The Ins and Outs of Editorial Playlisting

Laurel Daggers - October 9, 2020

One of the top five items on every artists’ bucket list is making it onto an editorial Spotify playlist. Getting onto one of these playlists is a clear indicator of your rise to the top. Like many aspects of the entertainment industry, figuring out how to be placed onto one of these highly sought after placements can appear to be a catch-22. 

It almost seems as if you have to already be at the top of your game in the industry for these playlists to want to add you, so that you can get to the top of your game. Once you peek behind the curtain, you will see so many more moving parts to promoting your music than you thought there were. So let’s get into it, how do you prioritize what to do in order to get your music onto editorial playlists? 

What’s important: 

A great single 
Not only do you need to think that you have a great song, everyone else does, too. Before you release an album, get as many people to listen to it as you can and get their honest feedback on which of the songs they liked best. This will help you narrow down which song to use as your single. You’ll never please everyone, but you can get a better idea of what the most people respond to. The Spotify editorial board gets around 40,000 song submissions PER DAY, if you’re single doesn’t set itself apart, it’s not making it onto a playlist. 

Verification 
I’m not talking about instagram verification, Spotify has its own verification system. All you have to do is register on Spotify for Artists. Previously, an artist needed a minimum of 250 subscribers so at least this step is relatively easy these days. 

Pitching 
When you submit your song to just about anything, you’re asked to send a brief pitch as well. If all it says is “I wrote this song after I went through a break up”, chances are they will not be all that interested to listen to it. In fact they’ve gotten several thousand that day that say the exact same thing. 

Maintaining a professional relationship with curators 
Read and follow Spotify’s best practices carefully. Behave professionally and you will be treated as a professional. The best thing you can do when interacting with people who deal with tens of thousands of amateur musicians every single day is to show them that you know what you’re doing and that you’re easy to work with. 

What’s not important:

Prior media coverage 
Of course, media coverage and publicity are taken into account, but it’s not the most important piece of the submission puzzle. Your pitch and the initial information you send to Spotify when you submit your music, that’s what will really set you apart. 

Previous Spotify placements 
Spotify has created designated playlists to promote newer artists who have not been on major playlists in the past. Playlists like “Fresh Finds” and “On Our Radar” were specifically created to highlight newcomers. 

Finding “the right” distributor
Obviously, it’s important to find the music distributor that best works for you. What you don’t need to worry about is looking for a distributor that could give your music a better chance of being picked. 

Maintaining a personal relationship with curators 
It’s always a smart move to act like a professional among other professionals. However, attempting to foster a personal relationship in order to get more placements with the curators is not. Having a personal relationship with any of the curators does not improve your chances of getting onto them. The main goal for any digital streaming site is to provide the best possible listening experience to their audience, so when it comes down to making a decision on placements, they look at the current social climate, data, musical characteristics, and what makes each artist unique in order to put together an immersive listening experience.  

Artists Who Have Made it Big Using Social Media

Laurel Daggers - August 21, 2020

  Many new artists who are just starting out get tunnel vision when it comes to growing their careers. They think there’s a specific path set with vague instructions that they have to follow: make music, wait to get picked up by a label, be famous “overnight”. However, if you approached any other job like that ( do one basic task and then sit back and do nothing while you wait for a raise and a promotion) you’d likely be fired from that job in less than a week. 

Recording Artist Tori Kelly

   There are many moving parts to the music business that every artist should be aware of and actively incorporating into their business endeavors. If you’re not interested and actively invested in growing your music career, no one else will be either. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to  stop waiting and start moving forward. Today we’re going to talk about some creative ways current popular artists have used various forms of social media to grow their brand. 

Halsey had been making music and putting it on YouTube and Tumblr for a few years before she made it. She was also performing live at small venues while off and on living homeless on the streets of New York City. She had never recorded her music in a professional studio until a chance meeting with an industry professional at a party. He gave her access to a studio to record her song “Ghost” and the rest, as they say, is history. A few weeks later she posted it onto Soundcloud, resulting in multiple offers from major labels the very next day. 

Shawn Mendes used Vine to make 6 second videos of cover songs. He made the most of those measly 6 seconds and learned how to make a big impression in a short amount of time. By the time he had amassed over 300,000 followers – at the age of 15, no less- several major labels were knocking on his door. 

You can’t talk about social media success stories without mentioning Justin Bieber. He started out by putting videos of himself covering songs by artists such as Justin Timberlake. Eventually Usher and manager Scooter Braun ( T Swifts current nemesis), took notice and signed him. 

