With the ever changing music industry today, it is interesting to watch independent artists/band experiment with different things. The Nadas are no strangers to the music industry, having been around for over 15 years. They have managed to make a career out of music, and establish a following around the country. They have also started their own label, Authentic Records, and successfully developed several other bands.
The Nadas constantly strive to stay up with the trends in music, and have greatly impressed me as of late. There are a lot of online tools available to bands, and The Nadas are doing a great job with the tools they are using. Almost every member of the band is on Twitter, and posts fairly regularly. They use Twitter in an effective manner too - not just to promote their music, but to build relationships with people. They also have their label on Twitter. They utilize this to mention things that are going on for their artists, and also release a weekly "Ear Snack" via Twitter. The Ear Snack is a free download from one of their artists that you can obtain by going to the Authentic Records website. Some of the band members post TwitPics regularly, of sometimes random stuff, but fun. In addition to Twitter, they update blogs, post live streams of shows on Ustream, and much more. The Nadas also do a good job of incorporating the online tools they're using with the offline. These guys put on a great live show, and truly appreciate people coming out to see them and hang out.
Probably the most unique and interesting thing that they're doing right now is their new album called Almanac. The album itself is an interesting concept - for the year of 2009, The Nadas are writing, recording, and releasing one song per month. At the end of the year, they will release the full physical album. The coolest thing they are doing with this project is allowing fans to be part of the process along the way. They recently posted on Twitter that they were listening to the final mix of the the first song on Almanac, and were looking for feedback. This message was accompanied by a link to their live in-studio Ustream feed. They allowed fans to listen to the mix, and give their feedback live. They are also offering many other options for fans to be involved in the process, with several different monetary offering varying access. I'm very anxious to see how this approach works out for them - offering access to something fans typically are not involved in, for a price. I think this may be the way the industry goes, and am very excited for these guys and glad to see them on the cutting edge. Check out the different packages they are offering below, and go check these guys out when they're near you - their great music and fun/crazy/sometimes drunken/and often hilarious shows are well worth it!
There are a lot of great music blogs out there that offer some really solid info. But recently, I was reading one that offered some advice that I animately disagree with. I'm not going to call them out on it, because that's just not nice. The blog suggested that when an artist or band gets busy enough, they should hire someone to update things such as their Twitter. This is something that bands/artists should NEVER, ever do! It all comes back to a blog that I posted a while back about having an authentic conversation with the fans, and building those relationships. It's very important that a band's online/social media efforts are giving fans an inside look, not just pushing the latest CD (or another thing of the band).
Which brings me to my next point...
There is a plethera of online tools available to bands/artists today. With everything to choose from, a lot of bands try to utilize all of the online tools, and do a half ass job with all of them. Rather than trying to use all of the online tools, bands should take a serious look at their fanbase and where they hang out online. Then select the online pieces that you know you can update regularly. The number of those is up to each band, dependent on the amount of time and commitment they have to it. Then do a fantastic job with those online tools that you're dedicated to, rather the half ass job with all of them. But never give up those things and hire someone to do them. If there is a need to trim back as you move along, that's okay. But keep the relationships with your fans real.
