music marketing

music marketing

http://www.bardscrier.com/articles/Freewill - Bards Crier Music Marketing Contest Winnerby Tom Clark December 3, 2000"Is this for real?" That was the response I got from Tom Clark of Wisconsin progressive metal band Freewill. For the past few months, I've been collecting music marketing tips and offering a free $100 to subscribers to this ezine. Well the contest has at last ended and I'd like to congratulate Tom for winning the contest. Here's what Tom has to say about music promotion: "I am in a band FreewillIt looks like we will be changing our name, as we've refocused our sound, and have learned a lot reading newsletters like this one. We are working on material for a CD. As Freewill, we never had a live band, so we relied on message boards to spread the word. We stuck to genre specific boards, and with our type of music,(progressive metal) that is the best type of promotion. Those fans are fanatic about "their" music and have a strong desire to get their hands on new stuff all the time. Being that the progressive scene is still mainly 'underground' so to speak, most bands of this style are relying on word of mouth and dropping words on message boards and newsletters, and exchanging links with other bands and joining web rings.I have found that their are a lot of cool bands out there who are willing to exchange information and success tips among each other. Instead of looking at everything like a competition, at times it is more helpful to join forces and help spread the word of other bands you like. It usually tends to be reciprocal and it builds good relations within the community of our genre itself.In our case, our style has progressed a changed enough to warrant a name change, and we are currently building a knowledge base and a list of contacts; anyone who may be helpful to us once we're ready to start spreading the word. There is just a mass of information available if you are patient enough to find the good stuff. Most importantly, I think, is to think and act as professionally as possible at all times. Be polite and courteous, even when others aren't. Building a good reputation never hurt.If there is anything else I can do for you let me know. Thanks for the cool tips and interesting read."Sincerely,Tom ClarkFreewil Music Promotion Success Story! by Damien ReillyIrie December 18, 2000Hello Everybody, I recently put to work a number of Guerilla tactics I've learned over the course of this year. I organized, promoted, and did publicity, for the band I manage, GiantFella's release party on December 2nd. The party was a tremendous success, not to mention an important case study for myself since is was my first time attempting these tasks. I began in the beginning of November by putting together the press kits for the band including a press release, bio, b&w 8x10, cd, and song lyrics. I also was busy putting together a media contact list. I sent out 30 kits to CMJ, Village Voice, NY Press, Aquarian Weekly, Good Times Magazine, and other publications around New York. The follow up calls weren't so bad. I left about 15 messages and got through to the other 15. I made a few follow up to the follow up and got Good times Magazine from Long Island to come review the show. I almost had the Aquarian Weekly and most others said they would at least submit the cd to be reviewed. Throughout the month I was constantly handing out flyers, stickers, and sample cd's some with up to three songs that are not on the band's recent release which was promised for free at the party. I also put up posters at bars at scattered locations around Manhattan that would attract a clientele that would be interested in GiantFella's music. I sent out countless e-mail and a postal mailing was done as well. I posted the release and show announcement on mi2n and some online message boards. I hit the Blue's Traveler show at Roseland on 11/22 and handed out more flyers, stickers, and cd's. I constantly was constantly in promo mode the entire month!The party saw 200 people in a 220 capacity venue. I booked an opening band (http://mappari.com) that brought 40 people,181 paid to get in which was a record for the venue, the reviewer from Good Times came and was very impressed, and a friend of mine submitted an article in the Vos Valley News. Out of the 200 people there the band and myself knew about 40-50 people, 40 were from the opening band and there was over 100 people no one recognized. I did speak with some that came from the Blue's Traveler show, some people signed the mailing list, and everyone got a copy of the new cd and a web site sticker. The place was rockin, everyone had a good time, and everyone was happy. The opening band had a great time and wants to continue doing shows with GiantFella which will definitely help. So a little hard work created a lot positive energy for the band and everyone there that night Now I've just got to keep up and multiply everything I did by 10 and the band will be at a