August 25th, 2011

12 low cost promotional ideas for musicians

Times are hard for everyone at the moment, especially musicians. Unfortunately you can spend a lot of time signing up for free promotional sites online that will do nothing to raise their profile. Your time is limited, as are your funds so you need to focus on the free and low cost promotional opportunities that will really deliver. Marketing people say that you need to see the name of a brand between seven and nine times before you pay attention to it, so each of the below is another chance to get your name out there. Here are our recommendations for ways to promote your music for very little money:

  • Get Internet radio play – It costs nothing to send a link for a free download of music to an internet radio station. Ensure you customise your email to each station you send your music to, don’t send generic spam emails and try and say something nice about the station! There are thousands of internet radio stations and podcasts, get in touch with them. You never know who will be listening. Dandelion Radio is a good one, its mission is “to carry on the work of John Peel” and it has been recommended by Q magazine and The Guardian and has thousands of listeners. Because it is quite eclectic there should be a show there that will play your music.
  • List your gig on Live Unsigned – The Live Unsigned community are actively looking for gigs to go to from all over the world. Listing your gigs is easy and quick. An essential.
  • Get some flyers/badges/stickers – Still an effective, low cost promotional opportunity. For the price of an evening out you can get some stickers and badges to give out to fans, leave in venues and other places around town. An easy win.
  • Make a compilation – Often the key to getting people to listen to you is for you to listen to them and be part of their scene and community. It is better to interact and build relationships with a small amount of people than spam a lot of people. By making a compilation download you can bring together all the people in your scene that you are friends with. You can also make it specific, perhaps to your area or for a specific niche, perhaps 10 songs about a computer game or something along those lines. Try and tap in to fan culture.  If you can make the compilation appeal to a specific group of people you have more chance of people downloading it. If you make it available as a download via Bandcamp you can also set it so that you collect the fans email address every time they download it, helping you to grow your email list.
  • Stream a gig on Ustream – Another free service that actually allows you to connect with fans. Set up for your normal band practice and take a feed off the mixing desk. Use the camera on your laptop and you’re off. There is a full guide to doing Ustream gigs here.
  • Write a blog post that is useful to others – If you can create a blog post (or video or podcast) that is of use to others there is far more chance of them sharing it online and more people visiting your blog. Think about perhaps making some sort of post that shows people how to learn a specific skill, like perhaps a guitar lesson or how to make something. These posts will get people on to your site and once they are on there you can start to get them listening to your music. For example the band Georgia Wonder wrote an article about how to get a Wikipedia page for your band that has had 14.5K visits! Imagine how much that would cost if you were paying for hits via Google Ads.
  • Make friends with a blogger,journalist or industry person – The music industry is based entirely on who you know. That is why PR companies can charge a lot of money, because you are paying to have access to their relationships with magazine editors and TV producers. The best way to get exposure is to become part of the circles that influential people move in. You’ll soon realise that each genre’s scene is quite small with perhaps just a few people with a lot of influence, so be careful who you upset. Hanging out at gigs, club nights and bars where these people are will allow you to build these relationships. It is not easy but what you normally find is that you will meet one person who opens up connections with lots of people.
  • Ask for help – Find out if there are any photographers or film makers looking to get some work with bands on their C.V. Often people want to help bands out and feel part of the music industry (they don’t know what it is really like) so get them involved. Use Twitter, your email list and other social media to ask for help. The worst that can happen is people say no!
  • Flyer at another band’s gig – When the the big bands come through town flyer the queue. It is not really about handing out the flyers (they are often quickly forgotten) it is about shaking hands with people in the queue and meeting people. If you want people to go and see you play live you need to build a relationship with them. Build the fan base one hand shake at a time.
  • Design a T-Shirt and sell it via Zazzle – Zazzle lets you create your own t-shirts by uploading art to the site. They print the shirts for you on an ad-hoc basis and send them out to your fans via the post, you then get a small amount as a commission. A lot easier and cheaper than paying for a run of 20 t-shirts.
  • Do something remarkable to get people talking – Change your image, burn your guitar or run naked through the streets. Anything you can do to get people talking about what you do, do it. People rarely talk about Lady Ga Ga’s music but she is amazing at getting people talking via a series of outrageous stunts.
  • Ask your fans to tell a friend – Word of mouth is the best form of promotion and it is free. It is a fact that most people don’t trust advice from advertisements, they only trust their friends. Normally there is one person in the group who seeks out new music and shares their discoveries.

You can do a lot without spending much money although unfortunately it can be slow going. Hard work will ultimately bring rewards as long as the music is great, if you are working hard and don’t get much success try looking at the music and see if you can make the songs better.

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June 2nd, 2011

Why now is the best time ever to be a musician

Recently there was a less than well known musician online complaining about how he can’t make a living and no one cares about his music and blaming it on online sharing of music. It is a very bad idea to be seen as negative by your own fans in the first place but it’s also very unlikely that people sharing your music would be having a detrimental effect on your sales if no one has even heard of you. People only share the music they like, if your music is being shared you’ll notice it having other effects like more people coming to gigs, watching your videos and getting more press.

