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Songwriting Chat Logs |
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Another wonderful chat guest at the Songwriting Lounge! This was especially informative for those of us hoping to promote or otherwise improve our web pages. John did a great job and we had quite a crowd! I hope you'll enjoy reading and please do keep checking back with us for news on our next guest speaker. The evenings are casual and everyone is welcome.
-- Log on dawes.log started at Mon Jan 18 17:57:48 PST 1999
JodiMuse Hi guys. :-) How's everyone doing?
neonralph How is everyone doing?
songdude Great Jodi , Yourself ?
Polar not bad
Jdawes Alright. We've had one good question asked already...who has another?
Jdawes Great
neonralph Doing good, thanks!
JodiMuse Oops! I missed it already?? Ah well.
Polar John- any Idea where I might find a comperhensive list of record labels?
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songdude Labels ? Why do you need labels ?
Jdawes Yes. Try the Ultimate Band List. www.ubl.com. Good List there.
neonralph Hello Shane!
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neonralph Hello Soulpole!
Jdawes yo soul and shane
Soulpole Hello!
neonralph Where are you located, John?
Shane Hey All
Polar I will have to check it out
Jdawes I'm in San Diego, CA and sometimes Los Angeles.
Jdawes bye polar send me an email anytime you have a ???!
Jdawes jdawes@tacotruffles.com
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neonralph Alright! A fellow So Cal person!
JodiMuse Hi Irene! Good to see you. :-)
Polar I am still here
JodiMuseYou guys multiply like ants. ;-)
IreneJ Hi there :-)
neonralph Hi Irene!
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songdude Hey irene
Jdawes Yo irene
neonralph Hello danNsar!
Polar I ment that I will check it out later
JodiMuse& Dan & Sara! Hi guys. :-)
JeffM Hi Dan, Sara
danNsar Hi all
JeffM Hi Irene
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Shane Jdawes...got your E-Mail about web promotion...any good tips ??
danNsar Hello, Axman
IreneJ Busy place tonight...that's great :-)
neonralph Hey Axman!
Axman hello
Jdawes Yes...I put my top ten design tips to help make your site more presentable. This is importatn to making a good impression....
JodiMuse Guys? We should probably make this somewhat moderated now. It's getting crowded. :-) So if you have a question, just type in a "?" and I'll let you know when to go ahead, ok?
Jdawes take a look at http://www.tacotruffles.com/webguide/tips.html
Shane Im getting ready to check your site now...thanks
JodiMuse So John, why don't you tell us a little bit about your background to set the chat for us? What do you think?
Jdawes Shane sorry. try http://www.tacotruffles.com/webguide/webtips.html
Jdawes Okay
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JodiMuse And thanks very much for agreeing to come by! :-)
Shane OK...no prob
Jdawes Well I would like to start off with one thing in mind....
JodiMuse Ok...
Jdawes Many of my clients underestimate the importance of coordinating online and offline promotion of their web sites.
Jdawes Online being...
Jdawes Sending out emails, submitting to search engines, sending out announcements...etc.
Jdawes Offline being.
Jdawes Sedning out press releases, demos, flyers, gigging....
Jdawes Everything should work together .
Jdawes done.
JodiMuse Good point! Ok. Who would like to ask the first question?
JeffM ?
JodiMuse (Or rather, the second. *chuckle*.) Go for it, Jeff!
JeffM Do you handle offline promotion, or just online promotion? Also, can you give us some background of what you do & who you are?
Jdawes Sure...
JeffM Thanks
Jdawes I mainly handle the online promotion of musicians, because they usually have the offline covered. I have done both, as well. My background....
Jdawes I am a Music Tech. and composition grad of Univ. of Calif. San Diego...
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Jdawes I also score music for TV, film, and multimedia...since I can't gig like most musicians...
Jdawes I depend greatly on the web to promote my work...
Jdawes My clients include: Cheap Trick (Multimedia Consulting), Nairobi Sailcat (Pfunk), and some others.
Jdawes done.
neonralph Cool...Cheap Trick!
