How do you market your band/music?

Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 4:11 pm

Marketing has come a long way in the internet age, but I'm wondering if local Michigan bands are taking advantage of guerrilla marketing techniques developed over the last decade, or do you still rely mostly on word of mouth, friends, family and Myspace to get the word out?

Are you trying to capture a specific demographic with particular marketing techniques or are you just hoping people will notice your talent?

If there's a particular book, magazine or website that you use as a guide I'd be curious to hear about your successes as well as failures.

Are you utilizing personalization techniques like "mail merge" in your newsletters? Or do you think your consumers are too savvy for that approach?

Would you rather have a caravan in the hills or a mansion in the slums?

Paper or plastic?

Boxers or briefs?

C'mon people.
Question

Newbie Joined: Apr 28, 2008 Posts: 1

Here is some places that will help you promote your band.
It helped us out...

2008 is off to a pretty good start! We just released our new CD entitled "Revisited" and already the 1st single off from it. "I Walk The Line Revisited" debuted at 25 on the #1 artist music community website Soundclick.com and went to # 1. Also hit # 1 on JamWave.com and is at # 1. Bob's song "What "You DO With What You Got" went to # 6 on the Christian country charts. "Shelter In The Storm" went to # 4 on JamWave.com country charts.. Watch for one of our songs on MyCoke.com.

» BEBO
» MySpace
» Blue Coyote Band
» Reverb Nation
» Sound Click
» Music Nation
» My Tracks
» Facebook
» Fame Cast
» Best Of Bands
» Our Radio Show
» Band Mix
» Jam Wave
» iSound

I hope this helps...
Scott Bates
Blue Coyote Band...We are a Michigan based Band....Lansing

Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:04 pm

Great. Congrats on the success. I'm listening now.

Looks like you guys have a lot of ground covered. Anybody else?

Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 11:48 am

I think internet radio stations are cool for bands to get heard as well. Renting halls and selling tickets for the shows in your local area can be a good option for under aged bands/fans as well.

Groupie Joined: Aug 29, 2002 Posts: 28

We seem to do well in Europe and Japan. We've worked on getting our CD's reviewed in some European publications. When the magazines come out, our online CD sales pick up. One thing we've learned is to contact the reviewer before you send out a promo pack. It works much better and you will have a higher success rate at getting the review when the reviewer knows and expects to see your package. Our last 2 CD's seem to always be the "Tip of the month" in these magazines.
Also, once you get a couple of reviews, magazines and website will come to you for a promo pack for them to review. Do check up on these so called reviewers that ask you for a promo pack, sadly sometimes it's just a person looking to get a free CD.

Newbie Joined: Nov 05, 2007 Posts: 7

Definately the internet is the most prominant marketing tool, but bands tend to neglect the power of the street.
You have to get out there and get name recognition going outside the internet. pressing palms and kissing babies still goes a long way.

For example. I see bands promoting like Hell on Myspace, but frankly if someone is'nt on your "buddy list" what are they going to know?

Many bands are way too lazy to get out and do flyers. Big mistake.
Why do you think fast food joints put their logo on the bags? They know that the bags and cups will end up on the side of the road and people will see the logo. Band flyer are more for name recognition than the actual gig....Marketing 101

There are lots of other ways to market bands depending on your target audience, but there is the basics.

Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 6:56 pm

warwick wrote:

Do check up on these so called reviewers that ask you for a promo pack, sadly sometimes it's just a person looking to get a free CD.

They're on to me! Shocked

Guitardiva wrote:

Many bands are way too lazy to get out and do flyers. Big mistake.
Why do you think fast food joints put their logo on the bags? They know that the bags and cups will end up on the side of the road and people will see the logo. Band flyer are more for name recognition than the actual gig....Marketing 101

That's the mistake a lot of advertisers make, especially when it comes to the internet. Display ads aren't necessarily about making a direct sale, although that's nice. It's about keeping your name out there so when somebody does need your product or service, your name comes to mind first.

How about non-traditional marketing techniques? Or non-traditional media for marketing your band. I wonder what would happen if you put an ad for your band somewhere nobody would expect to see it - like a classified in the back of Ladies Home Journal or some other unexpected place.

Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 7:29 pm

wiki wrote:

Renting halls and selling tickets for the shows in your local area can be a good option for under aged bands/fans as well.

