http://www.cdbaby.com
I would sell it there - take a look at prices,
there is a sale $5 category last I checked so you may
want to put it at $5 as people try a lot of things as
samplers - they also can put it on a cd for you, but
I noticed that some are only mp3s so you can check prices
of mp3s only. Also add some comments on your page if you can
there or send them your comments or description in case
they want to use it.

I don't know where you are geographically - how many tv studios
are in a reasonable travel distance. But, cable television
stations and regular tv stations may be interested in your music
either in showing a clip on a local show, with interview or without,
also I have not heard it but if any of the holiday songs are at all
spiritual or classics there are a lot of religious shows that may take
you either in a video clip or feature story or local story or
eg. 100 Huntley Street show is broadcast all across North America
and they take clips of their daily show and put them on their Youtube
channel, the studio is in Ontario, Canada and they film the music there
free of course but if you give permission may feature it also on their
Youtube channel. Paul Brandt donated a number of songs to them
to feature on the show - just him and guitar singing in studio and it
did not hurt his career - he no longer has be a nurse for a living.

Radio Stations - how many can you visit, can you give them free access
to use your songs perhaps and then charge the public if they buy it on
your site? There are also celebrity radio station hosts that are "Hot"
like Khloe Kardashian in Miami who has her own radio show as well
as is featured on Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami. She also is active
on Twitter.

Can you advertise it on Twitter? and social media? Can you send the
link to your webpage to all folks who are in a postion to broadcast it,
and hope to hit a taker, eg. Larry King show, Oprah, etc.

Can you get any advertising in local music stores?

Can you get it sold at http://www.amazon.com can you offer to put
a free track on their free music download? Amazon has a category
search free music or free download and you get some hits.
Would they do it, would it be worth your while to do that?
and then have info if they want it to sell your CD which you had
made at CDBABY etc. or some other product to sell? Or can you just
get a free download of one song and then pay for the other songs?
Amazon is huge, here is a retweet from Twitter that shows that
@Burnsie_SEO
Amazon is the Most Visited Website on Black Friday http://ow.ly/H9JE

Here are a few pages that may have some ideas
How to Succeed in a Band
How to Become a Professional Musician
How to Become a Rock Star
How to Become a Blues Musician

Is there any record company that may want to carry your music in mp3 and/or cd?
What about for overseas sales also? or one or the other?

Can you check around and find out if there are any events that you can donate
to - eg. charity auction, fundraising, etc.
where you could maybe give all attendees a coupon with website printed
and with a code to get a free mp3 song for download and then they could buy the
rest if they wanted to?

Can you put it all for free on Itunes, and then put info for buying a cd
maybe from amazon and or cdbaby? or both?

Hillsong United always makes all of its albums freely downloadable
and I can't remember if it was the Hillsong United latest album
or the Hillsong album where they participate with the entire church also
singing live link is here for Hillsong Hillsong Church BUT they went
number 2 on itunes and then they sell the mp3s the cds and the dvds at
amazon and their own store and all round the world but the iTunes is free.
So, you need another product to sell do you not if you do that? or if they
get it free from Itunes how can you get them to also buy it or your other
products? Only you know that.

I only buy cds so unless I listen to a sample online once in a while, with
slow dialup it is not worth the trouble. Did you consider getting a cd made
and trying to sell that also? Amazon has print on demand books, no idea
if they do anything in the line of cds in that way... just a few ideas.

Maybe you can send the info to any musician who Twitters, or any celebrity who
Twitters also that you can think of. It does not work really well for individuals
you would think that if you sent to someone with 2 million readers that the readers
would in droves look to see what everyone else is saying to their star, but that
does not seem to be the case except for a few handfuls or more if lucky. However
on Twitter, you may find some news sources for music, some sites that Twitter
about music that distribute news and reviews and they may retweet your info.

Also, can you get the music reviewed - all the reviewers of music in any format
you can think of, can you get the music to them and give them a free review copy with info.
Is that what they mean by a press kit?

In your local area, there probably is one or more free publication that is distributed
door to door with local news. Ads cost money, can you write a story about you and
your music and get it accepted, with info on how to buy it? or is there a reporter
that covers music and entertainment that you could send your music to? or get interviewed?

Can you search the web, eg. http://www.google.com click other categories, more etc.
and do a blog search and then either find blogs that would let you post a guest blog
or comment on some topic and add a link to where they can find your music online?

Are there any recording studios in town, if they are affiliated with a music producer
can you get listed with them or at least get a copy to the staff and or musicians that
go there? to get the word out.