Shane Do you think its a better idea to put full songs...or clips on a site ??
JodiMuse I think there are a lot of musicians out there that rely on the web rather than gigging, John. You've certainly found a niche!
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Jdawes I prefer clips for songs, but for scores...I put the whole length. done.
songdude ?
JodiMuse Go ahead, songdude.
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songdude How do get email addy's for the pub's/producers ?
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songdude I mean you have a site, then what ?
songdude How do you get it to the right people
JodiMuse Sorry guys. I think if you wait too long without doing something (just type something privately to someone and you won't be logged off) the system just tosses you.
Jdawes I'm sorry songdude...what are addy's? Advertisements?
JodiMuse I think he means addresses, John.
songdude Addresses
Jdawes Oh!
Jdawes well...
Jdawes There are several - not for free I might add - directories that accomplish just that! Here are two:
Jdawes The Music Industry Sourcebook
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JodiMuse Do you know how much they are, John? (might help people to know...)
Jdawes The Hollywood Creative Directory - which I use a lot! www.hcdonline.com
Jdawes Cost...
Shane ?? Can we submit our sites to search engines free of charge ?
Jdawes The industry sources book ??????
songdude And do you really think major producers are going to take you seriously if you aren't willing to send out a tape ??
Jdawes I don;t know.
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Jdawes HCD Online is $99 / year and is updated each week....
Jdawes Songdude...
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Jdawes No producers will not take you seriously. If you don't have a "product", they won't "bite."
Soulpole ?
JodiMuse Go ahead, Soul.
Soulpole I'd just like to make the point that you shouldn't waste your time on demo "tapes". Nothing short of a CD will attract attention.
Jdawes I agree with that...it's sad, but true.
JodiMuse Curious what gives you that impression, Soul? Do you have a specific instance?
songdude I agree I'm just in the habbit of saying tapes
songdude CD's are more impressive
JodiMuse There's more to it than that though, isn't there? Is it ease of playback?
Soulpole Companies want to know that you already have the material that they can sell
Jdawes ease of playback yes!
Jdawes Especially when you have a filmmaker dying to get the the climax of a scene!
songdude Then again, not everyone has a CD player on hand ........
Soulpole The whole point of signing a band is to make money, and quickly
JodiMuse It's a lot easier to put several songs on a CD and then have someone be able to press a button to get to it rather than forwarding and rewinding... Actually, it's pretty simple to make a CD these days. Most studios can burn you one on the spot.
Soulpole If they have to wait for you to write 8 - 10 songs and record them, intrest will be zero.
JodiMuse True, Soul.
Soulpole If you are looking for a record contract, they will want a product in under 6 months if possible, a CD proves that you can handle a studio.
JodiMuse Good point!
Shane ?
songdude I usually submit both a CD and a tape
JodiMuse Go ahead, Shane - unless John is typing at the moment?
Jdawes ready here.
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JodiMuse Ok! Go for it, Shane! :-)
Shane Do you think record companies are actually visiting sites though...Ive submitted my site to them counless times...and never even got a ...hey...nice site
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Jdawes Actually, I don't expect them visit...its fans that will be the bulk of your traffic. If you concentrate on...
songdude Record componies are not interested in songwriters.
IreneJ laa dee daa...sorry, just typing so I won't get bumped :-)
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Jdawes how your fans perceive your site - i.e. create a community - then record companies will see that you have a fan base. So don't worry so much about the companies as your fans....
Shane Good point...we have gotten alot of fan response
Jdawes besides.
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Jdawes you will make more money selling your own cds than from a record label at your current carreer level!
Jdawes done.
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JodiMuse Anyone else?
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Soulpole ?
Shane ?
JodiMuse Go ahead, Soul.
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Soulpole Do you see the 'net as having a "universal" sound format yet? What is most common?
Jdawes Good question!
Jdawes No, but...
JodiMuse It's in the book too, folks. ;-)
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Jdawes the majors are trying very hard to beat down other formats like RealAudio, and ESPECIALLY MP3's....
Jdawes they want Liquid Audio to dominate...the problem here is that...
