2011 was as also the year with when some of my favorite artists started their album release as Kickstarter/PledgeMusic campaign. I backed Kyler England's, Terra Naomi's, Rachael Yamagata's, Kate Havnevik's, Broken Fences', The Autumn Film's, Anj Granieri's, Adrianne Gonzalez', Ten Out Of Tenn's, Ellen and the Escapades', Garrison Starr's and Shannon Hurley's new albums, pledged for Lelia Broussard's Exclusive Pledgers-Only Album. I still need to wait for some of them. The campaigns of Kyler, Terra and Garrison were extraordinary exciting, due to the videos, songs and live webcasts for the Pledgers.

Alana Davis - 32 Flavors
Anna Nalick - Breathe (2 AM)
Counting Crows feat. Vanessa Carlton - Big Yellow Taxi
Dido - Here With Me
Dilana Smith - The Great Escape
Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice
Édith Piaf - Non, je ne regrette rien
Elisa - Rock Your Soul
Frou Frou - Shh
Goldfrapp - Ooh La La
Kasey Chambers - The Captain
KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
Nelly Furtado - I'm Like A Bird
Rachael Yamagata - Worn Me Down
Regina Spektor - Fidelity
Scott Henderson - Tore Down House
Sia - Breathe Me
The Sundays - Summertime
The Weepies - World Spins Madly On
Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
Vienna Teng - Harbor
Brandi Carlile - Closer To You
Mandy Moore - Drop the Pilot
Zero 7 & Sophie Barker - In the Waiting Line
Tori Amos - A Sorta Fairytale
Bic Runga - Sway
Jonatha Brooke - Eye in the Sky
Emm Gryner - The End
Brandi Carlile - Turpentine
Carole King - I Feel The Earth Move
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You
Missy Higgins - Steer
Billie Myers - Kiss The Rain
A Fine Frenzy - Almost Lover
Sara Bareilles - One Sweet Love
Beth Waters - Slip Slidin' Away
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - Stop The Bus
Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová - Falling Slowly
Melissa Etheridge - Message To Myself
Antigone Rising - Longshot
Meiko - Reasons to Love You
Serena Ryder - Weak In The Knees
Over the Rhine - The World Can Wait
Mieka Pauley - Run
Keri Noble - Piece Of My Heart
Keri Noble - Watch Me Walk
Adele - Chasing Pavements
Brooke Waggoner - Hush If You Must
Duffy - Mercy
Uh Huh Her - Not A Love Song
Gemma Hayes - At Constant Speed
Alanis Morissette - Straitjacket
Cloetta Paris - St. Elmo's fire
Phildel - Dragonfly Keeper
Katie Herzig - Hologram
Lenka - Force of Nature
Susy Thomas - Enough Now
Mindy Smith - One Moment More (acoustic)
Chantel McGregor - Rhiannon
L.P. - Cling To Me
Wallis Bird - Just Can't Get Enough
Schuyler Fisk - Hello
Lelia Broussard - So Far By Far
Kim Taylor - I am you
Maria Taylor - Green Butterfly
Automatic Loveletter - Goodbye
Katzenjammer - A Bar In Amsterdam
Adrina Thorpe - Midnight
Caitlin Crosby - Finding Feelings
Kate Havnevik - Show Me Love
Kate Earl - Melody
Aslyn - Me & You & Daisies
Laura Jansen - Come To Me
Butterfly Boucher - For the Love of Love
Ingrid Michaelson - Maybe
Barnaby Bright - Don't Look Down
Leslie Mills - The Things My Heart Could Say
Imogen Heap - First Train Home
Summer Ames - Breaking Up the Love Scene
Lovers and Poets - I Keep Falling
Caitlin Hart - Seven minutes
Caro Emerald - A Night Like This
Mary at Midnight - Run With Me
April Smith and The Great Picture Show - Colors
The Floe - (Love is like a) Heatwave
Lissie - When I'm Alone
The Rescues - Break Me Out
Ali Milner - I Dare You
Adele - Set Fire To The Rain
Ruse - Edge of the Heart
Sarah Fimm - Flames
Clara C - Skinny Love
Terra Naomi - you for me
Billy The Kid & The Southside Boys - Diamonds
Louise And The Pins - Melancholy (Live in Session)
Billy The Kid & The Southside Boys - Us Broken Hearts
Oh, Napoleon - Lovers In Your Head
Scarlette Fever - You Don't Know My Name
Rachael Yamagata - Dealbreaker
Chantel McGregor - Daydream

Without intending to sound schoolmasterly, a few basic points to promote your music:

• Assure to use a unique artist name, it's your brand. Check Google searches to find out if there are any similar named persons, bands, companies etc.
  Use the same name for your accounts all over the internet, it might possibly be helpful to append 'music' to distinguish from other persons using the same moniker.
  
  
• Create a short English biography (written in third person) and post it on your pages. It should include your real name, heritage, skills (singer, songwriter, producer, pianist...) and music genre.
  
  
• Be present on the major musical / social sites:
  
  • Twitter
    
  • Facebook (a 'page' rather than a personal profile)
    
  • Google+
    
  • Reverbnation
    
  • Youtube
    
  • Myspace (Yes, it still exists)
    
  • Soundcloud
    
  • Spotify
    
  • Last.fm
    
  • Grooveshark
    
  • T61 (TheSixtyOne.com)
    
  
  
• Sell your releases internationally, on Bandcamp and in as many music stores as possible. CD Baby or TuneCore are helpful to realize that.
  
  
• Provide at least one notable song in decent recording quality as free download. Allow to listen to the song before it can be downloaded in return for the email address.
  Notice: MP3s will get lost in the music library of the 'fan to be' if they are not correctly tagged with title, artist, album, album artist, year and genre. Make it a piece of art by adding a nice image as cover art.
  
  
• Browse the Indie Advices at Thorny Bleeder, you'll find many helpful thoughts there.
  

Pre-Releases. Advance listening. Singles going to radio a month before they're available. Video premieres before the music can be purchased.

Why do labels and bands still do this? Is it out of old habit? Or lack of marketing creativity?

Seriously though, who are we kidding?

People don't wait in a queue on release day any more. And more importantly, digital lineups don't exist.

You have to make your music available for purchase at the exact same time as when the public first hears it. Otherwise, you're going to miss out on a potential sale.

And for bigger and more well known acts, your purchasing options need to be made available the moment the product leaves the factory. Seriously (because we all know that's when leaks happen).

So just accept it, expect it and plan for it.

Don't expect your fans to come back a month later to buy the same song they wanted when they first heard it. They've already moved on to the next thing. And they've already downloaded your song elsewhere since you didn't give them any other option.

Beat the leakers to the punch. Enable your fans to click on a buy button the moment they hear the track.

There's no loyalty any more. This is Generation Now. A fan just wants the damn track.
So give it to them. And don't lose a sale.

Oh, and by the way… 30 second preview "teasers" do nothing but piss off a potential fan. Let me hear that whole damn track. Let me fall in love with it. And if I truly connect with it, perhaps I'll want to own it. But... how can I emotionally connect with a 30 second sample?