brother is a musician and is perpetually looking for better ways to promote his music and his Web site, and as a Web marketing expert, I help him out here and there. I wish I’d seen the reviews first…this book is for absolute beginners who are not only new to promoting themselves online, but who are fairly new to working with Web sites as well. Advice such as “you should put 30-second clips of your music on your Web site” is almost laughable, because really, anyone with a clue would figure that out. The author goes on to mention several programs to create the files, but gives such a high-level overview that he shouldn’t have bothered trying to give any details at all.

If you are VERY new to the whole idea of promoting your band or your music online, this book will give you a good “big picture” view of WHAT you should be doing. But because it’s very short on details and practical (as opposed to theoretical) advice, you’re going to have to do a lot more research on your own to figure out HOW you should do it. There are numerous free articles online with that kind of advice, so save yourself the time and expense and Google away instead of buying this book.
Rating: 2 / 5

MJMarch 7th, 2010 at 12:48 am

I have been a Webmaster and web site designer since the early 90s. All of my clients are in the entertainment industry. Most of them are recording artists or have music to promote. Therefore, my roles quickly turned into online PR and web music marketing before there was ever a book even thought about.

You can never have too many reference materials and guides to keep you up to date with the latest trends and ways people enjoy and buy music online. Unfortunately, this book ends at 2007 and contains plenty of graphs, facts and figures of that year. However, any internet related book older than a six month release date is obsolete. A book such as this, published twice a year, would in fact be worth the investment. But the only interest here is to compare what it was like, way back in 2007.

Many of the sites and companies listed are defunct or acquired by another entity. The popular social networking sites are listed, but formats and features have changed so much since the references.

For some reason there is a lot of attention to HTML and coding. Some of it is useful if you know nothing about it. But there are so many free software options and cut and paste codes available, it’s easy to skip over.

There is a touch on ecommerce methods addressed, but still not up to par to what is standard in 2009. Two years is like two decades in net life. Keep that in mind with any book purchase. Should I dare to mention the abundant typos? Not gonna do it.

I am being generous with 3 stars, because it’s not completely useless. But if they do not continue with future editions, it is.
Rating: 3 / 5

Robert ReidMarch 7th, 2010 at 1:56 am

Though I find many books on marketing to be annoyingly slick and thin on content, this professionally-written text covers exactly what a working musician needs to get started with web-based marketing or to add increased purposefulness and breadth to their approach. Befitting of an academic text, the author is rigorous in providing citations for trends and statistics in the industry, and yet this reads lucidly enough for an independent musician lacking the enforced discipline of a classroom setting.

Though the text covers topics at a fairly basic level, the breadth of coverage (trends and history of internet marketing, creating web sites and driving traffic to them, social networking, mobile marketing, etc.) over 15 short chapters ensures that this book can help most musicians address gaps in their internet marketing strategy. For example, most do-it-yourself musicians I know aren’t really emphasizing Search Engine Optimization and promotion to internet radio, though this book makes the case for why they should be. Most importantly, Hutchinson makes a real effort to put all marketing strategies in context. For example, the chapter on “Overall Music Marketing Strategy” highlights the advantages and disadvantages of a range of offline (radio, retail, touring, etc.) and internet media in order to place web marketing strategy in the context of all other available options.

I’d recommend this for all do-it-yourself musicians as well as those who want to better understand and communicate with a hired marketing specialist.

Given that this book covers rapidly emerging technologies, this book is relevant now but will probably need updating in a few years.

Rating: 5 / 5