House Shows – Small Crowd, Big Return

Joel P. West house show

It’s almost winter and its time to start thinking about booking for the next several months will look like.  As I’m about to embark on recording a new CD, I’ve decided that I’d like to put less effort into promoting shows while spending more time in the studio.  That said, I’m reminded of why house shows are a so popular…especially among singer/songwriters.  Read On…

What is a House Show?
First, I don’t want to assume you know what a house show is, but it’s pretty self-explanatory. Basically a homeowner (or apartment owner) agrees to host an event in which they invite their friends/family/acquaintances over to listen to you perform.  You can also host your own house show.

Little Effort, Better Connections
There are very few things in life that are “too easy” and I think setting up a house show is one of them…especially considering how much time and effort goes into booking shows at traditional venues. What makes a house show easy?  

• 1.) Connections: The host invites people he/she knows. You don’t need to worry about  marketing yourself to people you’ve never met just to get them to drive to a show at a venue they’ve never heard.  Not to mention that, because of the already existing relationship between the host and his/her invitees, the likelihood that they will attend is incredibly higher.
• 2.) Less Lead Time: You can decide you’re having a house show on Monday and set it for Saturday. Maybe a little more lead time would be good, but realistically, you don’t need to do much planning ahead for this.  It’s really up to the host as he/she will have a better idea on how much advance notices friends/family would need.
• 3.) No artwork, No door policies, No PA: Your promotional efforts can be just as laid back as the show. You don’t need to put together artwork (but you can) or worry about a venue taking 40% of the cover.  And in many cases, depending on the size of the living room, you won’t even need a sound system. Go acoustic or use a small amp.

They’re Cheap
On the artists end, it doesn’t cost anything to put together a house show and you don’t have to worry about paying musicians to accompany you like you might do for a larger venue.  The host will often spend time and money on food and drinks or will ask his/her friends to bring a dish. Some house shows double as potlucks. 

They’re Usually More Profitable than Venue gigs
Just because your in someone’s living room, doesn’t mean the experience is less valuable.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  House shows are more intimate and personal. So, don’t be afraid to put value to put monetary the event.

• Charging Cover:  Do a cover or suggested donation. On average, they range from $5 to $20 depending on what you and the host decide. Most hosts will respect that you are an artist working to make a living off your art.
• Selling Merch: It’s easier to sell merch at house shows because you have a chance to engage with people on a more personal level – both in conversation before/after the show and during your set.  It has much to do with the idea that people want to invest in who you are as a person and take a piece of you home with them.
• Little Perks: If you charge $10-$20 for the concert, consider giving attendees a free copy of your CD or an ep…or something small as a thank you and to put added value on the price of admission.  Thanks to Peculiar People for this tip.

Booking House Shows
Do you have fans who are die-hard supporters of your music but can’t always make it to your shows (for various reason)?  Ask them if they would like to host you. Send out a message to your fans and let them know that you are booking for the winter.  House show are extremely popular when the weather gets cold.

If you’re passing through a city and have a free evening, consider booking a house show. Have big gig on Friday and Saturday? Book a house show for Sunday evening.  Sunday’s are the least busiest time of the week.

Check out this great right-up on the idea of house shows: http://sezio.org/feature/jpw-houseshow.aspx

Lastly, keep in mind that some people make a living strictly off doing  house show tours  but the negative thing about these gigs is that they’re pretty exclusive. In other words, even if the show is open to the public, you’re not likely to get folks who aren’t somehow associated with the host. 

• DISCLAIMER: If you’re part of a band, consider going solo or duo when booking house shows. Or book house shows in bigger living rooms.  House shows don’t always have to be low-key and some people have large spaces (i.e. finished basements) in their house where they can host listening parties, concerts, or holiday shows. 

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Stop Talking So Much!

Social networking is like having a conversation; and the best tweeters and bloggers have found a happy medium between marketing themselves while engaging in dialogue with their audience. Here are some tips on how to achieve this balance…  

Listen more than you talk
No one wants to be part of a conversation where they don’t get to say anything. When your fans post status updates and tweets, occasionally respond.  When they post remarks to your updates, respond. And don’t keep posting one tweet after another after another.  Fans respect two-way communication and will lose interest in you, the more self-absorbed you appear.  And ask question. Show that you value others’ opinions by showing interest in what they have to say.  

Keep it Short and Sweet
Don’t you wish there were a 140 character limit for that one friend who takes ten minutes to tell a two-minute story. Yes! It’s the beauty of twitter, really. Find ways to be brief and shoot straight to the point. Narratives are great, and they have their place, but keep in mind that the average attention span of an adult is continually decreasing. Are you taking too long to say what you really mean?

Stop Repeating Yourself
Don’t re-tweet or repost the same information over and over. And if you are reposting, say it in a new way. It’s just like a commercial. You’ve likely seen tons of Coca Cola commercials during your lifetime, but if Coke were showing the same commercial that it aired back in ‘95, it would likely lose popularity.

Be Sincere
Don’t be fake. No one likes flattery but people do like compliments.  Don’t embellish things to sound better than they are. 

Know When the Conversation is Over
Don’t unnecessarily draw things out. If hype around an event or subject matter is dying down naturally, don’t try to re-infuse life into something that’s run its course.

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Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #6

It’s another installment of a very necessary series.  Check out past write-ups on new and hardly heard of resources for musicians. Read below for a new ones. 

Here are the Other Posts in this Series
Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #5
Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #4
Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #3
Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #2
Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #

Gig Masters
Sometimes you need to put money in to get it back out.  For this reason, give Gig Masters a try. I’ve personally tried it out…and it works (and they should pay me for this free advertising)! Whether you’re a DJ, singer-songwriter, live band, or other entertainer, Gig Masters has solid connections with corporations, individuals, and special events looking to book entertainment.

How does it work?  GM servers two clients – 1.) You the artists, and 2.) Event planners looking for entertainment.  You upload your songs, photos, a bio (and additional information), and bookers look through GM’s extensive list for the artist that fits the bill for their event.

From personal experience, GM exists to serve the clueless secretary in search of the perfect blues band for her companies corporate party, or the wedding planner who needs a 90s rock band for her bride’s wedding. GM is a savior to nursing home managers who don’t know where to find an oldies band for the bingo bash or Salsa clubs that need a live Latin band.  In other words, if you’re a singer-songwriter or band looking to get booked in your local venue, GM is probably not the way to go.  But it is a solid source for paid gigs in the way of private parties, special events, and corporate get-togethers.

As an artist subscribing to this service, you are given the option of signing on at various payment levels, depending on how far you’d like to travel for a gig, how many genres you would like to submit yourself to, and how much space you are given to upload information.  Obviously artists who pay less, can upload fewer songs, and only accept gigs within a certain mile radius. But you set the price (i.e. how much you are interested in being paid for a gig and how far you are willing to drive for a gig (within your subscription level limitations). Here’s what an artist page looks like.

Now, if you put yourself in the shoes of a wedding coordinator who needs a harpist to play background music at a wedding in Portland, here are your options.  And if she needs a funk/soul/blues band to play at the reception, here are her options.  My suggestion is to have an excellent press photo because that’s the first thing people will see.

Thanks to Jason Kendall for passing on this resource.

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Promoting Your Press

Sam & Ruby

Maybe it sounds counter intuitive since press is supposed to promote you; however promoting your press will not only build your credibility, but it will also help you garner additional press. Chances are, whoever is writing about you, has a much bigger platform than you do.  Take advantage of that.

It’s not an easy thing to get a magazine or newspaper to write a review (read How to Score Reviews of Your CD).  But, once they do, take special care of that endorsement. What are you doing to spread the word to make sure people know that you’re being talked about?  Here are some thoughts on the matter

Why Would Someone Want to Know You’ve Been Reviewed?
Think of your website as one big advertisement. You create the content and you have control over what people know about you. This means that you’ve taken the opportunity to make yourself sound as good as possible. But if you take a poll, you’ll quickly realize that no one buys a magazine for the ads on every other page, and no one watches TV for its commercials (except the Superbowl, of course).  People take in media to see what’s being said about their favorite stars, to hear conversation about new music, movies…etc.

In other words, the public values an unbiased, third-party opinion. It’s the very reason no one watches Infomercials.  Prospective “buyers”  will put more value on your “product” when someone else (other than yourself) gives it a thumbs up.

Visibility
It’s all about giving things their proper placement. Consider these ideas…

• Work any media  recognition into your bio. Instead of talking about what you’ve done with your music, talk about what others have done. Here’s a clip from Katie Herzig’s Bio:
• “Katie has toured with the Tenn out of Tenn tour, Hotel Café Tour, PASTE Magazine songwriter tour and has supported national acts such as The Fray, Brandi Carlile, Shawn Colvin, Aqualung and others. In 2008, Katie is featured in Billboard Magazine’s “Now Hear This” as well as one of PASTE Magazine’s 25 “Best of What’s Next” Artists.”
   
• Put endorsements on your homepage. Nashville artists Sam & Ruby get a thumbs up for this.
• If you visit their homepage, you’ll see one of their songs was featured in the 2008 Blockbuster , The Secret Life of Bees. That’s a pretty big foot-in-the-door that can catapult a CD’s success to the next level. In fact, in a recent interview, Sam & Ruby said they sped up the production of their CD so they could release it at the same time as the movie.  That’s called using a huge opportunity to your advantage and building on momentum.
• Also, check out Sam and Ruby’s myspace…as they put endorsements in the “About” section instead of a traditional bio.

Lastly, avoid sketchy-looking endorsements. If a radio host said he liked your CD but didn’t say anything concrete, don’t use it.  Make sure all quotes are as real as possible.  “John Doe of ABCF-FM likes the CD” doesn’t carry any weight.  And remember, the press certainly doesn’t need your help in publicizing their review/endorsement of your CD, but you do! 

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“He Who Has the Goals Makes the Rules”

Tyler Perry

After channel-surfing  a bit last night, I came across a 60 Minutes interview with actor/writer/director/producer Tyler Perry.  If you’re not familiar with Perry, he is the Atlanta-based playwriter-turned-screenwriter who has literally created his own genre of movies. His latest movie, I Can Do Bad All By Myself topped the box office during its first weekend in theaters earlier this month.

In short, the interview discussed how, in just 11 years, Tyler Perry has risen to success by finding and tackling a niche audience that no one else in the movie industry has tackled – black, church-going women with children (and also the middle-class African-American). 

“He Who Has the Goals Makes the Rules”
It’s a simple, profound statement….one that I’m sure caught the ear of everyone who watched this interview.  Perry owns everything he makes. He owns his plays, his movies, his TV shows, his 400 employees…etc. He writes everything, directs everything, and acts in almost all of his productions.  And just 11 years ago, none of this existed. Perry was living out of his car and trying to sell his plays to people who didn’t want them.  Eventually he stopped trying to sell them and funded them himself (with very little money). 

“They didnt open the door. I had to cut a hole in a window to get in.”
Considering the state of the music industry, I thought this statement was especially important to highlight.  We’re at a point where you can only make moves if you break in through a window. The doors aren’t opening because too many musicians are knocking on them. The artists who make it are sneaking in through the basement, laundry chutes, and chimneys. What are you doing differently than your peers? Work to pave unpaved roads. Check out these posts:

Stand-out Artists and What We Can Learn from Them #1
Stand-out Artists and What We Can Learn from Them #2
Stand-out Artists and What We Can Learn from Them #3

The Cost of Creating Your Own Rules
When you’re funding and fueling your own pursuits, your audience will always be smaller than it could be. Despite his success, most Americans have never heard of Tyler Perry.  Perry has found his niche but you can pretty much guarantee that if a movie theater is full of movie-goers, 99% of them will be black. Niches are great, and self-promotion is great, but this usually translates into small-audience-higher-impact…whereas, being backed by the “big guys” usually translates into large-audience-smaller-impact.

When all is said and done, keep in mind that Creative Control = Monetary Control.

If you wanna check out the full 60-minute interview, here goes:
http://www.urbanmusicdirect.com/2009/10/tyler-perry-interview-on-60min

 

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Putting Ideas in Their Heads

We are Miracle Whip and we will not tone it down? Huh?

 The idea of putting ideas into people heads, for the most part, is a very selfish thought.  It comes with a preconceived notion that you are that good…that your “product” should be the #1 thing on everyone’s mind.  Watch the above Miracle Whip commercial to see what I mean. 

It’s Just Miracle Whip!
What’s the big deal? It’s just Miracle Whip. The stuff is pretty nasty if you ask me. BUT the “big deal” is that when people think of mayonnaise, they specifically think of Miracle Whip.  I can guarantee you that this commercial is not MW’s claim to fame, seeing as its been around for over 80 years; but I can guarantee you that MW’s posture over the last several decades is what has kept it in the same class as Heinz Ketchup and other famous condiment brands.

Humble Ego
So is it possible to think your music is that good, brainwash people into thinking that, and do it tactfully without coming off as a jerk.  Answer: Yes.  Here are some ideas on how you can do that successfully.

1.) Come on strong, but not 100% of the time. There are people who send out event invites on Facebook for every single show they have, repeated message reminders about each show, and repeated newsletter blasts.  That gets old very quickly and people will soon ignore anything in their inbox with your name on it. 

Pick 1 show a month (or every 2 months) to heavily promote. Do everything you can to get the word out, and rely on your efforts to carry the momentum for the shows you don’t promote as heavily.  I’ve noticed that some people spend time heavily promoting FREE shows because they know more people will be willing to come out (especially people who haven’t heard them before). Once you earn the respect of your new fans at the free show, they’ll be more willing to pay to see you in the future.  I personally think this is a great model.

Check out this past blog on some tips for promoting your next big show: Planning Ahead – The Key to a Successful Show

2.) Be flexible with your merch. I ran into this article on DIY Musician last night: Selling more merch at your shows.  DIY makes the argument, that if you want people to have your music no matter what, be willing to give it them at a lower price point. A topic like that has varying opinions but read the article and its comments to get some different views.

 3.) Associate yourself with people you wanna be like. If you’re Kraft’s Miracle Whip, start hanging out with Heinz’s Ketchup. Be the understudy. Here’s a former post on that: Mimic the Artists You Respect

If you’ve got other suggestions, post them below.
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RSS is Pretty Wonderful

As I took some time to lightly revamp the grassrootsy site this weekend (check the sidebar), I noticed that, for a number of reasons, Grassrootsy has not been a completely functional website.  Yes, the information is useful, timely, and hopefully relevant on a weekly basis; but there were a couple things that needed to be changed and rearranged in order to make navigation easier, clearer, and quicker.  In the process, i began to delve into RSS, and its relevance to both this site and yours.

What is RSS?
You’ll notice that there is now an RSS icon at the top right of the page (that silver square thing). After running this website for nearly a year, I’ve noticed that the number of Grassrootsy visitors does not always translate into Grassrootsy subscribers.  Some people don’t want a message in their inbox telling them that a new blog has been posted. They’d rather be informed through their RSS feed reader- which lists updates for every blog an individual chooses to subscribe to. 

RSS:
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication”. It is a way to easily distribute a list of headlines, update notices, and sometimes content to a wide number of people. It is used by computer programs that organize those headlines and notices for easy reading.

So how does this apply to you?  If you have a blog, or maintain some type of site that can generate RSS feeds, your reader can subscribe to your feed by clicking on the RSS image. Why do you want them to do this? Because you’ll be gaining a consistent visitor to your website without having to send that person an email reminder that your blog has new content.  The beauty of RSS is that you dont have to do a thing. When you’ve posted your blog (or news update), a small portion of your post gets sent to your subscribers RSS feed reader.   

Make sure that RSS image is visible!  And make sure it links directly to the feed page giving readers the option to subscribe.  Test out the Grassrootsy RSS icon below to give it a try (and subscribe if you like).  You know you wanna!

Note: If you’d rather not use an image, you can opt for a hyperlink, but images tend to catch the eye more successfully.  Also, it’s definitely recommended that you still keep a newsletter signup, because not everyone has caught onto the RSS phenomenon.

Facebook and Feeds
Facebook allows your friends to subscribe to your feeds (i.e. updated wall posts, links, notes) and also allows you to consolidate all your facebook activity into a feed. In other words, instead of getting repeated emails when peope write on your wall, send you a message, or add you as a friend, your feed will have that information all in one place. Gotta love it!

Benefits of RSS
*increase traffic to your site
*keep the connection between you and your fans
*its like sending an email update except you’re not sending an email and they’re not getting spam
*appeal to a generation of extremely technically-saavy web surfers

Good Reading on RSS
Simple, short, easy-to-understand info on RSS: www.whatisrss.com
A basic tutorial on RSS: What  is RSS?
The importance of having a blog: Blogs are still BIG!
A really excellent, brief video tutorial about RSS: What is RSS?

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Blogs are still BIG!

Hiram Ring

They don’t seem as popular anymore. But blogs aren’t dead…at least not yet!  In the past few weeks I’ve found myself reading more blogs and have also had a few conversations with people hoping to start blogs in order to better-connect with their fans. So here are some thoughts on what gives a blog a good name and consistent readership.

Remind people that you’re human
I’m finding that the more someone blogs about every-day things, the more interested I am in themwho they are. Maybe you feel the same way. Maybe you don’t.  There’s nothing worse than someone pretending that they’re more interesting than they actually are.  If you’re music career isn’t all that glamorous, don’t drum it up to be something extra special. Blog about funny things that happened on the way to your gig…or blog about random things that readers might find interesting. 

It all really comes down to how much you want people to know about YOU. I’ve noticed that Derek Sivers, the music marketing “guru”, has begun to blog more regularly about non-music related ideas. Last week he sent out a blog post (http://sivers.org/inlove) about what it means to “like” someone, “love” someone, and be “in love” with someone.  I’m sure some people were a bit annoyed by this post (including myself), but regardless of its relevance, Sivers engaged his audience in a non-music related conversation.  The post earned over 1200 comments from readers.

Try a Vlog or Plog (made Plog up)
Because the attention span of the average web surfer is getting shorter and shorter (don’t know how to prove this, but it’s a floating statistic), find ways to stimulate your web visitors interest.  Try video blogs (vlogs) or picture blogs (plogs).  There’s nothing better than accompanying your words with videos.   Most readers will not read your blog from start to finish. So put in a short video to help break things up, or to appeal to those who don’t want to read.  Good friend, Hiram Ring, does this and it seems to be working. Check out his blog.

Make Sure Your Blog Isn’t Just One Huge Advertisement
Yes, a blog is one of many ways to build faithful supporters and people interested in who you are as a musician and person. BUT, if you’re not genuine and only use your platform as a way to proselytize, you fans won’t hang around for very long.

TCPR recently posted some excellent tips for maintaining a blog.  Go check it out.  And remember: anything with quality will thrive with consistency and hard work.  If you’re putting a little effort into your blog, people will continue to visit, and maybe even subscribe.

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Your Band Featured on Grassrootsy

 

Grassrootsy is going to sleep until Oct 13 as I’ll be on tour with some other musicians. YAH! If you want to know more about our trip, visit www.4ontour.net.  In the meantime, here’s your opportunity to be featured on Grassrootsy.

Here’s How to be Featured – if you are a band (or solo artist)
1.) Send a few paragraphs about any innovative marketing your band is doing.  Tell  Grassrootsy readers what has worked for you and/or what has not worked for you?
2.) or Send a few paragraphs about any specific Grassrootsy posts (or tips) you/your band has applied over the last 11 months since Grassrootsy’s inception.  How have you applied them and how have they helped?
3.) Include a link to all your social networking sites: official site, myspace, facebook, youtube, twitter…etc.
4.) Include a link(s) to a few press pictures of you/your band. These MUST be quality photos. [no attachments please]
5.) Send everything to booking@joyike.com

Here’s How to be Featured – if you are a NOT a band
Many of the tips on grassrootsy have been helpful to graphic designers, photographers, music service providers, publicists, and people who are pursuing creative careers. Here’s how you all can submit.
1.) If you are a new, under-the-radar, resource that musicians should know about, give us the low-down.  This should be a pretty thorough explanation.  See this example: Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #4.
2.) If you know of a band that is doing great things (on the marketing side), tell us about them. What are they doing? Why are they successful?
3.) Include a link to all your social networking sites: official site, myspace, facebook, youtube, twitter…etc.
4.) Include a link(s) to a few press pictures of you, your business, and/or the band you are promoting. These MUST be quality photos. [no attachments please]
5.) Send everything to booking@joyike.com

Also, this opportunity to submit to Grassrootsy is an open invitation.  I will hold onto all a submissions and post the good ones whenever the time is right. So always feel free to submit.
Looking forward to checking out entries.  In the meantime, there are plenty of posts on this website to keep you occupied. Enjoy.
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Same Message, Different Approach

Emerson Taymor's pop-up doll business cards

Everyone knows our media-saavy culture suffers from information overload, but no one has driven the point home like MSN’s Bing Commercials.  There’s nothing new under the sun and everything’s already been said.  This is why saying the same thing in new ways is the only way to stand out from your competitors, catch people off guard, and suprise the unsuspecting.  Check out this Bing commercial.