Now is a great time to be a musician because while it’s harder to become a major act you can at least build a small audience online that will support your music. Through word of mouth you can continue to grow your audience, one person at a time. It won’t happen quickly but at least you have more of a chance than when you had to go to record labels before you could even start to distribute your music. In the old music business only a chosen few had the chance to record and make albums but now we are moving to a time when lots of people have a small audience. Here are a few more reasons why now is the best time to be a musician:

Creative freedom – The only people you need worry about are the fans and you no longer need the approval of labels before you can get your music heard. Now the only limit is your musical imagination, you are free to create new music without label pressures.

You have a greater chance of getting paid – The more middle people you remove between you and the fans the more chance you have of getting paid. A typical label royalty is 10-15% (even on a good deal) but with sites like Bandcamp you can keep 85% (minus Paypal fees). So at least you have a chance to get paid. Many record label deals never recoup as recording, marketing and production fees are never repaid and bands never see a penny in royalties. Now you can sell 100 copies of your album and make more than you would if you had sold thousands, you can always reinvest the money in marketing and PR to grow your audience and you can see where every penny is being spent.

Fans can discover and share your music through torrents and social media – as Martin Atkins (former PIL drummer) said “It’s not a problem if 20,000 people ‘illegally’ download your music. It’s a problem if they don’t.”. The hard bit is breaking though the static and getting people to listen, fans posting your music through their social media channels and torrents means you can grow your audience through word of mouth. When you have an audience you can make a living by playing live and selling high value items such as box sets and limited edition items.

Supportive sites for musicians – You can list your gigs on Live Unsigned, post your videos on Youtube, research anything you need to learn on Google and stream your gigs on UStream. These resources are there, you just need to work out how to use them in a way that is best for your band. Each band will do things differently and some sites work better for some bands than others. For example OK Go make amazing videos so their logical focal point is Youtube, but this won’t work for everyone. Play to your strengths as a band. So if you are a great live act make sure you post your gigs on Live Unsigned and then make videos of your performances. Experiment and see what works best for you.

Blogs and podcasts – Bloggers and podcasters are often looking to break new and exciting acts and can through word of mouth really help to build your audience. It is often difficult to get the most popular music blog to write about your band so start small with less popular blogs. There is more information on building a following through blogs here.

Cheap technology – Studio time used to be very expensive but now you can make an album on your computer or even your phone if you know what you are doing. You can design the CD artwork at home on your laptop, burn your own CDs and sell your music online digitally. Technology has liberated musicians, now the only thing holding you back is the technical skills which you can learn or pay for professional help with, but at least you have the choice now. It’s getting easier all the time.

Access to the industry – The days when artists had to go to labels and beg to get signed are long gone. Now artists can build an online audience to the point where labels can find them. If you lived in the middle of nowhere 20 years ago it was very difficult to build a following but now wherever you are if you work hard enough and have great music you can build an audience.

The only problem is that everyone has access to the same tools and only those who are truly great musicians with an amazing live act who work incredibly hard will make it. A lucky break like a film soundtrack can make all the difference but you still need to be able to back it up with quality music and a strong work ethic. The challenge is to break through the static by being truly exceptional and whether you’re The Damned, Iron Maiden or Lady Gaga only the strongest, most hard working and remarkable acts will survive.

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May 26th, 2011

What do A&R people really want?

Increasingly record labels are taking less chances with the artists they sign. At the recent Great Escape music conference we got a chance to talk to a major label A & R person and ask them about some of the things they are looking for. One of the most important things to note is that labels expect you to already be making waves. You should already have a fan base, be selling records and have a large mailing list if you want to get labels interested in what you are doing. One figure mentioned was a few thousand people on the email mailing list. The days of bands being developed by labels and labels taking risks are long gone. Here are a few things they are looking for:

  • A proven track record – To really get labels interested you should have so much buzz about your music that they find you themselves. Bloggers are talking about you, fans are looking out for listings on Live Unsigned and your music is being shared on torrents and across social media. Focus on fans and the media and eventually the labels will find you.
  • To be great live and have people coming to the gigs – You need to be an amazing, confident, controversial live act. Ideally you’ll already have an audience coming to gigs and will be confident performing in front of them. There are some tips on becoming a great live act here.
  • To be young and look good but have a potential to sell to an older audience – Labels still want to sign bands under 30, but increasingly they have an eye on the the over 30′s audience as they still pay for music. If you are a young band who can cross over to an easy listening audience then you have more of a chance. Otherwise focus on building a niche loyal fan base within a supportive genre for example metal, hip hop etc until you have so many fans people take notice.
  • To have great songs, ideally – Great music needs to be at the route of everything. You still need that, it costs more in marketing if the music isn’t good enough so they want the acts to have great songs.
  • To work really, really hard – This isn’t like winning the lottery, a record deal is just the start of the hard work. Forget seeing friends and family and make sure you have a good relationship with the other people in the band because you’ll be spending a lot of time with them, in often unpleasant conditions. You need a really serious work ethic.
  • To sign a 360 deal – All new artists labels want to sign are offered a 360 deal, this means the label gets a cut of tour revenues, publishing, merchandising and other income streams. They will have a cut of anything you make, rather than just record/download sales. Most artists and managers prefer to avoid these deals if possible as it gives the label far too much control of your career.

