Critics, bookers, and bloggers don’t have the time to listen to every CD or MP3 they receive. Sometimes your music only gets to speak for itself AFTER you’ve spoken on its behalf. How do you do that effectively?

Well actually, you should be communicating with your fans in many ways– albums, singles, social media, blog posts, on-stage announcements, etc. But according to a recent study conducted by ExactTarget, when it comes to your marketing messages (“get my new album,” “come see us play this Saturday,” etc.), your fans are most receptive when they receive a good old-fashioned email.

Do you have this romantic view of being on the road and taking your music to the people? Richard Lee From US band Enation writes in DIY Musician about the true cost of being on tour.

“For music fans, Twitter is the next best thing to being backstage.” That is how Twitter begins its official guide to Twitter for Musicians and Artists.

For the first couple years of its existence, I was a very vocal Twitter skeptic; a bold statement like the one above would’ve sent my eyes rolling like a slow-motion slot machine.