Sunday, March 20, 2011

Music Marketing Tactics that Make People Take a Second Look...or Listen

So your band has written some great songs and finished recording an album.  Now you need to get your music out there and build a following.  You'll have to come to terms with the fact that you're not going to make much money at first until people actually know who you are and care enough to pay for your music and merchandise (Herbert, 2010).  (If you really love playing music, then it shouldn't be all about the money anyway, right?)  Simply giving your music away in the beginning and performing as often as you can (wherever you can) are two major ways to help spread word of your group and develop the fan base that is needed to keep your musical career afloat.

Here are some interesting, more specific marketing ideas I found that you can use to get people listening, and later on down the road make some decent music sales:

1.)  Put a "squeeze page" on your website (Herbert, 2010).  Similar to the picture to the left, a squeeze page is where you can post a video of your group speaking directly to potential new fans.  After giving them a brief intro to who you are, tell them they can score a free copy of your album by joining your mailing list.  This way you are are gaining name and contact information from those hearing that free music.  They can spread your music and you have a way to get in touch with them later on to further promote your band.

2.) Play live in places other than typical performance venues in order to attract attention.  Knab (2003) suggests being "the musical entertainment for your favorite local record store."  Or see about playing for free at local schools, parks and/or restaurants where your target listening demographic is likely to hang out.

3.)  A couple creative printed marketing ideas are promotional Post-It notes and business cards with lyrics (Knab, 2003).  Instead of handing out regular flyers promoting your next live show, album or website, hand out pre-printed Post-It notes with that information so the ideas "stick" better with people.  If you plan to hand out business cards to prospective music business partners, have them printed with some good lyrics from your songs or even some cool facts about the band to catch their attention.

4.)  If you have the resources and are ready to sell, do something different with your album packaging.  Although most music albums are sold digitally these days, you can hang on to physical CD sales if you step outside of the normal jewel case or cardboard sleeve.  For example, Indonesian group Tika and the Dissidents released their 2009 album, The Headless Songstress, "wrapped in a thick floral fabric" including "a free notebook in which listeners could write their own lyrics, as well as a booklet full of photographs of old Jakarta [Indonesia]" (Thee, 2011). Their album turned out to be one of the best local records of the year in Jakarta.


If you can be creative in your music marketing techniques, you will have a better chance of getting your band heard and eventually making a profit off of doing what you love.  For some other unique guerrilla music marketing ideas, go to http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/gmm_suggest.htm.  To read about some creative marketing approaches taken by specific music groups like Tika and the Dissidents, check out this article from the Jakarta Globe.com: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/the-art-of-music-marketing/430176.

References
Herbert, E. (2010, March 13). The evolvor music marketing manifesto for 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2011, from http://evolvor.com/2010/03/13/the-evolvor-music-marketing-manifesto-for-2010/

Knab, C. (2003, April). Guerrilla music marketing suggestions. Retrieved March 20, 2011, from http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/gmm_suggest.htm

Thee, M. (2011, March 19). The art of music (marketing). Retrieved March 20, 2011, from http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifeandtimes/the-art-of-music-marketing/430176


Images
[Squeeze page]. Retrieved March 20, 2011, from http://www.alberthallado.com/video-squeeze-page-template-free-download-its-my-birthday/
[Post-it notes]. Retrieved March 20, 2011, from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/post-it-note-calendar.html 
[Tika and the dissidents album]. Retrieved March 20, 2011, from http://omuniuum.net/cd-the-headless-songstress-tika-the-dissidents/

1 comment:

  1. These are excellent ideas to help make your band stand out among the sea of aspiring talent trying to make it. With the barriers to entry lower than they have ever been before, and with the "gatekeepers" taking different forms than they have traditionally in the past, it is more important than ever to make your band stand out in the crowd. I have read many publications on this subject. Some are are already outdated, and some are basic and universal that every band should do, but that is still not enough.

    Experimenting around with unique packaging and promotional materials is an excellent idea to help keep the attention span of the listener. One of the things I used to do at Astonish Records was experiment with CD packaging to make it as tangible and emotional of an experience as possible for the listener, which can't be accomplished simply by listening to the music.

    But all marketing tactics aside, it all still boils down to talent. Once the band is in the door and ready to perform, it must have the energy to make the listeners hair stand up and want to dance. You can throw all the money in the world at a mediocre band and I can guarantee you they won't break. But if you have a more talented band that connects with the audience, it will take considerably less resources for them to get "traction" as we call it in the industry.

    Nevertheless, keep up the great insight. I enjoyed reading your ideas.

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