 

Something Especially Clever
I randomly came across Emerson Taymor as I was looking for business card companies and now I am a huge fan!  Taymor is a photographer and website/graphic designer based in Los Angelese, CA. His business cards, pop-up dolls of his body, are the kind that people hold onto for more than a day…like collector’s items   Taymor says the following,

“Self promotion is something I pride myself on. I take advantage of the popularity of my initials (ET). My logo is a monogram, stylistically created to be modern, trendy, sexy, classy and clean. It can be set or placed over a wide range of colors. My business cards, which have become somewhat of a internet and real life hit, came to me somewhat at random. I really wanted to sell myself, not just as a designer, but as a person. Many designers are hidden behind their work, but I wanted to be my work and myself to work hand in hand. I want people to know they are not only hiring a talented designer, but a people person; someone that they would enjoy the company of. Obviously the cards come flat, but you can make them into a pop-up doll and sit them on your desk.”

 Innovative ideas from others (check out these posts for ideas on what others have done)
*Mitch Bell uses the pizza guy to include his flyers with pizza deliveries
*Allison Weiss raffles off a free CD at each show among the people who signs up for her newsletter
*Ari Hest lets his fans pick the songs to put on the CD & *Amy Kuney tours middle schools and high school
*Chris McDonald creates video shorts based on a fictional character – his alter ego

(these are just a few. there are plenty more on Grassrootsy)

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Perception is Reality

It took me a while to figure out what my first write-up for this blog would be. But I’m going to start with something that will probably tie together any subject matter covered in this blog. Perception is Reality.  I should preface this by saying that you wont be reading anything extremely profound but just some things that I’ve learned from experience and from other musicians, business people and entrepreneurs.

After graduating from college, I worked at a book publishing company for several years booking radio and tv interviews for our authors.  The biggest problem in trying to promote someone is that no one can promote You better that You.  Some writers think the work is done after the book is published.  Just the same, many musicians think that it’s all about showing up for the gig and playing a 30 minute set.

The truth is that pursuing music has more to do with what you do offstage after you’ve made your initial impressions…. i.e.

• following up with fans who subscribe to your mailing list (p.s. do you have a mailing list?)
• promoting your show (don’t leave this up to the venue)
• trying to get credible write-ups
• updating your myspace and/or website

Whatever you feed people is what they’ll eat (sad but true).  People only know what they see. If people get a good idea of who you are b/c you’re always on your game, they’re more likely to keep in touch with you via email, facebook, going to your gigs, letting their friends know about you, and even passing on performance opportunities.

The goal is to give people an honest image of who you are and maintain that consistent integrity from start to finish. Hopefully they’ll dig your personality, stage presence, and the fact that you’ll respond to them when they drop you a note on myspace or facebook.

 

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Drawing Traffic to your Website(s) – Myspace

Greg Laswell

 

This is one of my favorite topics because I love stats!  There are so many ways to draw traffic to your website…and they all work (to a certain extent).  The basic rule is to update your website as often as you want people to visit. Don’t expect people to visit your site regularly if there’s nothing new to keep them engaged. 

I’ll focus on myspace today and write about official websites on Monday.

Default Image
Change your default image regularly. Weekly. Bi-weekly. Monthly.  Just more often than you do now.  A different default image than you had last week leads people to believe that you’ve updated your page since last week. I usually changed my image around 12 midnight on Sunday.  Mondays are when my myspace gets the most traffic

Layout
Simple things like changing the layout of your myspace usually keep people coming back regularly. I usually go with Thomas Myspace Editor because it’s extremely straightforward.  When my background image starts getting stale, I put a new one up, change the colors…just small things that catch the eye. Post flyers for your upcoming events, rearrange things.  I like this page simply because its colorful and clean: Dawn Canon.  I also love Greg Laswell’s page b/c its fun, creative, and has links to every other single website you can visit to stalk him.

Send regular emails
People are lazy and they forget everything. This is why I love e-newsletters.  Newsletters are the single most important part of everything I do and every single email address matters.  At shows, make sure you have a visible sign-up form.  Pass it around if you have to. Send out a weekly email to subscribers. Let them know what’s up – new updates, new blogs on your site, new anything!  If weekly emails are too much for you, send them every two weeks. I personally think sending a monthly email isn’t enough.

Also, people can’t write! Emphasize how important it is for them to print clearly!

Constantly remind people that you exist. Always include links in your emails – links to your websites, blogs…etc. Free newsletter services include FanBridge and Your Mailing List Provider.  There are tons of others and most are free depending on how many subscribers your have. I use YMLP b/c their layout is very clean. Feel free to check out my weekly newsletter.  Wednesdays are the second busiest day of traffic on my website b/c I usually send my e-blast out late Tuesday night.

The power of suggestion
If I’m doing a show at a coffeeshop or bar, I usually try to put some business cards on tables throughout the venue. Some people are too lazy to walk 10 feet over to your product table and get one on their own. For shame!  I totally dig Flyers Direct.  Their flyer and business card rates are awesome and they print on both sides. $55 for 1000 business cards aint bad.  I’m sure there are even better deals out there.  Just look.
Here’s what my business card currently looks like: Front. Back.  I  change up the design every 5-6 months.

At least once during your set, mention your website and myspace…and let people know you have a CD they can buy.  The power of suggestion is usually what makes me money at the end of night…whether people buy my music at the show, later on iTunes, or pass an opportunity my way since they have my contact info handy.

The basic goal is to consistently put yourself in front of people by any means necessary.  Legally…of course

 
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Drawing Traffic to your Website(s) – Official Site

This is a continuation of last week’s pst: Drawing traffic to your Myspace.  Today I’m focusing on drawing traffic to your official website. Tips from this blog can be applied to your myspace page and vise-versa.  Especially the thing about business cards.

The basic rule of thumb as previously mentioned is updating your website as often as you want people to visit.  If you only want visitors stopping by once a month, then there’s no point of adding new things every week/day.

So here are some fresh tips.

Make it simple and/or interesting
If people know they can find what they’re looking for easily, they’ll be more likely to visit.  If its cluttered and they cant read the text because it nearly matches with the background of your site, they probably won’t be back often.  Also if you want to make your site extra simple and just have a few things, feel free to direct people to your myspace for all the other facts.  My website only gets about 10% of hits as my myspace so I update my myspace more regularly and direct people to it when I’m too lazy to update both.

You can also take the Brad Yoder approach.  In Pittsburgh, Brad is known as an awesome storyteller and lyricist. His website effectively reflects this.  Its got a feel that reminds you of Saturday morning cartoons and your favorite bedtime story… i.e. teddybear-like creatures playing guitars! Awesome!

 

 Every email provider has the option of putting a signature at the bottom of your outgoing messages! Use it!  Include your myspace, your official site, and maybe a quote or something reflective of who you are or what you’re currently up to.  Example:
Take Advantage of Email Signatures

www.YOURSITE.com
www.myspace.com/YOURSITE 
just don’t stalk me. ok?

Statcounter
Statcounter is the single most effective tool I’ve come across in the past six months.  It’s a free, invisible web-tracking resource created by Google.  It will keep track of how many people are visiting your site each day, how many are returning visitors, what pages on your site they traffic the most, how many seconds/minutes/hours they stick around.  It’s amazing, and I use it every day! To learn more, visit www.statcounter.com.  Why is it important?

Visit Lengths…will let you know how much time people are spending on your site. If the majority of visitors are spending less than 5 seconds…then figure out why?  Why?  Have you updated your site lately?

		Visit Length
	36	Less than 5 secs
	15	From 5 secs to 30 secs
	19	From 30 secs to 5 mins
	15	From 5 mins to 20 mins
	3	From 20 mins to an hour
	15	Longer than an hour

 

 

Popular Pages…tells me which sites people visit the most. According to this, my homepage, music page, shows, and thoughts (i.e. blog) get the most traffic. This tells me that I need to be on the ball about updating these pages

 

		Webpage
	79	www.joyike.com/
	79	www.joyike.com/home.html
	39	www.joyike.com/music.html
	35	www.joyike.com/shows.html
	25	joyike.com/
	21	joyike.com/thoughts.html
	20	www.joyike.com/pics.html
	20	www.joyike.com/joy.html
	19	joyike.com/home.html
	15	www.joyike.com/thoughts.html
	14	www.joyike.com/guestbook/index.php
	12	www.joyike.com/contact.html
	10	joyike.com/home
	10	www.joyike.com/index.html
	9	joyike.com/shows.html
	8	www.joyike.com/home
	8	www.joyike.com/press.html
	8	www.joyike.com/guestbook/
	6	www.joyike.com/links.html
	6

These are just a few examples.  Visit www.statcounter.com for more details

Connect the Dots
Lastly, connect the dots!  Always make sure your myspace is referring people to your website is referring people to your myspace is referring people to your website.  If someone has just added you as a friend of myspace, tell them they can also hit you up on www.youtube.com/YOURSITE or some other place.  

 

Hope this helped.  Feel free to leave a comment if you have any traffic tips for readers.

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CDBaby vs. Paypal

Ok, perhaps this posting will only be relevant if you have a CD…

If you’re like most independent artists, you’re either working with Discmakers or Oasis to mass produce your CD and line up digital distribution via iTunes, Napster, PayPlay…etc.  Discmakers tends to be the most popular and the avenue I’m most familiar with. Dismakers is great but not wonderful.  Why?

Don’t Use CDBaby if you don’t have to!
When Discmakers sets up your distribution, they also setup a CDbaby.com site for you.  It will look something like www.cdbaby.com/YOURNAME. For every CD your sell, CD Baby takes a $4 cut.  Ouch!   Can you imagine how much CD Baby is making off of indie artists each year!?  It’s ridiculous!  What’s the alternative?  Use Paypal.com.  No doubt about it, Paypal is the most innovative tool for small businesses, entreprenuers, and individuals looking to make $ off of what they do.  Its a free service.  No charge to set up!  But Paypal takes a minimal cut from the money your make (63 cent from every CD I sell).  Compared to $4, that’s nothing!  Visit Paypal to learn more.

People Like Sales
Once you setup your paypal account, have a sale! People love sales and are prone to buy more when you have one.  It’s just the way it works.  From experience (and also common sense), there is 5x more interest in my CDs when I’m having a sale.  So it’s Christmas!  What can you do? Here are a couple suggestions…

• Tell people they can get 25% off your CD if they buy it through your website
• Tell people the CD is buy one get one free
• Tell people they get FREE shipping!

Paypal will allow you to set prices, shipping rates, tax, basically anything you wanna do. It’s really just great! And they will handle all the $, exchange rates, credit cards…etc

The Only Negative of PayPal
Depending on who you are, this may not be a negative atall:  If you use paypal, you must ship out your own product.  (CDBaby takes care of shipping for you)

 Leave your own Holiday Money-making comments!  And remember…

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Mimic the Artists You Respect

Brad Yoder & his lucky hat

 

Follow the artists you love! Why? Because it’s maybe the easiest way to get new ideas on how to promote your music.  It’s worth it to mimick artists who have a similar style as you do..and artists who are slightly abover your current success level. I’ll explain why below.  Here are some specific details and practical examples…

 

Visit your favorite artists’ website and myspace. Why?
Here’s an artist I mimick almost religiously: Brooke Waggoner.  I’m on her myspace at least 5x a week.  I read her blogs, add her ‘friends’ as my ‘friends’.  And listen to her music.  Why?  Brooke and I have similar styles but she gets roughly 5x more hits on her page per day so I figure I have something to learn from her. We both encorporate soft but strong vocals, piano pop, and heavy use of the cello.  I add her friends b/c I realize they are likely to like my music.  (p.s. be personal when adding strangers.  don’t just go on a click-add rampage.  leave a note or something.  It will increase the likelyhood of the the addee visiting your myspace and listening to your music)

Brooke also changes her default picture regularly thus increasing traffic on her page

When I was first starting out as a musician, I visited Brad Yoder’s myspace page alot.  He’d been playing out in the music scene much longer.  So I would find out where he was playing, then contact those places to book myself there as well. It was very effective. Thanks Brad! 

Subscribe to their e-newsletter. Why?
Subscribing to your favorite artists email lists is just a simple way to keep you aware.  It’s probably most effective to subscribe to newsletters of fellow local artists to know what upcoming events are happening in your area.  I actually follow Brianna Lane’s newsletter b/c she gives me good ideas like

• offering ringtones of my songs to fans (haven’t done this yet)
• using SayNow to leave voice messages directly in fan’s voicemail.  (this is cool b/c some people are just too lazy and like things spoonfed to them. sigh)

Google them online.  Why?
When my CD released, I googled Brooke Waggoner’s name all the time.  I found her CD Reviewed on tons of sites and blogs all over the web.  So that was my starting point. I dug around on each site and found the appropriate contact information for CD Reviewers.  I then contacted these reviewers and asked if they would consider reviewing my CD as well.  Some editors didn’t respond, some responded and said they weren’t interested.  Others wrote back and asked me to send over my press kit. Woohoo!  Reviews followed.  Because Brooke is an indie-piano-pop artist I knew some of these reviewers were likely to dig my style of music as well.

p.s don’t google Madonna’s name and try to get a review in People Magazine or something.  Be practical!

In tomorrow’s blog I will talk more about soliciting for reviews.  In the meantime, feel free to comment with your own mimicking suggestions

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How to Score Reviews of Your CD

This is broad topics.  First its important to know that if you’re trying to score a review in a print magazine, you need to contact them 3-4 months ahead of when you want the review to appear.  Why?  Print magazines work seasons ahead of time- they need to brainstorm cover stories, features,  do all the “research” behind each article, send out to the printers, mail out to subscribers.  It’s a long process.  So don’t expect to contact a magazine and get a review in next month’s issue.  This is why everyone…especially indie artists love Blogs, E-zines, and Music Sites. Sweet!

 
Do Your Research
First things first – make sure you’re not wasting your time.  Pursue publications that cover your kind of music (i.e. don’t persue a hip-hop site if you’re a rocker).  Make sure you’re checking out the music by the other artists reviewed on the site. If they have a similar style as yours, then it might be worth contacting the site editor.  Check out yesterday’s blog about Googleing your favorite artist for more insight.

 
Do Your Research Some More
Once you establish what sites you would like to be reviewed on, fish around the site until you find a Submission Guidelines page.  Guidelines are great b/c they’ll inform you about the proper protocol.  Some zines like to be emailed with a link to your myspace, some like to be sent an mp3, most like to be sent a hard copy of your CD and press kit.  (I’ll cover putting together a Press Kit in a future blog)

If there is no Submission Guidelines page, fish around for a contact person.  If you’re on a major e-zine there are likely to be several different people you can contact.  Only email one person!  Emailing every single reviewr is annoying.  So find the editor who you think is most appropriate and shoot him/her an email.  If you can’t find the editors name, come up with a generic title…i.e. Dear So&So Magazine.

 
So What Should You Write to a Potential Reviewer
Keep it short, simple, and clean.  Don’t try to include everything about yourself and your CD in your email.  Too much information discourages people from reading all the way through.  (Much like this blog.  My posts are extremely long and I doubt anyone reads the whole way through. I’ll work on that). Here’s an example:

Dear So&So Magazine,

My name is [YOURNAME].  I’m a musician based out of [CITY, STATE]. I ran across [MAGAZINE NAME] today and wanted to know if you are currently accepting new music for review.

In short my music is [BRIEFLY DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE] and can be compared to [SUGGEST A COUPLE WELL-KNOWN ARTIST THAT YOU SOUND LIKE TO GIVE REVIEWER A POINT OF REFERENCE].  My new CD [NAME OF CD] will be releasing in a few months and I’m currently working on its promotion.

Please take the time to check out my sound at www.myspace.com/YOURNAME.  Additional information can be found at www.YOURNAME.com  

I’m happy to send over a press kit and/or any additional information. I hope to hear from you.
Thanks,
[YOUR NAME]

 

Work Ahead of Time
If your CD is coming out in June, start contacting publications in March!  Reviewers get so many submission letters and CDs in the mail…so they like to cover music while it’s fresh.  The current shelf time for a book or CD is approximately 3 months after is release.  After that, it dies a very quick death…unless the first 3 months have been good.  Ask me how I know this! If your CD is already out, that doesn’t mean you won’t get a review.  Ask and you shall receive…sometimes

 

Don’t Send CDs to “Nobody”
Always try to establish a contact at a magazine.  If you are sending CD and haven’t made personal contact, there is huge likelyhood that your CD will get passed off to the secretary, the intern, or never even reach a reviewer. Period.  Ther are some magazines that do request you send a CD without first contacting them.  In this case…go ahead and send. I usualy dont expect to get a review since there is no personal touch.  
 

Don’t Forget a Cover Letter!
Assuming the publication want to review your CD, make sure to include a cover letter, basically thanking them for accepting your submission. It’s just nice!  And make sure your contact is visible in the letter. Here’s an example:

So&So Magazine
123 Fake Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

January 10, 2009

Dear So&So Magazine,

Please find enclose a copy of my latest project, [CD NAME].   Thank you for considering this CD for review in your publication.  If I can provide any additional information just let me know.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR EMAIL]
[YOUR WEBSITES]

 

 

 

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Stay Informed: Read, Watch, Listen, Go

 

The City Paper: your local guide to city venues and events. Most cities have a City Paper, even if it's not called "CP".

In this post I’m basically going to suggest some ways for you to stay on top of what’s going on in your city, get more girls, learn about the music industry, and be more internet saavy..  Read last week’s post “Mimic the Artists You Respect” for other tips.

Read the City Paper
Always read your City Paper.  Stay on top of what’s going on in your city. In the back of the Pittsburgh City Paper, there is a “Call for Artists” section that you can check out for shows. This might be the same in other CPs.  Also check out the CP simply to learn about new coffespots, bars, clubs, lounges who are looking to book entertainment. 

If your city’s paper is anything like Pittsburgh’s then they have an extensive Art Festival listing in the summer.  Sweet!  This is probably my favorite issue of the CP.  I basically skim thru the list, call numbers they provide for the art festivals I want to play at…and book myself throughout the summer. I hold onto this list for the whole summer.  p.s. alot of community and art festivals wont pay you, but you will always have larger crowds outside and get your name out alot easier than trying to book indoors…especially in the summer.

Listen to Local Radio
Listen to local community radio.  They are most likely to support local artist and let you know about what’s going on in your community.  Pittburgh’s local radio station WYEP-FM does this thing called the WYEP Taste Test.  Its a free workshop that allows you to go into their studios and learn how they pick music to be aired on the station.  You always want to check out things like this.  Another thing I use local radio for is to find out what community events they will be broadcasting live from.  Example:  WYEP broadcasts LIVE from a major art show called Art All Night every year.  Because of this, WYEP hypes up the show on their station and I can always be sure that there will be thousands of people at this show (simply because everyone has heard about it).  So I always make sure to contact AAN to see if  I can get booked.

WYEP also has an awesome online Arts & Events Calendar. I visit this every few weeks, see what events are coming up in the area, and contact the appropriate organizers to book myself for the ones I like. Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn’t.

Read Online Music Resources
Derek Sivers, the founder of CD Baby is a genius!  That’s why he’s make so money off of artist who use CD Baby! (read more about this in one of my recent posts).  But I don’t hate Derek.  In fact, I love him and read his blogs.  He has awesome tips on marketing your music, helping you to make money, and expanding your fanbase.  Read this type of stuff!  He is an artist who thinks like a businessman and this is the number one reason why people love him.  Go here to check out all of Sivers’ various blogs. Subscribe to one or find another. There are tons on the internet! Tons.

Listen to Podcasts
Podcasts are just another great way to stay current.  Here are a few that I really like. But there are many others, of course.

• Music Business Radio: They’re a fun laid back podcast that brings in an industry professional each week.  They talk about what’s going on in the music world, give helpful tips to artists…etc.  They also do this great thing called Demo Derby- aritsts send their CDs and press kits in and MBR plays a song, critiques the artist’s music, and information the artist sent in.
• My Music Image: MMI is a short 5 minute podcast that gives you one solid piece of music marketing advice each week.  They also feature one artist each week (play a song and give out their website).

 

Seminars Rock!
Go to seminars!  In Pittsburgh, there is a semi-annual event called Podcamp Pittsburgh. Its a free 2-day social networking workshop that teaches you need-to-know information about being a better manager of your myspace, facebook, twitter, wordpress…etc.  Stuff like this is important simply because it pays to be internet saavy.  Check out your local paper, library…etc for listings on workshops. Many are free.

p.s. you gotta learn html and photoshop. It will make it so much easier for your to be more creative in putting information on your website and myspace.

 

Watch what other artist are doing at their shows
Lasty, just be attentive when you go to other people’s shows. Get ideas from what they’re doing…i.e. the type of merch they are selling, how much they are selling their CD for, clever ways they promote themselves. 

 

 

Feel free to suggest other great resources!

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Random Tips & Tricks #1

 

Here are some random things that can help you. 

 

Not everyone likes Myspace
I personally think trying to be on every social networking site is a waste of time, but also am starting to realize that not everybody likes myspace.  They’re crazy!  So try to be on at least 1 or two other networks.  As much as I hate facebook, I love it!  It is much easier to contact a massive group of peole on facebook than on myspace.

