Those with artist accounts on Music Xray will have noticed that there’s a new weekly digest email that tells you which opportunities are matched to your song, based on Music Xray’s S2O (song to opportunity) matching system. It’s also telling you how many fans we have matched to your songs.

This post tells you how to read the new email.

The first thing you will notice is the new layout.

At the footer of the email, you will notice the section about your ratings.

Occasionally, you will notice that we do not have enough data to calculate the number of potential fans we have for you. Click here for instructions on how to resolve this and see how many fans we have for each of your tracks.

These are instructions for music fans on Music Xray who have set up their account and connected their Facebook account but are still not receiving music to hear. This is usually due to our inability to detect any activity in your facebook account that gives us clues as to your taste in music. The solution is for you to manually enter your favorite artists and bands in your Music Xray Fan Match profile.

Step 1. After you log in, edit your Fan Match profile and select some genres.

Step 2: Uncheck the box that says “Use facebook music listening preferences”.

Step 3: Enter the names of some of your favorite bands (begin to type and then select from the list).

Step 4: Click save. Check your email in the next 24 hours for alerts about new songs to hear. If you don’t receive any, contact support@musicxray.com and we’ll help you out.

Below, you can see the results of 10 completed Fan Match campaigns. Click each image to hear the song for which the campaign was run.

You will notice that each campaign acquired fans (the artists got the email address of each fan) for less than $0.70. That’s incredible value because each true fan should be worth way more than that in the first year of the relationship, let alone over the life of a career.

Learn how to find out how many potential fans we have for you and how to run a Fan Match campaign.

What if you lived across the street from most music industry decision makers and you could walk into their office at any time?

Due to the work we do here at Music Xray, for the first time in history, independent musicians now enjoy a level playing field in the recorded music industry. It actually is like living across the street from most music companies. It’s no longer about who you know or who you can get access to because you can now get access to just about anyone for only a few dollars – much less than it ever would have cost in the past no matter how you went about it.

But, that doesn’t mean the natural laws of success and failure have been altered. It’s about your talent, skill, and market appeal (or that of your music). But it’s also about the having your music heard by the right person at the right time. If you’re not keeping your music in front of the decision makers they’re never going to make the decision you want and you’ll simply be out-competed by those musicians who understand this.

Even those who had access in the past were rejected multiple times. Beatles manager Brian Epstein made numerous trips to London to visit record companies with the hope of securing a record contract, but was rejected by many, including Columbia, Decca, Pye, Philips, and Oriole.

If you’ve been rejected a few times, don’t despair. You need to keep trying, especially if the feedback you’ve been getting is positive.

In fact, if you have tracks you have not submitted to at least 5 industry opportunities, you don’t even know how your tracks are being perceived because you haven’t received your ratings.

Do you believe in your music? If so, what’s your excuse?

We are thrilled to share some of these awesome recent industry endorsements with you:

Music Xray works. It does. It’s undeniable. I myself have found several bands using the site that I’ve begun to work with. We’ve already signed one of them, w.e.r.m., to Universal Republic. It makes identifying talent much more efficient. – Jeff Blue, RockShop Music, Atlantic Records

Music Xray gives curators like me a competitive advantage when it comes to identifying great songwriters. Within a short time of using the site we discovered talent that we’ve featured on the show. It’s become a primary way we find great material. Music Xray is the most efficient mechanism to assess the hundreds of submissions we receive each week from artists who want to be on our program.” –Jimmy Lloyd, Executive Producer and Host, The Jimmy Lloyd Songwriter Showcase on NBC

I love it! Music Xray has been integral A&R scouting source for my operation and I always look forward to reviewing to material from artists, writers, managers. –Jake Livingston, Epic Records (Sony)

Music Xray has helped my business by providing comprehensive tools to find and manage some of the best talent I’ve found anywhere. Thanks to Music Xray, over the last year alone, we have signed over 25 bands, artists, and groups to publishing/licensing deals, with many more still under consideration. I have also hand picked hundreds of songs from every genre imaginable, to pitch to our wide variety of clientele. Music Xray holds the keys to success for so many artist, while pioneering a new frontier in the music business. –Charlie Mac, Music Supervisor/SR VP. of A&R/Music Publisher/Music Producer