If there is a music concert in town can you get a coupon out with a free mp3 download of a song
or the itunes free download info plus where they can find additional products to buy? to the audience?

Christmas has a lot of concerts, and christmas music events, can you get info about your free/
paid music to the audience?

Is there a charity you wish to support? or is there a charity event where you can say that $1 from
every album will be donated to that charity? maybe doing that for every charity interested and ask
them all or as many as you wish to?

Some large bookstores and some specialty ones also maybe some music stores have some kind of
event for the public free, an author reading, a music performance, an autograph signing,
etc. or an open mike event where folks can get up and sing, can you do any of those things and
also give the audience info about how to get your songs?

I don't think one person can do all of the things I mentioned. Do you have a fan club?
Family who are keen to help out? Youngsters/family who are net savvy who may work for something special
like a day at Disneyland or some event? Can you get them to do some or all the leg work and just
go to events as they find them? based on your calendar availablilty?

Do you have a Youtube you can upload of a song, preferably at least in HQ, but HD quality would be great.
Do you have any fans that would film you free? or for some small gift? or large gift?
Then on Twitter be sure you fill in ALL relevant info, keywords that are meaningful - lots of them,
a description that makes sense. Get a few friends to comment on and rate your submission in case the world
misses it - to get you started. Do you have a Wikipedia page? can you join there, knowing what you already
do from Mahalo, can you learn to write your own page there?
Do you have a page for your band on Mahalo? can you make one and put your music info on there? and ask
questions in Answers with links to where to buy or get your music?
Cdbaby also has other services for independent musicians, web page etc. is that worth your while to check out?
http://www.cdbaby.com also there are competitors to cdbaby you can find maybe under independent music in a search.

As a musician, if you have time on your hands can you apply to be on the fill in on call musician list for
your local recording studios? so you can get to know other bands and get on the inside of the music industry and
see if networking and suggestions from them can get you further as an insider?

EXAMPLES:
100 Huntley Street Youtube Channel for TV show excerpts
http://www.youtube.com/user/100huntley
Sample recent song taped in studio: Kelita - they advertise her website
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyPG5ixSwSk
Sample video clip of other performances by musician offsite, but they were as a guest on the show so they link it to the episode number when they visited but this is a promo video that may or may not have been viewed on the show not sure if their website was on the vid, it was not on the site
Heaven's Rehearsal "He Reigns" & "Yahweh"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E29nyswKWY&feature=related

Youtube search “christmas music” results 1 - 20 of about 325,000
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=christmas+music&search_type=&aq=o

“holly jolly christmas song” results 1 - 20 of about 251
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=holly+jolly+christmas+song&search_type=&aq=2&oq=holly+jolly+christmas

Andrea Bocelli is based in Italy and globally famous and yet he still has a channel and a strong presence on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=andrea+bocelli+christmas+album&search_type=&aq=1&oq=andrea+bocelli+christmas

I wouldn't do the "Pay What It's Worth Option." You will have people trying to get it for nothing. I would do the whole album for $5.00, actually. To get people hooked once they're in the website, offer something free. For instance, a free download or a discount if they sign up for your email newsletter, or something along those lines. Once they have the free download or savings, they're going to want to hear more, and even buy.

The idea is that once people are in the site, they want to buy your downloads. Have it up top and VERY visible on the site. I'm not saying in the text section of the blog, but people shouldn't have to scroll very far before they see the offer.

For promotion, if you want free, visit music forums and gradually work your way into posting what you have to offer- Don't spam. Also, use "do follow" social promotion, on sites such as Mixx, Digg, Reddit, etc. As mentioned above, Facebook, and Twitter are great also.

One thing I'd like to add is that you should consider adding a video with one song to YouTube. This offers a lot of publicity, if you categorize it correctly. You could add: For more 8 Bit Music, Visit www.8bitchristmas.com.

If you're looking to spend a little money on promotion, you may want to try Good Adsense. You can place your text and website into an ad that Google will run on other websites for you. If for only several weeks, anyway. If you do this, make sure to include the free download you're including, or something appealing to the intended audience.

Another idea is to start accounts with eHow, Squidoo, and Ezine and write short articles dealing with the 8 bit music niche. You can link back to your website, which not only gives link juice, to rank higher in Google, but also allows readers to visit your site. I know this is time consuming, but you want to reach as big of audience as possible, in the shortest amount of time.

One final word: Make sure you offer something your competitors don't. Whether it's a discount, a hard copy cd signed by you, or free shipping, make it worthwhile for your audience to purchase what you have to offer.