So…start a Facebook group for your music.  You’ll probably receive more adds per day than Myspace.  Why?  Facebook simply does a much better job at drawing connections between people.  And once you add a friend, they put that annoying message on your homepage “So&So is now friends with So&So”.  Facebook is excellent at creating connections. There are plenty of people who will never sign up for your newsletter, but once they join your Facebook group, you can send them mass emails. And people definitely check their facebook.

There are of course other spots like …etc.

ReverbNation, Purevolume, Garageband.com

Catch someone’s eye!
Use animated gifs to catch someone’s eye. They’re a great to make someone take a second look.  I reccommend using gif as your default myspace image, or when you’re trying to sell something.  A great tool for making simple things like this is www.gifninja.com.  Don’t know what a gif is? This is a gif:

 

People are Lazy, do the work for them
Today, someone wanted to buy a CD but was too lazy to go to my website.  Instead, they gave me their credit card number and asked me to put their information into Paypal for them!  At first I was a little annoyed and almost wrote her back asking her to do it herself. But on second thought i did the process for her, knowing that I would ultimately be making money.

• So if someone says they want to visit your myspace… don’t just tell them your address. Give them a business card, or write it down so they actually follow through.
• If someone genuinely wants to buy a CD from you…send them an email with a link to your music page.
• If someone wants to go to one of your upcoming shows and shoots you an email asking when it starts even though all they have to do is visit your website *sigh*…write back and give them the address, time, cover charge…etc

 

Feel free to suggest other random tips.

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Do It For Free!

Brooke Waggoner

 

There’s a popular quote out there that says, “If you’re good at something, you should never do it for free.”  I disagree with this…sometimes.  In many cases, you have a greater chance of making money if you provide your service for free.

Give Free Music
Brooke Waggoner is again my prime example for this. Waggoner is fairly new to the scene.  She’s only got two CDs (one ep, one full-length) and approx 600-700 song plays per day on her myspace.  This is why I think she’s doing so well:  She gave away her ep for free.  I’m sure this was teamed with some heavy duty marketing and promotions as well.  During the year,  her calendar was booked up with at least 5 shows per week all over the US.  So she made practically no money off her ep for over a year and she spent tons of money on touring.  With the fact that her music is top quality and free, news of her release spread all over the blogosphere and word-of-mouth totally paid off for her.  Her much anticipated, new CD, Heal for the Honey, came out this past September.  And everyone in the indie-sphere was on top of it.  She got shout-outs and write-ups on NPR, Paste Magazine,  Paper Magazine, American Songwriter…etc.

Now that the new CD is out, Waggoner’s ep is no longer free unless you sign up for her e-list.  Pretty nice incentive…and a very clever tactic for building your e-list.

fyi: if people really like the song you’re giving away, there’s a greater chance they’ll buy your CD. 

Do Shows For Free
Play out as much as you can!  In most cases, you wont get paid. If you need to decide between doing a free show or staying home…play out!  You’d be surprised at how many opportunities come out of doing something for free.

But Don’t be a Puppet
There are some people who will continually “use” you if they know you’ll do something for free.  Beware!  There’s a point where you’re giving way to much and the venue or establishment is making money off of you.  Example: 

• An art gallery has asked you to come play during gallery house.   
• People come to see the art. 3 pieces are sold and the gallery makes over $1000. You make $0.
• Sometimes it’s ok to do pro-bono events like this but if a venue is continually using you to make a profit and not giving you a cut, that’s wrong!

That’s it for now. Feel free to add your comments.

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New Year, New Ideas

freaky CD cover but drives the point of this blog home in a wierd kind of way.

 

The new year is upon us! In the Spirit of change/resolutions/starting over, I propose that all the musicians reading this come up with a visible change in the way they spread their music. Here are a few ideas…

(trying to keep posts shorter so its not too much to read in one sitting)

Book Yourself. Then Book Some More
Have you begun booking for January and February yet.  Having shows on your calendar automatically helps create a demand.  When venues see that you are a busy musician, the are more likely to want to book you…and more likely to respond to your email.  The ratrace of booking never really ends and you always want to stay ahead of the game by having as many shows as possible on your calendar.  Hop on over to the Stay Informed post for some booking methods.

Get Business Cards
Start the year off right by taking on business mindset about your music. Go to every show with the intention of making sure people take your name home with them.  That will happen by default if you have a good show, but don’t forget to mention your website(s) on stage and leave some business cards laying around.  Hop on over to the Drawing Traffic to Your Website post for more ideas on this.

Have a More Presentable Merch Setup
Don’t just tell people you have a CD and then pull it out of your back pocket if someone asks.  Setup a merch table.  One of the first things you should do upon arriving at a venue is look for the most central, highly trafficked spot to place your CDs.  Make sure people see it when they walk in and out.
If you need to go out and buy a small card table, do it.  I’ve been stranded several times…especially when playing at Art Festivals, Farmers Markets, outside gigs. The small table in the back of my car has seriously paid off!   (Don’t forget to have a mailing list form at your table)

Set Goals
Set some goal and then work towards them. Here are a few ideas

• If you’re currently getting 15 hits on your myspace, decide that you want to have 50 or 75 or 100…etc
• If you’re currently playing 2 shows a month, set a goal to play 4 or 6 or 10…etc
• If have a CD, and you haven’t been getting any reviews, resolve to contact a few blogzines each week and solicit for reviews…etc. Read the How to Score Reviews post for more on this.

You’ll never know what’s possible if you don’t try!

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Tips & Tricks for the Holiday and Any Day

 

Here is the second installation of Tips and Tricks. I’m thinking there will be many more to come in the future.  For other Holiday ideas, read Take Advantage of the Holiday – Make Some Dough, Yo!

Have a show during the Holidays?
If you have a show during the holidays, chances are that you can get a much bigger (or different) turnout compared to your other shows. 

So take advantage of the people who  are in town visiting. These are the people who might only get to see you live once a year.  Hit up your old college roommate, you cousins, friends from highschool or people who used to come to your shows all the time but moved away.   Post on local community calendars especially during this time of year b/c people are statistically out-and-about more often during the holiday season and looking for things to do.

Attachments are of the Devil!
When you’re sending out an email blast, don’t attach mp3 (music), pdf (text), jpg (images) or any other files if you don’t have to.  This is a personal pet peeve of mine and here’s why….

People want the information immediately in front of them and most times will not go the extra step to download an attachment, especially if their internet speed is slow. I rarely ever open any email attachments and some people have email settings that send emails with attachment directly to their Spam Box.

Embed smaller images within the email.  This is super easy and is likely to generate more interest in any particular event when people automatically see what you’re talkingabout.  Here’s how you do it:

• Go to the website where your image is currently located
• Right click on the image and click copy
• Go back to the body of your email
• Right click  withiin the email and click paste
• The image should appear within the body of your emial.

 

What are Some Other options for sharing files without attaching?

Links!  Always include links in your emails!  Always provide a location where people can go to get more information.  So lets say you don’t want to embed files within your email.  Here are some alternative options.

 

• Photobucket:
   
  Start an account on Photobucket, Flickr, or any of the million other photo storage sites.  Include a link.  Example: http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll100/orionvega/?action=view&current=DrawnInCafeweb.jpg
• The “jpg“ extension at the end of this file lets people know they will seeing an image.  (Photobucket is also great for videos too)
• Boxstr: 
• Start an account with Boxstr or any of the other online music storage sites.  Lets, say you’re giving away a free download.  Just send people to this link.  Example: http://boxstr.com/files/4293260_dokfx/Citizens%20-%20Joy%20Ike.mp3
• The “mp3” extension at the end of this file lets people know they will be downloading an audio file. (Boxstr is great for pdfs, docs, zip folders, and pretty much any type of file)Boxstr will also tell you how many times people have actually downloaded any given file…and thats a good way to gauge interest.

 

P.s. the new year is a few weeks away!  If your official website or myspace are stale, why don’t you redesign them?  I mean…why not?

 

If you have any tips and tricks, please leave them as a comment

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A Couple Things Every Artist Should Have #1

Butterfly Boucher

 
Here is a short piece of a very long list…

A digital camera
New content is the key. Are you taking pictures or having someone take pictures for you? Take pictures of your band in action, videos of your performances, pics with “fans”, footage of behind-the-scenes stuff…etc. Butterfly Boucher tapes these random, comical pieces called “Blah Blah Blah”.  They are hardly edited and extremely low budget videos, but funny and give her web visitors an accurate idea of whoe she is when she’s not behind her guitar.  New content on your websites keeps people coming back repeatedly. For more on this, visit the “Drawing Traffic to Your Website” post.

Regular Internet Access
Ok, perhaps I’m attached at the hip to the internet.  Not so healthy.  But how often are you online? Specifically, how often do you check your email? If you’re an artist actively pursuing music, you need to check your email at least once a day, not once a week or every three days. Bookers and reviewers crave immediacy.  If you’ve been asked to do a show, get back with a response ASAP!  The longer you wait to respond, the less likely you are to get the gig.

Photoshop  &  Html Knowledge
This is a big topic and I’m only going to briefly scratch the surface.  Photoshop & Html, in my opinion, are a musicians best friend.  With Photoshop you can make your own artwork (posters, website designs, photo editing).  With html you can post the artwork you create without help from html generators and/or alter code on myspace (and anywhere) for a more unique, simple, personalized feel.

• Editing possibilities with photoshop are endless.  Here’s an awesome, hilarious video tutorial: You Suck At Photoshop. Plenty of short 5 minute videos, quick easy lessons, very effective.  (p.s. some people prefer Illustrator to Photoshop.)
• Likewise, html opens the door for so many options on your website(s).  Tomas Vera has some great, easy-to-follow instructions for creating hyperlinks and changing fonts (look, size, color, etc).  This is simple stuff that I use every day and its pays to know.  If you want to learn more, do a google search for “basic html.”

If you have any other great sites, please suggest them.

 
Its always great when you have someone doing all this stuff for you, but knowledge is power…and the more you know how to do for yourself, the better you are at promoting yourself. 

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The Things You’ll Hate To Do…But Should Do Anyways #1

Dana Alexandra

No matter what job you’re doing…even if it’s your dream job, you’ll always have a few things you hate to do.  Here are a few of those:   (note:  no post this Wednesday or Thursday due to the Holiday)

 

Blog
Most artists don’t think blogs/journals are important.  Simply put, they are.  If I like an artist, the first thing I do after listening to their music is check out their blogs…to see who they really are, what they care about, and what new things are happening with their music.  If you have solid fans (or want to build solid fans), you should be writing to them.  Almost like a newsletter but much less informal.  Posts don’t need to be extra long or fake…just fairly consistent, amusing, contemplative and/or informative. Dana Alexandra is a good example.  Check out her blog posts.

The occasional phone call
There’s nothing I hate more than making phone calls.  Even worse is knowing that the person on the other end does not want to talk.  But call!  Don’t harass.  Here are a couple reasons to call…

• ***Do you know who you should be sending your press kit to?  Call the magazine ahead of time to make sure you’re addressing the envelope to someone that’s still there!  Read more about this in the How to Score Reviews of Your CD post.
• ***Call to follow-up.   Did ABCD.fm get your CD in the mail  2 weeks ago?  Are they putting it in rotation?  Call.  And even if you get a msg, just leave a voicemail mentioning you’ll also be following up via email.   (p.s. alot of radio stations have designated call-in hours for artists)
• ***Call (or even stop into) a venue to learn about their booking process.  There’s nothing like a personal touch.

…and be polite, very brief, and straight to the point without sounding self-absorbed. (more on this in a future blog).

 

Spending Money
There are tons of things you can do for free but sometimes you need to spend money to make money. A few examples:

• ***It’s hard to fork out money for signage, but If you have a major event, like a  CD release, choose color flyers over black and white.  You’ll catch more eyes and probably get more people out to your event.  The same goes for color posters.
• ***Pay for a  “.com“.  Even though the “.us” or “.info” might be free, go with a domain that will get more traffic and is more intuitive.
• ***And if you frequent this blog regulary…you’ll know that its important to invest in Business Cards.  More on this at Drawing Traffic to your Website(s) post.

 

Records & Receipts
Keep track of everything! You’d be surprised with how many of your purchases you can claim while doing your taxes…everything including…

• the portion of your house that you use as an office, studio, and/or workspace.
• music gear purchases
• the money that you spent on those posters and flyers
• clothing and haircuts  (i.e. keeping yourself presentable for performances)
• music purchases and attended events  (be honest, if this is for your musical education/enrichment)
• the list goes on and on…

MusicBizAcademy has an excellent write-up on  this.  (And don’t forget to keep track of what you’re paying your musicians)

 

Post your suggestions if you have any.  Thanks for reading.

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Helping Yourself #1

dirty busker

 

So Derek Sivers wrote a blog roughly two weeks ago about the fact this pushing your music is completely up to you. His blog was called “Nobody’s Going to Help You.  Does that encourage you or discourage you?“  As we’ve all probablyalready experienced, being a serious musician is very lonely b/c most people don’t take you as serious as you take yourself.  For example:

***you’re asked to play at a bar, but they hide you in the back corner during your set. 
***no returned phone calls or emails
***or when you tell me that you’re a musician, they nodd approvingly but you can see they think of you as the stinky busker on the corner of 5th Ave in Downtown.

So here are a couple responses to Derek Sivers posts from fellow readers.  Here is what they said and here is what you can do to improve your situation.  (make sure you read Sivers’ post so you know what  everyone’s talking about below)

 

Response # 6,317 by Natalie

• “This does not mean you are alone in the game, but it means you have to orchestrate everything. You can still delegate work to those you pay or have volunteers do stuff for you, but ultimately no “Investor Angel” is gonna swoop down and save you. You have to PROVE yourself.  Musicians who think…” [read full response] 

So have you PROVED yourself?  When people think of you and your music, do they see you as a serious songwriter.  Do they see you as the guy in the back of the bar? Or do they see you as “FirstName LastName” who is working hard and trying to get somewhere with what they do.  If you don’t have any goals with your music, then why are you doing it?  Its ok to play music just for the fun of it.  That’s obviously where the passion starts.  But if you want to make a living, you need to treat music like a business  – have goals.  Don’t just wing it.  When you take yourself seriously, other people will too.

By the way, Natalie also happens to have a great blog called Music Business 101
By the way (again), try busking.  It’s fun!

 

 

This is a short post of a 3-part blog called “Helping Yourself”.  Check back on Wed and Thursday for the other installments.

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Helping Yourself #2

The Free Press

 

This is a continuation to “Helping Yourself #1.  Check back tomorrow for the 3rd installment.  As previously mentioned, this post is centered around a recent blog by CDBaby guru Derek Sivers. The blog was called “Nobody’s Going to Help You.  Does that encourage you or discourage you?“  Read it is you havea chance. 

 

The post generated over 7,000 comments by aspiring musicians regarding wether or not they liked that fact that they have to promote themselves.  Here is the response by Alex Oliviera of the band The Free Press. And here’s my response to response  (make sure you read Sivers’ post so you know what  everyone’s talking about below)

 

Response # 6,305 by Alex Oliviera

• ” The fact is, most people are discouraged by this response and they’re right to be. It used to be that you would work your ass off and eventually someone would come to the table to help you run your business at a level that most people in music don’t begin to have the competency to do. Nor should they, we’re talking about sophisticated marketing here. This is a legitimate skill, we can just expect musicians of all people to just figure it out.$5000/month? Here in Toronto a typical door price for an indie band would be $5-$8. If you’re really happenin’ maybe you’ll pull in 100 – 150 people. Call that somewhere between $500 and $800 at the door.
  
• After paying the sound guy and the door staff (why that’s not the bar’s problem is another story) maybe you’ve got $300-$500 left. Now it’s time to pay the openers who you will undoubtedly screw over because it rolls down hill. So now maybe you’ve got $200-$400 take home. Oh yeah, I forgot about postering…count that in too.
  
• In a 5 piece that’s a wopping $40-$80/ player for a nights work…super…and of course they’re not even taking that, we’re putting it in the bank to cover the rehearsal space, the publicist and God knows what else AND THIS IS THE HOME TOWN SHOW! I just don’t…” [read full response] 

Alex makes a really great case.  Many venues have a pay to play system.  You are actually selling tickets for them just toget a full room and making them rich.  And you get piddle!  A tiny unfair fraction.  If you really think about it, you’d should be getting the bigger cut because you did all the work.  Not to mention the fact that the venue will be getting money off the bar.

So here’s a possible solution.  Be unconvention in the new year.  Create opportunities where there are none. Here’s what I mean…

• 1]  Aim to play in unconventional venues. Is there a coffeeshop in your neighborhood that has a great space but has never considered hosting live music?  Approach them about the idea.  Propose the idea of doing a late night show on Fridays or Saturdays…or a monthly series. You can ask them if its ok for you to ask the audience for a suggested donation.  You guys can work out the details of splitting the “cover” or maybe the place will just be happy with making extra business off of additional food/beverage sales.
• 2] Set some standards.  If a Club asks you to sell tickets to your show, tell them you won’t  gaurantee to sell any.  This has personally been my most successful method of “putting my foot down”.  The last thing you have time to do is heavily promote a show that you’re not making money off of.  There’s a slight chance the Club might not ask you to play anymore.  You make the call.  If performing at a particular venue is more important than making money, then do it!  As I mentioned in my “Do It For Free” post, sometimes you need to do something for free to get where you’re going.  But not always.
• 3] Look for venues that are fair to their musicians.  Look for places that give artists a fair cut or give artist a flat payment that doesn’t depend on how many people you bring.  These venues are definitely out there. 
• 4] Again, I’m a huge believe in creating something that has never existed before. So try getting out of the box and creating shows in Art galleries, Open Spaces, and Lounges that have a great atmosphere and are condusive to live music.  I really think you can’t go wrong that way.

 

 

p.s. Check out The Free Press’ music.  It’s great! 

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Helping Yourself #3

Natalie Gelman

 

Here is the 3rd installment in this “Helping Yourself” series.  Also check out the Helping Yourself #1 and Helping Yourself #2 posts.

To recap, Derek Sivers wrote a blog called “Nobody’s Going to Help You.  Does that encourage you or discourage you?“  Several singer-songwriters and industry reps responded to the post with their two cents.  Here is Natalie Gelman’s comment and my response to that.  (Don’t forget to read Sivers’ post so to get the whole picture)

 

Response # 6,494 by Natalie Gelman 

• “I think its important to think positively and work to attract the success you want no matter what field its in. It always surprises me when goals of mine like playing a certain club come into being because of connections I made and people I helped who are returning favors so to speak.
  [read full response] 
• If it frustrates you that no one will help you then be the person that helps others – set up a gig for another band, start a section in your newsletter about other bands, restaurants, etc to check out. Feel free to let them know you did that and maybe they will reciprocate somehow. As Derek said in his conferences blog its about personal connections.”

 

I think Natalie’s suggestion is spot-on!  How much do you network?  Is it important to you to regularly meet other musicians.  Do you get into conversation with your fans at shows.  Or are you one of those people who plays your set and clearls the bar immediately after?  Networking is key.  Here are some tips at how you can help yourself by making connections and help yourself by helping others.

• 1]  Helping Yourself by Making Connections:  
  Go to Open Mic!  I don’t think any aspiring singer-songwriter should be above this.  I used to think going to Open Mic was about getting my music out to new ears.  While that’s important, I think its even more imporant to go and meet new faces. Talk to fellow musicians. It doesnt even necessarily have to be about music.  Develop relationships with the people you will most likely be splitting shows with in the future. 
• Don’t Be Hands Off!  Don’t set yourself apart from your audience.  Be approachable and genuine. After you play your set, sit in the audience while the other band is doing their set.  If a ”fan” wants to have a conversation with you, that’s awesome!  And I promise you that they’ll come to more shows (and tell more people about you) if you’re personable. And you never know if the person you’re talking to has connections that can take you to the next level.  You can get pretty sweet gigs just by being yourself.  Hopefully “yourself” isn’t a jerk  
• p.s. don’t forget to have a business card handy.  (more on this)
• 2] Helping Yourself by Helping Others 
  Natalies comment about helping others is so important.  She’s basically said “be the change you want to see.”  Don’t be stingy with your music.  If someone asks you to do a gig and you can’t play, pass the opportunity to a fellow artist.  Create shows and put together showcases featuring other musicians in your area. Seriously, its so important to create an atmosphere where everyone is looking out for everyone.  Alot more gets accomplished.  Alot less selfishness = alot more accomplished.
• For more on Networking, check out the Networking archives

 

Thanks for reading.  If you could, please,  let other artists know about this blog.  And don’t forget to subscribe yourself.  Here’s to making great music in 2009.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

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Google-ing Your Name Does Not Mean You’re a Loser

Andrew Dubber of New Music Strategies

 

A few weeks back, Andrew Dubber of New Music Strategies wrote an excellent blog on web-presence called “What Do You Mean by Web Presence?“.  You should really check it out.  Have you ever gone to a show and watched an artist who had magnificent stage presence. They were confident (not overly), comfortable, and really knew how to engage their audience.

