CANADIAN SINGER AND SONGWRITER SENSATION MARK MASRI SIGNS WITH GREEN HILL

As we approach the 40th Anniversary of man walking on the moon, July 20, 1969, we're reminded what a Beautiful World we have...

It's been a while since I've had that pit in my stomach, like when something bad is happening and there isn't anything you can do about it. I had that feeling last week when watching the eerie television coverage that announced music icon Michael Jackson had died.

For those of us old enough to remember, we first got to know MJ on Saturday morning TV. The year was 1970, and Dick Clark featured this amazing band from Gary, Indiana, called the Jackson Five, on his TV show.

I'd like to share this little piece of magic with you all; here is the youtube video of that memorable performance of "ABC" back in 1970.

Looking back on it now, I realize that it was a pretty ground breaking musical performance; the country was still raw from the Civil Rights movement, the murders of Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King and the violent, emotional coverage of the Vietnam War. Airing a show on Saturday morning television with a family of black kids from Gary, Indiana singing such unique pop music wasn't exactly mainstream at the time. But it was so much fun that it broke right into the mainstream with the Jackon's own variety show in the 70s.

The music was great, and the family made it work very well. We all saw a little bit of ourselves in the Jackson family. It just made you feel so good inside to see them having fun up there, and that is what music is all about.

There is a lot of negativity surrounding the Michael Jackson story, but I prefer to remember the pure enjoyment and entertainment he and his family brought to so many of us back in the day.

ABC, 123, Baby you and me...

Thanks for the memories...

Best,
Michael Brickman

All of us here at Brickhouse Direct are absolutely delighted to welcome our two new clients: Jaimee Paul and River County.

In the summer of 2008, Jaimee Paul was working as a backup singer for country music legend Wynonna Judd; after a gig in Alaska, Jaimee was sitting in her hotel room when she got a call from Nashville music man Bill Gaither. Less than six months later, she released "At Last" which has been called "... the most remarkable debut album by a major new jazz-and-standards singer." Jaimee Paul's big voice is a fresh breath in the world of vocal jazz, bringing soul and passion to the standards that we all love, as she clearly shows on "At Last," paying tribute to the great female icons of classic jazz and pop.

Check out her brand new website at www.jaimeepaul.com!


Forming a lasting bond in a musical kinship in high school, the guys of River County bring a musical chemistry that was destined to be. From a talent show in their Whiteland, IN high school, the life-long friends in River County are now taking center stage with a musical energy and talent reminiscent of the Southern Rock and Country greats. Their recent album release, "Rockin' The Country," brings together high octane southern rock and country music with captivating lyrical depth for an album that really rocks the house!

Their new website just went online, so be sure to check it out at www.rivercountymusic.com!

Websites have come a long way.  I can remember the first site I built: a simple geocities site with my name, a link and an animated gif of my signature.  It was horrible, and even worse, it still exists somewhere in the ether.  From this rudimentary page, I recognized one thing; web design is not nearly as easy as it looks.  My background had been in traditional graphic design for print, and I was completely frustrated by my inability to put images and text exactly where I wanted them on a webpage.  This was the Achilles heal of the early web. It was meant for publishing, not design.

Here are some recent projects we've been working on.

 

New Pre-Sale Campaign forDove-award Winning Artist Aaron Shust

 

New Website for our friends at the Capital Civic Centre

 

Father's Day Sale for Casey Kasem's Top Hits Website

 

Jim Brickman's Beautiful World Concert Event

 

Special Father's Day Free Download Promotion for our Friends at Green Hill Music

As Summer heats up, it's a great time to review your online marketing and promotional efforts and start planning for the second half of 2009. To help you out, we thought it might be useful to take a quick look back and share some marketing resolutions we made at the beginning of the year.

10 Marketing Strategies for the Second Half of 2009

10 - Get Organized: Take some time to sit down and make a plan for the rest of 2009 for your marketing; it doesn't have to get too formal in this step, just make of list of your goals and what you can do to achieve them.

9 - Start a Blog: Along with your website, you should also host a blog. It is important to blog in order to establish a "voice." Increalingly, "blogs" can be sent through a variety of channels such as Facebook, Twitter and your own website.

8 - Create a Buzz: Right now, Facebook and Twitter are the most popular Social Media Networks, and all the online buzz is about these two easy-to-join networks. Also, offering promotions of free samples helps up your "wow" factor.

7 - Put Your Fans to Work for You: Get your fans to join your street team, tell their friends about your music and help you spread the word about your latest project. Social networks enable fans to spread the word more than ever before.

6 - Learn from the Best: Make a list of the artists you admire the most and watch what they do. Mimicking their tactics can help you learn from the best and put their ideas to work for you.

5 - Collect Email Addresses: There are many ways to build your email list. Put an opt-in list on every page of your website and be sure to have an email sign up at your concert events. Contests and promotions can also be a great way to collect info. Be sure to ask for zip codes too so you can let fans know when you will be playing nearby.

4 - Start a Referral Program: Get your fans to refer you to others. You can even try offering deals to the referrer and/or the referred for better results.

3 - Take Control of Your Data: Manage your lists. Be sure that your email list is up to date and utilize your ability to send communications to the people on your list.

2 - Do a Fan Survey: Ask your fans to participate in a short survey. Getting both negative and positive feedback is very important as it lets you know what they like best. This can also be a great source of ideas, inspiration and feedback.

1 - Analyze: You can use Google Analytics to track your website visits and find out where your traffic is coming from and how good it is. Then you can make changes to help increase your flow based on the results.

To download the PDF (Acrobat Reader) for the full article with more detailed steps and information on how to strategize your marketing click here!

Facebook and Twitter Cut Into MySpace's User Time
According to new figures from Nielsen Online, total minutes spent on Facebook in April rose 699% from a year ago. At MySpace, meanwhile, total minutes spent fell a jarring 31%.


Best,
Michael