Good Luck,
J~

might want to try promoting it through think geek. www.thinkgeek.com

I listened to it.. totally zelda.....

Here is your answer (what I would do), step by step;

i. As far as the blogs are concerned, you must try Hubpages and Blogger. Hubpages has its own members who will give you a good traffic and your hubs will be put in relevant category (you can choose it). This gives you a good exposure. Blogger is a product from Google and hence has its own advantages. In both, you get to declare tags and keywords to help them get listed in the Google and other searches. I would prefer Hubpages most.

ii. I think you should put "Pay What is Your Worth" option with a minimum price (say $5.00). Anyone who wishes to buy it may pay anything above $5.00 (if the buyer likes it) but not below that. This will ensure that each download is paid.

iii. The album is very nice. Why don't you try Youtube (there is a chance of being downloaded, so upload only an example (short version, a few samples) and post the link there from where it can be downloaded on payment. Youtube has a great traffic. You can also try Metacafe. It is also good.

iv. Publish an ad in some newspapers with the URL to download the album. It is very cheap to advertise through newspapers and they have a great circulation.

v. Twitter is very hot these days. Give a try.

vi. Orkut and other social sites also serve good for advertising.

vii. Visit all possible discussion threads, blogs, sites etc. dedicated to music and post your links there. You will get a good response.

viii. Play it loud from your home and let neighbours ask for it.

ix. Make it the ringtone or caller-tune for your mobile and let others hear it, and when they ask for it, tell them the URL from where they can download it.

x. Follow the strategy "Low Unit Price, More Sell" rather than "Higher Unit Price, Less Sell".

Hope that helps. Thanks

It depends on your budget for promotion. Many people want to promote their product for cheap or free, and this makes it that much tougher. Here are some suggestions:
1 - make a list of 100 blogs that talk about indy music. Use their contact form or an email on the site to send them a letter pitching your album and why they should post about it. Expect an answer from 5 of them. Do the same for podcasts and vidcasts. Volunteer to be interviewed and be interesting.
2 - offer the download for free in exchange for a comment about the album, or a recommendation to a friend.
3 - find a free $50 or $100 google adwords credit coupon (they are out there from a number of web hosts and other places) and run a bunch of ads
4 - read about guys like Scott Sigler and Jonathan Coulton who are pretty-much self-made internet based artists - and experts at self-promotion.

Simply, I would do what you have already done. I have my husband listening to it now. We LOVE all kinds of Christmas music, so we totally want to add this to our library! I would be willing to bet if you start this on twitter and other social networking sites like facebook today, it would be viral by the end of the week!
The live stream is awesome, you should keep that, but shorten the songs to make the stream more of a "teaser." I would offer the whole thing for $5 but if I were you I would donate a portion (like $1) to a charity or allow the purchaser to decide what charity they want it to go to.
I wish you lots of luck and I hope it's available soon so we can add it to our Christmas music library!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I took a listen and I love it. It's really good and really fits the 8-bit NES style of music way back when. I think you found yourself a great niche album there!

$3 to download the whole album sounds very FAIR actually. You could charge $5 for an actual album (cd and case), if you want to go that far.

*Promoted it on FB, Twitter, LJ, and Digg*
Happy?

I do HIGHLY suggest you promote this on video game music sites, they usually love this stuff.

You can always see what your competitors are up to for the 8Bit music space...

134,000 pages turned up in Google for this, there is a market!

It might take a little leg work but...

You can also sell your samples/effects on sites discoverysound.com or Amazon with a UPC label, of course. You'll be surprised at what some companies would pay for music used in a commerical for christmas.

Even NBC bought one of sonomic.com's servers. Check out all the providers they use, I would contact them all. http://www.sonomic.com/sound_providers.jsp

Least its a start! You have some good tunes that need to be heard or used in production!

1. I know there are some websites/forums out there for video game music. I recommend promoting your album on those sites.

Take a couple songs, make videos for them and upload them to Youtube with good keywords. They don't have to be fancy videos. Even a slide show of Christmas pictures would be fine.

Here's a huge list of music blogs where you can send your songs to in hopes of getting the blog authors to write about them and promote your music: http://hypem.com/#/list

2. For price on an album like this. I would go with about $5 for direct download. Retail for a commercial album is about $10 so I think half that would be fitting for a specialized independent album.

I listened to some of the songs. Great job sticking to the 8-bit theme and capturing the Christmas spirit. It should draw some attention during the holiday season. Good luck promoting your music!