Web presence is essentially the same as stage presence except others should be doing the work for you.  In other words, web presence has nothing to do with how well you represent yourself (via myspace or your official site).  Instead, web presence  has everything to do with how well others represent you…how much information about you people are putting on their websites. 

Is there a buzz going on about you in cyberspace?

Dubber’s official definition is:

Web Presence:
“…the range of services, platforms and conversation going on
around the internet about you and what you do.
What’s online, and how it connects together. Your web.”

One way to help you determine if all your hard work (consistent promotion and playing out) is paying off is by Google-ing your name.  Find out who is writing about you.  Find out who has mentioned you and then if you want, follow up to see if they’d like to do a full review on your CD or a LIVE show (if local). Check out the “How to Score Reviews of Your CD” for more ideas.

 Here are some things to think about:

• Are you popping up regularly on other people’s myspaces, review sites, blogs?
• Is there enough talk about you going on- enough that if you decided to stop playing for a month, you’d still get regular hits on your website(s)?
• Who is referring you?  WORD OF MOUTH is still the strongest marketing force out there.  So hopefully people will link to your site from their site. 
• If people are not linking to your page then you have a very very limited network and your chances of reaching a large audience are slim. 

 

 

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What’s Your Motive? Making Money or Making Music?

Pinkle Music

 

So it must be Andrew Dubber week, b/c I’ve come across some excellent articles by Dubber through his Music Marketing Strategies blog.  His latest blog is titled “Why Give Music Away For Free?“

Here’s the disclaimer (and Dubber says this as well):  Giving away free music is not for everybody, but when done properly, it will actually help you – not hurt you.  Make sure to read the whole article and skim over the 100+ comments left by fellow singer-songwriters.   Also hop over to my “Do It For Free” post for some other thoughts.

 

The Ideal Situation

The ideal situation for giving away music probably involves the aspiring singer-songwriter or band. If you find that fans especially like a particular song at you shows, consider giving it away.  If that song is on your CD, that might encourage people to buy your CD.  Personally speaking, this has worked well for me.  Throughout the 1st several months of my latest CD release I gave away an mp3 of a song called “Strongman”.  It was the most popular song at my shows.  Later on, I had a few people tell me that Strongman is the reason they bought the whole album. 

Dubber gives some personal examples of how giving away product has also helped him.

If you’re in this for the long run then realize that you won’t always be doing things for free.  The basic rule of thumb is that if you are good at what you do, if you are persistent, if you are determined, then you will eventually be successful.  This is what I truly believe.  And I totally believe persistence and consistency are key!  Do what you do well and keep doing it. Don’t let up.

Andrew Dubber says it best…

“Don’t try to make money from your music,
make money BECAUSE of your music”
read full blog

 

Some Rules for Giving Away Music

• 1.] Don’t give away everything .  If you never sell anything, you’ll never make money.  Duh!
• 2.] But don’t be afraid to give away a whole CD occasionally…especially if soliciting for reviews.
• 3.] Don’t give away crap! Just because you’re giving people something free doesn’t mean they’ll want it.  Give good quality music. That’s what gets people coming back for more.  Make sure your music is well-produced.
• 4.] Realize that even if someone doesn’t buy your whole CD, they will at least bring traffic to your website and/or tell a friend about you. Word of Mouth, yo!

 

Here’s a big shoutout to indie artist Pinkle.  He makes music for the pure joy of creating. He gives away all of his songs for FREE at www.pinklemusic.com. And its quality!  Head to his myspace to give it a listen.

 

 

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Creating a Music Community #1

Brad Yoder

 

In 2009, my goal is to create a stronger music community.  I want to know my fans, know what type of event they are sure to come to, and do events that will make them feel like they are part of the creative process.  So that’s my charge to you as well.

Cultivating a community through music is probably one of the harder but more rewarding things about being a musician.  It involves tiny details like remembering the names of  your “fans”, responding to emails, and  occasionally commenting on “fans” myspace/facebook pages. And it involves larger undertakings such as traveling to a city simply because a few people desperately want you to come! 

But as hard as it may be to individually correspond with multiple people about arguably insignificant things like “whether the show starts at 7pm or 7:05pm”, do it!  Here are a couple ideas.

House Shows
House Shows get the job done most effectively.  There’s no place like a tightly-packed cozy, living room to bring people together.  Consider inviting your favorite fans to a house show.  Have everyone bring a main dish and call it a potluck.  Folk artist Brad Yoder became very popular in Pittsburgh for hosting a similar, regular Sunday Brunch at his apartment.  (not sure if he’s still doing it).  Jump on it before winter ends!

What’s summer version of house show?  Cookouts and Barbeques.  Yup!

Video shorts
Videos are another thing that really leave a personal touch.  

Make sure there’s Food!
It never fails!  Food always draws people.  Especially when its free!  So lets say you’re performing at a spot that customarily does not serve food.  Ok then…ask them if you can bring a few things in (i.e. chip/salsa, cookies…etc).  Even better, ask if you can have your fans bring in food and do a potluck.  Advertise food in your email newsletter and I assure you that more people will consider coming.  Have a donation jar next to the food and take donations to cover your expenses.  It always works!  Believe me!

Do Shows regularly with the same musicians (same style)
You’ll find that the same fans (and of course some new ones) will come to this specific show every time.  Why?  Lets say you’re a folk artist and you’re playing with the same two  folk artist once every 3 months. Their fans, your fans, and new fans will come for two reasons.

• When the artists know each other, there is an atmosphere of camraderie.  Things flow together more smoothly
• Attendees know eactly what to expect from this show.  No unpleasant surprises, just familiar folk music by familiar musicians in a familiar audience.

 

Feel free to leave your ideas on how to build community.

Planning Ahead – The Key to a Successful Show

 

Phil Wickham (just thought this image drives the point home)

I’m currently working on a trip to Baltimore so the idea of planning and thinking ahead is fresh in my mind.

I’m thinking on average that shows are booked anywhere between 3 weeks - 2 months in advance (on the local level). 
Assuming that this is true, how are you going to promote your show. First, its important to factor in a few things.

• 1.] How big of a show is this for you? If its a big deal, then decide to put more effort into pushing it
• 2.] If its a small deal, maybe you want to spend less energy on this one and more energy on the next
• 3.] You can only milk your audience so much. Don’t oversaturate them with information.

 

So lets say you have a big show and 4 weeks to plan it.  Here’s what you can do… 

Week 1:Drop a buzz.  In your weekly newsletter put in a 1 or 2-liner about the event.  Give just the facts and tell them more details are on the way.  Example…

• “Also, want to let you know what I’ll be headlining a
  show at World Cafe on February 25th at 7pm.  Save the date
  and stay tuned for more details.”

If you’re only sending bi-monthly/monthly newsletters, then just go ahead and share the bulk of your information.  I still strongly believe that weekly newsletters are best b/c people have short term memories and information changes so often.

In Week 1, (if this is a really big show), maybe you’ll also want to contact some local e-zines to see if they are interested in doing a short write-up  (ideally you’ll want to contact them with even more advance notice). Check out the “How to Score Reviews of Your CD” post for details.

Week 2: Make the poster (or make sure someone has created artwork).  Nothing drives the message home like a visual!  If you’re doing an event and no one has artwork, then create your own!  Pictures will always speak louder than words. 

Then Post the artwork on your myspace (photobucket will give you the html code to do this).  Send the html code to every other performer on the bill and ask them if they will also post the artwork on their msypace.  Post the event on as many events calendars as possible.  Yea…just keep posting until you’ve covered all grounds. 

Week 3: Make sure you have flyers posted in prime spots.    Does the venue have posters?  Ask them if they can also use handbills.  Handbills are postcard size flyers.  Suggest that they put handbills next to the cash register or on cafe/restaurant tables.

If your show is a family-friendly event, the Library bulletin board is so excellent.  Believe me…people read those things!   If your show is  at a bar or club,  put poster in nearby hangout spots.  Ask local establishments  (convenience stores, businesses, art gallery) if you can put a poster in their window or leave handbills by the door.

During Week 3, you should also send a solid email to your newsletter subscribers about the show. Include the poster artwork. If you want to go crazy, you can blast individual myspace pages with the show info and artwork.

Week 4: Your work should be done for the most part.  Make the show poster your default picture on myspace.  That’s a great final way to get the word out.  By this point, you’ll hopefully be hearing back from people on whether or not they’ll be attending.  If you’re one of those people who sends out a weekly newsletter, then don’t be afraid to remind everyone about the show again.  (not as much detail as last week. just a reminder).

Important things to remember while promoting 

• Be conscious of location: If your gig is North of the city, don’t go plastering flyers in the South.  Hit up popular venues in the North,
• Be conscious of demographic: As sad as it is to admit (and depending on where you live), you can bet that only certain types of people will go to certain types of show.  If you’re playing at a coffeeshop, maybe you’ll get the eyeglass-wearing, laptop-toting crowd. So make every effort to promote to that type of audience.
• Timelines
  You don’t want to send out information too soon b/c it’s briefly remembered, then forgotten.  You also don’t want to send out information too late for fear that potential attendees might already have plans.

 

 

Feel free to comment with your own tips.  THEN SUBSCRIBE! 

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FAQ’s and Recapping the Last Two Months of Blogs

 

Kenna "Make Sure They See My Face"

 

I thought I would write this blog b/c I’ve gotten a handful of the same emails from different people in the last few weeks.  People asking the same questions.  Thank goodness for copy/past and hyperlinks.

Here are some popular questions, short responses, and links to more details answers.  The questions are all relatively similar.

1.)  “Question… i’m really trying to find places to play here in town. but it’s quite difficult. Could you please name some places where you feel that me and my boys could get some action??” 
Basically if you are looking for places to play…my best reccommendation is reading the City Paper every week and becoming more and more aware of the venues that have live music. Visit their websites and email them or call them to get more details on how to book a show.  More: Stay Informed: Read, Watch, Go, Listen 

2.)  How can I figure out what some of the popular venues are in my city?
Refer to comment #1. Also visit local artist websites and myspaces.  See where they are playing…then copy them and try to book at those same places.  More: Mimick  the Artists You

3.) I am really interested in getting out and playing in public and getting some exposure but I am just not really sure how to go about getting shows booked and everything. Was there something you did when you started out that might help me? I’d love to open for people or do whatever it takes.
In any stardard-sized city there are tons of coffeespots/bars/venues that welcome music and don’t ask you to sell tickets (blah).  Call these venues to learn about their booking process, book yourself, and played out as often as possible.  Hit up the Open Mics in in your area regularly to network with musicians and split shows. More: Helping Yourself #3

4.) Where did you go to get your CD Packaged?
The two most popular duplication and packaging companies for independent artists are Discmakers and Oasis. And they are awesome.  They offer great rates (in my opinion) for independent artist.  They also handle digital distribution of your music…i.e. iTunes, Napster, Amazon, PayPlay…etc. I have a very strong feeling that trying to get your music on iTunes without the help of a larger entity is a next-to-impossible undertaking.  More: Take Advantage of the Holiday…

5.) So I need to do something musical. I don’t know what but something. Thing is I suck. Want to make some noise? Let me know what you want to do, I can pretty much suck at guitar, bass, drums or even vocals.
Ummm?  No comment.

 

 The most important post so far…I think…is Perception is Reality
And the first thing that comes to mind is Kenna’s latest CD
“Make Sure They See My Face”

 

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Email Marketing – Making Sure People Read What You Write

 

Anathallo - just great music

 

If you’ve read any other posts on this blog, you know I’m huge on always having an email list at each of your shows. Its important to keep it in a visible spot (merch table) or pass it around the room.  Every email matters! More on this in the post “Drawing Traffic To Your Website(s)“.

By the way, you should know that there is a statistic out there that says only 13-15% of your subscribers will open any given newsletter.  Its true.  Some people will just never open your email…no matter what you do.  And Wednesday is the best day to send an email.  Wednesday is the busiest email-opening day.  More stats at EmailLabs.com.  Here are a few things to keep in mind when sending out a blast to your subscribers.

Subject Line
Two years ago, I went to an email marketing seminar and learned that the Subject Line of your email only has one purpose: to get people to open your email. Keep in mind that if you try to cram the most pertinent information in your subject line that could discourage people from actually opening your email.  Why? Because they already know exactly what you’re gonna say.  Or at least they think they do.

Lets say your band has a  show on Friday with  two other bands at Joe Squared Pizza Bar (venue in Baltimore).  Here are two subject line options

1. Subject 1: ” This Friday: Free Show at Joe Squared. 9pm”
2. Subject 2: “ This Friday: We’ll Sounds As Good As the Pizza Tastes.  Believe me…”

Admittedly, Subject 2 is pretty cheesy (because I couldnt think of anything), but you get the point.  Subject 2 causes the reader to ask questions (whose pizza? who’s playing? what are they talking about?).  Chances are, you’ll get more people to open your email if you don’t give them all the info in the subject line.

 

Important Information at the top
Once you get them to open your email, make sure your most important information is at the top!  So Important!  People rarely read an email all the way through.  What is the most important piece(s) of information you want to convey?  Put that/those in the beginning of your email. Least important information goes lower down.

 

Use Hyperlinks!
Use hyperlinks!  Don’t know what a hyperlink is? Definition:

• Hyperlink:
  a link from a hypertext file to another location or file;
  typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or icon at a
  particular location on the screen 

Website addresses can be messy  most times.  Make your email as uncluttered as possible by including hyperlinks.  Examples:

1. This is a hyperlink: Anathallo 
2. This is not a hyperlink: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/pc_article.php?id=7695
   

Both links go to the same article but the hyperlink is cleaner.  Using hyperlinks in your email makes it more readable and less confusing. Don’t know how to make hyperlinks.  Read this short tutorial or look for a video tutorial. 

 

Feel free to leave your own practical email suggestions

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Looking Professional Even When You’re Not (or are you? i just can’t tell!)

Heather Kropf

 

First impressions!  Make a good first impressions and then make sure your 2nd, 3rd,4th…impressions are all consistent with the first. For the average singer/songwriter, coming across as a professional might seem difficult, but her are some simple things you can do to set yourself above the rest.

Get a headshot
Have a few decent-looking photos.  Headshots…full-body…live shows…etc.  Just nothing tacky. And no yearbook photo-type shots! Agh! 

Use the venue logo 
If a venue allows you, make sure to encorporate their logo into your event poster.  If there are other sponsors involved in the event, ask them if you can use their logo as well.  This might seem small and insignificant but people support things that are endorsed.  When you have a company logo on your poster it gives you credibility.  Read Planning Ahead – The Key to a Successful Show for more event promotion ideas.

Have a display?
What does your display table look like?  When you display your sellable merchandise, is it organized and appealing to the eye?  Do you simply throw it down or arrange it neatly.  Do you have something to hold your CDs?  Interesting fact: things that are elevated are more noticible. Consider getting a CD holder like the one shown here on Dismakers.com.

Ok, lets say you don’t have a boatload of merchandise. No shirts, hats or beanies.  No  big deal…but at least  have a newsletter sign-up page.  When it comes to an email list, don’t just rip a leaf  out of your notebook and ask people to put their email on it. Type it up.  Come up with something simple but official.  Something that looks like you really care whether or not they put their email down.   Here’s what I’ve been using. Feel free to change it up and use it for yourself.  And consider having a card holder for your business card.  Get creative and find something in Goodwill that doesn’t look like trash.

Always be prepared
Go to your gig with an extra guitar chord. You never know when your chord will give out.  And why not carry an extra capo and a handful picks. Those things get lost so easily! Personally speaking, I need to carry a boom stand in my car at all times. There are so many guitarists out there and I’ve begun to notice that some venues don’t have boom stands (go figure)  just upright stands.  As a pianist, there is no possible way to sing into a microphone unless you have a retracting boom stand.  I’ve actually had to forfeit a show in the past b/c there was no boom stand.

Write a Press Release
Nothing looks more official than a press release.  Lets say you have a CD coming out or something major happening in your career. For example a huge accomplishment that could help to get you more gigs. Write a press release. Or have someone write it for you. Nothing says professional like a well-written Press Release.  Don’t know what a Music Press Release looks like?  Check out this one by national artist Kirsten Price.  Independent (Pittsburgh) artist, Heather Kropf, has a great press release about her recently released CD. Its simply and clearly tells readers what her new CD is all about. 

p.s. check out Heather’s new CD.  Beautiful, mellow tunes! www.myspace.com/heatherkropf

 

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What’s the Worst That Can Happen? Really.

 

Melody Gardot

 

Someone will say “No” to you.  That’s pretty much the worse that can happen is. But somehow that  holds so many artists back from reaching their full potential. “No” should never deter you from trying to do something you think is impossible. Here are some thoughts/ideas of seemingly outlandish things that you may think are out of your reach.

Getting a review in a  major (or semi-major) publication
I think its important to have some experience and credibility (i.e some type of “claim to fame”) under your belt before trying to get a huge review.   But when you do have some quality information to feed the press, send over a short query letter to the appropriate editor to see if they might be interested in a write-up.  Visit “How to Score Reviews of Your CD” for more on this.

Having your demo played on the radio
Some music scenes are very supportive of their local artists.  Some are not. But if you want to be played on the radio, look into independent radio stations. You have a greater chance of being played on independent radio than commercial radio.  And don’t just send in your demo.  Visit the website and find out if they have any specific protocol for local artist.  Figure out who the local music DJ is.  For many stations, DJs have special call-in hours during the week where you can call them and talk about your project.  Having them hear your voice is a great way to break the ice before sending in your CD.  Visit  the “The Things You’ll Hate To Do…But Should Do Anyways” post for more on this.

Make sure your demo is quality!  Don’t send crap because it won’t get played.  And make sure your demo is well-packaged.  Don’t send a song burned onto a CD-R. Does your artwork (on the disc and on the packaging) look professional?  You want them to take you seriously.

Set Goals
Seriously set goals!  Then write them down.  When you have concrete goals, your words/thoughts/dreams are closer to actually happening.  Set practical goals. If you’ve never performed, make a goal to do at least 1 show/month.  If you want to have a strong fan base in your city, make a resolution to be on top of as many events as possible.  Always be aware of what’s going on. Immerse yourself in your local music scene.  Visit the “New Year, New Ideas” post for more ideas on setting goals and stepping up your game.

Opening for a national touring artist
National acts are coming through town all the time…and they’re not always playing in huge venues. Sometimes they’re playing in  clubs,  lounges, listening rooms, and art spaces. You’d be surprised!  If you know of a venue in Pittsburgh that regularly hosts national artists, why not contact their booker and ask them how they choose openers?  In some/many cases, national acts set up a tour with their own hand-picked openers. Consider contacting the artists booking agent directly. Refer to the “Stay Informed: Read, Watch, Listen, Go“ for tips on how to be aware of what your local scene has to offer.  Remember that opening for a national act is really a great thing to add on your “resume”

It doesn’t always work
Last summer I found out about singer/songwriter Melody Gardot.  She’s huge in Philly and has a great national following. I found out that she would be playing at The World Cafe during the same weekend I planned to be in town.  After searching her site I found her agent’s email and shot him a message.  I talked about myself in 3rd person (bad idea…b/c he totally saw through it)  and suggested that I would be a great opener for Melody that weekend.  He responded promptly, said they already had an opener, and wished me the best of luck.  No hard feelings…just felt stupid since I talked about myself in 3rd person in attempts to sound more official.  

 

If you’re good at something and you keep doing it, and then keep doing it, you will eventually get where you’re going.

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Reader Comments & Suggestions #1

 
MCTill & Wonderbrown = The Kings of Tradgedy
Both use humor in emails ewsletters (and videos) to keep their readers engaged.

 

I thought I would put this blog up because alot of you have posted some really great comments in response to past blogs.  Some people might never see these comments so why not put them all in one post. Below are my favorite 5. Please continue to comment anytime you have something meaninful and helpful to say to the people who visit this blog! Special thanks to KleerStream Entertainment who has consistently given some great tips to aspiring singersongwriters and bands.

 

1.] Posted by Samual Lewis in response to “Email Marketing – Making Sure People Read What You Write“
“Make sure to provide value in every email, even a good laugh will work. You want to engage your audience and earn their trust. Also frequency of sends is extremely important. During this recession, many companies are turning to more cost effective means of marketing, and email should definitely be one of them.”

• Samual makes such a great point!  Here is something my friend MC Till put in his last email.  It’s personal, its hilarious, and I’m sure  it definitely made people visit his website.  Chances are, you will too…
  
• “ps- don’t check out my new website…mctill.com It won’t be worth it. For real. Don’t even think about it. Okay, are you thinking about it? Stop. Well, uhm, I guess if you are still thinking about it then just copy and paste mctill.com into your browser, hit enter, then get ready to ‘X’ out. Okay, if you really want to, check out the video or the quotes or blog or whatever, I’m saying, its whatever you want to do. Really, I’m not trying to promote it or anything. I mean, its just a website that promotes what I do. So, really, don’t even bother….unless of course…you really want to. Then, go ahead. mctill.com“

 
2.] Posted by KleerStream Entertainment in response to “Take Advantage of the Holiday – Make Some Dough, Yo!“
I totally disagree with you about CD Baby, especially for Indie Artist that want more exposure. The global exposure you get on CD Baby is well worth the $4 / CD they take for selling your CD. New artist need all the exposure they can get & CD Baby is but one way to gain more exposure. New artist are always told to go play for nothing to gain exposure, so, why are we worried about CD Baby taking $4 for each CD they sell? 

