Music Industry: so now you are on Twitter - so what should you do next?

I recently wrote on the MidemNet Blog why everyone in the music industry should try Twitter, and apparently some people have taken it seriously ;) since I did get a lot of new followers from within the music business; many of them first-timers. Great!  But now that you are tweeting (geek talk for sending messages) - what do you actually do there?  In my newly championed short-is-better style, here is what to do with Twitter and what to tweet about if you are in the music business:

1. Make sure you use a nice profile icon (i.e. your image) on your Twitter page, and that your info-box provides some short reasons (and one good link) why people should follow you. If you can, design your page background to be distinctly 'you'
   
2. To be able to tweet very quickly use the Tweetdeck software or just install the really cool ShareThis extension in your Firefox or IE browser. I post 10-30 times per day but spend very little time on the process, using these tools (I focus more on the actual conversations)
3. Follow other twitter users that are in the music industry, or in related fields. To find good people (pick your follows carefully!), try Twitterholic, twellow, twitter search, or AllTop or Tweet Directories
4. Answer the direct messages and pings that you will get from people that follow you. This is crucial to get a real networking situation going. Again, Tweetdeck is best for this.
5. Remember: it's all about LINKS. You must have blogs, myspace sites, photos or videos to link to -otherwise there is no point in tweeting. Always have a link in each post, and make it specific, too (i.e. not just the homepage). Note: if you don't yet have a lot of content to link to, you need to make sure it'll be forthcoming shortly - otherwise there is no point in tweeting. Tweets are teasers for something larger!
6. Make your tweets timely, succinct, unique and relevant. Tweet about stuff that happened today, or yesterday (or tomorrow, as in my case) but not about that great track from 1963 (exceptions may apply). Better to tweet 'new track from xyz made me crash my Vespa' than to use some pre-made PR message!
7. Most importantly, your tweets must contain strong content (yes... content and context = kings!) otherwise you will not get people to pay any attention to you. Refrain from too much marketing hype, canned stuff, self-promotion and boasting ('hottest band ever... signed to our label' etc). Instead:
8. Tweet about personal and direct stuff: how you found this new writer, why his latest video is unique, why you like the soundtrack of XYZ movie etc. Short message + concise content + link; 3-5 times per day.
9. Tweet about the hairy and current music business issues, and dish up the bottom lines; be frank, such as "really hate / love it when my music shows up on youtube and nobody really knows how I get paid"
10. Tweet with links to unique content such as 'music by xyz artist on our label was used in xyz youtube movie, see [link]'
11. Always give people links to relevant, deeper content such as 'great motown techno crossover at [link] last.fm, blip.fm etc - don't send people off into another general direction
12. Offer special deals and real value to your followers - but don't pitch. Just talk about it. Things like free tracks (with promo-codes), backstage passes, video downloads, PDFs (EPKs!!), photos etc. If you have a new writer you just signed to a publishing deal, put up his demos somewhere and offer access to anyone that pings you via Twitter.
13. Create CONTEXT.  If you want to place your track in a movie, tweet something like 'seriously romantic italian folk song available for your new film [link]' - but always keep in mind that a tweet that goes nowhere (i.e. no or bad content) is a bad thing!

Part 2 to follow shortly. Contact me via Twitter if you need help or have feedback. Thanks.

iPhone users: try Twitterfon - my fav Twitter app on the iPhone.

Related stuff: Guardian Twitter Guide About.com on Music+Twitter  Website Mag Twitter Tips

Image via Geek & Poke

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Comments

[tim schigel]

Gerd,
Thanks for the props wrt ShareThis. Great suggestions for Twitter usage. See how artists on Interscope Records are using social media tools http://www.gwenstefani.com/

Your readers might also be interested in this cool new crowd sourcing concept for music http://www.thenextbigsound.com/

[Scott McIntosh]

Gerd, good advice for artists using Twitter. I think its a great platform for musicians and bands to show their human side, which really attracts the fans.

Something cool happened today where I saw a tweet from a twilert concerning the Music Industry. The Tweet was a request for Hard Rock music for a new commercial. I re-tweeted this to my followers and also went back to my website and passed this info along to all my Rock artists. The power of Twitter is amazing. Hopefully one of my artists will win the contract.

@startmysong

[Hilke]

Good idea that you point musicians towards Twitter, Gerd. There is only one thing where I disagree. You shouldn't always attach a link to your tweet. If you do that, your twitter account is perceived as nothing more than a marketing tool (certainly if the link always refers to your own work) and most Twitter users believe in the human factor and in authenticity. So it's my advice that you diversify: tweets with a personal character ('tranches de vie'), humorous tweets, links to interesting things you encounter and once in a while a link to your own site or blog. You first have to tease people by being a human, than you can tease them to follow your links and eventually, they may come to your site and buy something or whatever.

I know you always post a link in your tweets (that's also true for your blog) and that makes me sometimes to block out your tweets (from my attention). Because I think: "There is Gerd, the link machine" :-)

But I still appreciate very much your analysis and writings, don't worry :-D

Btw, I'm @colorlessgreen

[Gerd Leonhard]

Greetings Hilke, very good point, and thanks for bringing this up --- much appreciated. You're correct, of course, personal AND informative is best!!! Cheers