Usually I like to tell a story or opine about a current topic in my blog posts, but for this one I’ll settle for the role of announcer and report some great achievements and improvements of our Marketplace partners.
1. Moontoast is Billboard’s #2 Music Startup of 2011!
It’s nice when one’s belief in a company is validated by a respectable source. Moontoast Impulse has harnessed the power of social with the power of direct-to-fan sales. If you’re not selling your music on Facebook yet, shame on you. Start here with Moontoast’s Marketplace app.
2. Ganxy reports to SoundScan!
Ganxy is continuously improving their super simple system that enables artists to sell digital music from any online property. The latest improvement is that they report to Nielsen SoundScan for U.S., Canada and International sales, thereby adding your D2C sales to your sales from other retailers and hopefully influencing your chart position. This doesn’t change how you set up Ganxy, but if you need a refresher, check out this handy video tutorial before you use Ganxy in the Marketplace.
“Fanrank” became a bit too limiting as Fanzy evolved to offer many more fan engagement tools. Fanzy works with nightclubs (hey, “TAO Las Vegas”), NBA teams (bon jour, Sacramento Kings), and even our own artists (hola, Boyz II Men). Been wondering how to reward your artists’ most active fans during this holiday season? Install the Fanzy Marketplace app!
4. Haulix’s video tutorial makes it so easy a 5 year old could use it!
In case you confuse easily (it happens to the best of us), take a look at Haulix‘s video to learn how to digitally send watermarked songs to your industry contacts – and even track to see who listened to them! That pesky journalist can’t elude you when you use Haulix, available here.
I’m pretty sure that everyone my age was obsessed with Nevermind at one time or another. Well, webdoc has brought many of those obsessions to life with the promotion they’re running with Universal US. Curious to see how your fans display their fanaticism with your artists? Go ahead and create a webdoc now.
It’s almost the holidays! We can hear them; we can smell them; we can feel them. And so can iTunes.
How does this affect you?
Well, iTunes has certain delivery deadlines you’ll need to meet in order to get your holiday compilations and other releases up in time.
Here’s what you need to know:
So go get started on those awesome holiday releases we know you have up your sleeve. And remember that you can easily create compilations thanks to The Orchard’s Compilation Builder option in Release Builder.
To create your own, log into your Orchard account and go to Release Builder. Click on Create a new Single Audio Release. Fill out the title of your release, for instance “My Great Holiday Sampler,” and complete the remaining fields as you usually would.
On the next page, you’ll see your newly created release, just waiting to have tracks added to it. Instead of clicking “Upload Audio” as you usually might, click on “Select An Existing Track” below the “Creating a Compilation?” question, and choose from the tracks you’ve already uploaded to your account. Repeat the process until you’ve completed your compilation, and submit the release when you’re done!
After all, it’s not really holiday season until you’ve created a holiday mix.
Perhaps you know what a QR code is… Short for “Quick Response Code,” a QR code might remind you of a barcode you would find at your supermarket, only squarer and strangely akin to those 3D illusions you find in doctor’s waiting rooms. Even if you don’t know what QR codes are, you’ve surely seen them surreptitiously mark billboards, cereal boxes, and even buses whizzing through Manhattan.
In fact, QR codes have existed for many years – originally to track parts in vehicle manufacturing. They have recently evolved into becoming powerful marketing tools catering to smart phones and mobile websites. You scan them with any kind of barcode scanning application on your phone, after which you are redirected to a mobile website experience beyond your dreams.
Well, you wouldn’t want to be the last one on the boat now, would you? Lucky for you, The Orchard’s Marketplace has partnered with ShareSquare, an app that creates individual QR codes that correspond to custom HMTL5 mobile web apps, thus helping you bridge the gap between your offline audiences and the mobile web.
To get your own ShareSquare, install the app in The Marketplace. When you reach the ShareSquare website, click on “Create a ShareSquare” in the right hand corner. The next page is where you get to customize the mobile experience your fans will have when they scan your code.
