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.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | 3 Comments »

August 23rd, 2011

10 lessons DIY musicians can learn from Radiohead

Being an innovator in the music industry is never easy, but Radiohead have managed it both musically and in terms of their engagement with fans and labels. When the band started in the mid 80′s there was no Youtube, no Live Unsigned to post gigs on and no Twitter. Now you can do most of the things that Radiohead did much more easily and cheaply. Here are some things you can learn from Radiohead’s innovative approach:

  • Take musical risks – Every Radiohead album is different to the last, taking influences from experimental music, jazz, electronic music and lots of other places. If you want to keep your fans engaged don’t play it safe. Create music that is remarkable and interesting and be open to new ideas. If you really want to achieve word of mouth success, give fans something to talk about.
  • Support your causes – Thom Yorke has supported various organisations including CND, Amnesty International and Greenpeace. He shares his beliefs with the fans and they often respond to what he is passionate about. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe in.
  • Don’t give up – Radiohead formed in 1985 but didn’t release a record until 1992. If you want to be good just keep going, trying new ideas, getting better live and writing better songs. So much of success in any given field is just turning up and putting the effort in.
  • Embrace the new business models – With In Rainbows Radiohead where the first mainstream band to offer their album as a “Pay What You Want” download. Aware that fans can download free via torrents they gave their audience the option of choosing whether to pay and how much they thought the music was worth. This got them vast amounts of free press and expanded their fan base. Always try and be at the cutting edge.
  • Ignore the critics – Radiohead’s debut album had terrible reviews and they were considered to be a one hit wonder with their single Creep, later in their career they received critical acclaim for albums like Kid A and OK Computer. They ignored the critics, went straight to the fans via the web and made the records they wanted to make. Never worry about what others think, make the music you love and want to make.
  • Do streaming gigs – Radiohead were one of the first bands to stream gigs from their studio. They did a series of webcasts including them playing live in the studio, them DJ’ing and some more bizarre material. Anyone can stream gigs now using Ustream. Radiohead were also one of the first bands to release stems of their songs for fans to remix.
  • Don’t be afraid of “illegal” downloading - Kid A, the band’s first US number 1 album was heavily shared online before release. The word of mouth from this unofficial download helped get the album to number one.
  • Split the royalties – All Radiohead songs are split 5 ways on the publishing, whoever wrote them. Quite a few bands do this, it means everyone gets paid the same and it avoids arguments. There is nothing worse than the main songwriter in a band pulling up in a new car when everyone else arrives by bus. This is even more important now that licensing is such a big part of a bands income stream.
  • Be amazing live – It is always the key and the Radiohead’s live concerts have been constantly exciting and different. Often the band swap instruments for each song making the concert more memorable.
  • Have a distinctive visual style – Virtually all of the bands artwork is by one artist, Stanley Donwood in collaboration with Thom Yorke giving them an overall unifying style on their website, merchandise and album covers.

The key is not to copy what Radiohead have been doing but to take inspiration and do something amazing and remarkable yourself.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | Comments Off

August 3rd, 2011

How to organise your first national tour – part 3

In the final part of this post we look at street teams, budgeting, merchandising and avoiding strained relationships on the road. Here are some more things that you need to bear in mind:

