Archive for the 'MobBase' CategoryPage 5 of 8

Marketing Your MobBase iPhone App

published
on September 3, 2010
by
Alan Khalfin
in DIY, MobBase, music, music business, social media, and tools for musicians
. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

So you’ve built an iPhone app through MobBase and it’s in iTunes. Now what? Time to market that app, baby! With hundreds of apps developed, we’ve learned a thing or two about marketing apps. Here are some best practices that we’ve learned on marketing your iPhone app (for free):
  1. Place big banners on all of your websites, including your official site, Myspace page, Facebook, etc., so that anyone who visits your websites will find out about your app. To increase conversions, be sure that your banners point directly to your app in iTunes. If you need help making a banner, let us know by emailing support@mobbase.com!
  2. Announce the launch of your app by sending out an email blast/newsletter, tweeting about it, sharing on Facebook, etc. You know your fans better than we do, so be sure to share the news wherever you normally connect with fans. If possible, be sure to include screen shots of your app, a description of what’s inside and any other relevant info that your fans would be interested in.
  3. Constantly update your app’s content and let your fans know when you’ve updated it by tweeting about it, sharing on Facebook, etc. This will give fans a great reason to keep coming back to the app and in doing so, they will be more likely to tell their friends about your app.
  4. Add exclusive music to your app that can’t be heard anywhere else. This will be huge motivation for fans to get your app.
  5. Tell your fans about your app during shows and live appearances, interviews, etc. Create pocket-size cards that promote your app, hand these cards out and have them available at your merch table. Be sure that the cards include something like “Just search [Artist Name] in the app store or go to [direct iTunes download link] to get the app!”
  6. Include your app in your online store, linking fans to iTunes for download.
  7. When setting up your app, be sure to include relevant iTunes search keywords, like your artist name, genre, and any other relevant tags that would help fans find the app in the app store.
  8. When setting up your app, be sure to write a persuasive and thorough app store description that lists all of the features and content included, and any other reasons why fans should get the app. After reading the app store description, fans should be so excited that downloading the app is a no brainer.
  9. Add your app to as many iPhone app review websites as you can and make sure that the entries are thorough and include screen shots, when possible. Most app review websites are free. Get a list of review websites and more info here.
  10. Drive awareness of your app by having fans contribute videos to it. More on this here.
  11. Create a video inviting fans to get the app and walking them through it. Embed this video on all your websites and upload it to as many video sites as possible.
  12. Share your success stories.  Let us know how you’re doing, how many fans are downloading your app, and how it’s contributing to building your fan base. We’ll promote your successes too. Just email us at support@mobbase.com.

Did we miss anything? Let us know by commenting below! We’ll be updating this list, so follow us on Twitter for updates. For more tips on marketing your iPhone app, you can also check out this article. Now do it! Questions? Here’s more info on how to build iPhone apps

The Indie Invites Artists to Win $25k in Prizes, Including a Free MobBase App!

published
on August 17, 2010
by
Alan Khalfin
in contests, DIY, fans, MobBase, and music
. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Are you the Ultimate Social Artist of 2010?
TheIndie.biz wants to know and to find out, they just launched a contest for musicians that has up to $25,000 in prizes! Their Ultimate Social Artist Contest invites bands and musicians from all over the world to take part and bring their fans along for the ride, who can also win up to $3,500 in prizes. The band that signs up the most fans to their TheIndie.biz profiles, while selling the most songs through the site and receiving the highest ratings from the contest’s panel of judges, wins.  Contest sponsors include YouLicense, Media2Radio, and MobBase, who has also partnered with The Indie to create iPhone apps for its artists.

“Social media has changed the music landscape,” says Damon Cleveland, CEO of TheIndie.biz. “With millions of people online, updating their profiles, chatting, giving status updates, the biggest audience in the world, at any given time, is online. TheIndie.biz gives independent musicians the opportunity to tap into that audience and introduce them to their music, while music fans from all over the world can discover new bands. The rules have changed and we want to help indie bands take advantage of the new opportunities.”

