May 27,
2009
Newsletter
#94
Hello from Ariel!
In This Week's Issue:
- Spread The Word!
- THIS WEEK'S FEATURED CLIENT - Ace Noface
- THIS WEEK'S FEATURED VIDEO
- THIS WEEK'S FEATURED RESOURCES: A BLOG, A
PODCAST, & A STATION
- New Media Pioneer: An inside look at UC
Radio Podshow with Michael Yusi
SPREAD THE WORD!
Tuesday
June 2, 2009 6PM-9PM – New York
City
With Ariel Hyatt, of Ariel
Publicity & Cyber PR And Debra Russell,
Artist’s EDGE Success Coaching - http://artists-edge.com/2009/05/artists-success-salon/
Get
ready for a fascinating evening with two Experts
in the Music Industry. Debra and Ariel will
interview each other to discover what you need to
truly succeed in the Music Biz!
We will
talk about how to break through fears and things
that may be stopping you from getting what you
want and we will look at ways that you can connect
more effectively to communities of fans who will
support you, help you get where you want to be and
Buy your music.
THIS WEEK'S FEATURED
CLIENT
Ace Noface - East Lansing,
MI Genre: Piano
Rock http://arielpublicity.net/clients/2569
Words like “inspiringâ€ð get used so casually
that their meaning loses power. But in the case of
Ace Noface, and his new album, Toxic Charm, one
immediately becomes present to the true meaning of
words like inspiration and courage.
The musician, living with a terminal illness,
is facing his fate with courage and conviction by
creating rich and resonant piano-based rock that
is in turn hypnotic, jarring and spellbinding.
Ace’s life and music is the ultimate example of
living what is possible in the face of any
circumstance.
THIS WEEK'S FEATURED VIDEO
"Femtastic" by Jennings Genre:
SingerSongwriter, Pop, Electronica, Indie http://www.arielpublicity.net/clients/2573
With the
soothing sound of piano accompanied by a strong
voice and an electronica edge, Jennings creates a
sound drawn from musicians like Imogen Heap, Annie
Lennox, Tori Amos and Moby.
http://cyberprvideo.blip.tv/#2160627
THIS WEEK'S FEATURED RESOURCES: A BLOG, A
PODCAST, & A STATION
Featured
Blog: Mossip http://community.livejournal.com/mossip/
Mossip is a community made by people who love
music. We are here to provide you with
Concert/Album Reviews, happenings in the music
world and last but not least music gossip.
Featured Podcast: The Cadence
Revolution http://www.cadencerevolution.com/
The Cadence Revolution is a weekly workout
music podcast featuring new and independent
artists that will move you physically and
stimulate you mentally. Geared towards anyone who
cycles, spins, runs, walks, or just wants to be
motivated to get off of the
couch.
Featured Internet
Radio: Radio Gets
Wild ttp://www.radiogetswild.com
Internet radio station that plays
indie pop, indie rock, and various independent
music. Radio Gets Wild is an on-line interactive
community radio station with DJ broadcasters from
all around the world. Its a station by the people
for the people from all ages and walks of life. A
caring sharing community of which everyone helps
each other both in work and play, and a community
everyone is very proud to be a part of.
New Media Pioneer: An inside look at UC
Radio Podshow with Michael Yusi
http://www.myspace.com/ucradio
http://www.ucradiopodshow.com
Q: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced
as a podcaster?
A: Growing the
audience. I find myself at least a couple of
nights a week staring at the ceiling at 3am trying
to figure out new ways to drive more listeners to
The UC Radio Podshow, as well as Pacific Coast
Hellway which I co-produce with Mark Yoshimoto
Nemcoff.
Honestly, I’m incredibly fortunate
to have a listener base that hasn’t left me, which
is fairly uncommon in podcasting. And not only
have they stuck around, but they’ve spread the
word and been incredibly supportive of the bands
that I’ve played by going to shows, buying albums
and visiting their sites. I’ve also been lucky in
that I’ve formed some excellent relationships with
bands. I like to think it’s because I know what
they go through daily trying to make it so we
speak the same language.
That’s led to some exclusive tracks and
pre-release album give aways from some amazing
bands worldwide. I’ve got a couple of bands that
wear my t shirts when they play and promote the
show for me from the stage by handing out stickers
and the now world famous UC Radio promotional
guitar picks. That’s huge and I can’t thank them
enough.
Q: How has the programming and
format of UC Podcast evolved over the course of
the shows history?
A: The show started
out with me playing about 30 minutes of music and
pretty much doing the DJ thing, simply introducing
the music and playing songs back to back, as many
times a week as I could squeeze in. I got a lot of
feedback from early listeners asking that I give
more info about the bands, upcoming shows, but
more importantly, listeners started asking me why
I liked the songs and who I thought the bands
sounded like.
The end of the first year is really when the
show changed. After listening to a number of my
shows back to back, I realized that it wasn’t
quantity, but quality and production that made
certain shows really stand out. I cut back to two
shows a week, started only playing bands that I
actually want on my iPod, and started to ditch the
DJ act and just be myself. The difference in the
shows was immediate and the numbers started going
up.
