MySpace recently launched their beta artist analytics area so that you can get deeper insight into who is listening to your music. MySpace is still the primary social network for musicians and music discovery, so it’s a good idea to use these new analytics tools to make sure you’re getting as much as you can out of your artist profile on MySpace.

Naturally, you’ll want to know not only what information Analytics is going to provide, but also how to best use the beta analytics to improve sales of your album.

First, a quick overview of the data in MySpace Analytics. You can see, all on one page:

· A geographic breakdown of your friends and visitors by country, state or even city

· How many people are listening to your songs

· A breakdown of both your visitors and friends by gender and age

· How many friends you have

· How many profile views you have

· Blog statistics, including views, posts, comments, and kudos by day, week or since Analytics launch

1. Use all the data that MySpace and CD Baby are giving you - Make sure you have prominent links on your MySpace page that point to your albums on CD Baby. Once properly linked, you can use the CD Baby hit counter in conjunction with your MySpace analytics to see how effectively you’re driving visitors to a place where they can buy your album. Once you have a good idea of the percentage of folks on MySpace who feel compelled to click through to potentially buy your album, you can start making changes to your MySpace page to drive more people to buy. Move the Buy link to a different spot on the page. Try a different Link design. You can continue to track your traffic to see if any of these changes drive a higher % of visitors to a page where they can actually buy your music.

2. Use the gender and age info to improve your page and content - Many times an artist’s core audience is different from what they might have expected, so having a true understanding of who is listening is a big plus. Also, your MySpace audience might be different compared to your audience on other web sites and social networks.

3. Plan your tour based on where your fans are - Analytics can point to promotional and fan outreach efforts that are really working, so be sure to take note when particular actions cause a bump in traffic and song plays.

4. Get more streams using their Song Statistics - The song you think is the best, might not be the fan favorite.

Have a music promotion idea you'd like to share? Feel free to post it in the comment on our DIY Musician blog at http://diymusician.cdbaby.com