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Mar. 27th, 2006 @ 08:59 pm
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Here is a weekend activity to raise money for your band
Things you need
acoustic guitar
500 burned CDs with your 2 best songs. CDs should be marked with band website and contact info.
Head over to the nearest big city. Find a popular location where there is lots of street traffic. For example if you live in Seattle, Westlake center is always packed on weekends and very common to find some street performers.
Find a good spot with lots of foot traffic and perform your songs and sell as many of your samplers for 50 cents.
It's a great opportunity to meet as many people as possible, and you will be surprised how many people will be willing to buy your sampler for 50 cents. If you have upcoming shows be sure to pass out flyers as well.
Its an easy $250 dollars for a Saturday or Sunday. |
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Mar. 24th, 2006 @ 10:27 am
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Enter the 2006 iSOUND.com battle of the bands.
Over $12,000 in prizes for bands and musicians!
You will have a chance to get your own CD pressed, get 2 songs on our upcoming iSOUND compilation, get your band t-shirts printed, internet distribution for your music and a ton of free promo on iSOUND.com.
BOTB info and registration here: http://www.isound.com/battle
Sponsored by Disc Makers, West Aspen Merch, FoxyMelody, Audio Lunchbox |
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Mar. 7th, 2006 @ 09:07 pm
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Here is a new concept. I havent seen anyone really do this yet. Though I am sure there are some bands out there already doing this. But instead of your usual mailing list, bands should try to gather phone numbers at shows, from friends, from fans.
Every time you have a show send out a mass out text messages to everyone in the area reminding them of the show. I think this will eventually catch on and become common place. Its far more effective then receiving an email. |
One of the first goals a band should shoot for is to make it big in your state. Bands that do well in a state tend to naturally get national recognition.
Play as many local shows as you can. Get to know all the good local bands and team up with them to put on shows in different cities in your state. Do some small state tours. If your in Washington State for example. Play in Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Everette, and then head over to Eastern Washington and play Spokane.
Spend a few days and pass out as many fliers as you can. Go to malls, skate parks, local cd stores, cafes, thrift stores etc.
If you really want to get your name out there and maybe get some help doing it. Put on some non profit charity concerts. Team up with a local charity and organize some concerts. Non Profits love the help and they have many more resources at their disposal. They will be able to promote the shows via local news stations, on tv, radio, newspapers. They have those important media relationships. You will get lots of exposure and support a good cause while your at it.
Promote online
Find all the local state communities where you can promote your upcoming local shows.
You can find local state communities on livejournal, myspace, craigslist, yahoogroups, etc
Create a local state buzz and national music publications and sites will talk about you. |
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Mar. 1st, 2006 @ 11:40 am
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iSOUND.com Battle Of The Bands is coming soon.
Scheduled to start April 1st.
Its free and registration starts soon so keep an eye out for that.
Its a great opportunity to practice your marketing, accomplish some great exposure for the band and hopefully win some great prizes |
| » Merchandising |
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Merchandising
Merchandise is essential. Some popular bands on labels actually make more money from merchandise sales then they do from CD sales. Get some good designs and artwork. Everyone knows a friend who has an artistic flare. If you don’t know any go to your local community college or art institute and post on bulletin boards that you are looking for an artist for some shirt and merchandise designs. Most art students will most likely do it for free as part of an art project, for their portfolio/resume or will do it cheap.
It’s all about the design. Pick a good 6 designs that you like and have your friends help you decide on which designs you will use for shirts, stickers, buttons, and other band merchandise. Sell the shirts but consider giving away the buttons and stickers. They are great walking advertisements. (make sure all stickers include your iSOUND url)
Feb. 22nd, 2006 @ 02:35 pm
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| » Music Videos |
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Music Videos
Here is how to make a cheap music video and even profit from it. Best thing you can possible do is find a film student. Stop by your local university or community college. In most art departments you can find bulletin boards where you can post your project. Film students are usually willing to help for free because they can use it in their resume and portfolio of work. Its also an opportunity for them show what they can do and they have access to expensive school cameras for free.
Once you have the video done and edited and your happy with it. Start a revver.com account. Revver is a video hosting site. They allow you to upload videos and post them all over the internet. Revver makes money by putting an advertisement at the end of the music video. The cool thing about this company is that they will give you a percentage of money they make off your video. So basically you can make some money from your music video.
Feb. 22nd, 2006 @ 02:34 pm
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| » Traffic and Marketing |
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Traffic and Marketing
It’s important that you get as much exposure as possible. Get on as many social networks and get your bands name out there. There are also a ton of music sites where you can list your band. Local sites like utahbands.com, azpunk.com, and more. Make friends, post tour dates, and promote your MP3s and CDs.
It’s important that you get on as many sites as possible but your goal will be to drive traffic to where it counts. Drive traffic to where potential fans can listen and buy like your iSOUND account, where they can buy not only MP3’s & Ringtones but also the physical CD via CDbaby or any other shopping cart sites your using.
Here is a formula you are going to want to remember.
Artist Sales Conversion Rate
X(sales)/y(mp3 plays) = z (conversion rate)
The formula is what you will use to figure out the conversion rate you get from your traffic. So lets say you get 1000 plays and from those plays it results in 100 mp3 sales. Then your conversion rate would be 10 percent.
100 (mp3 sales) / 1000 = 10 percent conversion rate
10 percent conversion rate is actually amazing. Though most likely it will fall around 2 to 3 percent. But once you know your conversion rate you can set goals for sales and traffic.
Feb. 22nd, 2006 @ 02:33 pm
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| » The Right Tools |
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The Right Tools
Like a business you are going to need a location, and the right tools to complete the transaction. First you are going to need a way to sell your music. There are many sites that will help with the CD delivery and transaction. For the rock genres there is interpunk.com and smartpunk.com. There is also cdbaby.com which handles music of any genre.
For mp3s & ringtones there is www.iSOUND.com. With iSOUND you will be able to sell your mp3s, ringtones, and even link to what ever online shopping cart you are using like CDbaby.com
Feb. 22nd, 2006 @ 02:30 pm
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| » The Product (CD) |
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Being in a band is no different then owning your own business, you are essentially an entrepreneur. You have a product that you need to get out to your market/clients/customers. In this age of technology and resources you can accomplish pretty much everything with out a record label.
The Product (CD)
First you need the product. This is the foundation of your business. Don't skimp on a quality recording. You can easily get a professional sounding CD or demo for under $1000. It might sound like a lot but look at it this way. Most bands have about 4 to 5 members. In a 4 member band each member only needs to pitch in a good $250 for the recording. It’s not that much if you consider that most people spend $10 dollars or more a day on fast food. If you can save a good $5 a day you'll have the $250 in less then 2 months.
If your lucky enough to be in the Arizona or California area, check out http://www.lovejuicelabs.com/, one of the best budget studios around. You can cut a professional CD for under $800.
Nothing is more annoying to a label then to recieve a really crappy demo that sounds like it was recorded with a tape player in someones bedroom. First impressions really count in the music industry.
Feb. 22nd, 2006 @ 02:25 pm
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