The Keys, and Beyond…

This is my first blog post in quite some time. And even before my prior blog post, they were very few and far between. Some people seem to have a knack for blogging - they can type out stories every single day, or at least one per week. I am not one of those people! Besides, does anyone really want to hear about my trips to Costco or the cool home improvement show I saw on HGTV? I don’t think so (then again, maybe you do?). So, I’m going to be taking an extra step back here and see where I want to go with this blog. It may stick around, reinvent itself in a slightly different format, or it may disappear altogether. It might also change along with a website reinvention. We’ll see…

I’m also taking a bit of break from the online social scene for a while. As many of you know, I’ve been quite active on Facebook (and a bit on Twitter) as of late, and I’ve given away many free songs to all of those who were interested. Now it’s time for me to create something new. I always have at least some musical ideas moving around in my brain, and it’s time get back to the synth for a while and put together some music.

My first goal is to finish my Christmas CD for this upcoming holiday season (I know, I know - it’s only May! But, you gotta get this stuff done early to have it released at the proper time.). It’s going to have 25 songs on it - my past holiday hits (traditional and original) and a few new tracks. It will be called “25 Greatest Christmas Hits”. I’m really excited about putting this together, as Christmas has always been my favorite holiday.

My next project - only after getting the holiday CD in the hopper - will be to make a CD based on my travels around the world. Later on this year, my wife and I will be visiting Australia (and New Zealand and Fiji to boot). This will be my last continent! I am very psyched about this - and always inspired about any travelling/vacations/road trips/etc. So, I’ll be making a CD based on many of the places I’ve been to in our great world. The tentative title for this CD is “Traveler”, though that may change. It may be somewhat similar to how “Ticket To Antarctica” turned out…or it may be totally different. I’m going to go wherever the music takes me.

I’m not sure about how long my hiatus from the social scene will be…a couple weeks, a few months, longer? We’ll see. In the meantime, my music and travel photos are always at KevOz.com, and you can join my Official Fan List right here.

Until next time…

KevOz :)

Just a quick note to let you know that I’m on a few social networking sites…in case you didn’t know. :)

Here they are:

Fan me on Facebook

Friend me on MySpace

Sub me on YouTube

Tweet me on Twitter

Looking forward to connecting with you further…see you there!

If you know me at least a little bit, you know that I’m a big fan of sharing my music. But, it’s not always easy to do. Sometimes, you have to click a link to go here, and then there, and then fill in the box to get your song, etc., etc. :) So, I’ve decided on a new approach.

From now through the end of January, you can download the following 3 new songs from Ticket To Antarctica for FREE. Yep, free!! Just go here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kevoz11

You’ll then see that the following 3 songs are priced at $0.00:

~ Blue Ice
~ Penguin Dance
~ Antarctic Lullaby

These 3 tracks are the middle of my new album, and the diverse nature of them kinda gives you an idea of the variety of music on my latest creation. Antarctica is not just a quiet “chilled-out” place; it’s also filled with wonder and excitement. And I tried my best to capture that with Ticket To Antarctica.

Is giving my music away for free the best marketing strategy? Maybe not. :) But, I don’t make my music to market it - I make it to express my feelings and emotions…if by chance it rings true to you, then I’m sure you’ll make up your own mind to listen to more.

Feel free to pass this link on, by the way: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kevoz11 - I’d like to give some free music to your friends, too. ;-)

Thanks for reading and listening!

KevOz

About a month back, I started a little contest for my fans, where they can suggest friends to my Facebook fan page - in hopes that they’ll become my fans there, too. The Top 15 fan referrers (meaning those who refer the most friends who actually become fans) would receive free music from me. I thought this was a fun idea, and I wanted to post it wherever my presence was so that others could join in, or maybe even come up with a fun marketing idea of their own that they could try (if they’re an independent artist like myself, that is). You would think that most any social network would allow you to post a description/link to this type of event, right?

Wrong! :(

I’m not going to be naming any names here, but there is a social network that I was once a part of (I’ve since decided to remove my content/presence and dedicate my networking efforts elsewhere) that did not think this was a good idea. In fact, the admin there removed my post (it was on my “blog” over there at the time) and sent me an email about it, stating “we are not Facebook or MySpace” and that I couldn’t post this type of content on my blog on my own page there. There were a few other sentences in there, too - I must admit that I don’t remember it line for line, but at the time, I was immediately aggravated.

You see, this was a networking site that was supposedly tailor-made for an artist who creates music in the “New Age” genre (which, if you are familiar with my music, would definitely be one of my genres). In bold letters at the top of the home page, it stated (and still states) that the network is for those who “LOVE, SUPPORT, PROMOTE OR CREATE NEW AGE MUSIC”. That would fit the bill for me, right? And it also noted in the paragraph below to “post your events”. Well, that’s what my above-described post would be, wouldn’t you think? Well…I guess not - not in the admin’s eyes.

