Thanks for stopping by, however this blog has moved to a new home :) Check out the official MySpace for Musicians book page at http://www.franvincent.com/myspaceformusicians. The second edition of MySpace for Musicians: The Comprehensive Guide to Marketing Your Music Online is out now and includes lots of new information and tidbits to help you use MySpace to promote your music.
I've also launched a new blog that is focused on helping you market your music and take advantage of social media opportunities and news. You can find the new blog at http://marketmymusic.wordpres.com.
Thanks and happy reading!
--Fran V
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Michigan's Future in Film
Blogger: Chrystal Gowens
Anyone who lives in Michigan and is at all familiar with the economic status should’ve been happy to hear that our state was a possible “place of interest” for Warner Bros, Co.’s new studio development plans.
Since the 4.7 million square foot Ford plant in Wixom, Michigan was closed (May of 2007), it has stood empty just waiting for someone to take an interest in it again. Although Warner Bros, Co. claims it was simply an exploratory visit when they scouted out the location on August 18th, it sparked conversation about the possibility of the company turning the old plant into a film studio.
After all, this wouldn’t be the first time that Warner Bros, Co. has turned a non-feature related building into a place to film their movies. The Harry Potter motion pictures were shot in an old air base in England and all the fans know how well those turned out.
The Michigan Film Office chief operating officer, Tony Wenson, said that a studio the size that Warner Bros, Co. would be expected to build could create 60 to 100 full time jobs in the off season, with an extra 300 to 500 during production. According to him, demands for housing, car rental companies, and laundry services, along with other amenities would have the possibility of sprouting up in the area as well.
The state’s legislature came up with the right idea concerning the whole film business issue. It has offered some pretty agreeable incentives to filmmakers willing to film in Michigan. They include the reimbursement for up to 50% of on the job training, 42% on production, and even 25% on construction costs - all good reasons for a film company to locate here.
Unfortunately, recent rumor has it that a few of our eager state development companies went to Warner Bros, Co. in search of numerous guarantees concerning the project, which then led to the production company taking a step back from the whole idea. There’s always a chance that they may come back again in the future, but it looks like, for now at least, the smell of desperation might have ruined Michigan’s chances when it comes to Warner Bros, Co.– that is, considering that the reports contained any truth at all. Warner Bros, Co. spokesperson, Scott Rowe maintained that the company was simply checking out the plant and that the media has been “overzealous in their reporting.”
In the mean time though, there are other companies planning on building studios and shooting films in our state. Great Lakes Studios, which is being erected in the southwestern part of the state will be the first studio built in West Michigan. A partner in the California-based company V-One Entertainment and president of the film company Safe Harbor Productions, David O'Malley, said that he “hopes the facility will be operational by November.” The studio is expected to fill 30,000 square feet and consist of offices, editing suites, conference rooms and a soundstage. V-One Entertainment plans to build film studios in Ann Arbor and the Grand Rapids/Grand Haven area as well, according to O’Malley.
The Michigan Film Office’s web site currently lists twelve movies in production within the state (including “Miss January” with Kim Cattrall and “Whip It” with Drew Barrymore) and anticipates three more on top of that. Just think of all the celebrities that could show up randomly during production periods in the future! Looks like there just might be a chance for me to get that Johnny Depp autograph I’ve always wanted after all…!
Articles written on the subject:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/17230057/detail.html?subid=10100241
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/BIZ/808200346
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/NEWS03/80819053
http://www.mlive.com/businessreview/oakland/index.ssf/2008/08/wixom_plant_use_by_studio_woul.html
http://www.mlive.com/business/index.ssf/2008/08/state_revels_in_plans_for_movi.html
http://www.michigan.gov/filmoffice/0,1607,7-248-51394---,00.html
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Inside a MySpace Success Story with artist Ingrid Michaelson
My interview with artist Ingrid Michaelson in Electronic Musician is now on newsstands and can be found online at the EM site!
Inside a MySpace Success Story:
Her music has been featured on Grey's Anatomy and recently the Old Navy "sweater" commercial. She tells Fran Vincent how Myspace.com helped her find success.
Inside a MySpace Success Story:
Q&A with artist Ingrid Michaelson.
Her music has been featured on Grey's Anatomy and recently the Old Navy "sweater" commercial. She tells Fran Vincent how Myspace.com helped her find success.
Check it out and leave me a comment!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
DETROIT ARTISTS: Music Promotion Workshop starts TUESDAY 1/15!
Hey all,
The Promoting Your Music Online workshop starts TUESDAY and we have room for a few more hot Detroit artists!
Learn how to get the word out about your music; how to market your music online by building your brand, identifying your market, exploring possibilities for your Web site, maximizing MySpace, getting onto Internet radio, benefitting from podcasts and blogs; and learning how you get paid.
Bring a USB Flash or Jump Drive to the first session. Students must be proficient in computers and the internet, and must have a working web-accessible email account (such as yahoo.com or hotmail.com, etc.)
Promoting Your Music Online MUZK-8018A (49828) ($179)
Tuesdays 1/15-2/19/08
6-9 PM
Center Campus at Garfield and Hall Roads
Building H, Room 213
Clinton Township, MI
TO REGISTER, PLEASE CALL 586-498-4000, OR VISIT MACOMB.EDU/CCE
The Promoting Your Music Online workshop starts TUESDAY and we have room for a few more hot Detroit artists!
Learn how to get the word out about your music; how to market your music online by building your brand, identifying your market, exploring possibilities for your Web site, maximizing MySpace, getting onto Internet radio, benefitting from podcasts and blogs; and learning how you get paid.
Bring a USB Flash or Jump Drive to the first session. Students must be proficient in computers and the internet, and must have a working web-accessible email account (such as yahoo.com or hotmail.com, etc.)