I started talking more about the
influences I was hearing in the music, comparing
bands to mainstream acts that people would
recognize. I began answering listener emails on
the show, which led to people asking about my
political stance (don’t even remember how that
started), my opinion on social topics etc. so the
show became about half music, and half me just
talking about whatever came to mind or was in the
news that seemed to interest the listeners. I’ve
also done over 75 classic album referrals in the
last year and a half. That has been a big hit and
I wish I’d thought of it earlier. As far as I
know, I’m still the only podcaster out there doing
album referrals on a weekly basis.
Two
other things had an incredible impact on the show.
The first was the realization that people were
actually listening and that I had more of a
responsibility to them to produce a better show
which led to some outlay of cash on things like
compressors, mixers, mics and software and as the
show started to sound better, my confidence grew
exponentially. The second was the fact that I
started getting email from places like Iraq,
Afghanistan and other places where we had soldiers
getting shot at for us.
These guys somehow had found the show and were
thanking me for putting them out there for their
entertainment, as a little blast from home. That’s
pretty humbling and it made me think of the impact
that my show could have in an entirely different
light. I mean think about it. Here I am, safe and
sound in Hollywood, doing something I love,
listening to music and talking about it, while
half way around the world some poor kid is huddled
in a hole trying not to get shot while listening
to my show. Then, when he gets ten minutes off and
some computer time, he emails me to thank me. I
swear, I get those emails once in awhile and just
shake my head in disbelief.
Q: What was
the reason for hosting the show on PodShow rather
than its own site?
A: Just to be
clear, I do have my own site. You can find
shownotes, GoDaddy sponsorship details and a lot
of other info about me and the bands I play at www.bitemefcc.com
As
for hosting, I hosted my show off my own server
for the first two months, then I went to Libsyn,
which is a great company. About 14 months in, I
was offered a contract by The Podshow Network and
I haven’t looked back. Not only is the
distribution reliable, and they’ve helped me get
sponsorship from GoDaddy for the show, but the
talent that I get to work with daily and have
access to, the minds that are defining and shaping
New Media and looking well beyond what’s happening
with podcasting right now, blow me away on a daily
basis. I’m really proud and honored to be
associated with The Podshow Network.
Q:
For aspiring podcasters, do you have any tips for
growing their listener base?
A: Work
your shows. Develop content that is interesting,
well produced and that will speak to the listeners
in one way or another. Don’t just play bands, play
bands you like so when you talk about them, that
comes through. Don’t do a show about cars just
because you think they’re cool and you know how to
drive. Don’t talk about politics if you aren’t
willing to spend the time to really get under the
hood. Figure out what moves you, what you’re
passionate about, then do a show about that. I
guarantee you there are people out there that will
share your feelings.
Most importantly, take
ownership and be passionate about your shows. Use
urban guerrilla tactics to spread the word.
Stickers on menus, gas pumps and in record stores.
Give away T Shirts to hot girls because you know
that guys will look at them and go to the site
expecting to see the girls there (make sure your
logo is chest high). And don’t take yourself too
seriously.
Have fun with your show and the listeners will
have fun listening. Some of my best shows were
done when I had nothing planned other than the
bands I was going to play, or I was sick as a dog
and hopped up on Nyquil and Theraflu. I like to
take the David Lee Roth approach to podcasting.
When you’re doing the production, promotion and
distribution, it’s all work, but when you’ve got
the mic in front of you, if you’re not having fun,
how can you expect anyone else to?
Q:
Where do you plan to take the show in the coming
year?
A: Well, I just
resurrected my second show, “Sonic Wallpaperâ€ð at
sonicwallpaper.podshow.com, which is where I play
8 of the most commented on songs from the UC Radio
Podshow in the previous month. It’s like a
greatest hits show, if you will. I don’t talk
much, just intro the bands and give you 35-45
minutes of good solid rock. As for UC Radio
itself, I just did my first interview with the
band Urbansnake and it was a huge success.
Listeners loved it, and the band thought it was
great so I’ll be doing more of that. My hope is
that I’ll be able to get one interview in a week,
on the Monday shows, and do an album referral on
Thursdays shows as it is now. I’d also like to
start doing more live interviews with bands around
Hollywood, so you can look for that as
well.
Mostly, I’m hoping to start
developing more offshoots from the show, maybe a
show with just interviews, or just album
referrals, but UC Radio is my baby so it will
always be the central character in my play. I like
to say that it’s my therapy and my addiction which
keeps the whole thing spinning in a slightly out
of control circle, and I like it that way.
ABOUT US
Ariel Hyatt is the founder of Ariel Publicity
& Cyber PR, a digital public relations firm
that connects clients to the new media including
blogs, podcasts, Internet radio stations and
social networking sites. Over the past 13 years
she has represented over 1,435 musicians and
bands.
Educating musicians is her passion and several
times a year, she leads workshops teaching her
strategy of combining social networking with
Internet marketing to help clients grow larger
fanbases and earn more money.
Her first book Music Success in Nine Weeks was
released in June 2008. "Sound Advice," her
bi-weekly ezine and Internet TV series currently
reaches an audience of over 10,000 music
professionals. She is a contributing blogger for
Music Think Tank, and Know The Music Biz.
Sign Up here: http://www.arielpublicity.com
CONTACT & INFO
Ariel Publicity & Cyber PR 389 12th
Street Brooklyn, NY 11215
http://www.arielpublicity.com
http://www.bandletter.com
http://www.myspace.com/ArielPublicityNY
http://www.twitter.com/cyberpr
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