We recommend artist sell CD’s any place they can….if you are selling on 5 sites you are generating revenue & revenue is one of the main driving forces that keeps a artist / band playing & touring. As long as you get $2.50 – $3.00 / CD you are still making money & in the music business every dollar earned is a plus in our book. One of the worst things you can do in the music business is to ‘limit’ yourself. I would never recommend one of our artist to turn down global exposure for $4 a CD. Don’t assume all the sales you gain from any site will be pick up on another site, because they will not. 

•  
  • In response to this post about CD Baby, Kleerstream has made an excellent point.  I think its great to have your music on CDBaby as well as on your own site.  You may make more money by selling the CD through paypal but CD Baby does in fact provide excellent connections that sometimes pan out.

 

3.] Posted by Teed Rockwell in response to “Take Advantage of the Holiday – Make Some Dough, Yo!“
CD Baby is worth the money. Don’t forget that if you do your own shipping, you have to pay for postage, packaging, take time to go the store to buy the packaging materials, and do the labor of packaging, labeling, and dropping packages off at the post office. CDbaby also prepares your inventory, which makes it easier at tax time. I hired somebody to do this before the internet existed, and it cost me a lot more than four dollars a CD. in fact, I had to quit using that person because it was too expensive. CDbaby does it cheaper because they have it automated. They also are heavily linked in. I got the best paying gig in my life from somebody who saw my CDbaby page.

•  
  • Ya, its true that you have to handle shipping if your using a service like paypal. But if you don’t mind, then do it!  Handling my shipping allows me to be more personal with fans.  I usually leave notes in the package like “Hey, thanks for buying a CD!” or “Hope to see you at next week’s show!”

 

4.] Posted by Cling in response to Tips & Tricks for the Holiday and Any Day
Why not send an EPK?

•  
  • Having an EPK through Sonicbids is a great idea.  EPK = Electronic Press Kit.  I talk regularly about having a press kit which basically includes a bio, press photo, demo (or CD), press release, and any other relevant information.  Sonicbids offers a way to create a press kit online. Saves paper, saves money, saves time.  Check out Sonicbids to learn more about creating one.  But also realize that some people like to have hard copies. I think its important to have hard copies on hand.  On Monday, I’ll talk more about Sonicbids…the good and the bad. 

 

5.] Posted by KleerStream Entertainment in response to Helping Yourself #3
We always tell artists, their networking / building a true fan base is much like someone campaigning for President of the USA. Artist are the ones that must meet, greet, shake hands, hand out business cards, etc. They must take advantage of any time they are out in public, whether it be in a grocery store, club, coffee house, etc. You never know who you might be shaking hand with….so network like your career depending on it, because, it really does.

 

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Sonicbids & Electronic Press Kits (EPKs): the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Clare Reynolds

 

Sonicbids more or less introduced the world (and independent artists) to EPKs – Electronic Press Kits. EPKs provide a cost effective way for musicians to submit their music to potential booking agents, venues, festivals, reviewers, radio stations…etc. 

An EPK allows artist to post, a bio, pictures, press, upcoming shows, audio, video, and even sound requirements for gigs.  You could easily use a sonicbids as your website. But keep in mind sonicsbids is not for fans. It exists to get you gigs and publicity.   Here’s a really excellent looking EPK by Australain artist Clare Reynolds.

Here are Sonicbids essential facts…

 

The Good
Sonicbids exposes artist to thousand of opportunities every year. Sonicbids sends opportunities straight to your mailbox, making you aware of…

• Regional listings:  festivals and venues in your area that are currently accepting EPKs for upcoming concerts.
• Music Licensing: agencies that line up music-for-tv, music-for- movies, music-for-commercials…etc
• Labels/Agencies: looking for fresh talent to manage
• New Magazines/Podcasts: accepting new music for possible review and radio play
• the list goes on and on.

Sonicbids also makes information about opportunities available on its website. You can only try for these opportunities with a subscription.

 

The Bad
Sonicbids charges $5.95 per month for artists to subscribe (I think they charge you in 1-year incriments but I could be wrong).  Depending on who you are and how much $ you have, $5.95 might not be much. But keep this in mind, for every opportunity the Sonicbids emails you about…if you choose to submit your epk to it, Sonicbids will charge you an additional $5-$10 additional.  For example

• 1.) Sonicbids sends an email saying ABC Magazine is accepting submissions from brand new irish-pop artists. You decide to submit to ABC Magazine. It cost $5 to submit.
• 2.) Sonicbids sends another email saying the SXSW (South by Southwest) festival is also looking for irish-pop artists to play on their mainstage.  It costs $10 to submit.

In total, you have spent $15 submitting to these opportunities.  This does not gaurantee that you’ll get a review, or the opportunity to play on the mainstage. It simply means your EPK will be reviewed.  This is the #1 reason I am not a fan of Sonicbids.  Indie artists can end up spending hundreds of dollars a year on sonicbids submissions. This is the ugly part if you’re broke and don’t win out on any of the things you bid for (That’s why it’s called Sonicbids).

At the same time, you never know what will happen.  You might just get that SXSW gig and gain thousands of new fans instantly.  Sonicbids is great when it pays off, but realistically it does not always pay off considering that there are possibly hundreds/thousands of people submitting to the same event, podcast…etc. 

 

A Loophole that sometimes works
Just because an opportunity has been sent to your inbox via Sonicbids, does not mean you have to spend that $5 or $10 to submit through Sonicbids website.  Try this: if ABC Magazine is looking for new music to review, go to ABC Magazine’s website and try submitting on your own!  Some submission are exclusively through Sonicbids.  But you’d be surprised at how many gigs you can try to secure without having to pay extra $$$.  Think of Sonicbids emails simply as a way to make you aware of existing opportunities.

 

And Don’t Forget Hard Copies
Keep in mind that you can’t always use an EPK.  Some bookers (outside of the Sonicbids abyss) prefer  to have hard copies.  Why? Because its more tangible and it also shows that you are willing to make the extra effort…not just point someone to a link.  Don’t be afraid to spend money to mail an occasional hard copy of your press kit.  See the How to Score Reviews of Your CD post for more on this.

 

I’m interested in any additional comments you all have about Sonicbids. Have you had good/bad experiences?
If you’re interested in using Sonicbids, head to the website, and familiarize yourself with everything it has to offer.

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Stand-out Artists and What We Can Learn from Them #1

 

B. Reith

This post  probably isnt anything new in relation to other posts on this blog.  But here’s a spotlight of some artists you may/may not have heard of who are doing some interesting things to make a  name for themselves.   I think the best way to get better at what you do, is by surrounding yourself with people who do it better.  And if you don’t know them personally, well…go to their websites and read up.  Hopefully you find some of the following  ideas useful. 

Artist #1:  B.Reith

B.Reith. Think the clever lyrics of Eminem mixed with the smooth voice of Justin Timberlake and the occasional Fender Rhodes/horn combo for a pseudo jazzy undertone.  B.Reith is my hero because he’s versatile.  While I would never ever encourage an artist to create music solely for the audience, I think its great to have variety of music in your performances.  I’m not suggesting that you go out and learn a whole new genre of music. I’m suggesting you work in an occasional mellow song if you’re a hard rock band.  Or consider crowd participation once in a while. Or how about this…set aside your electric guitar for two songs and remind people that you play the piano. I dunno…just some suggestions.  Keep your audience interested and make them realize that there are many dimensions to your music.

 

Theresa Andersson

Artist #2: Theresa Andersson

I’ve only known about  Theresa Andersson for two weeks but I’ve become a super huge fan!  Anderson has gained a reputation as being The One Woman Wonder according to NPR.  The thing that stands about Anderson is that she has developed a trademark for herself.  People know her as the person who can play every instrument and create a full sound on stage all by herself and with the help of a loop machine.   You have to watch this video to see what I mean.

 Consider having a trademark…Maybe its an awkward thing you do on stage.  Maybe it could be the fact that you play with your feet propped up on a card table like you’re in your living room.  Or maybe it could be that you always wear a different hat to each show.  Cameron Blake uses a real typewriter as one of his instruments. That’s an awesome idea.  Have something that sets you apart for other artists and I guarantee that will become a major part of how your fans view you.

Joel Lindsey

Artist #3: Joel Lindsey
Joel Lindsey is proof that you can make it as a full-time artist in your city, if you’re good at what you do.  The British-born Pittsburgh artist has only been living in the United States just shy of 18 months and already he has networked his way to playing most of the major and minor venues in the city, established a non-profit that raises money for charities through a monthly artist showcase called Best in the Burgh, and hosts a weekly Open Mic Night at Pittsburgh favorite lounge, Club Cafe.  I think my favorite thing about Joel is that he is extremely hard working…willing to do whatever it takes to be accomplished. 

The problem with some artists is they feel they are wasting their time if a show isn’t a “big” opportunity.  That couldn’t be any further from the truth.  The more you play, the more you get booked!  Keep doing as much as you can as often as you can and it will definitely pay off.  When people see that you take yourself seriously, they will also begin to take you seriously.  Read the Helping Yourself #1 post for more on this.

Feel free to suggest other artists who stand out and I’ll be sure to consider them for another similar post. And  THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! (that’s your little hint)

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Be Good to Them and They Will be Good to You

 

Amber Rubarth

 

Obviously, its common sense to treat people with respect.  Common sense aside, consider going the extra mile in your communication with the people who ultimately hold your career in their hands.

 
Ask Questions:
The #1 way you can show you care about a gig is by regularly communicating with the booker.  Don’t be one of those artists who only makes noise when you’re on stage and when trying to get your money.  Let’s assume you’ve been asked to play at an event.  Getting asked to do a show is great b/c chances are whoever’s asked you will be doing all the promotions.  This will likely be a stress-free event for you except for the showing up part. 

But that doesn’t mean you should do nothing.  Suppose the event you were asked to do is a college gig.  Here are some questions to ask (other than the obvious date/time stuff)…

• ***Is this just for college students?  Can I let my non-student fans know?
• ***Is there a website I can point people to for more information
• ***Is there any way I can help promote this show
• ***Here is a publicity photo and brief bio if you can incorporate it into  your promotions  (don’t even ask…just give this information. Universities have such a wide reach.  The more students see your face before a show, the more likely they are to come. Take advantage of the fact that a University could almost immediately boost your popularity on the world wide web…aka increased web traffic )

 You increase your chances of getting asked back to a venue/school/special event when you take the time to show you care about making each opportunitya success.

 

Sound Guys
Don’t ever be mean to the sound guy   They hold your whole set in their hands.  That’s all.
Other Artists:
I’ve written other posts on this.  See the Helping Yourself #3 post for more. In short, genuinely put yourself out there as someone who isn’t just in it for yourself.  Also just spend time with other artist and know that when you play off each others’ constructive criticism, it will help you get a head.  Derek Sivers recently posted a blog about how to become a full-time touring artists.  He feautes Amy Rubarth, an artist from Reno who talks (in part) about how being immersed in her local music scene and hanging around other artists has helped her become a national touring artist.

Please leave additional suggests below. Thanks!

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Cutting Costs Without Cutting Corners #1

 

  

Let me preface this post by saying…If you have any better or additional suggestions, please comment below.  Who doesn’t need ideas on saving $$$?

Recording
Finding cheap recording rates is a very difficult thing. Studios can charge anywhere from $25 to $100 an hour (or even more).  When you’re looking to record a project, make sure to ask other musicians who they used and if that person/studio was any good. Many studios offer tours and/or trial period…where you can record a free song and decide if you’d like to stick with them for the full project.  Definitely take advantage of this. Don’t jump into any type of “contract” just because you wanna have a CD in the next 3 months. 

Take advantage of craigslist and a starving college kid   It’s not too hard to find a music production student in need of a senior project.  What better way to get a cost-effective quality recording for a great price.  Keep in mind that the University’s equiptment is probably top notch.  But of course this is not the best option for everyone…especially if you’re looking for someone with years experience.

Posters and Flyers
Did you know that if you’re a member of BMI (Broadcast Music Inc) you get discounts on copies at Kinkos?  I love this perk!  Why would you want to be a part of BMI? Well here’s a thorough, simply explanation.

Club Flyers is used widely by musicians.  Club Flyers prints free 4×6 postcards for your event.  1000 postcards for free (as long as they can include their website on the card).  All you do is pay for shipping.  You create custom artowork, send them the file, and they do the rest.  There are tons of other similar websites and services.

Again check out craigslist.com.  There are local printing companies in your area that probably have fees at a fraction of a larger company’s cost.  And suppose you’re not good at designing flyers.  Find someone on craigslist who can do the work for you at a really great price. College students are soooo great for this.
Gigs & Gas
Carpool. duh!  And if a gig is not paying  you, don’t be afraid to ask them to at least compensate you for gas. It never hurts to ask.
Keeping Records
If you plan to include you music income in your taxes, make sure to keep track of the $ you spend on music-related things because its all deductible.  I wrote about this in my “The Things You’ll Hate To Do…But Should Do Anyways” post.  MusicBizAcademy also has really great tips on how to do this. While you might not be saving money initially, you will be in the long term.

Craigslist is Your Best Friend!
Craigslist really is a musicians best friend.  I’ve found musicians to accompany me at my shows in a last minute bind. I’ve found a PA system for a fraction of the cost. I’ve found photographers who want to do free photo shoots just to build up their portfolio.

The Best thing is to spend some time online reading up on all the resources that are literally at your fingertips.
Hope the above helped. If you have suggestions, please leave them as a comment. Thanks!

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Creating Content – Giving People Something to Talk About #1

 

Cameron Blake

Creating content can be hard to do when you’re just starting out.  How do you get people to visit your website or myspace if you have nothing to put on it?  How do you get your CD reveiwed if you don’t have any way to prove its worth listening to?  Here are some ideas…

Endorsements 
Don’t have a review? Why not get a whole bunch of mini reviews…i.e. endorsements.  An endorsement is basically a short line or paragraph that gives credibility to a person, cause, or thing.  If you’re a local artist, why not ask some well-known personalities in your city to write a one-liner or short paragraph about your music.  If you know the Mayor, a Sports Figure, the CEO of a major corporation, or a relatively famous musician, ask them if they will take a few minutes to write  something brief and positive about your music.  Here’s an example:

• “Blake is a budding performer who aspires to be more than simply another graduate with a Masters in Music. In years to come, I can really see him as a seasoned professional in the world of singer/songwriters. He not only sings, but he can play the violin, harmonica, piano and the guitar. (Just to name a few). Taking his songs to new heights, Blake ties in every instrument brilliantly with his Irish like crooning. (I swear listening to some of his songs whisks me away into a bar in the heart Ireland where folk music reigns). His debut album, Over and Over, personifies what Cameron Blake is all about. The songs tell stories and each one symbolizes something important the artist wants to share with listeners. (I personally love Where the Blossoms Fall. I think the song is a beautiful addition to my list of great folk music).”   –Megan Johnson (bmoretunes.com) 

If you can’t get a magazine to review your CD, consider asking a writer to send you a comment about your music or use what someone has said in passing.  Here’s the play-by-play of an ideal situation:

• Suppose you send an email to  Joe Smith (fictional name) of the popular Mojo Republik e-zine asking him to review your CD
• Joe responds to your email and says, “Thanks for submitting to our magazine but we aren’t currently accepting independent music.  But I  gotta hand it to you, I’ve never heard anything as eclectic as this!” 
• Snatch that quote in bold and put it up on your website and myspace.  Joe said it so it counts. Put it on your myspace and make sure people know that you have a nice endorsement from someone who writes for a credibible magazine. That carries some weight. It would look something like this:

“I’ve never heard anything as eclectic as this!” 
- Joe Smith (Mojo Republik)

Try to get as many solid endorsement as possible. Put them in a visible place.

 

Media
As I’ve mentioned in so many other blogs. Its so important to always have something fresh on your website that will keep people coming back for more.  Read the “Drawing Traffic to your Website(s)” post for a more thorough explanation.

• Pictures: Are you playing in a new city? Take pictures of your trip and your show.  Post the pics in a photo album. People love pics (I’m one of them).
• Blogs:  This is a simple way to create content. Make sure people know they can subscribe to your blogs if they’re on myspace.   More on this in “The Things You’ll Hate To Do…But Should Do Anyways” post.
• Videos:  More on this in “A Couple Things Every Artist Should Have…“ post.

It takes time to create hype around your name but if you keep creating content, you’ll soon get to a point where its less work to promote yourself because other people are doing the work for you. See “web presence” post for a better explanation of this.

More ideas to come tomorrow! 
By the way, Cameron Blake’s music is innovate and excellent. Check him out.

 

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Creating Content – Giving People Something to Talk About #2

Matt Wertz

To read the first part of this blog, visit Creating Content #1. Here are some additional ways to create content for your website(s).

Widgets
I used to be extremely skeptically of using widgets on my page but everyone is using them these days and they are such a great way to simply beef up your page(s). What’s a widget?  I’ts basically a small representation of something bigger.  For example, if you have a photo album on Photobucket, Photobucket will create a slideshow box that will fit compactly on your myspace (or anywhere else for that matter). This is a widget. 

Check out Matt Wertz’s myspace page.  He uses widgets by iLike, Flektor (to create a poll), Slide (to show of his pics in a slideshow).  Alot of artists are using Eventful.  If web surfers click on the famous “demand it” button, that lets an artist know that fans want them to visit their city.  It’s a helpful tool that will likely encourage to travel outside of your comfort zone.

 The fact that major signed artists are also using these applications, gives them more credibility.  The only problem?  Well, its not the ideal situation to have another company’s name or logo on your information but sometimes its the easiest route…especially if you don’t have much html knowledge to alter code.

Realistic expectations
Getting reviews is a huge part of getting your name out there…because its always flattering when someone else is doing the talking for you. I talked about this yesterday in Creating Content #1.  But because so many musicians are trying to get their music heard by some major magazine why not try for a small magazine. Put down People Magazine and go for something small. Even if the smaller mag only get 100 readers a month, who cares!  Chances are they will have a more personal touch.  They’ll probably get back to you within a day or two and they’ll probably spit out a review 10x faster than the average major publication.  BeatCrave is a really great start-up publication with a really professional look.  Just b/c a zine is in its growing phase, doesn’t mean it’ll be tacky, unreliable, or not worth persuing.

I’ve also found that in working with newbies, they are willing to support you in a way that established media will not.  Newbies will link to your website even if you don’t advertise with them.  Newbies will allow you to do special promotions (like a contest) with their readers.

More on realistic expectations
Also look into underdog online podcasts and smaller scale media opportunities like local community TV, and even radio on the AM dial.  Be willing to do the “insignificant” things b/c they will open doors.  Chances are, if you’re doing something on TV or radio, they’ll be able to give you your DVD footage or LIVE audio for use on your website(s).

 

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Writing a Press Release – PR 101

 

WAZ (scroll down to read WAZ's PR about airplay on Grey's Anatomy)

Press Release:
An announcement of an event, performance,
or other newsworthy item that is issued to the press.

Having a press release might not be something that you need…not yet. But having a release alway helps to make you look a little more serious than the average musician.  If you’re just starting out, consider building your resume a bit before creating a press release (so you have something noteworthy to talk about). 

The Basics

• 1] If you don’t like to write or don’t trust your writing, have someone else write your press release. Either way, make sure to have at least two people in the picture. One person to write the PR. A second person to proofread and edit.
• 2] Press releases shouldn’t be more than one page. If its too long, don’t expect the recipient to read the whole thing. If its too short, don’t expect it to be taken seriously.
• 3] Write in third person.  Make it readable. Don’t put too much information to the point that its cluttered.
• 4] Keep the recipient in mind while writing your PR.  Certain information will only be relevant to certain media outlets.  For example, lets say: “Jane Smith’s won third place for “best song” in her county’s annual songwriting competition.”  You can’t expect this line to carry much weight if you’re sending the press release to National or International media.  You can however expect it to carry more weight if sending to media outlets within your city…especial if the annual competition is recognized as a major affair.

 

The Layout
Consider having a 3 paragraph press release. 4 paragraphs aren’t bad either. It all depends on what you have to say and how you have to say it. 

Headline: What is your PR about? Are you releasing a new CD? Are you performing at a major festival. Is your song being used at part of the soundtrack of a TV series? Here are some one-line headline examples.

• “Local Artist to Release Debut CD at Hard Rock Cafe”
• “Jane Smith’s ‘Midnight Blues’ to appear in Season 4 episode of Greys Anatomy”
• “Jane Smith Band headlines at SXSW  festival.”

