Why?

          Having spent the majority of my time since late April 2007 returning to the music industry as a diversion from a 2 bottle a day vodka habit I have reached a point where I now have the time on my hands to give the attention that I feel is imperative in this caper to sustain relatively close and regular contact with those people who have supported & encouraged me to this point.

          To cut a long story short, I have spent a lot of time in between family & work commitments, writing, recording scouring site after site to find the most ergonomic & legitimate vehicles for what I forsee will be a long-term work in progress.

          The major obstacles that I discovered were the integrity of some sites, where the rigging of stats by the artists themselves was rife & went unchecked & sites that were basically ‘overloaded’. Without casting aspertions on MySpace, it was one such ‘overloaded’ site.

          Having decided to move elsewhere I initially centralised my music to ReverbNation which offers excellent statistical information and promotional tools. It is also the most transparent music site that I have encountered. In conjunction with my personal website my fanbase consistently grew and I bagan recieving “Featured Artist” spots on numerous comercial & internet radio stations & press articles via ArticlesBase.

        After some time I began to pay serious attention to networking and increasing my promotional options. This was time-consuming but I believe it was time well-spent. I had been on Facebook for some time purely for socialising. My socialising there only increased as I met up with some old school friends. Around this time, ReverbNation added a ‘band application’ there & people closer to home who, until this point were unaware of my return to the music industry. My ranking at ReverbNation took a steep upward turn with no effort on my part.

          Facebook also provides the iLike application. I had an iLike page for quite some time but had paid it little attention. This changed when I realised that my music on iLike could be accessed directly from Facebook. To separate my ‘socialising’ page on Facebook  enlisted the assistance of a close friend of mine to assist me set up a “Bob Findlay Music Page” there. From this page, supporters recieve the updates and new releases from my iLike page.

          Having recently delved into the field of releasing my music digitally via iTunes, Rhapsody & Amazon all songs that are commercially released are available directly from my Music Page on Facebook and on iLike.

          I was speaking with a friend just last night & he asked me what my next move would be on the music front. To me the answer was rather simple; keep doing what I’m doing. In a relatively short period of time for this industry I seem to have achieved much more than I anticipated & have done it, with the exception of the internet, as independently as possible.

          As it stands at the moment I am working on my next digital release which, although not due for commmercial release until mid-late February 2009, is near-completion. This will afford me the time to focus my time on my family, work, writing, recording , explore further promotional avenues & maintain a close & good rapport with the people who have helped take my music career to where it is today.        

 

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