Friday, March 23, 2007

Worldwide chart positions as of mid day 3/22

iTunes Rock Singles Chart

* US: 67
* UK: 71
* Canada: 22
* Australia: 35
* Austria: 35
* Denmark: 40
* Finland: 42
* Germany: 13
* Ireland: 54
* Italy: 30
* Netherlands: 5
* New Zealand: 56
* Norway: 23
* Sweden: 9
* Switzerland: 42

Overall Top 100 Songs Chart

* Canada: 96
* Germany:98
* Netherlands:38
* Norway: 100
* Sweden: 98

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Welcome

BUM RUSH NOW

Traffic data from Urchin and Feedburner is posted here, along with raw data if anyone's interested. A reminder that as numbers and data come in, we'll post them up. We will not have full purchase data for up to a month, depending on when Apple generates its reports. We should have third party verification of purchasing from IODA within a day or two.





Podcasting gets little respect from traditional media. To them we're little more than a joke, than amateurs. What they don't understand is that podcasting is more than just a delivery mechanism - it's a social movement. People are sick of the watered-down, cookie-cutter content that networks and record companies expect us to enjoy. People are tired of watching friends and loved ones get sued by record labels who only care about profits and nothing else, not even the artists they supposedly represent.

We want and deserve more. On March 22, 2007, we're going to change that with your help.

We can do better. We can match and exceed the reach of big media, corporate media, labels, and the entrenched interests. On March 22nd, we are going to take an indie podsafe music artist to number one on the iTunes singles charts as a demonstration of our reach to Main Street and our purchasing power to Wall Street. The track we've chosen is "Mine Again" by the band Black Lab. A band that was dropped from not just one, but two major record labels (Geffen and Sony/Epic) and in the process forced them to fight to get their own music back. We picked them because making them number one, even for just one day, will remind the RIAA record labels of what they turned their backs on - and who they ignore at their peril.

What's more, we're going to take it a step beyond that. We've signed up as an affiliate of the iTunes Music Store, and every commission made on the sale of "Mine Again" will be donated to college scholarships, partly because it's a worthy cause, but also partly because college students are among the most misunderstood and underestimated groups of people by big media. Black Lab has taken it up another notch - 50% of their earnings are going to be donated to the scholarship fund as well.

If you believe in the power of new media, on March 22nd, 2007, take 99 cents and 2 minutes of your time to join the revolution and make iTunes "Mine Again". If you're a content producer (blogger, podcaster, etc.), we're asking you to join up with us and help spread the word to your audience. Nothing would prove the power of new media more than showing corporate media that not only can we exceed their reach and match their purchasing power, but that we can also do it AND make a positive difference in the world. If we can succeed with this small example, then there's no telling what can do next.

How to help



Remind people about Bum Rush the Charts using email and MySpace bulletins & messages. Remind people that the link to buy Mine Again is:

http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com/bumrush

and that using this link will net us 5% in affiliate fees from Apple on top of the 50% donation from the band.

Important: remind people that they can GIFT Mine Again using this link as well, so if they already own it, they can gift it to a friend, colleague, or associate who may not have heard of Black Lab before.

If college and graduate students are part of your audience, remind them that in order to be eligible for the scholarship, they need to set up a free profile at:

http://www.ScholarshipPoints.com

Also, it may sound silly, but it pays to remind people that they need to download and install iTunes, plus open an iTunes Music Store account with a valid credit card and/or PayPal account.

http://www.iTunes.com

Make sure you've got a copy of the StumbleUpon toolbar for IE or Firefox, and that you have an account set up on StumbleUpon.

http://www.StumbleUpon.com

Once you've got StumbleUpon up and running, visit EVERY blog post (click on the titles of the posts on the main page) at Bum Rush the Charts and click the Thumbs Up button. Be sure to do this on the buy now URL as well.

On YouTube, make sure you watch and rate 5 stars the Bum Rush videos on there:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jMx_66WS9hQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=u5_y9EZcLDY
http://youtube.com/watch?v=T-zl5hZOScQ

Obviously, buy Mine Again today. In addition to that, we need to give a major social networking blast to BRTC stuff today.

Send out one final round of MySpace bulletins. Ideally, delete any previous bulletins about BRTC and post a new one. If you have the time, delete and repost in the morning, afternoon, and evening, to ensure that the maximum number of friends see the bulletin (especially if you have a lot of friends).

Go to this Digg.com Bum Rush URL:

http://digg.com/videos/music/Bum_Rush_The_Charts_2

and click Digg It. If you don't have a Digg.com account, set one up.

== After Thursday ==

We'll keep you up to date on how BRTC goes - if it goes well enough, there's no telling what we can all do next. Thanks for being a part of it, and please share this with anyone else you know who is excited about BRTC and wants to know how they can help more, beyond just buying the track.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Promos and other stuff

Share this link: http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com/bumrush

You in? Copy this code to your site!

Also in black:

Play Mine Again on your show!

Mine again is available as a podsafe music selection on IODA Promonet.

Play a Bum Rush promo on your show!

Family/Work Safe Explicit

Share the PDF!

Print out PDF

Get college students involved!

Sign up for free
In order to be eligible for the Bum Rush scholarships, college students need to set up a free profile at Scholarship Points.

Promos from Cary Chatham

Here are three days of AUDIO countdown promos for BRTC depending on your show schedules. Each is the same except for the mention of how many days till BRTC there is an extra music piece for lead in, if you don't need it fade it out.

March 19 2007
http://download.yousendit.com/036EA57A370A404F

March 20 2007
http://download.yousendit.com/59A6DCF13A8E4456

March 21 2007
http://download.yousendit.com/23C2805F05937551

Depending on show schedules here are three days of iPod ready VIDEO promo starting monday for Bum Rush The Charts. Each is the same except for the mention of how many days till BRTC

BumRushVideo3Days03_19_07.m4v
http://download.yousendit.com/C023D1A03389C1AE

BumRushVideo2Days03_20_07.m4v
http://download.yousendit.com/DE40B7C102DBE9B2

BumRushVideo1Day03_21_07.m4v
http://download.yousendit.com/2BFC375059863D1D

Best,

Cary Chatham
New Haven, CT

Monday, March 19, 2007

Countdown: 3 days

Bum Rush the Charts is 3 days away! Here's something you should know: if you already own "Mine Again", you can gift it in iTunes through our affiliate link to a friend who doesn't own it. Use the affiliate link on March 22nd and give a friend the gift of independent music.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Counting down: 1 week until we Bum Rush the Charts

One week left. Podcasters - have you played the promos? Bloggers - have you posted about it and left comments on music blogs about it? MySpacers - have you sent out bulletins, comments, and messages to your friends? In the end, no matter how many press releases and news stories there are about BRTC, it will come down to YOU and your personal network to make this a success! If you've never tested the reach of your personal network, now is the time!

Monday, March 12, 2007

This Lady Gets it...