That's what the local bands did where I grew up. Usually shows at the VFW hall until the local police dept. broke 'em up or started charging too much for security. Too many youngsters in one place having fun I guess. Crying or Very sad

But what about viral marketing a secret show or a private show the way Nine Inch Nails did? Or dropping flash drives for people to find with your music on it. I think they did that too. I'd be curious to hear the outcomes of atypical marketing techniques for local music.

Groupie Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 85

We've been putting up very large 2'x3' posters in the venue that we'll be playing. I personally don't like to clutter up a flyer with all kinds of info. 10 bands! Phone Numbers, web addresses, ect, etc, etc.....

I put in Who We Are, What We Do, and What Day We'll Be Playing There.

K.I.S.S.

I also have a standard template that I use for the poster that has an open area that I can create a standard layer that I just paste in with the venue name and the date. It's all about product recognition. I can't see getting to artistic with the poster every show because it's really about the music and getting people through the door.

Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 7:56 am

BannedFromEARTH wrote:

We've been putting up very large 2'x3' posters in the venue that we'll be playing....It's all about product recognition.

Posters in the venue you're playing -that's pretty much standard practice right? I understand your point about keeping it simple and artistically consistent so established fans recognize the brand and can get the info they need.

Then again, if it's in the same venue you've played before and the artwork is the same, I might ignore an upcoming show thinking it's something I've already seen. I think that's why some bands use original art or a suggestive photo to get people's attention. But if it's working, why fuck with it, right?

But where else do you guys reach out to Black Sabbath fans? Do you ever send posters to, say, local motorcycle clubs? Machine shops? Anywhere else?

Groupie Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 85

Mitch wrote:

BannedFromEARTH wrote:

We've been putting up very large 2'x3' posters in the venue that we'll be playing....It's all about product recognition.

But where else do you guys reach out to Black Sabbath fans? Do you ever send posters to, say, local motorcycle clubs? Machine shops? Anywhere else?

We solicit in liquor stores, crack houses and opium dens too. Shocked

I was amazed that when I was putting up some poster last Friday that the venue told me that they don't see people promoting with posters and flyers any more. They almost never get anybody in the venue promoting any more. They were very glad to see me. I guess with the advent of MySpace and event invitations people believe they don’t have to do any on site promotions. We do both.

Groupie Joined: Nov 15, 2007 Posts: 76

I'm still of the old school where I post flyers, but not for the reason you'd think:

It's more of a gesture to the venue owner that I'm working my butt off to make my act a success. (I never keep it a secret from the venue owner that I'm posting these things all around town!...) It seems to me a minority of acts practice this, and I want to make it clear that when you hire Gene Perry, you will get some promotional effort along with what's being sold, here. In a competative market, if it's a choice between two equal caliber performers, and one goes through promotional effort and the other does not, I'd have to believe that the one that seems to care that there's meat in the seats is the one that is going to be preferred.

I find that flyers also help with image building. I'm pretty handy with graphics, so I can use flyers to expound on what I want people to think I am. For open mic hostings, I like to employ humor to emphasize that the event is going to be a fun time, for example. If I play a young, hip place, I'll make a flyer with a more artsy, "spooky" impression, and if I play a dinner thing where a lot of grey-hairs will be, I'll make one showing me as a nice clean-cut nice-boy, so on.

I'm finding less and less places are being flyer-friendly. One town nearby me has practically NO place to put them, so I'm not quite sure what good it does to use flyers when I play there. There's hassles with keeping them not covered up, other competatively selfish musicians ripping them down, and so on.

Using flyers as graphics in online advertising I think helps, since many just "skim" text on MySpace profiles and websites and such, but a picture really grabs the eye, especially if it's visually interesting.

I think there are a few better things you can do than flyers to promote, but that's a longer post, and I don't feel like typing that much...

I think it's funny that you can always tell who made the flyer: If it's in 3-inch high font at the top "THE LOCAL BAND" and it's tiny print at the bottom "at the Downtown Bar", clearly the band is doing it. If it says "AT THE DOWNTOWN BAR" at the top and in teeny print at the bottom it says "with The Local Band" (or even "Live Music Friday"!...heh...), well, I can tell ya just who made THAT flyer!...

Newbie Joined: Jun 29, 2007 Posts: 5

Bluecoyoteband wrote:

Here is some places that will help you promote your band.
It helped us out...

Thanks for sharing your research....Very Cool!!!

Chip of QuiverBone

Newbie Joined: Oct 05, 2008 Posts: 2

So many bands promote on the internet that it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. I honestly don't know the best way to promote your music anymore, it seems like alot of luck is involved. Glad to see others are having success though!