What Not To Do When Marketing Your Band!

What NOT to do when Marketing your Band

Summary: 6 don’ts when marketing your band 

There are many “don’ts” that people are unaware of when marketing to certain audiences. This blog focuses on marketing don’ts for musicians trying to promote their band throughout communities. Some individuals over promote, while others do not advertise enough. Be sure to follow these six steps, because if you don’t you may send current and potential fans away from supporting your music.

1.             Do not use social media to force sales

             

Social media networks are intended to connect and build relationships with individuals through    possible common interests, etc. These platforms should not be created to force sales on your friends and fans. Make attempts to connect with your fans instead of promoting services and products. Also, do not use Facebook or Twitter as a sales tool; for example, when selling a new T-shirt or album. You should be offering free T-shirts and albums every here and there to show appreciation for your fans.

2.            Do not “spam” your friends

First and foremost, everybody hates spam mail. Sending out a mass e-mail occasionally is okay, but constantly sending out blast e-mails to your fans can get very aggravating. You want to your fans to be excited when receiving an e-mail from your band so make sure they are personal, and interesting. Another way individuals can spam is through Facebook events. As an artist, be sure to only promote the events that you will be performing at. The more events you send out to your fans that do not include you, the more likely they will start ignoring your invitations. This could lead an individual to un-like or un-follow your page and you do not want this to happen. People become your friend on social networks to follow you, not to follow other bands and artists that they are not interested in.

3.             Do not create lengthy advertisements 

It is very important to keep ads simple; lengthy and drawn out advertisements usually are not attention-grabbing to readers. Please, veer far away from creating ads that contain paragraphs and are full of long sentences. Avoid using special words that may confuse readers who are viewing the advertisement. Typically, lengthy and unappealing ads will not attract individuals to continue reading and will draw readers away. Advertisements should always be concise, to the point and attractive when creating promotions for your band. Choose a color and font that your audience will enjoy and can easily read. Whether you are creating an advertisement for an        upcoming show, or a new song release, adding images to an ad can really bring it to life and catch potential listener’s interest.

4.             Don’t be like everybody else  

Bottom line: nobody likes a copycat. There is high competition in the music industry; therefore    musicians should be different and unique. What if there was only one song in the world that    everyone had to listen to, wouldn’t life get boring quickly? When starting a band, you should aim   to be unforgettable and special. Don’t copy an image from another artist, and certainly do not imitate a song from another musician. By being different and developing your own sound, more individuals will become interested and intrigued with your music. The same goes with your “look,” create an eye-catching look so your audience can buzz about you. “Hey, did you see _____’s outfit at the concert? It was awesome!” Lastly, make sure that all advertisements aren’t comparable to other musicians. The last thing you want is someone to mix up your ad with another band due the fact that they were similar in color and phrase.

5.             Do not ignore your fans 

Responding and paying attention to your fans is extremely vital. Do not, I repeat, do not ignore   your fans! Not only can you lose their trust and loyalty, but fans can utilize word-of-mouth     marketing by putting a bad word about your band out in the public. If you have Facebook,Twitter, or a Myspace page etc., be sure to respond to all posts and comments. Just think about it: you don’t have an image without fans, and you don’t have fans without creating connections with individuals. Fans are very valuable aspects in the music world and you need to maintain strong relationships with them. By consistently responding to e-mails or social media alerts, this can help build your trust with each fan which is priceless.

6.             Don’t forget to produce a marketing plan 

Creating a marketing plan tends to be the most overlooked tactic when marketing a band. Many musicians may be focused on producing high quality music instead of generating marketing methods. Marketing plans are important because they set overall goals and help focus on how to achieve specific objectives within a band. One day, sit down with your band and construct a plan covering ideas like: How can we attract and gain more fans? What is our budget? What are some ways to expand our opportunities in the music industry? How can we inspire the public to purchase our music? A marketing plan entails what hopes you have and how to get there, and is something you should absolutely spend time on.

By: Danielle Peterson

Danielle is a Marketing Specialist for Distrophonix LLC. Distrophonix is a company based in Baltimore, MD specializing in music marketing, distribution, Rock Band Encoding, CD pressing, and mastering for musicians worldwide.
 

www.Distrophonix.com

How to Get Gigs

Summary: How To Get Gigs For Your Band, Local Band, Or Garage Band

How to get band gigs and shows for your local band?  It's not always easy to get out of the starting gate and get a gig. You can get a show booked for your garage band, local band, or indie band with a little hard work. Your rock band should have a strong music set, quality song material, and should play well in a live setting. It is now time to take the next step and book gigs for your band.

Press Kit - The first thing your indie act or garage band should do is to get a band press kit together. The press kit, press package, or media kit will have everything you'll need to get started. Visit our Press Kit Page for tips on getting the press kit together. Once you have your press kit, you'll have a vehicle to start promoting your indie band.

Demo CD/Tape - For most gigs, a club owner or party planner will want to hear how your music sounds. So record your indie band Demo CD or Tape. You may want to buy or rent a portable home recording studio at your local music store. Make sure your songwriting is of professional quality. Songwriting is a trial and error process and may take time. Many rewrites may be needed when writing songs. It's just part of the songwriting process.  Portable home recording studios or computer recording software should give you sufficient quality for most local venues. Once your act is more established, you may want to get into a local reputable recording studio. Many professional indie bands use a computer program called Pro Tools or Cubase software for recording. While this is an expensive venture, it may be just as cost effective to learn the software than booking studio time.

