Tuesday, March 20, 2012

How To Market Your New Band

The Strokes live at Stubb's March 14th night b...The Strokes live at Stubb's March 14th night before SXSW. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


When you start out life as a new band it is important to get out of your garage or practise venue and introduce yourself to the wider public. If you are seeking to secure a record deal and aim for a successful music career as a recording artist being able to perform live to a high standard, book your own gigs and gain exposure is essential. Starting a band is tough and becoming a professional band is exceptionally difficult to achieve, but it is possible if you get certain aspects of the process right.
This article will assume that you have the talent, you have tracks of sufficient quality and you have

the drive to succeed. Now let us focus on how to get known in your local area where you will hopefully begin making a name for yourselves.
1. No Gig Too Small
Most bands begin in pubs playing to a very small audience earning zero fee. You should go and meet gig venues and offer to play a gig and emphasise that you will promote it yourselves. An Email is simply not enough and more often than not you will get no reply. Visiting the venue shows that you are serious and this will secure you many bookings.
When you are starting out the experience of playing live, dealing with your PA system and getting the sound levels right for your performance is an essential part of being a reliable and quality live act. Pad out the audience with friends and family and take constructive feedback on your performance from the venue owners. Hopefully they will invite you back and tell their industry colleagues in other venues what a great idea it would be for them to book your band for a gig.
2. Learn basic PR
Common sense is the way forward in terms of your PR. Contact the local press and invite them to attend each gig but do not get too pushy with them as they get many invites of this nature. It may take some time and many requests before a reporter comes to your gig. Hopefully if you keep asking, eventually they may have a free evening and come along. At this point you must have the talent to impress them.
Send out well-written press releases to local music websites, magazines and local events portals with a high resolution photo they can use as a thumbnail or avatar for their listing or article. This makes it easy for them to create an article in a short amount of time which increases your chances of getting exposure.
Another good idea is to provide small leaflets for the venue in advance and ask them to distribute

the leaflets to promote the event. It is in their interests to get customers into the venue so they will often be receptive to this type of promotion. Let the local youth club or youth organisation know you have a gig as young people love music and are often looking for things to do in the evenings.
3. Fully utilise the Internet
There are many social networks dedicated to music and you should have a webpage on all of them, particularly the larger ones. You should add photos, video, event information and connect with other users who will hopefully love your music and become your fans. Having these pages helps create a really professional feel for your band and make you look very established. Mailing lists are fantastic for getting the word out about a gig or a new music release. The social networks can store playable mp3s of your band performing and videos of your performances. Ensure that any media you use whether audio or video is good quality or you will make yourselves look like amateurs.
Do not fall into the trap of thinking you are better than you are. There are thousands of bands out there and plenty of options for a venue owner that you offend either by accident or on purpose. Remember the worlds biggest and best bands can get away with bad behaviour because they guarantee big money and are in high demand. The majority of bands are easily replaceable if they prove too difficult to work with!
Your success as a new band in the early days is about is getting your band known, and creating a good first impression. That will open some doors which will put you in a better position to hopefully landing that big break.



...............................................................................
If you have found this blog entry entertaining or informative why not subscribe to 
my Feedburner notifications? 
............................................................................... 


Thursday, March 8, 2012

A Band Is A Business

English: Robert Plant (left) and Jimmy Page (r...Image via Wikipedia
The title of this article contains a statement few musicians are willing to accept. A band that does not accept this fact is still running a business, but is probably running it very poorly. Accounting, Management, and Marketing are all crucial factors in achieving success in this cut-throat industry.
Any venture desiring success must first define what success means to them. Is success playing 50 shows per year? How about 50 shows per year to crowds of 500+ fans. Or even better, 50 shows per year to crowds of 500+ fans paying $10 for tickets. Whatever your definition of success, it must be determined from the start. That definition will be your goal and your guiding light.
"Failing to plan is planning to fail." This statement made years ago by one of my favorite college professors has stuck with me and rang true in so many situations. You have your lofty goal of selling 10,000 albums per year. That is a great goal, but no goal is worth a dime if you don't know how you are going to get there. So many times, musicians take a haphazard approach to their operation. They know they want to be the next Led Zeppelin, but planning it out is too boring. They "need" to be out there playing shows and living the rock lifestyle! Wrong. Sure, shows are important. But, if there are 12 people at your show, including your parents and a couple aunts and uncles, that show is likely a waste of your time. It might be good practice, but once you're past the beginner's stage, it's time to get serious.



So, now that you're sold on business planning, here's how to do it. There are many variables that must be addressed in your business plan including marketing, competition, operating procedures, personnel, finance, and accounting. Seriously, all of these must be addressed. To have fans you need to market. That's pretty obvious. You need top of the line marketing materials, so people take you seriously. What other bands out there are begging for the same gigs that you want? What do they play? How good is their show? Can yours be better than theirs? These are all questions you have to ask yourself. Fans are going to go to the most entertaining show, so you need to be competitive with the other acts in your region.
How will you run the band? How many times per week will you practice? What time are these practices? How many songs need to be rehearsed/written at each practice? These things must be planned out, or too much time will pass with nothing accomplished. Who is going to buy the van, PA, and other equipment? It may be necessary to look into financing and work with your band to find options that work for you. And finally, the most boring of all, accounting. You will sell albums, T-shirts, hats, tickets, and a multitude of other merchandise. You must know what you owe your suppliers for these items, when it must be paid, how many you need to order to satisfy the demand of your fans, how much you must charge to turn a profit, and how much you owe uncle Sam. For more details on business planning visit sba.gov.
There you have it. Those are the primary components of any worthy business plan. Now, go make your own lofty goal of becoming the next Led Zeppelin or Metallica. But remember, if you're serious, figure out how you're going to get there first.


...............................................................................
If you have found this blog entry entertaining or informative why not sign up for my
email notifications? Sporadic update notifications will be sent directly to your email.
I do not spam. I loate it.
............................................................................... 

Enhanced by Zemanta
javascript:void(0)