I prefer to manage music submission with Music Xray because it keeps me organized and seperates the music from my regular everyday emails. I’m able to track all of my submissions in the Music Xray hub which makes for an easy to navigate platform. –Eric Mclellan, A&R, Sire Records (Warner Music Group)

I prefer to manage music submission with Music Xray because of the easy accessibility of the site. In doing what I do, I have people sending me music from all over and in a variety of formats, from CD to MP3. With Music Xray I can access my submissions from wherever I am in the world, and I have a clean record of songs I have accepted, as well as communications that I have started. –Cliff Audretch, Sr. Director A&R / Staff Producer – Show Dog (Universal Music Group).

Music Xray gives me a professional advantage because it makes it possible for artists from all over the world to contact me. It also helps me form musical relationships that have realized some brilliant productions. They would never have happened without Music Xray. It’s the second best invention after the internet!!! – Stuart Epps, producer of Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Chris Rea, George Harrison, Mick Fleetwood, Barry White, George Michael, Mark Owen, Cliff Richard, Twisted Sister, Brian Adams, Oasis, Kiki Dee, Robbie Williams, Bill Wyman and Elton John.

I like Music Xray because it creates an instant one on one interaction between the artist and music professionals in the music business. The advanced system they have developed keeps screeners focused on the song itself which Is the fuel that keeps the music business going. -Jody Friedman, Music Supervisor, HBO, MTV, Showtime, ABC, NBC, Discovery, Bravo…

Music Xray lets me source all my A&R requirements in one place. Consistant high quality music that fits the brief for my requirements. Music Xray does that time after time. -Andy Lee, LOVE TO INFINITY RECORDS

Music Xray has helped my business by broadening my choices for writers and producers in addition to my team. Now we are delivering music faster at a level that’s far beyond the scope of excellence. -William “Junebug” Lee, The Bullets Production Team

Music Xray has become a very valuable tool for me as I seek out the next generation of great artists, producers, and songwriters to work with. I know when I listen to music submissions through Music Xray, I’m hearing music from artists who take their career seriously enough to invest in themselves. I am currently working with 2 producers and songwriters I discovered through Music Xray, and I know there are more to come.” – Ric “DJ Form” Robbins, Incorporated Elements

I like music Xray because it allows me to filter down to artist who take their craft serious. I can find records I need for my projects as well as find a diamond in the ruff artist all in a one stop shop model. Music Xray is the new A&R online department of a label. –Willie Baker, H2 Label Group

Music Xray has helped my business by taking my business globally instead of locally. It makes connecting to unsigned artist easier and efficient. –Robert Simmons 4th, Soul Shift Music

Music Xray is good for the music business because it gives everyone worldwide a chance to play in the major leagues! You no longer have to live in one of the major music hubs to get noticed. Alex Torrez, Torrez Music Group / Lawrence Music Group

Music Xray is good for the music business because it is the gatekeeper to the vast ocean of music around the globe and is making it so much easier for music professionals to find new talent by being exposed to a larger pool than was humanly possible before Music Xray. I’m excited to see what the future will bring via Music Xray but I see BIG things happening for the MX Team! –Nan Cassidy, Branding Outside the Lines, Nashville

I like Music Xray because it allows us to source new artists and new music for our current artists in one easy to use place. –Abbiko Music Group Enquiry Team

Music Xray has helped my business by introducing me to serious artists who are driven, passionate, and thirsty to succeed. Music Xray is also great for the industry. The model provides ears of top level executives. Due to this, artists have become stronger writers, producers, arrangers, and composers. – Eddie “Sea” Caldwell, Music of the Sea

Music Xray is on the cutting edge of technology, and it’s great for the music business. The platform really gives artist the opportunity to get their music in front of real decision makers. We just released an album called “Makaveli Returns, The Mixtape Vol. 1”, (please forgive the shameless plug), and 9 out of the 15 songs on the album are from artist we signed using Music Xray. The site is invaluable to us! –Kendrick Lesane, CEO of Makaveli Music Group, LLC.

