Reputation Management is a crucial element in online branding. A Google search of your name or product can tell you quite a bit about what is being said about you, who is saying it and why. Unless you are a real asshole, you shouldn’t be afraid of what you might find. Most music bloggers embody the sense of community that makes the blogosphere such a unique environment. They tend to lean toward being kind rather than being cruel. If you do run across any bad reviews, take the opportunity to reach out to the writer and clear things up. And who knows, some of those lemons out there may offer a chance to make some lemonade.

I recently did a Google search on Kyrareed and was surprised to see how well the recent post I wrote for Tunecore was received. Not only did I find some really nice things said about my blog, but I also found some new blogs to add to my list of recommends. Thank you to all the bloggers who mentioned kyrareed.com.

Revel Lever

Sink to See

Unsprung Media

Ken McGuire

Kurb Promotion

The Brooke

Know the Music Biz

Platinum Blue Music offers musicians a service that will “tell you if your song has the “optimal mathematical patterns” to become a success, a necessary but not singly sufficient condition for having a hit.”

In the past I would have been skeptical of such a service, arguing that it takes the magic and mystery out of the music making process. But in this rapidly changing industry, every little bit helps. I’ve also had the pleasure of getting to know Mike McCready, Platinum Blue’s Founder and CEO. I’ve learned that Mike is a genuine guy who actually gives a crap about music and musicians. Based on him alone, it’s worth giving them a try.

Platinum Blue was recently featured on the Grammys.com website. The story referenced Gnarls Barkley, remember the HUGE hit they had with their single CRAZY?

Prior to the release of CRAZY, Warner Music decided to contacted Platinum Blue Music and run the song through their process. Using a cutting-edge technology called Music Xray that analyzes underlying mathematical patterns in music, PBM determined that the song had all the makings of a hit. And that hit eventually nabbed the group a Grammy. So, maybe there really is something to Music Xray.

If you do send them a song for analysis, let me know what you think of the service and results.

Since I have fallen way behind in my posts, I thought I’d just give a run down of my last few days in Austin.

Friday

The final day of the Little Radio parties at the Red Eyed Fly. Took off at lunch to change my clothes, it was a HOT day, and ran into Nic from The Roxy. He reminded me that Megan Jacobs was having a show - so I got there in time to watch her last three songs. She is a solid performer with an electric voice. Got back to the bus in time for another round of visitors. Sink to See stopped by for a cocktail and to catch Rogue Wave and The Little Ones. Favorite band of the day - Helio Sequence. Their new album is their best to date.

Finally had a chance to hang out with my favorite EJ, Alyssa from Ourstage. Jason Russo from NYC band Hopewell and Piper met us at the gallery. Piper snapped this sweet photo of Autumn and her books at the end of her exhibit.

Then we headed out for a killer dinner at Koshobi. After dinner, I met up with my pal from NYC Johnny G for a little rest in his suite hotel room. The Little Radio guys were finishing dinner next door to the hotel so I joined them for their last beer and we headed over to the Mohawk for Jans Leckman and then to Club DeVille for White Denim. Another long day so I headed back to the gallery early for a good nights sleep.

Saturday

The last day of SXSW and my first free day. Alyssa and I took a cab out to the middle of nowhere for the Mojo party and caught the last two songs of my new favorite artist, dan le sac VS scroobius pip. Check out their addictive video “Thou Shalt Always Kill”

Back in downtown, we tried to get into the Fader/Levi’s party but had no patience for the line. I ran into Matt Ellis on the street and took him along to see Sink to See. We then headed to Jamie’s on Red River and ran into Charles and Rob from Brown Sound Clothing and decided to grab a table and some grub with them. Inside we ran into the Spindrift/Upsidedown crew. It was a crazy afternoon. Finished off SXSW with a show at the Whole in the Wall with another amazing performance by Restaurant.

Sunday

My dear old friend Brooke is now living in Austin at Turning Stones Ranch. Brooke’s daughter Britney collected me and Piper in the morning and drove us out to the most spectacular property I’ve ever seen in Texas.

We arrived just in time for a blessing and Tibetan Bowl Concert by Joseph Knapp. Spent the rest of the day lounging and staring out at the gorgeous meadow. Annie made a lovely vegetarian dinner and by 10pm I was ready for bed. My accommodations were in the Tambo, a ceremonial house next to the main house, with windows facing the meadow and the sky. It was a great way to end my trip to Austin.

Monday

It is always hard to leave Austin. Especially this time…it was, by far, the best SXSW yet. And to end it at Turning Stones was such a treat.

Thank you to Little Radio, Transmission Entertainment, 4 Walls Art Gallery and Turning Stones Ranch for the warmth and hospitality that made this trip such a success. See you all next year!!

Day 4: Today was a bit insane. Someone did a NO NO in the tiny toilet. It made the bus smell really bad. Not a single interview…but after two 10 inch sticks of flavored incense, was able to do plenty of socializing in the RV. I gave the bus a break and headed up sixth to catch my pals from The Roxy. They had a party at The Belmont with Run Run Run and Hello Stranger. Got a chance to catch up with Heather, Megan and Nic. *The Roxy crew is one of the most genuine and hard working teams I have ever worked with. They give a shit for real. Love you guys. And, thumbs up for a great party! Looking forward to another next year!