Tori Kelly had a bumpy start, pushing through ten years of creating and promoting her music before she was picked up. She even auditioned for American Idol, but didn’t make it onto the show. Tori started putting covers and original songs on YouTube, which again grabbed the attention of Scooter Braun. Braun showed up at one of her live performances after that and signed the now Grammy-nominated singer. 

My personal favorite on this list, though, is Lizzo. Two years after her now hit single “Truth Hurts” came out, it made its way to TikTok. Her popularity spread like wildfire after that, it also earned her 8 Grammy nominations including Best New Artist, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. 

   There are many other musicians, artists, models and actors whose careers have flourished because of social media. We may have never heard of some of them otherwise, in fact. Social media is not just for cute dog videos and hashtags, it provides endless opportunities for creative people to show off, promote, and grow their brand. From engaging with some of Instagram’s one billion users to starting a challenge with the other 800 million members of TikTok, artists are finding new ways to get their music noticed. 

6 Ways to Advance Your Music Career During A Global Pandemic

Amber Curtis - July 31, 2020

The recent pandemic has affected everyone in a different way. If you’re a musician, artist, producer, etc. COVID-19 has made it harder to create and perform your music. People all over the world are trying to figure out how to navigate this time. They’re discovering and implementing a new “normal” by putting systems in place that allow them to do the same things they did before while keeping everyone safe. 

For artisans in the music industry, it may be hard to navigate what a new “normal” looks like. Read below for 6 ideas on getting started or advancing your music career during the pandemic.

1. Promote on Social Media

With lots of non-essential businesses closing and events being canceled, people have more time to spend on social media platforms. As fans and potential listeners increase their time on social media, so should you. Although you may not be able to record music in the studio or perform live there are so many ways you can use social media to promote you and your music. 

Posting your music on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook are quick and easy ways to promote your music if you know what you’re doing. First, make sure your music accounts are public so it’ll be  easier for new people to discover your music. Post snippets of new music in feed posts or stories and provide links to sites, such as Spotify and Apple Music. On TikTok, you can easily upload origins audio files by using the InShot – Video Editor app. You can also schedule posts in advance, via Hootsuite, for ease.

If you’re sad you don’t get to perform live this year, try live streaming. It is one of the quickest and easiest ways on social media to connect with your followers. If you want, you can also advertise on your social pages, schedule a weekly set, and ask for song requests leading up to the stream.

2. Create a Website

If you don’t already have a website, this is the perfect time to build one for your music. A website is the hub or headquarters of your brand. This is where you can provide an in depth biography, previews/links to your music and social accounts, contact information, merchandise page, and include information about upcoming projects and events. 

WordPress or Wix are easy to use website creators. They both have hundreds of templates and ideas for bringing your site to life and their most basic packages are free. If you have the budget, it is best to upgrade from a free account so that you can have a custom domain. Custom domains allow you to forgo “wordpress” or “wix” in your url. 

These services also allow you to add your own domain if you happen to already own one. Squarespace and Bluehost are online services that help you easily set up your own web host and domain, which will only increase professionalism and ease for your website.

3. Get on Spotify Playlists

If you’ve been in the music business for a minute, you’re probably already trying to get your music on Spotify playlists. If you’re not, you should start now. Similarly to the increase of social media site viewing, music streaming has increased due to the pandemic. Whether you’re targeting playlists or hiring a company to do it for you, there are some things you can do to increase engagement and a following. 
Like a fast food drive thru, listeners want their music and they want it now. They don’t want to wait to access it and they don’t want to wait to hear the best parts of the song. Songs that are shorter, usually around 2 minutes in length, are optimal for listeners. Songs with long intros or slow builds often encourage listeners to skip them.

Create an account on Spotify for Artists. This allows you to verify your Spotify profile, tell your story, promote your music, and measure engagement.

4. Make the Most of Your Down Time

Most artists don’t realize that it’s impossible to truly become a sensation overnight. Artists like Lizzo or Lil Nas X seemed to have come out of nowhere, but it took them years of creating music and working hard before their efforts paid off. When thinking of your career, you have to look at it as a long game. 

Use the downtime you have now to create a long term plan for your career. Set a specific, achievable plan, methods to measure your success, and realistic, time-bound goals. Review the music you’ve put out so far, look at what has worked and what maybe hasn’t. Base your future projects on the information you find.

There are likely hundreds of thousands of people that are dealing with the same issues, thoughts, and emotions you’re going through during quarantine. So why not write some songs about them?

Additionally, now may be a good time to learn a few things from the experts. Platforms like MasterClass can educate and reinforce your methods for creating, writing, and producing music.

