These mStores are making it happen on all fronts
They all include high-quality niche content, aggressive marketing to their growing fan bases, and smart online/real-world promotion.
Please check out these stores, listen to their tones, see how they promote tones on their web sites. Learn from them. Apply their tactics to your own mStore effort and you will start seeing results.
They Might be Giants:
"Last week, Boing Boing ran a blog entry about TMBG's tones and it just caught on like wildfire! Hundreds of blogs picked up the story and the ringtone sales went through the roof!...more
Travis Matte & the Zydeco Kingpins
"I basically promote our ringtones through our website, Myspace, and word of mouth when playing clubs, festivals. We are also the only band locally that features ringtones for our
fans..." more
Horror High
"These tones are really well-produced. Notice how they start off so strong! So, if someone answers the phone quickly, you still get a nice taste of the music. That's the way to do it...! more
Really Rocket Science
"It's great to see these rocket scientists find their ringtone niche with authentic rocket countdown ringtones. Their simple blog entry has generated a ton of downloads and they've just "launched!..." more
World Cup Ringtones
"This is a great way to build momentum around niche mobile content. Xingtone always gets excited when a new client gets an mStore online. It's so easy!..." more
NOQONTROL
"The ringtone is not only a messenger but a personal statement. The beauty of it is in its simplicity and its pragmatic poetry..." more
Sonny Rollins
"Sonny decided that he wanted to offer his audience something unique, an innovative way to hear his new music..." more
They Might be Giants:
Website
The oh-so-creative band They Might Be Giants tapped in to the zeitgeist when they recently recorded an exclusive ringtone called "Call Connected to the NSA" poking a little fun at the government's "legal" analysis & monitoring of citizens' phone calls.
Last week, Boing Boing ran a blog entry about it and it just caught on like wildfire! Hundreds of blogs picked up the story and the ringtone sales went through the roof!
Now TMBG has a loyal and large following based on their innovative sounds over the last 24 years, but everyone can learn from what TMBG did in this case:
- They created a short, original tone about a hot-button issue in today's society
- The clip was only available as a ringtone
- They used blogs to get people talking about their tones
- The blog entries increased TMBG's presence in search engines, which generated more traffic to their web site
So a lot of things came together and that's the beauty of viral promotion. Now all these people have this tone on their phones and they tell two friends and so on, and so on. This is a great way to use mobile (and the web) to promote music.
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Travis Matte & the Zydeco Kingpins
Website | Ringtones | MySpace
Key Promotional Tactics:
- Link to ringtones in web site navigation
- Prominent link to tones on Myspace page
- Word-of-mouth promotion at gigs
In Travis' words: "I basically promote our ringtones through our website, Myspace, and word of mouth when playing clubs, festivals, etc. In our area and genre of music, we are basically the "Hot band" for the style of music we do in Louisiana. We are also the only band locally that features ringtones to our fans. Cajun/Zydeco is not a huge market like country, rock, etc., but there are musicians that play around the world for a living doing that kind of music!
Xingtone's Comments: We love the fact that Travis is combining real-world and online promotional tactics to generate interest in his band's ringtones. This is the best way to capture the hearts and minds of fans (and to gain more fans). Check out his web site and Myspace page - it's very upbeat and has photos of the band with fans. We get the sense that it's fun to be connected to the band and that translates into respect, trust, and sales of music, ringtones, and other merchandise.
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Horror High
Ringtones
These tones are really well-produced. Notice how they start off so strong! So, if someone answers the phone quickly, you still get a nice taste of the music. That's the way to do it!
Really Rocket Science
Website
Excuse the horrible pun above but it's great to see these rocket scientists find their ringtone niche with authentic rocket countdown ringtones. Their smart and simple blog entry has generated a ton of downloads and they've just "launched!"
And the downloaders are psyched, here's a quote from Bubba:
"I've got the T minus 5 countdown on my Verizon LG VX6000 and it's great. Whenever it rings around a crowd, everyone looks at me as if I'm a Secret Service agent or something. I think it's the "Mission Control" in the beginning. Thanks for releasing the ringtone!"