whole nother level. The following people I thank for sharing your knowledge and services: Curtis Waller, Mike Randolph, Beth Krakower, Anne Leighton, Steve Zuckerman, Derek Sivers, Dave Hooper, Carolyn Ballen Thank You! Effective Post Card Mailings - Direct Mailby Marc Gunn, Bard January 9, 2001 We all know that off-line promotion is just as vital as on-line promotion. But what other means of "off-line" promotion can you do other than mailing out your Flyer or Newsletter? Alot. We could go into Media, Radio, Television and others but that is another topic in itself. Postcards are the "new" wave of off-line promotion, or direct mailings. The costs incurred are far much less than those of traditional direct mailings. Postcards, leave out the extra extra’s sorta speak, no envelopes, no envelope stuffing, and the postage is half the cost of first class postage on a standard letter, while still obtaining first class handling through the US Postal Service. I myself, have had rather good results from my postcards mailings, and wanted to share some tips with you on how you can successfully promote your website, CD, or event effectively with Post Cards. Don’t do what many postcard mailers do: They put a terrific design and/or headline on the picture side of the card and nothing but the address on the address side, and many people never see the eye-catching design or headline. All they see is the address side - the side that’s facing up when the mail carrier delivers it. Because people always look at the address side of a postcard to see whether it’s for them, they may decide to throw the card away without turning it over. That’s why BOTH sides of a postcard should sell. The address side is where you want to put your headline or attention getting graphic.The disadvantage of a postcard is that space is limited. You must be able to deliver a very concise message that elicits the desired response from the recipient: You need to gain attention, stimulate interest, provoke desire, and make the prospect take action. That’s alot for a little postcard to accomplish. That’s not to say it can’t be done; its just more difficult. Postcards are a good way to build awareness and stimulate interest. You’ve really got to hit the nail on the head. Watch your own mail. You probably get tons of postcards in the mail from magazine publishers, web host companies etc., urging you to subscribe or "try" our service. These postcards are among the best being used today, study them carefully, keep them. Even other Artists Post cards that you pick up here and there, Keep them, study them. Then sit down and ask yourself the following: 1) what about this card do you like? 2) Colors used? 3) What’s written on the address side? 4) What stands out more than anything on the card a graphic, text, or color. Once you have studied the cards you now have, you will have a better idea of what you want your cards to look like. Ask yourself, what am I trying to accomplish? Website traffic? Selling CDs, or announce a event? Take all these into consideration, prior to finding the printer or graphic designer to develop your post card. These are the exact questions they will ask you.Then once your ready, get them designed and printed. Two great companies that I have found and have used are Digitalwork.com and 1800postcards.com/ Both of these companies run specials, so when you see the special snag it you will save money.Living the Dream: One CD at a Timeby Marc Gunn, Bard June 30, 2001 I read somewhere not too long ago that someone was lamenting that artists are putting out too many albums without spending enough time promoting them. Well, I hate to say it, but my group, the Brobdingnagian Bards, is guilty of such a crime. You see, when I started The Bards a couple years ago, I knew that bands needed a product. So we recorded our first album, Marked By Great Size, bought a CD burner, and started producing the CDs ourselves to sell at gigs.Six months later, we released our second album, Gullible's Travels. By this time, we'd only had a few decent reviews of our first album, but we'd sold a couple hundred CDs after playing at numerous Renaissance Festivals. Now, our second album was underway.We recorded it, and got a whopping one review for the album. But with extensive gigging we sold a couple hundred copies of this album.Six months later, we completed our third album, Songs of the Muse. By this time, we starting to wonder if we were stretching ourselves too thin. Andrew was duping all the CDs while I was getting them printed. And his burner wasn't quite fast enough to keep up with the demand for CDs. But it was about this time that we got started on mp3.com, and we got introduced to DAM CDs, a much easier way to produce CDs when you have several, but can't afford to mass produce any.All of a sudden, the reason for our recording CD after CD made sense. We could get paid for people listening to our music, and the more music you have the more money you made. Talk to Ernesto