We need to ask:

• What happens to the introverts?
• Would Nick Drake have been a Twitter user?
• Does social media take away from the enigma of musicians?
• What about the artists whose music is so personal to them that they can’t talk about it?
• What happens when you don’t have the skills you need to create the right product? (No one wants a great album with terrible artwork or an album that is badly recorded)

Social media and DIY releases are great for extroverts who love talking about their lives and themselves, but are these people the best or most interesting and creative musicians? Often the reverse is true. Just because someone shouts loudest doesn’t mean they are most talented. Some people don’t want that direct contact with their audience, they want to keep a distance. Would Kate Bush seem so interesting if she constantly let you know what she was having for breakfast?

For some bands you need to look at bringing people in, management and record companies. Social media and DIY releases are not the only way to build a career in music, no matter what the web evangelists say. Artists are often told to network to build these contacts, but this isn’t something that comes easily to everyone (although it is easier with social media). Some musicians will be able to do it all themselves, but  it’s not the answer for everyone. How many people do you know who are great at:

• Playing all the instruments
• Publishing
• Merchandising
• Recording
• Web Design
• Mastering
• PR
• Distribution
• Art Design
• Social Media
• Photography
• Legal Matters
• Booking Gigs
• Making Videos
• Driving
• Retail
• Accountancy

This list is just the start. Not many people are going to be good at all those things and especially when your fanbase grows into the thousands and tens of thousands it quickly becomes unmanageable.

The point is that DIY isn’t the only way. It’s easy to be cynical about the music industry. You do meet industry people who are very negative and choose to spend their time complaining about downloading. However there are those in it for the right reasons, that love music. Not everyone is out to rip you off, although it’s easy to presume this when you read about the actions of some record companies and managers. Some potential solutions are:

• An artist working with a manager – The artist and manager work together to build the audience. A good manager can delegate the tasking as required and ensure that your audience grows. If you don’t have the relevant skills it may be a good idea to get help. Ask friends in the industry if they can recommend anyone. Be careful, a bad manager can slow down your career. Ask how many acts they have on their books and what they plan to do for your career before signing anything. Are you a priority for that manager?
• Artist working with a record label – Not all record deals are equal. A good label can promote your music and you can still retain your rights. For example a “P and D ” deal involves the label doing all the pressing, distribution and press etc and the artist retains the masters. This means the music still belongs to you. Look out for 360 or multiple rights deals, these involve the label taking a cut of all your income streams from merchandising to live gigs to publishing. A bad deal can do a lot of damage to your career.
• Artist working with a PR company – A good PR company can raise the profile of your music to the point where you can get the industry and fan interest required to bring more people on board. Often industry people want to work with an act when you have built your audience yourself and PR can certainly help with this. If you can go to a potential manager or label and say you have sold 1000 albums or have an email list that runs into the thousands and you have achieved this yourself they will suddenly become more interested. Look out for PR firms that work with acts similar to you that are becoming well know and approach them. See if they can do a deal for you if you are working on a low budget. You won’t know if you don’t ask.
• Artist working with a Publisher – A publisher can be very useful for an act starting out. A publishing deal can often lead to a record deal and they often have other contacts. Placing your songs often leads to other opportunities. See if you can find out who the publishers are who deal with similar bands and approach them.
• Artist working with a Booking Agent – If there is a buzz about your band then booking agents will become interested. Generally speaking booking agents won’t work with you until you can draw at lease 50-100 people in multiple regions, so this will most likely happen alongside other things in your career.
• Artist working with a Distributer – Some distributers only take a small cut and will help to expose your music to a wider audience. Once again a distributer is unlikely to take you on without there being some kind of buzz about your music.
• Artist working with an independent team of friends and fans – This is how it happens for most people. If you can build a good team of friends and family around your music who are willing to help out with the list of tasks it can really help. Perhaps you have a friend who is a great photographer or a brilliant salesperson who can run your merch stand at gigs. Have a look around you and don’t be afraid to ask for help!
• Any combination of the above – The music industry is quickly changing and a solution that worked well a few years ago won’t always work in the future. Publishers know labels who know managers and everyone knows everyone else. The music industry is a big business that resembles a small village, it’s all a network. If you create a buzz and have a fan base you’ll eventually be offered various deals. The hard bit is getting the momentum going in the first place.

Before signing any kind of agreement with any of the above review the contract with a independent lawyer who specialises in the music industry. It’s money well spent and if you are a member of the UK Musicians Union they may be able to help with legal costs.Without a buzz about your music it can be hard to get people interested in your music. PR can help but sometimes a random encounter can make all the difference. Sometimes you do need to sell yourself, although this is often very difficult.