Jdawes you have to buy special software for a server to give any small justice to the sound quality of liquid audio. (starting around $1000 US)
Jdawes done.
IreneJ yikes! That ain't cheap
Jdawes That's the point....
Soulpole Christ! Are they that bloody greedy!
JodiMuse That's rediculous! I can see why MP3's are so popular. The quality of a .wav with the compressed size of real audio... That's pretty good. Problem is though, it can't yet be streamed.
JeffM Why is Liquid Audio favored?
JodiMuse Easier for them to police?
Jdawes Liquid Audio is favored by the labels....not by the consumer. And yes, it is easier to police.
JodiMuse Keeps the money where they feel it should be - with the record companies. :-/
Jdawes I think the consumer has already taken hold to the MP3 because of the RIO.
JodiMuse Sorry John - RIO?
Jdawes The RIO is blessing to all indys!....
JodiMuse Not sure what you mean by it?
Jdawes It is a hand held MP3 player! (Subscribe to my newsletter to find out more!)
Jdawes Here is the power of it...
JodiMuse Ahhhh. I see.
Jdawes The Rio allows you the indy artist to sell and distribute your own music....
Axman kind of the modern version of taping your fave tunes off the radio, isn't it?
neonralph The RIAA tried to get an injunction to prevent the marketing of the RIO. That should tell you how cool it is. :-)
Jdawes because the consumer can know take it away from the computer and play it back at will.!
JodiMuse Certainly sounds like it, Ax! Yeah...
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IreneJ How on earth can you get paid for your songs, though?
songdude That is terrible for writers
Jdawes IreneJ, easy....
IreneJ Sorry, I should have put a "?"
JodiMuse laugh. True, Neon.
songdude I mean, my livliehood depends on royalties
Bob hi all
songdude If people just take a song for free from a web site,
JodiMuse It's ok, Irene. Shane's been patiently waiting but I think we need to discuss this topic a little more.
songdude they aren't going to buy the record
Jdawes Visitors to your web site can pay you to download your own songs.
JodiMuse Hi Bob! Just type a "?" when you want to ask a question.
Jdawes songduen...
Jdawes songdude...sorry
Jdawes I understand your concern as a song writer....
Jdawes don't worry....
JodiMuse Ah... You're talking about JavaMuse, John?
songdude How do I make sure only the people who pay get to download ?
Jdawes there are software programs out there that will help you "watermark" your recordings to keep track of where they are - still in the works, though.
IreneJ cool
songdude But maybe......
JodiMuse That *is* cool. Sorry. I think JavaMuse is only for Real Audio. My mistake.
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songdude If not everybody uses them
songdude People will bypass mine and just go get somebody elses record
Jdawes songdude...
songdude you see what I mean ?
Shane I think its great...money is not my concern...just getting my music heard !!
songdude They will get out of the record bying habbit
songdude Yeah, But I gotta eat man
Jdawes Most of the music pirated on the Internet comes from store bought CDS - of well known acts....
Jdawes You really don't have a whole lot to worry about...
IreneJ lol...yep, haven't seen one of mine yet!
Jdawes Just don't put ALL of your songs online, just enough to tantilize!
Shane I understand ....there should be some restrictions !!
Jdawes done
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JodiMuse You know what though - the MP3.com model is pretty good. You offer one song for free, then once you tantalized your audience, you ask them to pay a $1.00 or so per song. It's not a lot and it helps you the artist.
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Axman ?
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JodiMuse Ax, I think Shane had a qusetion first? But I just want to wait for John to finish. :-) You'll be next.
Axman k
danNsar Songwriters who are not their own artists have a real problem with this.
Jdawes Yeah MP3.com is great. check it out guys...okay go for it Axman.
JodiMuse Actually, I think Shane had a question?
Axman go Shane
Shane I can see the delima for the writer.
JodiMuse He's been waiting a while as we discussed this. :-)
Shane What do you think of these sites that want to promote you for free...Ive been getting alot of offers for free promotion??
Jdawes I say take it, but....