Cortazar and 303infinity if you disagree.Now, we could order CD one-offs from MP3.com, sell them at gigs for $10-15, and make a nice profit while our music climbed the charts. But did I promote "Songs of the Muse"? Well, we started recording for our next albums (yes, plural) at the beginning of 2001. We've done some minor promotion of our album, and quite honestly, SOM is the best of our albums, and now our first mass-produced CD. So yes, we should do more promotion for it, and we are. But no, we are still not spending all of our extra income promoting this or another album why? Why are we recording more albums.Well first, Songs of the Muse was recorded to meet a very specific market. It's an all instrumental album, and was designed to get us wedding gigs, which it does quite nicely.But the other reason we don't is because we are meeting our goals .making a living.While some are after a record deal or becoming the next pop star, we are on a journey. Yes, I'd like to be a pop star. Sure, I wouldn't mind having a record deal. But our music is still evolving. We have a long way to go before I feel we are ready for that record deal or super-stardom. The first step is making a living.That's what living the dream is all about. You have to take care of the basics first. In my case, it involves getting out of debt, building a regular income, building a following, and one day earning enough from the music to quit my day job so I can become a full-time musician. Does it matter that our first few albums may never be heard? No. It doesn't. Those first albums will be Collector's Editions once we get there. ;)Once those goals are met, then I can work on my dreams of super-stardom. Yes, I am working on those steps now. I'm not gonna find a publicist to promote us unless we are guaranteed a decent return on our money. But I will continue to get our music to local publications, slowly but surely. And one day, you're gonna read a message from me saying, "I am now living the dream!"The New Music Marketing Model for 21st Centuryby Bard Marc GunnJanuary 23, 2001 A year ago, I wrote a passionate article on the merits of charging $15 when you sell your CDs. Some of my reasonings included: It's tough for indie musicians and you have a good music, so don't short-change yourself; you can always discount the CD for special reasons (2-for-1 special); and, the "high" sales prices also includes your various expenses. I made a few addendums, but that's the gist of it. But now, if you head over to http://mp3.com/thebards and check out the Brobdingnagian Bards page at MP3.com, you'll notice something kinda hypocritical .none of our CDs are priced at $15! What gives?? Well first let me say, yes, I do still believe in a $15.00 sales price for many artists. Certainly, it works best for folk artists, and singer/songwriter types. But my reason is not hypocrisy it is a dramatic change in our marketing plan.You see, when we started out, I knew that the only "real" income available to indie musicians comes from CD sales and merchandising since royalties from ASCAP and BMI are a joke. So our plan was to record every 6 months or less and put out new material. By then end of last summer the indie process was leaving us drained, and we were thinking we overextended. Then along comes MP3.com.One of the things I've been raving about for the past few months is that MP3.com offers a new marketing model by offering "royalties" for listens to your music. And if you're getting paid from people listening to your music. Then it needs to be readily available right?Well, we've followed the footsteps of many of the top MP3.com artists and have about 40-50 tracks available on our site and more are coming every week. In doing so, we make a solid $20 a day from our site.Now with each listen, the songs are tracked on MP3.com on their music charts. You sell a CD, the songs on that CD will rocket up the charts. So you want the CDs to sell, because higher charting equals higher payback. Thus, our low price on MP3.com.Now think for a second. If you have 40 songs on your site like the Hillbilly Hellcats, you're most likely going to make your 15 unique listens because your songs are located all over the charts. There are plenty of songs to choose from. Thus the new marketing model no longer relies on CD sales of $15.00, but listens. When you realize that you open yourself up to a whole slew of, in my opinion, simple marketing tactics that will make you more money from listens than selling CDs from your website.I know this all seems simplistic, but the vast reality is most artists on MP3.com are still running their band with an older marketing model that does not yield the highest payback. So think about that for a bit, and next week, I have a guest writer who will give you an exciting promotional idea that could send your listens over the top. Then the week following that, I'm going to betray my secret that has my song "Tolkien" at #35 on all MP3.com . Stay tuned. Same bard