Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, Distribution, and Retail

Sell more music! Learn the most effective marketing strategies available to musicians, leveraging the important changes and opportunities that the digital age has brought to music marketing. This multifaceted and integrated approach will help you to develop an effective worldwide marketing strategy. Step by step, you will develop an active marketing plan and timeline tailored to your unique strengths and budget.

You will learn to:

• Time your marketing campaign effectively
• Publicize your music effectively to traditional print outlets and emerging online opportunities
• Understand the current opportunities for online, satellite, and terrestrial radio play
• Navigate various retail and distribution options, both at brick-and-mortar and online options, such as iTunes, Rhapsody, and other services
• Merchandize yourself profitably
• Maximize your touring efforts
• Avoid common mistakes in music marketing

Mike King has managed the marketing efforts of artists including Morphine, Bill Hicks, Chuck E. Weiss, Frank Zappa, and many other world-class artists. He has worked at Rykodisc and Rounder Records, and is currently at Berkleemusic, the online continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, where he writes and teaches courses in music business.

"A strategic, real-world, down-in-the-street approach to selling music in today's music marketplace, that takes advantage of the most effective contemporary tools, while remaining well grounded in the traditional marketing techniques that remain relevant. If you want your music to see the light of day, follow this indispensable step-by-step advice, clearly put forth from the industry trenches by an unusually effective and creative marketing professional."

—Chris Stone, Founder, Record Plant Studios; co-founder and former executive director of the Music Producers Guild of the Americas (MPGA).

"A synthesis of classical marketing principles and the newest effective tools, this real-world approach to marketing your music provides indispensable step-by-step advice for success. And it works; as an artist manager, I've used these techniques to help propel my artist from relative obscurity to national prominence within one year. I will keep applying these valuable lessons from a seasoned pro."

—Ihor Gowda, Artist Manager for Suzanna Choffel

"Finally a book that covers the ABCs of music marketing in the new frontier of the recorded music industry. Mike King's book should be required reading for every musician. It gives a concise understanding of marketing your music at any level."

—Terry Currier, President of Music Millennium, Burnside Records, and Burnside Distribution; Board Member of CIMS