  • Build relationships - Don’t be late or annoy promoters or behave like an egotistical rock star. In the early stages of your touring career the important thing is to build positive relationships with promoters, fans and anyone else you meet. You never know who is going to be the fan with ten thousand Twitter followers or the person who writes a really influential blog. Contacts made on your first few tours can last you for the rest of your career. Shake the hands of fans, sign every autograph, say thank you and make yourself available. Leave your ego at home.
  • Don’t fall out with the rest of the band – If you are just used to seeing your band mates a few times a week it is nothing compared to being stuck with them on a bus or in a van for long journeys. Little things like being polite, not hogging the stereo, remembering personal hygiene and not leaving solids down the toilet on the tour bus make a big difference. It may be worth thinking about your relationships within the band before your tour. Anything you find annoying about the people in the band will be amplified so make sure you have people you can get along with on the bus.
  • Work out if you can afford a crew – If you can rope in some supportive mates this is very useful. Ideally you’d have someone to move and set up gear, a sound person, a driver, a merch person etc. A large crew is expensive. Even If you are not paying them you still need to find them somewhere to sleep and feed them. Perhaps just one or two crew people/helpers is enough for the first tour?
  • Sort out the route in advance – Your designated driver needs to plan this in advance, don’t purely rely on your sat-nav or a smart phone, get a map and work out a route. If possible also check online for any problems in the area on the day you travel.
  • Rally your street team – This is the time to make the most of those contacts you have been building online. Ask fans to put up posters and hand out fliers weeks in advance and get their friends to come to the gig. Offer them access to the band or guest list passes in exchange for their help. Often fans love helping out, but give something back and don’t take them for granted.
  • Ustream your gigs if possible – Streaming gigs is getting easier than ever. Contact the venue you want to stream the gig from in advance, check they have a decent Wi-Fi Connection and see if you can set up a feed from the mixing desk and a camera. This gives you a chance to share your touring experience with your fans across the world. More information on Ustreaming gigs here.
  • Work out your budget – Don’t expect to sell lots of CDs or T-Shirts (and some venues will want 20% of your takings even if you do sell any merchandise), work out your budget so that even if you sell no merchandise you can still afford fuel to get you to the next gig. Work out your fuel cost in miles per gallon and get it on an Excel spread sheet so you know exactly how much you will spend on fuel. Remember some promoters are rubbish and won’t pay you as much as they said they would. Every time you go out and play gigs there will always be costs you don’t expect (like break downs, broken equipment etc.) so keep some funds in reserve for emergencies.
  • Check your merchandise inventory – Check to see how many T-Shirts, Hoodies, CDs etc. you have and make sure you have plenty of stock. Check clothing sizes to make sure you don’t have 10 2XL and no Large. Check how many CDs you have, 10 CDs per gig is perhaps a good idea. Base your projected sales on your previous gigs, but don’t be disappointed when it doesn’t work out to be the same. Merch sales are hard to predict but perhaps it is better to go higher rather then lower. It is very difficult to get merchandise sent out to you once you are on the road.
  • Get the promoters to sign a contract (if you can) – This can be difficult to do, but remember that if you have an agreement in writing you have more chance of getting paid, most promoters won’t want to do this however.
  • Keep notes on all the venues and say thank you – After every gig write down the names of the people you have met, how much you got paid, how many fans where there and what the venue was like. It makes it a lot easier to book your next tour if you can pin point the best venues. When you get home email all the venues you have played at and say thank you and that you enjoyed playing there. This will give you more chance of being invited back.
  • Split the work between the people in the band – If you don’t have a crew and you are touring as a completely DIY act then split the jobs fairly. Play to peoples strengths and share the workload. If one person is doing all the work this can lead to resentment so make sure everyone helps. Clearly delegated tasking will result in the jobs being completed more effectively.
  • Keep accounts, ideally via Excel – Remember the tax man is your silent partner in all this so record your merchandise sales, run a petty cash box and keep your receipts. Not very exciting but it will help you in the long run.
  • Check the door yourself – Believe it or not some promoters have been known to lie about how many people are coming through the door, if possible get one of your people to keep an eye on how many fans are coming in.

Every tour is different and these blogs are only the start of the things you need to do that are unique to your band and situation. Your first national tour is where you often start to feel like a “proper band”. Expect the unexpected, weird stuff will happen, you will end up meeting all sorts of bizarre, exciting and amazing people. Once your first tour is out the way you can start planning the next one, plan some dates abroad or in bigger venues or incorporate some festivals. When it is done well touring is addictive, you will often find you miss it and are desperate to hit the road again as soon as possible.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | Comments Off

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.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | 2 Comments »

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.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | 4 Comments »

May 20th, 2011

10 lessons DIY artists can learn from Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa was an artist that people either loved or hated. A brilliant guitarist, composer, satirist and band leader Zappa’s career extended from the 60′s to his tragically early death in 1993. An original thinker way ahead of his time, by the end of his career Zappa owned his own masters and released a vast amount of material on his own label, very much like DIY artists are doing today. He even conceived of a pre-web scheme to distribute music via the telephone system.

