Connect Globally, Market Locally Using Mediaguide ArtistMonitor™ to Support Your Career

• Is your music playing on college, non-commercial or commercial radio?

• Would you like to know who is playing your songs?

• Would you like to know where you can find new fans?

• Would you like to know the best places to tour?

• Want to prove your songs have market support?

Mediaguide (www.mediaguide.com), a joint venture created and funded by ASCAP that uses digital fingerprinting technology to electronically monitor nearly 2,500 radio stations in almost 200 US markets, can help artists and songwriters answer these questions. Mediaguide, the most advanced airplay monitoring system in the world, receives song detection data from a nationwide network of monitors that "listen" to college, non-commercial and commercial stations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

While ASCAP uses Mediaguide data in order to accurately distribute royalty payments to its members, songwriters and artists can use the Mediaguide ArtistMonitor™ (www.artistmonitor.com) system to gain direct and immediate knowledge of the market impact of their works. Mediaguide's unique network, which tracks songs across college, non-commercial and commercial radio stations, gives it the ability to bring airplay information that had been available only to and about commercial mainstream artists to selfreleased and independent artists and songwriters, and to those who want to discover and support them.

As a result, Mediaguide data, online services, reports, charts and playlists can help songwriters, artists and media industry professionals discover and track music of any type—indie/major, signed/unsigned, underground/commercial that are on music broadcasts across the country. This information becomes even more powerful and useful when combined with the new distribution and promotion technologies that are available to independent musicians.

The global reach of digital communities is important to extending the reach of your music, discovering new fans and licensing opportunities and supporting your existing fan and business network. But at some point, either you or the artists playing your music need to encourage real people to buy tickets and line the stage.

It is important then to use offline strategies like touring, radio promotion and ArtistMonitor™ in conjunction with online products like email, P2P networks, Internet radio, digital retailers and online communities to attract new fans, find collaborative artists, create retail traction and build booking power. Your offline and online promotion activities should work in tandem towards the same goals: new fans, song or album sales, license and performance opportunities. I could list examples like this for pages, but would like to focus here on college, non-commercial and independent radio. In today's booming world of Internet radio, satellite and P2P, I would encourage you not to forget the college and non-commercial radio stations that have been leading music revolutions across several genres for years.

ArtistMonitor™ can provide you with online access to detailed reports of all airplay that your song or album has received across the entire Mediaguide network of monitored stations, including these important free-thinking stations. You can use the service to attract new fans, create retail traction and build booking power.

In the offline world (and online in some cases), those adventurous Program Directors, Music Directors and DJs can be great allies in supporting your story if they believe in your music. The idea to "Market Locally" asks that you reach out to the resources in your area. A product like ArtistMonitor™ can aid you in that endeavor by letting you know exactly who has played your songs, where they are located and how you can contact them to thank them and introduce yourself as the person behind the music.

Paul Wright is Vice President of Music Business Development for Mediaguide.