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Jdawes You still want to have your own domain name and "official" web site under your control. The FREE guys don't optimize your site for Search Engines, etc. Plus...
Jdawes the more your name is out there - for FREE - the better!
shewfly ?
Jdawes done.
Shane I see ..
JodiMuse Ok. Ax? Go for it.
Axman ok...
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Axman we don't put any tunes on our page until they're registered with the copyright guys in DC...a wise move?
Jdawes YES YES YES YES
Jdawes done.
Axman yhanks
JodiMuse chuckle. That was easy! Go ahead, shew. :-)
shewfly If the net is the way to go and your not getting air play how can you get enough from the web.
Jdawes Well....
Soulpole ?
Jdawes There is a whole subculture of radio on the Internet....
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JodiMuse Oh *here* we go. I've been wondering about this myself...
Jdawes all you have to do is find it. Just search on "Internet Radio" and be amazed....
songdude But are these station ASCAP & BMI licenced ?
JodiMuse I actually have a few listed at http://www.musesmuse.com/markets.html - Worldwideradio.com is a good one.
Jdawes go to wmbr.mit.edu/stations to find a comprehensive live of more IR site. good luck.
Jdawes done.
Jdawes Some are lic. but...
Jdawes they are, of course, more difficult to get into. Remeber, the name of the game is exposure.
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songdude Very true
Jdawes oh yeah....done.
JodiMuse Soul?
Soulpole My band is looking to sell the rights to some songs for soundtracks. What is the best way to shop them?
BillyLee 'ello,'ello....my...full house!
Jdawes Soulpoul...
IreneJ Hi BillyLee :-)
Quelyn ?
JodiMuse Hi there, Billy! When you want to ask John a question, just type a "?" and we'll get right to you, ok? Welcome!
BillyLee ooops....sorry
JodiMuse It's ok. :-)
BillyLee ?speaker?
Jdawes You basically have to make a lot of phone calls. Once you get in the door with a demo. Keep reminding them, then....
Jdawes if you get the job, there are things to sign like "sync lic." and other goodies. To get some names...
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Jdawes subscribe to my newsletter: nletter@tacotruffles.com (I have some submission announcements there) and buy access to www.hcdonline.com - VERY good names in there.
Jdawes done.
JodiMuse Ok. Q? Billy, you'll be next.
Soulpole Thanks
Quelyn I am a songwriter, not singer. How can I use the internet to my best advantage to get my songs recorded?
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Jdawes Q...it all has to with...
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Jdawes how you promote yourself using keywords in your HTML documents. When you submit your sight...
Jdawes keywords help Search Engines determine where to place you in their database....
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Jdawes Approach Ezines that focus on songwriting...
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Quelyn Such as?
Jdawes Swap links with other like-minded organizations.
Jdawes done.
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Quelyn Thanks
JeffM ?
Jdawes My book will help you pick the right keywords!!!!! ;)
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BillyLee ?
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Rc ?
JodiMuse John? What's the url of your book? And then Billy, go ahead. :-)
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Jdawes You can take a sneak peak at: http://www.tacotruffles.com/webguide
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BillyLee um, two things first, would you reccommend securing your own domain name
Jdawes BillyLee...
Jdawes Yes....two reasons why. One.
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Jdawes If you already have fans, they may be looking for you online. Some naturally slap a "www" in front and a "com" afterwards to find something. So but your act name in the middle if possible.
Jdawes Two.
neonralph ?
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Jdawes Every try saying a GeoCities web address to a live audience or putting it on the back of a T-Shirt?
Jdawes done.
JeffM 3) you can take it with you when you move (change ISPs)
JodiMuse Good point, John! Jeff? Go ahead.
JeffM A question from your book...Why do 90% fail when they try to get included in Yahoo?
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Jdawes JeffM...
Jdawes Yahoo is trying to upload a certain level of quality....
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Jdawes by reject most submissions, they pick the most "useful" sites that are of interest to the web surfer, not the webmaster. Lame, huh?
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Jdawes I'm sorry I meant uphold!
Jdawes done.