The truth is that there isn’t one solution to all this, no one model that fixes the problems facing musicians. There are as many answers as there are different bands. The key is to not rush into anything. Don’t commit to something that isn’t right for you (especially if you’re signing away any of your rights). There is a solution that’s right for your music, you just need to find it.

“What does you band sound like?”

This is never an easy question to answer, it’s the question most musicians dread. Everyone likes to think their band is unique and special but often people need to get a rough idea of what sort of music you perform. Sometimes you only get seconds to sum up your band to a music business professional or a potential fan. This is often called an Elevator Pitch. But how do you describe your band?

“We are a guitar band”

This tells you nothing. You need to be more imaginative and specific!

“We are a rock band”

This tells you next to nothing. The band could sound like Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Oasis or Status Quo (or some hideous combination). Rock is far too wide a genre to really appeal to anyone in particular.

“We are a rock band that sound like a mix of Pearl Jam and Coldplay”

OK, we know what to expect but it still sounds a bit dull. Would you really be enthusiastic about this? Would anyone?

“Knifeworld are a unique psychedelic 8 piece featuring members of Cardiacs, Chrome Hoof and Guapo. Singer Kavus Torabi also presents a radio show with snooker legend Steve Davis”

This is a good one, lots of points of interest and we know exactly what they sound like (and Knifeworld are a real and quite brilliant band). How many 8 piece rock bands do you see?  There is also an interesting story as a bonus that links to a well known celebrity. The description of the sound is a niche genre and it mentions some similar bands. If you like the bands mentioned you will most likely be into this. A winner all round.

Try to avoid hyperbole and outright lying, if possible try and include a quote from someone else for example:

“We are a 4 piece hardcore band that The NME said sounded like “A cross between The Dead Kennedys and Husker Du”.”

This will add credibility, people will soon see through anything that is blatantly untrue. It’s very easy to Google your band to see how much real buzz there is about what you are doing.

It’s not about trying to appeal to everyone, it’s better to get a few people excited about your music than try and compete in the mainstream. Once you have someone’s interest they are far more likely to have a listen to your music. That’s the hard bit, standing out from the crowd.

By knowing who you are aiming at you can significantly reduce your marketing costs. These are the people to aim your Elevator Pitch at, do some research and ask for feedback from friends and fans. So for example if you know your potential fans are people into:

• Thrash Metal
• Aged 25-35
• Who read a specific forum
• In a specific country

Then you can focus your efforts on winning these people over and try and mention something relating to these references i.e. the names of some specific Thrash Metal bands they might be into. Don’t worry about growing your audience quickly, a few people a week can soon add up into the thousands if your music is exceptional and they tell their friends.

So in your Elevator Pitch you need to:

• Give an exact description of what you sound like, with specific real world references. If you’re not sure what bands you sound like ask your fans and friends for a few similar acts or look your band up on Last FM and see what fans of your band also listen to.

• Try and include an exciting detail (ex members of a well known act or an interesting story).

• Tell people about your band with total enthusiasm.

Remember that you’re telling a story, it needs to be remarkable, exciting and accurate. The delivery is also important, if you’re not enthusiastic about your band then why should anyone else be?

If possible try not to give people a hard sell, you need to be engaging rather than pushy. If you have more time don’t try and push your music as the first topic of conversation, showing interest in others will always endear you to people more than self promoting. The Elevator Pitch is for when you only have a few seconds with someone, it’s not the best way to build a long term business relationship. Don’t forget to always carry a CD with you, you never know who you might bump into at the most unexpected time.

Where do you need to use your Elevator Pitch?

At gigs – For when you get talking to promoters, bands and potential fans.
At music industry events – You may only get seconds with the people you need to make a good impression with.
On your website – Not everyone wants to read your epic full bio. A quick couple of lines are useful on your home page.
On your social media platforms – When everyone is desperate for attention you need to make a quick impression.
Out and about – How often do you get asked in the pub or at work, what kind of music do you do?
On gig posters
No one likes to describe their band, (especially if you are comparing your music to the music of others) but sometimes a good Elevator Pitch will open doors and get people interested.

“I don’t have talent I have tenacity” he says in this video, it’s all about saying yes and keeping going. Rollins is an inspiring guy who has worked hard and taken advantage of his opportunities. He talks about the things that have helped him to become a success:

• Application

• Discipline

• Focus

• Repetition

His work ethic is all about keeping going, touring harder than everyone else. If you really want a following and to “make it” this is what it takes.