I did write back, and even though I made it clear that I was upset about their decision, I also noted that I respected their wishes. After all, they’re in charge of their site, not me. I let them know that aside from people possibly wanting to participate in my contest, maybe my fellow artists would run with their own spin on the idea (as I had posted/shared a few of my marketing ideas on the site in the past). Didn’t matter - I got a second response, stating more or less that I could just let everyone know “how to run the contest”, or let everyone know how well it worked out afterward. Well, that’s not really all that great - what if this contest posting would’ve been someone’s first discovery of me and my music? Maybe it would lead them to expand their horizons and discover not just my music, but those of artists whom I enjoy, too. That’s how this whole networking thing is supposed to work, right?

Well, not in that network’s eyes, it isn’t. Or, at least it wasn’t in my case - before I removed myself from the site a day later, I got a direct email from someone else through the site, inviting me to their radio show. I guess that type of promotion is allowed? And there was (and still are) at least a few blog postings on their home page promoting everything from CD releases to piano lessons. Oh well, I guess it was just my unlucky day or something.

But, not to worry. :) Seeing as that site didn’t see themselves as MySpace or Facebook, they probably won’t ever have that type of reach. And that’s OK for them, and me. I’ll be happy networking on other actual networking sites. Maybe you’d like to join me? I’m at:

Facebook
Twitter
MySpace
YouTube
My Free Music Mailing List

Thanks for reading and hearing me out. Whoo! Feels good to get that off my chest. :)

If I don’t talk/post/chat/email with you by Thanksgiving, have a Happy One!

Giving Thanks to Friends:


Fall Contest from KevOz

This fall, I want to give thanks to all of my Facebook friends with a special contest. Here’s how it will work:

1. Become my fan on Facebook. It’s pretty easy. Just go here, or click on “Become a Fan” in the little display box below. (Note - if you’re not already, you need to become my friend on Facebook, too - you can do that here. You’ll see why in a minute.)

KevOz on Facebook

2. Shoot me an email, either on Facebook or to KevOz AT KevOz DOT com to let me know that you’re participating.

3. Once you’re on my fan page at Facebook, scroll down and look under my picture (Yes, there is a rather large penguin there!). You’ll then see a link that says “Suggest to Friends”.

4. Click on “Suggest to Friends”, and the following will appear:

5. Select as many friends of yours as you wish (the more you select, the better chance you have of winning!), and click “Send Invitations” when you’re ready to invite your friends.

Um…that’s it! The rest is my job. :)

I will then total up how many friends of yours become my fans, between now through Thanksgiving, November 26, 2009. (It will be easy to count because you will show up as a mutual friend when I click on that fan to view his/her page. This is why you probably should be my friend on Facebook, too - so that I can count your totals accurately!)

The Top 15 contest entrants with the highest total of referred friends who become my fans will win their own copy of my CD “Into Orbit”.

The contest entrant with the most referred friends who become my fans will also receive 2 more copies of “Into Orbit”, and 1 copy of my latest CD, “Ticket To Antarctica”. If this is you, you’ll have music for yourself, plus a couple stocking stuffers for Christmas!

Again, this contest is ongoing through Thanksgiving, November 26, 2009. I’ll contact you via Facebook shortly after Thanksgving if you’re a winner. If that’s the case, you’ll need to email me your address so that I can mail you a CD! Free Shipping! :)

This contest is open to everyone.

I want to give you my music as a thank you for being my friend! I hope you enjoy participating in the contest. :)

Thanks!

KevOz

I just put together a music player widget that has all of the tracks from my Ticket To Antarctica album. It’s yours for free to add to your website or blog! Here it is:

You just need to click the “Get Widget” thing right above here, and then copy the code to add to your site or blog. Easy! I made this widget - and many more - at Widgetbox.com.

Hope you enjoy the widget!

Have you ever noticed that when logging into Facebook, that Antarctica isn’t on the map? What’s up with that? It is a continent, after all. And while they’re aren’t necessarily people living there full-time, there are several bases (scientific research and such) and thousands of tourists who visit each year. And I’m sure that someone over there is on the internet…and on Facebook, too.

Well, I’m happy to say that I’ve been to Antarctica…and I’ve got your “ticket”, too. My album “Ticket To Antarctica” was just released. It’s currently at CD Baby and iTunes (Amazon and others soon to follow). I could go on and on about the album, but I’ll let you read about it and listen for yourself.

While listening to my tunes may not exactly bring Antarctica into view on Facebook’s map, at least you can feel like you were there. ;-)

Back in the day - meaning, before internet (when was that now, about 1994?) - we all probably had a few to several really good/best friends whom we saw on a regular basis. And then, perhaps another ten to a dozen acquaintances whom we knew fairly well - be it friends of friends, a relative of a friend, co-workers, etc. But, that was probably about it. There really wasn’t a way to keep track of more than that. You knew who you actually knew, and that was that.

