Before New Music Strategies was a blog, it was an email with a list of links to articles about music online. Now it’s that as well.

I started New Music Strategies by sending out a bunch of links to articles about music business on the internet to a small bunch of people I knew that might be interested. Every day or three, I’d send them an email that simply contained the article heading, a quick sentence that explained the content of that article, and a link to where they could find it online.

As communication strategies go, it was fairly unsophisticated, but it seemed to do the trick. People read the articles that sounded as if they might be of interest, and sometimes they forwarded the email onto other people that might appreciate receiving them. A network of networks, if you like.

One of the things that has fallen by the wayside as New Music Strategies has grown into a blog about ideas around music enterprise in the new media environment, a bookstore, a merchandise shop, and (until recently) a forum — is that simple list of links to online music articles.

So I’ve done something that brings together a few ideas. New Music Strategies Newswire is a list of the latest links to articles about online music, updated regularly. Pretty much daily is the intention.

It draws on some technologies around RSS in order to automatically update the page without me having to write it — I just have to bookmark the articles, and the rest happens automatically. If you subscribe to it (see sidebar on the right), then you will automatically get it emailed to you, once a day — using Feedburner‘s free RSS/Email subscription combo package.

I do this for two reasons:

1) It will be helpful. The articles I’m gathering together are exactly about the kinds of things independent music businesses should be reading about and filling their head with as they move their businesses to the next rung of the ladder using the internet as leverage.

2) It shows the kind of thing that can be achieved. As will be covered in an upcoming ‘Thing’ about music online, RSS is absolutely the most important element of your website. It turns visitors into subscribers, turns interested observers into experts and opinion leaders — and turns a minimum of effort into a high level of perceived service. I’m doing this in such a way that hopefully, you can see how I’ve done it — and can think of ways you might be able to do it yourself to your own ends — or you can ask me how it was done.

Go and have a look at Newswire. Or better yet, use the email form on your right to subscribe. It’s a free extra — no charge. And not much effort either.

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