OnStartups is a new favorite blog of mine. Their article on Startup Marketing Tips offers some extremely helpful, direct and practical advice. This article is also a nice continuation of Dan’s most recent article about the similarities of tech startups and bands.

To me the tips discussed here not only validate the advice most of us are reading from all indie music business blogs, but they also motivates me to do more. After all, why not? If this is your chosen path you should be putting all you got into it.

Some tips in the OnStartups article that could be tweaked for musicians:

- For a band name, luckily we all also have the option of adding “music” for a domain, BandNameMusic.com or for myspace has certainly saved many musicians!

- You should add MySpace when Facebook is mentioned. Yes, MySpaceMusic is here to stay.

- You should be using Google Alerts too. It is easy to gets started and it will motivate you try and do my more to get your band named more online.

-LinkedIn references may or may not be applicable, but you call also substitute or add what you know to be the local online tribes, networks or blogs where the musicians you know and/or fans you want congregate.

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In addition to my work as a Web designer at Kosmix, I manage a San Francisco band called Seconds on End. We play at places like the Boom Boom Room in San Francisco, the Little Fox in Redwood City, and the Pioneer Saloon in Woodside. We’re known for experimentation, and we have a eclectic but loyal following of passionate fans. In lots of ways, the band is exactly like a startup.

At first glance, the worlds of music and technology are polar opposites. The rock star and the geek seem to come from two very different sides of the social spectrum. One is about sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. The other: Long nights, hard work, and sitting alone in front of computer cranking out code.

But startups and bands have one key thing in common: both have to attract and grow fans. And to get a hit, you need just the right mix of quality, promotion and image. Here are a few things I’ve learned from my experiences with bands and startups:

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This month saw a good amount of coverage on past and future music listening and purchasing practices.

Hypebot covered two points on user data this month. One discussed how UK music buyers prefer CDs to digital, and another discussed music sharing data.

As for preferring CDs, it is difficult to imagine this to be fully true, but in reviewing the comments to this piece perhaps there is a compromise scenario here where when you download an album you can opt to get the CD at cost (w shipping) or for a few bucks more. This guarantees ownership in a way that digital downloads do not, and can provide access to album art, lyrics etc. After all, with the economy being what it is, consumers more than ever appreciate the value of what they are paying for. Digital downloads have zero incremental costs to artists, where CDs have more actual hard costs, so purchasing downloads and paying a bit more for a CD too at the time of sale could be a great way to create renewed interest in music purchasing.

Interestingly, these thoughts are consistent with what Apple is beginning to do with record labels. Apple is collaborating with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music Group with an eye towards creating an interactive bundle on their iTunes shore that includes material such as liner notes, lyric sheets and photos. The “interactive book” would apparently let users play songs without having to return to the iTunes software.

The goal is to spark sales of digital albums, “with a nod to the music-listening habits of a bygone era.”

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