5. Gain Media Coverage

When creating a long term plan you also have to develop a long term release plan, factoring in media coverage. Specifically, online media coverage is the most effective form of media coverage nowadays. Electronic press releases can increase the legitimate Google search results and are easily shareable on social media.

Whether you’re new or seasoned in the game, hiring a professional PR company to help you navigate and publish your upcoming releases/accomplishments. 

6. Sell Merch

Selling your merchandise is a skillful way to promote yourself even if you don’t have current music out. Post giveaways on your social media pages, send exclusive promo codes to winners of a fun, online contest. Try to come up with fun, creative ideas to engage your audience when you’re not performing or releasing music. For example, send a “merch box” to the winner of a contest. Include a t-shirt,, laptop sticker, magnets, or whatever other merchandise you have.

Lifestyle Influencer Taylor B x AMW Group

AMW - July 17, 2020

As part of our brand ambassador program, Lifestyle Influencer Taylor B discusses different marketing strategy options using AMW Group services. Check the video and reach out with any questions.

To learn more about the different services we have available visit:
https://www.amworldgroup.com/our-services

The Benefits Of Internet Radio Promotion

Laurel Daggers - June 29, 2020

It seems like there are a million places to go when it comes to placing your music these days. And there are just as many questions. Is it more important to focus on digital streaming or traditional radio? What about internet radio? Which one counts towards charts and which one is dying out? Do any of them give you a better bang for your buck? 

Fortunately, there are simple answers to all of those questions. If you don’t know where to start, internet radio is a great place to look. While you can find success with any of these outlets, internet radio airplay has some decidedly clear benefits, particularly for newer artists. It’s a cross-section of all the best parts of each music playlisting platform. Internet radio is responsible for almost 80% of listening hours in regards to music, 70% of that usage coming from the mobile market. This means that more than half of an artist’s potential audience is using this to listen to their favorite music. That also makes this a perfect opportunity for artists who do not reside in highly populated areas and are therefore less likely to reach a large audience even if they were to get their music played on a traditional radio station.  

Exposure

Internet radio stations can be reached from anywhere in the world. This means that not only can your audience find you whether they’re home or on the go, but it’s also easy to get consistent plays from your followers. 

Audience Targeting 

Artists can select other mainstream artists whose genre is similar and be placed on the same radio stations with internet radio, so their music can find just the right audience. You can even choose specific demographics once you know your audience well, to ensure successful targeting. 

Metrics

Metrics are so important to any brand and with internet radio, you get important data about the audience your music attracts. When someone plays your music you will get detailed information almost immediately on the audience demographics, how they rate your music, and which of your songs have more growth potential. You’ll also be able to find out where your music does well geographically. 

Better Sound Quality

Internet radio can offer better sound quality than regular radio, so your music can be listened to the way it’s meant to be heard. Since the reception is not dependent on faulty radio towers and other environmental factors, your audience will receive more consistent sound quality whenever they seek out your music. 

Perks

Several internet radio channels also have the added benefit of awarding points to artists who are doing well on their station. These points allow artists the opportunity for sync licensing (this allows visual media outlets i.e. television and movies, to purchase your songs to use in their projects) and label submission. 

Fewer Advertisements

Artists don’t have to worry as much about losing audience members from the station their song is playing on due to them trying to avoid commercials. There aren’t as many on internet radio and listeners often have an upgrade option to avoid them altogether. When your audience has an all-around smoother user experience than they do on other outlets, they’re more likely to tune in more frequently, for longer periods of time. 

To learn more about our Internet Radio Promotion campaigns
https://www.amworldgroup.com/radio-promotion

AMW Group YouTube Channel

AMW - June 8, 2020

Are you an upcoming artist? Or maybe you just want to learn more about the music business? Are you or your team looking to expand your brand?

Look no further! AMW Group now has a simple and enjoyable way to learn more about our services, how to break into and thrive in the music scene, and so much more!

Visit AMW Group‘s official YouTube channel and subscribe to keep updated on topics related to the services we offer. The channel will be updated on a regular basis and curated by our marketing team.

AMW Group will be releasing a series soon for musical artists to learn more about how the music industry works, the best tips & tricks, and advice to help artists keep up as the industry is constantly growing and changing.

The satirical series will feature AMW’s own Laurel Daggers, Business Development Director, as she teaches a young budding artist how to make it in the music business. Artists at every level will be able to learn something in a fun, new way.

Join the conversation and learn new strategies to grow your brand with us. We will also share our favorite YouTube channels, music videos, behind the scenes snippets, and much more. Subscribe today. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/AMWGroup



Business Promotion to Boost Your Brand

Laurel Daggers - June 5, 2020

It may seem reasonable to small businesses to cut costs by not investing in advertising, or at the very least cutting back on advertising. However, using a well planned promotional strategy can actually benefit your brand massively. Once you have created a budget and a general idea for your promotion, it’s smart to speak with a professional to create a solid plan of attack.