Here are a few ideas that Zappa used in his career, that are very relevant for DIY musicians today:

  • Follow your artistic goals. Zappa’s focus was the music. The music needs to come first, without that nothing else will work. Great, interesting, remarkable music needs to be a given. Without that it is very difficult to build a fan base or any kind of career.
  • Be controversial. As Zappa himself said “I was happy to offend anyone who wanted to be offended”. He picked targets for satire that others wouldn’t dare to pick. Zappa upset more people than he made friends with but the people who liked him really liked him. It is better to polarize opinion than for people to say you are “alright” or “OK”. If you want to get people talking don’t play it safe, but don’t be controversial for the sake of it. Zappa would fight for issues he cared about even if he ended up in court.
  • Be great live. The early Mothers gigs were theatrical and exciting, cutting up dolls and throwing things at the audience. Zappa constantly worked with amazing musicians, if you work with quality players you’ll rise to their level. Take chances and be amazing live if you want to build an audience.
  • Don’t be afraid to change. At the height of the Mothers success Zappa broke up the band and made solo and orchestral records. Often bands think that what will give them long term success is to repeat what worked for them in the past when in fact what got them the audience in the first place was being exciting and taking risks.
  • Be different. The look of the Mothers was as different and weird as their music. Zappa took chances that stopped them getting gigs but when they did get gigs they started to build a following because people remembered them, they were different and remarkable. Zappa was constantly looking at new ways to connect with his audience, he was one of the first artists to advertise in Marvel comics and create music videos. And that moustache was iconic.
  • Release lots of content. Some people say Zappa put out too many records but the endless stream of records allowed him to have a constant income stream. By the end of his career he owned his own record company and master recordings, he was in control very much like DIY musicians are in control now. He created lots of content and merchandise (videos/t-shirts/books/mail order albums) for his hardcore fans.  Because the fans would buy all this merchandise and multiple live albums he was able to fund his ambitious artistic goals, like making orchestral recordings. He was way ahead of the game in terms of allowing his audience to fund his career.
  • If you want to be original, be open minded. Zappa combined varied influences such as avant-garde composer Edgard Varese, world music, jazz, doo-wop and R&B with comedy that was all his own. By combing these influences along with his own remarkable gifts as a musician and composer he created music that was truly original. Keep an open mind if you want to stand out and be different.
  • Pay your dues. Zappa played cocktail lounges with R&B bands, he learned his trade. If you want to be great put the time in playing live. Experience gives you confidence.
  • Go where the action is. Zappa had to leave home and head to LA to find an audience for his music but in the end it wasn’t until he got to New York that he really found his audience. These days your audience may not be in one physical place, they may be located on a specific forum or other online community but you need to go where the people go if you want to build real relationships with fans. Initially the Zappa fans in New York were small in number but they were so excited by Zappa’s stage act and music they told their friends.
  • Be at the cutting edge of technology. From the early use of 16 track recording in the 60s to using the Synclavier in the 80′s Zappa was constantly looking for new sounds. We live in a time where access to new sounds is far easier then it was when Zappa was alive, what sounds can you create that are new and unique to you?

Zappa was a one off and it would be difficult to contrive the set of circumstances that created his unique world view and career. The best you can do as artist is to be unique and work hard to gain the skills that will allow you to build your fan base. Now with tools such as Ustream, Twitter and Live Unsigned you have the chance to connect with your audience far more easily than Zappa could, imagine what he could have done with the web the way it is now.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | 1 Comment »

March 15th, 2011

A daily/weekly/monthly checklist for your band

It’s really easy to spend lots of time online and not actually get anything done to grow your audience. A simple daily check list can keep you motivated and stop you spending three hours staring at a twitter #catjokes hashtag. Better to spend an hour a day getting stuff done for your career than a whole day achieving nothing.

Picture by Paul Linus Claassen

The following is an example of things you can do regularly to make things happen (and it goes without saying your music has to be brilliant and remarkable for it to work). Some bands may do things at different times (i.e. only blog once a week or post videos more often) but this is a general example of a social media tasking sheet for a band:

Daily:

  • Post updates to Twitter/Facebook.
  • Re-tweet and share the links of other bands within your genre (then they will be more likely to do it for you).
  • Update Your Blog.
  • Upload Photos to Flickr.
  • Tell one person about your music and thank them for listening (someone you know, not spam).
  • Comment on a blog you are looking to have review your music (relevant content, not spam for your music).
  • Post on a forum (not spam) and engage with people who enjoy the music in your genre.
  • Reply to fan mail/@messages on Twitter and Facebook posts (essential).
  • Check Google Alerts to see who is talking about your band online and engage with and talk to them.

