Bob Baker's The Buzz Factor

If you pick up the December 2004 issue of Electronic Musician, you'll find a great article on Internet music promotion by my pal Ravi. It's called "Pounding the Virtual Pavement" (page 54) and I'm thrilled that Ravi included a quote from me regarding the importance of branding yourself online.

The article serves as a good overview of online music marketing basics: Using e-mail, building a fan-friendly web site, selling CDs and merchandise online, letting people know about your Internet presence, etc. (Sorry, but the article isn't available online.) One of the things Ravi suggests is having a separate section of your web site devoted to your online press kit. He even uses his own www.heyravi.com/presskit page as an example.

Ravi was the touring guitarist with Hanson (yes, that adorable band of brothers) in 1997, the band's peak year of popularity when the group sold 15 million albums. That year Hanson toured the world and performed on all the top TV shows: Lettermen, Leno, Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, you name it. And Ravi was there to enjoy the ride.

When the rollercoaster came to a stop, Ravi pursued a career as a solo artist and also wrote a book for Simon & Schuster about his whirlwind year with Hanson. Today he continues to perform music while also writing and speaking at industry conferences (in fact, we met each other at 2NMC in Nashville last year).

Do yourself a favor and check out Ravi's www.ArtisticIntegrity.org site and e-zine. Here's a description of what it's about:

"We live in a world of diminishing integrity that is losing its ability to recognize true value. Corporate America is turning us into a lowest common denominator society. Artists have the gift to create, inspire, and shape the world through passion. We can encourage free-minded people to think for themselves and rediscover what truly drives happiness. By remaining honest with the audience and true to ourselves, we inspire the public to reach new cultural heights, resulting in a larger audience for artists."

While at the site, be sure to click the links Free Tips for You and Articles by Ravi. Good stuff!