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By Durwood L Walker
Dream Based On Old Music Industry
When I began writing songs some thirty years ago, my dream was to get just
one of those songs signed to a major label or artist. That was the objective
for most of us because that was the way the system operated then. Was I successful?
No, that didn't happen for me.
Dream Based On New Music Industry
In today's music industry environment, where the independent artist/musician
is in far more control of his or her destiny, signing with a big record label
has less importance. In fact, many of us no longer even entertain that idea.
Theoretically, the internet has made the playing field much more level. Still,
that is not to say it is easy to be successful. Far from it! The technology
that spawned the change in approach also opened the door for many more artists
to attempt to enter.
Internet Marketing Wake Up Call
When setting up my first website with a company called Site Build It (SBI),
I was totally unaware of all the nuts and bolts that are part of establishing
and maintaining a viable website.
Thinking a panda was a bear and a penguin was a flightless bird living largely
at the Poles, I knew of Google only as a search engine. I had no idea of their
role in keeping a site running smoothly and how not satisfying their requirements
can make your site of little value, if any.
I was aware that a musician or songwriter should not set up a Flash based
site if he or she expected it to succeed. That was a vital piece of information.
Still, I was not as prepared as I thought.
Juggling Between Creating and Maintaining Site
We all do things differently. While some songwriters, or any other creative
individual, might be able to sit down at any time and deliver the goods, others
have to wait for just the right moment. I happen to be part of the latter group.
So, I continue to find myself struggling to come up with new music while keeping
the website at peak performance. This, coupled with staying abreast of the
constantly changing requirements of the web, is a balancing act.
Message To The New Aspiring Songwriter
If you are a songwriter/artist about to begin a web presence for the first
time, my advice is to thoroughly research the components that go into creating
and maintaining an effective music website. Do this before the fact. Learn
as much as you can about how to approach this task. It will save you much time
and frustration in the long haul
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