There are many different types of strategies that you can use to promote your business. Whether they’re large or small, it’s always a good idea to have some sort of promotional activity going on for your business.  Here are several reasons how investing in promotion for your business can help you.

Increases Customer Traffic

The more people that know about your brand and have heard positive things about it, the more people there will be that will want to be involved with it. Promotion can be done even by handing out free samples of products. It gives people a chance to try out your business, and let’s face it, everyone loves free stuff. So they will associate your brand with positive things.

Increases Your Value

When consumers see that you are investing in advertising, they see that you are maintaining efforts to remain vital in the marketplace. This will give your business a good chance of capturing market share. The business marketplace is basically a pie. The bigger piece of the pie your business has, the more potential it has for profit. If your business is growing and continually increasing its market share, you are keeping your competitors from taking money from you.

Improves Reputation

Visibility builds your reputation with your customer base. It draws new and current customers to you by showing them that your business is increasingly successful. This also provides your business with the long term benefits of building a strong brand reputation by providing your audience with your core brand values.

Provides Information

Promoting your business helps you provide potential customers with information about your brand.  This is especially helpful if your products or goods are complicated or unfamiliar to your audience. Many small businesses go out of business simply because not enough people know that they exist. Explaining more about your products or services will help your audience to know what’s in them, how they’re made, and if you have any new promotions going on in your company.

Keeps Customers Loyal

When you utilize promotion services, you are able to tell your current audience of any improved, new, or discounted products your business has. If your customers feel that you are listening to their needs and adjusting accordingly, they will remain faithful to your brand.

Grows Revenue

The benefit at the top of everyone’s business list is revenue growth. Promotions can help your business build its revenue growth during the campaign and for some time after, due to continued word of mouth marketing from happy customers. Month after month and year after year, a well-done promotion can grow your brand significantly.

What You Need To Know Before You Get A Music Publicist

Laurel Daggers - May 29, 2020

At a certain point in every musician’s career, they will need to invest in some publicity. It’s rare that a massive audience will just start showing up at all of your shows, people need to know you’re out there making music in the first place.  

What you need is a solid PR Campaign. Like most other investments you’ll make during the course of your career, you get what you pay for. Good public relations campaigns are expensive and require planning and coordination. Before spending your hard-earned money on a promotional campaign for your latest creation, it’s important to get to know realistically what good PR is and what you should and should not expect from a campaign. I’ve answered some commonly asked questions below to help you spend your money wisely. 

How Should You Prepare For A Campaign? 

While a PR campaign can help grow your social media, having a solid presence in place before starting a campaign is important. For example, bloggers will check your socials before writing about you. This helps them get to know you and also what kind of promotion they can expect from you in return. You will also be asked for professional photos and whether or not you have a professionally written biography. 

What Are You Actually Paying For? 

It’s reasonable to want to know where your money is going. And in the entertainment business, it’s important to be able to find people who can actually put their money where their mouth is. What you should not expect, however, is metrics. In other terms, numerically measurable results. You are paying for the effort, strategy and expertise of your PR professional. Media placements should absolutely be expected, metrics should not be. 

What Should You Expect From Music PR? 

There are a lot of different ways to promote your music but they do NOT all fall under the umbrella of public relations. So what does? Public relations exist to attract public interest in a positive manner by means of promotional material and information. Basically, a music publicist is meant to represent you and your brand to the media. Generally, blogs, podcasts, newspapers, magazines, and TV shows are what make up media outreach. 

Will Publicity Help With Sales? 

Nope. There is potential for your audience to grow, which could have the added benefit of helping you make more money but that is not the purpose or focus of a pr campaign. The main point of investing in publicity is to create awareness of your brand and educate your audience about why you’re so great. 

What Can Be Guaranteed? 

It can be scary to invest in something if you’re not guaranteed a financial boost in return. Naturally, many musicians let this fear guide them to companies that will “guarantee” a certain number of streams on Spotify or a certain amount of viewers per article, instead of toward reputable companies that can help them to create realistic goals and strategies. Anyone guaranteeing that you will get a specific number of streams or views is LYING TO YOU. I’m going to say that one more time in case you weren’t paying attention: unless they are truly psychic, there is no way for anyone to know, let alone guarantee, that a certain amount of people will listen to your music. A legit company will, however, be able to tell you approximately how many publications or streaming channels they can get your music onto based on their experience. 