Weekly:

  • Update your gigs on Live Unsigned
  • Post links to your music and ask fans to share them with their friends on Twitter (keep this to once a week to avoid it seeming like spam).
  • Hang out at a gig where bands within your niche play and hand out fliers.
  • Post a Youtube video (perhaps an acoustic cover/video blog/live footage).
  • Submit your music to a music blog (that you are commenting on daily and engaged with)
  • Upload a rough demo/rehearsal or live track/remix to Soundcloud.
  • Contact promoters about booking gigs
  • Contact local/national print press about interviews and reviews.
  • Contact podcasters about playing your music and post an episode of your own podcast.
  • Update band website with news and the other content generated in the week.

Monthly:

  • Post a new song/EP on Bandcamp (and allow people to Download it in exchange for an email address).
  • Upload a high quality video to Youtube.
  • Do a UStream concert and post the show on Live Unsigned.
  • Send out an email to fans.
  • Review band finances.
  • Review where the band is at with regard to long term goals.
  • Start a contest for fans (perhaps to make videos or remixes)
  • Create a new line or merchandise (T-Shirt/Mug/Box set/Multi-buy). A monthly time limited special offer is a good idea (i.e. 2 CDs for £10 etc).

Long term goals:

  • Get 5000 people on the email mailing list.
  • Release an album and sell 1000 CDs
  • Do a national tour.
  • Collaborate with a major artist.

These are only examples and will be different for every band. Napalm Death and Jay Z will require different plans. If you don’t enjoy writing, don’t write a blog – focus on video or photos or a podcast. If you don’t enjoy doing something its far less likely that you’ll do it. Do the things you’re good at and enjoy and really push them. Focus on building a fanbase rather than making money at first, get a few thousand people on the mailing list then you will start to see financial rewards when you put your product out.

The key is to be doing stuff regularly and setting goals. Review where you’re at and keep pushing yourself to get things done and you’ll soon see some results.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | 4 Comments »

March 4th, 2011

12 ways to promote dance tracks online

The dance scene is still an area dominated by hits, whether within a niche or the mainstream, although the big personality DJs do have massive followings. Word of mouth via the most credible DJ’s tends to be the most powerful weapon. The hard thing is getting your tracks to these key influencers. Focusing on getting to know the key players and being an expert within your genre is essential, the dance scene is very fast moving with new tracks and scenes blowing up all the time.

Picture by Paul Linus Claassen

Here are a few ideas for creating a dance hit:

