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Promotional tricks - but on a shoestring?
Alpharius
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm in a band; about 12 months ago we had completed a solid demo of 5 songs and started knocking on doors to a bunch of record companies to get some investment and if possible a record deal. We got an offer of a deal if we completed a 10 song album in 6 months. Tight target but we had a go anyway.
We managed to do it, went back to the record company and they said 'good stuff, leave it with us', but within a couple of months the company went bankrupt. So now we've got an album but no album deal.
So with no money we're looking to promote our music, we've set up facebook, reverbnation and other social networking stuff but that doesn't get us much past our circle of friends.
Any advice on how to reach a broader audience would be superawesome!
tl;dr
How do we promote our band/music without spending much money?
We managed to do it, went back to the record company and they said 'good stuff, leave it with us', but within a couple of months the company went bankrupt. So now we've got an album but no album deal.
So with no money we're looking to promote our music, we've set up facebook, reverbnation and other social networking stuff but that doesn't get us much past our circle of friends.
Any advice on how to reach a broader audience would be superawesome!
tl;dr
How do we promote our band/music without spending much money?
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then just set up a website where people can order said CD. If setting up the website is too much, just link people to your facebook/myspace and have people email order from you.
Bingo.
And poke around for any little independent/pirate radio stations, podcasts on the genre, etc. Them playing a song of yours with a link to your Myspace thrown in could easily get a shitton of listeners if the thing's popular.
Given that I'm listening to it right now, it clearly works, so keep doing it OP. Plus there's a chance someone will propose some other really good promo ideas.
A friend of mine in a pretty popular local band said basically if you plan on making money at it, be prepared to treat it like a full time job.
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you might want to try a Radiohead/NIN/Saul Williams "fill in the blank" style purchase, but I can only imagine that actually working when you've got a huge fan base or a credible band/person to promote you.
Don't get me wrong, online self promotion is good, but playing as many gigs as possible is essential.
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Through supporting the larger band, they gained more fans from that scene and slowly took off. Tomorrow night they are supporting Rise Against!
Guess what I'm saying is that online social networking is good, but getting out there connecting with the people that are going to be your fans and the bands you are going to be playing with will help much more.
Give away one of the songs for free.
Mail a CD into the local college stations. (make a radio-friendly version of the songs before doing this)
From what I understand these days, the gigs should be your ultimate goal. Albums and studio recordings should be promotions to get people to come to your gigs as ticket sales, bar takings share (if you can negotiate it) and merchandising (if that's your thing) are where the earnings are for musical artists. If anything, you should be doling out freebie 5 track CDs as flyers to get people to come to your gigs.
It's all about getting yourself talked about, ultimately. You should be sending demo tapes (or demo CDs, I guess) to any suitable radio stations/DJs, get yourself played on air or in clubs, invite music reviewers along to your concerts, schmooze the fuck out of the local and online music press, get yourself an interview on The Disney Channel, spread rumours that you're playing at Malia Ann Obama's birthday party, run over your neighbour's dog, check into rehab, flee from rehab, you know the whole thing.
Depending on what style of music you play, you might see if you can get scheduled into any local town fairs or free concert series. My town has two fairs that feature rotating bands for two days, and (used to do) free live bands in the town square once a week, and the bands that played those were always selling their own albums on CD.
If you live near a college that has Greeks (fraternities and sororities), go around to the houses and drop off your card (or a copy of the album). During rush, some houses will have very big parties with live bands.
This is true and false
I actually work for a venue, and to be honest, I have about a hundred of these in my car I tossed in my backseat and never touched. And these were the ones I took because they handed it to me, and a few I even asked for. I've seen people have stacks of CDs, and leave with that same stack.
Now, back when I was a shitty musician (shittier I suppose) I actually had a medicom of success, because of my ability to sell myself to those with shitty taste.
So here's what you do:
Treat every show as if its going to be a big one. I'm talking flyers, full internet advertising, everything. No one will be perfect on this, but it'll help.
Talk to EVERYONE before and after a show. Other bands will be your fans as you start.
