Shockhound

shockhound

Shockhound is part mp3 retail site, part online pop culture magazine. They sell merchandise as well as tunes, but the core of the site is content-driven. Interviews and features have an alternative rock slant in line with the site’s connection with alternative music-related clothing store Hot Topic.

Independent artists can get their own music up for sale on Shockhound through TuneCore.

Magazine and retail outlet all in one: diluting the proposition, or a “sticky” site that’ll help sell more of your music? Your mission is to review the the reviewers, write about the articles and evaluate the store – in the comments please.

Who's doing this stuff well?

AWARD

This might actually be the question I get asked most often. At the end of a seminar, a lecture or a guest talk at some event, somebody will raise their hand, and ask the question. I kind of dread it, because I can only really disappoint every time I answer it, but almost every time I speak, it comes up again.

“Hi, that was interesting and I can see that I’m going to have to pay more attention to the web / put an RSS feed on my site / get my own URL / use innovative strategies to promote my music, etc. I’ve read your 20 Things e-book, and I want to implement all that stuff…

“But can you please point me to an example of someone who is doing all of the things you suggest really well, so I can model my site after theirs?”

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Here's a question nobody ever asks

Graffiti

Here on New Music Strategies, I’ve been posting the sort of questions I often get asked at seminars, conferences, lectures, and public events, and putting forward the answers I usually give. And then you come in with your perspectives on both the questions and the answers.

It’s a good system, and it works. I hate to buck the trend.

But I have a question for you – and it’s one that nobody ever asks me:

Is it more important that music businesses make money, or is it more important that culture expands, innovates and grows?

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Review this website

New Music Ideas

New Music Strategies has a sister site. It’s called New Music Ideas. It started life as a place where a handful of clever people – and me – investigated websites that claimed to be of use to musicians and people in the music business. We wrote reviews of those sites and told you what we thought.

But after some careful consideration over the weekend – and something of an epiphany (a word I like to use instead of the phrase ‘being struck by the bloody obvious’) – I thought it would make sense for you to review these sites instead. Everyone wants to know what you think.

So now how it works is this: I point you to a website – you contribute your thoughts, reviews and feedback in the comments. Simple.

So as a trial run, to see how it all works – the first site up for review on New Music Ideas is this one: New Music Strategies.

Now of course I may well be asking for trouble here, but I’m genuinely interested too: Is it working for you? How could I improve it? That sort of thing.

Let’s hear what you have to say.

I’ll also be looking for sites you think need reviewing – so be sure and let me know if you use any really good ones, really bad ones, or ones that need a bit of feedback. That’s what New Music Ideas is all about now.

Review this website on New Music Ideas.

How many social media platforms?!!!

Okay, so you’re on MySpace. And you’re probably on Facebook too. You might be using Twitter. You certainly should be.

And then there are the other social media platforms – not the least of which is your blog. WordPress? Blogger? Vox? Mog?

For music, you’ve got Last.fm, Imeem, ccMixter, Jambase, Grooveshark, Virb, PureVolume, Amie St, FameCast, Buzznet… and then there are your photos on Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa… your videos on Youtube, blip.tv, muzu.tv, Vimeo… bookmarks and news on del.icio.us, Stumbleupon, Reddit, Digg… profiles on LinkedIn, Ning, Disqus, LiveJournal, Bebo, Hi5, Plaxo, Ma.gnolia, Yahoo Groups… not to mention Tumblr, Upcoming.org, Eventful, Posterous (I looooove Posterous), Pownce, Brightkite, Xanga, Jaiku, Friendster, FriendFeed, Diigo, Kwippy

It’s actually all a bit much really. Just how social do you need to be?

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