[EASY METHOD] Increase iTunes sales

[PatvonB]

Hi guys,

since i'm an active musician I wanted to share a method with you that will increase your (or your future clients) iTunes sales. You can add your own twists to it and sell this as a service to musicians/bands. Be creative and try to offer them a new website or a social media service in addition to this and you can make some good online/offline money.

What are we going to do?

The method is mostly based on the social network ReverbNation. It's a website where you can either register as an artist or as a fan/venue/label. Musicians can upload their songs over there and sell them iTunes. ReverbNation has local, national and international chart categories for all individual music genres. This guide will show you how to get your band at least into the top ten in your area. This will course a significant increase in the bands/musicians exposure and therefore drive their iTunes sales.

What do we need?

1) ReverbNation band account
2) Your band needs to have: Facebook page, twitter account, youtube channel
3) An iTunes song/album release (otherwise your traffic can't convert)
4) AddMeFast account or anything similar to it

If you have everything ready, let's start:

1) Access your ReverbNation artist account and go to „Account" and then select „Social Sync" from the left sidebar.
2) Sync your bands facebook page, twitter account and youtube channel with your ReverbNation profile.
3) Start to add Facebook page likes, twitter followers and youtube subscribers from AddMeFast or buy them here in the market place.

So, how did we benefit from the above steps?

ReverbNation determines your chart rank by your „Band Equity Points". Your band equity grows with the number of fans, plays and profile visits. The awesome thing: After syncing your social networks ReverbNation counts EVERY facebook page like, twitter follower and youtube subscriber to your fan count. That's the way to boost your band equity and therefore your chart rank. And a better chart rank results in more plays and profile visits which also increases your band equity! See, it's a circle, isn't it?

I'm not adding fans 24/7 to stay on chart rank #1 the entire time but every now and then I give everything a boost to keep a place in the top ten at least. This graph shows you a 60 day period and you can clearly see where I started using my method again (unfortunately I can't upload larger pics):



And least but not least - my royalties (note: album/track sales are iTunes and Amazon mp3 sales, streams are Spotify streams):



Twists:

1) If you're serious about your career and you want to invest: Use Facebook and twitter ads instead of AMF.
2) Same with youtube: You can buy subscribers but if you want high quality, interacting user you should make a good music video and promote that to naturally gain subscribers. If you work for a client, offer them to produce the video
3) You can either use this method for your own musical activities or - as I mentioned earlier - offer it as a service to musicians/bands. I do both

I admit, it's a very simple method but maybe some of you can use it. Feel free to ask questions.

 

[Elon Snup]

Good post !

So reverbnation ranking is based on social media signals ? How real are the followers / likes from AMF ? Are you getting any interactions with them ?

Finally, can you quantify the traffic received from your reverbnation account ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[somedevil]

So reverbnation ranking is based on social media signals ? How real are the followers / likes from AMF ? Are you getting any interactions with them ?

Not really. Think of it just as a way of increasing numbers.

 

[chantroitudo]

Good method. Will try it

 

[PatvonB]

Good post !
So reverbnation ranking is based on social media signals ? How real are the followers / likes from AMF ? Are you getting any interactions with them ?
Finally, can you quantify the traffic received from your reverbnation account ?
Thanks in advance.

Yes, but social signals (likes, followers, subscribers) are not the only ranking factor. As I said, song plays and profile visits are also part of the game. The AMF likes/followers are really just to increase numbers - you won't get any interaction from them. This is why I mentioned FB ads - if you want to invest some money in your music career FB ads are a good way to target your audience as you can choose to target people who like similar artists, etc.

If you want interacting youtube subscribers, you can go for TubeAssist or TubeToolbox - I had great experience with both and currently I'm running the former Only one video sharing campaign drives about 30 views/day to my video. My video currently has 1100 views, 90 likes and more than 100 comments. I admit, that's slow and 1100 views are not much but the interaction and conversion are very good

Here are my traffic stats:

 

[ming34]

can this be done with music i dont own ?
i am not a musician but interested in this method

 

[Elon Snup]

can this be done with music i dont own ?
i am not a musician but interested in this method

I think this is really if you love music and want to make profit of it. Don't see it as a business model that you could easily apply. It requires alot of work (I've been doing music); growing and keeping the attention of all your subscribers is a day-to-day job, not even including the quality of your music. It will work surely, but you have to put hard work, and passion in it.

 

[Conor]

Very cool. I might start offering this as a service to some of my clients.

It's a wonder so many websites rely on Facebook likes to count votes, etc. But all the better for the blackhatters I guess.

 

[drnoxx]

Should I distribute my album through reverbnation on itunes? Because I'm on itunes but not through reverbnation distribution...

Otherwise I could add the itunes link to my account?

 

[lord1027]

Imagine the power of this method with real likes and followers. Sure, some money need to be invested, but it would be worth it.

 

[Elon Snup]

Imagine the power of this method with real likes and followers. Sure, some money need to be invested, but it would be worth it.

Right but if you think about it. That is just how music works. reals fans, real sales. So to summarize... make good music, grow a fan base, sell songs.

 

[netcelal]

Very cool method. Thanks

 

[PatvonB]

can this be done with music i dont own ?
i am not a musician but interested in this method

It can be done but I wouldn't suggest it. Making money from music that you don't own can get you in VERY serious trouble with the copyright law. Of course, you could make up some fake artist profiles, rip some unknown artists music and apply this method but in my eyes that would be stealing and not just black-hatting. Moreover I think it's nearly impossible to get your ripped music up on iTunes or any other major online distributer without raising flags sooner or later as they moderate their database very strict - hell, there even is a 20-page iTunes style guide that tells you how your song titles have to look like (capital/non-capital letters).

I think this is really if you love music and want to make profit of it. Don't see it as a business model that you could easily apply. It requires alot of work (I've been doing music); growing and keeping the attention of all your subscribers is a day-to-day job, not even including the quality of your music. It will work surely, but you have to put hard work, and passion in it.

I agree 100%

Very cool. I might start offering this as a service to some of my clients.
It's a wonder so many websites rely on Facebook likes to count votes, etc. But all the better for the blackhatters I guess.

Cool! Good luck with this business

Should I distribute my album through reverbnation on itunes? Because I'm on itunes but not through reverbnation distribution...
Otherwise I could add the itunes link to my account?

No, it's not necessary to use their iTunes distribution service. You can also use TuneCore or any other service to release your album. The important thing is that your music is available at major online distributers (especially iTunes, Amazon, Spotify) so people can buy it easily. Yes, you can add your iTunes link on your reverbnation profile: Click on Content->Customize profile->scroll down to "Around the web". You can add your links their and they will appear as beautiful icons on your profile

Imagine the power of this method with real likes and followers. Sure, some money need to be invested, but it would be worth it.

Yes, it's very powerful! Occasionally I do small investments in targeted facebook ads and I have a TubeAssist subscription for 19$/mo to share my music videos with a targeted audience. It's a slow but very steady way to build a REAL fanbase that is willing to interact and buy your music.
Btw, I just read a study that said an investment of appr. $500k has to be made to establish a fresh artist in todays international music scene. Insane days we're all living in...

Right but if you think about it. That is just how music works. reals fans, real sales. So to summarize... make good music, grow a fan base, sell songs.

Again, 100% agree