time. Same bard channel!Selling More CDs at GigsA Case Study: The Roguesby Marc Gunn, Bard November 23, 2001 A few weekends back, the Brobdingnagian Bards performed at the Austin Celtic Festival. We shared the stage with some amazing bands, but at the very top of my list were The Rogues. We first met The Rogues last year at the Texas Renaissance Festival. Since then I've been a big fan of not only their killer bagpipes and drums, but their phenomenal ability to sell CDs. They work magic on and off stage and sell tons of CDs.What do they do that is so special?Well, The Rogues are very proactive when it comes to selling. While many bands will setup a table and say, "go to our table and buy our CDs", The Rogues take it a step further. They send their sales ladies to their fans.I remember at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival when they played the Pub Sing. They began playing music. Their Sales Ladies danced to the music. Then they picked up their baskets of CDs, grabbed a couple, held them high, while The Rogues invited the audience to, "Go buy our CDs." Then the lasses walked through the aisles through the rest of the entire performance.While the rest of us were on stage watching with shocked amazement at our own untouched sales table, The Rogues sold a dozen CDs! They repeated that performance at the Austin Celtic Festival.We shared a booth with The Rogues at the festival, and I asked Sharon about how they do it. She told me it varies in different parts of the country. In Texas, this direct approach works magic. In Florida, an older recreational audience gets angry if sales people disturb their show. But the key is to realize that your sales team is a PART of the show!They don't just stand up there silently holding up CDs. If they do, they disappear. We learned that during our first show this weekend. Integrate your sales people into your show. Get them to dance in the isles, clap their hands, sing-a-long. If they do, the audience will follow their lead. This will help them to attract attention to the CDs, and you will sell more.Be proactive. Don't wait for your fans to come to you, or they may never! If you go to them, you'll sell more CDs, and make more fans in the process.Confessions of a Master CD Sales Womanby Sharon Wothke & Marc Gunn, Bard January 14, 2002 A couple months ago, I wrote The Rogues to ask them directly what it is that makes them so successful at selling CDs, and why they are one of the top 10 bands on CDstreet selling CDs. Sharon Wothke wrote back: "As head sales person for the band, I think that I would be the one to talk to. The Rogues are definitely unique in what they do, and if you will indulge me, very good at what they do. As a sales person, I know that the way the guys play their music definitely is the biggest factor in their sales quotient. When the music, which can be described as infectious, is smoking hot, and everyone is having a good time, the sales are usually pretty good. Most people who come to a Renaissance Festival, where the band still does the lion's share of their gigs, do not come expecting to buy a CD with bagpipe music on it. The Rogues have converted many people to this form of music. So in other words, they create a unique atmosphere which is conducive to sales.If the guys are doing their job (making great music), it makes my job a lot easier. I just have to be available and approachable to people and looking like a I am a part of the show for people to feel comfortable in coming up to me. We started from the very beginning employing the use of a roaming basket. It is very effective and other groups have successfully copied our approach. Our sellers walk around holding up the product so people can see them. Our sellers try to blend in with the show and not be pushy, just visible. I personally enjoy interacting with the crowd, spoofing off of what is being said on the stage and telling jokes to make the audience laugh. And I will talk and be nice to everyone, even if they don't buy a CD simply because I enjoy people and I am trying to be an ambassador for the band. They may not buy today, but chances are they will think about it and buy a CD at another time."Straight from the Master's mouth. What does it take?1. Great music2. Great live performance3. Roaming sales people with baskets of CDs 4. Sellers hold up product DURING the show5. Sellers blend in an interact with the showConfessions of a Master CD Sales Woman, Part 2by Sharon Wothke & Marc Gunn, Bard February 3, 2002Read Part 1 Well a great performance and an interactive sales crew is just the start to seling more CDs at gigs. The Rogues also employ other salespeople. "Our sellers work off of a commission, with bonuses built in when an individual's sales total reaches a certain amount. Giving a salesperson a commission motivates them to sell more product than just giving them a flat rate. We do have minimum pay for a day's work when the sales are not good. In that case the band usually pays $50 