Paragraph 1: Paragraph 1 should clarify the headline.  Explain your headline in fuller terms. Make it interesting so people don’t write-off the rest of the release. (See Paragraph 1 in the PR below)

Paragraph 2: Paragraph 2 can give details about whatever your talking about as well as share facts to build your credibility towards readers. ( See Paragraph 2 in the PR below)

Paragraph 3: Paragraph can give more non-essential details about the CD release…things that are worth knowing but not necessary. (See Paragraph 3 in the PR below)

When its all said and done, your Press Release should look something like this.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Local Artist to Release Debut CD at Hard Rock Cafe”

Cincinnati, OH – February 9, 2009 -  Hard Rock Cafe might not be prepared for the CD release of Cincinnati artist Jane Smith on April 1st (7pm). The multi-talented guitarist, pianist, and trombone player is a one-woman wonder who has taken Ohio by storm and will likely do the same on the 1st.

In just 5 years, the folk-experimental artist has impressed her way into the hearts of the independent music scene. Smith’s music has been called an experimental, progressive, and edgy combination of retro folk with the occasional acoustic sentiment. In a recent write-up,  the New York Times is quoted as saying, “The most refreshing thing is when a new artist emerges from the indie music scene doing something that’s never been done before. If you don’t know Jane Smith yet, you will.” Others, including BeatCrave and Patrol Magazine have said that Smith is “a one-of-a-kind musician” and “the new face of good music.”

Smith blames her lack of creativity for her creative sound.  When asked to explain she said, “I know it sounds unconventional but I start most of my songs with a blank slate…no preconcieved thoughts or topics.  I just put a whole bunch of sounds together and call it a song.”  The opener for her CD release, pop musician Joe Jackson, has a slightly more structured method so attendies can be sure to expect a wide variety of entertainment on April 1st.  Doors open at 6pm.  Tickets available at www.janesmithmusic.com and Hard Rock Cafe.

###

Contact:
Jane Smith Music
(address should go here if it is a business address)
www.janesmithmusic.com
info@janesmithmusic.com

Here’s a look at a few other press releases by independent artists 

• “Singer-Songwriter WAZ Featured on Grey’s Anatomy” 
• “New CD Release from Siji – Adesiji“
• “Trombonist Ron Westray making waves with New CD …“

Here are a few other links on How to Write Press Release

• How to Write and Send a Press Release  by MuzikBiz Academy
• How To Write & Send a Press Release by Indie-music.com

 

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Where, When & How to Send Your Press Release

About.com has an excellent article called “When Should I Send Out my Press Release.” It gives very helpful ideas…some of which I’ll repeat in this post.

Before You Write the PR
Even before you have your PR written (see “Writing a Press Release – PR 101” post), put together a list of contacts you want to target. Don’t be afraid to cold call or email. And ask them how far in advance before an event they like to receive information.  Some people will say a few weeks. Some will say a few months. Brainstorming a list of contacts before you write the press release will also help you to decide what information should be included in the PR. Tomorrow’s post will touch on who to send a press release to.

Where to send the PR
Aside from including a release in your press kit, make sure to post it online. There are tons of free PR services. My favorite is PRCompass.   Here’s a link to a press release I posted several months back. Its good to have your PR available online to reach out to a larger audience. You never know who’s reading and PRCompass will keep track of how many people have read your release.  Make sure to have a link to the pr from your website. Or just put the PR right on your site(s) including Sonicbids. 

When & How to send out the PR
Based on the answer you get from the media you call/email, this will let you know when is most appropriate to send a release. If at all possible, do not mass-mail your PR to a whole bunch of people.  And don’t send it out blindly.  Make sure you know the name of the person whose inbox you want the release to reach.  Send the release via email.  Don’t send an attachment.  Simply include the PR in the body of the email or provide a link where the recipient can go get more info. Or you can do both. Something like this:

 

Dear So&So,
My name is Jane Smith and I’m writing to make you aware of a CD Release I will be having inMarch. When we talked on the phone a few days ago, you mentioned you like to receive PRs at least two months in advance.  Please consider the below Press Release and let me know if I can send additional information.

Thank you for your time.
Jane

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Local Artist to Release Debut CD at Hard Rock Cafe”

Cincinnati, OH – February 9, 2009 -  Hard Rock Cafe might not be prepared for the CD release of Cincinnati artist Jane Smith on April 1st (7pm). The multi-talented guitarist, pianist, and trombone player is a one-woman wonder who has taken Ohio by storm and will likely do the same on the 1st.

In just 5 years, the folk-experimental artist has impressed her way into the hearts of the independent music scene. Smith’s music has been called an experimental, progressive, and edgy combination of retro folk with the occasional acoustic sentiment. In a recent write-up,  the New York Times is quoted as saying, [see full PR at www.janesmith.com]

 

 
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More on Sending Press Releases – Good Tips from Great Sources

Asobi Seksu

 

This is the last entry of three entries on writing and sending Press Release. Check out the other two:

• Writing a Press Release – PR 101
• Where, When & How to Send Your Press Release

Other Great PR Sending Tips
I found some excellent resources online with additional tips for writing/sending PRs.  Its worth reading

• Put wings on your Press Release: Media-Savvy Distribution Tips
• Smashing the Myth of the Press Release (really great article discussing the fact that talent is more important than a press release. If you don’t have quality music and you don’t have a story to tell, then your PR won’t really get you a whole bunch of write-ups)
• 8 Simple Steps to Formatting a Proper Press Release (this is such an excellent post and will really lay it out for you)

 

Free sites to Posts your Press Release
Here are just a few that look good aesthetically.  Most of these require that you start an account (also free).  Your PR will be posted but not heavily targeted to any particular audience.  But these sites also have paid services. If you pay, you can have you PR distributed specifically to people who are more likely to be interested in your music.

• PRCompass
• PR.com
• Topwirenews
• FreePressRelease.org
• There are  many more where this came from…

 

Other random things

• Have a logo at the top right corner of your press release. This adds to giving your PR a professional look.  This would probably be best on hard copies…and hard to translate on online copies.
• A PR gives the facts.  Don’t write a CD Review of your band and call it a PR.  No opinions, just facts.
• Make sure that your 1st paragraph makes the rest of the PR worth reading (think i mentioned this in another post)

 

Lastly, this band is kinda cool: Asobi Seksu.  I found their press release online today.  Their PR is titled “Asobi Seksu Record Release Party May 3″ but the PR doesnt say anything else about the realease…not even a start time.  Its also more of a CD review than a release.  Don’t mean to bash anyone but I just thought I’d give an example…  

Remember to check out the two other posts in this series…

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An Interview with The Lost Sea

The Lost Sea

 

The Lost Sea is an indie folk/rock band based out of Pittsburgh PA.  They currently receive over 600 song plays daily on their myspace and last week they were ranked #1 on ReverbNation’s folk charts. Go TLS!  So i thought I’d email frontman Sean Atkins to get some ideas on how they spend time promoting themselves.   Here are some tips that should help you to better promote your band/music.

1.) What do you think is the single most important thing an artist should do to promote themselves better?
work harder than anyone else around you ever could.. and if you think you’re working too hard.. work harder. investigate every avenue – internet, touring, ads, etc. -  sometimes you just have to be persistent and if you think you’re doing everything you can, and you’re not getting anything.. then you’re not doing enough, being passionate means being willing to suffer a great deal and risk everything you have.  if you’re really serious about ‘making it’ then you will suffer for it. spend all of your money on it, practice all day, get online and add people on myspace all night, if it’s not consuming you, you’re not even scratching the surface as an independent artist… especially when there are a million other people out there working toward the same goals. 

2.) Was there one specific moment where things really started to pick up for your music? If so, what was that moment?
i guess it was around the time that i began to be more and more committed to being a musician, and seeing every other aspect of my life deteriorating. that’s when i knew i was spending way more time writing songs than hanging out with friends, or maintaining relationships, or going out on weekends… but the more time i put into it, i found, the better i became.  it really makes sense when you hear stories about those historic musicians that would just sit in a room and play music all day long…and we foolishly wonder what makes them so great.

3.) How important is it for you to use the internet to promote yourselves?
well, i think it’s a double edged sword. obviously you have to try to reach people with the internet.. unfortunately, online communities are so over saturated with bands bothering people to check them out all day, that most online community members tend to just ignore bands/music related things. this technological age has made it possible for even novice musicians to promote themselves, and play themselves up on myspace… which in turn makes people not care about bands on myspace, the quality varies too greatly.. and it’s too hard to weed out the good bands from the garbage when it’s mostly garbage, in mine and most people’s opinion. the number one compliment my band gets is “i almost didn’t listen to you b/c i thought you were like every other band on myspace, and i’m glad i took the chance”  -  so i think that reflects what’s really going on a lot more accurately than someone might think.

4.) What is your biggest frustration with being an independent artist?
i guess money things. that’s really all labels have to offer anymore. they’re like taking a loan out for marketing, touring, etc. that and occasionally creating a namesake that a larger indie might, like for sub-pop- when someone says “oh i like a lot of bands on sub pop, i’ll check their new signing out” which obviously has worked out for bands like fleet foxes and blitzen trapper this year.

5.)How did you get ranked first on Reverb Nation’s Folk Charts? (or what’s your best guess)
well, i created a profile a long time ago and just never really used the site until last week. i logged on randomly and saw that there were rankings now… we were already like, number 6 or something and i just wanted to be number one.. so,i took songs that people like by us off of myspace and forced them to use reverbnation to hear them. in 3 days we went from 6 to 1.

The Lost Sea Online:
Official: www.thelostsea.net
Myspace: www.myspace.com/thelostsea
ReverbNation: www.reverbnation.com/thelostsea

 

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Helping Yourself #4

Meiko

Read the other blogs in this series:
Helping Yourself #1
Helping Yourself #2
Helping Yourself #3

Today I went to re-visit Derek Sivers’  ”Nobody’s going to help you“  blog. Make sure to read this blog if you haven’t already.  Its got some excellent thoughts and excellent reader comments.

Here’s comment by a frustrated reader…

Response # 6,780 by Karsten Schwardt

• “If I want to write and record my music, and have work and be there for family, there is simply no time left at the end of the day to promote my music or be my own booking agent. So I am excited and frustrated all at the same time. Excited because of everything I learn by doing it myself and the opportunities that exist. Frustrated because a promotion and publicity campaign is a full time job, and I don’t even enjoy doing it much. So I will write my music, record it best I can and put it up for the world to see. If they only knew where to look…”

 Frustration… 
Its a frustration shared by far too many artists.  By the time you’ve put all of your creative energy into making and performing your music, you don’t have much time or energy left to promote it (espec. if you have a family).  And if marketing isn’t your favorite thing, then you might not do it that well.  I wish I had an easy answer for this. The whole premise of this blog is to help you become better at promoting. But if you don’t like it…well Grassrootsy can’t do much fo you.  Check out “The Things You’ll Hate To Do…But Should Do Anyways“

Reality…
The truth of the matter is that if you are passionate about what you do, you will use all means necessary to share it with the world.  You’ll play out as much as possible, pay out as much as necessary, and work to make connections with people who love your music.  If you have a good product, let people know it exists.  No use spending so much money to make a CD if no one will hear it. 

Encouragement…
I strongly reccomend listening to Music Business Radio podcast - specifically the December 17, 2008 interview with indie/folk/pop artists Meiko.  Meiko and her manager Mike Savage talk about  her trek from no-name Open Mic artist to someone who now has over 6 million hits on her myspace and a record contract with Myspace DGC Records. This podcast is especially useful b/c Savage and Meiko talk about how they share the job of promoting her music and how they capitalize on once in a lifetime opportunities to keep the momentum going. MBR is free on iTunes.
 

If promotions is hard for you to wrap your head around 

• 1] Be good at the easy things!  Cultivate great relationships with your fans.  KleerStream Entertainment said it best: for every 1 die-hard fan you make, they’ll eventually reel in up to 10 more of their friends who will ultimately become fans as well.
• 2] Look into other artist friends who are also overwhelmed by promotions.  Meet together, share notes, and collaborate.  Check out www.4ontour.net to learn about 4 artist who did something similar.
• 3] If necessary, find a manager who has more music business knowledge than you. (this will probably cost $)

 
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“Just Do It”

Download Free on iTunes. It's worth listening to

 

Perhaps the theme for this week’s posts should have been “Just do it” or “Pep Talks w/ Joy“. I dunno. But I’ve recently had several conversations with artist who are frustrated by the amount of work they’ve put into a project and the fact that no one knows the project exists.   I’ve read An Interview with The Lost Sea  a few times since Monday and I’ve read several more comment posts on Derek Sivers “Nobody’s going to help you blog” since yesterday and here’s my final pep talk. 

Stop Waiting
Stop waiting for a big break because even if you do get one, you’ll have to put in twice as much work to keep the momentum going.  Its the little opportunities that create big ones and if you can do well with the little, the bigger things will come in time. Just be consistent.

Seriously take Sean Atkins advice
If you haven’t read An Interview with The Lost Sea, make sure to check it out.  Sean says…

“sometimes you just have to be persistent and if you think you’re doing everything you can, and you’re not getting anything.. then you’re not doing enough, being passionate means being willing to suffer a great deal and risk everything you have.  if you’re really serious about ‘making it’ then you will suffer for it”

I’d been working full-time for three years before I decided to quit my job and do music full time.  I took a 50% pay cut, I am spending more money investing in my art, and I am working so much harder than I ever have.  Some people reading this think I’m insane (I think I’m insane too…depending on the month).  However, I’ve made more progress in the last 8 months (of being a  full-time musicians) that I have in the last 3 years.  When you are willing to devote time and money to something you believe in, you will see results. And if you dont…well at least you tried.

Remember that Music is a Business
Music is a commodity that you are trying to sell. If it weren’t marketable,  we wouldnt have music in commercials, in movies, at clubs, in the elevator, grocery stores, weddings…etc. When I think about this, I realize the world literally needs music to stay lively.  If you have what someone needs, you need to market it.  You have to somehow convince your potential buyer that you are better than your competitors.  You have to convince yourself that your product is worth selling.  100% of that has to do with having a product you are proud of- whether this is a peroformance or a tangible CD.  Just do it.

I (again) strongly recommend listening to Music Business Radio’s weekly pocast. Its created for artists like you and I who are trying to”make it”.  They interview other artists, industry execs, agents….etc

 

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Jumping the Gun – Booking for the Spring and Summer

 

The Powder Kegs (busking on a street corner)

It’s the end of February…the perfect time to begin booking for the Spring.  February has always been a busy month for me as this is the time I start planning my April shows.  And April has always been the busiest performance month for me b/c bookers are finally taking advantage of the good weather and trying to set up as many outside events as possible. Here are some tips for making sure you have a successful Spring/Summer season.

Set a Goal…
Try to get as many outside gigs this year as possible.  Spring and Summer are really the best times to get exposure for the simple reason that your audience is easily doubled/tripled/quadrupled by the fact that a show is outside.

 
Using resources to find good outside gigs
As mentioned in the Stay Informed: Read, Watch, Listen, Go post, it is so important to visit local community sites and read local papers to see what’s around the corner. Its easy to find out about upcoming arts festivals if you’re subscribed to various local newsletters or listening to local radio. Its definitely worth visiting the myspace pages of your music peers to see what gigs they’ve scored.

Creating Your Own Outside Event
This is one of my favorite things to do.  All you need is a sound system, a couple artists and space (a good central spot).  Suppose there’s a restaurant with a nice outside patio or a mall with a huge walkway. Find out who’s in charge and find out what you need to do to make it happen.  If you have to prove that you’re professional enough to make it work, prove it.

Doing events on a College campus are a plus!  A University usually wont let you use their facilities unless its in conjunction with one of their organizations. Soooo…find an student organization and ask them if they’d be interested in working with you to put on an event for the students – maybe a benefit or an end of the semester type thing.  Sky is the limit.

The great thing about creating your own outside event is that you don’t have to spend as much time promoting. You can almost always count on drawing people in with musuc.

Farmers  Markets
Do not underestimate the Farmers Market crowd. You can make an unexpected amout of income at a Farmers Market. People are there specifically to shop and buy produce so they’re already in a buying mood. If you provide a tip jar and CDs, they will come through.  Farmers Market attendees are generally artsy people who like to support.  So start looking into local farmers market. If they regularly book musicians ask them how you can get on the list.  If they don’t have music, ask if they would consider it. Offer to bring your amp, mic and stand and reassure them that they don’t have to put any effort into it.   Also, make sure to setup in a prime spot

Busking
Busking many times gets a bad rap. But if you sound good, busking is a really great way to make money while playing for tons of random people. Pick a quality street corner, open your guitar case and play your heart out.  Bring a small card table and display your CDs, business cards, and newsletter sign-up form.  You’ll look less like a person who wants quick cash and mor like a distinguished musician.  If you ask a business if they will allow you to perform in front of their storefront, they might say yes.  And if you need power, they’ll probably let you use their outlets as well.

Revisit old gigs
Did you play a really great outside gig last year?  Ok, so contact the booker from that event and ask if they will consider having you back.

 

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Making the Best of a Bad Situation

 

the ideal audience...i think

Having just played a couple shows in the last week where thing didn’t go 100% as expected, I thought I’d write this post.  Here are some ways to make the best of a bad situation:

When there are only 5 people in the audience
Obviously your promoting did not pay off. This has happened to all of us at one time or another (and it will probably happen again).  Having a small audience is definitely a downer…especially when you’re expecting 50 but there are actually alot of perks.

• 1.] Fewer people to please:  Engage in an ongoing conversation with the people who did care to come.  Take requests if you can. Play “Free Bird” .  Take time to tell the stories behind your songs.  This is often hard to do with a huge audience.  I find that people like my songs better when they know the stories behind them.
• 2.] Remember: Don’t punish your attendies by giving them a crappy show.  Small crowd should never equal crappy show.
• 3.] Create Energy: It’s easy to be pumped for a show when there are tons of people.  Make sure to keep the energy up and never give off the impression that you’re boring yourself. 

 

When the sound system and sound guy are terrible
Sounding good on stage is such a huge deal.  Even if your CD sounds good, people will judge you based on your live performance.  You’ll also make less (or no) money on CD sales if your liver performance is a disaster. So first apologize to your audience and just mention that you’re having technical difficulties (don’t call out the soundguy on stage). If you can’t eventually clear up the situation, let you audience know where your next gig is if they’d like ot hear you under better circumstances.  Basically don’t let people go home thinking you’re a terrible performer simple b/c you didnt come off as sounding good.

Here are a couple things you can do ahead of time to prevent the above from happening:

• 1.] Do your research: Stop by the venue ahead of time to check out the PA.  If you don’t like what they have, bring your own setup.
• 2.] Come prepared: If you can’t stop at a venue prior to your show, consider having your own quality microphone. I know several musicians who travel with a personal mic.   Your vocals can make all the difference at a show…even if everything else sucks. Come with an amp. If a venue is small enough, just use your amp instead of going through the PA. Ya, the sound might be smaller but if the PA sucks, go for the better sound.

 

When the audience doesn’t seem interested in your set
Feel out the audience and environment.  If you’re at a bar, you probably won’t be successful in trying to make people listen to you.  If you’re  at a venue and most everyone is sitting in the back of the room, ask them to move up.  Distance can make all the difference at a show. In this case, make engaging your audience your biggest concern. If the room is out of control, change up your set list a little and work in a song that requires crowd participation.  Most of all, realize that there are three types of audiences

• 1.] Active listening audience: Listens to you intently and is engaged
• 2.] Passive listening audience: Most likely a bar scene or restaurant scene.  You’re basically wallpaper music 
• 3.] Active-Passive listening audience: Zones in and out. Listens sometimes. Talks other times.   

 

Hope this helps.

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Making the Best of a Good Situation

Tyrone Wells

Promoting yourself is like adding links to a chain. 
When one opportunity is over, make sure it has the potential
to lead to another.

Today’s post is all about capitalizing on a good thing. As I mentioned in the Just Do It post, when something good (or big) happens, you can’t just stop there. You have to put in so much extra work to keep the momentum going.  So while its hard to be a “young” artist, its sometimes just as a hard to be an artist who’s been in the game for a while.  You have to be on top of things at all times. You have to make harder decisions, you have more “fans” to keep in touch with…etc

Here are some great ways to keep the momentum going when things are going good (think of it like a ball of hay that gets bigger and bigger as it rolls down a hill and collects more hay).

p.s. don’t forget to read yesterday’s post: Making the Best of a Bad Situation.

 

When A Great Opportunity has been passed on to you…
When a really huge opportunity has been passed your way, this is the perfect time to boost your credibility.  Lets say you have a chance to open for a national touring act. 

• 1.] Let people know:  Get the word out.  Of course tell the people in your newsletter. But you also want to tell the people who will potentially book you for future shows. If you have a list of PR contacts and bookers, send out a general email out.  Make sure to BCC (blind carbon copy) the contacts. Make it discreet so they don’t know you are sending an email out to a whole bunch of bookers.  Something that looks like this.

Greetings All,

Just want to let you know a really great opportunity has opened up for me. I’ll be opening for national recording artists, U2, at the IC Light Amphlitheater on May 2nd.  Thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point my career.  I hope you can make it out to this event as it will hopefully be a turning point in my career.

Thanks again! 
- [name]

• a few days later, you might want to send an individual email to some of the people on the PR list to ask if they will consider doing a write-up or interview on the concert.  Definitely don’t try to book radio/tv/print interviews through a mass email.