Promoting Your Music Online MUZK-8018A (49828) ($179)
Tuesdays 1/15-2/19/08
6-9 PM
Center Campus at Garfield and Hall Roads
Building H, Room 213
Clinton Township, MI
TO REGISTER, PLEASE CALL 586-498-4000, OR VISIT MACOMB.EDU/CCE
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Private Phone is NO More
Well, my favorite free product is officially dead. In the book, and in real life, I use Private Phone by NetZero as a great example of protecting your identity and staving off weirdoes and stalkers. The concept was fantastic... you sign up for a free remote voicemail box, get a number in your desired area code, and you can give that number to anyone and everyone without worrying they'll figure out where you live. The number never rang anywhere, and wouldn't appear in directories. Your voicemails were emailed to you in .wav. Did I mention it was free? Well, apparently giving away a great service for nothing didn't work out for NetZero (hmmm... I wonder why).
So kids, no more Private Phone. It's going away as of Dec. 31, 2007. I haven't located another service that is totally free and offered the same level of features. There ARE disposable numbers out there, but they mostly last for a short period of time, then expire, making them ideal for classified ads, but not for inclusion in a MySpace page.
I tried Jangl, which lets you place a little widget on your profile. People enter their email address, then are given a special phone number and passcode to call you. They never see your real number. I found it too cumbersome and when I tested it out by entering one of my email addresses, it signed up that email address for service as well. Not cool.
OneBox.com is a business option that also offers faxes. It's not free, but at $12.95 a month, it won't break the bank either. The nice thing is you get a toll free number that people can call and when they leave a voicemail, you get a notification on any phone you specify (such as your cell). Or you can get the voicemails emailed to you. And you can send and receive faxes.
For all you VOIPers out there, check if your provider offers virtual numbers. Vonage allows subscribers to add a virtual phone number for an additional $4.99 a month. I love this idea because you can create that "giveaway" number, post it everywhere, give it to drunk guys at the bar. Your virtual number rings your main Vonage number and no one will be the wiser. If you want to get rid of it, just tell Vonage to cancel the virtual line and that's that. To keep your number concealed, be sure to employ *67 when you call back said drunk guys and stalker fans.
Post any other recommendations for a "concealable" phone number that you can use on your profile or Web page in comments. =)
So kids, no more Private Phone. It's going away as of Dec. 31, 2007. I haven't located another service that is totally free and offered the same level of features. There ARE disposable numbers out there, but they mostly last for a short period of time, then expire, making them ideal for classified ads, but not for inclusion in a MySpace page.
I tried Jangl, which lets you place a little widget on your profile. People enter their email address, then are given a special phone number and passcode to call you. They never see your real number. I found it too cumbersome and when I tested it out by entering one of my email addresses, it signed up that email address for service as well. Not cool.
OneBox.com is a business option that also offers faxes. It's not free, but at $12.95 a month, it won't break the bank either. The nice thing is you get a toll free number that people can call and when they leave a voicemail, you get a notification on any phone you specify (such as your cell). Or you can get the voicemails emailed to you. And you can send and receive faxes.
For all you VOIPers out there, check if your provider offers virtual numbers. Vonage allows subscribers to add a virtual phone number for an additional $4.99 a month. I love this idea because you can create that "giveaway" number, post it everywhere, give it to drunk guys at the bar. Your virtual number rings your main Vonage number and no one will be the wiser. If you want to get rid of it, just tell Vonage to cancel the virtual line and that's that. To keep your number concealed, be sure to employ *67 when you call back said drunk guys and stalker fans.
Post any other recommendations for a "concealable" phone number that you can use on your profile or Web page in comments. =)
New Orleans Loves MySpace for Musicians
LA and NY readers have emailed me to tell me they've seen the book prominently in Barnes and Noble stores. But it was great to receive a pic from a reader in Marrero, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans. Thanks to Greg Hart for sending it in!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
How many Bulletin Posts are too many?
MySpace musicians, in all their gleeful enthusiasm, are sometimes so eager to get the word out that they'll post bulletin after bulletin, hoping someone will take notice. Sometimes they use their bulletin posts not for promoting themselves, but for other causes they believe in.
This does indeed get them noticed, but for all the wrong reasons. Every MySpacer has a short bulletin window that appears in their home control panel. When any one "friend" sucks up all or most of that real estate with incessant posting, it becomes irritating. More than 3 posts a day and you are officially obnoxious. Even if you're posting about world peace.
Being a pushy poster is one of the fastest ways to get yourself kicked off your friends' lists. Too many posts coupled with posts-about-nothing and/or misleading headlines, and you become irrelvant. People just start ignoring you. They figure you've tricked them too many times into clicking on your bulletin headlines, only to find you posted something lame.
So, make your bulletin posts count. Use them for news and interesting tidbits, as a way to communicate with fans and find out what's happening with them. Otherwise, you may find you are turning "off" your fans instead of turning them on to your music.
This does indeed get them noticed, but for all the wrong reasons. Every MySpacer has a short bulletin window that appears in their home control panel. When any one "friend" sucks up all or most of that real estate with incessant posting, it becomes irritating. More than 3 posts a day and you are officially obnoxious. Even if you're posting about world peace.
Being a pushy poster is one of the fastest ways to get yourself kicked off your friends' lists. Too many posts coupled with posts-about-nothing and/or misleading headlines, and you become irrelvant. People just start ignoring you. They figure you've tricked them too many times into clicking on your bulletin headlines, only to find you posted something lame.
So, make your bulletin posts count. Use them for news and interesting tidbits, as a way to communicate with fans and find out what's happening with them. Otherwise, you may find you are turning "off" your fans instead of turning them on to your music.
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