Open Mic Nights - Start off playing open microphone (Mic) nights at local clubs. Not only will this give you a little experience on stage, you'll actually have a built in audience. Many open mic nights are hosted by more established local bands or indie acts. Make valuable contacts for the future with the hosting bands and other local bands playing at the open mic night. Check your local music newspapers, perform an internet search for open microphone nights in your city, or search music websites to find this information. This is a great starting point to play gigs and shows in your area.

Offer to Open for Free - The reality is that your not going to get paid when you first start out. Offer to be an opening band for free for a local band you know. Network with bands than you may have met at an open microphone night.  E-mail more established indie band in the area and offer to play an opening gig for them.  Many indie bands love opening acts. They don't have to pay you much and they don't have to play as long of a show set. This is the time to start promoting your garage band too.  Hand out business cards and press kits to any clubs you play. Make sure to follow up with the venue after you have given them your press kit. Call or e-mail to make sure they get back to you. Be persistent. Booking agents and club owners are always getting approached by prospective indie bands and garage bands.

Solicit your Press Kit - Now that you've played gigs at open mic nights, start calling clubs and soliciting your Press Kit and Demo. It's a good idea to visit clubs that play your style of music and talk with the booker of the club.  Leave them a press kit and demo CD. Give the club booking agent a day or two to listen to your demo.  Call back and get some feedback. Ask for the gig or show for your band. Again, be persistent. 

Approach Town Fairs, County Festivals, or City Concert Venues Another way to get exposure is to gig for a large audience at a local fair or festival. Most of these gigs your band would play for free to get exposure. Some festivals do pay bands once they get a following or fan base. Do some research on the internet to see what local agencies take care of bookings for festivals or town fairs. Give out your band business cards at the show.  This is a good promotion tactic. Someone in the audience may want to book your indie music act in the future. 

Booking Agents - Most booking agents take a percentage of the money that you get for a gig. Booking agents can be a valuable resource for getting some better paying gigs. Do a lot of research and be sure they are reputable.  Do a search on your local yellow pages. A lot of booking agents only take well known acts, so shop around and see if they will deal with your local band. Stop by in person and take your demo and press kit. 

E-mail Local Newspapers - Have your show dates added to local newspaper concert listings. Most papers will list your gigs for free. Contact any free papers that list band show dates. Also, see if they will do an article on your garage band or review one of your gigs or your CD. 

Band Manager  - Look into having a band manager who will help out with promotion. This person can help book you indie act. Has someone that you have known taken an interest in your garage band or music career? See if they would help book your indie band. Relatives may do this for free or a small fee designated by you. Watch out for people that get to meddlesome in your band and try to control your band goals. Negotiate for fees charged for such services. 

Battle of the Bands - Send your demo and press kit to any local battle of the band competitions. Most competitions locate up and coming talent in the area for battle of the bands shows. The great thing about these competitions is that you can network with the promoters, other bands involved, and get exposure. Many of the competitions are promoted on the radio, internet, and newspapers. The winner usually gets a decent prize like studio time or free promotion. Have your business cards ready at every portion of the competition.

Source:  http://mediawebsource.com/howtoget.htm

Guide To Preparing Your Song For Mastering

Summary: Guide to getting your music ready for high quality mastering results.

Getting the best possible mastered song starts with sending the best sounding mix to your mastering engineer. Here are some tips to getting your song ready for mastering.

Eliminate Noise In Your Mix. Go through your recording with your engineer to eliminate any pops and clicks in your tracks. You should also filter out any hums from air conditioners, refrigerators, and computers. If you have a track that can’t have the noise eliminated through gates and filters now is the time to rerecord it.

Get Your Levels Right. So many times we have artists contact us here at Distrophonix asking us something like when we master the track, can we bring up the vocals or lower the volume of the drums. Unfortunately this is not something that can be fixed in the mastering process, it needs to be fixed during mixing. Make sure that the song you send to your mastering engineer is mixed exactly the way you want it.

Don’t Make Your Mix Too Loud.  The loudest part of your song should peak at no more than -3db. To get the best master possible you should leave the final dynamic control and level engineer. Doing this allows the engineer to make sure that the master you receive back is exactly what you want. The volume and punch you desire should always be added by the mastering engineer.

Do Not Over Use Compressors. If you over use dynamic compressors on the final mix it can make it extremely difficult for the mastering engineer to do his job properly. It’s best to use it sparingly or not at all.

Send The Best File Format Possible. Make sure that you are sending the best quality file to your mastering engineer. Traditionally, AIFF and WAV are best. Make sure that the files you send are kept in the same resolution as what the song was mixed in.

Don’t Be Afraid To Talk To Your Master Engineer. We here at Distrophonix want to make sure that you are 100% satisfied with the work that we do. If you have a particular way that you want your song mastered please let us know and we will accommodate it.

By: Brenden Bosmans

Brenden Bosmans is a Marketing Consultant to Distrophonix LLC. Distrophonix LLC is a music marketing and distribution company based in Baltimore, MD. They design marketing plans for musicians, as well as offer digital distribution, CD pressing, download cards and mastering.
www.Distrophonix.com