Contxts…don’t be another boring musician with a business card

Forget business cards.  Forget digital drop cards.  Contxts is a mobile platform that allows industry professionals and musicians to throw away those wasteful pieces of paper and share information with each other through SMS texts.  The days of, “Sorry.  I’m out of cards” are over.  Contxts is easy to set up, free, and the potential is endless.

I first heard about Contxts through my friend Katie when I met her over the summer.  Ever since then I have been telling every hip nerd (not an oxymoron if you think about) I know about it.  To give you an idea of how it works, feel free to text davidchaitt (one word) to 50500. Within seconds, you’ll receive my digital business card, which includes my name, email, blog link, and twitter handle.

Your Contxts name doesn’t have to be one word nor does have to actually be your name and it’s not case sensitive.  Also, you can fill your Contxts message with WHATEVER you want, which makes it extremely exciting for musicians.  My only beef is that there are no analytics attached to this platform, so you can track it’s effectiveness.  To the fine folks at Contxts make it happen!!!!

A couple creative uses:

• Links to main site and/or blog
• Links to MySpace, YouTube channel, Twitter, Facebook, Sonicbids, or any other social networking site
• Links to your agency, record label, publicist, lawyer’s website
• Links to download your new single, B-sides collection, live tracks, entire albums, or even better, include a link to an exclusive track only available through Contxts.
• Links to your Sellaband or Kickstarter account to raise capital for next album
• Link to a press release or digital one-sheet
• Include a press quote with a link to the whole article
• Include name and email of your agent, manager, lawyer and/or publicist (possibly a completely separate Contxts account)
• Include band’s email address and/or screen name
• Include upcoming tour dates
• Include the name of your new album and the day it is released, or even better, include a link to pre-order the album with discount code only available through Contxts

What context is Contxts useful:

• At shows, tell every people to text “_____” to 50500 and they’ll have all your info in their phone, so it’s one less thing to for them to have to remember.
• Put it on flyers promoting an upcoming album or concert, so people can text to find out more if they’re interested while they’re walking by or at a concert
• At networking events, concerts, parties, or literally ANYWHERE where you meet someone and tell them about your band or company

Basically, the body of your Contxts message can be whatever you want it to be.  Be creative.  Experiment with copywriting, links and exclusive content to see if people are taking note of it.  More importantly, tell people about it to see if your demographic identifies with this type of content distribution.