an invitation to connect with people who want to help you be heard

We’ve been looking at a lot of ways to maintain an artist database and email list, like the Access database we still have from our two festivals, building our own database on the Net, Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo and Google groups, Windows Live, Teamr, IndieBandManager, LiveWire Musician, Onlinegigs, etc. and the one that offers the most cool features and best integration of tools, yet fits our budget (free) is ReverbNation (RN). 

We have moved the old Yahoo! email list over to RN’s FanReach.  What I like about RN is all the automation it makes available, so I only have to write a Press Release once and do a flyer once, and RN syndicates it to a lot of different channels.  RN also supplies really slick widgets you can place on MySpace, FaceBook, web pages, etc. and allows individual artists to sign up with a label or several labels (like DSP) and have yet another way for fans to find you.  If you allow us to list you on our roster, we can then use that listing to promote your shows (whether produced by us, or NOT) and your musical career.  We will gladly do as much or as little as you wish with your RN account.  Some of you (like Tracy Newman or emith) will be very hands-on and will completely control everything on RN that has anything to do with you.  That’s great.  It lets us promote you the way you want to be seen and heard, with less work needed from DSP.  Since us having you on our roster does NOT restrict your ability to list another label or just not have any label administering your RN presence, it will cost you nothing and gain you some fans.  Others will not want to have anything to do with this whole Internet Marketing thing, and will be happy to let us administer an account for them on RN.  We are willing to do that, and will always ask approval for whatever we post for you, and any changes we intend to make.  It will still be a win-win for less techified folks, because you’ll get free promotion of your music, made easier and more effective by  RN’s technology in DSP’s geeky hands.  We also think that some of you non-geeks may find that you like what RN has to offer, and want to start posting your new songs, CD’s and gigs, gradually taking over your RN account.  You will always have complete autonomy, absolute control, and as much or as little involvement as you like. 

After nosing about RN a bit, I believe you’ll agree that it has potential.  These major established artists do: 

Mary Chapin Carpenter, Jason Mraz, The Kennedys, Madonna, Duran Duran, Natasha Bedingfield,  

Push Play, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Dixie Chicks, Hank Williams, Jr, Diamond Rio, Trisha Yearwood 

I like seeing artists who appear at our shows in that mix: 

Tracy Newman and the Reinforcements have headlined two showcases for us,
     the most recent one on Sept. 18th. Note how many fans they have on RN! 

Marina V did both DesertSong Music Festivals, and a house concert at the Slater-Lunsford Home for Old Slater-Lunsfords
     She’s busy, but we’ll persuade her to spend another evening with us eventually. 

emith has done two showcases with DSP, and we’ll be working together again. 

Julia Jordan has played Butler’s, and we’re still looking for an opportunity to arrange a show with her at the Cedar Center. 

James Lee Stanley is another busy touring musician who will eventually (when synchrony arrives) do an HC or Showcase with DSP. 

Misner and Smith did a very successful showcase here, because of an email sent out by ReverbNation,
     which looked really good, had a player for their songs, and all the info I needed to know I wanted to host them. 

We are now encouraging any artist DSP promotes to acquire a FREE RN artist account,
  and if you don’t care to mess with it, we can create one for you. 

That will provide a format for our artist database, with lots of automated widgets and RSS feeds to share information into and out of our little world. 

Here’s our new artist page, with just a few artists listed for now: DESERTSONG on ReverbNation 

If the link above doesn’t work, paste this into your browser’s address bar: http://www.reverbnation.com/label/desertsongproductions 

When you get there, if you don’t already have a ReverbNation Artist Account,
we urge you to go to the upper-right corner and click the SIGN UP link: 

 If you have any concerns about these changes, suggestions or comments- please contact me: 

closeup of the signup button on ReverbNation site