Music Xray is so far the best because we successfully found talented and professional musicians thru its tool. Its system save our time by listening to all the song msubmissions with one click. –KCS Entertainment

We never do this. We’ve never done this. We may never do it again. But here you have it. 10 free submission opportunities. Click here or on the image for details and best of luck! Be sure to share this page with your musician friends in time for them to take advantage of it.

And to see some industry-leading achievements that distinguish Music Xray, click here.

We know there are a lot of websites that provide services to musicians. Many of them hype you up and then let you down. We know that can lead you to think Music Xray is too good to be true.

What separates Music Xray from other sites that provide services to musicians and the industry?

Although our site design does not yet scream “innovation!”, our services sure do. We have harnessed technology in ways that will be the industry standard for years to come.

Here is a short list of what we’ve done over the past 24 months… and we’re just getting started.

• Created the first & only level playing field in industry history for access to professionals and opportunities making it no longer dependent upon who a musician knows but rather on their talent, skill, & market appeal (or that of their music).

• First & only to guarantee a listen and response to the submitter from the industry professional to whom material was submitted.

• First & only platform to achieve adoption by major labels for direct submissions.

• First & only major label signings via an online A&R platform.

• Three times higher user to success ratio than the closest competitor (35.7%).

• First & only automatic song to opportunity matching system.

• Over 14,000 songs & acts selected for opportunities by industry professionals in the past 18 months.

• An innovative fan acquisition service the identifies & engages fans, and offers the ability to monetize new fans instantly via a creative twist on online tip jars.

• First & only automatic artist to fan matching system.

Other notable achievements include…

• The most advanced music search engine in the world including a sonic similarity search feature where industry professionals upload music that sounds like what they are seeking and they are returned similar-sounding results.

• First & only company to ever effectively crowd-source the music industry enabling professionals to leverage the ears of their peers.

This is worth repeating with additional emphasis:. Every industry professional who uses Music Xray benefits from the collective filtering power of the other 1400 professional users. No company, no website, no A&R tool has ever previously even achieved the necessary industry-adoption to harness the collective filtering power of so many professionals who make their living with their ears. This feature alone gives all our users (professionals and musicians alike) a competitive advantage.

• First & only push-music discovery service that pays music fans to hear & discover new music.

Musicians face enough challenges amid this changing industry. When shady sites don’t deliver the results they promise, musicians become rightfully jaded and suspicious. It’s hard to know where to turn for sincere career-advancing services. Consider helping your fellow musicians by spreading the word about Music Xray. Leave a comment below. Click the “like” button. Put this blog post on your Facebook timeline or even tweet it. Send it to people you think will be interested via email. But even more importantly, just tell people about Music Xray when you’re speaking with them.

We aim to provide real solutions in a sincere and transparent way.

Over the the next couple days, Music Xray rolls out an automatic Artist to Fan matching feature that tells musicians the exact number of potential fans that we can identify for them from among the tens of thousands of fans who have already signed up to discover new acts.

If you’re a musician who has been with Music Xray for any length of time, you’re probably now very familiar with our Song to Opportunity (S2O) matching feature, which uses music analysis software to match artists’ music to the needs of industry professionals. That service has contributed enormously to the over 14,000 tracks industry professionals have selected for opportunities via Music Xray in the past 18 months.

Now, when music fans sign up on the site, they tell us what music they’re currently into and we observe their evolving tastes over time. Then we cross reference our fan database with the music uploaded by artists into Music Xray.

Beginning late this week, a number of related changes will roll out across the site. First, you will notice a change in the emails you receive. The weekly digest you receive that alerts you as to the opportunities that have been matched to your songs will now also include the number of potential fans we’ve matched to your tracks. Each week, you’ll be able to see how many new potential fans for your music have joined the site.

We will place a little button near your tracks (only visible to the owner of the track when you are logged in) that launches a new Fan match campaign for each track. The button will show you the number of potential fans immediately available.