  • Be original and remarkable. Before anything your track needs to be original and amazing. Fans will only talk about music that is great. If you post a great tune it can spread via the social web very quickly. The dance scene is more hit driven and less about personality than a lot of others so you need killer tunes.
  • Set the music free. Offer at least one mix of the song as a free download. If you can get people torrenting and sharing your music because they love it this is a good thing.  If you release the stems and offer the opportunity for fans to remix your track this will give them the chance to interact with the music and this can kick start more word of mouth discussions.
  • Offer lots of different mixes. Ask key figures within your genre to remix your track. The worst they can say is no or try and charge you a lot of money to do it.
  • Get a white label vinyl out. If you have posted your track online and it gets a positive reaction now is the time to invest in a small run of white label vinyl to give to key DJ’s at clubs in your genre and pirate/digital stations. Only do this if you get a great reaction from the people you play it to (not just your friends), try giving out CDRs first. Get some feedback.
  • Get the track on Youtube as a stream, with just a photo if you don’t have a video (and a photo is better than a crap video that will lower your credibility). Youtube is a huge destination for music discovery online, especially with under 18′s. Get your track on there in full streaming and if you have time become part of the Youtube community, comment on other peoples videos and make friends. Many musicians miss this community aspect to Youtube but recommendations from others are vital in a video becoming popular.
  • Go out and meet the right people. Hang out at the clubs, get to know the DJs. Offer to do a free DJ set early in the evening or help the DJ set up or load in. Knowing the right people quickly opens doors as long as you show respect. One person could pass your track on to bloggers/mix tapes/DJs, make sure you are in the position to make that happen.
  • Get on some mix tapes and blogs. Using Google search look for people putting out mix tapes and writing blogs in your genre. Don’t spam them, talk to them. Listen to their mix tapes and comment on their blogs. Involve yourself in their community until you get to the point that when you post a track online they want to hear it because they know who you are. It takes time but lots of people are trying to spam people to get their tracks played and the only way to stand out is to to be part of their community.
  • Have a release party for your track and list it on Live Unsigned. You could offer to DJ for free at a club and bring a crowd. Do everything in your power to get people there including flyering, social media, contacting bloggers, forums, local radio and niche press. Be careful not to spam people, instead use your network of contacts you have been building. Ask everyone you know to share and re-tweet the release info. You could even Ustream the event.
  • Use Tunecore to get your track on iTunes. Tunecore allows you to put individual tracks up on to itunes and other digital services cheaply and effectively.
  • Give away (or if possible sell your) CDs outside clubs/gigs that are credible for your genre, as reported in this article in The Guardian recently. Get your music into the hands of the people who are influential – if possible try and get  an email address, if you sell a CD its a bonus. Not everyone can do this but if you have the confidence in yourself and your music go for it. This works well in the hip hop or dance genres.
  • If you are interested in being involved with labels and the rest of the industry focus on cultivating an audience, labels don’t have the money to take chances on people who don’t have some kind of previous track record and audience. Build a fan base then you can choose who you want to sign to.
  • Sell your music on Beatport. Beatport is a popular destination for dance music online. Its very much something to do once you have built a following elsewhere and have used the other initiatives above. The  Beatport community is one well worth having access to as it is such a popular destination for DJs. You need to have the following to sell on Beatport:
  1. 6 Month Release Schedule and Accompanying Promotion / Marketing Initiatives
  2. Established Online Presence (Label Web Site, Facebook, MySpace, Mailing List, etc)
  3. Repertoire of Relevant Artists / Remixers
  4. DJ Testimonials for Previous Releases and Promotion

A great track can blow up over night but only if it gets into the hands of the influential people within your genre. Give your music the best chance by building a network of contacts and resources to make it happen.

5THXFHKECSGG

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | 1 Comment »

November 26th, 2010

How to prepare for a recording session – part 1

So you now have a great live show and you’re starting to build a fan base, the next thing you need is a great recording. You can record at home but sometimes its going to sound better in a pro studio, especially if you intend to record guitar amps and real drums. You only have one chance to make a first impression with a recording, so it had better be good.

Picture by Paul Linus Claassen

The work of a quality engineer/producer can be the thing that elevates you above other bands, especially as a lot of people are using poor quality home recordings. Engineering is a real skill and when deciding if you are going to use a pro its worth asking yourself if you have the time to devote to learning this, which can take years. With Garageband or Reaper its easy to record at home but will this give you the results you’re looking for? Have you got a good room for recording in and have you got the mics, audio interfaces, outboard and plug-ins to get a good result? You can get some amazing sounds recording at home, but its not the right way for everyone.

Studio time isn’t cheap so here are some things you should do to prepare before recording. Preparation will save you time and saving time saves you money.

Choose the studio wisely – As usual ask you friends who they have used and who they can recommend. Arrange a meeting at the studio and see if you and the engineer like the same sort of music, ask to hear examples of their work. Find out who they have worked with and ask for testimonials. Is the studio tidy and well organised? Just because people have great equipment it doesn’t mean they can make great records, better to work with people with great reputations.

Work out the costs – Think about how much time you will need, don’t forget that mixing can often can take as much time as the tracking. Does the studio have any special deals for certain times or do they just charge by the hour?  What happens if you run over the booked studio time? Ask the studio up front to avoid problems later on. Do they charge extra for CDR’s etc?

Don’t try and do too much – Its far better to get three songs really well recorded than ten rubbish ones. Work out realistically what you can get done with the engineer prior to the day of recording.