So, you see how easy it is to make the most of your niche - just build an mStore in 10 minutes and promote it on your web site or blog. We have tips to show you the way.
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World Cup Ringtones
Ringtones | Home Page
Classical music label, Naxos, has made a big splash in the ringtone market with an awesome collection of World Cup ringtones to get people fired up about the Cup. The company is offering the national anthems of all countries participating in the Cup along with tracks from the Gloria Stadium: 2006 Football Classics album (including Wagner's "Ride Of The Valkyries").
Here are the smart production and promotional tactics that Naxos has executed:
- Creative Ringtone Store Interface
- Press Releases
- Professional home page
Naxos: "Soccer fans are super-supportive of their teams and what better way to show off that support than by having their own country's anthem as their new ringtone," said Jim Sturgeon, CEO of Naxos of America. "With our World Cup ringtones, there will be no mistaking their team allegiance when their mobile phone rings."
Xingtone: "Naxos is a very progressive company," said Jonathan Schreiber, president and chief executive officer of Xingtone, Inc. "They're delivering mobile content for the World Cup that is timely and targeted to a passionate user base, which is a good recipe for success."
See how it all fits together? This is a great way to build momentum around niche mobile content. Xingtone always gets excited when a new client gets an mStore online. It's so easy!
Do you have a niche? Do you have an mStore? Build one now (it only takes 15 minutes to launch one, I promise).
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NOQONTROL
Ringtones | Flickr | Press Release
Key Promotional Tactics:
- Very active in creative community
(online & real world)
- Offering unique, experimental ringtones that you can't find anywhere else
- Issued upbeat, simple press release to generate buzz
NOQONTROL: “Being an artist involved with mobile media is to be everywhere and nowhere in the same time.
The ringtone format is the shortest musical form ever, not unlike the Japanese form of haiku. The ringtone is not only a messenger but a personal statement. The beauty of it is in its simplicity and its pragmatic poetry” says Noqontrol, a self styled maven of everything chic from ringtones and wallpapers to new media art and entertainment.
Xingtone: NOQONTROL is on track to make a creative impact with his "designer" mobile media collection. That's innovative and we love it. If you look at his flickr testimonials, you can tell that he has serious cred in the creative community and now that he's embraced mobile media, we think his fans and other artists will follow.
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Sonny Rollins
Website | Ringtones
Key Promotional Tactics:
- Prominent homepage link to ringtones
- Releasing exclusive ringtone clips before CD release to generate buzz
- Newsletter promotion
From Sonny's Camp: Sonny has a new release coming out this summer on his own new label, Doxy Records. For many years Sonny, who is the leading Jazz artist on Planet Earth, has been signed to major record labels. But now, he's an independent artist with his own label, using digital technology and the web as tools of empowerment.
Rather than preview his new music with soundclips, Sonny decided that he wanted to offer his audience something unique, an innovative way to hear his new music. He chose ringtones because it offers his listeners the opportunity to both preview the music, purchase it, and play it - over and over.
In addition, ringtones are, in essence, a form of viral marketing. When someone hears a friend's ringtones and likes them, they want to know where to purchase them. And when they go to buy the ringtones, they are introduced to Sonny's music, as well.
We will be introducing the ringtones in Sonny's next email newsletter, as well as a press release that will be going out to 10,000 people in the Jazz world, both media and listeners, next week. Because he's now an independent artist doing his own marketing, Sonny has wisely decided to utlize new media to reach a new audience. His website serves as the nexus between this beloved artist and his worldwide fan base.
Xingtone's Comments: It's great to see Sonny Rollins, who has been performing for more than 60 years, use mobile to spread the word about his upcoming CD release. Emerging artists should be inspired by such progressive thinking. Unreleased or experimental tones can generate buzz in the clubs & on the street, which as we know, is where it really matters!
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