So…how is it now that some of have several hundred - or even thousand - friends or fans on Facebook…or thousands of followers on Twitter (Ummm, I’ve only got a couple hundred on Twitter, is that a bad thing?)? (And let’s not forget MySpace, which still has hundreds or thousands of friends for a lot of us.) It’s obviously impossible to keep in touch with everyone out here, as the numbers are just a little insane to handle. I guess if being on Facebook, or online in general, was your full-time gig, you could do it…maybe. I still doubt it.

For me, I know that it’s hard to keep in touch with everyone whom I’ve “met” out here. And specifically speaking about my music presence on Facebook, where I currently have 264 263 fans, it’s very tough. I try to keep things interesting with updates or adding some new content - be it sharing some new photos, or one of my songs. But, every now and then, a “fan” will disappear. I wonder why this happens…

You’d think that if someone actually decided to be a fan, they’d stay a fan. Or they’d even tell someone else whom they know “Hey, there’s this guy who makes some cool music, check it out.” But, I’m finding that my fan count seems to bounce around - people disappear (and to be truthful, at times reappear). Or, they just give up being a fan altogether. I’m guessing it’s because it is just too easy to friend someone in the online world, or be their fan - and just too easy to turn the other way, too. It’s all just a click away, now.

Back in the day, you got to know people in person, and over several months/years of time…in this online environment, a click takes seconds to execute. Is this quick-clicking making some of us fickle about our friendships out here? I guess it’s easy to get caught up the online world, clicking your way to hundreds/thousands of friendships, adding on hundreds of fans…and then forgetting that there are actual PEOPLE behind those clicks.

I think we all need to remember - and I’m going to try my best to do so as well - that there are real humans behind these online profiles. It’s time to make these clicks count - stand behind your clicks. :)

This weekend, I’m putting some finishing touches on Ticket To Antarctica. And, I’m eager to have as many people as possible listen to it once it’s all done. So, I’m giving it away for free (for a limited time). I just set up a contest on Facebook, and here’s what you need to do to enter and win. As you’ll see below, both entering - and winning - are amazingly easy!

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Become my “Fan” on Facebook - if you’re not already. :)

2. Take a picture of yourself (or have a friend help) holding a sign, CD - or maybe even wear one of my T-shirts - that has something to do with KevOz.com. For example, you can just take a marker and write on a piece of paper “I love KevOz.com!”, or “KevOz.com Rules!”, or even just “Go to KevOz.com”… and then snap a picture of yourself holding that sign. Of course, the more creative you are here, the better - as you will soon see.

3. Post that creative “KevOz.com” photo/picture/artwork as your main profile pic on Facebook.

4. Also, you need to add it to my fan photo section on my wall, at http://www.facebook.com/kevozmusic.

5. Your “KevOz.com” image needs to remain as your main profile pic (and on my fan page) through 8/31/09.

6. Please note that any pics that are deemed too crazy, crude, obnoxious, or offensive to the general populace will not be condoned or considered as valid entries, and will be deleted ASAP. Let’s keep it clean, people. :)

7. The contest starts NOW - if you’re reading this, you can enter.

8. The contest ends on 8/31/09, so the sooner you post your “KevOz.com” pic, the better (and remember, your “KevOz.com” picture needs to still be posted as your main profile pic through the end of August, 8/31/09)!

9. Only one entry per Facebook account. And please don’t make multiple accounts so that you can enter multiple times. We’re talkin’ good karma, man.

10. Winners will be announced on 9/9/09.

11. Oh, what can you win? Here are the prizes:

*** To all who submit a qualifying entry according to the above guidelines = the link to download my new album, “Ticket To Antarctica”.

*** To the top three most creative “KevOz.com” submissions = the “Ticket To Antarctica” free album download link, and two physical copies of my CD “Into Orbit” (give one to a friend!).

*** And to the very most creative “KevOz.com” submission = one lucky winner will receive the “Ticket To Antarctica” free album download link, and one physical copy each of every CD I’ve released - that is, the entire KevOz collection!

So, there you have it - simple, right? And everyone who submits a valid entry according to the guidelines listed above will be a winner…so you’ve got nothing to lose, and a lot of wonderful new music to gain!

If you’ve got questions or comments, please drop me a line and let me know. Sound good?

Thanks in advance for entering!

Hey there - just a quick post to ask if you’ve got a blog for me to check out. I’m focusing mostly on music, travel, and all things creative and artistic. I’m basically looking to broaden my horizons and possibly add some blogs to my blogroll - can you help? You can reply on my blog, find me on Facebook, or Twitter…or keep in touch by joining my mailing list on my website - whatever is easier for you. Thanks!