Bring spares and check your gear – Check you have spare batteries, strings, valves, drum heads etc. Don’t change your strings on the morning of the session and expect them to stay in tune. Get some decent drum heads on the kit and and make sure they are tuned correctly. If you don’t know how to tune them yourself get someone who knows how to do it. It will make such a difference to the quality of the recording. Check your equipment is working and make sure nothing in your amp rattles or is noisy, it may not be a problem live but in the studio you will really notice it.

Make a documentary as you go – Being in the studio is interesting, make sure you video what’s happening. You could even Ustream it to your fans. Blog and Tweet about your experiences and tell the story of the project. Involve your audience and they will be more likely to support you when the CD comes out.

Drink plenty of water – But avoid booze if you can’t handle it, singers should avoid dairy products. Have a drink to celebrate after you’ve recorded but remember you are paying by the hour so get the performance done first.

Be tight – The better you know the songs, the quicker you can record them. You should be able to play the songs in your sleep. Get your bass player and drummer to practice together for a session so that they can lock in the kick drum and the bass. Check all your parts work together in the rehearsal rooms, or at your home. If there are multiple vocal parts get the vocalists together and check the harmonies. Record your rehearsals on your phone and see if there are any areas you can improve. Are your guitar solos going to be improvised or worked out? Anything you can do to prepare in advance is useful.

More about preparing for the studio in part two of this post.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Recording | Comments Off

October 20th, 2010

How to use free music to grow your fanbase

One of the key things for bands in the early stages of their career is to develop an audience. Giving away some free music is a great way to connect with people and develop a relationship. For some bands giving away music that they have taken time and money to write and produce is a difficult concept. Free music can be looked at as free advertising.

free music

Picture by Paul Linus Claassen

We live in an age where there are many demands on our time, to even get people listening to your music is a good result. As CD Baby founder Derek Sivers said:

“Obscurity is the enemy, not piracy”

Recently I saw a new band who were providing only 30 second snippets of songs online, because of fear of piracy! If you were signed to a major label wouldn’t they give away lots of promotional music (that you’d ultimately pay for out of royalties/your advance)? How much would advertising cost to get the equivalent amount of email addresses you can get in exchange for free music? You need to think of giving away music as a worthwhile investment in your long term career. Building a loyal fan base is a long process, if you are looking to make money quickly you are in the wrong industry. The advantage of this method is that if you gain an audience this way, they are more likely to be with you for years.

Some bands let fans torrent music, some let them record and swop live bootlegs (as long as its non commercial), some even give all the music away free and make a living from playing live. People sharing your music can quickly grow your fan base and if you have any level of success people will most likely torrent your music anyway. To some bands having an audience is enough. The amount of free music you want to give away is up to you (and for some people its not for them, perhaps if they want to be a very high ticket act selling high price goods to a tiny audience). Always try to get an email address in exchange for the free download, Bandcamp does an excellent service where you can let fans download free music in exchange for an email. Tweet For A Track lets you give away your music in exchange for the fan posting on Twitter, really useful if the person has 20,000 followers.

The value of an email address that you collect in exchange for your music depends on the fan. Some people aren’t going to ever spend any money with you, some will become hardcore fans. Hardcore fans are worth hundreds if not thousands. These are people who will buy everything you do (T-Shirts, Gigs, Vinyl, Box Sets etc) and tell their friends and drag them along to the concert. They can make your career, provide you with a growing audience and a living.

The amount you give away is up to you. Pay what you want is a model used by many artists, often people will get one album then come back and pay for another album by the same band. Getting the email address and starting an ongoing conversation is the key. Some people give away an MP3 and charge for a high quality download, or box set (like Radiohead), or signed item or live concert. Chris Anderson (author of Free:The Future Of A Radical Price) made his book available as a free audio download then charged for a physical book and speaking appearances. You could even do free UStream concerts and charge for bootlegs of them. Try charging for music and giving away a free PDF download of guitar TAB or recipes. The way you use free content in building an audience is up to you, be creative.

No one is saying just give things away and don’t get anything back, use free to gain attention and open channels of communication, then you can think about making money. Its very hard to make money from an audience you don’t have.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Top Tips | 4 Comments »