How to Participate
To participate in the contest, bands must be registered artists on The Indie, which is free. There are two phases to the contest: first, bands must have/sign up 100 fans on The Indie, after which they will be eligible to submit a song and a brief note on how they acquired their TheIndie.biz fan base. The contest winners will be judged based on:

  1. The content of the song submitted (production, composition, and lyrics)
  2. Number of TheIndie.biz fans
  3. Artist development, marketability, and overall readiness
  4. Ability of the artist to socialize their music on The Indie
  5. Creativity of their social media campaign

The contest ends on October 31, 2010. Registration and participation for fans and bands is free, and all genres are welcome, so why not enter the contest here?

Prizes and Judging
The Ultimate Social Artist will be selected through a 25/25/50 weighted formula, with 25% of the weight going to the number of fans registered, 25% going to the number of songs sold on TheIndie.biz, and the remaining 50% toward the subjective portion including the song submitted along with the other elements of the band’s portfolio. The Grand Prize includes $25,00 in prizes:

  • Full publicity campaign (releases, industry media blitz, etc)
  • 30 day full ad campaign (Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc)
  • Social media marketing campaign – up to 50,000+ subscribers
  • A MobBase iPhone App with one year of free service
  • Global marketing of winning song – up to 1,100 radio stations
  • Global marketing of winning artist – up to 1,350 DJs
  • One week feature placement on iTunes, Napster, Amazon, and others
  • A professional, personalized band management plan
  • A professional, personalized band marketing plan
  • Regional tour marketing & booking
  • Song/Voice licensing for The Music Producer
  • Six Month private label song licensing account, and more…

About The Indie
The Indie is a premier social music promotion and distribution platform that encourages the discovery, and consumption of music created by unsigned artists, independent artists and indie labels. They strive to meet these goals by creating simplified, highly effective, social solutions that enable artists to exponentially promote their music and dramatically grow their fan base; providing artists with emerging channels where their music, performances and videos can be discovered and consumed; and creating a marketplace the attracts and encourages music fans to explore, discover, share, and consume music socially.

Camp Bisco Announces Remix Contest Winners and Launches iPhone App for Camp Bisco 9!

published
on June 30, 2010
by
Sandra
in collaboration, culture, fans, MobBase, music, music production, and remixing
. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Since the Camp Bisco Remix Contest, powered by MixMatchMusic and URB.com, launched over a month ago in anticipation of the 9th annual Camp Bisco music festival in New York, over 130 amazing remixes have been submitted by aspiring DJs and musicians, and shared and voted on by fans. This was a contest of epic proportions that saw more entrants than previous Camp Bisco remix contests, all delivering wildly varied styles from nearly every continent. Today, we to bring you the winners!

The coveted grand prize goes to DJ Geoffro aka Topshotta of Harrisburg, PA for his dubbed out remix of the Black Seeds‘ “Slingshot”! Among other things, Topshotta will be receiving a free iPhone app, powered by MobBase, and will get to perform at Camp Bisco in front of thousands of festival-goers. Congratulations!

Black Seeds “Slingshot” Topshotta Redub by Topshotta

“I’m really excited about the opportunity to play a set at the massive Camp Bisco festival,” said Geoff Altoff, aka DJ Geoffro aka Topshotta. “The lineup this year is ridiculous. Thanks to everyone who took a moment to listen and vote on my remix, I appreciate it. There are a lot of great elements to that Black Seeds tune that I felt would translate well to a dub, so I tried to keep the feel and movement of the original, but put my spin on it and dub it out.”

Congratulations to the amazing runners-up:

Bassnectar “Cozza Frenzy” McArthur Bass Mix by Hubsmoke, Faccio & Reza
King Britt “The Intricate Beauty” Technobears Redux by Ed Haskins
Disco Biscuits “On Time” Full Static Mix by Aman Ellis

Today also marks the release of the official Camp Bisco iPhone app, powered by MobBase! Access artist bios, videos, photos, this year’s site map and schedule, a kickass photo gallery by veteran rock photographer Dave Cann, the facebook page, and of course the Camp Bisco twitter stream, all from the comfort of your own pocket. Be among those in the know, navigate your way around the festival with ease and be sure not to miss any of your favorite acts. Get this free app here.