The above is just the start of what labels are looking for. The best way to get them interested is to just ignore them, build relationships with fans, bloggers, podcasters, journalists and eventually there will be so much buzz about you that they will come to you. Then you can argue your case for a decent record deal, not the first one you get offered. Remember signing to a record label is only one option, for many artists they are no longer required.

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January 14th, 2011

How to get a (better) record deal part 2

In the second part of this post on signing a record deal we look at what you should ask the label before signing.

Picture by Paul Linus Claassen

A few things to consider:

  • Will your band be a priority for the label or not?
  • What happens if the label decides not to release the album, who owns it then?
  • How much creative control do you really have. What if you don’t want to record a novelty Christmas single?
  • How much are they willing to spend on marketing and do they understand your band and where your marketing focus should be?
  • How good are their press and PR people, do they have a proven track record?
  • What distribution companies do they use for physical product and what happens about returns and breakages?
  • Can they offer tour support?
  • Do the label want to take a cut of tour/merchandising revenues?
  • How many copies do you need to sell to recoup costs and what happens if you don’t recoup (many bands with top ten albums have failed to recoup costs)?
  • What happens if the label doesn’t do what they promise, how long are you tied to the label for?
  • What happens about your publishing?
  • Can you choose where you record and who produces your record?
  • Can you control the artwork on your album (this is where you can end up with a flying monkey on your cover)?
  • When will your album be released and who decides this?
  • Can you you still give some music away free?
  • Can you release solo material in addition to band material if you are signed as a band? Who owns this material?
  • Who owns the masters?
  • How financially stable are the label?
  • Can you speak to other people who are signed to the label?
  • Who will control your mailing list/web site? (this should be the band!!!)

The above list is only the start of the questions you should ask. Make sure you get a music industry lawyer to review anything before you sign it. I know of one indie label that signs a lot of indie acts then just uploads their music to Bandcamp and takes a large percentage of the sales. The bands could do this themselves and make far more money, they gain nothing from the deal. Don’t let this happen to you. If its a bad deal just walk away.

In the Live Unsigned blog archives there are lots of posts about building an audience (both online and live) and connecting with podcasters and bloggers to create a buzz and make sales. Make sure you’re working hard for your career and you will always be in a stronger position. Don’t forget to list your gigs on Live Unsigned, a great opportunity to get your name out there, you never know who is looking. The message here is to build an audience then a record deal becomes an option, not the other way round. The instances of small labels taking an artist and making them famous are becoming smaller and smaller.

We are at the point where there is no stigma about being unsigned and in many peoples eyes its a badge of honor – you don’t need a record company to gain an audience so make sure if you do decide to sign its for the right reasons.

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November 15th, 2010

What bands need to agree upon before playing gigs

When you start a band often the last thing you think of is where you will be in a few months, let alone three years time. But what happens if you get offered a 3 month tour or record deal, will everyone be willing to quit their day job or leave their family behind? Its worth having a few conversations early on to avoid falling out at a later date.

Picture by Paul Linus Claassen

How do you split the songwriting credits? Some bands simply credit the whole band, some the individual writers. Its interesting to note that bands who split the songwriting between the band tend to stay together longer (Radiohead do it this way). Bitterness can set in if a song is licensed to a film and written by a particular member of the band. Suddenly they start earning more money than everyone else. Make an agreement on this and stick to it, this sort of thing splits up bands.

Dividing the costs and paying for rehearsals need to addressed. Its never good when everyone in the band can pay for the practice apart from one person who “hasn’t got anything to put in”.  Financial tensions split up a lot of bands. Will any money you make be put into a band fund for future projects or split evenly?

Another big one is do you want to be a professional musician? This isn’t an option for everyone but what happens if the band grows to the point where its required to progress? Doing music as a career is often poorly paid and involves being away from home, family and partners for long periods. You are often working weekends when all your friends off work and vice versa. Do you want to spend a lot of time traveling but not actually seeing anything? Can you live on back stage food? If you need lots of sleep and privacy touring probably isn’t for you.

This is the excellent avant garde cellist Zoe Keating on touring:

Another valid question is what happens if/when someone wants to leave. Will the rest of the band be able to keep the name? What about the songs written together? What happens to any money you have made together (or any money owed)? Make sure the channels of communication are open between the band members.

Its always best to agree these things sooner rather than later, some upfront honest conversations can save a lot of problems. There will always be things that happen, individuals situations will change and artists can disagree on musical direction. Being in a band is a bit like going out with 3 or 4 people and relationships can be complex. You can’t agree on everything but do what you can to make it work by making some plans for the future.

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