This new feature is the icing on the cake to our recently launched Fan Match service, which helps musicians quickly add real music fans to their following.  For clarity, we’re not talking about ghost Facebook “likes” and fake Twitter followers. We’re talking about real, live breathing humans who have signed up on Music Xray solely for the purpose of hearing new music.

You can increase your odds on Music Xray by understanding how it works. You’ll have a competitive advantage over many other users of the site who are not paying attention to our blog. So, here’s to those of you who are.

The whole site makes sense if you understand the following: We help musicians do three things and three things only.

1. Get deals.
2. Get fans.
3. Get better.

You can go anywhere else for the other services you need to advance your career. But when it comes to these three things, Music Xray is second to none. Yes, we know our site could use some love from our design team and that there are a few rough edges. We’ll address that soon. But the far more important thing is that our products work; that they get results. You see, everything we say, every tool we make, every feature we add is to help with one of those three things.

Say it with me again. What do we help you do? “Get deals. Get fans. Get better.”

The next thing you need to know about Music Xray is that the difference between musicians who are successful and those who are not is not luck. It’s not a lottery. It’s not a game of chance. It’s got very little to do with odds. Musicians and songwriters who are successful have better music (or their music is a better fit for a particular opportunity) than that of others.

Music Xray gets you to the table with industry professionals and fans but once you’re there, you’re going to get the the kind of unvarnished feedback the industry is known for. Our platform is populated with real music fans and real professionals. If they like your music, you’ll know quickly. The same is true if they don’t.

But here’s the good thing about that; no one is going to have to spend months or years seeking the kind of real-world feedback they can get very quickly via Music Xray.

That said, the ideal way to use Music Xray is as follows:

1. Upload your entire catalog to Music Xray.

This enables Music Xray to analyze all your music and keep it on file. You will be alerted immediately and any time in the future industry professionals seek music like yours.

2. Fill out all the metadata for your songs, including the section called “search related data”.

We know. It’s not intuitive but that’s why reading this puts you at an advantage over other users. Filling out the genre and the similar artist section enables us to identify potential fans for you. It also gives your tracks an advantage when industry professionals use our internal search engine.

3. Submit your best tracks to 10 to 15 different opportunities each.

I know. That seems like a lot. You don’t have to do it all at once. You can do it over time. In fact, I’d advise against making more than five or six submissions at a time for a single song. Some tracks are selected immediately but from what we’ve observed, tracks that are eventually selected for an opportunity tend to have been submitted to multiple opportunities. You have to combine persistence with a thoughtful submission strategy. Pay close attention to the ratings you receive from the industry professionals. We alert you each time your track is rated but we only show you the ratings after you’ve received five. So, after your fifth or sixth submission, you’ll get to see the average of the ratings. This will tell you whether or not to continue submitting that particular track to other opportunities. If the ratings are high go for it. If they are low, consider trying with another track.

4. Pick your best track and run a Fan Match campaign.

Don’t run a large one. It’s probably best to not spend more than $50 to $150 on your first campaign – but you can spend as little as $20. By the time the campaign is over (once your song has been heard by a group of potential fans) you’ll see how many people become a direct fan of yours. If the results are good, run another campaign. You should acquire as many fans as you can. During and after your first campaign, on your dashboard you’ll see how much each fan cost you (we divide the dollars you spent by the number of fans you acquired minus any tips you received from the new fans). Then, you’ll know if running further campaigns is worth it to you. You’ll know that by knowing how much a fan is worth to you over the course of a year and over the course of your career.

5. If you’re getting good results, just keep repeating steps 1 through 4. If you’re getting bad results go to step 6.

6. Get better.

Improve by submitting your tracks to the myriad of industry professionals, hit songwriters and the occasional celebrity artists who are on Music Xray only to help you make improvements, offer sincere song critiques, and even direct and personal career coaching.  After completing step 6, go back to step 1.

This cycle is infallible.  If you simply follow these steps, you will get deals and fans successfully.

If you’ve read this, you’ve got an advantage.

Mike McCready

co-founder & CEO

Music Xray