Archive for the 'tools for musicians' Category

Survival Guide for Engaging Fans and Building a Career in Music [Infographic]

Careers in music are built on fans that are engaged with the music and feel connected to the artist. Fortunately there are dozens of services and tools to help artists. Yet if you’re an artist, where do you start? Do you need more than one service? If so, what’s the right combination for you? How do you make sense of it all?

With artists struggling to figure out what they need to do, we’ve developed a “Survival Guide for Engaging Fans and Building a Career in Music” to put shape around this increasingly confusing landscape. It illustrates the ‘tools-for-musicians’ ecosystem, some (but of course, not all) of the key players, their relationship to the whole, and how mobile plays into all of this.

Here’s how it works:

First, do whatever needs to be done to get discovered. This doesn’t mean getting discovered by millions of people, but rather, a core initial group of fans that you will build on.

Next, engage this core initial group of fans in an interactive and authentic way in order to convert them from casual fans into loyal fans. By doing so, fans will be much more likely to support you financially and spread the word.

Once a deep connection has been made, offer fans many ways to support you financially and make it easy for them to do so. This includes selling music and creative bundles directly from your website, offering unique merch, and giving fans the opportunity to invest in you through one of the many crowdfunding platforms out there, like PledgeMusic. Get creative and don’t assume the only way to get paid is to sell music in iTunes!

Finally, carefully analyze what has worked and what hasn’t, and adjust things accordingly. Then, repeat, repeat, repeat… and don’t forget about mobile!

Creating One Mobile App That Works On All Devices

When we first launched MobBase a few years ago, our goal was to offer artists a cheap and easy way to create iPhone apps and connect with fans on-the-go. Well, times have changed and iOS is no longer the only game in town. With the undeniable rise of Android, Windows Phone and other mobile phones and tablets, artists now need a cross-platform mobile strategy in order to connect with all fans. The problem is, cross platform mobile app development has been time-consuming, expensive, and a general pain in the ass…until now.

In the above video, MobBase CEO, Charles Feinn, discusses how MobBase is helping artists build one mobile app that can be launched on all devices using the mobile web. MobBase mobile web apps are HTML5 based and can be built and launched for free here.

How To Build Mobile Apps With MobBase: Intel Developer Forum Keynote Demo

Last week, MobBase had the privilege of demonstrating its platform during the “Security and Services in an Age of Transparent Computing” keynote at the 2012 Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. Led by Intel Senior Vice President Renée James, the keynote addressed HTML5 based applications and security.

MobBase co-founder Alan Khalfin showed an audience of more than 3,000 people how to build a mobile app with MobBase and how HTML5 is enabling MobBase clients to build one app the connects with fans on all smartphones and tablets.

Throw Me The Statue frontman, Scott Reitherman, then walked people through the band’s official mobile app, discussed how easy it was to build the app using MobBase, and how the app has helped the band connect with fans on-the-go. Throw Me The Statue also rocked the house with a 30 minute set to start the keynote! Check out a video of the MobBase demo above.

Mobile Marketing: A Key Part Of An Artist’s Success

With mobile devices currently accounting for 10% of web browsing, bands, artists and DJs without a mobile marketing strategy are missing out on a powerful way to interact with their most loyal fans. What’s more, based on Statista‘s projections of NetMarketShare‘s recent data on mobile web usage, web browsing on mobile devices will increase to more than 17% by the end of 2013.

The point: launching your own mobile app is a key part of succeeding in today’s new music economy. Luckily, you can build your own mobile app for free with MobBase.

MobBase Offers Artists Free Mobile Web App To Connect With Fans On iPhones, Androids, Tablets & Other Devices

MobBase introduced today a new, free way for artists to build just one mobile app that connects with fans on any Internet-enabled screen, including iPhones and iPads, Android phones and tablets, and Blackberrys.

MobBase is a favorite solution for artists to create, launch, and manage their own, custom mobile applications. With MobBase, artists share music, photos, videos, tweets, news, information about shows, merchandise, and other content with fans on-the-go.

“It’s never been this easy, this fast or this inexpensive for an artist to have their own mobile app and connect with fans wherever they are and whatever screen they’re using,” said Charles Feinn, CEO and co-founder of MixMatchMusic, MobBase’s developer.

Separate apps for different devices a challenge for artists
Feinn said the proliferation of systems and screens has been a challenge for artists. “It’s been too difficult, too expensive and too time consuming to make a mobile app for every device and every environment,” he said. “The new MobBase app changes everything because artists can now build a single app to reach everyone.”

Rebelution among artists with MobBase HTML5 apps
“A mobile app is one of the best ways for Rebelution to stay connected with our fans,” said Eric Rachmany, vocalist and guitarist for Rebelution. “We use MobBase because we get an inexpensive app that looks and performs great, and works on iPhones, iPads, Androids, and everything else our fans are carrying in their pockets or purses.”

MobBase built on HTML5
The new build-it-once, publish-across-every-screen capability is made possible by HTML5, the newest version of the common language used for structuring and presenting content on the web. HTML5 apps are used by developers, including MobBase, to build applications for use on personal computers, tablets, smart phones, and other devices.

A lot for free, even more for just $5
Artists can build, launch and manage their own MobBase app for no charge. It works on iOS (iPhone, iPad), Android (phones and tablets), Blackberry, and any other mobile device that supports HTML5. For just $5 to activate and $5 a month, artists can make a mobile app and feature unlimited videos, songs and other content.

MobBase a favorite of artists, labels and concert venues
More than 500 artists, record labels and concert venues have launched their own MobBase apps, including Tila Tequila, Pepper, Parkway Drive, 9:30 Club, Rebelution, Jump Smokers, John McLaughlin, Iration, the Jacka, Zion I, and Paul Thorn.

“MobBase has been so popular with artists because it makes it so easy and inexpensive to connect and engage with fans,” said Feinn. “The new build-it-once and publish-it-everywhere capability, and no-charge option, are sure to make it the first choice of even more artists.”

MobBase featured in Mozilla Marketplace
MobBase is one of the featured partners for the forthcoming Mozilla Marketplace, an app store for cross-platform HTML5 apps that aims to connect the ecosystem of HTML5 developers with the tens of millions of Firefox browser users. Hundreds of MobBase apps will be available in the Mozilla Marketplace in the coming months.