• Friends and family of your band members – Phone them, text them, invite them to events on your chosen social media platform and get them to the gigs. Promoters will expect you to bring at least a small crowd.

• Those who have discovered the band online and feel they have a relationship with the band – This will happen more as your audience grows but if you are talking to your fans on Twitter and Facebook and your music is great this can happen earlier.

• People at the gig to see another band on the same bill – These are the people you need to win over. Make sure your live act is amazing, rehearse your songs in order and make sure you practice under “gig conditions”.

• Enthusiasts of the genre of music you play – If you are playing a genre specific night such as a punk night or a prog night you may well get fans of the genre turning up to listen. Playing with bands of a similar genre is often a useful way of getting people out of the house.

• People who found the gig via Live Unsigned – Thousands of people visit Live Unsigned looking for gigs by unsigned and new bands, make sure you list your gigs there and on your own website.

• Musicians looking for a gig themselves – Often other musicians looking for gigs of their own will make up a significant part of your audience. If you help others and try to build a community amongst local musicians you have more chance of hearing about interesting opportunities that can benefit your band. The music industry is all about relationships, who you know. Start getting to know people from the start, don’t be afraid to talk to people.

• Press/industry people or bloggers – It’s very unlikely they will be at your first gig unless there is a massive buzz about your band, but it is worth a try.

Eventually the crowd at your later gigs should start to include friends of friends and those who have discovered your band through social media and the press. Your audience grows one person at a time, slowly but surely. Building a fan base is not quick or easy but it can be done.

Here are some ideas:

• List it on Live Unsigned – Every day thousands of people look at the Live Unsigned listings looking for gigs in their area, make sure you’re there.

• Book a venue small enough that it will sell out – Make sure the venue will be rammed, even if only holds 50 people! There is nothing worse than a half full big venue.

• Support a cause – If you make the gig a benefit for a good cause some people will feel more inclined to come. Helping others makes everyone feel good.

• Social media is your friend – As we all know social media isn’t about shouting at people. Make sure you’re active on Twitter and Facebook, talking to people in the run up to the gig. People are much more likely to go and see a band if they feel they know them. Write on your blog about the preperation for the gig, from the rehearsals to choosing the right stage clothes. Make people feel part of your journey.

• Contact your friends – In the early stages of your career most of your audience will be your friends, then friends of your friends. Make sure they come! (Top tip, send them a text, everyone is inundated via social media, a text message might just get through).

• Order the CDs early! – A CD release party with no CDs is a grim affair, make sure you get the lead times from the CD duplicators.

• Have more than just CDs – Get badges, stickers and T-Shirts. They’re cheap and they’ll help people to remember you. Invest in promotion.

• Get email addresses – At the gig try and get an email address from everyone who comes. Make sure you mail out to the people already on your list well in advance of your gig.

• Make sure your live set is great – There is no point playing live unless you’re amazing. Video your practice sessions so you can see your gig as your audience will and improve anything that needs sorting. Rehearse the set in the same order until you can do it in your sleep.

• Flyer any local gigs – If the big band in your genre is coming to town make sure you flyer the queue at the gig. It’s not just about giving out the flyers, it’s more about the flyers giving you the opportunity to have a chat to the people. Take time to build relationships and you’ll have more chance of people coming to see you.

• Make sure the press are aware – OK you can’t make them come but it doesn’t hurt to ask, you never know….Make sure that any local bloggers and podcasters are also on the guest list.

This is just the start, make sure your CD release party gets people talking. You only get one chance to give your album or EP that big push, make sure you put in the effort to make it happen.

Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects, allowing fans to help fund artists. She raised over half a million dollars in the first week alone, $100,000 in the first seven hours. Her fans are really, really loyal. Imagine trying to get that from a record company! How did she do it and how can you do the same? Unfortunately it is not easy but here are some ideas:

• Have a great video pitch – This is the first section most people look at on a Kickstarter so you really need something that grabs your fans attention and gets them involved. Be interesting and don’t be afraid to ask for the money and let them know how you’ll be spending it. If you don’t ask you won’t get!

• The funding is the pay off for years of interaction –  In a recent interview on Techdirt Amanda Palmer said “Every person I talk to at a signing, every exchange I have online (sometimes dozens a day), every random music video or art gallery link sent to me by a fan that I curiously follow, every strange bed I’ve crashed on…all of that real human connecting has led to this moment, where I came back around, asking for direct help with a record”. It’s not about the campaign it’s about the years of touring and interacting with your fanbase, this gives you permission to ask. If you don’t already have a decent, loyal connected fanbase maybe Kickstarter isn’t for you at the moment.