day, or a 10% commission of the sales total, whichever is greater. At the more modern venues, such as highland games and celtic festivals, we have found that having a sales table is an extremely successful way to increase sales, especially in combination with a roaming salesperson (when using both are appropriate). At pub gigs, we only have a sales table. Having someone roam in a tight space like a pub would be seen as too aggressive or invasive, which the Rogues do not encourage their salespeople to be. Friendly competition between two or more sellers is fine as long as there is a feeling of team spirit. Our sellers help each other out when one needs change or more stock.The larger the crowds, the more sales people are needed. The sheer size of the crowd has a tremendous impact on sales. When you get that many people standing or sitting that close together and they are all excited about the music, it is like a ripple effect--once the sales start flowing, everyone seems to jump on the buying bandwagon. At one particular show at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, where the crowd was huge, our three sellers were not able to maximize the full sales potential. A good indication of my not being able to tap the sales potential that is when I am standing in one spot and have not moved out of it the entire show. Just as soon as I finish one sell, another person comes up to buy a CD. I call that standing in a "sweet spot"--when people come up to you already wanting to buy a CD. My job then is to try to figure out, as quickly as possible, what CD or CDs would best suit what they are looking for. I always try to point out the fact that they can order more CDs through the website or mail order, or listen to the music on MP3.com. As a bandmember's wife, I am always trying to promote the band. I take business cards from people who want to hire the band for potential gigs and I direct them to my husband, Randy, who is the business manager for the band."1. Reward sales people with commission2. Set up sales table for venues3. Encourage friendly sales competition4. More people to sell for larger crowds, enjoy 'ripple effect'5. Take business cards to gigs and hand out at every opportunity.The Rogues use CDBaby to sell their CDs. Why? See for yourself? Selling CDs Online: A Three-Pronged Approach by David NevueMarch 19, 2002Recently, a visitor to the Music Biz Academy asked me a very common question; "How can I sell more CDs on the Internet?" Good question, though very open-ended. How you go about marketing your music successfully depends on a great many factors. This article contains some suggestions where to start. I recommend musicians take a three-pronged approach to selling their music on the Internet. The first 'prong' is what I call 'targeting with buzz.' That is, you create a buzz about your music and get people talking about it. To do that, however, you need to promote your music where people are already searching for new music to try out. That is, instead of trying to bring people to you (or your web site), you go to where the people are already hanging out. Go where the action is, so to speak. So, where's that? The first place I recommend any musician start promoting their music is MP3.com. Though some independent musicians feel MP3.com has 'sold out' (actually, they literally have) to the commercial record industry, the fact is that for pure exposure it's the place to be. MP3.com is a huge magnet for music-loving traffic. Perform a search at Google for 'music' and MP3.com the #2 site listed. Search for 'mp3' and it's the #1 site. You just can't find a better place to put your music right in the path of cyber-traffic. With proper promotion, you'll have hundreds, even thousands of new people listening to your music every day. For example, for January 2002, I was able to generate over 50,000 plays of my songs. And that was with just basic, simple, inexpensive promotion. That exposure resulted in more CD sales, lots of email from new fans, and more importantly, name recognition. Once you've mastered MP3.com, you can start setting up shop at other, similar sites such as Vitaminic.com, GarageBand.com, CDBaby.net, Ampcast.com, JavaMusic.com and others.The second 'prong' to increasing CD sales on the net is what I call 'targeting by site.' With this option, your objective is to create a web site that targets the people most likely to be interested in your music. The question to ask yourself is, 'what are the people who are most likely to buy your music already searching the Internet for?' Once you have that answer, design a web site to target that specific audience. Then, promote your web site using tried and true web site marketing techniques (see spider-food.net for search engine promotion tips). In this scenario, you don't focus on promoting your music per se, you focus on promoting the web site. Then, since your web site is attracting visitors that tend to enjoy your style of music, you advertise your music on your specialized web site, marketing directly to those targeted visitors. The final 'prong' is where you will create long term fans; your own 'official' artist web site. This personal web site is the place where you will provide your fans with complete details about your act. You'll include song lyrics, news, CD info, pictures, a discussion board, chat room, sheet music, whatever you can think of. Your official site is the place you will drive traffic to from prong #1 and prong #2. It's where, ultimately, long-term fans (and friends) are made and, if it's well- [...]