Back at the bus, I met up with my dear friend Barbara Mitchell for a cocktail and some catching up. Stacy from Noise Pop, a sponsor of the party, brought her gal pals from —-marketing on board for a break from the heat. A fun bunch of girls, wish I could find their card! Matt Ellis, my new favorite Aussie, some random band dudes and Andy Sternberg also dropped by to say hi, and indulge in a Dewars and Ginger ale.

Day 3: Today was day one of the Little Radio parties at the Red Eyed Fly.

I spent most of the day playing hostess and interviewer on the Little Radio bus, serving up Dewar’s and Reed’s Ginger ale.

Foreign Born and Brothers and Sisters sat down gave great interviews about their new albums and the current state of the music biz.

My good friend and brilliant photographer Piper Ferguson stopped by the bus to say hi and catch a few bands at the party.

I tried, in vain, to get Sean Mills, President of The Onion, to co-interview Octopus Project with me. But he couldn’t make it…one day Sean, we’ll meet again.

The highlight of the day was snagging an exclusive interview with the buzz band of SXSW, White Denim. At 6:00 we loaded the crew up on the bus and headed to The Enchanted Forest to see Restaurant and Spindrift.

My favorite part of the night, aside from Restaurant’s amazing performance, was tripping around the forest with Jordan Levy, cinematographer extraordinaire. Here are a few photos of our adventure.

Restaurant was amazing.

And check out Restaurant:

We headed back to the bus with a crew of new peeps, including DJ Dan Mancini and two girls, both named Michelle. Once we got back to downtown, I had to crash so I made my way back to the gallery, only to find Elijah Wood and Autum de Wilde discussing her photo exhibit of Elliott Smith. Day three was a good day.

Day 2 was prep day. The Little Radio crew was busy with last minute logistics, including the arrival of the bio bus - which will be our new home for the next four days. Spent most of the day on the computer making hotel reservations, finding wristbands and hunting down a decent lunch. I love Austin, but they need some new restaurants!

Had dinner with Casey and some old friends of his. After dinner headed back to downtown to hit the RockBand party with Marjorie. Before I knew it, 11:00 rolled around and I had to catch The Upsidedown at Troubadour. I didn’t take any pictures yesterday, but I did shoot a few minutes of a new Upsidedown song…enjoy!

This year I’m doing the rounds at SXSW with Little Radio. It has been two years since I was here with LR, and I’m looking forward to a week of new music and killer parties.

DAY 1:
Jimmy and I arrived mid-afternoon, in the pouring rain. Met up with Dave and the guys from Restaurant and went to the 4 Walls Art Gallery in downtown Austin where we stayed the night. After dinner at Starlight, we made our way to the frrvrr.com launch party at Mohawk. Tokyo Police Club was headlining the party! They have been a favorite of mine for years now, but their stage shows always disappoint. I was optimistic this show would be different, since it is their only SXSW show, but they let me down again.

The party was sponsored by The Onion. That alone should have made people suspicious of frrvrr’s validity. Full page ads and exclusive VIP wristbands in the SXSW bags flamed the fever for frrvrr. Many of my tech pals from LA were pretty stoked to score some special passes and eagerly signed up for the new social network. I had a hard time keeping it to myself that the site, which openly states it will gather all your “webtory” including your medical records and legal filings, and send those to people in the network you have things in common with, was a total hoax!

I did have an opportunity to chat with the charming CEO of The Onion, Sean Mills. Hoping to get an interview with him for Little Radio this week.

Sadly, my pics from the day are too blurry or boring to post. But I will gather more as the week goes on and post lots of pics from the Little Radio parties at the Red Eyed Fly. The line-up is amazing, Autolux, The Ravonettes, The Little Ones, The Black Angels…and so many more.

I’ve never been a fan of Nine Inch Nails, or of Trent Reznor, but I am in complete awe of his business acumen. He recently made $750,000 in less than one day selling 2,500 limited editions of his archives for $300 a piece. He is also selling his new album on i-tunes for $5.00. Those numbers have not yet come in, but I bet it will be impressive.

So, what can a struggling musician learn from Mr. Rezonr? Having an arsenal of true fans is more important than a contract with a major label. There is the argument that he had the advantage of being on a major label for almost 20 years (has it really been THAT long since NIN first hit the airwaves?) and that is true. It is also true that he makes, according to popular consensus, unique and meaningful music. But it takes a pioneer with a big wagon to blaze a trail. So, what can a musician just starting out learn from this? Blogger Kevin Kelly came up with a great idea that is spreading like wildfire in the blogosphere - gather 1,000 true fans and you’ve got yourself a career.

Mike Masnick from Techdirt did a great job of summarizing the value, perks and obstacles of such a strategy. What do you think?

My first article for Tunecore was published yesterday! I’m very excited to be working with this amazing group. For those of you unfamiliar with Tunecore, I suggest a quick perusal of their site asap. Tunecore is a digital distributor that allows you to keep 100% of your royalties and earnings. You pay a one-time fee for album placement and a yearly storage fee and nothing more!

The article, Why Every Band Needs a Blog, is the first in a series I’ll be writing for the Tunecore blog. Thank you to Ewald, COO of Tunecore, for a great opportunity.