We’re two weeks away from Camp Bisco 9 (you can still buy tickets) and the official Camp Bisco iPhone app is the best way to stay connected during this summer’s premier 3-day music festival (July 15-17). The ridiculous line-up includes everybody from LCD Soundsystem and Thievery Corporation to Girl Talk, Diplo, Bassnectar, Caribou, Gift of Gab and more! Be sure to visit the Camp Bisco website for all the details!

MobBase Speaks To Label 2.0 Members In Music Marketing Training Session

published
on June 7, 2010
by
Alan Khalfin
in DIY, interview, MobBase, music, music business, and tools for musicians
. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Last week, MobBase co-founder Alan Khalfin led a music marketing training session with Greg Rollett for Label 2.0 members. Alan shared some great music marketing strategies and explained how mobile apps are one of the best ways to engage with the modern music fan. He gave a thorough overview of the MobBase platform and shared some best practices on how to create iPhone apps for artists.

While the training session was limited to Label 2.0 members, you can listen to it here:

If you’re not a Label 2.0 member or don’t know who they are, you should definitely check them out! Label 2.0 is an interactive learning community for musicians that empowers you to build your own music business and keep all the profits. When you sign up for Label 2.0, you will receive monthly, interactive training programs that guide you through all the steps of managing your music business online.

You will get interactive screen cast videos, where you will learn how to setup marketing campaigns, manage online accounts, and utilize a plethora of resources to build a passionate fanbase. They also do white board training to deliver concepts and show processes of moving fans through buying and sales cycles. And just like they did with MobBase, they do live calls and sessions that give you the opportunity to ask questions and get feedback on your efforts. All from some of the digital music industry’s brightest minds. Check them out here.

IRIS Announces Partnership With MobBase To Create iPhone Apps For Indie Labels & Artists

published
on June 1, 2010
by
Alan Khalfin
in MobBase, music, music business, and tools for musicians
. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

We’re happy to announce that IRIS Distribution, the digital music distribution and marketing company that represents many of the world’s leading independent record labels, has partnered with MobBase to provide affordable and cutting-edge iPhone applications to its labels and their artists. MobBase is the new service that makes it easy for musicians and record labels to create an iPhone app.

“IRIS is always looking for new ways to help our labels get music in the hands of fans, and to enable artists to build audiences and careers,” said Bryn Boughton, chief marketing officer. “Mobile applications are quickly becoming a ‘must have’ part of the label and musician tool kit, and MobBase provides one of the best, fastest and most inexpensive ways for our labels to create a custom iPhone application.”

MobBase, a service of MixMatchMusic, is a low cost way for musicians to share music, photos, videos, tweets, news, information about shows, merchandise and other content with fans on their mobile devices.

“IRIS presents labels and their artists with a fantastic array of tools and services to help them connect with fans,” said Charles Feinn, CEO and co-founder of MixMatchMusic, MobBase’s developer. “A custom MobBase iPhone app is a perfect complement to these tools and services – it will help labels promote their acts and help artists engage fans and ultimately, get their music heard and tickets to their shows sold.”

Mobile music marketing
 MobBase gives artists a mobile, interactive fan club, storefront, merchandise table, and more.  The MobBase application is highly customizable, so artists can pick and choose the content they offer to fans and also the way that content is presented.

A custom iPhone app for as little as 50 cents a day
 MobBase is priced to be accessible to any artist. It costs just $20 to get going and many artists will never pay more than $15 a month to deliver music, photos, videos, tweets, info about gigs, merch and more to hundreds of fans.

About IRIS Distribution
 Founded in 2003, IRIS is the only remaining independent digital distribution company in the US. The company operates a wholly owned branded entertainment and music marketing agency, BlinkerActive.  IRIS boasts a strong roster of leading independent labels from all genres and distributes to over 450 digital outlets in 85 territories around the world.  Distribution and marketing clients include Ninja Tune, kranky, K Records, Palmetto, Scion A/V, CMH, BYO, Surfdog, Chemikal Underground, Metropolis, EMI, Projekt and more. The company is based in San Francisco and New York City.