• Bands who have benefited from labels/marketing/touring tend to do better –  Sad to say but you need a fanbase to make crowd funding work for you and your music. Ex-label bands often seem to do well thanks to the benefits of the marketing spend they have received (Marillion are a classic example of this).  You still need to have some kind of spend on marketing to build that audience, even if you are totally DIY. You can build it gradually and organically but this only really works for niche bands and takes a long time. This way takes years not months.

• Make the things fans pledge for exciting – The more personalised and individual to your band the better. Think beyond the traditional signed items and offer something truly special. Amanda has a “{BACKER-EXCLUSIVE SIGNED ART BOOK} a copy of the forthcoming heavyweight art book/album companion…SIGNED BY YOURS TRULY, AFP. includes over 70 pieces of artwork created by over 30 artists inspired by songs on the album, along with photographs, writings, lyrics, musings, meet-the-artist bios, and interviews. PLUS digital download of the record & thank-you card.” This is just one of her ideas, she really went the extra mile on this Kickstarter campaign.

Amanda Palmer’s example shows that if you can build a real relationships with your fans they will support you in your creative endeavours. Make sure you are building your audience one person at a time and one day you could be doing the same. It takes a long time but it is worth it.

However, you need to have certain qualities to gain an audience for example:

Great songs/music
A great live show
Experience
Originality
An interesting image (or one people can relate to)
A consistent brand
People/Business skills
Perseverance and a hard work ethic (and many other skills)

Perserverance is the one that sometimes people miss. In his book Outliers Malcolm Gladwell talks about people putting in 10,000 hours of time to achieve a level of skill to be able to hit the top level of any activity. For example The Beatles performed live in Hamburg over 1200 times amassing more than 10,000 hours of playing time, this experience gave them the skills that made them world famous. Many bands are performing and playing for years before finding their audience. Also some of the best bands give up before they even start because they don’t have the required work ethic. Here are some examples of how bands have persevered and managed to build a career:

Radiohead – They formed in 1985 but didn’t release a record until 1992. How many other bands would have given up in those first seven years?

Pulp – They formed in 1978 and did a Peel session in the early 80s but didn’t gain an audience until the mid nineties. The music industry and fans finally came round to their sound in the end.

Elbow – Formed in 1990 they changed their sound numerous times until they finally released their debut album in 2001.

Seasick Steve – Born in 1941 Steve didn’t release his debut record until 2001 and won the MOJO award for best breakthrough act in 2007!

So much so called “success” in music is really just keeping going, doing what you believe in until you find your audience or you get so good people can no longer ignore you. Listen for feedback from others, if people outside of your circle of friends say you are doing something good then keep going. This perseverance will eventually pay off if your music is good enough.

It is not about spamming thousands of people, it is about getting a few influential people interested in what you do. In the music industry it is so often about who you know, luckily we now live in an age where you can get to know the people that can help to advance your career online via social media. So how do you do this? Here are a few ideas:

• Don’t make it all about you – If you go up to someone in the industry and try and sell to them you are going to have a tough time. Everyone else is trying to do that. No one wants to hear your sales pitch about how wonderful your band is. If you talk to people about their lives and what they do, you may get the chance to mention your band later on when you have developed a relationship, even this is weeks or months down the line. No one likes a hard sell, it is all about building a long term relationship.

• Talk to them – Comment on their blogs and email in to their radio shows. Show you are interested in what they are doing, social media gives you the opportunity to get talking to people and brings down the barriers, Twitter is especially good for this.

• Hang out where they go – If you know all the influential bloggers hang out at a particular club night and it is close to you, make sure you go there. Make the effort to talk to people, this is really hard but what you will find is that as you get to know a few people it will become a lot easier. One contact can open up an entire social scene. Most music scenes are very, very small with just a few key influential people and everyone will know everyone else from promoters to magazine editors to record company people. If there is a buzz about your band people will soon know about you. Make sure you don’t drink heavily and make a fool of yourself in these situations, word travels fast, especially when it is less than positive.

• Be interesting – Give people something to talk about. “Local band releases demo” won’t cut it, it is not a magazine headline. “Guitarist Electrocuted On Stage” is a headline (even if it is less than true and no one got hurt). You need to be remarkable, interesting or even just a bit weird. Think about acts like Lady Gaga or Jack White, eccentricity creates buzz and gets people talking.

• Write amazing songs and be great live – You can know all the right people and hang out at all the right places but if the songs aren’t there then you are wasting your time. The music and the live act need to be amazing or none of the rest will work.

Once you have a few people with some influence on your side, others will gradually start to come round to what you do. Be patient, it will always happen more slowly than you actually want it to….