7 Tips to Branding the Right Way

Amber Curtis - May 18, 2020

Companies are more than their products. Musicians are more than their music. It’s an experience. Consumers and fans connect to brands through the experience. Branding is the way you want to share your story with the world. It’s the way you communicate and interact with your fans or consumers. 

Whether you’re a musician or own a company, your brand tells your story. With millions of people trying to “make it big”, having a strong brand can make all the difference with fans and consumers. Every successful brand has the following components, make sure yours does too.

Create Brand Purpose

Creating a brand purpose is the first and most important step in branding. A purpose gives your brand a reason to exist and a reason for people to be interested in that brand, it’s the “why” your brand exists. Be the change you want to see. Give your brand a unique involvement in the industry. Ask yourself: What does your brand want to see happen? What does your brand passionately want to see stop? What is your brand going to do to make “the change” you want to see?

Research the Competition

The biggest advantage to checking out the competition is it can give you a better understanding of the industry; which is even more beneficial if you’re just starting out. It would be very difficult to create a successful brand while not having a knowledge of the industry. 

Your research should go beyond a simple Google search; try applications such as Google Trends, Google Alerts or SpyFu to receive updates on top search results and popular search keywords. Other helpful research resources are Gartner and Keyword Spy.

Free research methods such as social media sites, talking to industry consumers, and attending industry events can’t hurt your brand.

Determine Target Audience

The next step in creating your brand is to find your target audience. Ask yourself who can benefit most from your unique brand? Your target audience might consist of just one or multiple demographics, which can be determined by age, location, gender, income level, education level, marital status, occupation ethnic background, etc.

If you’re just starting out, testing your brand in front of a focus group with different types of demographics may help you to find your target audience faster. When choosing a variety of group members, it’s also important to evaluate them based on their personality, attitudes, values, interest/hobbies, lifestyles, and behavior.

Remember that as long as the world and the industry continue to change, you should continue to evaluate your target market as that may change too.

Establish Mission Statement

Writing a mission statement is the second most important step for your brand. It’s the “what” your brand plans to do when you get to where you want to go. Your brand mission statement should:

  • Be Unique, Specific, Measurable
  • Clearly explain what the company does (for customers, employees, and owners)
  • Define your target customer(s)
  • Explain the need or want your brand fulfills

Get help from key players around you to write, review, rewrite, and revise until you have a full, cohesive mission statement that fulfills the prompts above.

Outline Unique Benefits

Somewhere in your branding should be unique benefits your brand brings to the industry. They need to be clear, concise, and to the point about what separates you from the competition. This is where you outline your products, services, and other advantages. Think about how your brand will provide better value to your target audience and then give them a reason to choose your brand over the competition.

Build Brand Story & Message

Creating a story helps your audience to connect and relate to your brand. After you have a solid target audience, write the story and message in a way that fits that demographic(s) best. Use the answers from the questions asked in building your purpose to write a compelling, personal brand story. Make sure the story clearly lines up with the brand’s purpose (consistency is key).

Create Logo and Tagline

When creating a brand, the logo and tagline may be best to do last. By this point, you’ve done all the hard thinking: what your brand stands for, who your brand stands for, why, and how your brand will change the industry. Make sure it fits the theme or style of the rest of your brand, including colors, font styles, and tone. Make the tagline short, meaningful, memorable; make it yours.

If you don’t have a marketing/design department, you may need to outsource to a designer who can create a unique and professional logo.

Put Your Best Selfie Forward

Laurel Daggers - April 24, 2020

Most people get online several times a day to check in on their favorite influencers. Especially on Instagram, followers scroll through to see what other people are wearing or making and where they’re traveling to. With the proper strategy, people could be checking in on all the awesome things you do several times a  day as well. 

For those of us who have yet to reach Chrissy Teigen’s level of queendom on her social media, we could probably use some help with managing our own. Fortunately, growing your social media does not have to mean spending even more time working on it, so you’ll still have plenty of time to do other important activities, like scrolling.  

Be Yourself

It’s something your mom always told you when you were little and it holds true now, be yourself. Create a brand identity that is true to you and it will give your audience a human element to identify with. Defining your values, goals and work clearly to your audience will allow them to set expectations when visiting your social media pages. No matter what your brand is, talk to your followers like you would to your friends. 

Use the same profile image on every network

Not only will using the same high-quality image help your audience recognize you across all social media platforms, but the cohesiveness of using the same professional image will show them you’re the real deal. The image you choose should also be a more general image, which will give the image a timeless effect so that you don’t have to continue to change it all the time. Keeping the same image for a long period of time is recommended to keep a sense of familiarity to your pages.

