This post originally appeared on Chris Rockett’s Music Marketing Blog on February 2nd, 2011. Feel free to follow him on twitter (@MusicMarketingX)
Selling your music can be weird, it’s like we all know that we want to do it but we are supposed to keep it a secret and never mention it.
So I’m going to set you free…
It’s perfectly fine to sell your music, it’s OK, it does not make you a “sell out” and your fans are not going to hate you.
In fact you need to drop a link to your sales page once in a while so that your fans expect to buy stuff from you. Otherwise they might think your some kind of weird musical charity!
The key is to add so much value in your free content that your fans don’t think it’s weird or eggy when you drop a link to the album.
The idea you are trying to create is “If the free stuff is that good then the album must be amazing!”
The email template below is an example of the kind of email you could send to make your fans aware of your album without sounding like a total car sales man.
*Start of email template*
“Hey Bob,
I want to thank you so much for being my fan and let you know that I really appreciate your support.
The thing is that I’m a little bit scared because when I started out in music I just did it for a bit of fun, but now I keep getting emails from more and more people who want to buy my album.
The reason I’m scared is that I’m not like those big shot spoilt musicians and I don’t have a big record company or design team behind me. So I’m not totally sure what I’m doing with all this web stuff.
To be honest I’m just a normal dude with some music that a couple of thousand people on my mailing list seem to like. But I’m not totally sure why it’s causing such a stir.
Anyway…
I have set up a page which I think will let you download my album so if you are one of the people who has been waiting for this you can visit the link now. [Link to your album]
There are also 30 free t-shirt on my kitchen table that have been printed specialy for the release so if you want one you might need to be fast.
You can listen to the album for 30 days for FREE, and then pay me if you like it.
You can keep it even if you don’t pay me, and give it to a friend or something.
I’m also offering a lifetime “love my music guarantee” so if you ever buy something from me and want your money back (even 10 years later) just ask and I will happily send it. I don’t want to be like all those massive online stores who take your money and run.
The last thing I want to do is be pushy and leave you short of cash, I’ve been trying to dream up a way that is totally risk free for the fans and I think this might be it 
Anyway I hope that’s cool. I look forward to hearing what you think of the new music.
You can get the album here: [Link to your album]
Keep an eye out for my next email when I interview a special mystery guest.
Speak soon.
- Your name”
*End of email template*
See?
You offered your album without being a total idiot and added a few little elements of social proof, scarcity and a cliffhanger at the end.
I know that guarantee offer sounds crazy but to be honest most people will never take you up on the crazy lifetime guarantee, and even if a few people do it makes no difference because your music is a digital download anyway. Test this out and see how it works for you.
Feel free to use this email as a template when you next have something coming out. You will want to make it sound like you but apart from that steal whatever you want 
Hope that helps,
- Chris
Tags: Chris Rockett, email marketing, guest post, Music Marketing
Leave A Reply (6 comments So Far)
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Chris
464 days ago
Gotta tell you, Big fan of Gen Y rock stars, but not a big fan of this post. It makes the artist look amateur, and if I would of received this I would never had bought it.
Music Marketing Chris
464 days ago
Hey Chris thanks for your feedback.
The tone I set in this email is that of a DIY musician who does not have the backing of a major label.
I have found in some cases this helps engage with the fans more because they are use to seeing a big bunch of hype and marketing slogans. This message will make you stand out a little bit.
It will not work for everyone and is best used when you are trying to build a strong rapport with your followers because you are showing that your are just a normal dude.
Think about Rocky fighting Apollo Creed, we all want the Italian Stallion to win because he has come from nothing.
That’s why the tone is not highly professional or “Amateur” as you suggested.
Hope that kind of makes sense…
- Chris Rockett
Jerome.B
463 days ago
Remember that sending emails to people without their agreement (Optin) is prohibited ! Going against this rule is simply be a Spammer.
A fan is not an email optin !
Chris
463 days ago
Thank you for taking the time to respond Chris. I totally get what your saying. But I find a lot of confusion regarding this, in one hand you don’t want to take away the mystic of being an artist, and people seeing you as a professional musician who is serious about what he does. And on the other you want to be approachable, I think there is a finite line, and sounding a little too normal sometimes has unintended consequences. Like for example this is just another up in coming amateur musician and hes music probably sucks. Even if its great, people tend to make their mind up based on perceived worth.
Chris Bracco
462 days ago
I’m all for being personable in e-mails, but the whole “scared” bit turned me off massively. If even the artist isn’t sure of his or her music, why should I be? You can certainly be confident and not spammy at the same time.
Music Marketing Chris
462 days ago
Hey Chris B, nice to hear from you.
I’m just linking to your “guest blogging” ebook in a new post as we speak.
The “scared” part is about the process of setting up a website to sell music, and all the technical stuff that goes with it.
I included it because fans can relate to that.
Although this would probably would not be good for the image of a gangster rapper, or a Lady Gaga wannabe
There are some genres that are all about bravado so you would have to tweak the message to fit into your own voice.
Obviously you should only ever send this type of message if you are 100% behind the work your are creating. The message itself does not say “I’m scared to sell you my music because it is crap”.
Personally I like to try and connect with the fans on the same level rather than being too diva.
Would love to hear how you guys approach fan mailings.
Talk soon,
- Chris