Notation Programs VS DAWs

Notation programs are software used to create sheet music. You would need to know how to read and write music to use it. DAWs or Digital Audio Workstations are stronger for producing professional sounding audio. The amount of sounds libraries, virtual instruments and effects are endless. DAWs have more powerful ways to manipulate notes and sounds than Notation programs.

How do I decide which type of program to choose?

Generally, if you want to create great sounding audio, use a DAW. Alternatively, if you want to compose for live instruments, an orchestra, choir and won’t need to record your tracks in a studio, plus you’re game in music notation, choose a notation program.

Best Notation Programs for Music Composition

Finale

Finale is the cream of the crop in music notation programs and is used professionally by sheet music creators. The printed music at your local music store would most likely be made using Finale. The learning curve is a little high though, with tons of features. It may be too complicated for beginners but you can try Finale Notepad first which is a free, easier version to use.

Sibelius

The main competitor to Finale, Sibelius is great for all types of composers. Finale targets the traditionalists, and Sibelius the more general audience. Maybe too bold of a statement, but Sibelius tends to be popular with media composers such as film and video game music composers. The interface is very easy to learn and use, and is more beginner-friendly.

MuseScore

MuseScore is the best free notation program out there. It has a lot of features and is considered equal to the full blown programs such as Finale and Sibelius. A little hard to learn for the beginner, but will greatly pay off considering this is a free program with full capabilities.

Knowing where and how to get the best return for your dollar and your time is the key to maximizing exposure and sales. Here are six ways to effectively market your dance music online:

1. Distribution. The first step in marketing music online is making it available for purchase. CD Baby offers one of the easiest, most comprehensive ways of distributing music online. Through their extensive partner network, this site allows everyone from absolute beginners to pros to sell their MP3s everywhere from iTunes to Facebook.

2. Search Engine Marketing. Getting a website online is another key step but not just any site will do. To be effective, a site should incorporate pages that are built around keywords that are commonly searched in the niche market being targeted. For a dance artist, the broadest niche would be “dance music”. This could be subdivided even further to “club music,” “house music,” “electronic dance music,” “electronica,” etc. Sitesell includes all the tools to research a niche market and build a site that organically targets people searching on relevant keywords.

3. Social Media. The biggest social media sites are Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and MySpace. Set up artist pages on the sites that are most heavily used by your target market. For music fans, this would likely be Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Interact with fans on these sites, engage them, and share news of interest. Posts links to the main website and other social media sites.

4. Press Releases. Thanks to the internet, news releases are no longer just for journalists. They can now be used to reach fans directly with news of an upcoming single or show. Find good reasons to send them all the time to keep fans engaged. Use keyword rich copy and link back to the website.

5. Blogging. A blog is a great place to post ideas big and small. Engage fans by commenting on music news of the day, posting career updates, telling insider stories, and sharing photos, videos, and songs. Focus on the dance music niche and label posts with appropriate keywords.

6. Video. Videos are powerful tools for promoting music. YouTube is now the internet’s second most used search engine after Google. Posting to YouTube and other video sharing sites will expose your videos to millions of users. Tag videos using niche relevant keywords for maximum exposure and link directly to your website from the description.