Untag yourself From Unflattering Pictures and Posts

Especially online, your image is the main representation of your brand. It’s up to you to control how you are represented online. If anyone has tagged you in a post you don’t agree with or put up an unflattering image of you, untag yourself. Each social network has its own tag settings, usually, you can request approval before you are tagged in anything. With or without this photo firewall, you should still be checking your tags regularly to ensure proper representation.

Cross Promotion

Promote your other sites on each of your social media accounts. A multi-channel approach helps influencers and marketers cover all of their bases in terms of demographics. Different people use different social media networks for specific interactions. Make your brand available to all of the possibilities. 

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Planning posts for your sites ahead of time and scheduling them in advance will help you to save time while still being active. It’s the best way to maintain a constant presence and still be able to work on other endeavors. Some schedule posts weeks, even months in advance. While you don’t have to be that ambitious, the farther ahead you schedule the more time you’ll have to focus on interacting with your audience. Set one day aside to create and schedule posts ahead of time, either the same day each week or each month. It may seem like more work in the beginning, but once you get a routine down it will become less time and work.

Build Relationships

Followers will come as you build relationships, not the other way around. Relationships with your audience will grow as you take an active interest in their responses to your posts and to their personal needs and interests in general. Ask questions about what they want to see from you, respond to them, and then follow through. All of these steps will show your audience you genuinely care about them and not just getting a certain number of followers. Connect with other prominent people in your industry; i.e. other artists, influencers, singers, etc. Collaborating with them is a mutually beneficial way to gain followers who are genuinely interested in your specific area of passion. After all, loyal followers are the best followers

7 Tips to Working remotely from Home

Amber Curtis - March 31, 2020

More and more people are now making the switch to working from home and for some, it may be overwhelming. You are not alone. How do I stay productive? How will I correspond with coworkers? How do I separate work life from home life?

Like working in an office, working remotely has its pros and cons. It’s easy to focus on the cons, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Whether you’re new to working from home or have been doing it for a while now, it never hurts to get tips and new ideas to be productive and stay level headed.

1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Communication is important in any relationship, especially work relationships. Even though you may be physically distanced from your coworkers talking to them is just as important when you’re working from home as it is working in an office. The first step is finding a communication service that works for you and your workers. Some services that are already being used for those working remotely are Slack, Skype, Zoom, and Google Hangouts/Drive. These services are exceptional for business and companies due to the ease of file sharing, instant messaging, and conference/video calls available. 

Social interactions and chats with your coworkers are also highly recommended, especially if this is something you’re already used to. It’s not an excuse to procrastinate on your work, but it can be beneficial to incorporate “water cooler” time into your work day. 

2. Have Reliable Tech

It may not be the first thing you think of when working from home, but having reliable technology is the most important concern when working from home. If you don’t have a desktop computer at home, a laptop or tablet can be simple substitutes. It’s also important to have a reliable wireless network (WiFi), so if you have issues contact your wireless provider as soon as possible. It might also be helpful to have a keyboard, a mouse, good speakers, a second screen, or a quality webcam available. 

3. Create a Work Space

Working from home can make it difficult to stay productive. That is why you should create a workspace in your house, separate from the relaxation spaces in your home. This means your workspace shouldn’t be in your bed, on your couch, or anywhere else you may lounge around. Not only will this help you be more productive, but it will also help separate your work life from your home life while they may be in the same place. 

Separating the two will also help you to relax in your off time. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean that you have to compromise your relaxation and recreational time. 

4. Make a Daily Schedule

Working from home you can easily cause you to fall into a slump. To fight this you can create a structured daily schedule, make a to-do for your work day that is S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound), communicate to those you live with when your “do not disturb” time is and stick to it. Leaving your phone in another room can also help you stay on schedule. 

5. Don’t Wear Pajamas

It may seem like a good idea at first, but working in your pajamas will most likely make you less productive throughout the day. Pajamas and other loungewear puts your brain in “relaxation mode” instead of “work mode.” Some find it helpful to get ready in the morning as they would for a job outside of the house because it also helps your brain shift to “work mode” easier. Getting ready can also put your mind at ease if you find yourself having frequent video calls throughout the week.

This does not mean that you have to get all dressed up every day to work from your home, let’s be honest nobody has time for that. However, creating a morning routine will help you to function better during work.

6. Play a “Productivity” Playlist

Some people can’t work with sound or other distractions, but those that can look up “productive playlists” on Apple Music or Spotify. These playlists on major platforms were created specifically for individuals that need a calm work environment. Now’s the perfect time to take advantage of them!

