Check this link out to go to the pledge music page
Maskerade: I Am Maskerade update: Video Blog – Day 4 http://lnk.ms/GBWj1
Today I had a great meeting with Evalyn Salcedo. A friend of mine from the Philippines. She’s very excited about the possibilities of my music over seas. There is a lot of competition in the USA with the accessibility of music software. Beatmakers, singers, and songwriters are popping out of the woodworks. So maybe, just maybe I can break a little bit in Asia. Who knows?
What I do know is that I’m ready for anything. Working for the man and not the music is just not for me. It’s always been about music. That’s the only way I’ll be happy with this life that I’m living.
Shout out to Kellyne Clapper and Terrance Allen for pledging with me. Much appreciated!
Today, unfortunately, I still didn’t have enough time to get all my emails out to my family, friends, and fans. Tomorrow that will definitely change. If you want to know what I was doing, then you can check it out for yourself.
Okay I tell you. I was finishing up a video shoot for my first single, Unbreak Your Heart. I apologize for all the shaky hands. I’ll make sure I watch that the next time I do an outside update. Time is a wasting and I’ve got to get on it.
Shout out to Benji from Pledge Music for making the first pledge. I think I’m a get my Mama to do one to help me out too. LOL. Just watch, everyone’s getting involved in this one.
IF YOU HAVEN’T PRESSED FOLLOW, PLEASE DO SO NOW. Please, please, please let me know that you’re out there and your with me. I promise you won’t be disappointed with this project.
Today, November 1, 2011, is day 1 of my Pledgemusic.com campain. My upcoming album I AM MASKERADE is been in production for about a year. I’ve taken my time on production and release, because I wanted it to be not just my best effort, but the best from anybody out there. I’m not talking about just independent R&B and Pop either. I mean better than the commercial music that you hear out there.
I feel like if I write the best album on the planet, then that will give me a fighting chance to make it in this business. I think Pledge Music, is offering a great opportunity for artist to get out and fund their projects. I feel like they are on my side.
Over the last few months, I had been studying Ariel Hyatt’s book, Music Success in 9 Weeks. It taught me a lot of things. The main thing that I came with was the underlying theme of the book. I have to be a constant marketing and promotion machine for my own music. When you’re a signed artist, there are other people doing these things for you. Independents do not have the luxury of gigantic staffs. All we have is the skin on our backs and the pennies in our accounts. Oh yeah, we got blood, sweat, and tears too.
For these next two months, I have 2 things in mind. Radio spins and Project funds. I’ve already released the first single, “Unbreak Your Heart”, to radio and currently in production of that video as well. Currently I’m gathering my list of radio stations to contact and see if any are interested in breaking the record.
Funding the project is the other issue that I have to worry about. I don’t doubt that this album will get manufactured. The thing I’m hoping is that my family and friends can help me lighten the blow. That’s all I need is help. Wish me luck! 🙂
And again, this last week we’ve had some good things happen. I got the final edit of my first show this year. I’m going to use this video as a promo reel for trying to book more shows. My last performance that I booked, did not go so well. When I got there the DJ could barely get the sound system working right, so I didn’t go up. I did manage to pass out some free demos and add a few people to my email list.
Speaking of email lists, that’s what this weeks focus was about. The thing is though, now we’re adding on to the other lists of priorities that need to be taken care of. Am I up for it? Absolutely! It’s also a nice goal to shoot for 1,000 email listers. I like the idea of that. Even though there will be plenty of things for me to do and not enough time to do them all. I feel like the key is not to get caught up in the number, but in the effort. What I’m doing now is a whole lot better than doing nothing. In the end the true goal is to be much better off than when I started. Whether I win this challenge or not, I will be much better than I was.
I actually have a great email list on Reverbnation.com. I’ve also been continuing to build it as I go. Last week I actually added another name, so that was good. What I haven’t done in the past is keep in consistent contact. I’m pretty sure that is a problem. So the weeks focus is on that. So I sent out my first letter in many many months. I just explained that I’ve been working on a great album that I plan to release around the end of the year. I told them I was going to do my best to keep them in the loop and release a few songs here and there. I’m also going to post videos in the newsletter as well. My goal here is the consistency.
UPDATES:
Youtube is going strong. My channel has gotten over 100,000 views and I plan on doing about 10 more covers plus something controversial. (Maybe I can go viral). I also have a new friend, Scarecrow Beats. He just posted one song that we collaborated on, “Unbreak Your Heart”, and it’s gotten a ton of plays already. He’s really been pushing it because we both believe its a great song. Check it out here.
Twitter has shot up to 63 followers so far. I’m following 268 right now. I plan to increase that to 1,000. What I found is that the more you follow, the more that follow you! This helps everyone!
Facebook is a force to be reckoned with. I’m keeping all my friends abreast as to what’s going on in my life. Hopefully more come out and join me at my shows.
Myspace feels like a waste of time at times. I’m not giving up on it though. There are still a ton of potential fans on there.
Of all the things that deal with social media, I feel that blogs are the best. Learning about google reader and already having over 20 RSS subscriptions is really helping me get my name out there to people that matter.
I Am Maskerade 