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Name: Bln.kr
Quick Pitch: Bln.kr lets bands share their music to all their social networks from one platform, as well as gauge audience feedback.
Genius Idea: Nowadays, in order for a band to survive, musicians really have to be skilled at marketing and social media, as well as the guitar, drums or uke (unless they’re super famous and they have “people” — “people” tend to do all that stuff for them). That means utilizing Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and all the other tools at their disposal to get their music out there.
Still, even though those tools are so easy that a bunch of sugar-addled teens can use them, it can be hard to employ them all in concert — with ease. That’s where Bln.kr comes in.
Bln.kr is kind of like Hootsuite for bands — a platform that allows musicians to share a song across Facebook, Twitter, etc, as well as track how fans are digging their jams.
The service is rather simple to use: Sign up for a Pro account ($10 per month), and connect Bln.kr to social accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, YouTube). Upload a track, add a title, cover image, category, tags and download setting (it’s also possible to enable a “Track for a Tweet”-esque feature, which is pretty cool), add a custom message to one’s share and go for it. One click lets a person share the track to all of his or her networks.
Cool bonus: When one shares to YouTube, the service automatically generates a music video with your song and album art on the video-sharing site. Granted, videos that feature only album art are rather boring, but YouTube is still an awesome music discovery tool, so this addition to functionality is pretty handy.
After getting the soon-to-be hit single… let’s call it… “Everyone’s a Winner When Her Heart’s The Prize,” onto the Interwebs, musicians can then track fan feedback using Bln.kr’s “loop,” which displays a real-time stream of plays, downloads, comments, ratings, shares, retweets, etc. It’s also possible to reply directly from Bln.kr — no more toggling between windows.
“Being an independent artist, Bln.kr has proved to be an invaluable resource,” says user Drew Seeley. “Its statistics are easy to read and comprehend. The tweet to listen/download features have been a great way to get the word out to my followers on Twitter and Facebook when I have something going on.”
“Bln.kr makes it easy to record tracks, distribute to fans, and get feedback all in the same day,” says Mike Skinner of The Streets. “This has been a revitalizing experience for me in making music and I use it to host all sorts of audio, including demo tracks, podcasts and remix competitions. Bln.kr links up seamlessly with every social network and we are even using it to host the music for The Streets iPhone app, allowing us to get instant, personal feedback and stats on what fans are listening to.”
Bln.kr has also managed to mix business with a little pleasure, awarding well-performing users with “Bln.kr Buttons” (think Foursquare badges), and giving artists the ability to host remix contests, a la Indaba.
Currently, there are no mobile apps for Bln.kr, but the services does work as a mobile site. Apps are in the words.
If you’re an artist, what tools do you use to make share your tunes easier? Would you add Bln.kr to your roster?
Photo courtesy of Flickr, Hygiene Matters
Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
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