JodiMuse Ralph? Go ahead. RC was supposed to be next but got disconnected...
neonralph Thanks, Jodi.
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neonralph Let's say I'm an artist looking to contract someone to design my site. What sort of investment am I looking at? Low end? High end? I see such a range of pricing out there. What is a fair deal?
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Jdawes neon...
Jdawes This is a tough question to answer....
Jdawes here is why....
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Jdawes It all depends on what you need: scripts, list servers, SSL (credit card transactions), hard drive space, etc.
FuzzyBunny Type HEREok, for know I'm just watching
Jdawes done.
neonralph Hmmm...
Jdawes I will tell you this...
JodiMuse What would you consider a good cost for a pretty standard web site though, John? Basics.
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Jdawes GeoCities is not going to help your longevity on the web...as for basics...
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neonralph I'm talking design mostly. Simple order form...secure. Not more than 50 megs.
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Jdawes Well, my company just started providning web services last week. We are competitive here is what you get:
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Jdawes $35/mo: 150 MB hard disk space, SSL, Scripts, List Server, and some other tiny details ( not inlcuding InterNIC and $30 Setup Fee).
Jdawes done.
neonralph What about site design? Say...5 pages.
Shane Gotta Go....Thanks for the great advise John !!!!
Jdawes You are definately looking at $200 to $500 US, depending on...
JodiMuse Bye Shane! :-)
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Jdawes How much graphics, Java, Scripting, and multimedia you want put up there.
Jdawes done.
neonralph Thanks. I guess I should tell those $1,500+ quotes to go jump in the lake. ;-)
Jdawes They probably have a huge staff of marketing execs. on their payroll!
JeffM Maybe I should be a marketing exec...
JodiMuse laugh!
neonralph :-)
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Jdawes [ROARING LAUGH!]
JodiMuse Anyone else?
Jdawes neon...
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JodiMuse Oops! Go ahead, John. :)
Jdawes The price I quoted assumed that you already have a bio, and artwork. Maybe they didn't? Graphic Artists can be expensive!
Jdawes done.
neonralph How about incedental graphics...buttons and navigational aids...titles...backgrounds?
Jdawes Yes...that is a cost to consider. Good point!
Jdawes Anyone else?
JodiMuse Depends on how complicated you want to get, I'd assume. But good site navigation shouldn't be scrimped on - or should be learned!
Jdawes Aha!
Jdawes Here is another tip...
Jdawes A well designed web site must be "obvious" What I mean by that is...
Jdawes the first page that pops up should communicate all of the subject matter available on your site....
Jdawes Long lists can get very cluttery! and discourage surfers.
Jdawes done.
Axman ?
JodiMuse Go ahead, Ax.
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Axman what about joining webrings to increase traffic?
Jdawes They are a good thing but...
Jdawes 1) Don't join one with general subjects, like "Music". Try to find a "blues" ring if you are a blues musician.
Jdawes 2) Try to stay out of rings larger than 200-300 site range.
Jdawes 3) Keep it down to three or less...anymore is tacky and lags your site.
Jdawes done.
JodiMuse I'm really picky with who I let into mine. I think there's only about 20-22 sites in it at the moment. I like it that way.
Jdawes Many ring masters aren't...here's why.
Axman cool, I belong to a webring for a VW site I maintain, it seems to help
Jdawes They are like you...trying to increase traffic to their sight through any means possible...so many ring masters tend to let anyone join.
Jdawes"you" being the unknown musician online.
Jdawes done.
Axman thanks
Jdawes your welcome.
JodiMuse I find I get more traffic from my ring by keeping the numbers down - and the quality of sites within it, really high.
Jdawes YES! ....
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Jdawes That is what I look for in a ring before I join it.
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JodiMuse Should I be flattered? *giggle*
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Jdawes Of course! ;)
JodiMuse :-)
Axman go on girl! ;-p
Jdawes MuTron...you've been awfuly quiet. do you have a q?
MuTron3000 I wouldn't really know what to ask yet
JodiMuse It's ok, Mu. You can listen as long as you like. :-)
Jdawes Give it a try...
