It has only been one year since we started Samaritan Revival and WOW have we learned alot. First of all, we have learned that we are not the only Christian Group trying to be noticed on the internet. There are literally thousands of Christian groups who are subscribing to about every music community like Myspace, Facebook, Hi5 and others just trying to reach a new fan base.
When we first started out, we were so excited that we really did not care about exposure, we just wanted to sing to people and we prayed that our music would touch hearts and souls. Unfortunately, you can compare music to a favorite food. You find out that you love fried mushrooms but after you eat the mushrooms for a while, you are ready for a new taste. You may say that it is not this way if your purpose is to minister but it definitely is. What if you went to church and you heard your Pastor preach the same message over and over again. After a while, you would get tired of hearing the same thing.
I know of groups that upload their music to many sites like reverbnation and hundreds of others but after months or years, they never update their sites with new songs or as we see now, with photos, blogs, or even videos. One good example of a group who really has it together is Mercyme. They not only promote their music but they use sites like youtube and Godtube to show their personal side and their day to day activities. With so many reality shows on TV, people today want to see more than just what they see at a concert.
The internet is so powerful because you can go into peoples homes and expose your life to them. Let me just warn you though, people are not dumb and they know if you are just putting on a show or if you are being honest about what you are showing them. When someone gets to know you as a person, then your music becomes part of them. They relate to you in such a different way and they even worry about your progress in the Music Industry.
Today, many artist are staying away from Record companies. I do not know if that is good or if it is bad but what I do know is that the tools are out there on the internet to help you promote your music. Itunes has got to be one of the greatest portals that has ever opened up to the indie artist, but you cant just have your music on itunes an expect everyone to buy it. You have to work and I mean work extremely hard to meet people, make fans, and sometimes even give your music away for awhile until you build up a following.
Samaritan Revival uses several tools to promote and sell their music. One great site is www.blastmymusic.com/avivamiento - Here you can listen to 30 seconds of each song and then purchase it for .99 cents. We also created a youtube page called www.youtube.com/samaritanrevival which is really great because you can upload any video you want. You can just video yourself talking to your fans or your newest music video. Don't expect millions of visitors overnight. We have been on youtube for about 6 months and our videos have been watched about 10,000 times. Compared to others, that is not alot but it is alot more than we had six months ago when no one could watch our videos.
If you are a Christian Artist, it is really important to let people know what your purpose is. Is it just to sing and gain popularity or is it a ministry for you. These are very important points that you need to bring out to your fans.
Our biggest promotion tool has been our site at www.myspace.com/bandaavivamientosamaritano - our songs have been played almost two million times and we have met many wonderful people including Christian artist who have given us advice spiritually and advice on many areas that has to do with the industry. I know that there are pages on myspace that are not suitable for a Christian but here is a simple solution. Don't visit these pages. If you walk into a book store, there is always a magazine stand with great magazines but their are always adult magazines. Just like myspace and some other sites, you just stay away from them.
I do not know if we will ever get signed by a record company but what I do know is that when we do, we will already have a large fan base. Just remember this, even though we love to sell Cd's, that is not our purpose and God is not blind to the desires of our heart. He will bless you as long as you work hard and your purpose is placed on him.
Philip Tyson
www.samaritanrevival.com
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