Book review: Ariel Hyatt's book about the music bidness

Nashville, Tenn. – In 2006, Ariel Hyatt, founder of Ariel Publicity in New York City, threw out the traditional publicity rule book and went digital, launching her venture Cyber PR, a web-based business that integrates savvy social networking tactics and Internet marketing best practices to help artists broaden their fan bases and accelerate their outreach.

Since launching, Cyber PR has successfully represented more than 500 thriving artists of all genres. Hyatt regularly blogs about the shifting paradigms for social media, PR, and marketing at Music Think Tank, a music industry public forum for thought-leading ideas. Hyatt travels the globe conducting seminars and master classes at respected conventions and universities and also hosts Sound Advice, a widely popular video and newsletter series, which offers information about the emerging music business for musicians and music entrepreneurs.

Ariel has found multiple ways to connect with and to empower others with her success-yielding philosophy and diverse tool set. Her most ambitious endeavor is her book Music Success in Nine Weeks. It provides the missing manual for musicians trying to make sense of the social media revolution and explains step-by-step how to create a profitable and sustainable business from their music. Just released in its second edition, the book can easily be deemed the “what to do next” bible for both new and established artists.

Taking a music product to the existing marketplace can be a baffling process for the novitiate, and Music Success in Nine Weeks demystifies topics such as how to capture and engage a fan base using Twitter, Facebook, and other sites in ways that make the artist stand out from the pack and does not overwhelm the artist in the process.

Reading Hyatt’s Music Success in Nine Weeks is like sitting down with your own personal and trusted advisor, telling you exactly what you need to do, why, and how – weekly.

Adamant about the power of branding, blogging, facebooking and tweeting, she explains how social networking does more than just get your name out there; it serves as a catalyst for building a devoted fan base and making more income. Her sage insights and brilliant suggestions de-stress the digital launching process, and allow artists to place themselves in positions advantageous to their creative and economic purposes in the midst of the digital atmosphere. With targeted, easily followed exercises, Hyatt encourages her readers to write ideas all over her book’s pages and sends them on multiple quests across the web to discover, and awaken opportunity that lies sleeping like a gentle giant.

Readers can even tap into the book’s online support forum called the Cyber PR Mastermind where they can get help and feedback from their fellow readers and peers.

“I am asking musicians to take off their artists hat for a minute and put on their business hat,” invites Hyatt. “In order to be successful, you must think about your fans as customers.” Her tactics and tools have actualized exponential success for her most active Cyber PR clients by giving them a solid business strategy. A recent victory for Cyber PR is client and American Idol top four finalist Michael “Big Mike” Lynche. He states, “Any independent artist trying to make it in the game on their own has got to have these tools. These tools are available with Ariel.”