JodiMuse Do you have a web page, Mu?
buffy ?
Jdawes we have a winner...buffy!
MuTron3000 nope
JodiMuse Saved by the ?, Mu! Go ahead, Buffy!
MuTron3000 I got invited to the chat however im still very unsure as to what it's actually about
buffy How can web promotion help songwriting?
JeffM We're talking about how musicians can promote on the web and such, author Jdawes is our guest
MuTron3000 thanks
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Jdawes sorry...I was in private.
Jdawes buffy...
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Jdawes There are many resources available - not all as valuable as the Muse's Muse - that you can use to promote yourself as a songwriter for hire....
buffy [Jdawes] how does web promotion help songwriting
JodiMuse I should also mention that Jeff has a VERY comprehensive list of songwriters on the net at his site, www.lyricist.com :-)
JeffM http://www.lyricist.com/songwriters.html
Jdawes Here is a good first step....try searching on "songwriting" and "songwriter" in a few different search engines. You'll be amazed what is out there. Jeff's Sight comes up quite a bit too!
Jdawes Once you get a sight up and running, you then swap links and announce it to some of the resources you find! It's that easy!.
Jdawes done.
Jdawes oops site.
JodiMuse John, I have a question about metatags - keywords, specifically.
Jdawes rock on jodi...what it is?
JeffM Must be my placement on Jodi's web ring :-) (or Yahoo!)
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JodiMuse laugh. Right, Jeff. ;-) Yahoo! certainly helps though, I'm sure!
JodiMuse What have you found to be the best combination in keyword metatags?
Jdawes That is a toughie...but I can't answer it like this...
Jdawes oops can answer like this.
JodiMuse What I mean by that is - how many times can you repeat words - what order should they be in - and do even words that are in phrases count as duplicates if the word is used outside of a phrase? (That's kinda confusing...)
Jdawes When you pick your keywords, they should describe your site from the eyes of potential search engine users...as for repeating them.
Jdawes It is different for each engine...
Jdawes To honest...I don't think repetition helps anymore, because
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Jdawes many engines - deep ones like Excite and Alta Vista - use keyword density as a factor in your ranking.
Jdawes done.
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JodiMuse Keyword density being the amount of times a word is used within the body of your page?
AjillityMuzic Hello all :)
MrLyrical Hi
Jdawes correct!
Jdawes hey Aj and Mr. L
JodiMuse Hiya, Agil! Good to see you again. And welcome, MrLyrical. If you guys have a question, just type in a ? and we'll get to you, ok? Our guest is John Dawes tonight. He's the author of "Musician's Guide to Web Promotion" so if you have a web promotion question, shoot!
AjillityMuzic Hi Jodi, is the guest still here? I don't want to interrupt if he is here.
JodiMuse Agil, meet John. John, meet Ajil. ;-)
Jdawes Hey Ajil
AjillityMuzic hell j dawes & jodi
neonralph I have to run, folks. Thanks for being our guest, John.
AjillityMuzic oops...
AjillityMuzic hello :)
AjillityMuzic bye neon
Jdawes You are welcome neon. good luck and much success!
JodiMuse Take care, Ralph!
Axman John Jodi, thanks, gotta go (5am wakeup for my "real" job) keep on Rockin'!
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JodiMuse Take care, Ax! Thanks for dropping by. :-)
Jdawes later ax! keep in touch!
Axman will do, Cya!!!
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Jdawes It's Irene! welcome back.
JeffM rehi irene
JodiMuse Hi again, Irene!
IreneJ Hi there..had to pop out and teach...what'd I miss? LOL
JodiMuse John? Have you heard Irene's stuff? She's got some really wonderful stuff. And her web page is probably one of the ones you should use as a success story for your book. ;-)
JeffM Fortunately we'll be posting logs!
AjillityMuzic hello irene
IreneJ Good!
JodiMuse Yup!
IreneJ Hi Ajill
Jdawes Sure...what is the adddress?
IreneJ http://www.islandnet.com/~woloshen/ijackson.html
MrLyrical Are there any collabrators out there?