Say your name on stage. Like six thousand times. Thats the biggest thing I see is that no one says their goddamn name. And if they do, its always at the last second. "This is our last song, were Blahblah, hope you liked it!" Every other song, just toss in "Hey, were fuckshitters." So many times I've heard a good song, but forgotten what band played it.
Create those CDs I told you no one would listen to, and hand them to everyone. Hand everyone who comes up and goes "Man great set" Two of them. No one should leave empty handed. If they want to toss one on the table, thats fine, but don't let it be up to people to come up and grab it. You are a salesmen, and that CD is the gateway to your product.
Be the nicest sumbitch you can be. The sound guys rude? Mixed sucked? Thank him for the opportunity. Owner screwed you out of some money? Shake his hand and hope you can do business again. At my club, the second you're rude to us, unless you had a huge draw, you aren't playing again.
I once knew a cat named Brennen in a band named the Echoes. Every time he introduced himself, he, without fail, said "Hi, My names Brennen, I'm in the Echoes."
I knew a cat named Scott in a band named the Orange. He was everyones best friend. Fuck, I met him maybe three times? He invited me over to his house for a personal preview of their album over a PBR. And I've been to damn near every one of his shows, because I felt like I knew them.
Be forceful networking, insist everyone knows your name, and that you're in this band. Keep stickers on your person at all times, and a spindle of CDs in your car.
Be fun on stage. If you stand up there and hold a microphone, no one cares. Bands without an established following have to energize the audience, not vice versa. If your playing to your grandma and the sound man, you dance around like theres a thousand screaming topless chicks watching you.
Be entertaining, tell a joke on stage, and for the love of god, don't take yourself seriously.
But remember, that goddamit, your in the best band ever. You really do have to act like it. If you act like a rockstar, sooner or later people WILL treat you like one.
The best way to reach a broader audience, is to know the people who know that broader audience.
My name's Harlequin, and I'm in Square Revolution
Build relationships with other bands. If you do a good open for a bigger band, they might want to use you again. If you get to know other bands, you might find yourself getting presented for whole bills - "hey we were thinking of doing a show with ______, ________, and _______"
Don't be a rockstar. You aren't famous yet, and people don't even really take that much shit from really famous people. Save the complex for your fans.
Get some fans. People in your merch, on your myspace, this shows you can sell tickets.
Share your fans - bring "your" crowd out for those bands you're mentioning.
If you don't have merch, get some - it's actually pretty cheap - and get those shirts and CDs out there.
Hit up all your niche appropriate (probably college in your case) radio and papers
Don't be a problem for a promoter. Stand up for yourself and try to only work with honest people, but don't do things like routinely insist on being a certain place in the bill, don't bitch about his techs, etc.
Do be clear and concise about things like any rider or backroom list you get. Jesus, it's a constant headache having to deal with people that are "with the band" even if they are all lying, if they are not - you just told them they could come on in - they need to be known to the people that can make that happen or have one of your tickets already. Remember, the security guy keeping your friends out is a) capable of backhanding you into next week and b) actually trying to keep people from stealing from you.
I'm of the opinion that if you treat gigs like business, gigs actually become more fun because they run better. Some people insist on a very casual gig attitude (not the same as taking the actual music serious or not) and they ususal run shit shows, late shows, broke shows, shows with fights, shows where no one makes money or has fun.
This applies to promotion, as well - do work. It's work. Get out there and flyer. Pre-sell. Plug.
Go to shows. This is huge. It ties back on doing the work, knowing the bands, etc - you need to be ready and willing to go to other shows. There's a fine line between being there, being seen, and networking, and tackily advertising at someone elses' event - you have to walk that.
finally, and this applies more to promotion then to members of a band but pay "little people" first and yourselves last. Yes, it sucks sometimes, but if you hired a roady or a tech or a driver or a session player or a live player, or your own security, you need to pay those guys. You need to do it because they're doing the work, you need to do it because they are your reputation, etc. There's just far more reasons to pay them then to stiff them.
I host a podcast about movies.
or just general experiences in doing the whole tshirt/mug/poster thing?
once again I'm really grateful for all the excellent advice here