Start by give your ShareSquare a name, and clicking on the recognizable orange button: “Download from The Orchard.” This will import the data you’ve already supplied to The Orchard’s Artist and Release Builder, making it easier for you to customize your ShareSquare.
Next, you can begin creating your mobile web application. Choose a background image, include a bio, videos, events, links to your social networks, a merchandise store, music purchase links, contests and more. Simply click on the appropriate tab, enable it, and make your additions and edits.
When you’re satisfied, click “Save and Exit.” You’ll then see your ShareSquare information page, where you can preview your app by clicking on the ‘View’ button; track your analytics, which include geo-targeted maps, number of visitors, views, comments, clicks, and more; and change your settings, such as your app’s landing page, whether to Like your page before getting access to it, and more options depending on your subscription. Most importantly, this is where you can download your individual QR code, to be placed on any poster, sticker, album cover, merchandise or city bus of your choice.
View all the ShareSquares you’ve created on your Dashboard (top right button) and edit them at your leisure. Changes will be saved in real-time, allowing you to update and optimize your campaigns on the fly.
ShareSquare has three types of subscription options: Free; Pro ($20/month); or Enterprise ($399/month).
Be sure to check out Boyz II Men‘s mobile website by scanning their ShareSquare (search for it within this very post…) with your mobile phone, and watch their video demo below:
ShareSquare is accessible via The Marketplace. Read more about them on their One Sheet.
Never underestimate the power of a simple concept. email4download, or e4d for short, appreciates that. This application designed by Push Entertainment is an embeddable widget that captures fans’ email address in exchange for a download. Fans can then choose to embed the widget on their own website or blog, spreading the word as they do.
Get the widget in a few simple steps:
Once you’ve set up your widget and embedded it on your website or blog, you can return to the app at any time to view your widget’s activity, and download an Excel spreadsheet with your newly acquired contacts. You’ll also have access to a “download-o-meter” which keeps track of your remaining credit.
As a Marketplace special, the first widget is free for clients of The Orchard and includes 1,000 downloads. Additional widgets are $49 for 3,000 downloads and $100 for 10,000 downloads.
Watch their mini-demo below and start building those contact lists!
It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
e4d is available via The Marketplace. Learn more about them on their One Sheet.
If you’ve experimented with The Orchard Marketplace, you may have already encountered some apps that work tightly with SoundCloud, like BandRx or webdoc for example. Indeed, the popular sound sharing platform is quite prominent in the social sphere.
Whether you want to improve your experience with other Marketplace apps, or simply upload the music from your catalogue to share at your leisure, The Orchard has created a tool to help you do just that.
With The Orchard SoundCloud Connect, it’s now possible to move your music from The Orchard Workstation to your SoundCloud account, quickly and easily. You can also synchronize the app with any SoundCloud account you like, allowing you to upload multiple tracks across multiple accounts.
To get started, just launch the app from The Marketplace. Connect to SoundCloud by clicking on the appropriately named button. You’ll then be directed to a page asking you to link your SoundCloud account with The Orchard. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one before using the app. You can do this straight from this page by clicking on the Sign Up tab. If you do have an account, log in to the one of your choice and click Connect.
Once linked, you’ll be led back to The Orchard SoundCloud Connect page.
The next step is as easy as can be. A list of songs from your catalogue will appear on the page and all you need to do is click Send for each track you’d like to upload to your SoundCloud. A message will appear in the SoundCloud Status column letting you know it has been uploaded, with a link to view the song on your account.
Keep in mind that songs automatically upload as “Private,” which results in three things:
When you’re done, you can either disconnect your SoundCloud account to repeat the process with another account, or stay connected to the same one for easy access next time you launch the application.
Check out the mini-demo below for additional insight on how to use The Orchard SoundCloud Connect, and don’t hesitate to let us know if you encounter any issues or have any questions!
The Orchard SoundCloud Connect is available via The Marketplace.