7. Take Breaks

If you’re able to take breaks throughout your day, do it. It’s just as important for breaks in the office as they are at home. Whether it’s walking around the house for 5 minutes or around the block or do a load of laundry. Find something small to break up your workday because they can give your brain a chance to recharge. It may help you be more productive during the time that you are working, as long as you stick to that work time. Make no mistake, it is not normal or good to look at a computer screen for 8-9 hours straight.

How To Keep Raising Brand Awareness When You Can’t Perform Live

Laurel Daggers - March 27, 2020

The entire planet is seemingly in quarantine right now. For a performer, this can present many problems. You can’t do any live shows, release parties, or meet and greets. How is your brand supposed to survive the apocalypse? 

The good news is, there are numerous avenues an artist can take to grow their brand awareness. You can grow and measure brand awareness a number of ways, metrics from ads for instance and through analytics on social media. If you’re not a branding pro yet, there are tools out there to help you measure not only who is looking at your web pages, but when they’re looking, how often they’re looking, and where they’re from. 

Build A Website

If you don’t have a website, you definitely need one. As a performer, you represent your brand and you should treat your brand as a business. Most people don’t trust a business that doesn’t have a professional-looking website, especially not other professionals. Take a look through similar entertainers’ websites to learn more about how yours should be put together. Use professional photos and be certain to spell check any copy you add to your pages. 

Research SEO Strategies For Your Niche

Once you have a website, start researching SEO strategies to bring more traffic through your site. There are many tools online that a person can use to search the frequency and popularity of tags for specific keywords. Adding these keywords as tags to your website will make it more likely to pop up on the first page of a google search when people search for those terms. You want to be careful to add tags that have high search rates but low competitive rates. If most other websites are using those tags as well, your site could get pushed further down the list, and it’s unlikely it will get much traffic if it’s not on the first search page. 

Use Your Socials

Many entertainers are leaning on their social media now more than ever. Whether they’re live streaming performances and meditation circles, or TikTok-ing their way into our hearts, performers are finding ways to connect with their audiences on a regular basis. 

Create Branded Links

Simply put, a branded link is a shortened version of an URL you want to share online, in a place like social media bios and twitter posts. Generally, brands that create branded links like to create one that incorporates their name, what they do, and a unique keyword. Not only are branded links easier to remember and place in posts with limited word counts, but they can be used to track clicks and metrics as well. 

Start a YouTube Show

If you’re a performer, this should be a no brainer. Start filming yourself playing music or showing off whatever your talent may be and keep growing your audience. 

Partner With Other Performers

Even if you’re unable to get together face to face with other performers, there are apps and video creation websites that allow you to partner with other artists and collaborate together. Doing videos and social media appearances with other artists in your field introduce you both to new audience members as well as lend your brand more credibility by way of endorsement. 

Analyze Your Metrics

Now is the perfect opportunity to analyze your social media metrics and create a growth plan. Take a look at your audience growth rate, engagement rate, and influence (who’s talking about your brand).  

Social Media Contests

Create a giveaway or some other sort of contest on your social media to have more engagement opportunities with your followers. Set a goal for what you want your brand to get out of this contest (i.e. more followers, more engagement, etc) and research past social media contests that have reached that goal successfully. 

Social Marketing 

If your brand has the merchandise you want to sell, consider looking into some social media marketing. Marketing is also a great way to direct people to your website and to collect more valuable metrics. Do some research on your target audience and set specific goals for your marketing campaign. Doing this ahead of time will help you to find the best products and techniques to set up successful ads.

SEO is The Best Business Promotion

Amber Curtis - March 26, 2020

If you’ve been anywhere near the digital marketing world in the last 5 years, you’ve probably heard of something called SEO, or search engine optimization. Just because you’ve heard it doesn’t mean you understand it though, right? The idea of SEO can be difficult to understand at first. One of the reasons for this is because it’s a fairly new idea, that’s only been around since the late 1990s. 

SEO can be very beneficial to your business, but it would help to understand it first. Whether you’ve heard of it or not, read about SEO below. Hopefully, by the end, you’ll have a better understanding of the service, and your business needs it. 

What is it?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is anything that naturally increases a website’s ranking on search engine results pages, excluding those that are paid for. Every business’ goal is to increase traffic to their website, a large part of that success they desire has to do with noted search engine results. SEO is the process a business uses to improve its search engine results, organically or without the influence. There are three major aspects to successful SEO: quality, quantity, and organic. 

Quality refers to the quality of the clicks or views a website gets from search engine searches, such as Google or Bing. These searches need to clearly state the product(s) or service(s) your company offers. Quantity is the number of clicks or views that a website receives, and once you make sure you have quality views on your page, the more views the better. Finally, organic identifies the most important aspect of SEO. Both paid and unpaid, organic website placements have approximately the same success rate on search engine pages. Viewers usually click on those that are unpaid, because they seem more trustworthy compared to those that are paid. 