MrLyrical I have tons of lyrics.....!!!
JodiMuse Probably lots, Mr. Not sure about tonight though. ;-)
AjillityMuzic mr lyrical, I have never tried to collaborate yet
MrLyrical ok
IreneJ I was interested especially to hear about the audio stuff, John
IreneJ Thanks for sharing what you know :-)
Jdawes My pleasure!
JeffM Yes, thank you very much John
JodiMuse Did we ever really finish that? It's a bit of a smaller crowd now. If you guys want to continue, feel free.
JeffM I think I'm ready to depart actually
JodiMuse Do you think, for instance, that they'll ever come up with a way to "stream" MP3's?
JodiMuse Sure thing, Jeff. Thanks for being here!
Jdawes By JeffM! Thanks for dripping by!
IreneJ Yes, that would be good...I'm pretty impatient when it comes to downloading..bye Jeff!
Jdawes dropping bye
Jdawes damn my typing is bad!
JeffM Thanks again John, & bye everybody
IreneJ lol
JodiMuse :-)
AjillityMuzic nite jeff
Jdawes IreneJ...
JodiMuse Take care!
IreneJ Yes
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MrLyrical Are you going to have a collaborator discussion?
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Jdawes There may never be a need to "stream" them because of the steady improvement of ISP bandwidth into the housefhold.
Jdawes done.
IreneJ Interesting...I never thought of that. I'm still on a 28.8
JodiMuse We could probably have a discussion like that at some other date when there isn't a guest speaker, Mr Or you could suggest someone we could invite to discuss it with us.
Jdawes Meet too, actually.
AjillityMuzic ?
JodiMuse Me too, Irene. Actually, it was me that asked that question, John. ;-)
Jdawes done.
JodiMuse I know that's the main reason I don't have MP3's up on my site at the moment. Because it's easier for people to just click and listen than to click and have to wait to download.
MrLyrical okay
IreneJ Yes, people have avoided my WAV clips, even small ones, because they don't want to wait
Jdawes I think RealAudio is good enough....
JodiMuse It's frustrating. MP3's sound SO much better (and it's really easy to translate a .wav into an MP3 with the right encoder) but people really don't want to wait.
Jdawes it gets the point across and prevents theft to a degree.
IreneJ Yes, I agree
JodiMuse Yeah - the quality isn't good enough for someone to want to write it to a CD. ;-)
IreneJ I'd be very interested in that software you mentioned, John, the one that will encrypt the audio files
Jdawes If you want to go to MP3, try selling them by letting surfers sample your songs with RealAudio.
JodiMuse That's a good idea, John. Never thought of it that way.
Jdawes That software is still in the works, unfortunately.
Jdawes I'm sure it will be exspensive, too.!
JodiMuse Hope not. We net musicians are not a rich lot... *chuckle*
IreneJ Yes, you said. Do you have any idea which company is working on it? Actually, I think Ajility has been patiently waiting to ask a question.
JodiMuse Oops! Sorry, Aj! Go ahead.
AjillityMuzic John, If I created a web page on a service such as AOL, do you think there is possibility for much exposure? Or, would it make no difference?
Jdawes Visit www.mp3.com to find out more...I can't remember...hmmmm.
IreneJ Thanks
AjillityMuzic whew, thx a lot irene lol
AjillityMuzic :)
JodiMuse I'll bet his face was turning blue! *giggle*
IreneJ :-)
Jdawes Does anybody have comments about banners?
JodiMuse John, I think Aj asked a question about AOL?
AjillityMuzic lol
JodiMuse :-)
Jdawes oopS! didn't see it....
Jdawes Well...
JodiMuse Hey Aj! Speak up! *grin*
Jdawes I don't think it will make a huge difference, because most of my traffic comes from AOL surfers....
Jdawes I'm not on AOL. The only advantage is that you have access to their search engine that is for AOL users alone.
Jdawes done.
JodiMuse AOL Netfind can be used by anyone, John. Can't it?
Jdawes True. But I have heard rumors....
JodiMuse Or is that not the search engine you're talking about?
