What is the Buzz FactorTM? In today's music industry, record labels and other industry reps look for acts with established fan bases and a proven ability to promote. With this in mind, we've set out to track each Your Next Records artist's "Buzz Factor," in effort to measure just how buzzworthy you are. Buzz Factors run on a scale from 1-100 and are continuously computed by aggregating and analyzing fan activity data (video plays, page views, etc.) from Yournextrecord.com FameCast.com and other traffic sources - including Google, MySpace and blogs. So start promoting your music both on and off Yournextrecord.com and see how well your "Buzz Factor" stacks up!

Here are tips to help you make it to the top:

• Network.  Not only should you be spreading the word about your video to your existing network of family and friends, but you should actively seek out new friends and fans to share your music with, whether it be on Guitar Center's Your Next Record, FameCast, MySpace, Facebook or elsewhere.


• Embed, Embed, Embed!  Use your widgets, located in your account manager, to quickly access all of your embeddable items, including your Guitar Center's Your Next Record MP3s, videos, photos, fan club sign-up form and vote link.  Copy & paste the embed code provided into your MySpace profile, Facebook page or personal web site.  If you need help with embedding, click here.


• Fill out your Backstage profile (completely).  Give your fans the inside scoop by writing blog posts and uploading images to your Photo Gallery.  Make your audios and videos 100% complete by adding descriptions, tags, lyrics, cover art, albums and more.


• Get some press.  We're not talking the New York Times here (that will come later).  Seek out your local news outlets and online music zines, blogs, etc., and find a way to get your band in them.


• Aim high.  Record your work using the highest quality video and audio that you can.  Remember, videos files must be in one of the following formats: ASF, AVI, MOV, MPEG, QT, DV, or WMV.


• Keep it tight.  Unless you plan on recreating Michael Jackson's "Thriller," keep your videos to less than 6 minutes in duration.  All uploads have a 1 GB file size limit.


• Be original.  Save the karaoke for your next trip to Japan.  Ensure the material you upload is yours or is in the public domain.