Here are some ways of getting to know your fans better:

Talk to them at gigs – When you play live don’t just dash off after you have finished your set. Make the effort to hang around and speak to your audience. Tell them about any other gigs coming up (make sure they are listed on your website and on Live Unsigned), ask questions and try and get an email address if possible.

Ask them questions online – Using your social media sites ask your fans questions, people love to talk about themselves. Ask them who their favourite bands are, what their interests are and what they are passionate about. Once you know where your fans are online you can engage with them there. Forums may not be the cutting edge of social media but a lot of really hardcore fans still use them. If you’re engaging with people on forums or elsewhere don’t try and sell to them, talk to them about other subjects and build a relationship first. It takes a lot of time but it does work.

Meet up with them – Using Twitter or Facebook arrange to meet up with your local fans for a beer or a meal. Finding out what they are into and what they like will enable you to work out what other similar fans may be into. With this information you can focus your marketing and promotion to find more of these people. So for example if you discover a lot of your fans read a particular publication this may be a place to really focus on advertising or getting reviews.

Don’t forget your newsletter – Email newsletters are still a great way to talk to fans, always try and include one question for fans to answer within the content, the answers you get may prove to be very useful. Always reply to every fan response!

Say thank you – Saying thank you is a good way of getting fans talking. So if you have a successful gig or a pre order for a new album sells out take the time to say thank you via your social media sites.

Open up – If you really want to get to know your fans let them know about your life, what you believe in, what frustrates you and what you care about. Tell them about who you are, honesty and integrity can take you a long way in terms of building a real relationship with fans. Authenticity is the key here, be yourself.

Over the period of a few years a fan can be worth a lot to you both financially (if they buy your merchandise) and in terms of the other people they will tell about your music. If you don’t engage with them someone else will, you really need to make the effort with your audience if you want them to be loyal to you. The more you know about your existing fans the more chance you will have to find out where more potential fans are and what they are into. Make sure you are listening to what they say carefully.

“47% of my income comes from merchandise, 40% from ticket sales, and 13% comes from iTunes, Spotify or other paid music services through the internet. I used a crowdsourced funding site called Kickstarter to produce my last album, with added bonuses of drawings and personalized songs to the highest contributors….. A primary means of distribution in 2011 was my USB robot, a two-gigabyte hard drive keychain that housed all of my albums digitally. I also sell t-shirts with cartoon characters I draw myself and I try to print on shirts manufactured domestically when I can.”

Notice only a small amount of the money came from iTunes sales. This is why record companies are now trying to get bands to sign away merchandising rights as part of the “360 record deal”. The more rights you can retain the more chance you have of actually making enough money to survive. So for MC Lars selling T-Shirts and live concerts are his principal income stream, playing live is now more important than ever. Where your income comes from will be different depending on who your fans are, how your music is exploited commercially and numerous other factors. Here are some other examples of how your band can earn a living these days:

• Give the music away free online, but make the money from gigs and merchandise – You can sell lots of different types of original and interesting items with your logo on if you put your mind to it, from the obvious to the weird. There a lots of ideas for merchandise here. To make this work you’ll need to tour really extensively for many years to build the audience. Be prepared to sleep on floors and not make a lot of money in the early days. Don’t forget to list your gigs on Live Unsigned and across your various social media channels.

• Charge for the music and play live for free – You charge a premium for the music and play live for free or for costs. You may have to think seriously about limited edition items to sell to your fans to make this work (box sets, live albums, vinyl etc)

• Licensing the music – If this works it’s great but licensing for TV and film is hard to get into. There is lots of info on licensing your music here.

• Having multiple projects – By playing in numerous bands (even covers bands) you have more chance of making a living, it does get really hard to juggle multiple projects. Make sure you are realistic and don’t take on too much and let people down.

• Teaching music on the side – Teaching private lessons can often give you a stable income in the early days of your musical career. The stability of having regular students can be very useful between gigs.

• Having a freelance career that you can work at when off the road – Many bands have another skill to fall back on. One very well known metal band are roofers while not on the road! A musician we spoke to highly recommend some sort of freelance trade such as plumbing or gas fitting as useful skills to have in case of a quiet time between gigs.

• Some bands work a day job and build their audience over time – By keeping the day job you can reinvest the money made back into the band, sometimes it is good to play the long game.

How you earn a living will most likely be a mix of the above or various other ways of paying the bills. It’s rarely as simple as just releasing your music and playing a few gigs, it takes real thought to be able to make a career as a musician. Try and get as many income streams as possible going and you will have more of a chance. It is not easy but it can be done.