How does it work?

SEO involves a lot of trial and error, you have to test which combination of factors will work best for your website. The most important factors to experiment with are links, content, mobile-friendliness, and website design. For your business, you’ll want to use a combination of each of these aspects. 

  • Links refer to other websites that have a link to your website. It could be within a blog post or sponsored page. The more websites that have links to your site and the better quality those websites, the better it is for your company site. 
  • Content is the bulk of your website, it’s the words that are on your site. The way pages are worded on your site reflects directly back on your company. Your content should be worded well and accurately display the mission of the company. You’ll also want to use calculated vocabulary in order to attract the desired audience.
  • Mobile-friendliness is self-explanatory but can be difficult to accomplish. Most people will be looking at your company website from a mobile device. The coding for a desktop site is different from a mobile site. This means you’ll need to work with your tech team to create a mobile-friendly website. 
  • Design may seem trivial, but people will trust a website that looks clean and professional. People are more likely to recommend a website that looks professional, over one that doesn’t.

If it works correctly, your business’ web pages will come up as one of the first results, under the paid, sponsored results.

How Can It Help Your Company?

The following are all possible benefits of using SEO for your company website. Please note that these are just some of the many ways SEO can and will help your business. 

  • Better Cost Management
  • Builds Brand Credibility & Awareness
  • Can Increase Social Media Traffic
  • Gives a Leg Up on The Competition
  • Increases Quality Traffic, Sales, Leads
  • Provides Constant Promotion
  • Measurable & Flexible

Coronavirus update from AMW Group

AMW - March 19, 2020

We wanted to update you on how we are handling COVID-19. Our company is set up for remote work, and our staff and services will be completely uninterrupted throughout this time. Instead of in-person client meetings, we will schedule phone conferences as needed.

Industry-wise we see surges in traffic on streaming platforms and online outlets; this is a direct result of people spending more time online while being home.

So rest assured that we will continue to be able to offer you the same quality of service. It’s is a difficult time for everyone, but our recommendation is to keep moving forward.

If you have any questions, our support team is readily available to assist. We are wishing the best for you, your family and friends!

Sincerely,
Team AMW

PR Can Give Your Music Career a Leg Up

Amber Curtis - March 19, 2020

There is a lot that goes into creating your own music, building up a following, trying to make it in the music industry. It can be discouraging if you don’t know what to do, or have someone helping you. Even if you’re capable of promoting yourself on your own, it’ll take time away from doing what you love most: making music. It doesn’t hurt to get some help in your career, in fact, very few have made it without any help from someone. 

Hiring a PR, or public relations, professional can greatly change the course of your career. Reaching out to these professionals can only help you. Talking to professionals and asking them questions will get your name out into the industry and it never hurts to have friends in high places. Here are some things to know before choosing a PR professional:

Campaigns

The general goal of a public relations campaign, in regards to music promotion, is to increase awareness of an artist. The main goal, however, is to announce a certain focus on an artist’s career. A PR campaign consists primarily of the promotion of one thing at a time (i.e. a single, EP, album release, show). Whatever it is you want to promote a PR firm can create content to distribute to top contacts in the industry. Knowing contacts can be critical when it comes to promoting your brand, so it helps to have a PR firm that knows who to contact. 

National Exposure

Since most public relations professionals have a network of contacts in almost every industry. This allows them to help you connect nationally, and if you’re lucky internationally. If a PR firm’s contacts and networks are only regional or focused on the area you’re already in then it may be smart to save your money. Your goal as an artist is to reach as many people as possible. Only PR firms with a larger and broader network can help you get that national, and sometimes even international, coverage you seek. 

Networking 

Business networking is the practice of creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships within your respective industry. The purpose of networking is to communicate your brand and meet others in the business that can help boost your music and your career. Other benefits to networking, and meeting lifelong business friends include:

  • creating and advancing investments in lifelong business friendships
  • becoming more noticeable in the music/entertainment industry
  • gaining new opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available
  • receiving advice and possibly new perspectives from industry veterans

Expertise

It’s a PR professional’s job to stay up to date with everything in the industry, they’re constantly in that world so you don’t have to be. They know how to word your content in such a way that grabs any audience. They know the ins and outs of the industry. They know who to talk to, how to get them interested in your music. In a sense, a PR professional knows all. Hiring PR professionals is the best way to ensure that your business’ image will be in good hands so that you can focus on running your company. They do what they do best so that you can do what you do best.