AjillityMuzic ...interesting...
JodiMuse AOL Netfind uses Infoseek as it's background engine.
Jdawes I didn't know that! kudos!
JodiMuse And now that Netscape has been bought by AOL, Netscape may one day switch from using Excite's engine to Infoseek's... That's something to keep your eye on, folks.
IreneJ Okay, I'll bite the banner question...I wonder how effective they are? I tried for awhile and over about three months didn't get any hits because of it.
Jdawes Certainly less search engines to worry about!
Jdawes Did you use LinkExchange?
AjillityMuzic Thx very much John !
IreneJ Yes
Jdawes your welcome Aj!
Jdawes They are lame....
IreneJ lol
Jdawes Banners only work if...
IreneJ Too general?
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JodiMuse Think so, Irene. And you never know what sort of banner is going to pop up on your site!
Jdawes well FREE banner systems, only work if you have a lot of traffic already!
AjillityMuzic good point joid
AjillityMuzic oops jodi
IreneJ I see, so spending money makes the difference?
Jdawes I have yet to see an artists site with a successful banner bringing a lot of traffic.
Jdawes You get what you pay for!
Jdawes nothing.
IreneJ Good point
IreneJ So you don't recommend them generally?
Jdawes I recommend avoiding them...there is so much more you can do to improve traffic to your site.
AjillityMuzic ?
IreneJ okay
Jdawes You're up Aj.
AjillityMuzic Why would someone want banners in the first place? Could you avoid banners all together and what are the benifts (if any) of having one.
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Jdawes Good point. all a banner does is detract from the attention to your page....
Jdawes why encourage someone to leave as soon as they enter?
IreneJ lol
AjillityMuzic right...
IreneJ How about webrings?
Jdawes I use them, but try to keep the numbers down to less than 4.
Jdawes Rings can get too large or have to vague a subject.
IreneJ I've got a couple, but I'm never sure how well they're working
AjillityMuzic oooh....Do you think maybe banners at the bottom of the web page would be better (as opposed at the top)
Jdawes Do you use statistic software?
Jdawes Aj. yep. or even deep in your site.. ie after someone buys your CD!
IreneJ I only use what my server provides, which isn't specific enough
AjillityMuzic ...great, thx
Jdawes Hmmm...that could pose a problem.
Jdawes It is good to know who and when they come to your site.
IreneJ Yes...I've half-checked into it
Jdawes You can make adjustments to the less popular sections on your site by seeing what pages are visited to least.
IreneJ You mean just getting rid of those particular pages?
Jdawes It helps your marketing, too! And could reveal more resources that people found you through.
IreneJ That's true
Jdawes No. I mean a nip and tuck here and there to improve appearances.
AjillityMuzic Gotta run, but thanks for taking your time to share tonight. A lot of helpful tips. Have a great night!
Jdawes later Aj. keep in touch!
IreneJ I guess I'd better let you go too John!
IreneJ You've been a great resource!
AjillityMuzic thx & much success...
Jdawes okay IreneJ. good luck!
Jdawes Thanks guys!
AjillityMuzic :) g'nite
IreneJ to you too!
IreneJ By Aj!
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Jdawes Hi Phil
Jdawes you got here just in time! Everyone left for the evening.
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PhilGnCo Good evening. (at least it is here in Colorado. Appologies for joining so late.
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Jdawes No biggie.
Jdawes Do you have a question about Web Promotion?
JodiMuse Sorry about that, guys. My system tosses me off every two hours. *sigh*.
PhilGnCo ACtually, yes... But, I'm not net smart enough to know what to ask! Sure I missed a lot of info.
Jdawes Okay
JodiMuse Well, John, why don't we take that as a cue to end it for the evening. :-) Two hours is a while for you and we definitely thank you for doing this.
Jdawes Thanks Jodi. It's been a pleasure.
JodiMuse It was a lot of fun!
Jdawes Phil,
Jdawes If still want to ask a question, please feel free to send it to questions@tacotruffles.com
-- Log stopped at Mon Jan 18 20:10:42 PST 1999
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