Last Saturday I had the pleasure of hosting a very animated and informative #DCWEEK panel discussion about how performing artists can use the web to their advantage. On the panel was Sean Glover, Director of Artists Relations at SoundExchange, Dave Sherbow, owner of onefanconsulting.com and musicbizguy.com and Keith Center, frontman of The Dreamscapes Project and owner of Figmental Records.

A number of important points were made during our discussion. For those of you who were unable to attend, here’s a summary:

• In order to maximize your online experience, you need to address the foundational elements of online marketing – define your identity, define who/where you target audience are, and define your attitude towards the web. Ask yourself how do you view the web? How would you google yourself? What is your competition doing? Go to your fans and make it easy for them to identify you. Don’t expect them to come to you.
• Key words in online marketing, via Jeff Pulver, “Listen, Connect, Share, Engage”.
• Emails are golden! Artists should prioritize collecting and owning fan data (such as email addresses, zip codes and cell numbers) and endeavor to collect this information via all their online platforms. Having a fan newsletter is one of the most important e-marketing tools. Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing avenues as it’s permission-based marketing. You can also be targeted in your marketing.
• MySpace (the grandfather of social networking sites) is not dead. It’s still a very effective promotional tool within the music industry due to its user-base, the familiarity of its lay-out and effective music player. Its power as an interactive platform has decreased, as social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have taken over. Dave Sherbow talks further about this in his blog post “Making Myspace Into a Tool That Matters”
• Artists need to protect their digital assets! Thousands of musicians have still not signed up to SoundExchange.com to collect their digital royalties. SoundExchange is an independent, non-profit performances rights organization which collects statutory royalties from satellite radio (such as SIRIUS XM), internet radio, cable TV music channels and similar platforms for streaming sound recordings. In order to receive these royalties artists MUST sign up to SoundExchange (it’s FREE).
• To stop yourself feeling overwhelmed with online management, choose solutions that are right for you. Two task management solutions recommended were  Evernote.com & Rememberthemilk.com.
• Online marketing only works in conjunction with effective offline marketing. If you are not aggressive and proactive with your offline marketing, the impact of your online marketing efforts will be decreased. The two compliment each other.

That’s it. In a nutshell.