In the modern age of marketing, creating an online persona is the most essential step to getting your message heard. Without this online presence, you can go years being virtually unnoticed by anyone in the recording industry. Unfortunately, there are thousands of other musicians who are trying to find their big break in this business and the competition makes it very difficult to get recognized in the crowd. Even with a fair amount of online presence, reaching the right people can be difficult.
Luckily, there are things that will assist you to increase your chances of getting noticed by large recording labels and talent scouts. One of these things is viral content.
What Is Viral Content?
No, it has nothing to do with H1N1. Viral content refers to web content of any kind that immediately becomes popular among thousands of people on the Internet. An example of this type of content would be Susan Boyle’s audition for Britain’s Got Talent. When the video hit YouTube, it was instantly snapped up by thousands of people who wanted to hear the woman sing. Within hours, the links to her video was spread around the world via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social media platforms.
In the world of the Internet, that reaction to web content is a gold mine. It even has its own pet name, Going Viral. Webmasters and content producers spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours trying to find the criteria needed to consistently produce content that will take on a life of its own and go viral.
Making Your Content Into Viral Content
While not everyone will score a direct hit in the viral content field every time, there are things you can do to increase the odds of creating a viral presence for yourself on the Internet.
Promote Yourself - Yes, it is rude to brag in the real world. Online, though, it’s a whole new game. People want to know what you have to offer and they expect you to tell them about it. Go on music forums that cater to your particular genre and share links to your latest recordings and news. Use your status messages to share important updates and links. To put it plainly, be what you want to be. Portray yourself as a pop icon and people will follow you. Act like your nothing special and you will be.
Keep it Clean - You can gain a wider audience if your recordings are something people can share. If you want content to go viral, try to leave out profanity and references to things that your mother would frown on. Don’t make it a kids songs, unless that is your target audience, but consider cleaning up the lyrics a bit. If this goes completely against your grain as a musician, consider making both a clean and a dirty version and labeling them as such. That way, your listeners can decide what they want to hear and when it is appropriate. After all, isn’t it hard to share a song with a friend when your mom is screaming turn that off?
On The Flip Side - If cleaning up your lyrics just rubs you the wrong way, try going to the other extreme. Just be very careful as this can backfire on you. Discussing sex, drugs, crime and other controversial issues definitely sells CD’s. Just ask Snoop Dogg or Ludacris. But how much is too much? As a musician, you bear the responsibility for deciding what your fans are willing to listen to. Unfortunately, you are also the one to pay the price when you cross the line.
Give It Away - Want to know a secret? People have a tendency towards greed. You could ask 100 people to send you a quarter for the privilege of being the first to hear your music and you might get fifty cents. But give it away and almost all of them will listen. At least half will even download the song. If you want your content to go viral, don’t charge people for it. Let them get a taste for your music by giving it away. Once your viral following has grown, they will be more than willing to buy future CD’s and song downloads from an artist that has given them something for nothing.
By following these simple suggestions, you can create content that hits the digital ground running and goes viral.
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