 

• 2.] Use a big gig to get other gigs:  Call or send an email.  (calling is probably better) That letter would look something like this…

Dear So&So

My name is [name] of the group [group name]. Our ensemble will be in Pittsburgh in June opening for Over the Rhine at the Carnegie Music Hall. I would like to inquire about booking a supporting show in the area at Hard Rock Cafe.  Are you currently booking? What is your submission process.

Music samples are available at www.[groupname].com

Thanks for your time,
-[name]

 

When You’ve really connected to your audience…
If you’ve had a great show, do everything you can to keep the relationship with your fans strong.  I played a college show yesterday with Tyrone Wells and learned alot from him.  Wells takes all the time he needs to tell stories on stage.  His set was roughly 50 minutes and by the end of the show his audience felt like they knew him.  Before getting off stage, Wells asked the audience to consider buying his CD since that was the easiest way they could support him.  Beside the fact that his music was good, I strongly believe people bought his CD  and merch b/c they felt like they connected with him.   

After the show Tyrone spent over an hour simply talking with students.  You’ll be so suprised at how many of your shows will come from the people you meet from an audience.

Also, make sure to pass that newsletter signup form around.  If you’ve really connected with the audience, they will sign up.  And don’t wait a week to send a follow-up message.  If possible, send your subscribees an email that night. Thank them for coming. Thank them for signing up for the newsletter. Remind them they can buy the CD online if they didnt get it at the show. And tell them when the next show is.
 

When You know you’re about to get mad hits on your myspace…
Lets suppose an online magazine has just intereviewed you and plans to post the interview next Wedneday.  They plan to include a link to your myspace.  Put yourself in the shoes of a websurfer.  When they come to your myspacee (or website) what will they see? 

• 1.] Will it look professional.   Does your default picture represent you and your music?  See Looking Professional Even When You’re Not (or are you? i just can’t tell!).  Is the layout of your site clean? See Drawing Traffic to your Website(s).
• 2.] Will you have material that will keep them interested? Do you have any videos for people to watch. They read the interview but they’ve never seen you perform. A video is the perfect way to get people to come out to a concert. If they like what they see, they’ll make a trek out to one of your shows.

 

Hey! If this blog helps you, please let others know about it. Thanks!
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Creating Value: Is your Music Worth Something?

 

Ok, so the point is…if you’ve got something to consume, you need consumers.  Consumers can be music purchasers, show attendees…basically anyone who is willing to be spoonfed your tunes. Stuff it in their faces! (jk)

The number one question is How do I get people to buy me?  Here are some suggestions

Giving Value to Yourself
This is not a “you’re beautiful just the way you are” posts, but if you don’t think very highly of your music, you can’t expect others to do so.  If you honestly don’t think your music is great, take a couple months to focus on making it great. Don’t play out until you’re a confident musician.  When you’re talking to potential bookers on the phone, sound like you know what you’re talking about.  When you’re sending emails make sure you don’t have spelling mistakes and use grammar.  Ask yourself  “If I were someone else, would I take me seriously?”

 

Giving Value to Your Performance:  First, Best or Different?
When someone comes to your live performance, do you offer something that other artists do not?  Is it easy to find a replacement for you or are you one-of-a-kind?  I was listening to an old Music Business Radio podcast and Keith Mohr, Founder and President of Indie Heaven says…

You have be First, Best or Different.  First is already taken. You’re probably not gonna be best, so you better be different. And people will gravitate to different.

 

Giving Value to Your CD
Much of this post references my very first post on this blog: “Perception is Reality“. The best way to give value to your CD is to have professional packaging.  Of course there are duplication companies like Dicsmakers and Oasis but if you can’t afford to spend $1,000 on 1000 units (especially if there isn’t a huge demand for your merch) maybe you should consider doing something low key. 

Adding value doesnt always equate to spending alot of money. Head to Walmart and buy a pack of jewel cases.  Once you have CD artwork, head to Kinkos and have the artwork printed on glossy paper (that you can slide into the jewel case.  Make sure the artwork is well done and cut properly according to the dimensions of the jewel case.  Or find a local company who will do a short print run for you..maybe just a quanitity of 100 units.

 

Giving Value to Your Profession
Have a real website.  Anyone can have a myspace these days but if you actually invest time and money into a real website  you look more serious.  You can also put tons of more information on a website than you can on myspace.  Looking professional also gets you out of the dive bar and coffeeshop scene. 

 

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Starting from Scratch: What it takes to Release a CD

really great concept album cover

very simple and clean

 

 

 

 

 

 

looks like its from the 80s. and too much info on the cover

great artwork that matches title

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a question someone asked me last week.  It definitely deserves a blog for those of you who are spanking new to this music thing.   Some of these questions have been answered in this blog but here is some depth

Q: I’m interested in putting together a small CD for my fans with two or three songs on it because I’ve been getting alot of requests on where to buy my music.  So my question to you is how do I go about this?  Obviously I know I record the CD in the studio and make copies; but where do I take my photos to be made into a CD cover?  Is there a place where I can ship it and get it done all at once?  Does that include the printing on the CD itself?  And last, but not least…how do I setup something on my myspace page that allows people to purchase the CD right then and there if they wish?  Kind of like what you have on yours?

Recording
So yes, the first and most important peice of the puzzle is obviously getting your project recorded.  Visit the “Cutting Costs w/out Cutting Corners“ post for some clever ideas on how to go about finding someone to help you get this done.

Photography & Artwork
Think about the songs on your CD.  Is there’s a theme? What’s the title of the project? Let the artwork reflect that.  If your CD is about shipwrecked relationship, maybe you should have an image of a floating log or a boat crashing against your face. I dunno…  Your call.  I think photography and graphic design should be taken very seriously.  You can’t judge a book by its cover but you can certainly buy one at face value.  People will invest in something if they think its worth it.  And if it doesn’t look valuable, well… read the “Creating Value: Is your Music Worth Something?” post.  See above images for a quick critique of CD artwork (these are just my opinions).

If you decide to have your face (or body) on the cover, find a photographer. Usually if you ask around (i.e. other artists, friends, or family), you can easily find a photographer.  Most bands have had to take pictures at one time or another.  Referrals are best b/c you might get a cheaper rate, but if you find someone whom you’ve got no connection with, they have no reason to cut you a deal

I still also think doing a simple search on craigslist is a legitimate way to find a photographer, graphic designer, and even a recording studio. 

 

Duplication & Packaging (has alot to do with artwork)
Once you’ve got the image(s) for your CD, work with a graphic designer to determine placement.  Is this going to be a CD in a simple jacket, jewel case or are you going to have several panels?  Depending on what you decide, you will have more atwork for the front, back, inside…etc. I got these images from www.Discmakers.com.

 

 

 As I’ve mentioned in the past, Dicsmakers and Oasis are the most popular Cd duplication companies for indie artists. They can handle your artwork as well and do an all-inclusive package but it’s pricey and I don’t recommend having them do your artwork.  But people love Dismakers b/c they set up your digital distribution through iTunes, Napster, Payplay…etc.  It’s a great perk. 

 

Oh yea…Keep it simple
If you’re doing an EP (i.e. a CD with just a few songs) don’t go all out. Just do a jacket.   You definitely don’t want to go broke over an ep.  But the music should still sound like quality. You still want others to respect your music.

 

 

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Alternatives – CD Packaging, Production, & Distribution

 

IndyPendy: big savings for not so big musicians

 

This is continuation of yesterday’s post: “Starting from Scratch: What it takes to Release a CD“.  Read that past to get ideas on CD recording, artwork, photography, and packaging.

Now, lets say you don’t want to go the Dismakers or Oasis route (even though they handle digital distribution and other great hookups).  Lets say you just want to do a short print-run of maybe 1-200 discs…, here are resources for you.

Indypendy (Packaging and Production)
Check out Indypendy.com. Its a very simple company that does very simple work at a very cost-effective price. 
They handle CD and DVD duplication at a fraction of the price compared to other companies (but don’t handle things like digital distribution).  And always FREE shipping.  You can ask for proofs ahead of time to make sure you’re getting quality in return. This page will give you a run down on some of the things they offer. 

Indypendy especially came in handy 6 weeks before I released my CD.  I wanted advanced copies to send to media but I didnt want to spend so much money on packaging.  For roughly $100 I had them print my artwork on the face of 100 discs and and send it back to me on a spindle.  Here’s what it looked like. I burned the music onto each CD (from my laptop)  and put the CDs in plastic jackets before sending out to local media. 

Local companies (Packaging and Production)
Be sure to check into local duplication and production companies in your area.  There are so many short-run companies who can print a small (and large) quantity of your project.  Sometimes cheaper. Sometimes not.  Do your research.  These companies may not handle other things like digital distibution and setting up accounts on CDbaby, but they can be especially good at a speedy turnover time. And sometimes the fact that it is in your neighborhood means you can pick it up and not worry about shipping.

Tunecore (Digital Distribution)
The website spells it all out. Visit www.tunecore.com to find out how to submit your music to iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, Amazon…etc without the help of Discmakers or Oasis.  There is a fee to submit your music but once the music has been added to any/all stores, you get 100% of the profit made off digital sales.  Go check it out
I’m sure there are other companies that offer a way to get digital distribution.  Do your research and search the internet.

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Selling Your Music – Setting up an Online Merch Store

 

K-Drama

 

Be sure to read the first two posts in this series

1.)  Starting from Scratch: What it takes to Release a CD
2.) Alternatives – CD Packaging, Production, & Distribution

So once you’ve got the recording, artwork, and packaging done, its time to decide on ways to get your music out there. We talked a bit about digital distribution resources in the above links.  Now, here’s a deeper look into paypal…an easy resource for selling hard copies of your music (other than the obvious CDBaby).  Read more about CDBaby in the CDBaby vs. Paypal post.  (make sure to read people’s comments at the bottom of the page) 

 

Paypal is wonderful
Ya, I’ve talked about it before…and I don’t mean to sound repetitive but  Paypal is an incredible resource for small business owners, artists, musicians…etc. It has helped me incredibly in the last 10 months…to give my music store a very clean, simple, proffessional look. My best suggestion for you is to visit their site and look into all they have to offer.  Its FREE to setup and paypal takes a very small percentage of every sale.  They currently take 63 cents from every $10 CD I sell.  This is worth it to me. 

Paypal is professional
Paypal allows your customers to pay through credit card and sends them a confirmation email to let them know that the transaction went through.  Paypal also send you and email to let you know someone has purchased your product. You then have the responsibility of mailing your product to the customer.

Paypal is simple
With Paypal you have several options of how you’d like to setup your store and you’re given the html code to do this…  Artist K-Drama  has a really excellent paypal store on his site.  You wont see that notorious yellow button    b/c he’s simply exchanged the button image for his own creation.  But his store is very straightforward and allows you to add various CDs to your cart by clicking “Add to Cart”.  If you visit my store,  you see I’ve used a drop down box option which is great for making more space on a page and compiling information.

All the html code is provided by Paypal so its straightfoward…but if you need help incorporating into your site, ask your webmaster (its really easy on myspace).

 

If you are aware of other online merch stores, please post a comment. I wanted to spotlight others, but after visiting 10 random artist websites this evening, is was apparent that paypal is most popular.

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Less is More: Keeping it Simple On Stage and Off

Ben Hardt & His Symphony

 

My old college professor, Lloyd Corder (check out his marketing site), says “the best writing in the world is on the back of a DVD cover.”  Why? Because the writer basically has 1 paragraph to convince you that the DVD is worth renting or buying.  This is so true! 

If you can’t be accurately and effectively summed up in a few sentences, then maybe its not worth saying.  This same principle can be applied to alot of things.

Less is More on Stage
If you have a 30 minute set and you have to decide between 6 or 7 songs, go with 6.  It’s better to leave your audience wanting more than having them grow tired of your set.  Read your audience and determine whether they are bored. Even if they’re not, think about ending while your audience is still 100% in tune with your music.

Don’t Send a Book
What do your pitches look like? When you’re trying to impress a venue booker, are you telling them every notable accomplishment you’ve ever had or are you sending a short email with need-to-know facts about yourself and your music?  Are you telling them everything on your website or are you sending them a simple link to your website?  Make sure to check out the ”How to Score Reviews of Your CD” post for more tips on keeping your emails simple.  Believe me, email recipients will appreciate and be more likely to respond to your email if it’s to-the- point.

Quality Is Better Than Quantity
I have a friend of a friend who spent $20,000 on a 10-panel insert for his CD (paying someone to do the artwork, and spending the$ to print the booklet).   I still haven’t wrapped my brain around this.  Try every single method possible to keep things as cost effective as possible.  If you can do a 6-panel or 4-panel insert, you wanna go that route.  (Hint: make the lyrics smaller…duh!)

The same idea goes for your band. If you have  3 people in your band, you have fewer people to make sound good.  You don’t sound bad b/c you need another guitarist or keyboardist. Work with what you have and make it tight.

The same also goes for playing out.  If you are only booking 1 show a month (as opposed to 10), you need to make sure that one show is a great show.  For everyone who’s been waiting a month to see you,  they need to know that your one show is worth the wait and they need to get their money’s worth.  Pittsburgh artist Ben Hardt does this quite well. Even with the fact that he is based in Pittsburgh, he probably only does one show every 4-6 weeks. And he always bring it with a full band and a full string quartet.  Its that one quality show that everyone goes to b/c they know its gonna be good.

 

Hope these suggestions helped.  Feel free to offer your own.

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Random Tips & Tricks #2 (an html tip)

  

Here’s a  random html tip that I’ve found especially useful in the past  year.  It’s a short post but I think/hope you will find it useful.

Use target= “_blank”  as often as possible
target= “_blank” is a piece of html code that opens a blank screen (a.k.a new window) when people click on any particular link.  Using this piece of html code is especially helpful in keeping people on your site for a longer amount of time.  Here’s a demonstration…

Lets say you have a link on your website to a review you got in an online magazine.  The code would look something like this:

CODE 1
 Hey guys, check out my latest review on<a href= “http://beatcrave.com/2009-02-04/cd-review-joy-ike-good-morning/”  target= “_blank”>BeatCrave</a>!

Looks like this… 
Hey guys, check out my latest review on BeatCrave!

(click the BeatCrave link. notice that a new window will open)

CODE 2
Hey guys, check out my latest review on <a href= “http://beatcrave.com/2009-02-04/cd-review-joy-ike-good-morning/“>BeatCrave</a>!

Looks like this…
Hey guys, check out my latest review on BeatCrave!

(clink on BeatCrave link above.  Notice that the link opens on this page instead of in a new window…thus directing people away from this website)

The goal is to get people to stay on your website as long as possible…to keep the intrest strong. So if you have a line of html  (similar to what’s above), make sure to use target= “_blank”. 

By the way, if you didn’t know how to write html for links, now you do. Simply copy/paste what I’ve written above, remove my URL and put in your own, and change BeatCrave to something else.  Tomas Vera  has some really great easy-to-follow instructions for people who are new to html. Go!

 

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A Couple Things Every Artist Should Have #2

Kate Gaffney

 

To read the first blog in this series visit: A Couple Things Every Artist Should Have #1

 

A Good Bio:
Just like a good press release, a good bio should be written in 3rd person.  The idea of being personal is great, but you should have some place online where people can go to get solid facts about who you are and what you do (whether its your myspace or official website).  If you’re not good at writing in 3rd person, ask a friend or someone you trust to write it for you. Or simply take some time to brainstorm all the important facts about your music career and compile those facts into a bio as if you are writing a blurb for someone else.

If you like the personal approach, consider having two bios – one formal and one informal. Put the formal bio on your official site. Put the personal bio on your myspace.  Or include a few personal quotes in your bio.  Kate Gaffney does this on her official site. Also check out her myspace bio.

 

At least one video of your live performance
Never trust an artists recording.  Recordings can be so polished and overproduced. This is why its important to have at least one video on your myspace with a live performance. I don’t remember where I read this statistic, but I’ve heard that artists are twice as likely to get booked when they have video footage . Why? Because it gives venues and bookers a realistic idea of what to expect.  Gaffney also has live footage on your site.

 

A Way for Others to Promote You
People like to promote the artists they listen to.  Here are some steps for doing this

• 1.] Create a promotional banner. There are plenty of sites like BannerCreator that help you make banners for free.  Or use Photoshop and make your own.
• 2.] Put the banner on your website.
• 3.] Put additional code below the banner that allows people to copy/paste the code for your banner into their own myspaces.  Visit FlashBannerNow for a quick tutorial on how to do this.

Speaking of…here is an example, of an animated gif I just created.  Visit the Random Tips & Tricks #1” post to learn how to make an animated gif. 

p.s. If grassrootsy is helpful to you, copy /paste the below code onto your myspace. Let others know! Thank You! 

• for your myspace
• <a href= “http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmdyYXNzcm9vdHN5LmNvbQ==”><img src=”http://www.joyike.com/grassrootsy/grassrootsybanner.gif”></a>
• for your website
• <a href=”http://www.grassrootsy.com”><img src= “http://www.joyike.com/grassrootsy/grassrootsybanner.gif”></a>

• this code is working now.  There was a slight error before but its working now.

 

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Improvising…Because We’re In a Recession, Yo! (Cutting Costs Without Cutting Corners #2)

yummy!

 

A friend of mine is super cheap!  She likes to make butterred popcorn by coating raw kernals with butter, putting them in a brown lunchbag, sealing the bag, and sticking it in the microwave.  I think its funny but give it a try and tell me if it works

So…in light of coming up with alternative methods, here are some brainstormed ways to save money and save time- the biggest commodities in life. 

 
Pick a Good Spot
Show location can have alot to do with how much time you put into promoting a show.  If your booking a show at a hole-in-the-wall venue that no one’s ever heard of, you’re gonna have a much harder time getting fans to show up. Pick central spots- places that have plenty of foot traffic. When you pick a “bad” venue you have two jobs -  1.) convincing people the show will be good, and 2.) convincing people the venue will be good. If people already know the venue,  that’s half the battle.
 

USB Drive…yeah its a pretty clever idea
Why not put your music on a USB drive instead of a CD?  I recently found out about this from a local Pittsburgh band, Vindell.  Here’s how it works:  have your band’s logo or website printed on the outside of a USB Flash Drive.  Order them in bulk (lets say 100).  Once you get them, put your bands mp3s on the drive and sell them at your shows.

These days, CD sales are phasing out and digital music is the way to go.  People can have your music on a flash drive, transfer it to their computer (or ipod or whatever), and still have tons of space left on the flash for every-day use (saving term papers, if their students).

You can also put videos, press kits, wallpapers, extra songs that aren’t on the CD  and any other multi-media stuff about your band on the flash drive.  The creative possibilities are endless! 

Check out some really incredible Flash Drive ideas at FlashDealer.com.  But I know if you look harder, you can find cheaper prices online.

• note: the production cost of a flash is actually more expensive than a CD but if people plan to buy your digital tracks off iTunes anyways, why not sell a flash drive and keep iTunes from taking that percentage. And you’ll also be able to offer various types of data that iTunes cannot. Not to mention, you’ll have you website printed on the outside of the USB forever.   (You should still have your music on iTunes though)

 

Relationships
I strongly believe making solid relationships is the best way to save time and money.  When you have people talking about you (world-of-mouth) and telling their friends about your shows, you don’t need to spend nearly as much time, energy, or money promoting your events.  Building relationships isn’t an overnight thing though.

Also, check out Monday’s blog, A Couple Things Every Artist Should Have #2, for an idea on how you can have your fans help promote your music.

 

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More Clever Merch Ideas

  

Yesterday I got overly excited about the idea of selling your music by way of the USB flash drive. Read “Improvising…Because We’re In a Recession, Yo!“  So I thought I’d highlight a few more interesting (but different) merch ideas.  I’m sure I’ll be adding to this list in future blogs.

The Standards  (not so interesting, but familiar)
Most bands tesd to go with T-shirt, stickers, and buttons. I still think these are great options…especially stickers b/c those stay in place for a long time.  Posters are another popular option.  If you think someone would actually want to buy an autographed poster of you, do it!  Production costs are fairly low for this. 

Notebooks
Not the most likely merch idea…but everybody needs something to write on…even with the fact that computers are taking over. Check out www.Branders.com to see what it would look like if you had your band logo or website on personal-sized notebooks.

Tote Bags
This is probably something that the chicks will like more than the guys. Why not put your logo, website,  a quote, or something funny on the side of a tote bag.  There are so many tote bags out there, so whatever you write on the side, make it clever.  Tote bags are relatively cheap when purchased in bulk.  www.Leaderpromos.com has some really great tote designs (and even makeup bags too).

