Baseball players young and old still field ground balls in practice, turn double plays, practice bunting, play catch – every single day.  Whether they are in little league or the majors the routine of practicing fundamentals is key.

Approaching the business of music is the same.  For musicians trying to make it from nothing to something, or even for those that are “something” and want to make to the next level – signed by a major label, etc. – everyone still must remember the fundamentals of marketing your music.

1. Make sure your web site is the central hub of all things about your music. First and foremost, there needs to be a central place where you can control things, and your website is it.  Myspace, Facebook, etc are controlled by those companies, and you can’t build and plan around that long term.

The most important aspects of your website will be the ability to (i) collect emails and (ii) distribute your music how you want (free downloads, pay what you want, etc).  You don’t have to create those features from scratch, as you can utilize services like Reverb Nation, Bandcamp or others, however everything should still start from your website with the intention of gathering your fans’ data.

Blog Gen Y Rock Stars has an extremely well thought out video blog about using your fans data strategically to better target the buyers of your music.  To repeat, it all starts with getting fan emails.

2. Find bands or musicians you respect and or want to emulate and see how they are growing and marketing themselves. Where do they market themselves, on and off line?  Which bands and online platforms do they partner with?  How do they attract new fans?  This is actually an important first step.  In this day and age of over-information, you’ll need to determine the specific means by which the subgroup/mirco-community of fans that you want to attract will find you.

3. Build out a myspace and facebook presence, and start twittering. Somewhat obvious, as fundamentals usually are, but nevertheless important, again as fundamentals usually are.  Get those numbers of friends up!  And of course, try and do it in as cool and unobtrusive way as possible.  Those numbers will matter to new fans (the more numbers you have the more people will want to be a part of it; human nature’s natural growth affect).  It will also matter to future business partners, management organizations and music labels (if you are looking for that sort of thing).  Much like in the world of start up companies, do-it-yourself means that since you can do it yourself for a while, people who may invest in you will want to see what you can accomplish on your own, so as to lessen their risk.  No longer is it about hearing a tape/CD, sizing you up, and determining if you are worth the time and financial investment to see if you make it.  We now all have very quantifiable numbers to use.  With rare exception, you must get over the numbers hump to be considered for any special future opportunities.

As for twitter, whether you think it matters of not, getting in the habit of documenting worthwhile thoughts and being consistent about it will instill some important daily habits in you, such as the daily habit of thinking about how to better market yourself and build your brand.

Blog FISTFULAYAN summarizes the steps for a new band simply as:

1. Creating awareness
2. Making connections
3. Monetizing

This fundamental step covers #1 and #2.  You should check out this recent post from them – it provides some helpful detail and insight into the thought process of what should and could go into your website.

4. Never stop interacting with your fans. Treat each one as special, especially in the beginning.  Word of mouth will help beginners the most, but it is still important for any level.  Word of mouth, after all, is the top reason people listen to new music. If a friend we trust says it is worth listening too, which usually do.  If they say don’t bother, then most of us don’t bother.

5. Continue reading the music industry blogs. The multitude of bloggers in this indie musician space works to your advantage – you can keep informed on the continuous string of new products and services, and, perhaps most importantly, get new ideas on how to better take advantage of the products or services you are already using.  You will need to continue to improve and increase your marketing efforts.  Constant review of music marketing blogs for insight and that helpful push and motivation will make these efforts feel much less painful (this is where Volume 11’s Full Blog feed helps).

I will be sitting on a panel at the upcoming 5th San Francisco Music & Technology Summit on Monday, December 7, 2009 that will be discussing topics similar to this post, although with more of a technology focus. Thus, several articles with this theme will be published this month.  Hope to see you at the SF MusicTech Summit!