Successful blog creator shares experience with students

A passion for music is what drives music blog creator Heather Browne. She told her story of the blog I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, to University of Colorado Denver students in College of Arts and Music Assistant Professor Storm Gloor's music marketing class earlier this month.

"After three years of college, I began to feel like I was out of touch with my passion (music). This blog was my way of getting back to it," Browne told students. "Never in a million years would I have imagined it taking off the way it did."

Browne's blog is a true passion. With a separate full-time job, friends and family, Browne wouldn't be doing it (the blog) if she didn't love it. To her, the blog was a way to keep up with new music, and with its success. It's now the blog every musician wants in on. I Am Fuel, You Are Friends has been viewed by more than 6 million people, and more than 1 million are return site visitors. With site statistics like that, artists are eager to have Browne listen and review their music on her blog. Browne confirms that her blog is in some ways a counter argument to those who say music is a dying art.

Browne offered the UC Denver students advice on getting their music heard by major music blogs.

"When you are sending out your music, attach something to it that tells us about it," she said. "Often people just send me tracks and say, 'Yo, check this out.' I am much more likely to listen if you grab my attention with a story or reason why you think I should listen to your music. Explain to me why you love it."

Online marketing is a great tool for getting music heard and recognized, and for many bands, Browne's blog has done precisely that.