Key Rings
People carry their keys everywhere and so the chances of this being a good seller are high!  www. also has some really great keychains.  Be sure to look around on other sites for the best deal.Branders.com

Also, read a little more about branding your band through merchandise via these articles
***SinFlip: Brilliant Band Merchandise Ideas To Make Money With
***On Stage: Merch Madness 
***Bob Baker: Top CDs & Merch Sales Tips

 

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Thinking Outside the Box – Thinking like a Record Label

Last week Sean Atkins of The Lost Sea came up with a really great idea for artists in Pittsburgh –  The Digital Mixtape. An online compilation CD with up to19+ songs by indie artists.  Web surfers can go to a website, download the mp3s and be exposed to several artists they’ve never heard of (and a few that they have).  Each artist on the compilation spreads the word about the mixtape and the end result is hopefully a larger, shared fanbase among all artists. (p.s. read a recent Grassrootsy interview with The Lost Sea)

You’ve seen this model before.  Record labels do it all the time!  They create a sampler of several artist on their label and send to radio stations, fans, clothing corporations, and music distribution companies. 

 

Mindset
Independent artist are often set back by their frame of reference.  They often think they can’t do something b/c they are not as large or as rich as a record label.  Not the case. In fact,  its sometimes easier to do things as an independent.

Take for example, The Digital Mixtape.  If you already have a website, it costs absolutely NO money to upload some mp3s and send people a link to download the music.  You spend $0 pressing CDs and everybody wins out.  Indie artists are also more willing to give away a free song and there are no corporate loopholes to jump through or contracts to sign.

So here are some more ideas for how you can be effective as an indie artist by thinking like a record label…

Cross promotion
Think about the artists that you perform with on a regular basis. Each time you promote your show, you are promoting them as well. Go the next step.  Put their website on the flyer/poster.  In your newsletter (about that particular show), include a link to their site.  Ask them to do the same. Put a link to their website on yours.
Its always better to have someone (other than you) talking about your music.  Labels adopt this pretty regularly.  For example, they have their newer artists go on tour with their bigger named groups…etc.

Podcasts and Online Radio
Back in the day (and even still today), radio stations would send hard-copy demos of new music to their database of stations…or to a network (i.e. KISS Radio) and then that network would review the music, pick the songs it liked, and send to the stations it owned. 

Being an indie artist doesnt mean you can’t get radio play. It just means you have to find new ways to be heard.  Podcasts and online radio are the new wave of the 21st century. They level the playing field for all artists.  In fact, most podcasts and online radio station are created by everyday people like you and me – and they’re more willing to give independent artists a chance.  Sub-Rock Music is an excellent example. 

Also, submitting to these outlets takes little or no money (as most ask to be sent an mp3).  Its a win win situation. Every once in a while you will still need to mail in a hardcopy.

Hard Release Date
If you visit Kenna on myspace, you’ll see that he has a timer counting down to his next CD release.  As of right now he is 154 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes, 40 seconds away!  Can you imaging thinking that far in advance!  Did you ever wonder how music companies build hype around a CD. They pre-promote…they get the word out months ahead of time. They make sure that everytime you hear about an artist you like, you’ll learn a significant fact about them. If you think about it, everyone knew Coldplay was coming out with a CD months before it even dropped.

Most indie artists wait till the last minute.  They wait for the CD to arrive at their doorstep before doing anything about it. Think outside the box.  Every month closer to your CD release, build a little more buzz. Bust your but so you don’t miss your release date. And if you have to push the date back a couple weeks, don’t be afraid to do that. Better to have a great project than one that’s on time.

Visit the How to Score Reviews of Your CD post for ideas on drumming up publicity for your CD release.

 

Here’s another post on mimicking.
If you have other suggestions, please post them below. 

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Stand-out Artists and What We Can Learn from Them #2

Wisdm O.N.E.

To read the first post in this series, visit Stand-out Artists and What We Can Learn from Them #1

Artist #1:  Wisdm O.N.E
Wisdm O.N.E.  If you keep in mind the fact that your music travels much faster than you do, it will hopefully make you think twice about how much emphasis you put on the production quality of your CD.  It took me a while to understand this concept.  My first ep was a trainwreck.  Besides the fact that I was just re-learning the piano, I didnt mix or master the CD.  The levels were all jacked up and some songs were louder than others.  When I listen to Wisdm O.N.E.’s music I hear 100% quality (this is my opinion, of course).  But his tunes are rock solid- well produced and will easily blend in with the quality of radio singles.  More people will hear your music on myspace than will ever see your live performance.  The production of your music carries alot of weight.

 

Laura Burhenn

Artist #2: Laura Burhenn
Laura Burhenn does a really great job of painting a picture of herself for her fans. Image.  If you spend some time on her myspace, listening to her music, and checking out her photos you’ll notice one thing…she comes off as consistently simple with a little accent of glam. All across the board.  She’s also got really great photography which helps immensley in giving people insight into who she is.

 

David Stein

Artist #3: David Stein
David Stein’s got a really neatly mapped out official website.  All merch links on the left sidebar, social networking links on the right sidebar, and important details down the middle.  The website isn’t completely finished but he simply writes “Information Coming Soon”.  Nothing unprofessional about that.  Also, check out his myspace.  Ellen Cherry’s got a great official website too.  Ok, thats my plug of Baltimore bands.

 

Know other artists who are doing interesting thing?  Comment below.

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Taking Risks: Spending Money, Spending Time

Aaron Strumpel

 
“Many desire greatness who cannot figure out what to do
on a rainy Sunday afternoon” 
- Bits & Pieces Magazine

 “People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those
who are doing it”
- Unknown 

And so these two quotes set the stage for a short blog on taking risks.  Lately my thoughts have been geared toward the average American’s pursuit of the American Dream – highschool, college, a 9-5 job, make money, buy a car, buy a house, get married, have kids, repeat the whole process.  There’s nothing wrong with the American dream…especially if that’s what you want.  The goal is to not do something just b/c everybody else is doing it.

So often in this blog I talk about looking at what you are currently doing and taking it to the next step.  You can’t expect to go where you’ve never been if you’re doing the same things you’ve always done.  Taking Risk is the only way to reach new heights and people do it all the time…b/c they have to.  Examples: starting a new business, bringing a girl home to mom and dad (even if you know you’re rents wont like her:), investing in a fund (probably not too smart at this particular time in history

Risk:
exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance

here are what I think are the two biggest risks for an artist…

Spending Money
Calvin College, in Grand Rapids Michigan, holds its annual Festival of Faith & Music  (FFM) every April.  This year, they began a “bandspotting” contest giving indie artist a chance to submit their music to share a bill with a major national act as well as be  on the FFM Compilation.  Submission cost only $50.  Aaron Strumpel of Boulder, Colorado (pictured above) won and will be sharing the stage with Over the Rhine and Lupe Fiasco. Talk about a sweet return! 

Spending money is usually the biggest risk that artists dont want to take…and for good reason!  If you don’t have it, how can you spend it?  But if you can find of a handful of things that are worth investing in save up that money.  If you think about the fact that Aaron will get to play for thousands of students next weekend, get his music on FFM’s compilation CD, and share the stage with major musicians with connections, Aaron is getting a 2000% return on his $50.   Not to mention that he’ll make additional money off CD sales, mp3 sales through iTunes, and getting plenty of hits on his myspace.

Spending Time
When you’re working 40 hours a week elsewhere, its hard to committ time to your music.  I’m not suggesting you quit you job…especially if you don’t realistically think you can do that.  But what about going part time and devoting more time to your music.  Spend a few more hours each week looking for gigs, learning about new resources for musicians, and actively promoting your music.

Giving your time to music (promoting, not just playing) is a huge sacrifice that most people don’t consider a sacrifice.  But think about: we as Americans would more readily give our money to an orphan than hop a plane over to a third world country to literally help that child. That’s why they say time is more precious than money.

Here’s a great blog on risk by ArtistEmpowerment.com.

 

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Getting into the College Market

Nelly’s Echo

I was recently asked by someone how to get into the college market so I thought I’d address this.  If you have other suggestions, please post them in the comments section.  I’ve only recently learned about the whole college scene so I’m just passing on what i know.

Student Organizations
The great thing about the college market (from my experience)  is that much of the booking is in the hands of the average student.  Student Organizations are your key to performing at any given college.  Organizations are always holding fundraisers, benefit concerts, parties, galas, cocktails…etc.  There is so much potential in the college market.  Play a show, do well, and you’ll probably get referred to some other organization because a friend of a friend saw you at your first gig.  Its endless, really.

So, how do you get in to this loop? You’ve got alot of options…

• 1] Do a little research: Do you plan to visit Philly in the fall?  Start now.  Look into local colleges…like University of Pennsylvania, for example. Find out a little more about their various orgs. Send an email to various organization presidents and ask them to consider you/your band for any events they plan to have in the new semester (ya i guess its ok to send a mass email if you accumulate several contacts).
• 2] Use what you already have/know: Alot of my fans are college students so I always ask them to keep me in mind if any of the organizatons they belong to are planning upcoming events and looking for entertainment.  If you already have fans in college, ask them to pass your music on  to their orgs.  This has been the most successful approach for me. Its all about the power of suggestion.
• 3.] Plan a benefit concert: Team up with your local colleges Habitat For Humanity, for example.  Ask them if you can put together a benefit and raise money for their cause.  Most orgs would willingly accept them.  Once you get the go-ahead, have your band, and a couple other bands do a show at the University  – maybe the Student Union, outside, or a venue on campus.  If you’re raising money for the organization, they will definitely tell their members, who will tell their friends…and you’ll get a great turnout.  The key is to do the event on school property.  p.s. don’t plan a benefit just because you want to get exposure. hopefully you actually want to raise money and promote the cause.

 

National Association for Campus Activities (NACA)
In the grand scale of things, NACA dominates the college market.  NACA has relationships with over 1000 major Universities in the United States, and through membership, creates connections for musicians (and booking agents) to book gigs with campus organizations and college venues. 

Annual membership for a self-represented artists is $351.  NACA then holds regional conferences where you have an opportunity to attend workshops, meet college event planners/bookers, and perform at their showcases.  Bookers take on the role of  “scouts” at these conferences and scout out talent for their schools. 

You will still need to pay seperately for these coferences, and entering into the showcase, but from what I hear, its  competley worth it!  Even if you spent $300 for conference fees, you could easily make that back in one college gig secured through NACA.  This recently happened for Nelly’s Echo.  He was able to get 9 college bookings by performing at last March’s Mid-Atlantic Regional conference showcase.

Take the time to read more about NACA.  Remember…sometimes you gotta spend money to make money.

 

Check back on Wednesday for another post with more facts and tips on college booking.

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More On College Booking

 

The Jungle

  

• • Quick Note: You can catch   me today (Wednesday, April 1st) on Pittsburgh Business Radio, 3-4pm EST.  I’ll be talking about persuing music as a business.  Listen online @  www.prrradio.com

 Read the first post in this series: “Getting into the College Market“

Other than NACA and Student-Led Organizatons…
Other than NACA and student-led organizatons, most colleges have an Event Coordination Office.  For example, University of Pennsylvania calls it SPEC: Social Planning & Events Committee.  In their recent planning of UPenn’s Spring Fling, they simply sent out a “Call for Artists” via Sonicbids.  If you’re visiting a University, be sure to contact the school’s events department to see what their booking process is.

Keep in mind that the busiest time for college booking is the Fall (plenty of semester kick-off events for organization) and the Spring (plenty of events to celebrate the end of the year).   Some events aren’t planned months in advance, but many are.  So here are some tips for college booking.

• 1.] Call Now:  Before the Spring semester winds down, reach out to the University.  Look into various organization and the schools event coordination office to learn more about how they book.  When Fall comes around you’ll be ahead of the game.
• 2.] Be Aware: Know when the Fall semester begins.  Make sure you know the dates of the first week of classes and plan to do a “Back to School” concert on campus that Friday or Saturday.

The Advantages of Doing College Shows
Here are few things that make college gigs worth persuing

• 1.] financial compensation: There’s a rumor that colleges can pay a musician better than any other type of gig. I think its true (yes, that’s where your tuition went).  Be sure to ask your contact at the school if there is compensation. You won’t always get paid but  it never hurts to ask. Monday’s blog will deal with how to ask for money so check back.
•  2.] Getting to open for larger acts: It may take some time (or it might never happen), but every once in a while you’ll get a bone thrown your way. Pittsburgh Funk/Rock group, The Jungle, has had many such opportunities…including opening for Gaving Degraw at University of Pittburgh’s Bigelow Bash.
• 3.] Great way to spread your name:  Most University events are free for students and well marketed. Students are great with word-of-mouth…largely due to facebook and their lips

 

Feel free to add your comments, suggestions, and tips.

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Money: Ask and You Shall Recieve…Sometimes

the theoretical bags of money available to artists

Money-related issues are undoubtedly the most-shared frustration among all independent artists.  Its hard to fund your art while also trying to fund yourself through your art.  This post offers suggestions on how and when to ask for money

Asking for Compensation
Don’t be afraid to ask for money!  If you’re providing a service to people, you shouldn’t be ashamed or feel awkward about asking to be payed for your service.  I also don’t think you should be stingy and refuse to perform just becuase you’re not getting paid.  Its really a case by case thing.

When asking for money, be tactful.  The way you ask will sometimes make all the difference in if you get paid and how much you get paid (believe me).  Here are a few examples.

• Bad example:
  Hi Jamie,
  Thanks for asking me to do this gig. I’d love to.  How much will I get paid?
  Thanks,
  -Sydney
• Good example #1:
  Hi Jamie,
  Thanks for asking me to do this gig.  Can you let me know if there is any payment for the artists involved?  Since I am persuing music full-time, this is always necessary for me to ask
  Thanks,
  -Sydney 
• Good example #2:
  Hi Jamie,
  Thanks for asking us to be a part of this event. We’d love to play!  Please let me know if there is compensation for participating bands.  We would truly appreciate this.
  Thanks,
  -Sydney

You may receive a response from the booker 1.) telling you that its not paid, 2.) asking how much you normally charge, or 3.) offering you a specific amount.

 

When to Ask…When not to
I don’t know that there’s a general rule of thumb for this.  Again, I think it is a case by case thing.  If the organization asking you to perform is not making any money off of a specific event, then maybe you can forego making money as well.  For example, if all the money is being raised for a charity, this might be a good time to pass on asking for money.  But still ask if you can put out CDs. 

If the venue you’re playing at is charging a cover, making money at the bar and not giving you a thing, then you should certainly address this.  It’s just not fair.

 

If you have any good tips on asking for money, or disagreements to the above post, feel free to add your comments.

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Planning a Tour: Making it Worth The Trip

Brooke Annibale

 

New venues and fresh audiences are usually worth the hassle of touring but below are some ideas on how to get the most out of your trip.

Do Your Research
Nothing sucks more than playing for an empty audience in a new city…especially since you’ve driven so far.  Do your research to find out the best places to play?  If you’re going to New York, contact NY artists and ask them to recommend venues. Ask them to recommend locations that are central and bring in foot traffic.  This will make it
easier to promote (you don’t want have to work extra hard trying to get ppl to come out to unfamiliar, hard to find spots). 

Take advantage of craiglist.  If you’re going to Portland put a posting on the Portland craigslist page.  This is how I’ve planned most of my trips and I’ve always been suprised by how willing people are to help.  Here’s an example…

• Example: Hey all.  Our band is coming to Portland in a few months and we’re currently looking for good venues in the area. Can you suggest any places that book rock bands.  Any help you can give would be much appreciated!  You can feel free to check out our tunes: www.myspace.com/notreal

Plan Ahead
Plan 2-3 months ahead.  Even if people recommend good venues, keep in mind that the good venues are usually booked 2-3 months in advance.  Trying to plan a tour 1 month in advance is not impossible, but very difficult.  Read Planning Ahead – The Key to a Successful Show for detailed tips on how to successfully promote a show.

 
Collaborate
This summer I’ll be hitting up Philly, Ohio, and Baltimore with good friend and Pittsburgh aritst Brooke Annibale.  The initial planning of our trip has made me realize how much easier it is to work together with other artists in addressing money issues.  Traveling with at least one other artist cuts your gas/toll expenses in half…as well as easing the burden of promotional efforts.

 Also, try to split shows with artists that are already in the city you’re visiting.  For example, if you’re touring in Philadelphia, contact a local Philly band or artist to see if they wanna split a show with you. Chances are they will bring more ppl out than you will b/c they live and play more regularly in the area.

Here’s an idea…
Consider spending 3 days in a city.  Pick one city that you really like and setup a show every evening. ?Why not? It’ll give you a chance to really build a fanbase in a short amount of time.  Plan to visit the city often (maybe every other month or every three months) to develop the fanbase and really make a name for yourself in that area. The more you visit that city, the easier it will be to book…and eventually you’ll get better shows.

 

If you have other touring suggestions, please feel free to post them as a comment. Thnx!

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Incredible Resources You’ve Never Heard About #1

www.youlicense.com

In the last month, some new and interesting websites have been passed on to me so I thought I’d do a post on new and underrated music resources for independent artists. If you are aware of other resources please post them in comments…and give Grassrootsy readers a short description of what the they’re all about it.  If they’re really great, I’ll do a more extensive post on your suggestions in the future. Here goes…

YouLicense.com
What an incredible idea! YouLicense.com is a website specifically created for independent artist who want to license their music for commercialas, movies, and any/all types of media. How it works: Visit the website to create a free acount.  Upload your music (up to 10 songs). You are given the freedom to sell your songs at whatever amount you like.  YouLicense takes only %9 percent commission.

For example: Lets say you have a techno-pop song on your page.  A new sneaker company needs some music to use in a commercial they’re making to advertise their shoes.  You list on your page that you are willing to license your song for $2,000.  If they agree to this, YouLicense allows them to pay you through the site in exchange for the song and takes $180.  You keep the rest ($1,820). 

Companies can also post “Opportunities” which are brief detailed descriptions of the type of music they are looking for.  You can then respond to them with your song. Its a more proactive approach.

YouLicense is an incredible resource b/c producers are always looking for material for training videos, podcasts, movies…etc.  Its also been very difficult for independent artist to get into the licensing industry and this makes things so much easier.  Not to mention the fact that you get paid for your work and your music will potentially reach a much larger audiences.  Love it!

Thanks to Jim Dispirito of Rusted Roots for letting me know about this.  There is so much more to YL, but I still need to do more research.  If you end up using YouLicense, please post a comment and let us know how it worked for you.

ArtistData.com
ArtistData is all about making life easier thru data management. In short ArtistData takes information about your upcoming gigs and sends it to all of your networking sites.  How it works: Visit the website to create an account.  Type in information about your upcoming shows.  ArtistData will then send that information to Myspace, Facebook, Eventful, Twitter, LastFM, PureVolume, Showclix, Sonicbids…etc.  The list goes on.   

ArtistData is still a very new site from what I’m told but the concept is genius and its web layout is clean and easy to use. Thanks to Brooke Annibale for the word on this. 

 

Again, If you’re aware of other resources please post them in comments…and give Grassrootsy readers a short description of what the they’re all about it. 

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An Interview With Brianna Lane

Brianna Lane

Folk/Americana artist Brianna Lane is an independent musician based out of Minneapolis, MN.  She’s the author of three self-released, full-length albums and tours full time.  She’s opened for several National touring acts including Dar Williams and The Weepies.

Brianna is one of the few artist I know who has had success with acquiring patrons (i.e. individuals and organization who fund her music financially).  Check out what she has to say about promoting your music, touring, and getting financial support.

1.) What do you think is the single most important thing an artist should do to promote themselves better? 

Networking is key.  Weather it be through MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or the like, reaching out to fans, friends, and other folks in the industry is essential. Some people are very talented at promoting themselves out in public at live shows as well.  It’s important to know your comfort levels in self promotion because if you present yourself honestly and genuinely you are more likely to receive positive feedback. Be open to new ways of networking and try to be aware of how others like to communicate.  I find that it’s helpful to network with other musicians via MySpace but Facebook is better for connecting with some fans on a more personal level.  Twitter is still kind of lost on me but I know that people like it and use it so I’m learning to do the same.

 

2.) The biggest frustration among most independent artists is finding the money to produce their music and fund tours, promotion, etc.  You’ve had some luck in finding patrons (i.e. people to sponsor you financially).  How did you go about doing this? 

I must say that a lot of it comes down to luck. Although, the more time I spend touring the more people I meet and the more people I meet the more opportunities there are to find people who are passionate about the arts and willing to fund artistic endeavours. 

3.) Do you find people are generally willing to give you money?  And do you eventually pay it back?

I do have a few personal loans with fan-friends (people who I have met through my shows who have since become friends of mine). Sometimes I’ll work in trade and write songs for folks or place their names in my liner notes. I have witnessed a lot of generosity over the years that I have spent on the road.  When people hear that I am living my passion and making music a way of life they are open to supporting me in many different ways, sometimes financially.

 
4.) You’ve had a chance to open for national touring artists like Dar Williams and The Weepies to name a few. How do these huge opportunities come around? 

The first two dates that I did with Dar came along because I knew someone who worked for her managements company at the time. They needed an area songwriter that they could trust to do the job as the opener.  Truly a dream to open for her- and on the same stage where I first saw her play ten years earlier!  Also, I knew Deb Talan (one half of The Weepies) before opening for them and we talked about sharing shows for years before it actually happened.  Through nurtured connections with either venues, promoters, or artist, opportunities arise that are hard to pass up.  It’s astounding, humbling, and inspiring to play with talented musicians. I am very grateful