PolyPlat Records / IndieHitMaker congratulates Sybarite5 for debuting at #11 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Charts with the bands new album, Disturb the Silence!  

Sybarite5 joined IndieHitMaker to report live venue sales to Soundscan last year and we're happy to see their new album is selling so well.  Take a listen to the album, Disturb the Silence, and if you like it, buy a copy from their bandcamp site as they get a better share of revenue there!  

(NOTE: If you are a performing independent artist and want to report your live venue sales to Soundscan for an existing or upcoming CD release, you can sign up for less than $40 here and we'll get you set up as we've done for so many great artists!)

Check out the latest newsletter following SXSW 2011 from IndieHitmaker.com to save up to 60% on SoundScan reporting services for indie artists:

Click here

IndieHitMaker.com is proud to sponsor the inaugural Georgia Music Awards show, held on June 18, 2011 in Atlanta, GA.

From the site:

"Artists throughout Georgia will have an opportunity to be recognized in a variety of music genres, such as: Country, Rock, Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz, Americana, and Alternative categories for best male, female, band and youth. There’s even a humanitarian award being sponsored by the Georgia Commerce Club. In addition, we will be awarding best model, best producer, and DJ of the Year! There’s an opportunity for almost everyone in the music industry."

For more information, click here. Nominations are now open!

Profiting from Technology: Online Offline and On Tour
SXSW Interactive, Tuesday March 15th, 9:30 am Hilton, Salon H

Panelists:
David Claassen, BMI (Moderator)
Bram Bessoff, indiehitmaker.com
Bryan Calhoun, SoundExchange
Fred Croshal, Croshal Entertainment Group
Kimberly Thompson, Sonic Bids

Take Away Talking Points:

Crowd Sourcing: 
http://www.pledgemusic.com/

On Demand Printing:
http://www.zazzle.com/
http://www.audiolife.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/

Three components to building your website:
1. CMS (Drupal, Word Press, Joomla)
2. CRM/Email Marketing (Fan Bridge, Exact Target, Constant Contact, Mail Chimp)
3. eCommerce (Reverbnation)

Metrics:
- SoundScan an industry accepted and valued metric. Report your live venue sales with www.indiehitmaker.com
- Promoters are interested in fan count (Facebook, myspace, twitter)
- Radio cares about Metrics, you need them to get air play (Next Big Sound, Big Champagne)
- Geo Location, Market Building (TopSpin - new technology)
- Measure Twitter with Hoot Suite or Cotweet
- Measure website metrics with Google Analytics
- FOllow through on your analytics, review and react

Strategy: "Off to the RACES"
R - Respect for your fans, partners and service providers
A - Authenticity, your message needs to be authentic
C - Consistency, keep your messaging broadcast consistent, create a schedule and stick to it
E - Exclusivity, be the go to place for news about you or your artist
S - Syndication, get the word out through all the channels available to you

- Give something, get something in return (Reverbnation has excellent models to accomplish this)
- Don't forget email, may be the most effective tool to communicate with your fan base (check open rates and click thrus)

Branding:
- Crowdspring.com - find creative artists to help build your brand identity
- Brands are the new record label, they will fund you, provide technology outlets to proliferate your brand
- Submit through SonicBids.com

Mobile Technologies:
- Waterfall
- Mobile Roadie (app creation)
- GroupMe

Start Making Money Today:
-       Register at SoundExhange.com and see if you have money waiting for you, there is $40 million in unpaid royalties waiting to be paid out to artists, if SoundExchange does not have you in their system, they can’t pay you.

IndieHitMaker.com, BMI, SoundExchange, Sonicbids.com and Croshal Entertainment Group invite SXSW Interactive & Music Attendess looking to make money in the Music Industry to attend this unique panel Tues., 3/15 9:30am:

Interactive/Music 2011

Profiting From Technology Online,

Offline and on the Road

Artists are leveraging new technologies and smart marketing to re-define success in today’s music industry. This panel features reps of innovative, tech-savvy artists and best-in-show technology providers to discuss trends and success stories - from tour-centric to online marketing strategies - using innovation and technology to boost the bottom line. Since technology start-ups are a dime a dozen, its critical to know which strategies and companies will drive your success while making you the most money online, offline and on the road. Attend this panel and walk away with career defining strategies and tactics such as:

1. Social media strategies you can use to engage fans and spend money
2. The metrics artists should focus on to drive revenue
3. How to leverage crowd sourcing for profit
4. Review case studies of successful artists profiting in today’s marketplace

For more info and to learn about the panelists, click here: http://schedule.sxsw.com/events/event_IAP8066

IndieHitMaker client One Less Reason (Jassepy Moses Music/PolyPlat)'s album "Faces & Four Letter Words" debuted at #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Album chart for the week of 09/18/10 as part of our Soundscan Reporting program for live venue sales.  The album also landed on the Billboard 200 (#168), Independent Albums (#30), and the Hard Rock Albums (#23) charts.

From all of us here at IndieHitMaker and PolyPlat Records ADSD, "CONGRATULATIONS for a best selling album durring an excellent first week and may you continue to find such success!"

If you are a touring artist and are not reporting your live venue sales (CD, DVD, Download Cards, etc.) to Soundscan, sign up for IndieHitMaker's Soundscan Reporting program TODAY to maximize your opportunities.

Dave Claassen of BMI submitted a SXSW panel called "Profiting from Technology: Online, Offline and On Tour" that features IndieHitMaker.com, and its now a finalist up for popular vote.

Take a second and vote by:

1.      Creating an account here: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/users/register

2.      Click the link inside your confirmation email

3.      Then click on each link below and select the “Thumbs Up” for both INTERACTIVE and MUSIC

Music Panel: http://snipurl.com/musicprofit

Interactive Panel: http://snipurl.com/techprofit

(Note: If your vote is not accepted, try signing out and logging back in using the links at the top of the panel picker page)

Be sure to share this with everyone and anyone you know who loves music, this is open to the public and anyone can vote - thanks for your support.

To keep up with the campaign, follow IHM and their partenrs on Twitter at:

http://twitter.com/indiehitmaker  |  http://twitter.com/bram_rocks