... label company Music royalty Music record company Entertainment business Artist manager Music industry contact Publicity agency PR company Entertainment marketing Music management company Music distribution company Radio publicity system Music industry information Music industry PR company Radio publicity campaign The music industry Music industry marketing company Music industry resource Music industry... ordinary people who love music, to love your music We live in a time when everybody and their sister can and does make their own music That doesn’t mean however that your music has what it takes for record labels to invest their money and time developing, promoting, and marketing that music Try your music out on music fans like you solicit opinions from A&R Rep These talent scouts of the music business are... marketing company Music industry resource Music industry statistics Marketing music Music industry contract Music industry publication Music industry directory Music industry management Music industry magazine ct Bryan Farrish is an independent radio airplay promoter He can be reached at 818-905-8038 or at radio-media.com How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet by David Nevue New: 2004 Edition!... publications, and advancing her studies in Public Relations /Marketing In her spare time she feeds her passion for music by playing flamenco guitar The Overall Picture of Music Marketing by Bryan Farrish Back to The Academy There are two options for your independent music in the music business: You can either try to be your own record label (and/or PR firm, music company, entertainment agent, etc.), or you can... listener could be your ticket to success! Music Promo Tips Blog & Music Biz News Do you have some music marketing and promotion business news that you think musicians should know about? If so, submit your music promotion news Who Needs Flyers? How to Generate a Flood of Local Web Site Traffic for your Unsigned Band Seems every time I read an article about music promotion, they seem generally the same... independent music, and can be reached at 206-282-6116 or by email at: Chris@Knab.com Chris Knab's new book, 'Music Is Your Business' is available NOW from the Music Biz Academy bookstore Visit the FourFront Media and Music website for more information on the business of music from Christopher Knab A Record Distribution Test by Christopher Knab - Fourfront Media & Music - June 2002 Back to Music Business... try to do its own publicity, maybe by just focusing on some local music magazines Big mass media music magazines, however, will be beyond what an independent music label can get The gig portion of your music marketing is obtained by partnering with an entertainment agency who book gigs for you (good gigs can get you some PR too.) Small music labels will just try to book their own gigs Note that an entertainment... download new music If people love something they let other people know about it So, you can find out quickly if your music has what it takes to please the public by bringing your music to the people 2 Play live often and don’t worry ( at first) about getting paid for every gig You can always tell the difference between a musician who is in it for the money, and a musician who is in it for the music The... competing books out there about marketing music on the Internet, but only one by an unsigned, indie musician like yourself who actually understands where you're coming from This is the only book you need to find success selling your music online To quote one of our readers, other books on this subject "dull in comparison" to this one "I've read (several popular Internet Music Marketing books named, but... musicians learn how the music business operates, yet countless acts try to establish themselves by remaining ignorant of how the distribution and selling of their music actually works So, here is a test that will give you some very important clues about the types of deals that exist between labels, distributors and music retailers; as well as some insights into the preparation plans for marketing music . ticket to success! Music Promo Tips Blog& Music Biz NewsDo you have some music marketing and promotion business news that you think musicians should. Public Relations /Marketing. In her spare time she feeds her passion for music by playing flamenco guitar. The Overall Pictureof Music Marketing by Bryan